and to driue the Erle of Alua de Lista out of Zamora If you enter in reckening with all those of your bande which goe in your companie certainly you shall fynde that passion was your foundation not reason neither zeale of the common wealth but ouermuche desire in euery one to augment his owne house and estate Sir Peter Giron woulde haue the possession of Medina the Earle of Saluatiera commaunde the royall Pastures Fernando de Aualoes reuenge his iniurie Iohn de Padilia be maister of S. Iames Sir Peter Lasso the onely ruler in Toledo Quintanilla Controller of Medina Sir Fernando de Hulloa expell his brother out of Toro the Abbot of Compludo obtaine the Bishoprike of Zamora the Doctor Barnardine the Auditor of Valiodolid Ramir nimez the possession of Leon and Charles de Arrelano ioyne Soria with Vorobia The wise man sayeth hée séeketh occasion that will depart from a frend in like maner we may say that sedicious men séek not but rebellious times for that it séemeth vnto them whiche want are in necessitie while rebellion lasteth they may feed of the sweate of other mens brows and profit by their neighbors losse The arte séemeth not a litle gracious which you haue vsed to deceiue and persuade Toledo Burgos Valiodolid Leon Salamanca Auila and Segouia to rebell saying that by this meane they shal be established and made frée as Venize Geneua Florence Sena and Luke in suche wise that from hencefoorth they shall not bée named Cities but Seigniories Musing what was to be said in this matter a good space I had my pen in suspence and in the end I conceiued that vpon so great a vanitie and mischief neuer lyke heard of there is nothing to be sayd much lesse to be written For I hold it for certain and dare auouch that you make not those Cities frée but a praye not entitle them with seigniories but profit your selues with their riches Those the wil take in hand any enterprise that naturally is seditious or offensible haue not to consider of the occasion that moueth thē to ryse but only the good or euil end which therof may procéed for all famous offences haue had always a beginning of good respects Silla Marius and Cateline whiche were famous Romains and glorious Captaines vnder the coloure to delyuer Rome from euill gouernours made themselues tirants of the same At sometymes it is lesse euill in greate Cities to beare with some want of Iustice than to moue the people and therby to raise warre for that war is a certain net that catcheth away all weale from the common wealth The great Alexander being demaunded for what cause hée would be Lord of the whole worlde made answere All the warres that are raised in this worlde is for one of these thrée causes which is eyther to haue goodes many lawes or else many Kings therfore would I obtain the same to cōmaund throughout the whole worlde that they honour but one God serue but one king and obserue but one law But let vs now conferre your Lordship with Alexander the great and we shal finde that he was a King and your Lorship a Bishoppe he a Pagan and you a Christian he bred in the warres and you in the Church he neuer heard of the name of Christe you haue sworne to obserue his Gospell and with all these conditions he would not for the whole worlde haue but one king and your lordship wold haue seuen only for Castile I say vnto your Lordship that you wold establish seuen kings in Castile for that you would make the seuen Cities of the same seauen seigniories The good and loyal gentlemen of Spayn vse to remoue kings to make one king and such as be traytours and disloyall do vse to remoue the King to make kings For vs and our friends we wil no other God but Christ no other law but the Gospell or other king but the Emperoure Charles the fifth And if you and your commoners will haue an other king and an other lawe ioyne your selues with the Curate of Mediana which euery sunday doth establishe and take away kings in Castile And this is the case In a certain place named Mediana which is néere vnto Palomera of Auila there was a Biskay priest and halfe a foote whiche was moued with so great affection to Iohn of Padilia that at the tyme of bidding of beads on the holy days he recōmended after this maner My brethren I commend vnto you one Aue Maria for the most holy communaltie that it neuer decay I commende vnto you an other Aue Maria for the maiestie of king Iohn of Padilia the God may prosper him I cōmend vnto you an other Aue Maria for the Quéenes highnesse our mistresse and Lady Mary of Padilia that God may preserue hir for of a troth these be the true kings and all the rest before time were tyrantes These prayers continued aboute thrée wéekes little more or lesse After whiche tyme Iohn of Padilia with his menne of warre passed that waye and the souldiers that lodged in the priests house inticed away his woman drank his wine kilde his hennes and eate vp his bacon The sundaye folowing in the Churche he sayde It is not vnknowne vnto you my brethren howe Iohn of Padilia passed this way and howe his souldiors hath left me neuer a henne haue eaten me a flitch of bacon haue drunke out a whole tinage of wine and haue caried away my Cateline I say for that from hencefoorth you shall not pray vnto God for him but for king Charles and for our Lady Quéene Ione for they be the true Princes giue to the diuell these straunge kings Behold here my Lord Bishop how the Curate of Mediana is of more power than your Lorshippe for that he made and vnmade Kings in thrée wéekes whiche you haue not performed in eyght moneths and yet I doe sweare and prophesie that the King that you shall establish in Castile shall endure as little as that king whiche was made by the Curate of Mediana No more but that our Lorde be your protectour and lighten you with his grace From Medina del rio secco the .xx. of December .1521 A letter vnto the Bishop of Zamora sir Antony of Acunna in whiche the Author doth perswade him to turne to the seruice of the kyng REuerend disquiet bishop by the letter of Quintanilla of Medina I was aduertised in what maner your lordship receiued my letter and also vnderstoode that in the ende of reading thereof presentely you beganne to groue and murmuring sayd Is this a thing to be suffred that the tong of Frier Antony of Gueuara may bee of more power than my launce and that he be not contented to haue withdrawne Sir Peter Giron euen from betwixte oure hands but also now euen here doth write me a thousand blasphemies It hath much pleased me that my letter was so wel cōfected that with such swiftnes it
interpretation of bookes If ye will say that those whiche presently be called Moores or Turkes be the same people whereof the Prophet speaketh Scrutati sunt iniquitates herevnto I answer that as false is the one as the other for as muche as if we will haue regarde vnto the time of the raigne of King Dauid which did prophesie the same vntill the time of Mahomet the first inuentor and conductor of the sect of the Moores we shall find that there dyd passe lesse than 2000. and more than 1800. yeares If we would say and affirme that the Prophet did meane and direct his speech vnto the Christians I saye also it is most false and repugnant vnto all troth for being admitted that the Christian faith had beginning to raigne 600. yeares before the sect of the Moores and more than 3000. yeares after the beginning of the Gentilitie or the Heathen from the tyme that this prophecie was written at Ierusalem vnto the time they began to name themselues Christians at Antioch there passed more than a thousand yeares and also thrée hundred yeares more for aduantage Behold here truly verifyed that since the prophecie may not be aduouched vpon the Gentiles the Moores neyther yet the Christians that it is to be vnderstood spoken vnto you Iewes more expressely for that the Prophet saith not Scruteront but Scruterent giuing vs to vnderstande that many yeares before King Dauid did pronounce the same youre auncesters had then already begon to corrupt the sacred Scriptures and to adde vnto the same erroneous glosses I lie not neyther do I repent to haue sayd that your auncient fathers Scrutati sunt iniquitates since they haue no grace to vnderstand the Prophecie of Ieremie which sayth post dies multos dicit dominus dabo meam legem in visceribus illorum in corde eorū ad scribā legem meam As if he wold haue sayd After many dayes and after many yeares I will create a newe people and will giue them a new lawe whiche I my selfe will wright in theyr bowells and hide within their harts to the ende that no persone shall falsefy the same and muche lesse shall they be able to forget it Then as the Prophecie which sayth Scrutati sant iniquitates c. is spoken onely vnto you and not to all men in lyke manner this Prophecie of Ieremy whiche sayth dabo legem in visceribus illorum c. is spoken vnto vs Christians and not to you Iewes For as muche as our Catholike fayth consisteth more in that which is rooted within our hartes than in that whyche is written in bookes in such manner the weale of the Christian lieth not in that whiche hée readeth but in that which he beléeueth The maruels that Christe hathe done and the doctrines which he hath giuen vnto the world It is necessary and well done to knowe and also to reade them but it is muche more founde and sure to beléeue them for the number is infinite which be saued without reading but not one persone without well beléeuing The Edicts and Proclamations which they ordeyned and the lawes of Moses Promotheus Solon Licurgus and Numa Pompilius were all written with their handes and preserued and kept safe in their originals within their liberties but the law of Iesus Christ ought most certaynly to be writtē within our harts for that in as much that the Lord gaue vs no other law but the law of loue he did like and thought it better that we shoulde search and find the same within our hartes than within our bookes And not without great mistery God sayd by the mouth of your Prophet that the law which his sonne should giue vs that he shuld first write it within the harts before the Euangelist shuld reduce them by writing into bookes for after this manner it might not be forgotten neyther yet burned And so if youre auncient predecessors hadde obtayned the law of Moyses written in their harts as they had them writtē in old parchment they had not in times past worshipped the Idolls of Baal Bell Pegor Asterot Bahalim and Belzebub for whiche offence you were caried captiue into straunge countries and falne into your enimies hands How it came to passe that the Hebrew tong was lost IN like manner ye vsed me with no small despight for that in disputing against you I alleaged youre Esay where God the Father speaking vnto his owne proper sonne sayde these wordes parum est mihi vt suscites tribus Iacob feces Israell dedit te in lucem gentium vt sis salus mea vsque ad extremum terrae As if hée would haue sayd it is no great matter that thou serue me to suscitate and raise vp the lies of Iacob and to conuert the dregges of Israell for I haue giuen thee also for a light vnto the Gentiles to the ende that thou shalt be my sauing health vnto the ende of the worlde There is no man hauing read although but little in the holy Scripture that will not saye and affirme that the Prophet Esay was not an Hebrew borne a Prophet of a noble line and right eloquent in the scriptures for which cause you ought rather to blame and complayne of him which doth call and tearme you lies and dregges of Iacob than of me the which in all oure diputations haue not at any time alleaged any Christian doctor but only Hebrewish Prophets I saye agayne that you haue small reason to be offended with him or me for there is another Prophet which doth call you off scowring another venim another lies another dregs another ordure another slime another smoke another filthe in suche wise that as oft as ye did not ceasse to sin so did they not ceasse to blason and to expresse you with most perfect tearmes Are ye able to denie that of your priesthood of your Scepter of your Temple of your Realme of your lawe of youre tong either of your scripture is there any remayning but the lies which smelleth and the dregs which stinketh Surely that which was in youre lawe cleare nete precious and odoriferous long before the incarnation was consumed and that little which remayned in Iesus Christ did take an end And as cōcerning the priesthood of your law the great sacrificer or the high Priest ought he not to be extract out of the Trybe of Leuy whereof you haue nothing left but the lies for yet in the time of yonger and better dayes it was no more giuen vnto the Leuits that did best deserue it but vnto him that offred most siluer in such wise that to him that offred most and had greatest skill to flatter the priesthood was giuē as when a garment is sold by the drumme Likewise of your Scepter royal what haue you but the lyes for Herod Eskalonite a straunger did not onely vsurpe your Realme but by industry caused the Prince Antigonus sonne to Alexander your King
neuer gaue obedieÌ„ce to any but alwaies made a Seigniory of it selfe The seate of the Citie of Sagunto was foure leagues from Valentia where is now Monviedro he that shall say that which we call now in Castile Ciguenca was in time paste the Citie Sagunto it shall be because he dreamed it not to haue read it Being Inquisitor of Valentia I was many times at Monviedro as well to visite the Christians as to baptise the Moores And considering the sharpnesse of the place the antiquitie of the walles the greatnesse of the colledge the distaÌ„ce from the Sea the statelinesse of the buildings and the monstrousenesse of the sepulchers there is none but he may vnderstand that to be Monviedro which was Sagunto and that which was Sagunto is now Monviedro In the fields of Monviedro and in the ruinous buildings that be there at these daies there are found many stones ingraueÌ„ and many auncient Epitaphes of the Hannibals of the Asdrubals that died there in the siege of Sagunto the which were two linages of Carthage very notable of bloud and also famous in armes Neare to Monviedro there is a certaine place that in those daies was called Turditanos is now named Torres torres for that they were mortall enemies of the Saguntines Hanniball put himself in with them and from thence did make his batterie did throw downe burne the citie of Sagunto not succoured then of the Romanes or euer after reedified Behold here my Lords how your contention was which was Sagunto and not whiche was Numantia So that Soria and Samorra doth rather giue doubte whiche was Numantia and Monviedro and Sigentia which was Sagunto But the resolution and conclusion of all the aforesayde considering the merites of the processe and what eyther partie hath alledged for him selfe I doe say and declare by my definitiue sentence that the Archbishop of Ciuile did faile and the Duke of Naiara did erre in the thing that both did contend and lay their wager And I condemne either of them in a good Mule to be employed vpon him that shall declare whiche was the greate Numantia I my Lordes will now recount and declare whiche was that Citie Numantia and also say who was the founder therof where it was foÌ„nded how it was founded and what time it lasted and also how it was destroyed for that it is an history very delectable to read worthie to be vnderstood pleasant to recount and lamentable to heare VVhich was the great Citie Numantia in Spaine THe Citie of Numantia was founded by Numa Pompilius the second king of Romanes in the fiftie and eight yeere after the foundation of Rome and in the eightenth yeare of his raigne in suche sorte for that the founder thereof was called Numa it was named Numantia In the old time they did much vse to name their Cities they builded by their owne proper names as Ierusalem of Salem Antioche of Antiochus Constantinople of Constantine Alexandria of Alexander Rome of Romulus and Numantia of Numa Onely seuen Kings there were of Romanes The first of the which was Romulus the seuenth was Tarquine of these seuen the moste excellent of them all was this Numa Pompilius for he was the first that brought the Goddes into Rome he did inclose the vestall Virgins builded the temples and gaue lawes to the Romanes The situation of this Citie was neare the riuer of Dwero and not farre from the head of the same and it was set vpon the heigth of an hill and this heigth was not of a Rocke but vpon a certaine plaine Neither was it towred within nor walled without onelâ— it was compassed about with a broade déepe dischâ—… was inhabited with more than fiue and lesse than sixe thousand households two partes of the which did follow the warres and the third parte their tillage and labour Amongst them exercise was much praised and idlenesse greatly condemne which is more not couetous of goods and yet very ambitious of honour The Numantins of their naturall coÌ„dition were more flegmatike than colericke suffring dissembling suttle and of great actiuitie in such wise that that whiche they did at one time dissemble at another they did reuenge In their Citie there was but one crafts man that was the Smith Goldsmiths Silkworkers Drapers Fruters Tauerners Fishmongers Butchers such like they would not coÌ„sent to liue amongst them For al such things euery maÌ„ ought to haue in his owne house not to séeke them in the common wealth They were so valiant and so doubtie in the affayres of warre that they neuer saw any Numantine turne his barke or receiue any wound in the same in such wise that they did rather determine to die than to flée They could not go a warfare without licence of their common wealth and those also must goe altogether and followe one quarell for otherwise if one Numantine did kill another Numantine the murtherer afterwards was put to death by the common wealth Foure kind of people the Romanes had very fierce to tame and very warlike to fight that is to wit the Mirmidones whiche were those of Merida the Gauditanes whiche were those of Calis the Saguntines whiche were those of Monviedro and the Numantines whiche were those of Soria The difference amongst these was that the Mirmidons were strong they of Calis valiant the Saguntines fortunate but the Numantines were strong valiant and fortunate Fabatus Metellus Sertorius Pompeius Caesar Sextus Patroclus all the other Romane Captaines that by the space of one hundred and foure score yéeres held warres in Spaine did neuer conquere the Numantins neither at any time had to doe with them Amongst all the Cities of this world onely Numantia did neuer acknowledge hir better or kisse the hands of any other for lord This Numantia was somewhat Rockie halfe coÌ„passed with out-towers not very well inhabited and lesse riche With all this none durst hold hir for enemie but for confederate and this was the cause for that the Fortune of the Numantins was much more than the power of the Romanes In the warres betwene Rome and Carthage Caesar and Pompey Silla and Marius there was no King or kingdome in the world that did not follow one of those partes and against the other did not fight except the proude Numantia which always made aunswere to those that did persuade hir to followe their opinioÌ„ that not she of others but others of hir ought to make a head In the first Punick warres neuer would the Numantines follow the CarthaginiaÌ„s or fauour the Romanes for which occasion or too say better without any occasion the Romanes determined to make warre vpon the Numantins not for anye feare they had of their power but for enuie of their great fortune Fouretene yeares continually the Romanes besieged the Numantins in which great was the hurt the Numantins receiued but much more meruelous of the Romane Captaines that there died There were slaine in
with him all that he thinkes in his hart saying that a man is no more himselfe than that he holdeth secret in himselfe It is long since I commended vnto my memorye that sentence of the diuine Plato wher it is said that vnto whom we discouer our secret wée giue our libertie I say this vnto your Lordship for that if I had not consented that your Secretarie shoulde enter my studie neither had hée bin a babler or your Lordship importunate Your honor saith that he said he had séene in my library a banke of olde bookes whereof some were Gothike Latin Greeke Calde and Arabic and that he forgat not to steale one which made much for your purpose In that he said vnto you he said very troth and in that he did he did me much displeasure for that amongst the learned iestes do extend euen to the speaking of wordes but not to the stealing of bookes As I my Lord haue no other goodes to lay vp nor other pastimes wherewith to recreat me but bookes that I haue procured and also sought in diuers kingdomes beeleue me one thing whiche is that to take my bookes is as much as to pull out my eyes Of my naturall condiciou I was euer an enemie to new opinions and a great frend of olde bookes for if Salomon say Quòd in antiquis est sapientia for my part I do not beleue that the wisedonie lyeth in horeheades but in olde bookes The good king sir Alonso that toke Naples did vse to say that all was but trash except drie wood to burn an olde horse to ride olde wine to drinke olde frendes to bée conuersant and olde bookes to reade in Olde bookes haue great aduantage of the newe whiche is to wit that they speake the trueth they haue grauitie and do shew authoritie of whiche it followeth that we maye reade them without scruple and alledge them without shame The case is this that in the yeare 1523. I passing thorough the Towne of Safra came to a Booke binders shop whiche was tearing out leaues of an olde parchement booke to couer another new booke and knowing that the booke was better to reade in than to make couerings I gaue him for the same viij Rialles of plate also would haue giuen him viij Ducates Now Sir you shal vnderstand that the booke was of the lawes of Badaios that king Allonso the xj made a Prince that was very valiant and not a little wise This is the booke that your Secretarie did steale from me whiche he carried vnto you and it hath pleased me muche that you haue séene it and haue not vnderstood it in suche wise that if you render it it is not because ye haue desire to make restitution but for that you will I make exposition thereof The rest of this letter is the exposition of certaine olde lawes wherein there ariseth this maruell that the Castilian speeche but in a few hundreth yeares is so altered and the prices of their things so chaunged that not only the common people but also a Bishop of the same countrie craued an interpretor of the sayd lawes A letter vnto Syr Iohn Palamos wherein is declared whiche was Saians horse and the Gold of Tholose RIght noble Knight I haue receyued your letter and your complaint therein wherevnto answering I say that I haue bin much busied in certaine affaires whiche Caesar hath commaunded during the expedition whereof I haue had no time to pray my houres muche lesse to aunswere your letters missiue It came vnto Caesars vnderstanding that the Duke of Sogorbe and the Monkes of the vale of Paradise did beare each other ill will and did vse euill neighbourhod for whiche cause hée commaunded that I shoulde visite them and trauaile to bring them agréed whiche I did of very good will although not without great difficultie In fourtie dayes that I was there I neither wente to walke either did occupie my selfe in preaching eyther giue my selfe to studie but all my exercise was to sée priuiledges to visit boundes to heare quarelles and to appease iniuries And for that these affaires were of importance and betwixt personages of so great authoritie I passed immeasurable trauel before I could make them frendes and remoue their griefes I haue said all this to the ende you shoulde holde me the rather excused for not aunswering so soone vnto your letter and for not accomplishing that whiche I promised you in the grades of Valentia but the case was this The Prince of Borbon passing by Valentia wée saw in a certaine cloth of his tapistrie a horse whiche had at his féete Knightes throwen downe and dead And in the brest of the horse was a writing in whiche was sayde Equus Seianus as one would saye this is Saians horse Marueylouslye did they of the Citie beholde this cloth and no man vnderstode what the blason of that horse might signifie some saide it was the historie of Iosue some of Iudas Machabeus some of Hector some of Alexander othersome of Cirrudias After that maner euery man did speake as hée did gesse but no man as hée did know for troth There was in that troupe a gentlemā which said that that was king Don Martin his horse which won Valentia of the Mores that they were fyue Kings of the Mores that hée killed in one daye and his horse was named Seian for that he was of Sogorbe And bycause there was no man that did knowe the secret of that history but I that held my peace he did so sweare and forsweare and also affirme it so true as if he had recompted a storie of the Bible Cōsidering he was a Knight in bloud Generouse of goods rich of yeares auncient although in his wordes very lying I would not there declare presently the misterye of that horse bycause others should not haue wherewith to deride him or the poore gentleman wherfore to bée displeased Mimus Publianus the Philosopher said that with old mē that be vaine bablers and ianglers we ought to haue more respect to their hore heares that they possesse than to the wordes they speake The history of Saians horse is written by very graue authors whiche is to wit Cayus Bassianus Iulius Modestus and Aulus Gelius in the third Booke that hée made de noctibus Atticis And I doe aledge these authors for that no man shall thinke it is a compound fable but that of a troth it did passe as here wée shall recount the historie resiting it from the foundation The great Hercules the Thebane after that hée had slaine Diomedes in Thracia brought with him to Greece a certaine race of horses that Diomedes had bred which of their own proper nature were in colour fayre of stature large in condicions gentle and in battell couragious Of the race of these there was bred an horse in the prouince of Argose whose proportiō was a high crest hear to the groūd slit nostrelles sure houed well membred broade buttocks a long tayle
they haue the voyce of Iacob and the handes of Esau In this ciuil warre I heare them say from thence so many things that it displeaseth me and I see héere so many things that discontenteth me Quod posui custodiam ori meo vt nō delinquam in lingua mea If they meete there with my letters or yours should be séene here eyther for not vnderstanding or by euill interpreting it might be I should incurre some daunger and you discredite Ignosce mi domine tum breuitate literarum tum etiam quòd non liceat hic nostra tempestate apertius loqui The Authour dothe expounde an authoritie of the Prophete THis other daye whyche was the feaste of Saincte Thomas when I preached vnto the Gouernoures you doe say in your letter that you hearde mée expounde that Texte of the Prophete whyche sayeth Inclinaui cor meum ad faciendas Iustificationes tuas in aelernum proptet tribulationem and you desire me to send it you in writing in suche forme maner as I did pronoūce it in the pulpet Sir I will performe it although I vse it not for that I wishe you well and am also beholding vnto you For the friend vnto his friende shoulde neither hyde secrete that hée knoweth or denye anye thing that he possesseth But coming to the purpose it is a thing to be noted no lesse to be maruelled that the Prophet wold bind himself to serue God for euermore without end knowing that she should die and haue an ende For the vnderstanding of this text of Dauid it is necessarie to expounde that of Christe which saith Ibunt in supplicium boni autem in vitam aeternam bicause the one authoritie béeing expounded the other is easyly vnderstanded Christ being as hée is the whole truth and the summe of Iustice it séemeth a thyng disproporcioned to giue vnto the good infinite glorie for temporall merites and to giue vnto the euill eternall paine for temporall faultes Since he commaundeth in the Apocalips that by the weight of their demerites the wicked should be tormented If it were not diuine iudgement it would séeme in the opinion of man to be a iust thing they shoulde giue vnto the iust that serued God an hundreth yeares in this worlde so muche more of glorie in the other worlde and to the wicked that offended fiftie yeares being aliue here in this world they shuld torment him as many more in hell In such sort that there the payne should be giuen by weyght and the glorie by measure In that God giueth not temporal reward for temporall seruice neither doth giue temporall payne for temporall offences there séemeth and ought to be in this case some high misterie which if it bée facile to demaunde is verie difficile to absolue For the vnderstanding hereof it is to wit that the paine they haue to giue vs in the other world and the rewarde we shall receyue in the glorie is not answerable to the many or fewe workes which wée do but vnto the much or little charitie wherewith we worke them for God dothe not beholde what wée doe presently but what we would do It may be that a man may deserue much with little workes and another merite little passing many trauels for our desertes consist not in the trauels we do passe but in the pacience we vse therein Not without a high and very notable misterie Christ sayd in your patience and said not in your labour you shall possesse your soules For as Austine sayth the paine makes not the Martyr but the cause wherefore he suffreth Answering to your demaund and to my dout I do say and affirme that for this cause in the other world they shall giue eternall reward vnto the good for if God should let them liue for euer and euer they would neuer cease to serue god In like manner they shal giue vnto the wicked infinite paine their sinnes being infinite for if God for euermore shoulde giue them life here in this world they would neuer cease to offend him The Prophet to say inclinaui cor meum in aeternum is as if he shoulde say I Lorde do bind my selfe to serue thée so muche as shall please thée to be serued of me In that if it shall please thée to perpetuat my life it shall be always imployed in thy seruice what wilt thou that I say more oh my God but if it shall please thée and may be to thy seruice that my dayes be temporall that at the least my good desires may be infinite quia in aeternum inclinaui cor meum Oh with how greate desire ought we to serue God and how great hope ought we to haue of our saluation for that we haue a Lord of so good condition and a God of suche power that without any scruple we maye set downe in his accompt not only what we doe but also what we desire to do No more but that our Lord be your protector From Medina del rio secco the xxij of Ianuary 1523. A letter vnto the Abbot of saint Peter of Cardenia in which he much prayseth the mountaine countrey REuerent Abbot and monasticall Religious Regi seculorum immortali sit gloria quia te ex litteris tuis bene valere audio ipse bene habeo The health of the body at all times ought to be much estéemed muche more in this present yeare for we haue warre within the house and pestilēce is calling at dore I haue not sayd much in saying that the pestilence calleth at the doore since Auila is infected Madrigal depopulate Medina escandalized Valiodolid in great feare and Duennas mourning As touching the rest I giue your fatherhood many thankes for Ochams Dialogues that you lent me And I gyue you no lesse for your poudred meat you sent me and as I was borne in the Astuaries of Sintillana and not in the costs of Cordoua you coulde haue sent me nothing more acceptable than that salt flesh in suche sorte quod cognouisti cogitationes meas de longe From Asia vnto Rome the fayre Cleopatra sent vnto hir good friend Marcus Antonius a poudred Crane whiche he so esteemed that he eat euery day onely one morsell of that poudred meate From Illiria in the Confines of Panonia they brought presēted vnto the Emperour Augustus sixe salted Lampreys whiche meate was so newe a thing in Rome that hee onely eate but one and deuided the other fiue amongst the Senators and Embassadours Macrobius in his Saturnals recounting or to say better reprehending Lucullus the Romane of a solemne and costly supper that he made to certaine Embassadours of Asia he sayth amongst other things they did eate a Gripe in potage and a Goose in pickle In a certain inuectiue that Crispus Salust maketh againste his aduersarie Cicero amongst the most graue thinges that he dothe accuse him is that he caused to bée broughte to satisfie his wanton excesse poudred meates from Sardinia and wines from Spaine The
refraining my thoughts as I vse in the keeping of my bookes Your Lordeship sayeth that the booke you hapned vpon in my librarie was olde of an olde letter of olde tyme and of olde thinges and dyd entreat of the prices how all things was sold in Castile in the time that King Iohn the first did first raigne I wyll not only wryte vnto you that which the good king did ordeyn in Toro but also the rude and grosse spéeche wherewith that ordinaunce was written whereof maye be gathered howe there hath bene changed in Spayn not onely the maner of selling but the maner of speaking That which hath passed in this case is that the king Sir Iohn the first kept Court in the Citie of Toro in the yeare M. CCCC and .vi. in which he did ordein very particularly not only how victuals shoulde be solde but also for what prices the labourer should worke The title of that ordinance sayth these wordes which followeth in so olde a kinde of spéeche that the Spanyards themselues craue an interpreter and is much to be maruelled at but moste of all for the prices of thinges is almoste incredible Whiche I leaue vnwritten partly to be considered by these words that follow wherwith the Author concludeth his Letter as followeth Thys Letter beeing read I beleeue your Lordshippe will maruell of the good cheape that was in those dayes and of the dearth that is nowe of victuals And I beleeue that you will laugh at the rusticall spéeche that was then and of the polyshed spéeche that nowe is vsed although it be true that the vantage that we haue nowe in the spéeche they had then of vs in their liuing A Letter vnto sir Alonso of Fonseca bishop of Burgos president of the Indians wherin is declared wherfore the kings of Spayne be intituled Catholike RIght magnificent and Indian Proconsull about twenty dayes past they gaue me a letter from your honour and aboue fifteene dayes since I did write an answere of the same the which no man to this day hath come to aske neither do I know by whome to send it Your lordship doth write that I should aduertise your honor what it is that they say here of your Lordship to speake with libertie and to say you the truth they say al in this Court that you are a very good christian and a very vntractable Bishop also they say that you are long prolix negligent and indetermined in the affaires that you haue in hand and with the futers that follow you which is worste of all that many of them doe returne to their houses spente and not dispatched they saye that your Lordship is fierce proude impacient and suspicious and that many doe leaue their businesse vndetermined to see themselues by your Lordship so ouershadowed Others say that you are a man that deales in troth you speak truth and that you are a friende of truth and that a man giuen to lying was neuer séene to be your friend also they say that you are right in that you commaund iust in your iudgements and moderate in your executions and that whiche is more than all that in matters of iustice and in the determination therof you haue neither passion or affection they say that you are of muche compassion pitifull and an almes giuer and that whiche can not be spoken but to your greate praise to many poore and in necessitie from whom you take goods by Iustice on the other parte you giue it them oute of your chamber Your Lordeship hathe not to maruell of that which I say neither doe I mislike of that which you doe bycause out of the one and the other there may be gathered that no man in this worlde is so perfect but there is in him to bée amended eyther any man so euill that hath not in him to be praysed The historie writers do note Homere of vain spéech Alexander for furious Iulius Caesar for ambicious Pompeius for proude Demetrius for vicious Haniball for periured Vespasian for couetous Traiane for a wine bibber and Marcus Aurelius for amorous Amongst men so illustre glorious and heroicall as all these were it is not much that your Lordship do pay for a pounde of waxe to be of their fraternitie And this pounde is not bicause you are an euill Christian but for that you were of weake pacience There is no vertue more necessarie in him that gouerneth a common wealthe than is patience for the Iudge that is measured in that he speaketh and dissembleth the iniuries that they doe vnto him he maye descende but not fall The Prelates and Presidentes that haue charge to gouerne people and determyne causes muche more than other menne ought to lyue circumspectly and be of more suffering for if we of you be iudged beléeue me that of vs also you are beholden vewed and considered There is nothing in this worlde more sure than he whiche is feared of many ought also to feare many for if I will be a Iudge of your goodes for the same you will be a vewer of my life and thereof it commeth to passe that manye times the Iudge is more damnified in his fame than the surer in his goodes My Lorde all this is to be vnderstoode of Iudges that bée proude of euill complexion and melancholike Suche as bée milde gentle and suffring they do not examine the liues they leade but also they dissemble the weakenes they commit He that hathe charge of the common wealth it is necessary that he haue a milde condicion in such wise that when he shall sée weakenes that he make strong and where he séeth courage that he praise it and where he séeth want of foresight that hée prouide and where he séeth dissolution that he chastise and where he séeth necessitie to succour and where he séeth sedition to appease it and where he séeth conformitie to conserue it and where he séeth suspicion to cleare it and where he séeth heauinesse to remedie it and where he séeth gladnes to temper it for after extreme pleasure and gladnesse many times do follow no small distresses If in your vertuous attempts ye take in hand there shall happen some successe not conformable to youre good desires and if it shall also chaunce that you be grieued therewith impute not all the fault vpon your selfe for the man that doth all that he can do we cannot say to him that he doth not that he ought to do since in bloud I hold you for kinsman in conuersation for friend in authoritie for my good Lord and in deseruing for father I shall not leaue to pray you as a father and beséeche you as my good Lord that you be mild in conuersation and measured in your words bycause of Iudges Lordes as you are at sometimes they do more féele a word than of another the push of a laūce But since in all this kingdome it is notorious that youre Lordship is honest of your
a wype To the Father Prior of Corta caeli I sende a riche palia for my sake I pray you to cōmaunde that it bée giuen him in my behalf to visit him bicause I lodged long time with him am much bound affectioned vnto him No more but that our Lord be your protector and kéepe you from an euill lemman and heale you of your goute From Madrid the thirde of Marche .1527 A letter vnto the Bishop of Zamora Sir Anthony of Acuna wherein he is sharply reprehended for that he was captain of the commons that rebelled in Spaine REuerent and seditious Prelate Zalobrena the sergeant of your bande gaue mée a Letter of yours whiche presently I coulde not vnderstand but after I had read returned againe to reade the same I did sée it was no letter but a bill that the Bishop of Zamora had sente wherein he dyd desie and threaten that he woulde kill me or commaunde mée to be chastized The cause of this defiaunce your Lordshippe declareth to procéede for that in Villa Braxima I withdrew Sir Peter Giron from your parcialitie and counselled hym to cease to followe you and retire to serue the king I my Lorde doe accept your defiance and hold my selfe defyed not that wée kill our selues but that we examin our selues not to the ende wée goe vnto the fielde but to incommende our selues to reason Which reason as a viewer of our factes shall declare whether of vs is moste culpable I in followyng and obeying the Kyng or you in altering and reuolting the kingdome I remēber me being as thē but yong in Trecenon a manour house of Gueuara I did sée my vncle Sir Ladron sir Beltram my father mourne in black for your father in verie trouth my lord Bishop seeing you as I did sée you in Villa Braxima compassed with artillery accōpanied with souldiours and armed at al points with more reason we might weare gréen bicause you liue than black for that your father died The diuine Plato of two thinges did not discerne which first to bewayle that is to wit the death of good men or the life of the wicked for it is a most great grief vnto the heart to sée the good so soon to die and the wicked so long time to liue A certain Greeke béeing demanded for what cause he shewed so great sorow in the death of Agesilaus He answered I wéepe not bicause Agesilaus died but for that Alcibiades remaineth liuing whose life offendeth the Goddes and escandalizeth the world A certain Gentleman of Medina who is named Iohn Cnaso reported that being appointed to haue the ouersight of your bringing vp he was driuen to change foure Nursses in six moneths for that in nursing you were fierce wayware and importune in suckyng It séemeth vnto mée my Lorde Bishop that since in your childhoode you were so paynfull and in your lyfe so sedicious it were great reason that in your olde yeares as you shoulde be quiet if not for your deseruing yet to repose you shoulde seeke quietnesse holding as you haue in youre possession thrée score yeare completed ▪ and shortely maye boaste youre selfe of thrée score and tenne accomplyshed it seemeth to mée no euyll counsayle that you offer if it lyke you the flower to God for that you bestowed so muche branne in the worlde Since your gardein is blasted your vinedage ended youre floure fallen your primetyme finished your youthe passed you olde age come it were muche more conueniente to take order for amendment of olde sinnes reformation of youre life than to execute the office of Captaine ouer rebelling cōmoners If you will not followe Christe that made you yet folow sir Lewes of Acuna that begat you at whose gates many poore euery day did féede and at your gates we sée not but playing and blaspheming souldiours To make of souldiours priests it passeth but of priests to make souldiors is an acte moste scandalous whervnto I wil not say your Lordship consented but that you exactely haue perfourmed You broughte from Zamora to Tordissillas thrée hundreth Massing Priestes not to instructe the Kinges subiectes but to defend that Town against the King and to remoue your Lordship from euill toungs as also for the better saluation of their soules you brought them from Zamora in the beginning of Lent in such wise that like a good pastor an excellent Prelate you remoued thē from praying to fighting in the assault which the Gentlemē gaue at Tordessillas against your bande I saw with mine eyes one of your priests with an harquebuse ouerthrow eleuen men behinde a window the grace was that when he did leuell to shoote he blessed him selfe with his péece and killed them with the pellot I sawe also before the assaulte was ended the Souldiours of oure side that were without giue that good Prelate such a blow in the forehead with an arrow that the death of that caytise was so suddain as he had neither time to confesse his sinnes nor yet so muche as to blesse himselfe But nowe the soule of that Bishop that remoued that priest from his churche the soule of that priest that slew so many men what excuse can they haue before men and what accounte maye they make to God It were a sinne to take you from the warres but much greater to make you of the church since you be so offensiue in nothing scrupulous hereof we be most certain for that you make no account to fight to kill and also to be irregular I woulde gladly knowe in whether booke you haue read most which is to wit in Vegetius whiche entreateth of matters of warres or in S. Austine his booke of Christian doctrine and that whiche I durste auouche is I haue séene you many tymes handle a partisan but neuer anye booke and it séemeth vnto mée not a little gréeuous that to the souldioures that assaulted and fel at the taking of the fort of Impudia they say that you sayde So my sonnes vp fight and die beholde my soule for yours since you dye in so iust an enterprise and a demaunde so holye My Lorde Bishop you well knowe that the Souldiors that there were slayne were excommunicate for sacriledge traytours to the King robbers of churches théeues on high ways enemies of the common wealth and maintainers of ciuill warre It is most euident that the soule of that Bishop that speaketh suche blasphemie is not much scrupulous that desireth to die as a souldiour neither doe I maruell that he desireth to die like a desperate Souldiour that neuer made account of his estate as a Bishoppe If you had raysed this warre to reforme the common wealth or to haue made frée your countrey from some oppression and taxation it might séeme you had occasion although in déed no reason but your Lordship hath not risen against the king for the weale of the kingdom but to make exchange for a better Bishoprike
sayd of him that he neuer made error in that he prognosticated either in any disease he tooke in cure Ipochras dyd giue counsel to Phisitions that they should neuer take in hād to cure anye disordered patient and did counsell the sicke to shunne the vnfortunate Phisition for sayth he he that cureth may not erre where the patient is of good gouernment and the Phisition fortunate The Philosopher Ipochras being dead for that his disciples began to cure or to say more truly to kill many sicke people of Grecia for that the science was very new and the experiēce muche lesse it was commaunded by the Senate of Athenes not only that they shoulde not cure but also depart out of all Grecia After that the disciples of Ipochras were thrust out of Grecia the art of Phisicke was banished and forgotten an hūdred and thréescore yeres so as none durst to learn and much lesse to teache the same for the Gréekes had their Ipochras in suche estimation that they affirmed that Phisicke was borne and buried with him Those hundred and thréescore yéeres being past another Philosopher and phisition was borne named Chrisippus in the kingdome of the Sicionians whiche was as renoumed amongst the Argiues as Ipochras amonst the Athenians This Philosopher Chrisippus although he were very well learned in Phisicke and very fortunate in the experience thereof of the other part he was much opinionatiue and of presuming iudgement for all the time of his life lecture and in all his bookes that he did write his purpose was none other but to impugne Ipochras in all that he had said and only to proue most true that which he affirmed in suche wise that he was the first Phisition that pulled medicine out of reason and put it in opinion The Philosopher Chrisippus being dead there was great alteration amongst the Gréekes whiche of the two doctrines they should follow whiche is to wit that of Ipochras or of Chrisippus and in the end it was determined that neither the one should be followed or the other admitted for they sayd that neyther life nor honor ought to be put in disputation After this the Gréekes remayned an other hundred yeres without Phisition vntill the time of one Aristrato a philosopher which did rise amōgst them He was cosin to the great philosopher Aristotle and was residēt in the kingdome of Macedonia where he of new did exalt the art of Phisicke not for that he was more learned than his predecessours but for that he was more fortunate than all the rest This Aristrato recouered fame by curing king Antiochus the firste of a certayne disease of the lights in reward whereof the yong prince his son that was named Ptholemus did giue a thousande Talents of siluer and a cup of golde in such wise that he wan honor thoroughout all Asia and ritches for his house This Philosopher Aristrato was he that most defamed the art of Phisicke bycause he was the first that set Phisicke asale and begā to cure for money for vntill this time all phisitions did cure some for friendship and some for charitie The Phisition Aristratus being dead ther succéeded him certaine his disciples more couetous than wise which for that they gaue thēselues to be more handsome men of their money than to cure diseases they were commaunded by the Senat of Athens that they should not presume to teach phisicke much lesse to cure any person Of other trauels that Phisick did passe ANother hundred yeres in Asia was phisick forgotten till the time that Euperices was raysed in the kingdome of Tinacria but for that he and another Phisition did vary vpon the curing of King Crisippus the which at that time raigned in that Ile it was determined by those of the kingdome that they should only cure with simple medicines and not presume to mixe or make compositiōs Long time the kingdome of Sicill continued and also the greater part of Asia without the knowledge of the art of medicine vntill the time that in the I le of Rhodes there remayned a certain notable phisition and philosopher named Herosilo a man that was in his time very learned in phisick and very skilfull in Astrology Many do say that this Herosilus was master to Ptolomeus and others say that he was not but his disciple but be it as be may he lefte many bookes written of Astrology and taught many scholers also This Herosilus held opinion that the pulse of the patient ought not to be taken in the arme but in the temples saying that there neuer wanted that which in the arme was sometime hidden This phisition Herosilus was of suche authoritie amongest the Rhodians that they held this opinion to take the poulse in the temples all the dayes of his life and also the liues of his scholers who with his scholers being all dead the opinion tooke an end although it were not forgotten Herosilus béeing deade the Rhodians would neuer more bée cured neither admit any other phisition in their countrie the one cause was not to offend the authority of their philosopher Herosilus and the other for that naturally they were enimies vnto straunge people and also no friendes of newe opinions This being past phisicke fell asléepe other .iiij. score yeres as wel in Asia as in Europa vntill the great philosopher phisition Asclepiades was raysed in the Ilande Mitiline A man sufficiently well learned and most excellent in curing This Asclepiades helde opinion that the pulse ought not to be sought in the arme as nowe they seeke but in the temples or in the nose This opinion was not so farre besides reason but that long time after him the phisitions of Rome and also of Asia did entertaine the same In all these times it was not read that any phisition was borne in Rome or came into Italy for the Romanes were the last of this world that did entertaine Clockes Iesters Barbars Phisitions Foure hundred iij. yeares and ten months the great city of Rome did passe without the entertayning of any Phisition or Chirurgian The first that hath ben read to haue entred Rome was one that was named Antony Musa a Greeke borne and in science a Phisition The cause of his comming thither was the disease of Sciatica that the Emperor Augustus had in his thigh the which when Antony Musa had cured and therof wholy deliuered him in remuneration of so great a benefite the Romanes did erect vnto him a picture of Porphiry in the fielde of Mars and farther and besides this did giue him priuiledge of citizen of Rome Antony Musa had gathered excéeding great riches also obtained the renoume of a great Philosopher if with the same he could haue bene contented and not to haue excéeded his Art of phisick but this was the chance of his sorrowfull fate Giuing him selfe to cure by Chirurgery as also by medicine it is some time necessary in that Art to cut of féete or fingers and
shall performe with right good wyll what your honor doeth commaunde as touching the exposition of the passage in Exodus which I preached last in the presence of Caesar In Exodus the .25 chapter it is written that our Lord God sayde vnto Moyses Emunctoria quoque facies vbi ea quae emuncta sunt extingantur fiant de auro purissimo As if he would haue said About the lampes of the Temple thou shalt haue snuffers of most fine golde to snuffe withall and also thou shalt make a basen of gold wherein to laye the same But now to vnderstande this text very well it is conuenient and necessary to take holde of the Scripture farder of and more déeper bicause in the profound and delicate passages of the holy scripture it doth muche importe to declare the texte from the bottome and very roote Wherein it is to be noted that immediatly after our Lord God had deliuered the children of Israell out of the country of Aegipt he gaue them a lawe to obserue Priestes to informe them magistrates to gouerne them a land to inhabite Manna to susteyne them and a tabernacle to praye in The curious reader shall find in the Psalmes and Prophets many times these names repeated that is to saye Tabernacle Sanctuarie Aultar Propiciatorie Sancta Sanctorum Which names although they were verified in the synagoge of the Hebrewes there was notwithstanding a difference of the one and other Tabernacles among the Iewes was as muche as among the Christians at this present wée call Churche The order wherof although it be difficile to write neuerthelesse it is very mysticall and worthie the vnderstanding In the middes of the hoste where the Hebrues did aduance their pauilions they left a certayne space of an hundreth cubites in length and fiftie of breadth where on both sides they erected twoo stately pillers which did serue for distinctions or separations of the roume for the Priests from the people All which place as well in length as breadth the Israelites did name Tabernacle whiche is as muche to saye as a place dedicate onely to god In the middes of this tabernacle was placed a solemne and a magnificent altar where vpon the sacrifice was done there was also the greate bason of water where the Priestes did washe and for that vnto that place and no further the Israelites might not enter it was named Sanctuarium which is to say a place sanctifyed Within the Sanctuarie there was another separation of the space of thirtie cubites in length and ten of breadth made of Sittim woodde and alofte hauing the fashion or forme of heauen it was couered with a triple couerture whereof the one was made of red shepes woolle the other of goates heare and the other of Taxus skinnes whiche was for defence of the rayne and Sunne Vnder this sayde heauen and in the mids of this sayde place there was the holy table vpon which was sette the holie breade called the loues of proposition and the holie incense and other swéete odors This place héere named was called the holie Tabernacle bycause the Priestes onely myght enter vnto the whiche place no other person would aduenture to approche In the middes of this tabernacle ther was a great curtaine strained betwixt the pillers within the which was the tabernacle of witnesse wherein also was placed the tables of the law the Manna of heauen Aarons rod. This place was intituled the holy of holiest wherin the high Priest might enter once a yeare Within the sayd Arke there was a table of fine gold somwhat more long thā broad wheron were placed two Cherubins of golde at euery corner their wings alofte stretched abroade beholding eche other In the middes betwixt the cherubins there was a darke clowde within the whiche was the Angell that gaue answeres as God commanded And also answered what the good olde Moyses determined In this place where these cherubins are was the moste secrete and sacred of all the tabernacle This place was called the Propitiatorie bycause in that place the Lorde God did manifest himselfe more propice and neare as well to pardon as to answere them Besides the propitiatory and neare the aultar of the tabernacle night and daye was fire wherein also they did burne the holocaustes sacrifices and oblations Within the tabernacle and propiciatory ten paces or there aboutes off the mercie seate or Sancta Sanctorum was placed a magnificent candelsticke of fine golde whereon were fyxed sixe lampes full of oyle Olyue which did burne day nyght to giue light to the tabernacle Héere it is to be noted that neither in the auncient Tabernacle of Moyses either in that famouse Temple of Salomon it was not commaunded either permitted to burne tallowe candels eyther tapers of waxe but lampes of oyle for the mysterie of the waxe the onely woorkmanshippe of the hony Bée was left to lighten the Catholicke Churche And bycause the Tabernacle the Sanctuarie the Aulter the mercy Seate and Sancta Sonctorum were holie places and edifyed onely vnto God The law commanded they shooulde be decked nete cleare and gladsome and not fowle or fylthie Wherefore the Priestes had alwayes neare vnto the candelsticke snuffers of golde to snuffe the lampes and a basen of golde incontinently to place and put out that whiche was snuffed Beholde the litterall sense and that whiche was permitted in the Synagogue nowe ryght reuerende it is greate reason that wée declare what wée vnderstande as touching these snuffers and the snuffing of the lampes The signification of this discourse touching the mysterie of the snuffers of Golde SVrely a thing woorthie the noting also to be maruelled at that fire or flame being a thing that doth purifie mundifie and giue light notwithstanding it throweth from it selfe and produceth fume and smoke bothe tedious and stinking and therefore I would gladly demaund of him that shal heare or reade the same what hée woulde answere whereof it is That the aultar beyng holy the Tabernacle holy the Propipitiatorie holy the Arcke holie the candelsticke holy and all that there is holy and blessed notwithstanding there remaineth alwayes in the Temple to clippe to nete to purge to snuffe and whervpon to set the foote We haue hereby to vnderstande and to inferre That there hath not bene neyther is there any nation congregation common wealth estate or person so holy so perfect or so reformed that there is not in the same to be amended or else purged wiped also snuffed For to say the troth we sée no person lyue so well that might not and ought not to liue better than he doth And howe commeth it to passe that any dare canonize for Saint the most holy man in this worlde séeing the scripture sayeth The childe new borne to be in sinne God finding causes to chasten the Angels doth he not finde wherfore to purge and snuffe men Hée that heareth the royall Prophete Dauid speake after this manner Ecce
enim in iniquitatibus conceptus sum in peccatis concepit me mater mea Durste he peraduenture say that in him was no sinne And God sayde vnto Noe Quòd omnis caro corruperat viam suā what may hée be that will saye he had no sinne considering that God condemneth the vniuersall worlde of sinne Since the Psalmist sayeth with most cleare voyce Omnis homo mendax how cōmes it to passe that any dare excuse himselfe of sinne The Scripture saying thus Adam sinned in eating of the defended frute Cain sinned in killing his brother King Dauid sinned by his adultery Ionathas sinned in eating the hony Absalon in conspiring against his father Dauid and also Salomon sinned by idolatrye Then since these glorious personages be fallen downe flatte is there any person that may thinke himselfe safe from stumbling And in the name of God I craue to be answered for what cause did the diuine Paule cry saying Qui se existimat stare videat ne cadat but to the ende that euery man shoulde consider with himselfe that hee is fallen into sinne or that shortly hée may fall into sinne He that considereth the moste infortunate fall of Iudas the disciple of Iesus Christ accompanying Iesus Christe and hearing Iesus Christ dareth he aduenture to trust and haue confidence in himselfe Since wée are descended of sinners haue taken our byrth of sinners be conuersant with sinners and committe so enorme and deadly sinnes say we not most true that they be most vniust which affirme estéeme themselues for iust and rightuous I admitte that euery man say what he will and performe of himselfe what hée thinketh good For if I will confesse the troth that in mée there is many things to be amended many things to be clipt or shorne many things to be purged and to too muche to be snuffed And surely it is no small parte of Iustification to confesse our faultes notwithstanding the confession suffiseth not if wée do not inforce our selues to correction For if a candell haue too long a snuffe it suffiseth not a little to dresse and erect but to snuffe the same And for that if in this whole worlde there were but one vice wherein wée myght fall all men woulde beware thereof But séeyng there be so many quagmires wherein to bée myred it is a thing too common that if we sincke not to the bottome at the leaste we remayne all bemyred Yf wée wyll haue the candle cleare and of himselfe gyue lyght it is very necessary that he be oft snuffed By this that I haue sayde I woulde say that the man that hath shame in his face and woulde preserue his conscience presently when he hath committed the faulte he muste determine to amende For if he once harden his conscience late or neuer doth hée amende his lyfe To this purpose the wise Salomon sayde Impiusciòn in profundum malorum venerit contemnit as if he shoulde say He that the Lorde doth refuse to succour with his mercifull hande deferring from day to day to amend he goeth deeper and deeper to the bottome beeing clad in suche manner with sinne as he in no wise wyll yeelde to correction Wherefore God in commaunding that at the foote of the lampes that did light in the Temple there shoulde be snuffers to snuffe them it is no other thing as mée thinketh but that euery man ought to séeke with whome to bée indoctrined in that whiche hee ought to followe and remoued from his errour wherein hée offended For in his owne cause it is not permittible for any man to bée Iudge of himselfe But how contrary is the fashion at these dayes in this miserable worlde The glorious Apostle S. Paule sayde In nouissanis diebus coaceruabunt sibi magistros prurientes auribus which is They shall more delyght to haue with them flatterers to deceyue them than directers by good counsell to aduise them I returne to say and reiterate that it is no other thing to commaunde to haue snuffers nyghe vnto the candlesticke than to gyue vs to vnderstande that wée ought often to accustome our selues to purge our conscience For if it be necessarie in one houre thrée or foure tymes to snuffe the candle it shall not be ouermuche that euery wéeke at the leaste once or twice to purge and snuffe the soule The candle hauing a greate snuffe may not well gyue lyght and the soule laden with sinnes may finde no merite And therefore it is necessarie to gyue and maynteyne muche as to a lampe or to snuffe him well as a candle bycause sinnes that bee rooted and growen olde be difficile to confesse and harde to amende Therein it is also to bée vnderstoode God commaunded that the snuffers wherewith they shoulde snuffe the lampes and also the bason wherin they shoulde lay the snuffers to be not of grosse but pure and moste fine golde to gyue vs to vnderstande that the King the Prelate the Iudge the gouernour and giuer of chasticement ought not to containe in thēselues any vice wherfore to be shorue clipt or snuffe for that it is not permittable by the lawes humane or diuine that one théefe should iudge another théefe to be hanged And then are the snuffers of leade or of yron when the Iudge or gouernor is of a life lesse honest in his speache inordinate and wherein hée iudgeth of partiall affection For otherwise it shall be more expedient to neate and purge the snuffers than to snuffe the Candelles And then be the snuffers of fine golde when the Iudge or Prelate is of a syncere life modest in his purposes zelous of his Common wealth a right Iusticer as also by the voyce of common consent to haue nothing whereof to be amended and lesse to be desired Faciebat Dauid iudicium iustitiam omni populo This is written of Dauid in the seconde booke of Kings which is as muche to say That the good king Dauid did sitte openly giuing audience to euery man and doing iustice to all men Certaynly there bée many that as Iudges do heare all in publike and smal is the number which giueth right to all men And some that do iustice vnto diuers but not many that equally minister iustice to all men Which ought in no wise to be done much lesse to be consented vnto For the lawe ought not to go as the king willeth but rather the King as the lawe willeth O wordes moste certainely to bée noted and to memorye bée incommended by the which is sayde of the good King Dauid not by the hands of another but of himselfe not in his house but openly not once but euery daye not to one person but to al the people not that he would prolong them but it is sayde from the present hour◠in whiche hée hearde them he did dispatche them The Iudges that God did constitute and send into diuers places all haue bene holy and iust which is to say Noe
what is he that dareth to saye that there is any thing which he cānot do or performeth that which is not reasonable Then presently lette vs examine the life of the good Iesus Christ and we will sée if we can finde wherin he hath bin extreme or wherein he hath vsed excesse since wée all confesse that his life hath not bin but as a clocke to gouerne vs and as a butte whereat to shoote Neyther are we able to saye that he committed any excesse in eating or drinking for presently after he was baptized hée wēt to fast in the desert fortie dayes fortie nights on a tāke And lesse did Iesus Christ vse excesse in his apparrell since it is not found written that he had more than two coates and yet went bare foote Not in sléeping eyther in recreating that hée vsed excesse since that many times he passed the night without rest slepe or lodging and tyred with trauell was driuen to repose vpon the welles side of Samaria Not in woordes eyther in his Sermons since his enimies did saye that neuer any man spake so little so well and with suche modestie Not in the lawe which he hath giuen vs eyther in the preceptes which he hath ordeyned for he hath not commaunded in his Gospell any thing whiche is prophane and in recompence he hath promised the obseruers therof life euerlasting Neyther hath hée vsed excesse in hourding of treasures or other comfortes of mans lyfe for that hée lyued Apostolike and all those of his colledge whiche partly lyued of Almes and did eate eares of corne in the fieldes for necessitie And to say the troth and to speake clerely of this matter the excesse and the greate extremitie whiche the blissed Iesus committed was not as it is sayd in drinking eating sleping or in any other thing but only in loue for all his other works and actions were finished except the loue which he did beare that was infinite and had no ende And therfore if any would ballaunce the griefes sorrowes afflictions and teares of Iesus Christ with the loue that he did beare vs without comparison hée shall finde his loue farre to excéede and surmount his tormentes for that vpon the trée of the Crosse his passion had an ende but his loue and affection did neuer ceasse And certaynly Iesus Christ in all things vsed greate moderation excepte in his loue whiche he did beare vnto the vniuersall worlde béeyng so excessiue that it excéeded the humanitie approching very néere vnto the diuinitie And therfore if he had not bene God and man as he was it had bene impossible to haue loued with so great affection and to haue bestowed so greate and maruelous things for that whiche he loued Moste certaynly Iesus vsed excesse and greate extremitie to suffer so many thornes to pearce his sacred heade so many other passions and tormentes to afflict his moste diuine bodye whiche passions and tormentes did farre excede the afflictions which the Martyrs indured Therfore we say that greate was the excesse and extreme was the loue that Iesus Christ did beare vs which he did manifest in the workes of a most true and perfect louer Moyses and Helie did not common with Iesus Christ of gouernement of the family neither of their synagoge but of the ignominious staunderous death which Iesus Christ should endure at Ierusalem and how he should die for all men and that he shoulde be tormented with excéeding afflictions whiche hée should indure with an heart accompanied with extreme loue Si diligitis me mandata mea seruate which is to say My deare disciples it is not sufficient to say that you loue me if otherwise you be negligent to obserue my commaundements for that you see I am not satisfied to loue you well in woordes but that I shew and performe the same in dedes Yf we would profoundly regard these wordes of Iesus Christ we shoulde finde the loue of God not onely to consist in affection but in effect I would say that good workes be more exorable vnto God than holy desires For him that is féeble and sicke it suffiseth that he loue but he that is hole and sounde ought to loue and woorke for Iesus Christ our God doeth accept the wante of power but is displeased with want of will. Diligite inimicos vestros benefacite ijs qui oderunt vos As if he should say Loue your enimies and do good vnto them that persecute you Iesus Christ gyuing to vnderstād that loue ought to be put in effect Likewise the scripture sayth Ignis in altari meo semper ardebit sacerdos nutriet illum mittens ligna VVithin the Temple that is dedicate sayeth the Lorde and vpon the Aultar which is consecrate vnto me I will that it be alway furnished with fire one of the Priestes hauing charge with wood to maintaine the same that it go not out In such wise that God is not satisfied that for his own tyme there shoulde be fire of loue but also therewithall hée commaundeth that it be entertayned with the woodde of good workes For as fire goeth out if it be not maintayned with wood so likewise loue groweth cold which is not mixed with good workes and as the fire without wood turneth to ashes so doth loue without workes take an ende and finishe The Philosopher will say that habitus is ingendred of actus and the Diuine will say that the good loue is conserued by the meane of the good worke Speaking of the extreme loue that God did beare vs Ieremie sayeth In charitate perpetua dilexi te which is I loue not as others neither is my loue like the loue of others for I loue mine with charitie and do intreate them with pitie The loue of man is such that if they determine to loue any thing it is moste likely they loue the same for the perfection therof As if he shoulde loue an Orient stone it is for the propertie or beautie thereof if he loue meate it is for the tast If he loue golde it is for that it is precious If he loue Musicke it is for that it gladdeth him If he loue his wife it is for hir bountie or beautie In such wise that man aduaunceth not to loue any thing in which he hath not some opinion that it shall like or please him But far otherwise is the loue whiche God beareth vs For we knowe not in ourselues any cause why God should be in loue with vs which is most euident for that our eies delight to behold nothing but vaine things our eares to heare lyes flatteries our hands ready to rapine our harts bent vpon couetise In suche wise that in our wretched and miserable person God findeth not any occasion why he should loue vs but many wherefore to hate vs Notwithstanding the blessed Iesus determined to remedie the sinnes that hée sawe in vs and the ingratitude that he founde in vs it pleased him to succour
the rest The conditions of a good king Princes ought so to recreate themselues that thereof ryse none offence Princes ought to limite their recreations In the auncient times yron was vsed in coyne It is to be noted that all lawes are reduced from three lawes Seuen maner of auncient lawes Lawes onely for Romane Senators The lawes for warre they vsed in Rome The first that made lawes for warres The procurer of the people was most priuiledged in Rome We receiue liberalitie from the Prince when he commaundeth to serue Note the great vertues of the Philosopher Licurgus Of him that brought vp one dog fat in idlenesse and in the house the other in the field To be good it doth much profite to be well brought vp A notable proclamation daily made A right worthy search Bathes and oyntmēts forbidden The authoritie of old men The disobedient sonne both chastised and disinherited A friend by fraternitie New inuentiō and the inuentors banished An honour vsed to the dead that valiantly died in the warres Gentlemen may commen but not cōtend For what causes a Gentleman may be inflamed with choler Helia is nowe Ierusalē and Byzantio is Constantinople Numantia was named of Numa Pompilius The Numantins in the warres did rather die than flee Rome was enuious of the fortune of Numantia Nine Consulles were slaine at the siege of Numantia The good Captaine ought rather loose his life than make an infamous truce In the warres vice doth more hurt thā the enimies The Numātines did eate the fleshe of the Romains To fight with a desparate man is no small perill The noble minded had rather die free than lyue a slaue The Numantines did kill their wiues and children No Numantine taken prisoner The continuance of the prosperitie of Numantia In the warres it importeth dot to write with an euill pen. More is spent to maynteyne opinion than to defende reason No excuse may excuse the losse of a battayle A iust warre is loste by an vniust captaine An euill lyfe doth come to make repayment in one day The more noble victorie is that which is obtayned by counsel thā by the sword Iron was made to eare fields and not to kill men We ought rather to make tryall by perswasion than by sworde The bloudie Captain doth finishe his days with an euill ende Iulius Cesar pardoned more enimies than he kilde It is more loued that is obteyned by request than by the sworde In tyme of warre it besemeth not a knighte to write from his house Note the right conditions of a right gētleman Is a gentleman a fault is tolerable if it be not vile The good knight hath in possessiō more armour than bookes Iudas Machabeus had rather lose his his lyfe than his fame To cōmaund many wil cost muche Note the wordes of a valiant captain To demaunde how many not where the enimies be is a signe of fear Words wordthy to be engraued on his tombe Of more value is the noble mynded expert captain than a greate armie Who was the valiāt Viriato captain of Spayne Viriato was inuincible in the warres Fewe vices are sufficiente to darken many victories Note what is due betwixte friendes Ingratitude seldom or neuer pardoned The grace that is giuen in preaching is seldome giuen in writing The hearte is more moued hearing the word of God than by reading The old lawe gaue punishment to the euill but no glorie to the good Vntill Christ none proclaymed rest For what cause Christe saide my yoke is sweete and my burden is light The propertie of a faithfull louer Perfect loue endureth all trauell Christ did not commaund vs to doe that whiche he did not first experimēt himself The worlde doth more chastise than pardon but in the house of God more pardoned than chastised In all the lawes of the world vices be permitted Christes lawes excepted The Lawe of christ is sharp vnto the wicked but easie and light to the vertuouse Daughters are to be married before they grow old The Ipineās did write the date of their letters with the superscriptiō With what paper they were wont to write Note the inck of old time Famouse eloquence of the Auctor in a base matter Notable exāples of cōtinēcie in Princes Catiline a tyrant of Rome It ought not to be written that cannot be written The inuētion of the A.B.C. The rentes of great Lords ought to be agreeable to their titles Gamsters at dice play them selues to nothing Postes in old time made great speede Euill newes neuer cōmeth to late The auctor reporteth of his linage of Gueuara To descend of a noble bloud prouoketh to be vertuous The auncient and noble Linages in Rome were much esteemed In Rome they bare no office that descended of traitours The properties of a man born of a good linage A note of the Giants of the old time The differēce betwixt the great and litle men Of a little Frier of the Abbay of Guysando Little thinges giue more offence than profite A sise is obserued in nothing but in sermōs More grauitie is required in writing thā in talking Note the breuitie of ancient writing Twoo Romane Captaines would two manner of warres The warres against Numantia was vmust The nature of warres that is to be holden iust Warres betwixt christiās dependeth of the secretes God. Eight condicions meete to be performed by a captaine generall of the warres The good knight ought to imitate his good predecessors He is not to be intituled a knight that is rich but vertuous In the talke of warres not that I haue heard but that I haue scene is most commendable for a gentleman The armes of a knight are giuen him to fight and not to behold Age and abilitie be mothers of good counsell The generous and noble mind dothe more feare to flie than to abide In soden perils it needeth not to vse lōg and delayed counsels A fort ought to be the sepulchre of the defendant If many be married they are not fewe that be repentant No married man may liue without trauell That man is miserable that is maried vnto a foolish woman Worship is not blemished by answering of a letter A Prince did write vnto a bitmaker A noble Romane did write vnto a plough man. No man is so euill in whom there is not somwhat to be praysed Negligence presumptiō be two things that loseth friends Euill nurture is hurtfull in all estates Where is money there is dispatch God doth many times bring things to passe rather by the weake thā by the strong Amongst .xij. sonnes the yongest was most excellent To lacke friends is perillous And some friends be tedious We ought rather to bewaile the life of the wicked than the death of the iust A man is to be knowne but not to be vnderstood The battell of Rauenna for euermore shall be renoumed Lesse in the warres than many other thing we haue to beleue fortune With great eloquence the aucthor declareth the nature of