the best and great Iupiter and thundering and Stator that is Stable or standing not so called as Historians deliuer because that after a vowe vndertaken he stayed the Roman Armie flying away But because all thinges stand by his free benefite therefore was he named stander or stablisher If you call him also Fate or destinie you shall not belie him For sith that destinie is nothing but a folded order of causes hee is the principall first cause of al wheron the residue do depend Which last words are so godlie spoken that slaunder it selfe cannot slaunder them In this point dissented not from the Stoickes that greate Writer to a greate King I thinke that Necessitie ought not to be called any thing els but God as a stedfast and stable nature And destinie that which knitteth together all thinges and holdeth his course freely without let or impediment Which sayinges if they haue any tast of temeritie in them yet not of impietie and beeing rightlie interpreted differ not much from our true fate or destinie I doe in good earnest giue this commendation to the Stoickes that no other sect of Philosophers auowed more the maiesty and prouidence of God nor drewe men neerer to heauenlie and eternall thinges And if in treading this trace of Destinie they went somewhat astray it was thorough a laudable and good desire they haue to withdrawe blind men from that blind Goddesse I meane FORTVNE The nature whereof they did not onelie mightilie hisse out of their companie but euen the verie name CHAPT XIX The fourth and true kind of Destinie expounded The name brieflie spoken of it is lightly defined and prooued to differ from Prouidence THis much may suffice touching the opinions and dissentions of the Auncients For why shoulde I ouer curiouslie search the secretes of hell as the prouerbe is I shall haue ynough to doe with true Destinie which now I propound and illustrate calling it AN ETERNAL DECREE OF GODS PROVIDENCE which cannot bee taken away no more than prouidence it selfe And let not any man cauill with mee about the name because I say there is not in Latine an other proper word to expresse that thing but FATVM What haue old writers abused it Let vs vse it and so inlarging this word out of the prison of the Stoickes let vs bring it to a better light It is called in Latine FATVM a fando of speaking neither is it any thing els properlie but The saying and commaundement of God And this is it which novve I seeke for I define it eyther vvith that famous PICVS A ranke and order of causes depending vpon Gods counsell or vvith mine owne vvordes more obscurely and subtillie An immooueble decree of Prouidence inherent in things mooueable whiâ—h firmlie effecteth euerie thing in his order place and time I call it A decree of Prouidence because I agree not vvhollie vvith the Diuines of our dayes let them giue me leaue in the free studie of the trueth who in name and nature confound it with prouidence I know it to be a hard matter and full of temeritie to conceiue or restraine vnto certaine wordes that Super-naturall and super-celestiall essence I meane God or ought that belongeth to him yet vnto mans capacitie I defend and maintaine that prouidence is one thing properlie and the same which wee call fate or destinie another For I consider prouidence no otherwise then that it be A Power and facultie in God of seeing knowing gouerning all things A POWER I say vniuersal vndiuided guarded and as Lucretius speaketh vnited together But Destinie seemeth to descend into the things themselues and to be seene in the particulars of them being as it were a disposing and bestowing abroad of that vniuersall prouidence by particulars Therefore Prouidence is in God and attributed to him alone Destinie in the things and to them is ascribed You thinke I trifle and as it is saide bore holes in Millet seede No Lipsius I take this out of the talk of the common people among whome nothing is more vsuall than to say This was my good or euill dâ—stinie and likewise this was the fatall decree of this kingdome or that town But no man so speaketh of prouidence no man applyeth it to the thinges themselues without impietie and dirision Therefore I said well that the one of them was in God thother trulie from God and perceiued in the selfe thinges I say moreouer that though Prouidence be not really diuided from Destiny yet it is more excellent and more ancient Euen as we are taught in the schooles of the wise to say that the Sunne is more worthy than the light Eternity than time Vnderstanding then reason But to drawe into a short summe these curious not common matters Thou seest I haue iust cause both to vse this distinction and also to retaine the name of Destinie against the new Consistory of Diuines For why Those auncient famosed Fathers prohibite mee not but that I may vse in his right and true sense the word DESTINY But now that I may return to make plaine my former definition I sayd it was An inherent decree to shew that Destinie should be marked in the thinges to the which it commeth and not from whence it proceedeth I added In mooueable thinges signifying that although Destinie it selfe bee immooueable yet it taketh not away motion nor any naturall facultie from thinges but worketh easilie and without force euen as the markes and signes imprinted by God in each thing do require In causes secundarie I meane that be necessarie it worketh necessarilie In natural causes naturallie in voluntarie causes voluntarilie In contingent contingentlie Wherefore in respect of the things it doth neither force nor constrain But as euerie thing is made to doe or suffer so it directeth and turneth all thinges But if you recall it to his first originall I meane God and his prouidence I affirme constantly and boldly that all thinges are done necessarily which are done by destiny Lastlie I ioyned of the Order place and time establishing that which I saide before that prouidence was of things in vniuersality Destiny by distribution in particularities By ORDER I vnderstande the course and vniting together of causes which destiny limitteth By PLACE and TIME I meane that woonderful and incomprehenble power whereby all euentes or actions are tyed to their certaine places and moments of time It was destinitie that Tarquinius should be banished his kingdome Be it so but first let the adulterie bee committed You see the order of the causes It was destiny that Caesar should bee killed So But in the Senate by the image of Pompei You see the place That Domitian should bee murthered of his owne people Let him be murthered but yet at the very houre euen the fift which in vaine he sought to preuent Thus you see the time CHAPT XX. It is distinguished by foure Notes from Stoicall
bene through out all Christendome these many yeares with the miserable desolations of this one Iewish nation CHAPT XXII Of the destructions of the Gertians and Romaines by warre The great numbers of them that haue bene slain by certaine Captaines Also the wasting of the new world And the extreame miseries of captiuitie I Rest not heer but hold my way forwards into Greece And if I should recount in order all the wars that those people haue had among themselues at home or abroad with others it would be tedious to tell and without any profit Thus much onely I say that this region hath continually bene so wasted and hacked with the sword of calamities as Plutarke recordeth which I neuer reade without anger and admiration that the whole nation in his time was not able to make three thousand souldiers And yet saith he in times past euen in the Persian warre one little towne by Athens called Megara sufficed to raise that nomber Alas how art thou decayed O thou garden of the whole earth The glory and bewtie of Nations There is scarce now a Towne of any name in this distressed countrey of Belgica that cannot match that number of warrelike people Now shall we take a view of the Romans and of Italie Augustine and Orosius haue already eased me of this busines in rehearsing See their writings and in them huge seas of euils One Carthaginian war euen the second within the countrey of Italy Spaine and Sicilie and within the space of 17. yeares consumed fourteene hundred thousand men and aboue For I haue searched the number very narrowly The ciuil war between Cesar and Pompei 300000. And the weapons of Brutus Cassius and Sextus Pompeius more then that What speak I of wars managed vnder the conduct of diuers persons Behold Only C. Cesar O the plague and pestilence of mankind confesseth and that with boasting That hee slue in battels eleuen hundred ninety and two thousand men And yet the butchery of his ciuil wars runneth not in this reckoning These slaughters were committed vpon forreners in those few yeares wherein he ruled ouer Spaine and France And yet notwithstanding in this respect he which was surnamed THE GREAT surpassed him who caused it to be written in the temple of Minerua That he had ouercome put to flight slaine vpon yeelding receiued to mercy twenty hundred fower score foure thousand men And to make vp the account adde vnto these if thou wilt Q. Fabius who slue 110000. Frenchmen C. Marius 200000. Cimbrians And in a later age Aetius who in a famous battell killed an hundred three score two thousand HuÌ„gariaÌ„s Neyther doo thou imagine that men onely were destroyed in these great wars But likewise goodly townes were ruinated by them Cato surnamed Censorius boasteth that he tooke more townes in Spaine then he had bin daies in that countrey Sempronius Gracchus if we giue credit to Polybius vtterly ouerthrew thirtie in the same region I thinke that no age since the worlde began is able to match these but only ours yet in another world A few Spaniardes sailing within these fourescore years into that maruellous wide new world O good god what exceeding great slaughters haue they wrought what wonderful desolations I speake not of the causes and equitie of the war but onely of the euents I behold that huge scope of ground a great matter to haue seen I say not to haue subdued it how it was walked through by twenty or thirty souldiors And these naked heards of people cut downe by them euen as corne with a sieth Where art thou the most mighty Iland of Cuba Thou Haytie You Ilands Iucaiae which heretofore being replenished with fiue or six hundred thousand men in some of you scant fifteene are left aliue to preserue your seede Shew thy selfe a whiles thou Peru and Mexico O maruellous and miserable spectacle That mighty large countrey and in truth another world appeareth desolate and wasted no otherwise than if it had beene consumed with fire from heauen My mind and toong both do faile me Lipsius in recounting these matters And I see al our stirs in comparison of those to bee nothing else but small fragments of straw or as the Comicke Poet saith Little mites And yet haue I not spoken at al of the condition of captiue slaues then the which nothing was more miserable in the auncient wars Free borne men noble men children women al whatsoeuer they were did the conquerour cary away And who knoweth whether they were led into perpetual seruitude or not And truely the same such a miserable kind of slauery as I haue good cause to reioice that not so much as the resemblance of any such hath heretofore byn neither at this time is in Christendome The Turkes indeed doo practise it And there is no other thinge that maketh that Scythian souereigntie more odious and terrible vnto vs. CHAPT XXIII Most memorable examples of pestilence and famine in oulde times past Also the intollerable tributes that haue bene then And the rauenous pillings and powlings YEt thou proceedest on in thy whining complaint adioining moreouer plague and famine tributes rapines Let vs thereâ—ore make comparison of all these but in fewe wordes Tell me how many thousands haue died of the pestilence in all the low-contries within these fiue or six yeares I thinke fiâ—tie or at the most one hundred thousand But one plague in Iudaea in the time of King Dauid swypped awaie threescore and ten thousand in lesse space then one whole daie Vnder Gallus and Volusianus the Emperours a plague beginning in Ethiopia went thorough all the Romaine prouinces and continued wasting and deuouring fifteene yeares together I neuer reade of a pestilence greater then that for continuaunce of time or scope of places where it raged Notwithstanding for fiercenes and extreme violence that pestilence was more notorious which raigned in Bizance and the places confining vnder the Emperour Iustinian The extremity of which plague was so outragious that it made euerie day 5000. coarses and some daies 10000. I would be afraide for suspition of falshood to write this except I had very credible witnesses therof that liued in the same age No lesse wonderful was the â—â—ague of Afrike which began about the subuertion of Carthage In the region of Numidia onely now called Barbary it consumed eight hundred thousand men In the maritine coastes of Affricke 200000. And at Vtica 30000. soldiers which were left there for defence of that coast Again in Greece vnder the raigne of Michael duca the plague was so hot That the liuing sufficed not to burie the dead Those bee the wordes of Zonara Finally in Petrarches time as he recordeth the pestilence waxed so feruent in Italie that of euery thousand persons scant ten were left aliue And now touching famine our age hath seene none in comparison of old time
haue with some more care and diligence of mine owne reduced the summe of both bookes into a large and plaine table containing the argument of the whole conference vnder one viewe the better to helpe thy memorie if it please thee to consider of the matter with more mature deliberation If thou reape any pleasure or profit by this discourse giue thanks next vnto God to my Author then to the patron for whom onely and by whome the same was both englished and published For mine owne part I desire no more but curteous acceptation of my trauaill I hope I deserue no lesse A little good-will and a few good wordes for many daies work is no vnreasonable rewarde And he that grudgeth to giue such bare wages as I would be loth to be his man so if himselfe were bound to serue a bad master seuen yeeres after the same rate I wot well he would mislike his penny-worths before that prentiship were expired and euer after looke on other mens labours with a more fauorable eie But for thee curteous reader at whose hands I doubt not to receaue better entertainement I beg hartely of him which giueth euery good gift that by reading meditating vpon this little treatise it will please him to worke in thy mind such a firme impression of CONSTANCIE as neither the violent flouds of common calamities may be able to wash away nor the firie flame of priuate afflictions to consume the same But that as a plant set in good ground watred with the fruitfull streames flowing in goulden and siluer cesterns from the sweete fountaine of Lipsius and conueighed to thee through these clayie conduite-pipes of my tempering thou maist take deepe roote and stand immoueable against all the blastes of fortune neither terrified with feare of future mishappe nor dismaied for any perilles present or past Which victory though it seeme full of difficulty yet if thou take vnto thee the armour and wepons here offered hauing an indifferent courage of thine owne thou shalt assuredly remaine a conquerour of those selfe affections which do tirannize ouer the greatest tyrants holding their minds in more seruile subiection then they do the bodies of their vilest captiues Farewell From the castle of Saint Donatts the xxiiii day of August 1594. Thine to do thee good Io. Stradling The Printer to the curteous Reader IN perusing this book if thou find any faults which haue escaped in the printing I pray thee to correct them with thy Pen. Afterwards reade the book thoroughly and belieue me no more if thou find not therein sufficient cause te thinke thy labour well bestowed Iustus Lipsius his first Booke of CONSTANCIE Chapter I. A Preface and introduction Also a complaint of the troubles of the Lowe-cuntreyes A Fewe yeares past as I trauelled towardes Vienna in Austrich I turned aside not with out Gods direction to the towne of Liege being not far out of my way and where I had some friendes whome both for custome and good will I was perswaded to salute Among whom was Charles Langius a man simplie and without boasting be it spoken for vertue and learning the chiefe of the Flemings Who hauing receiued me into his house tempered mine entertainment not only with curtesie and good wil but also with such communication as was profitable vnto me and will be whiles I liue For he was the man that opened mine eyes by driuing away the clouds of some vulgare opinions he shewed me the path-way whereby I might directly come as Lucretius saith To the loftie temples of Sages right By the cleare beames of Learnings light For as we walked in the portch of his house after noone the hot sunne towards the end of Iune being in his full force he asked me friendlie of my iourney and the causes thereof To whom when I had spoken much of the troubles of the Low-countries of the insolencie of the gouernours and souldiers I added lastly that I pretended other excuses but this in trueth was the â—ause of my departure For said I who is of so hard and flinty a heart that he can anie longer endure these euils wee are tossed as you see these manie yeares with the tempest of ciuill warres and like Sea-faring men are wee beaten with sundrie blastes of troubles and sedition If I loue quietnesse and rest the Trumpets and ratling of armour interrupt mee If I take solace in my countrey gardens and farmes the souldiers and murtherers force mee into the Towne Therefore Langius I am resolued leauing this infortunate and vnhappie Belgica pardon mee my deare Countrie to chaunge Land for land and to flie into some other part of the world where I may neither heare of the name nor factes of Pelops broode Hereat Langius much maruelling and mooued yea friend Lipsius and will you thus leaue vs Yes trulie saide I I will either leaue you or this life How can I flie from these euils but onely by flight For to see and suffer these thinges daylie as heretofore I cannot Langius neither haue I anie plate of steele about my heart Langius sighed at these wordes and therewithall saide vnto me O fonde youngling what childishnesse is this Or what mindest thou to seeke safetie by flying away Thy countrey I confesse is tossed and turmoyled grieuouslie What part of Europe is at this day free So as thou maist coniecture that saying of Aristophanes to proue true Thundering Iupiter will turne all things vp side downe Wherefore Lipsius thou must not forsake thy countrey but thy affections Our mindes must be so confirmed and conformed that we may bee at rest in troubles and haue peace euen in the midst of warre Hereto I rashly ynough replied Nay surely I wil forsake my countrey knowing that it is lesse griefe to heare report of euils than to bee an eye-witnesse vnto them Besides that thereby we our selues shall bee without daunger of the lystes Marke you not what Homer wisely warneth Bee out of the weapons reach least that happily some man adde one wound vnto another CHAPT II. That traueilling into forreine countreyes is not auailable against the inwarde malladies of the minde That it is a testimonie of them but not a remedie against them except onlie in steight and first motions of the affection LAngius beckening somewhat with his head I heare thee Lipsius but I had rather thou wouldst hearken to the voyee of wisedome and reason For these mystes and cloudes that thus compasse thee doe proceede from the smoake of OPINIONS Wherefore I say with Diogenes Thou hast more neede of reason than of a rope That bright beame of reason I meane which may illuminate the obscuritie of thy braine Behold thou forsakest thy countrey Tell me in good sooth in forsaking it canst thou forsake thy selfe also See that the contrarie fall not out And that whither soeuer thou goe thou carie not in thy breast the fountaine and food of thine owne griefe As they that be
afflictions and calamities are for our good in respect of Their beginning vvhich is of God Who being eternally and immutably good is the cause of any euill Cap. â— Their ende vvhich is alvvaies for our good although in some of our afflictions vvhen God vseth the instrument of euill men they of malice do intend our harme This ende is tvvofolde Manifest to men And that is three folde The exercising of Gods children â—â—ereby they be three vvaies benefitted namely strengthened tried made mirrours and examples to oâ—â—â—rs cap. 8. The milde chasticement of frayle â—nders cap. 9. The sharpe punishment of obstinate â—ughtie persons cap. 10. Hid from man And pertaineth to the preseruation or beautie of the vvhole vvorlde cap. 11. 1 Touching euill men noâ—â—unished vvhich is ansvvered first generallie cap. 12. Then more particularly by â—â—nying cap. 13. By distinguishing of punishmentes into internall and externall cap. â—4 And into temporall and eternall cap. 15. 2 Touching innocentes or â—armelesse men vvhich is ansvvered by proouing that all are offenders And vvho be moâ—â— or lesse guiltie man knovveth not cap. 16. 3 Touching translating of â—unishmentes from one person to an other vvhich is prooued to be iust and the cause shewed vvhy God doth so cap. 17. Where are ansvvered three old and common obiections against Gods iustice 4 A more plaine and familiar argument then the former standing chiefly vpon examples shevving that our miseries are Easie and not grieâ—ous vvhich is proued By reason cap. 15. By comparison vvith times past And that First touching vvarres Ievvisâ— cap. 21. Greekish and Romaine cap. 22. Secondly touching pestilence â—amine and tributes cap. 23. Thirdly touching cruelties anâ— but cherly slaughters cap. 24. Fourthly touching tyrannie cap. 25. Vsuall and common to all people countrie and ages cap. 26. A shutting vp of the vvhole Treatise and conference vvith a short conclusion and earnest exhortation to the often repeâ—ting and meditating vpon the same Cap. 27. of thy safetie First therefore wee must knowe what it is CONSTANCIE is a right and immoueable strength of the minde neither lifted vp nor pressed downe with externall or casuall accidentes By STRENGTH I vnderstande a stedfastnesse not from opinion but from iudgement and sound reason For I would in any case exclude OBSTINACIE or as I may more fitly tearme it FROWARDNES Which is a certaine hardnesse of a stubberne mind proceeding from pride or vaine glorie And this HARDNES is onely in one respect incident to the foward and obstinate For they can hardlie be pressed downe but are verie easily lifted vp not vnlike to a blown bladder which you cannot without much adoe thrust vnder water but is readie to leape vpwards of it selfe without helpe Euen such is the light hardines of those men springing of pride and too much estimation of themselues and therfore from OPINION But the true mother of Constancie is PATIENCE and lowlinesse of mind which is A voluntarie sufferance without grudging of all things whatsoeuer can happen to or in a man This being regulated by the rule of Right Reason is the verie roote whereuppon is setled the high and mighty bodie of that fair oake CONSTANCIE Beware here least OPINION beguile thee presenting vnto thee in steed of Patience A certaine abiection and basenesse of a dastardlie minde Being a foule vice proceeding from the vile vnworthinesse of a mans owne person But verue keepeth the meane not suffering any excesse or defect in her actions because it weigheth all things in the ballance of REASON making it the rule and squire of all her trials Therefore we define RIGHT REASON to be A true sense and iudgement of thinges humane and diuine So farre as the same appertaineth to vs. But OPINION being the contrarie to it is defined to be A false and friuolous coniecture of those thinges CHAPT V. From whence Reason and Opinion doe spring The force and effectes of them both That one leadeth vnto Constancie This other to Inconstancy NOw for asmuch as out of this two folde fountaine of OPINION and REASON floweth not only Hardinesse and Weaknesse of mind but all things that deserue either praise or dispraise in this life It seemeth to me that it wil be labour wel bestowed to discourse somewhat at large of the originall and nature of them both For as woolle before it bee endued with the perfect collours of dying is first prepared thereunto with some other kind of liquors Euen so am I to deale with thy mind Lipsius before I aduenture to die it with this perfect purple in graine of Constancy First you are not ignorant that man consisteth of two parts Soule and Body That being the nobler part resembleth the nature of a spirit and fire This more base is compared to the earth These two are ioyned together but yet with a iarring concord as I may say neither doe they easily agree especially when controuersie ariseth about souerainty subiection For either of them would bear sway and chiefly that part which ought not The earth aduanceth it selfe aboue the fire and the dirty nature aboue that which is diuine Herehence arise in man dissentions stirs a coÌ„tinual conflict of these parts warring together The captains are REASON and OPINION That fighteth for the soule being in the soule This for and in the body Reason hath her ofspring from heauen yea from God and Seneca gaue it a singular commendation saying That there was hidden in man parte of the diuine spirit This reason is an excellent power or faculty of vnderstanding and iudgment which is the perfection of the soule euen as the soule is of man The Grecians cal it Noun the Latines mentem and as we may say ioyntly The mind of the soule For you are deceiued if you think al the soul to be Right reason but that only which is vniforme simple without mixture seperate from al filth or corruption and in one word as much as is pure heauenlie For albeit the soul be infected and a litle corrupted with the filth of the bodie and contagion of the senses yet it retayneth some reliks of his first ofspring and is not without certaine cleare sparks of that pure fiery nature from whence it proceeded Here hence come those stings of Conscience in wicked men Here hence those inward gnawings scourges here hence also commeth it that the wicked euen against their wils approoue vertuous liuing and commend it For this good part in man may somtimes be pressed down but neuer oppressed these fiery sparks may be couered but not wholly extinguished Those little coales doe alwayes shine and shew forth themselues lightening our darknesse purging our vncleannes directing our doubtfulnes guiding vs at the last to Constancy and vertue As the Marigold and other flowers are by nature alwayes enclined towards the sunne so hath Reason a respect vnto God and to the fountaine from whence it sprang It is resolute
affections which doe greatly disquiet the life of man DESIRE and IOY FEARE and SORROW The two first haue respect to some supposed or imagined good The two latter vnto euill Al of them do hurt and distemper the mind and without timely preuention doe bring it out of al order yet not each of them in like sort For wheras the quietnesse and constancie of the minde resteth as it were in an euen ballance these affections do hinder this vpright poise and euennesse Some of them by puffing vp the minde others by pressing it downe too much But here I will let passe to speake of false goods which lift vp the minde aboue measure because thy disease proceedeth from another humour and will come to false euils which are of two sortes Publike and Priuate Publike are those The sense and feeling whereof toucheth manie persons at one time Priuate doe touch some priuate men Of the first kinde are warre pestilence famine tyrannie slaughters and such like Of the second be Sorrowe pouertie infamie death and whatsoeuer els of like nature that may befall any one man I take it there is good cause for me thus to distinguish them because we sorrow after an other sort at the miserie of our countrie the banishment and destruction of a multitude than of one person alone Besides that the griefes that growe of publike and priuate aduersities are different but yet the first sort are more heauie and take deeper roote in vs. For wee are all subiect to those common calamities either for that they come together in heapes and so with the multitude oppresse such as oppose themselues against them or rather because they beguile vs by subtiltie in that we perceiue not how our mind is diseased by the apprehension of them Behold if a man bee ouercome with any priuate grief he must confesse therin his frailtie and infirmitie especiallie if he reclaim not himselfe then is he without excuse Contrarily we aree so far from confessing a fault in being disquieted at publike calamities that some will boast thereof and account it for a praise for they terme it pietie and compassion So that this common contagion is now reckoned among the catalogue of vertues yea and almost honored as a God Poets and Orators do euerie wher extol to the skies a feruent affection to our countrey neither doe I disallowe it but hold and maintaine that it ought to be tempered with moderation otherwise it is a vice a note of intemperancie a deposing of the mind from his right seat On the other side I confesse it to bee a grieuous maladie and of great force to mooue a man because the sorrow that proceedeth therehence is manifold in respect of thy selfe and of others And to make the matter more plaine by example See how thy country of Belgica is afflicted with sundrie calamities and swinged on euery â—ide with the scortching flame of ciuill warres The fieldes are wasted and spoyled townes are ouerthrowne and burned men taken captiue and murthered women defiled virgins defloured with such other like miseries as follow after warres Art thou not griued herewith Yes I am sure and grieued diuerslie for thy self for thy countrymen and for thy countrey Thy owne losses trouble thee the miserie and slaughter of thy neighbours the calamitie and ouerthrow of thy countrie One while thou maist crie out with the Poet O vnhappie wretch that I am Another while Alasse that so manie of my countrimen should suffer such affliction by the enemies hand Another while O my father O my countrey And who so is not mooued with these matters nor oppessed with the multitude of so manie and manifold miseries must eyther be very stayed and wise or els very hard hearted CHAPT VIII A preuention against publike euils But first of all three affections are restrained And of those three particularly in this chapter is repressed a kind of vaine glorious dissimulation wherby men that lament their owne priuate misfortunes would seeme that they bewaile the common calamities WHat thinke you Lipsius haue I not betrayed CONSTANCIE into your hands in pleading the cause of your sorrow Not so But herein I haue plaide the part of a good Captaine in trayning out al your troups into the field to the end I may fight it out manfully with them But first I wil begin with light skirmishes and afterwards ioyne with you in plaine battel In skirmishing I am to assault foot by foot as the Ancients speake three affections vtter enemies to this our CONSTANCIE DISSIMVLATION PIETY COMMISERATION or PITTY I wil begin with the first of them Thou sayest thou canst not endure to see these publik miseries that it is a grief yea euen a death vnto thee Speak you that from your heart or onelie from the teeth outward herewithal I being som what angry asked whether he iested or gybed with mee Nay quoth Langius I speake in good earnest for that many of your crue doe beguile the physitians making them beleeue that the publike euilles doe grieue them when their priuate losses are the true cause I demaund therefore againe whether the care which now doth boile and bubble in thy breast be for thy countries sake or for thy own what said I do you make a question of that Surely Langius for my countries sake alone am I thus disquieted See it be so quoth he for I maruel that ther should be in thee such an excellent sincere dutie which few attain vnto I deny not but that most men do coÌ„plaine of common calamities neither is there any kind of sorrow so vsuall as this in the tongues of people But examine the matter to the quick you shall find many times great difference betwixt the tongue and the heart Those wordes My countries calamitie afflicts me carrie with theÌ„ more vain-glory than veritie And as it is recorded in histories of Polus a notable stage-player that playing his part on the stage wherein it behooued him to expresse some great sorrow he brought with him priuily the bones of his dead son so the remeÌ„brance therof caused him to fil the theater with true teares indeed Euen so may I say by the most part of you You play a Comedy vnder the person of your country you bewail with tears your priuate miseries One saith The whol-world is a stage-play Trulie in this case it is so Some crie out These ciuil warres torment vs the blood of innocents sprâ—t the losse of lawes and libertie Is it so I see your sorrow indeed but the cause I must search out more narrowly Is it for the common-wealths sake O player put off thy vizard thy selfe art the cause therof We see oftentimes the country Boores trembling and running together with earnest prayers when any sudden misfortune or insurrection approcheth but as soone as the daunger is past examine theÌ„ wel and you shal perceiue that euerie one
in our childhood and exercised our selues in manhood Where our eies are are aquainted with the firmament flouds and fieldes where haue bene by a long continuance of discents our kinsfolke friends and companions and to manie occasions of ioy besides which I may expect in vaine in another pâ—rt of the world Neither is all this the slender pack-thred of OPINION as you would haue it seeme but the strong fetters of nature her selfe Look vpon all other liuing creatures The wilde beasts doe both knowe and loue their dennes and birdes their neastes Fishes in the great and endlesse Ocean sea desire to enioy some certaine part thereof What neede I speake of men Who whether they bee ciuill or barbarous are so addicted to this their natiue soyle that whosoeuer beareth the face of a man will neuer refuâ—e to die for it and in it Therefore Langius this new found curious phylosohie of yours I neither perceiue as yet the depth of it nor mind to make profession thereof I will listen rather to that true saying of Euripides Necessitie forceth euerie wight To loue his countrie with all his might CHAPT XI Here is confuted the second affection of too much loue to our countrey which loue is falslie tearmed Pietie Whence this affection springeth and what is our countrie properlie and trulie THen Langius smiling replyed Certes you are a meruellous pietous young man and I feare me that the brother of Mancus Antonius is nowe in danger to be depriued of his surname But it falleth out fitlie that this affection offereth it self in sallying before his Ensigne I will assâ—â—lt him therefore and ouerthrowe him lightlie And first will I take from him the spoyle of that precious gâ—â—ment wherewith he is vnworthilie attyred This affection to our Countrey is commonlie called Pietas that is PIETY why it should bee so named I neither see nor can suffer it For wherefore should wee call it by the name of PIETY â—â—ich is an excellent vertue and properly nothing els but A lawfull and due honour and loue towards God and our parents Why should our country bee placed in the mids between these Because say they it is our most ancient and holiest mother O fooles iniurious to reason and nature her selfe is she our mother How or wherfore Truly I see no such reason And if thou Lipsius if thou be sharper sighted than I lighten my darke senses Is it because she first receiued vs into this worlde for so thou seemedst to affirm before So might anie Tauerner or Inne-keeper Is it because she cherisheth vs much better doth some sillie maide or nurse Is it because she nourisheth vs So do cattell trees and corne daylie And among greater substances which doe borrow nothing of the earth the firmament aire and water Finallie change thou thy habitation and euerie other part of the world will doe thus much for thee These are flotâ—ng and fleeting wordes fauoring of nothing but an vnpleasant iuice of POPVLAR OPINION They alone are our parents that begar shaped and bore vs wee be seed of their seede bloud of their blood and flesh of their flesh If any of these thinges agree any wayes to our countrey then I confesse that I goe about wrongfully to bereaue it of this dutie of PIETY You will say that great learned clearks haue so spoken of it They haue in deed so spoken following the common opinion but not that they were so perswaded themselues But if thou wilt follow the trueth thou shalt attribute that sacred and high title to God and also if thou thinke good to our parentes But as for this affection to our countrie being first bridled and restrayned to a mean let it be contented in Gods name with the title of LOVE or CHARITY Yet is this onely a contention about the name let vs come neerer to the thing it selfe Which I do not wholly take away but temperate and as it were scarrifie it with the launcelot of RIGHT REASON For as a vine if it be not pruned spreadeth it selfe too farre abroad So do affections flie about with full sayle being blowne with the plausible puffes of popularitie And notwithstanding here by the way I confesse for I am not degenerated from a man nor from a citizen I confesse I say that euerie one of vs hath an inclination and good will to his lesser country The causes wherof I perceiue are to you vnknowne You would haue it to be from nature But the truth is it groweth of custome or of some decree ordinance For after that men forsook their wild and sauadge maner of liuing and began to build houses and walled townes to ioyne in societie and to vse meanes offensiue defensiue Behold then a certaine communion necessarily began among them and a social participation of diuers things They parted the earth between them with certaine limits bounds They had Temples in common also market places treasuries seates of iudgement And principallie ceremonies tites lawes All which thinges our greedinesse began in time so to esteeme make account of as if they were our owne in particâ—lar and so be they in some sort for that euery priuate citizen had some intrest in them neither did they differ from priuate possessions sauing that they were not wholly in one mans power This consociation and fellowship gaue the forme and fashion to a new erected state which now we cal properly the COMMON-WEALTH or our Countrey Wherein when men sawe the chiefest stay of each persons safetie to consist lawes were enacted for the succour and defence thereof Or at the least such customes were receiued by tradition from the predecessors to their posteritie that grewe to be of like force as lawes Here hence it commeth to passe that we reioyce at the good of the common-wealth and be sorie for her harm Because our owne priuate goods are secure by her safetie and are lost by her ouerthrowe From this fountaine doe spring the streames of our good-will and loue towardes her which affection in respect of the common good the secrete prouidence of God leading thereunto our ancestors encreased by all possible meanes establishing and maintaining the maiesty of their country It appeareth therfore in my iudgment that this affection had his beginning from custome and not from naâ—ure as you pretend Els why should not the same measure of that affection be indifferently in all men why should the Nobility rich men haue more care of their country than the poore people who commonly take care for their priuate matters but none at al for the publike affaires which thing falleth out otherwise in all passions that be gouerned by the instinct of nature Finally what reason can you alleadge that so small and light an occasion should oftentimes asswage yea wholly extinguish it See howe euerie day some for anger some for loue some for ambition forsake their countrie And what a multitude are
drawn away by that Idol Lucre How many Italians forsaking Italie the Queen of countries only for greedinesse of gaine haue remooued their dwellings into France Gerusanie yea euen into Sarmatia Howe many thousande Spaniards doth ambition draw daylie into another worlde from vs These arguments prooue inuinciblie that the band whereby we are linked thus to our countrie is but external and accidentall in that it is so easilie broken by one inordinate lust Moreouer Lipsius you are greatlie deceiued in describing this countrie of ours For you tye it verie narrowlie to that natiue soyle where we were borne and had our education with other like friuolous allegations from whence you labour in vaine to picke out naturall causes of our affection towards her And if it be the natiue soyle where wee were borne that deserueth this title of our countrie then were Brusseilles only my countrey and Isscanum yours and to some other man a poore cottage or cell yea vnto many not so much as a cottage but a wood or els the open field what theÌ„ Shal my good wil affection bee shut vp within those narrow wals Shal I settle my disposition loue vpoÌ„ one town or house as my country what folly were that You see also that by your description none are happier than those that are borne in the woodsand open fields which are alwaies flourishing seldome or neuer be subiect to desolation or wasting No no our country is not as you take it But it is Some one state or as it were one common Ship vnder the regiment of one prince or one lawe which I confesse we ought to loue to defend and to die for it yet must it not driue vs to lament waile and dispaire Well said the Poet. A happie quarrell is it and a good For Countries cause to spend our dearest blood He saith not that we should weep and lament but die for our countrie For we must so far foorth bee good common-wealths-men that we also retaine the person of good and honest men which we loose if we betake vs to childish and womanlike lamentations Last of all Lipsius I woulde haue thee learne this one hidden and deep mysterie that if we respect the whole nature of man all these earthlie countries are vaine and falsly so tearmed except only in respect of the body and not of the minde or soule which descending downe from that highest habitation deemeth all the whole earth as a gaole or prison but heauen is our true and rightfull countrey whether let vs aduance all our cogitations that wee may freelie say with Anaxagoras to such as foolishlie aske vs whether we haue no regarde to our countrie yes verelie but yonder is our countrie lifting our finger and mind vp towards heauen CHAPT XII The third affection bridled which is Commiseration or pittying being a vice It is distinguished from Mercie Howe and how far forth we ought to vse it LAngius with this conference hauing scattered abroade some darke mystes from my mind I bespake him thus My Father what by admonitions and what by instructions you haue done mee great good so that it seemeth I am now able to moderate my affection towardes the natiue soyle or common-wealth wherein I was borne But not towards the persons of my fellow-citizens and countrymen For how should I not bee touched and tormented with the calamities of my countrey for my countreymens sake who are tossed in this sea of aduersities and doe perish by sundry misfortunes Langius taking my tale by the end This is not quoth he properlie sorrowe but rather commiseration or pittying which must be despised of him that is wise and constant whom nothing so much beseemeth as steddinesse and stedfastnes of courage which he cannot retaine if he be cast downe not only with his owne mishaps but also at other mens What Stoyical â—ubtilties are these said I. Wil you not haue me to pittie an other mans case Surelie it is a vertue among good men and such as haue anie religion in them I denie that said Langius and I trust no good man will be offended with me if I purge the mind of this maladie for it is a verie daungerous contagion and I iudge him not far from a pitiful state that is subiect to pittying of others As it is a token of naughtie eyes to waxe watry when they behold other blear eyes so is it of the mind that mourneth at euerie other mans mourning It is defined to be The fault of an abiect and base mind cast downe at the shew of anothers mishap What then are we so vnkind and voyd of humanitie that we would haue no man to be moued at anothers miserie Yes I allowe that we be mooued to help them not to bewaile or waile with them I permit MERCY but not pittying I call MERCY An inclination of the minde to succour the necessitie or miserie of another This is that vertue Lipsius which thou seest through a cloud and in steed whereof PITTY intrudeth her selfe vnto thee But thou wilt say it is incident to mans nature to bee mooued with affection and pittie Be it so yet certainlie it is not decent and right Thinkest thou that anie vertue consisteth in softnesse and abiection of the minde In sorrowing In sighing in sobbing together wish such as weep It cannot be so For I wil shew thee some greedy old wiues and couetous misers from whose eyes thou maist sooner wring a thousand teares than one small pennie out of their purses But he that is trulie mercifull in deed wil not bemone or pittie the condition of distressed persons but yet wil do more to helpe and succour them than the other He vvil beholde mens miseries with the eye of compassion yet ruled and guided by reason He will speake vnto them with a sad countenance but not mourning or prostrate He will comfort hartelie and help liberally He vvill performe more in vvorkes than in words and will stretch out vnto the poore and needy his hand rather than his tongue All this will he doe with discretion and care that he infect not himselfe with other mens contagion and that as Fencers vse to say hee beare not others blowes vppon his owne ribbes What is here sauouring of inhumanitie or churlishnesse Euen so all vvisdome seemeth austere and rigorous at the first view But if you consider thoroughlie of it you shall finde the same to be meeke gentle yea more milde and amiable than Venus her selfe Let this suffice touching the three fore rehearsed affections vvhome if I haue in part expelled from thee it will greatly auaile me to get the victorie in the battell that shall ensue CHAPT XIII The former impedimentes or lettes being remooued wee come in good earnest to the extenuating or taking away of publike euils which is assayed by foure principall arguments Firste here is spoken of Prouidence which is prooued to be in and ouer all
be of the male kind No more wil these tender Virgins I mean good letters vnlesse they be conioyned with the manly courage of wisedome Why doest thou correct the writings of Tacitus if thy owne life be vncorrected why doest thou illustrate Tranquillus thy selfe being in the darke myst of errours Why art thou so careful in purging Plautus from faultes and imperfections when thy owne minde is full of foule filth and sluttishnesse Giue thy self at length to better studies and get learning that may serue thee not for vaine ostentation but to some good vse and purpose Apply thy selfe to wisedom which may amend thy euill maners set at rest and beautifie thy distempered and vncleane mind She only is able to imprint vertue to work the impression of CONSTANCIE in thee and to set open vnto thee the Temple of A GOOD MIND CHAPT V. That wisedome is not obtained by wishing but by working A returning to the former talke of Constancie That desire of learning is a good signe in youth THis admonition wrought in mee an earnest desire which I could not conceale and thereupon I saide My father in heart and mind I follow you when shall I be able in deeds so to doe When will that day come wherein I shall be free from all these cares that trouble mee and tread the trace that leadeth vnto true wisdome whereby I may attain to CONSTANCY Langius taking me vp short What Doest thou betake thy selfe to wishing rather than doing It is spoken fondlie and as the common sort of men vseth For it cannot be that as fables make mention how Caeneus with a wish was transformed from a woman into a man so thou shouldest of a foole bee sodenly made wise and of a light person become constant with wishing Thou must bestow thy labour with al and as the saying is ioyne handes with heart Seeke read learne I knowe Langius saide I that I must doe so but I pray you set too your helping hande and proceede forwards in your yesterdayes talke that was interrupted by going to supper Returne againe to CONSTANCIE the ceremonies of whose honour hauing bene begun to bee celebrated may not be discontinued without sacriledge Langius shaking his head a little No Lipsius quoth he I will not doe it least I shut vp my selfe againe in this school-house This is no place fit for our purpose which thou knowest vvell I made for mine ease not for my paines we will at some other time prosecute that argument Nay euen now quoth I for what place is more meete for such wise communication then that your schoole of wisedom I mean your faire summer-house which to me is as it were a Temple and the table therein in stead of an aultar where sitting we may rightlie sacrifice to this Saint And againe I haue a guesse of good lucke therehence What is that said Langius That euen as they which sit in Apothecaries shops carie with them in their clothes some sauour of the place so I haue good hope that some sent of wisedome wil stick in my minde by residing in her studie Langius laughing I feare me saide he your coniecture is so light that it vvill weigh iust nothing Yet let vs goe thither Lipsius For I tell thee without dissimulation this honest ardent desire of thine somewhat mooueth and prouoketh mee And as they that search for water-springes when they perceaue in the morning a steame rising out of the earth doe make coniecture that Waters lie there vnderneath So I haue great good hope of the fruitfull streames of vertue when I see and beholde in a young man an earnest desire of learning And with those wordes he brought me to his bower-house and into it he set him downe at the table I turning me to the boyes that were there Hoe sirs quoth I stande you and keepe vvatch And first of all lock fast the doore And heare yee mee If anie bodie come in hither to vs aliue you shall die for it I will haue neither man nor dog nor woman to be let in no not GOOD FORTVNE her selfe if she come Then Langius laughing out-right saide haue you at any time bene a Vice-roy your mandates are so maiesticall and seuere I vvis quoth I it behooueth me to beware by the hard warning we had yesternight Hold you on your talk in Gods name CHAPT VI. The third argument for Constancy taken from PROFIT That calamities are good for vs whether we respect their beginning or end For the originall of them is of God who is eternallie and immutablie good And therefore not the cause of anie euill LAngius not meditating long began thus In the communication that I had yesterday of Constancie I wil constantlie perseuer following the same methode containing my tongue within those boundes which I before prescribed You knowe that I had foure bandes or troupes of soldiers to fight for CONSTANCY against your SORROW and dispaire of courage wherof I haue trained into the fielde the two former which were of Prouidence and Necessity And I prooued sufficiently that publike calamities were sent from God alone Also that they were necessary and by no flying away to be auoyded Now I set forwards my third troup vnder the leading of PROFITE wherein serueth the Legion which I may well tearme AIDING A valiant and politike troupe it is if you marke it well For I know not how it creepeth softly and insinuateth it selfe into the minds of men with a kind of flattering force ouercommeth them willingly It stealeth rather than rusheth vpon vs inticeth not enforceth and we are as easilie lead by profite as drawne by necessitie This Profite Lipsius I oppose against thee thy weake bands I say these publike calamities which we suffer are profitable vnto vs accompanied with an inward fruit and commoditie Do we call them EVILS Nay rather they are good if we pluck aside the vaile of Opinions and cast our eyes to the beginning and end of them whereof the one is from God the other for good The original of these miseries as I prooued plainly yesterday is of God That is not only of the chiefest good but also of the authour head and fountaine of al goodnes from whom it is as impossible that any euil should proceed as it is for himselfe to be euill The diuine power is bountifull and healthfull refusing to doe or receiue harme whose chiefe vertue is to do good Therefore the Auncients though they were voyde of the knowledge of God yet hauing some conceit of him in their braine called him Iuppiter a iuuando that is of helping Doest thou imagine that he is angrie or chollericke and casteth as it were those noisome dartes among men Thou art deceiued Anger wrath reuenge are names of humaine affections and proceeding from a naturall frailty weaknes are incident only to weaklings But that diuine spirite doeth still perseuer in his bountie and those same bitter
you ye two Vespatians Destroy the country of Iewrie and the people take and sacke the holy cittie To what end You verely do it for your glorie and the augmentation of your Empire but ye erre Ye are onely the Beadles Sergeants of Gods seuere punishments vpon that vngodlie nation Go to euen you peraduenture that put the Christians to death at Rome reuenge the death of Christ in Iewrie And now O thou that art our president whether it bee from West or East what intendest thou by this war and bloudy weapons Euen to strengthen the empery of thy kingdome and the power of thy owne nation But in vaine For thou art nothing els but a whip scourge of the wanton and lasciuious Flemings We know not how to concoct our great felicities without the help of these Neronian hoate bathes These examples are occurrent in all ages where we see that God by the wicked lustes of some men hath accomplished his owne good pleasure and by the iniustice of other men hath executed his iust iudgments wherfore Lipsius let vs admire this hidden force of his wisdome and not aspire to know it and let vs bee assured that all these great afflictions are to good end and purpose although this blind mind of ours perceiue it not or slowly attaine to the vnderstanding therof For the true ends of afflictions are often hid from vs which notwithstanding shal haue their due course though to vs vnknown not vnlike to certain riuers which being remooued from our sight and running vnder the ground are yet caried into their own sea CHAPT VIII It is here more distinctlie spoken of the endes themselues They bee threefold To whom euery of them doth agree Then somewhat more at large touching Exercising which profiteth good men more wayes than one by strengthening by proouing by giuing example to others BVt if it be lawful for me to hoise sailes carie my ship deeper into this sea of diuine matters I could happily speak â—omwhat of the ends themselues more plainlie more profoundly First adding that saying of Homer If it lie in my power or if the thing it selfe wil admit the same For there be some of those ends which it seemeth I can well ynough conceiue my selfe and make knowne to others some also there be which I perceiue doubtfully and with a confused sight Of the first kind of ends which are certain be these three Exerâ—ising Chastising Punishment For if thou marke it it wel thou shalt find that these grieuous afflictions sent of God do coÌ„monly either exercise the good chastice offeÌ„ders or punish the wicked and al this for our good And to stand a whiles vpon explaining the first branch wee see dayly the best sort of men to be subiect to calamities either priuatly or els to be partakers thereof with the wicked We marke and maruel thereat because wee neither sufficiently conceiue the cause nor consider the consequence therof The cause is Gods loue towards vs and not hatred The end or consequeÌ„ce not our hurt but our benefit For this our exercising furthereth vs more waies than one it confirmeth or strengtheneth vs it trieth or prooueth vs it maketh vs mirrours of patience vnto others It doth strengthen vs for that the same is as it were our school-house wherin God traineth vp his seruantes in Constancy and vertue We see those that exercise the feates of wrestling or barriers endure many hard trials that they may get the mastery so think that we ought to do in this warrefare of aduersitie For why that same our trainer master of the game is such a one as requireth patience and paines not only vnto sweating but euen to bleeding Thinkest thou that he will handle his schollers tenderly that he will dandle them with delights vpon his knee No he will not doe so Mothers for the most do corrupt their children and make them wantons with tender bringing vp but their fathers hold theÌ„ in aw with more seuerity God is our father therfore he loueth vs truly yet with seuerity If thou wilt bee a Marriner thou must be taught in tempests If a souldier in perils If thou bee a man indeed why refusest thou afflictions seeing ther is none other way to constancy Doest thou consider those lither and lazie bodies vpon whom the Sun seldom shineth or the wind bloweth or any sharp aire breatheth Euen such are the minds of these nice folke that feele nothing but felicity whom the least blast of aduerse fortune bloweth downe and resolueth into nought Therefore aduersitie doth confirme and strengthen vs. And as trees that be much beaten with the winde take deeper roote so good men are the better contayned within the compasse of vertue being somtimes assaulted with the stormes of aduersity They do moreouer proue and trie vs. Els how could any man be assured of his own proceeding and firmnesse in vertue if the wind blow alwaies merrily a sterne the Pilot shall haue no opportunitie to try his cunning If all things succeed prosperously and happily to a man ther is no place to make proofe of his vertue for the only true leuell to trie withall is affliction Demetrius said worthily I account nothing more vnfortunate than that man which neuer had feeling of aduersitie Very true it is For our General doth not spare such souldiers but mistrusteth them neither doeth he affect and loue but despise and contemne them I say he doeth cassier them out of his company as base Besonians and dastards Finally they serue in steed of mirrours or presidents For that the constancy patience of good men in miseries is as a cleare light to this obscure world They prouoke others therunto by their example and tread the path wherin they shuld walk Bias lost both his goods cuntry but his words sound in the ears of men at this day That they should carie all their goods about them Regulus was vnworthily put to death by torments but his worthy example of keeping promise liueth yet Papinianus was murthered by a tyrant but the same butcherly axe that cut off his head emboldneth vs to suffer death for iustice sake Finally so many notable citizens we see to be violently iniuriously either banished or murthered but out of the riuers of their blood we do as it were drink vertue constaÌ„cy euery day Al which things shuld lie hid in darke corners of obliuion were it not for the bright fire-brands of these coÌ„mon afflictions and calamities For as costly spices do giue a sweet sauor far off if they be bruised euen so the fame of vertue is spread abroad wheÌ„ it is pressed with aduersity CHAPT IX Of Chasticement which is the second ende It is prooued to be for our behoofe two manner of waies AN other ende why God sendeth afflictions is for our Chasticement which I say is the best and gentelest that may be for our amendment It helpeth and healeth
sticketh a thorne in my mind which also pricked the Auncients touching equallity of punishments For what Langius if that equal ballance of iustice if this sword of afflictions Doth often times let wicked men go free And slay such folke as good and harmelesse bee Why I say are some innocent people rooted out and the children and posteritie afflicted for the faults of their Auncestors This is a thicke miste in my eies which if you can disperse with the bright beames of reason Langius with a wrinkeled forehead yea younker quoth hee are you so soone gone astray againe I will none of that For as skilfull huntsmen suffer not their hounde to range but to follow one and the same deere So woulde I haue thee to treade onely in those foote steppes which I haue traced out vnto thee I woulde beate into thy brayne the endes of afflictions to the intente that if thou be good thou mayest thinke thy selfe to bee exercised if fallen to be lifted vppe if vtterly naught to be punished And now thou drawest me to the causes Wandring minde What meanest thou by this curious carefulnesse Wilt thou needes feele those celestiall fires They will melt thee like wax Wilt thou clime vppe into the Tower of prouidence Thou shalt soone fal down headlong As butter-flies and other little flies doo by night flutter so long about the candle till it burne them Euen so dooth mans mind dally about that secret celestial flame Shewe me the causes sayest thou why the vengeance of God ouer skippeth some and whippeth others Dost thou seek the causes I say most safely that I know them not For the heauenly Court neuer comprehended me nor I the decrees thereof Of this onely I am assured that Gods will is a cause aboue all causes beyond which who so seeketh another is ignorant of the efficacie and power of the diuine nature For it is necessarie that euery cause be in a sort before and greater then his effect but nothing is before nor greater than God and his will therefore there is no cause thereof God hath pardoned God hath punished what wilt thou haue more The will of God is the chiefe Iustice as Saluianus saith well and godly Yet ye say we require a reason of this inequality Of whome Of God To whom that is lawfull whatsoeuer him liketh and nothing liketh him but that which is lawful If the seruant cal his maister or the subiect his Soueraigne to account the tone may take it in contempt the tother as treason And art thou more bold with God Fie vpon such peruerse curiositie This reason cannot stand otherwise then if it be rendred to no man And yet when thou hast doone all that thou art able thou shalte not cleere thy selfe out of the darke mistes of ignorance nor be partaker of those meere mystical councelles and decrees It is excellently spoken by Sophocles Thou shalte neuer attaine to the knowledge of heauenly thinges if God conceale them nor of them all though thou bestowe thy labour euer therein CAPT. XIII Yet to certifie the Curious three old obiections are aunswered And firste touching euill men not punished Wee proue they are repriued and pardoned And that either in respect of men themselues or in regarde of Gods nature which is slow to punish THis plaine broad way Lipsius is onely safe here All others be deceaueable and slippery In diuine and heauenly matters it is the sharpest sight to see nought and the only knowledge to know nothing Yet because this cloud hath of old time and nowe doth compasse mens wittes I will wind thee out of it shortly if I can And will wash away that that sticketh by thee with this riuer here at hand O thou celestiall and eternall spirite there with he cast his eies on high pardon and forgiue me if in these profound misteries I vtter any thing impure or vngodly yet with a godly intent And first I may generally defend the iustice of God with his owne blow Yf God behould the affaires of men he hath care of them if he haue care he gouerneth them if hee gouerne hee doth it with iudgement if with iudgement how can it be without iustice which if it be wanting ther is no regiment nor gouerment at all but disorder confusion and trouble What hast thou to oppose against this weapon what shielde or armour Say the truth onely mans ignorance I vnderstand not saist thou why these should be punished and those not Well saide Wilte thou therefore ioyne impudencie to thy ignorance And because thou comprendest not the power of the diuine and pure lawe wilte thou carpe at it what more vniuste reason would be alleadged against iustice if some stranger should vtter his coniectures of the lawes and ordinaunces of thy cuntry thou wouldest bid him hold his tongue and be gone because he hath not the knowledge of them And doest thou An inhabitant of this earth rashly condemne the vnknowne lawes of heauen Thou creature thy creator yet goe to take thy pleasure I will close neerer with thee searching distinctly the thicke mists of these thy cauilles by the cleere sunne of reason as thou requirest Thou obiectest three thinges That GOD letteth scape offendors That he punisheth innocentes That hee putteth ouer and transferreth his punishmentes from one to an other I will begin with the first Thou saist that the vengeance of God doth not well to ouerpasse the wicked Yea doth it ouerpasse them No I thinke rather it forbeareth them onely for a time If I haue greate deptes owing me and if it please me to exacte my due of one depter presently and to beare with another for a longer time who can blame me for it is at my owne good will and pleasure Euen so doth that greate God Of whome whereas all naughtie men haue deserued punishment hee exacteth it of some presently and beareth with others to bee payd afterwardes with interest What vnrightousnes is here except it be so y â— thou take thought for God feare least he be indemnified by this his bountiful forbearance But alas seely man Thou arte more affraide then hurt Neuer shall any man deceaue this greate creditor Whither soeuer wee flye we are all in his sight yea in bondes and fetters to him But thou saist I would haue such a tirant to be presently punished that by his death at this time satisfaction may be made to so many whom he hath oppressed So shal the iustice of God be made more manifest vnto vs. Nay thou bewrayest hereby thy blockishnes For who art thou that dost not onely appoint God how but alâ—o prescribe him when to punish Thinkest thou that he is thy iudge or onely a serieant or vnder-officer Goe leade him hence whip him muffle his face hange him vpon a cursed tree for so it seemeth good in my eies Fie vppon this impudencie Vnto God it seemeth
otherwise whom thou must vnderstand to see much better in this case then thy selfe and to haue another end in punishing Thou arte prouoked with choller and caried away with desire of reuenge He being far from both these hath respect to the ensample and correction of others He also knoweth best to whom the same may do good when The moments of times are of great weight and the most wholesom medicine is often turned to the destruction of the diseased not being applyed in due season God cut off Caligula in the prime of his tyrannie He suffered Nero to run on farther And Tiberius farthest of all And doubte thou not but it was for the good of those that then murmured at it Our euill and disordered manners haue neede of a continuall scourge but we woulde haue it taken from vs at the firste and caste into the fier This is one cause of forbearance which respecteth vs. Another there is in respecte of God vnto whome it seemeth peculiar To proceed slowly in reuenge of himselfe and to quit that slacknesse with the grieuousnes of the punishment Well spake Sinesius The diuine nature proceedeth leisurely and orderly And the old Sages went not much awry who in this respect feined God to haue woollen feet So that albeit thou be a hasty man and geuen to reuenge thou oughtest not to be grieued at this forbearaÌ„ce which is such a delay of the punishment as it is withal an encreasing of the same Tell me in beholding a tragedy will it stomacke thee to see Atreus or Thiestes in the firste or second acte walking in state and maiestye vppon the scene To see them raigne threate and commaund I thinke not knowing their prosperitie to be of small continuance And when thou shalte see them shame fullie come to confusion in the laste Acte Nowe then in this Tragedy of the World why art not thou so fauourable towards God as to a poore Poet This wicked maÌ„ prospereth That Tyrant liueth Let be awhiles Remember it is but the first Act and conâ—ider aforehande in thy mind that sobs and sorrowes will ensue vppon their sollace This Scene will anon swimme in bloud then these purple and golden garments shalbe rowled therein For that Poet of ours is singular cunning in his art and will not lightly transgresse the lawes of his Tragedie In musicke doo we not allowe sometimes disagreeing soundes knowing that they will all close in consent But the parties iniured doo not alwaies see the punishment What maruell is that The tragedy commonly is tedious and they are not able to sit so long in the theater yet others doo see it and are worthily stricken with feare when they perceiue that some are repriued before this seuere throne of iustice but not pardoned And that the day of execution is prolonged not wholly taken away Wherefore Lipsius holde this for certaine That vngodly men are forborne awhiles but neuer forgiuen And that no man hath a sinne in his hart but the same man carieth Nemesis on his backe For that Furie followeth them alwaies and as I may say with Euripides Going silently and with a soft foot she will in due time violently pluck the wicked from off the earth CHAPT XIIII Then is it shewed that there be sundry kinds of punishmeÌ„ts And some of them hidden or inward alwaies accompanying the wicked facts themselues which vngodly men shall neuer escape And they bee more greeuous than any outward YEt to make thee conceiue these thinges the better and that I may lead thee at length into the chiefe bulwarke of this argument Thou must vnderstand y t there be 3 sundry sorts of Gods punishments Internal After this life External The first I call those that VEX THE MIND OR SOVLE YET COVPLED TO THE BODIE As sorrow repentance feare and a thousande gnawinges of conscience The second sort are such as TOVCH THE SAME SOVLE BEING FREE AND LOOSED FROM THE BODIE as bee those punishments which most of the olde heathen writers did not without reason coniecture were reserued for vngodlie men after this life The third WHICH TOVCH THE BODY OR ARE ABOVT THE SAME as pouertie banishment griefes diseases death And it commeth to passe oftentimes that all these by the iust iudgement of God doo fal vppon the wicked But certeinly the twoe former kinds doo alwaies followe them And to speake of INTERNALL punishments what man was there at any time so giuen ouer to worke wickednesse but that he felt in his minde sharpe scourges and as it were heauy strokes eyther in committing mischieuous deeds or else after the facts committed For Plato said trulie That punishment is the companion of iniustice Or as Hesiodus more plainly and forceably expresseth the matter It is coeternal and coequall with it The punishment of wickednesse is kin to euery wicked act yea bred in it neyther is any thing free and out of care in this life but innocencie As malefactors among the Romanes that were condemned to bee crucified dyd beare their crosse which soone after shoulde beare them So hath God laid this crosse of conscience vppon all vngodly men whereby they may suffer paines afore they come to execution Dooest thou thinke there is none other punishment but that which is obiected to our eies Or that which is inflicted vppon the bodie It is farre otherwise All such are externall and doo lightly for a short time only touch vs But those that bee inwarde doo torment vs. As wee iudge them to bee more sicke which pine awaie with a coÌ„sumption then they y t haue an inflamation or feuer and yet these last haue the greatest appearance Euen so be those wicked men in worste case which are ledde to euerlasting death with a lingring pace Caligula ruling with great Tyrannie would be so stricken on a sudden as though he shoulde die So fareth it with those wicked-linges when that butcher their owne minde pricketh and beateth continuallie with soft strokes Let not the gorgeous outward apparance beguile thee nor the puissant pompe wherewith they are enuironed or their aboundance of wealth For they are not the happier nor in any better case thereby no more then a sicke man whose ague or goute lyeth vppon a statelie featherbedde When thou seest a poore beggerly fellowe playing a kinges part on a stage adorned with golden robes thou enuyest him not knowing that vnder the same gorgeous attire are scabs filthe and vncleanenesse haue thou the very same opinion of all these great proud Tyrantes Whose mindes if they might be opened saith Tacitus wee should beholde rentinges and strokes Sith that euen as the bodie with stripes so is the mind torne in peeces with crueltie lust and euil cogitations I knowe they laugh sometimes but it is onely from the teeth outwarde They reioice but with no true ioy No more certeinely then they which being in a dungeon condemned to die doo seeke to beguile