recken these kind of people among the terrestrial or aquitall sort doubted whether y e he should number them among the liuing or among the deade And another named Anacharsis sayde that they were no further from death than the bredth of .iij. or ij fingers euen so much as the wood contained in thicknes in the which they sailed And if that their life séemeth vnto vs cruell what greater swéetenesse thinke we to finde in husbandrie and in the labor of the rusticall sort the whiche at the first séemeth vnto vs swéete lucky peaceable simple and innocent also that many Patriarkes and Prophetes haue chosen this kind of liuing as that in which there is least guile and deceit and also that many Romain Emperors haue in times past left their Pallaces Capitols Arkes triumphes glorious and faire buildings and Empires with all the rest of their worldly maiestie for to remaine in the fields to til and labor the earth trées and gardens as we read of Dioclesian Attallus Cirus Constantinus Cesar and others but those that will consider these things more nearer they will saye that among these Roses there are a great many thornes This being true that God hauing driuen mā out of Paradise sent him into the earth as to a place of exile and said vnto him the earth shalbe cursed for thy sake thou shalt eate therof in trauel and paine all the dayes of thy life For she shall bring forth thornes wéedes and thistels and thou shalt eate the hearbes of the field in the sweate of thy face shalt thou eate thy bread till thou be turned againe to earth out of the which thou wast taken But alas who hath more experimented or tasted this which God hath spoken than the poore labourers or husbandmen who manye times after that they haue labored sowed tilled the ground trauelled all the daye long endured extreme heate of the sunne the rigor of the colde sometimes bitings or stingings of venemous serpentes or wormes sweated bloude and water all the yeare long for to dresse the earth theyr nurse hoping to gather the fruites and sodenly behold a haile a frost a tempest a thunder or lightning that will sodenly defraud thē of all their hope To one his shéepe and Oxen die to another whilst that he is labouring in the fields the men of war and souldiers come and rauish that which he hath in such sorte that when he returneth to his house in steade of receiuing consolation and finding rest his wife bewaileth his children crieth out al his familie lamenteth and crieth out for hunger to be short it is no other thing than a griefe and a wounde hauing a continuall cause of dolor which sodenly complaineth of one thing incontinently of another now of the rain then of y e great drith also of the winds and tempests but aboue all the men of war with a company of other griefs figured in forme of a complaint by a Da pacem the which a friende o◠mine made me this other day the tennor wherof hereafter followeth A complaint of the pore husbandmen in Meeter made vpon Da pacem Domine in diebus nostris c. O God whom no man can gaine say thou knowest if that I lie That neither horse nor mare is left to whom then shal I crie Da But vnto thée O Lord and King which doest bring things to passe The vengeance therfore that I craue is to giue vs and them alas pacem The peace which is so necessarie giue vs this I thinke best Yet if thou wilt punish mankinde thou hast good cause and maist Domine Our fathers that before haue bene though in the worlde they were The like wickednes haue neuer séene as we which now are here in diebus nostris In labor and in trauell great with face arayed with sweate This thrée dayes haue I laboured yet I and mine want meate quia non est I haue planted sowed cut my vines I haue hedged and dungde my land For to giue foode vnto my babes but who cā their furious foes w estād alius Not one alone doth me molest but I am assailed-day by day As well of theeues as men of war my goods to them are made a pray qui Our shéepe and lambes they do destroy our calues they kill ech one Such men they are that vs annoy helpe thou O God alone pugnet Alas it is a wofull case among vs men of husbandrye When souldiers that go to the warres rob vs as they go by pro nobis O my Creator when I do thinke on thy bountie comfort I craue Knowing that of the wrong that I doé beare of them no recōpence I haue nisi tu In worldlings for to put my trust no there is no reliefe In them there is no helpe at all but in thée my hope most chiefe Deus When pilferie shall cease when reason and good policie In iustice shall take place then the good time shall be Leaue we these poore husbandmen with their miseries and trauels and penitrate more forward Let vs see what is done in the trade of merchandise if we doe consider it externely or outwardly it séemeth voyde from miseries and a promise of rest for the richesse in whiche it aboundeth also for that Plinie sayth it was inuented for the necessitie of life and that many wise men as one Thalus one Solon Hippocratus haue exercised it also that it is an occasion to kéepe Princes in peace and vnity transporting from one citie to another that which aboundeth in the one and lacketh in the other but we cannot so wel cloke it but that y e eye may wel sée how much the life of Merchaunts is vnquiet and to how many daungers they are subiect continually as well by lande as by sea without putting in accompt that for the most part of their time they are as Fugitiues and Vagabondes from their townes and countries and they séeme litle to differ from banished sauing that their banishment is willingly for that they flie runne aud burne by sea and by land by fiers and flames for a couetous heate of an vnmeasurable gaine and they are contented to be depriued of rest ease that they ought to receiue of their owne wines and children lands possessions to be at al times in hazard of their liues by a thousande meanes and ways that are for them prepared of Pirats and others and al for an vnsatiable auarice that doth daily torment them not forgetting how they do periure thēselues beguile and deceiue their neighbor in such sort that with great payne any vsing y e trade can be made rich but by beguiling of others haue in their common prouerb ȳ they néede but turn their back a while to God and enlarge a little the entrie of their conscience for to be riche and surmount fortune to the which we maye adde many other euils and maledictions
anye thing in his net draweth it vp and so goeth away withall othersome there are that play all out and others that remayne vntill they are as full as spunges and in the ende they are made to restore all others also that doe nothing but inuent subsidies and séeke meanes to inlarge or multiplie the treasures of kings and so become riche with spoyling of the poore people And Princes do by theÌ„ many times as we do by our hogs we let them fatten to the ende to eate and deuour them afterwarde so are they suffered many times to enriche themselues for to be despoyled after when that they are so fat and one that is new come shal manytimes be preferred in their places here you may sée how y t these poore courtiers sel their liberty for to become rich they must obey al commaundements be they iust or vniust they must frame theÌ„ selues to laugh wheÌ„ y e Prince laugheth to wéepe wheÌ„ he wéepeth approue y â— whiche he approueth coÌ„demne that which he condemneth they must obey to al alter and chaunge wholy his nature to be seuere with those that are seuere sorowfull with those that are sorowfull and in a maner transforme themselues into the nature of him whoÌ„ they will please or els to get nothing If the Prince be impudent they must be the like if he be cruell they must delight in bloudshed To be shorte they must frame themselues to all ordinances and maners of the Prince or whom they will please and yet many times one little offence stayneth all the seruice that one hath done in his life time The which those that assisted y â— Emperor Adrian did féele who when they were elected by him into hie estates and dignities by the reporte of diuers flatterers they had not only taken from them that which before he had giuen them but also they were declared to be his chiefe enimies The which Plato liuelye considering and foreséeing in the Court of the Atheniensis did proÌ„ptly quit their deliciousnesse and yet he coulde not so well take heede to himselfe but that he returned to Dennis a tyrant of Sicilie who in the ende solde him to Pirats of the sea But what happened to Xenon that olde sage graue Philosopher whom Phalaris in satisfaction of his seruice caused most cruelly to be put to death as also did the King of Cyprus AnacreoÌ„ to the noble philosopher Anaxagoras and Nero his tutor Seneca AlexaÌ„der Calistenus for that he woâ—â— not worship him caused his féete to be cut of his eares his haÌ„ds also his eyes to be put out and so left in the mercie of a straight prison or dungeon wherein he finished most miserably his dayes Such hath bene many times the ende of a great number of learned men who bicause they woulde not obey to the fearfull affections of Monarchs loste their liues in recompence of their good seruice and wholesome counsels without putting in account the vices that frequent those that followe the Courte whereas the most part of humain thinges are abolished Many in y e Court put of their cappes to thée that woulde be glad to sée thy head from thy shoulders such bow their knée to do thee reuerence which would that they had broken their leg to cary thée to thy graue Many haue the name of Lord that meriteth y e name of a hangman there is alwayes I know not what nor how or one I vnderstand not who is the cause that incessantlye one complayneth altereth or els despiseth In the Courte if thou wilt be an adulterer thou shalt finde of thy complices if thou wilt quarrell thou shalt find to whom if thou wilt lie thou shalt find those that will approue thy lies if thou wilt steale thou shalte finde them that will shewe thée a thousand wayes howe if thou wilte be a carder or a dicer thou shalt finde them that will cog and playe with thée if thou wilt sweare and beare false witnesse thou shalte finde there thy like to be shorte if thou wylte giue thy selfe to all kynde of wyckednesse and vices thou shalt find there the very exaÌ„ple giuers Here may you sée the life of my maisters the Courtiers which is no life but a continuall death Here you may sée wherin their youth is emploied whiche is not youth but a transitorie death WheÌ„ y â— they come to age knowest thou what they bring from theÌ„ce their gray heades their legges full of gouts their mouth hauing a naughtie smell their backe ful of paine their hearts ful of sorow and thought and their soule filled with sin to be short in the Court there is very little to write but muche to murmure at of the which things yf thou desier a more ample knowledge reade the worke that Dom Anthonie Guenera bishop of Mondouent and the Crowner of the Emperor and Eneas Siluius otherwise called Pope Pius which haue compassed twoo most excellent and perticular treatises of thys matter wherein they haue painted my maisters the Courtiers so in their coulors that they haue stayed the hope of adding to those that will discouer after them Let vs leaue speaking of y e Courtiers with their life so vnquiet and miserable and let vs contemplate a little the estate of Kings Princes Monarchs and Emperors for whome onely it séemeth that felicitie is created for if we consider all that maye render the life of man in tranquility happy and content we shall finde that fortune among all other mortall creatures hathe prouided for them prodigally What maketh maÌ„ more wonderfull in this worlde but goods richesse dignities Empire liceÌ„ce to do good or euill without correction powre to exercise liberalitie all kind of volupteousnesse aswell of the spirite as of the bodie All that may be wished for for the contentation of man be it in apparell in meates or drinkes varietie in meates in magnificence in seruices in vestures that which maye tickle the memorie and flatter the concupiscence of the fleshe is prepared for them euen from their cradell for to conduct y e estate of their life in more happe and felicitie The discourse of which if we wil consider outwardlye there is not one but will confesse that they alone triumph oner that that others languish in But if that we will consider things more nearer and examine and waye them in a true ballance we shall find that the selfe same things that we thinke degrées for to attaine to felicitie and to cause them to be happie are the verie instruments of vice that cause them to haue more greater sorowes that doth render theÌ„ most vnfortunate but wherfore serueth their costlye ornaments and honorable seruices or delicate meates when that they are in continuall feare to be poysoned seduced and beguiled by their seruitors haue not we had the experience therof in our time doeth not Platina write of a certaine Pope that was poysoned by the siege with a paper that his seruant did
she hath charged man with suche an vnsatiable appetite that he ceaseth not continuallye to séeke for newe and straunge kinde of meates and hauing founde to his appetite with greate payne he can abstaine himselfe but that he wyll take more than nedefull after the whiche commeth Surfets Rheumes Cancars and other infinite kindes of sickenesses But as touching beastes they content themselues with that that nature hathe prepared without chaunging or forcing their nature for to please their appetite Moreouer nature hath giueÌ„ them a complection so well ruled and gouerned that they neuer take more thaÌ„ is requisite for their nourishment neyther in drinke nor in meat But as for man al the fruites of y e earth those of the trées the fishes of the sea and the Fowles of the aire doe not suffice him but in all points turning hys nature he doth disguise puffe vp change the substance into excesse and the nature into arte to the ende that by such vnsatiablenesse nature be angered and almost forced to take more than is nedefull so then when that nature is ouercharged and that the stomacke is wel filled all the braynes are troubled in such sorte that there is neither of them that can execute their office And I am ashamed that I must nedes tell it that the vnmeasurable delicatenesse that raigneth among Christians this day is the cause that there are many that are not ashamed to giue their bodies and their members to al kinde of vice and villanie and to all kinds of wickednesse howe execrable so euer they be euen in committing many fornications theftes fellonies And I doe maruell that the bellies of manye vnsatiable gluttons do not rot and bruste out by their greate excesse and in the meane time the poore Lazarus standeth at the gate redy to die for hunger and can not haue so much as the crommes that fall from theyr table And therfore such Godbellies or Bellygods are called by the Prophetes fatte Calues who by good reason may be compared to brute beastes for their soule which is the chiefest part they haue being in the bodie so perfumed with meats and drinkes is captiue as in a darke prison or dungeon where as it is almoste stifled and smuthered and the wits whiche are the instrumeÌ„ts with the which she ought to be serued are buried therein as within the bowels of a beast and against such gluttons as make their belly their God the Prophet Esay crieth out saying Wo be to you that rise earlie to follow drunkennesse and to sit drinking till the Euening to the ende that the wine heate you The which vice at this present day is so familiar among men that there is not almost neither Nation or prouince but that is infected and that glorieth in their great drinking The Tartarians the Persians and the Gréekes haue celebrated druÌ„kennesse among their chiefest triumphes and constrained them that were at their bankets to drinke or to goe their wayes The Macedonians were instructed of their Emperor Alexander to drinke without measure But aboue all Nations Italie hath got the price in the which as Plinie doth write drunkennesse in his time did so raigne that they did not only drink themselues out of al measure but also they constrained their Mares and Horses to doe the like Paulus Diacrus in his Historie of Lumbardes doth rehearse a thing almost monstrous of the vice of drunkeÌ„nesse of foure old meÌ„ that made a banket in the whiche they drunke the yeares of one another after the maner as followeth they ordeyned to drinke two to two and counted theyr age of yeares that they had and he that drunke to his companion should drinke so many times as he had liued yeres and the yongest of these foure was .lviij. yeres olde the seconde sixtye thrée the thirde lxxxvij and the fourth lxxxxij So that it was not knowen what they did eate at this banket either more or lesse but we know that he that drunke least did drinke lviij tasters of wine and the others so many as they had liued yeares in suche sorte that one of them did drinke lxxxxij times It is not therfore without a cause that this great Philosopher Plato knowyng the harme that wine bringeth to man saide that partly the Gods had sent wine for the punishment of man and to take vengeance of their sinnes causing them when that they are drunke to kyll and murther one another the which coÌ„sidered of Cyneas Ambassadour of King Pyrrhus on a time when that he arriued in Egypt and that he had séene the excesse height of the vineyards in that countrie did saye that by good right that mother was hanged so highe seing she brought forth so daungerous a childe as the wine For this cause Androcides did admonish that great Monarch AlexaÌ„der that wine was the bloud of the earth and therefore he shoulde take héede howe to receyue it The which not being well obserued by him in his intemperancie killed Clytus burned the Citie of Percepolis and committed manye other foule and detestable crimes It is not therefore in this our age that these wicked vices of gluttonye and drunkennesse haue made their laste ende vpon the earth but it séemeth that they haue nowe made almost their comming in with man The transgression of our first parents Adam and Eua was the cause that the gate of Paradise was shut against vs. Esau solde hys birth right The great Prophet S. Iohn Baptist was cruellye slaine and murthered after that the cruel tyrant Kyng Herode had bankeâ—ed The wicked riche man was damned for it is expressiuely saide in the Text that he fared deliciously and therfore was he buried in hel Noe being ouercome with wine slept with his priuie parts vncouered and was mocked of his children Loth being ouercome with wine did deflowre his owne daughters Nowe therfore we sée how much more â—auor nature hath shewed vnto beastes than vnto vs in that they do so moderate their appetites that they take no more than is necessarie for the preseruation of their health in such sort that they are not vexed with an infinite number of diseases as we are And if it happen that they are afflicted with anye harmes nature hath instructed them proper remedies without hauing refuge to Phisicke or Phisicions which vnder the colour of receiue chaunge R. into D. and make deceiue so that somtimes we buy full deare the trauell of them which manye times cause our death for the most part of their laxatiue medicines are no other than very hammers to beate downe men But if it happen that the beastes or fowles are sicke nature doth shewe them remedies As the wood Doues Iayes Merlings and Partriches the which purge theyr superfluities with Bay leaues The Pigeons Turtels and Hennes with the herbe Helxine The Torterels wil heale their biting with Cegue The Dogs and Cats when their bellies are too full will purge them in eating dewed herbes or grasse When the Deare are hurt they
man maketh into this worlde hys aduauncement and perillous conuersation his sorowfull and strong departure which being profoundly considered by the Prophet Esaye doth bewaile hys birth and murmureth against his knees that helde him vp and also the breastes that gaue him suck Likewise the Prophet Ieremie being pricked with the like spirite and considering that man is made of the moulde of the earth conceyued in sinne borne in payne and at the last made a praye for wormes doeth wishe that his mothers wombe had serued for his tombe But let vs take a little héede at the most excellent anotamie that the holie Prophet Ioh maketh whē he sayth Man that is born of a woman hath but a short time to liue and is full of miserie he commeth vp and is cutte downe like a flower he flieth as it were a shadowe and neuer continueth in one state Now let vs gather somewhat out of these wordes and lay the weight and authoritie to eche one of his sentences and we shall find that all the heathenish Philosophie is but dreames and smoke to the regarde of that of the spirite of God when that he will enstruct man to humble and knowe himselfe as appeareth when that he calleth him mā born of a woman hath he saide that without a cause no for among all the creatures whome God hath created there is not one more subiect to miseries and infirmities than a woman especiallye those that are fruitfull for they haue scant a monethes rest in a whole yere but that they are continually ouercome with sorow and feare Then he sayth hauing a short time to liue what is more shorter than the life of mā vnto whom in stopping his nose and his mouth the life is gone for his life is nothing but a little blaste of winde inclosed therein The which being considered by Theophrastus and manye others murmured against nature whiche had giuen the benefite of long life to Hartes Rauens and other foules aud beastes vnto whō the life brought no profit and vnto mā King of all things vpon earth hath giuen so short life althoughe he knoweth howe to employe his time and yet the little time that he hath is shortned by sléepes dreams angers cares and other indignations in suche sorte that if we shoulde recken al there resteth nothing lesse than life Then the Prophet compareth man to a shadowe what is thys shadow anye other thing than an outwarde shew that deceiueth the sight of man a phancie a false figure without substance the which sometimes séemeth to be greate and incontinently little Euen so it is wyth man the whiche sometimes séemeth to be somewhat and neuerthelesse of himselfe is nothing For whē that he is elected most highest and when that he is in the highest degrée of honor then sodenly he perisheth so that no man knoweth where he is become no more than a shadowe when the night is come and to him it chaunceth as the Prophet Dauid sayth I haue séen the wicked mightie and flourishing as the gréene Bay and I haue passed by and he was gone I haue sought him but he was not to be found We haue here shewed as much as is possible by howe many perillous daungers man hath his first comming forth into this worlde Nowe therfore let vs consider a little what he is when he is sprōg vp let vs sée whether that there is any end of his miseries But if we be equitable Iudges we shal finde that rather he doth encrease his miseries for it is the season wherein nature doth reare agaynste him a more furious combat his bloud beginneth to rise the flesh prouoketh him to his owne pleasure the sensualitie doth lead him the malicious worlde espieth him the diuell tempteth him so that it is impossible but that he which is assailed with so manye vices succoured of none in the ende is discomfited and ouercome for in the bodye in youth riot libertie richesse and deliciousnesse aboundeth all the vices in the world saith Marcus Aurelius and there plant their siege It sufficeth not onely this miserable creature Man to be norished with straunge milke but also he must be constrained to receiue instructions of others than of his parents For there are fewe Catoes that will take the pains to instruct their children they are forced to proue the seueritie of masters for to teach them the beginning of Arts sciences seing that there is no ground be it neuer so fruitful luckye but will be vnfruitfull if it be not diligently laboured and the more fruitfull and fatter it is the more wéedes and Darnell it will bring forth Also the more that the childe is wakened the more peril there is least he straye it behoueth when the trées are yong to vpholde them and to cut the ouerweightie braunches if that afterwarde ye pretende to gather anye fruit Likewise it is necessarie to reform and correct the vices that raigne in youth least that afterwarde it returne to the parents ignominie and reproch But there are at this day manie fathers and mothers which for defaulte not to haue well instructed their children in their youth in steade of rest and consolation and eate their breade in theyr age with sorrow Moreouer there are many mothers whiche in steade of giuing them good and godlye instructions in their youth intertaine and nourishe them in volupteousnesse and deliciousnesse but though they are nourishers of their bodies yet are they destroyers of their soules And if Heli was grieuously punished with his children for that he did not chastice them so sharply as their offences did requier what shal become of those fathers and mothers which in steade of correctors of their children are their corruptors and these kinde of parents are compared to Apes which kyll their yong ones by too muche straining them betwene their armes and kéeping them so deare and this is the cause that so many fall into the hands of the hang man which are to them reformers and correctors The auncient Romaines had those parentes in so greate detestation which did not correct their children that they did ordein and stablish a law which was called Fatidia By the which it was ordeined that for the first attempt the said Law should be shewed the child for the seconde time he should be corrected and the thirde time hanged and the father to be banished as for default of giuing chasticement to their childrē they were partakers of their euill But I would gladly demaund what those auncient Romaines would doe if they saw the pitiful estate of many of oure common weales with what Irons with what bondes or torments woulde they beate downe the fathers and mothers who in the steade of giuing good exhortations to their familie and to shew thē selues the first examples of vertue to their children before that they send thē to be instructed they them selues doe breake and depraue thē by their naughty and wicked examples For the firste
consist Their health and conseruation is the decay and ruine of their neighbor their richesse is the spoylings of the poore and others their ioys is the mournings and bewaylings of others and yet many times their victorie can not be so happie but that bothe the vanquisher and the ouercommed maye wepe and lamente For there was neuer battell so luckie but that the vanquisher at the last doth repent if he be touched with any sparke of humanitie The whiche the Heathen haue acknowledged and confessed by their owne proper witnessing as also the great Emperor Marcus Aurelius the which after manye glorious victories obtained against his enimies as he receyued hys triumphe at Rome féeling in his hearte the worng that he had don to his neighbor began to crie out when that he was conducted to his chaire of triumph saying what more greater follie or vanity may an Emperor of Rome haue for bicause he hath conquered many townes stirred those that were at rest destroyed Cities rased strong houlds robbed the poore enriched tyrants made an infinite number of orphelines widowes and in recompence of al these harmes he is receyued with triumphe and magnificence many are deade and manye haue trauelled and taken paines but one alone beareth the glorie Then he addeth these wordes by the immortall Gods when I was brought to Rome in such a triumph and saw the poore captiues in yron bandes and chaines I powred out the widdowes lamentations I sawe an infinite number of treasure ill gotten then I remembred them deade I reioyced outwardlye but inwardlye I wept teares of bloud began to crie againste Rome after this sort come hither Rome why reioycest thou at the wrongs of others art thou of more antiquitie than Babilon more fairer than Helena more richer thā Carthage more stronger thā Troie better peopled than Thebes better compassed with ships than Corinth more delicious than Tyre more happier than Numantia all the whiche are perished clad with so many vertues and kepers of so many vertuous yet thou hopest to remaine for euer stuffed vp with so manye vices and people so vilde and vicious Beleue one thing of a suretie that the glorie that is at this howre of thee hath first bene of those and the destruction that hath come vpon them shal likewise come vpon thée O what philosophie what holinesse what oracles and what prophecie is founde in a Heathen man which had no knowledge of the Euangelicall light May not we be ashamed that haue bene nourished at a better schole and illuminated with the grace of the holy ghost that this Pagan shall rise at the daye of iudgement and condemne vs that make such hauock of humaine bloud séeing that the war hath alredy for many yeres past disquieted y e Christiā weale so that with great pain can be found at this day any Region in Europe but that is staind with humain bloud neither sea nor riuer but y ◠hath bene chaūged red Helericus King of the Gothes hauing in time paste destroyed Rome as Paulus Oroseus sheweth that flourished in his time caused to be proclaimed with the sounde of a trumpet that they shoulde not molest nor hurre those that were fled into the temple of S. Peter and S. Paule But things are come to suche desolation in oure age that there is no sanctuarie nor sauegard in temples nor holie places but y ◠poore maidēs and wiues haue bene violated and the poore shepe of Iesus Christ haue bene staine and murthered so mad are men without sparing aged kind or dignitie but they sacrifice all so that it seemeth that they will fight to ouerthrowe nature it selfe so that in the ende it wil come to passe if that God prouide not remedie that the publicke weales shall be peopled with wild beastes or trées for by littel and littel the world waxeth desert But what is the cause that we are so prompt and enclined to loose and decay those for the preseruation of which our sauiour Christ was willing to die but why are we so desirous of their life and bloud seing Iesus Christ hath shed his for to preserue and saue vs all But at the least why haue not we so muche compassion one of another as the brute beastes haue the which shew not theyr rage and crueltie one against another or if by fortune they fight sometimes it is when that they are oppressed with hunger or for the defence of their yong ones and yet they help themselues with those armours that nature hath appointed them without adding to them other kind of weapons inuented by the diuel for there is no earthly things but that may be ouercome with y e force of gūnes so that weying well this inuention it is not only more daungerous than all the cutting weapons of the worlde but also it is more pernicious and pestilent than anye other venim or poyson yea worse than the thundrings and lightnings that come from the aire y e which for that it is composed of foure straūge elementaries being in the moste parte of his greatest drith casting the fier in the middest of the smoke multiplieth of the aire and of the fier and mingleth with the moysture in such sort that the nature of euerye element fighting with the other conuerteth in humor and in great thundering bicause that the heate with the moisture cannot agrée nor endure together but straineth to come forth the aire addresseth to the aire and the fier draweth of his nature trauelling to moūt hie being an action superior and exceding in power all the rest the which he turneth into his nature before comming out by the which meanes groweth such a hurling noyse that it is necessarie that the thing wherein this poulder is be put in pieces or that the most weakest giue place to the strōgest And then of al this stuffe commeth Canons double Canons Serpentines Culuerines Sakers Faucons Fauconnets and suche like In the naming whereof the cunning maisters haue greatly failed in imposing to them the names of birdes the which serue to giue and shewe vs melodie and pleasure they shoulde rather appropriate to them the names of the infernall diuelles for as those engins serue to rent and dismember the bodies of men so in like case doe the diuelles beate and pame the soules in hell We haue here shewed what is done in the wars the recompence of those that frequent it Now let vs see what is done in the pallaces of Princes what is y e felicitie of y e Courtiers which make a shewe of their delicatenesse séemeth there any greater felicitie in the world than to haue the Princes fauor at al times to be cherished to distribute largely to others to take the best spoyles to vse courtly maners embracings kissinges cōueyings and other offices of humanitie with an infinite number of such kinde of dregs There are of thys sort crafty and wilie that do as the fisher man who assone as he hath
maruellous miserable difficill and perilous no doubt his issue and departing is not lesse and whereas we haue shewed manye straunge childings and dreadfull so is there also straunge sortes of death muche more horrible and wonderfull This therfore is the laste seale and laste confirmation of all the actes déedes of the infelicitie of oure life after that man hath sighed and sorrowed all hys lyfe vnder the vnsupportable déedes heauie burthens of all his euilles he is forced to liue always in feare waiting for death and oftentimes by vncredible torments At the whiche the greate Doctor Sainct Augustine maruelling setteth forth his complaint to God after this sorte O Lord after we haue sustained so manye miseries and afflictiōs the vntollerable stroke of death commeth that rauisheth thy creatures by infinite wayes and meanes some he ouercommeth with Feuers or Agues others by some extréeme dolor an other by hunger an other by thirst other by fier others by water others by iron others by poison others by feare others are smothered others are choked others are torne of wilde beasts others deuoured of foules of the ayre others are made meate for fishes and others for wormes and for al this man knoweth not his end when he thinketh himselfe moste at rest he falleth and perissheth It is therefore the most dreadfullest of all dreadfull y e most terriblest of all terrible when that the bodie separateth frō the soule but what spectacle is it to sée in a bed him that is oppressed with the pangs of death what shaking what feare what alteration and chaunging in all the bandes of nature the féete become colde y ◠face pale the eyes bollow the lips and the mouth to retire the thombe to deminishe the tongue waxeth blacke the téeth doe close the breath faileth the sweate colde appeareth by violence of the sickenesse which is a certain token that nature is ouercome Then whē it commeth to the last gaspe or at the sorrowful departure that the soule maketh frō his habitacle all the vessels and bandes of nature are broken withoute putting in count the furious assaultes that the diuelles and wicked spirites reare against vs when y ◠they are assured of our end for there is no inuention craft cōspiracy or practise but that is then wrought for to bring vs into a presumption to haue liued well that oure might be fixed vpon that false opinion and not on the mercie of Iesus Christ or els laying before vs an infinit number of grieuous and enormeous sinnes that we haue committed in oure life time to the ende to bring vs in mistrust or dispaire of Gods mercie it is the howre the moment and the poynt whereas Sathan doeth his powre to striue against God for to let or hinder the saluation of mankinde and he is more busier in these latter days for that he knoweth that his time is but short that the end of his kingdom is at hād therfore he is the more enflamed so that he doth practise that which he did when he knew that our Sauiour Iesus Christ drue neare to the possessed of diuels for he neuer rageth and tormenteth those more cruelly whō he doth possesse than when he knoweth that he muste depart For this cause it was that the Prophet Dauid did lament for his sonne Absalon so bitterlye saying I woulde that I had died for thée my childe knowing that he was wrapped with an infinite nūber of grieuous and enormious vices and sinnes Now when that they haue passed that path and disgested this peare of anguishe where is become their glorie where are their pomps and triumphes where are now their volupteousnes and wantonnesse where are their maiesties their excellencies and holinesse they are vanished as the shadow sayth the Psal It is chaunced to them as to the garmēt that the wormes haue eaten and as the wooll that the Moth hath deuoured saith the Prophet Esaye they are become a pray for wormes and serpents But let vs behold man when he is in his graue who euer saw a monster more hideous what is there more horribe and vile thā the deade creature behold the holynesse excellencie maiestie and dignitiy couered with a lumpe of earth here is hym that was cherished reuerenced and honoured euen to kisse his féete hands yet notwithstanding by a sodaine mutation he is become so abhominable that all the faire and bewtifull Tombes of Marble and Aliblaster all the faire statutes or Images Epitaphes and other funerall pompes can not so well cloke nor hide them but that it is well knowē that it is no other thing but a vile and stinking carin carcasse and to them it happeneth as Salomon writeth in his Wisedome what hath it profited them sayth he the pride and great abundance of riches all these things are passed as a shadow or as the Arrowe that is shot to the white or as the smoke that is dispersed with the wind or as the remembrance of an host that passeth by that is lodged for one day Let vs leaue therfore this bodie sléeping and resting in the earth as in a bed for a season this is the moste doubtfullest and perilloust acte of all the humaine tragedie It is that which Dauid feared so muche that he prayed God not to enter into iudgemēt with his seruaunt It behoueth that this creature appeare before the iudgement seate of God with such a terrour to those that consider it well that there is no member but shaketh it is the daye that the Prophet Esaye speaketh of that the Lorde will come like a tempest euerye ones heart shall fayle them and all the world astonied and then the paines shal be like the paine of a woman that trauelleth this is the daye of the Lorde he shall come as one full of wrath and indignation for to make the earth desert and roote out from thence the sinners the Sunne shall be darkened and the Planets shal bring forth no more light I will trouble sayth he the firmament and the earth shal moue out of his place bicause of the wroth indignation of the Lord God Heare also y e words of our sauiour Iesus Christ in Sainct Mathew euen as the lightning that riseth in the East and extendeth to the West so shal the comming of the sonne of man be the tribulation then shall be so great as the like hath not bene since the beginning of the worlde vntill now nor neuer shal be the like the Sunne shall be darkned and the Moone shall giue no more light the starres shall fall from Heauen and the waues of the sea shall rage and men shalbe amased with feare and y ◠powres of Heauen shall moue Wo shall be in those dayes to them that are with child and to them that giue sucke but as the time of Noe was so shall the comming of the sonne of mā be for as in the dayes before the floud they did eate and
did hir no harme and yet those that lay with hir being only infected with hir breath receyued sodaine death Auicen writeth that in hys time he did sée a man from whom all venemous beasts would flie if by chaūce any one had bitten him or touched him they shoulde straight wayes die Some whom the Gréekes haue named Ophirgenes who with onely touching healed the stinging of serpents and laying the hand on a bodie would draw out the venim As also do the Psiles and Marciens a people of Affrica the Ambassador of which named Exagon being come to anunciate and shewe some thing to the Romaines was put naked in a tunne full of Serpents Vipers Adders and other venemous beastes for to trie whether that their sayings were true But so soone as he was put therein in steade of offēding or hurting him they did lick and cherishe him to be short there are found things so fantasticall and straūge in man that many elders after they had considered the meaning of all things and finding nothing equall or to compare with the maruellous prouidence and industrie of man woulde be called Gods and worshipped and honored as a Deitie Some haue ben so constant that they did neuer laugh as Marcus Crassus for this cause he was named Agelaste for that he was neuer séene laugh Some haue neuer snorted nor routed as Pomponius Some haue neuer spit as Antonius the second Some haue neuer felt dolor nor paine in their bodie as Pontanus writeth of himself who sometimes would let him self fal and yet felt no harme Some haue had such a cleare sight that they coulde sée well fiftie or thrée score Leagues of as Solin Plinie writeth of one that was named Strabon the which in the time of open warre saw from a Promontorie of Cicill the ships to sayle from the Port of Carthage in Affrica althoughe it was aboue a hundreth thousand distance Tiberius y ◠Emperour waking a certaine houre in the night did sée al things aswell as by day There are certaine men as Plinie witnesseth in the country of Cardulius that will run as swift as Dogges and go so fast a pace that it is vnpossible to take them but only by sicknesse age Quintus Curtius and many others write that Alexander the great was composed of such harmonie and temperance of humors that his breath smelled naturally like Balme also his sweat was so swéete that when his Pipes were open they thought that he was all perfumed wyth perfumes and that which is more straunge and harde to beleue his bodie cast suche a sauor being deade that one woulde haue iudged it full of Aromatical drugs or perfumes Caius Caesar was so good on horsebacke that he caused hys handes to be bound behind him and it was a monstruous thing to sée and vncredible to heare that holding his knées close to the horse without bridell and saddell he woulde stay and turne a horse so lightly or nimblye as though he had bene bridled the which was in the time when he fauored Marius against Sylla M. Paulus a Venetian reciteth that the Tartarians haue so much powre ouer spirits and are so excellent in séeking the secretes of nature that they cause darkenesse to come when they will and that he being once cōpassed with théeues by this Art with great paine escaped Haitonus a man of singuler doctrine and of great authoritie is witnesse of this in his History of Sarmates that the armie of the Tartarians almost ouercome or destroyed was againe restored by the enchauntment of a Standarde bearer that caused darkenesse to come vpon the campe of his enimies I haue red in many auncient Histories that the Ethiopians by the vertues and properties of certain herbes gathered in seasō do drie the floudes and Riuers and doe open all things that are shut What shal we saye more of the excellencie of man there hath bene founde some so wonderfull in Musicke that they chaunged the affections of those that did heare them their iests and mouings caused them to be ioyfull sorowfull and bold according as they would adulciate or harden their noyse Terpander and Metimeus Empedocleus Orpheus Emphion haue bene so excellent in this Arte that they healed in their time manye that were franticke mad and possessed with spirits Pithagoras by the perfection of this Arte so rauished the memorie of a yong man within few days that he made him chaste and caused him to forget the louing passions that tormented him continually All the Gréeke and Latin writers that haue treated of the iestes of Alexander make mention of his Harper Thimotheus who when he was at a banket playd an Alarum or assault causing the King to forsake the banket and take his armor so that his spirites remaining vanquished or ouercome was constrained to obey to the harmony that proceaded from the instrument Agamemnon going to war against the Troians not being verie sure of the chastitie of his wife Clitemnestra left hir in the garde and kéeping of an excellent Harper who whē that he saw hir in hir amorous toyes mitigated hir burning heate by the swéetnesse of his instrument In such sort that Aegisthus coulde not obtayne his desier before that he had slaine the said Musition which by his Art and Harmonie was so faithfull a kéeper and Protector Among these we maye recite the great King Dauid who by the vertue of his Hary did mollifie and appease the furie of King Saule when that the wicked spirite did torment him as it is most plainly shewed in the second booke of the Kings To be short and to set the last seale to the dignitie and excellencye of man there is no part of him but that there may be some fruite gathered to the vse of Phisicke as Galen and many others write A mans fasting spittle serueth against the biting of venemous beastes and also killeth them it helpeth the Ophthalmistes the filth of a mans eare called earewaxe being appliquated to our nostrels serue in steade of dormitories and prouoketh sléepe Mans vrine or water is good against the dropsie and for manye other vses of Phisicke The sweate of a man is excellent for to mitigate the Goute the bloud of a man being drunke hote healeth the passion of Loue as Authors doe write of Faustine wife to Marcus Auresius The flesh embalmed is verie soueraigne in many vsages of Phisick Many auncient Phisitions of Graecia and Arabia haue vsed the marrow of our bones the braynes of men and their bowels yea euen the duste and ashes of mens bones for to drinke them and cause thē to serue with maruellous effects to the vsage of Phisicke Orpheus and Orchilaus healed the quinancie with humaine bloud yea the filth of our nailes as Plinie witnesseth for to heale the Feuer so that there is no member of a mans bodie but that it is profitable not so much as the sweate of a man but that hath bene proued as Galen writeth also
the breath of a man well tempered comforteth greatlye the Leprousy as in like case the exerements of man the which can not be pronounced without shame the which as Xenocrates sayeth was vsed to the vse of auncient Phisicke finding so many helthful and excellent remedies in man that the antiquity pardoned no member though it were neuer so abiect and vile for to draw out profit Séeing then that man is so worthy and so excellent so wonderful and celestial Let vs therfore leaue hereafter to compare him to brute beastes The which although God hath prouided for theÌ„ all that for theÌ„ is néedefull for the preseruatioÌ„ of their life giuing to some skin others haire aswell for to sustaine and endure the violence of the colde as other inclinencies of the ayre and to others munimentes and defences for to repulse the dexterior euilles to other lightnesse and swiftnesse to run flie to others subtilty to hide theÌ„selues in dens and caues of the earth to others fethers and wings that they maye hang in the ayre to the ende to euitate the furie and rage of man all the which things notwithstanding are of little value to the regard of man For although he be created naked and couered with so tender a skin that quickely he is hurt and receyueth harme yet neuerthelesse that was not done without great prouidence For knowing that he had to exercise his fancie and other interior senses much more diligently than the brute beasts to serue afterward to the Intelecke it was therfore necessarie that he singularly should haue his Organs and instruments by the whiche he doeth such operations of matter more delicate and light and likewise the bloud more subtill and hote knowing that the spirit followeth in his complections the temperature of the bodie And if he had bene composed of rude and thick skin so should he haue had the vnderstanding blunt and brutishe but man is created of a subtill and liuelye fleshe bicause that the spirite which is liuely and subtill for the better more perfecter opening knowing of things The workmaister therefore is wonderfull which hath not attributed to man certaine commodities as he hath done to beastes knowing that his sapience and wisedome might render that which the condition of nature had denied him For althoughe he commeth forth naked on the earth without armour or defence the which chaunceth not to beastes that haue hornes clawes haire and shelles it is for his greate profit and aduauntage being armed with knowledge and endued with reason not outwarde but inwardly he hath put his munition and defence not in the bodie but in the spirite in such sort that there is neyther the greatnesse nor strength of wilde beasts neyther their defence in their hornes neither yâ—t the great lumpe of fleshe nor bones with the which they are composed and made may let that they be not tamed and made subiect vnder y e powre and authoritie of man for there is no beast be he neuer so fierce hardie or stoute but that trembleth sodenly when he séeth man although they had neuer séene him before And such grace succéedeth them by the vertue of the signacle and marke of God which is ingraued in them the which the auncieÌ„t Cabalists named Pahat in y e Hebrue tongue with the which Adam our first father fortified liued being conuersant with the beasts to whom he gaue the names so y â— he had got such authority and empire ouer theÌ„ that they knew him as their lord souereign maister but after that he traÌ„sgressed the deuine marke was effaced and abolished not altogither but for y â— most part Of the traces and footesteps thereof we sée yet certain sparks and beames shine in some vertuous men who although they be in the wildernesse that they lodge and lie in the dens caues of brute beasts they feare theÌ„ nothing but liue without feare with theÌ„ as we reade in the holie scripture of Sampson Dauid Daniell among the Lions Heliseus with the Beares and S. Paule with the Vipers There resteth nowe in fewe wordes to aunswere to the allegations that we haue made in our booke of humaine miseries aswell of the vilenesse of the nature of the which maÌ„ was created as of the condicion that is so tender and fraile that in many things beastes doe excell him Shoulde we therefore be so mad or dare we coÌ„fesse that God hath shewed more fauor to other beasts than to man no truly for although he hath created him vile and abiect as of a lump of earth yet this in nothing doth derogate his glory For it is manifest that he hath not created man corruptible for default of a better for by the creation of y â— Sunne the Moone the starres he hath shewed how he might haue created man of a thing more excelleÌ„t but he hath created him of the earth for to beate downe his pride and arrogancy the which hath bene the cause of the ruine and destruction of al his posteritie and that he must not only studie on earthly things as the brute beastes doe that looke for no other selicitie but in this miserable world but he must lift vp his eies to Heauen knowing that there is his Father his house and habitation his place of rest his heritage eternall felicitie Now as touching the miseries with the which he is charged and subiect God in the beginning created him not subiect to such miseries for God exalted him to the moste highest degrée of all the dignities of the earth and if he haue so many miseries as we haue before shewed they are chaunced to him since that he knew not himselfe and since the time that he hath strayde from the obedience and vocation to the which he was called and if that he coulde haue kept and retayned this excelent treasure his God would haue preserued him in perpetual felicitie Neuerthelesse though God hath made him subiect to many miseries it is not for anye hatred that he bare vnto him for he hath not pardoned his only sonne for y e great loue he bare vnto man but it is for his great profit that he hath created him such willing thereby to admonish him of his sinne and to plucke out from his heart that pestilent roote of pride the which the Deuill hath planted for to huÌ„ble and kéepe him vnder his feare Therfore this is the cause that man is subiect to so many miseries and is become mortall and corruptible And if man therfore séeing himselfe so wicked and miserable be so proude and hie minded what wold he be if he were immortall and incorruptible And therefore God hath here shewed his wisedome and sapience in y â— he hath made him subiect to corruption Notwithstanding in this corruptible and mortall vessell of earth he hath kept so goodly a harmonie and countenance that it is not possible to imagine or conceyue one more fairer To the ende