the Psalmist sayth that the Lorde powreth contempt vppon Princes and causeth them to erre in desearte places out of the waye The which Iob setteth foorth more at large And the alterations which we see happen in our age in so many countryes might serue for a notable table to beholde the iudgementes of God cleane abolyshinge whole empires for cause of our sinnes And God declared that he cast the people out of the lande of Palestina for the sorceries which they vsed And threatned that he would not onely roote out sorcerers but those likewise that suffereth them to liue And in Ieremie he sayth that he will scatter them in all kingdomes of the earth because of Manasses for that which he did in Ierusalem Which ought to mooue all Princes to detest them and cause them to bee punished according to the lawe of God Sundry histories doe witnesse that vpon the image of Sennacharib in Aegypt was written Learne by me to feare God CHAP. XXI That Princes ought to haue about them good counsellours which may not spare to tell them the truth and that their life ought to serue as a rule and instruction to their subiectes not to graunt to any vniust thing of excessiue gifts an aduertisement to such as are in fauour of warnings and that in all actions of importance one ought to take councell without trusting to his owne sufficiencie MAlice and vice taking their full swyng through the carier of the power libertie which wicked Princes yeelde vnto them do push forward euery violent passion making euery litle choler occasioned vpon some false reporte to turne anon eyther to murther or banishment euery regard and loue to a rape or adultery and couetousnes to confyscation The sight of what is precious causeth a mischeuous desire of making warre is the occasion that a million of swordes are naked which peace would keepe within the scabbard The importunitie of a flatterer driueth away a good counseller a light beleefe or suspition causeth the innocent often times to loose his life as the Prophet Mycheas describeth Through inequalitie iniustice or ambition an entrie is made to seditions troubles And a wicked counsell causeth the ruyne of a whole estate the order of iustice affaires is cleane turned vpside down and as Isocrates writeth the amities of Tyrants through a false report are often turned into most deadly enmities They proceed rather with a headines then counsell without resisting their appetites they are insolent and impatient imagining that with a looke they are able to remedie al hinderances and to surmount the nature of thinges not taking counsell of wisedome and reason but of their owne wil their woordes euer differing from their workes and preferring profit before sayth Caligula the Emperour wished that all the people of Rome had but one head that he might cut it off at a blowe And one day hauing two Senators at dinner with him that asked him what made him to laugh it is aunswered hee because in the twinckling of an eye I am able to hange you both The which other Emperours both haue sayde and put as much in execution And as Saluste writeth Tyrantes rather suspect the good then the wicked and stande in feare of such as are vertuous and are many As Horace after other historiographers reciteth of one Dionisius a Tyrant that he caused a friend of his to sit in a place abounding with all kinde of delicacies and delightes but ouer his heade he had a naked sworde hanging by a threede thereby to shewe him the estate in which all tyrantes stoode The Emperour Alexander Seuerus did as it were the like to a delicate Senator named Ouinius And in truth if iustice reason lawes and the feare of God did not conteyne and keepe within boundes suche power and might and that they were not accustomed to demand account of thēselues condemnations would goe before profes and all iustice pollicie and order should lie vnder feete Varus the Emperour was wont to say after Marius in Saluste diuers other of old time that it was a most hard matter for one in great power and aucthoritie to temper himselfe or not to be corrupted and to put a bridle to his desires Herodotus sheweth how easely royal gouernement is degenerated into tyrannye whereof Samuel aduertised the people of GGD so playnely by the example of Deioces who beeing greatly renowned and loued of euerye one for his vertue and iustice was choosen as Bayleife amonge the Medes and in the ende crowned their Kinge and to the ende he should haue greater aucthoritie and be the better able to maintayne iustice and to oppose himselfe to any harme they gaue him a guarde and a verye stronge place of defence But hee seeing himselfe so assuredly establyshed changed his manners cleane accordinge to the fashion of tyrauntes and thought of nothing else but howe hee mought be reuenged and contemned and oppressed euerie one for his owne greatnesse and pleasure And not without cause Theodosius the Emperour exhorteth his children Arcadius and Honorius to put a bridle to such licentiousnesse as neuer regarded what was iuste and to moderate their first motions and choler without trusting too much to fortune which is like vnto a glasse the more it is shining the more is it brickle Wherefore Plato Xenephon Aristotle and Plutarke counselled all good Princes to prouide about them men learned well aduised modest and of good vnderstanding to conferre with and to vnderstande of them what their dewtie is Isocrates wrote vnto Nicocles that he should procure friends not such as should be euer readie to shewe him pastime but such as should assist him in well gouerning of his kingdome and that euer would tell him the truth And he addeth that it is a greater felicitie to obeye a good King then to raygne Theopompus made aunswere vnto him that demaunded how a King with safety might gouerne his kingdom in giuing libertie vnto his friends frankly to speake the truth and in taking heede that he oppresse not his subiects Plutark sheweth that Philosophers ought especially to conuerse with Princes alleaging the aunswere of Solon to him which said that one ought not to approch neere Princes except he purpose to do al things to plese thē but cōtrariwise saith he you ought not to be about thē except you euer tel thē the truth As he did in visiting K. Craesus And Plato in Sicilie to Dionisius Dion Philostratus reciteth in the life of Apollonius that when Titus returning frō Iudea was inuested in the Empire he required the sayd Apollonius to giue him certain politicke instructions the better to be able to gouern his Empire to whō he answered that he would giue him a certaine disciple of his that should teach him the manner a good Prince ought to vse And being demanded what qualities he had He is sayth he a man franke
and lawes to runne in contempt And both the one and the other is to be founde fault with if it be not tempered Saul was reprehended of God because hee slewe not Amelec And the Prophet sayd to Achab that he should die because hee had pardoned Benadad the King of Siria who had deserued death as also because he caused Naboth to be murthered The holie scripture doth also teache vs that the wrath of God is appeased by the punishment of the wicked and that his vengeance extendeth ouer all people for their iniquitie and contrariewise his blessing doeth spreade it selfe vppon whome soeuer hee chasteneth The wicked shalbe afraide and kept backe but the righteous shal bee preserued from the contagion of them that worke iniquitie For this cause the booke of the lawe founde againe in the time of Iosias is called the booke of the alliance of the Lorde the which hee commaunded the Priestes to deliuer to the King Samuel followinge this rule put it into the handes of Saul and according vnto the tenure thereof Iosias yeelded himselfe the feodarie and vassal of the Lorde Likewise the lawe which was giuen in the Arke was called the couenant of the Lorde And Salomon saide vnto God Lord thou hast chosen mee to raigne ouer thy people and to iudge ouer thy sonnes and daughters For this cause our Kings were euer willing that none should regarde the pardones they yeelded if they were grounded vppon so yll a foundation As also Micheas the Prophet detesteth and curseth in the name of God all such as obey the wicked ordinances of Kinges who for this cause haue had especiall care and commaundement to administer iustice esteeming themselues rather armed with the sworde to chastise the wicked then to repulse their enimies and are the ministers of God for the peoples benefite as the Apostle sayeth And to this ende they establish good and learned Iudges in all places that are voyde of passions if they followe the lawes otherwise they shoulde bringe into the flocke the Wolfe which they ought to chase away and render themselues culpable of the death of those innocentes that such pardoned men shoulde kill and so grace should neuer be without crueltie CHAP. XXVI The definition of Lying THE Philosophers were neuer wont to content themselues in declaring the propertie of vertues except they opposed vnto them their contrarie vice to the ende that the lothsomnes thereof being wel regarded the other mought be found more agreable So haue we of purpose discoursed of the trueth before we com to shew the vice of lying the which we may define by a contrary significatiō vnto the truth whē one speaketh of things vncertain contrarie to that which one knoweth making thē seeme other then they are S. Augustin writeth to Cōsentius that it is a false significatiō of spech with a wil to deceiue And when one speaketh more or lesse then is in deede it is a member of iniustice turning topsie turuie all humane societie and the amitie due vnto our neighbour for since that speach is giuen vnto vs to make manifest what we thinke and to instruct his vnderstanding of whome wee speake It is a foule fault to abuse it and to behaue our selues in other sort towardes our neighbour then we willingly woulde he shoulde towardes vs for as much as hee which desireth and expecteth from vs the trueth is deceiued and led into an errour and hauing afterwardes in time discouered the lye he will no more beleeue vs and wee shal lose the meanes to be able to instruct for euer For lyars only gaine this that albeit they say and speake the trueth yet shal they neuer be beleeued And in the holy scripture idolatrie hipocrisie superstition false weights false measures and al cosinages are called lying to the end that by so disformed a name we should the rather eschewe them The lyar is detested of God and called double of heart and toung because he speaketh one thing and doeth an other And for verie good respect sundrie of the auncient doctors haue written that the trueth being depraued there are ingendred an infinite number of absurdities heresies scismes and contentions And Socrates was wont to saye that it proceeded from a good will to enforce it selfe to remoue the foolish opinions of men and that it was not possible for him to approue a lye nor to dissemble the trueth And Homer writeth of the great and valiant Captaine Achilles that he did more hate and abhorre lying then hell or death And it is written in the olde and newe testament that God doeth abhorre all lying and that the true are gratious in his sight yea that a theefe is better than a man that is accustomed to lye And lying is contrarie to nature ayded by reason and seruaunt or handmayd to the trueth It is writen in Leuiticus Yee shall not steale neither deale falsly neither lye one to another CHAP. XXVII The effectes of Lying PHilo in his first booke of the contemplatiue life setteth downe all kind of wickednes to proceede from lying as all good doth from the trueth And if wee wel consider the causes of the seditions troubles heresies and quarels which alter whole estates publike quiet and mans conuersation we shall finde all to proceede from the infected fountaine of lying And that Achab and the most part of the Kings of Israel the Emperours Nero Commodus Maximinus Iulius Valencius and sundrie other as well of olde time as of ours haue thereby beene ruyned Gehazi the seruant of Elisha was stroken with a leprosie Ananias Saphira fell downe dead Haman was hanged on the tree he had prepared for Mardocheus The hande of Ieroboam was dryed vp Craesus King of Lidia draue awaye Solon reiecting the trueth he had tolde him which for all that afterwardes saued his life and Dionisius the tyrant of Sicil not being able to make his profite of that which Plato had declared vnto him nor to wash away the stayne of tyrannie was constrained in his banishment to confesse that that which he had hearde of Plato made him the better able to carrie so great a change Thorough a lye Ioseph was cast in prison and S. Chrisostome sent into banishment and an infinite number of other holy and great personages haue beene maruelously afflicted and manie realmes and common wealthes haue euen had the verie beginning of their ruine from thence The saide Chrisostome in the 28. Homelie vppon Iohn sayeth that nothing is so vnfirme or vnconstant as lying for what ayde or piller so euer it can come by it weakeneth so as it causeth it to fall of it selfe CHAP. 28. The punishments of Lying IT is written in the Prouerbs He that speaketh lyes shal not escape and in the booke of wisedome The mouth that speaketh lies slayeth the soule and in Ecclesiasticus The condition of liars are vnhonest and their shame is euer with them
pleasures of sinnes And it is a harde matter as Salomon saith for a man to take fire in his bosome his clothes not to be burned And in the 16. chap. he declareth that such plesures are conuerted into teares torments Men of auncient time haue named danses allurings poysonings bauderies of Sathan who by the meanes therof corrupteth vs as Lizander softened the walles of Athens burned their ships by sound of flutes The Lord reprehended them in Isaiah for vsing banquets harps tabors other dissolutenes And without any more repeating the places of holy scripture wherin we are commanded to resist the desires of the flesh to shun al apparance occasion of euil to shew a good example as I touched before S. Basil in a sermon he made against drunkennesse flatly forbiddeth prophan songs dansing as things repugnant to al the holy dueties of a christian man in steed of bending his knees before god which he ought to do Which likewise S Chrisostom doth in manie homilies vpon Mathew the Epistle to the Coloss and vpon Genesis speaking of the mariages of Isaac Iacob in another homely he praised the peple for hauing left it S Ambrose in his third book of virgins S. Augustine against Petilian declare that in the wel ordered churches dansings were banished reproued as vnworthie dissolutenes vpon the 32. Psalm he is of opinion that it is not so yl to trauail plough the ground vpon the sunday as to danse The which Nicholas of Clemenge an ancient doctor of the Sorbonists doth cōmend in a tretise he made of not augmenting of holy days And the said S. Augustin in another place rather liketh the wife or maid that soweth vpō the holy day then her that danseth In the sea of histories is mention made of an Archbishop of Magdebourg that broke his neck dansing with a damsel Other haue been stroak down with thunder or knocked brused in pieces with the fal of the house where they dansed Our writers make mention of the great danger which K Charls 6. escaped hauing like to haue bin burned in a danse as some other great lords were And by dansing Herodias caused Iohn Baptist to be behedded And by bills of inditements drawn against sorcerers it hath bin found true that in their diuelish sinagogues they goe all dansing And not without cause one of auncient time named dansings snares for maides misfortune for men and a bayte for baudes And the Voltes courantes and vyolent daunses proceede from furie and hath caused many weomen to be deliuered before their time And god in Isaiah gretly threateneth the daughters of Sion for that they went winding prauncing making their steps to be heard againe Origen writeth that al persons haue been forbidden them but especially weomen for feare of defyling their sexe Plutarque likewise writeth that they ought to bee ashamed to bee founde dansing And the daughters of Israel were by that meanes rauished I could alledge sundrie counsels which haue forbidden it yea and of our owne ordinances which we ought to keepe and among other at the last assemblie of the estates holden at Orleans For the sanctification required by the law of God vpon the sabboth feastdaies is thereby maintained the which figureth in vs a spirituall rest which God worketh in his faithfull sanctifying them regenerating and making them aspire to things heauenly diuine keeping their feast in sinceritie truth as S. Paul hath written And this ought to be a continual Sabboth to the said faithfull to the ende that euerie day they may liue holily renouncing the works of the flesh honor God both in bodie minde And the holy day is principally ordained to heare the worde of God to serue him to call vpon his name to remember his benefits free gifts to giue him thanks to dedicate our selues vnto him to performe al works of pietie to participate with the publique prayers made in the churches to set our selues far of from al apparance of yll As S. Paul saith that God hath purifyed to himselfe a people making profession of good workes this sanctification is declared in Isaiah to consist in doing of no yll in following the will of God not our own suffering our selues to be gouerned by him For how can we name our selues Christians keepe holy dayes if we prophane them with dansing banqueting masking spending excessiuely playing dissolutely prouoking the wrath of God vpon vs which wil bring forth her accustomed effects chastisements if we do not amend And if according to the saying of our Sauiour We must render account for euerie idle worde howe much more for our songs which men vomit out in daunses from a heart impure the more to giue fire to our couetous desires sufficiently occasioned by other meane to boyle in steade of imploying our tongue to the praise of our creator and giuing him thankes for his benefites And as the mysteries of religion are spirituall so doe they require the minde of man to the ende to nourish it instruct refourme humble it if it be too much exalted and lift it vp if it bee too much throwne downe to comforte and regenerate it without applying it to vaine thinges dishonest and hurtfull which was the cause that Saint Augustine and other doctors founde it strange that men are offended if they see one plough vpon a holy daie but not if one be drunke go a whoring or worke any other iniquitie It is to be feared that God will obiect vnto vs that in the first of Isaiah My soule hateth your appointed feastes I am wearie of them and I will not heare your prayers And in Amos I hate and abhorre your feastes dayes and I will not smell in your solemne assemblies though you offer me burnt offringes and meate offringes I will not accept them And I will turne your feastes into mourninges and all your songes into lamentations and I will bring sackcloth vppon all loynes The puritie of the Gospell calleth vs to a profession that we should reforme and cut off all euill customes and eloigne our selues from all daungers vanities and lightnesse And not without cause Antisthenes being demanded what a feast was answered that it was an occasion of surfeting and disorders And oftentimes no dayes are lesse festifall and lesse obserued then the festifall dayes which many dedicate to Bacchus and Venus Which surely would require to be well reformed And whereas they blame frenchmen for great pleaders those that are of the best aduised exempt themselues make a pointment and quit one part to conserue the rest in peace and winde themselues out of the handes of these suckpurses and palterers thinking it a true saying of Chilo that quarels sutes and debtes are euer accompanied with miseries as more at large hereafter it is declared Nowe to
in his actions then couragious It were very expedient that were practised which happened in our time in the yeare of our Lord one thousand fiue hundred fiftie and one betweene Gonstaue King of Sweden and the Moscouite where all those that were occasioners of the warre they had so lightly vndertaken were executed and put to death And not without cause did Pausanias call all the Captaines in the warre both Peloponesians and Greekes murtherers and destroyers of their countrey It is to be desired that the nobilitie of France would accustome themselues to modestie rule order constancie and to mortifie this their great heate to armes and warre vnnecessarie And as the Phisition preuenteth sickenesse thorough small preparatiues and apostumes so beginning with their lesser inclinations choler and passions they may the easilyer attaine to the ende of the more strong and consider that which is written in the life of Saint Augustine that hee would neuer pray for such as of their owne voluntarie motion had beene at a strange warre and greatly reproued as saint Cyprian did Donatus and others that killing of a priuate man was in perticuler punished but he who had slaine manie in warre was greatly praysed In Titus Liuius Scipio sheweth to King Masinissa that a man ought not so muche to doubt his enemies armed as those pleasures which render a man effeminate and vnconstant It was wisely sayde of an auntient man that the foundations of all counsels and actions ought to leane to pietie iustice and honestie without vsing of anie headinesse I woulde willingly giue that counsell to French men which Archidamus gaue vnto the Aeoliens meaning to ayde the Argians in their warre within a letter contayning onely these woordes Quietnesse is good And sayde vnto suche as praysed him for the victorye hee had obtayned agaynst the Argiens it had beene more worthe to haue ouercome them by wisedome then by force Xenophon writing of the actes of the Greekes sheweth that all wise men abstayne the moste they are able from warre albeit they haue thereunto iust occasion And that sayinge of sundrye Emperours was verye famous that warre ought not to bee taken in hande without great neede And the Emperour Augustus was woont to say that a warre which were good must be commaunded by the Goddes and iustified by Philosophers and wise olde men For the time seruing for lawes for armes is diuerse as Caesar sayd to Metelius And we haue had too good experience howe much God the weale publicke order and iustice hath beene offended herewith And warre hath beene called a gulfe of expence and a cruell tyrant ransacking the people and peace ordred with good pollicie as a good king moderating charge and excesse And as Horace feygneth that the place into which Eolus shut his windes being open the sea is troubled in euerie part so by the opening of warre partialitie insolencie and all vices manifest themselues And warres are nought else then a horrible punishment of a whole people a ruine of a whole countrey state and discipline And wisely did Spartian write howe Traian was neuer vanquished because he neuer vndertooke warre without iust cause The very which Titus Liuius declareth of the Romaines in the ende of the first Decade Otho the Emperour chose rather to die than to rayse a ciuill warre For which men likewise prayse Zeno the Emperour and Cicero in his Philippiques calleth him which is desirous thereof a detestable citizen I am also of opinion that the conuersation with the Muses and studie of good letters would render the nobilitie more aduised and constant as we haue well marked else where And am not of the Swissers minde which thinketh too much studie marreth the braine nor of the Almaynes who in the time of Galienus the Emperour after that the citie of Athenes was taken kept them from setting a fire a great heape of bookes they had there made saying let vs leaue them to the Greekes to the ende that applying themselues to them they may be lesse proper for the warre For the reading of good bookes as Alexander the great and diuerse other of the most valiant captaines sayde maketh the nobilitie more hardie and wise and contayneth them within the boundes of their dutie And what good nature soeuer a captaine be of he falleth into an infinite number of faults for want of reading of good books And that being true which diuerse haue written of Xenocrates that he did so pearce the heart of his auditors that of dissolute persons they became temperate and modest what ought wee to iudge of the instructions taken out of the holy letters And as some haue counselled before they sleepe they are to demaund of themselues a reason and account of that which they shall haue gayned of modestie grauitie constancie and facilitie of complexions It is written of Socrates that when he was drye he would neuer drinke but first he wold cast out the first bucket ful of water that he drew out of the well to the ende sayde he that he might accustome his sensuall appetite to attende the fit time and oportunitie of reason Theophrastus sayd that the soule payd well for her hyer to the bodie considering what shee there suffred But Plutarke writeth that the body hath good cause to cōplaine of the noyses which so greuous and troublesome a guest maketh him which notwithstanding is within the body as in a sepulcher or den which she ought to guide being before lightned by the truth and ruling her selfe according to it both in respect of her owne safetie and of her hostes I would also counsell them to shunne all dissolutenes be it in bitter or vilanous wordes vncomely garmentes and vnshamefast countenance For it is all one in what part soeuer of the bodie a man shew his vnshamefastnes vanitie pride and lightnesse And the Lacedemonians were highly commended because they banished a Milesian out of their citie for going too sumptuously appareled We ought also rather to desire to be vertuous then to seeme to vse wisedome and descretion in all assayes auoyding debates and selfewill without witnessing whether it be true or false not hurtfull following the precept of Epictetus in yeelding vnto the greater sort perswading the inferiours with sweetenesse and modestie consenting to the equall to the end to auoyde quarelles Aboue all thinges wee ought to enforce our selues to tame our couetous desires and concupiscences especially where libertie to take and enioye them is offred vnto vs and to accustome our selues to patience meekenesse in keeping vnder the desire of reuenge knowing as the great Monarch Alexander was woont to saye that it is a signe of a more heroycall heart and prayse worthye for a man that hath receaued an iniurie to pardon his enemie then to kill him or reuenge himselfe vpon him And that reuenge proceeded of a basenesse of minde and vertue consisted in matters hardly reached vnto And it
condemned but they which are consenting thereto and knowe him do not reueale him to the end that the holye name of God be not prophaned contrarie to the first table of commandements which forbiddeth vs to take it in vaine The which hath beene the cause that some diuines haue esteemed it a greater and more haynous sinne then murther forbidden by the second table the rather for that if proofes be wanting against the murtherer men haue recourse to his othe Salomon in his prayer that hee made at the dedication of the temple demaunded the punishment of such as should periure themselues The Aegyptians and Scithians put them to death the Indians cut off the toppes of their feete and handes for an example to shewe the offence they had committed against God and their neighbour Saint Lewys the King caused their lips to be feared with a hote yron in Zuiserland they fasten their tong with two nayles and in some Cantons they make them dye like felons or pul out their tongue And against them there are sundrie ordinances made by the Kings of France which we ought to obserue especially against blasphemers the which God in Leuiticus woulde should be stoned vnto death It is written in the Prouerbs The toung of the frowarde shalbe cut off And Iustinian the Emperour ordained by sundrie lawes that such should be executed And not without cause haue the diuines accounted blasphemie much more worthie of punishment then any other fault wickednesse which as Samuel sayth are chiefely committed against men whereas blasphemies are directly against the honour of God and in despite of him And by some decrees of the Court they haue beene condemned to a most greeuous fine and to haue their tongue perced thorough with a hot yron and after to be hanged and strangled It is worthy to be considered what Iohn Viet a Phisition in his historie of the deceites of diuels and sundry other writers haue testified of some that haue beene visibly carryed away by diuels in calling vpon them or giuing themselues vno them Pope Iohn the 12. was deposed and afterwardes put to death for hauing broken his othe made to Otho touching Berangare Iustinian the sonne of Constantine the fourth for hauing violated his faith giuen to the Bulgares and periured himselfe in assailing of the Sarazins was deposed from his imperiall crowne and banished I omit an infinite number of other who haue receiued like punishmentes for their periuries Pericles being required by a certaine friende of his to sooth a certain matter for his sake aunswered I am thy friende as farre as the aultar that is to say so farre as not to offende God To which that which is written of Hercules may be very well referred that he was so religious and vertuous that hee neuer swore in all his life but once and it was one of the first thinges that children were forbid as Fauorinus testified and the better to retayne and keepe them from this vice there is a very auntient ordinance at Rome that expressely forbiddeth them to sweare And the Prophetisse of Delphos made aunswere vnto the Lacedemonians that euery thing should prosper better and better if they forbad all othes Also it was in no case permitted to the Priestes of Iupiter to sweare for that often times an othe endeth in cursing and periurie And Stobeus writeth that for this cause the Phrigians did neuer sweare They which periure themselues as an auncient father sayth very well shewe suffycient testimony howe they despise God and feare men And if one thoroughly examined all estates and whereto euery offycer is bound to God to the king and to iustice by his othe hee should finde a maruelous number of periured Cicero in his oration which hee made for Balbus sayth that what oth soeuer he that is alreadie periured can take yet must one not beleeue him and in the end shall carrie his own paine For what shal remaine to God if he be spoyled of his truth making him a witnesse and approuer of fashood Therefore Iosua when he would haue had Achā to confesse the truth vnto him sayde My sonne I beseech thee giue glorie vnto the Lord God of Israel declaring that God is greatly dishonored if one periure him selfe by the like coniuration that the Pharises were wont to vse in the Gospell it appeareth that they commonly accustomed this kind of speech If we will then liue with quietnes of minde without destroying our selues we must eschewe all lying periurie folow our vocation obserue whatsoeuer we haue promised to God men CHAP. XXX That lying in doctrine is most pernitious and that one ought carefully to search for the truth EVery man confesseth yea the very Pagan Philosophers that men were created for the seruice of God and that aboue all thinges they should make accoūt of religion which giueth the only meanes to vnite and reconcile man to God for his saluation Cicero and Lactantius in sundry places declare besides that we find written in the old new testament that onely by seruing of god men differ from brute beasts and the good frō wicked and that the aucthoritie of Philosophie consisteth in the searching out of the principall end soueraine good of man And since that godlinesse is the scope of the rest it is requisite that it be fixed vnmoueable yet ther is nothing wherin mē erre so much as in that which ought to be most knowen The cause of the error proceedeth as in sundry places S. Augustin writeth by the testimonie of the scriptures for that the most part measure the said seruice rather according vnto their own blind braine then by the rule giuē in the word of god according to our corrupt reason through the hereditary fal of our prime parēts who were not able to cōprehend as the Apostle saith the diuine heauēly things Frō thence hath proceeded the multitude of Gods when they haue thought that one was not able to suffice prouide for all so were sundry kind of seruices in shew inuēted which might plese the cōmō people the creature taken in place of the creator nothing in steed of infinit S. Basil in a proeme writing of the iudgements of God greatly lamenteth that the church was so seuered in diuisions And searching into the cause therof he remēbred that passage in the booke of Iudges where it is written that Euery man did that which was good in his owne eies Since then that no error is so dangerous as that which is cōmitted in religion for as much as our saluation quietnes and happines dependeth therō it is very requisite that we apply therto what sense or vnderstāding soeuer is within vs according to the opiniō of S. Augustin if it be a leude part to turne the waifaring mā out of his right waye then are such as teach false doctrine much more to bee
is ordeyned for the wicked he would set all his care in seeking howe to please and obeye him which hath honoured him with so manifolde blessinges And this is the verye trewe cause that we so much lament their follye and miserie which doe euer deferre the amendment of their disordered life proceeding onely from their infidelitie and want of beleeuing of the threatninges of the iudgementes of God who will render to euery man according to his workes to whose selfe we must render account of all our ydle woordes thoughtes and affections Moreouer euery one knoweth that the houre of death is vncertaine and we indifferently see the young dye as well as the olde and that nothing is more common than suddaine death the which caused the great Philosopher Demonax to warne the Emperour Adrian and such as liued at their ease in no wise to forget howe in verye short time they should be no more And an other did often times put Kinge Philip in minde that he should remember he was a man And the Emperour Maximilian the firste did alwaies cause to be caried about with him among his robes whatsoeuer was necessarie for his buriall as one that was alwayes booted and readie to depart We must not excuse our selues with the patience bountie and mercie of God except we be determined to amende and thereby be drawen to repentance so much commaunded in the holy scriptures but still be afrayde of his iudgementes and call to minde that which is so often written that neither the vnrighteous neither fornicators nor idolaters nor adulterers nor wantons nor buggerers nor theeues nor couetous nor dronkardes nor raylers nor extortioners nor murtherers nor gluttons nor such as are full of wrath Enuie contentions seditions or heresies shall inherite the kingdome of God And euery one shal reape what himself hath sowen And Saint Paule addeth that they which are of Christe haue crucified the fleshe togeather with the affections and concupiscence thereof Therefore Ecclesiasticus exhorteth vs to make no tarrying to turne vnto the Lorde and not to put off from day to day for suddenly shall the wrath of the Lorde breake foorth and in our securitie we shall be destroyed and perish in time of vengeance And the wisedome of God in the beginning of the preuerbes of Salomon doth amplye exhort vs to receaue in dewe time his correction not to reiect his councell and that the foolish are slayne thorough their ease but he which will obey shall dwel surely and rest without feare of euill Let vs consider that the most iust GOD doth recompence the good and punish the wicked and payeth not euerie night nor euerye Saterdaye but as Valerius sayeth counterpeaseth the slackenesse of his deferred punishment by the greeuousnes thereof when it commeth And the afflictions of this present time sent vnto the good to containe them in their dewtie are not worthie of the glorie which shalbe shewed vnto vs as S. Paul sayth And all the delights and pleasures of this life are turned into sowernesse and it is the act of a Christian to looke that at the houre of his death he runne to none but to God and himselfe nor take care of ought else For we shall haue enough to doe without taking such carke and care for the affayres of this world and to premeditate thereof giueth great aduantage Our sauiour in Saint Luke sayde vnto him which still delighteth himselfe in heaping vppe of riches O foole this night will they fetch away thy soule from thee then whose shall those thinges bee which thou hast prouided The prophetes and Apostles very often admonyshed vs to amende while there is time to the ende we should not tarrie vntill the gates of repentance were fast locked vp and barred The which our Sauiour would also teach vs by the parable of the foolishe virgins who were suddenly surprised and shutte out of the hall where the bridegrome made his feaste to the ende that after the confession of our sinnes we might runne to the promises and mercie of God and dispose our selues to a newe and holy life Isaiah warneth vs to seeke the Lorde while he may be founde and to call vpon him while he is neere and it is to be feared if we ouer slippe the oportunitie least hee will leaue vs. And if suche as search the riches and vanities of the worlde forget nothinge which may further them I praye you with what feruentnesse ought we to search God and our saluation Let vs take heede least that reprooche in Isayah be not cast in our teeth I haue spredde out my handes all the day vnto a rebellious people And Ieremiah writeth Thou hast striken them but they haue not sorrowed thou hast consumed them but they haue refused to receiue correction they haue made their faces harder than a stone and haue refused to returne For this cause Saint Paule to the Hebrewes putteth them in minde of that in the 95. Psalme To day if you will heare my voyce harden not your heartes The accustoming of our selues to sinne and the examples of other greatly harme vs. For when men see the elder sort to fayle then doth youth take example thereby and being ill brought vs followeth the same trayne all the rest of their life But by little and little this custome must be changed nothing is so hard as Seneca saith but the vnderstāding of man surmounteth it and is able to attayne what euer it seeketh Let vs call to minde what God sayth in Isayah Your refuge in falshoode shall be made voyde your couenaunt with death shall be disanulled and your agreement with hell shall not stande when a scourge shall runne ouer and passe thorough then shall yee be trodde downe by it Nowe therefore be no mockers Hearken ye and heare my voyce Hearken ye and heare my speeche And he sayeth in Ieremie Giue glorie to the Lorde your God before he bringe darkenesse and or euer your feete stumble in the darke mountaynes and whyles you looke for light hee turne it into the shadowe of death and make it as darkenesse Can the Blacke More change his skinne or the Leoparde his spottes Then may ye also doe good that are accustomed to doe euill We must then vndertake the good way guyded thereunto thorough the assistaunce of God and what diffycultie soeuer we finde yet to striue to come to our pretended ende and wee shall finde the pathes of iustice pleasant and easie We reade in hystories that sundrie Pagans haue ouercome their euill and naturall inclination and what ought a Christian to doe If riches honours and pleasures slacke vs let vs call to minde the sundrie threatninges in the holy scriptures agaynst the riche the proude and ambitious and haue all our owne greatnesse in suspition and enioy all thinges as not possessing them and let it be the least parte of our care the affayres of
considering the excellencie of our soule in his owne nature haue great cause to boast in God which hath giuen it vnto vs and through his bountie hath vouchsafed to honour vs farre aboue all other creatures but looking backe howe this nature hath beene corrupted and esloyned from her first originall there remaineth nought to vs but shame And if there bee any good in vs it proceedeth from the liberalitie of God by whome if wee bee not continually supported wee shall fall into all miserie and mischiefe Let vs likewise considered howe manye great personages fearing to bee too much exalted haue refused Empires Kingdomes Bishoprickes Abbayes and other dignities And haue accounted themselues happie when God hath done them the honour to humble them and bring them vnto him through sundrie afflictions Philo the Iewe writeth that the occasion whie Leuen was forbid vnto the Iewes at the feast of Easter was to teache them to haue a greate care to keepe themselues from pryde and presumption into which they fell which helde any good opinion of their owne selues and puffeth themselues vp therewith as the dowe is with the leuen CHAP. XLI That Painting is Lying FOr as much as sinceritie simplicitie roundnesse and trueth are proper to such as are vertuous and all disguysing hath beene accounted odious It is not without cause that sundrye haue blamed and found fault with paynting which serueth not but to delight such as are licentious and proceedeth as Sainct Ciprian and Chrisostome wrote from the Diuel a lyar and deceiuer And if Saint Peter and Saint Paul exhort weomen not to haue their appareling outwarde as with broydered hayre and golde put about or in putting on of apparell but what is comely to weomen making profession of the trueth through good woorkes much lesse will they allowe of paynting God in Isaiah reprehendeth the daughters of Sion because they minsed as they went and decked themselues too curiously Among other things he sayeth that because they were haughtie and walked with outstretched neckes and with wandring eyes walking minsing as they went making a tinckling with their feete therefore shall the Lord make the heds of the daughters of Zion bald discouer their secrete partes and in that day shall take away the ornament of the slippers and the calles and the round tires the sweete balles the brasselets and the bonnets the tyres of the head and the sloppes the headbands and the tablets and the eare rings the rings the mufflers the costly apparel the vailes the wimples and the crisping pinnes and the glasses and the fine linnen and the hoods and the launes and the men shal fall by the sworde for suffring such pride of women In Deuteronomie it is written The woman shall not weare that which pertaineth voto the man neither shall a man put on a womans raiment And we must glorifie God in our bodies and in our spirites which are his and the temples of the holie Ghost as S. Paul sayth and take heede of giuing offence to any It is without all doubt that there chaunceth sundrie great imperfections to children when weomen with childe goe too straite laced Tertullian in his booke of the rayments of weomen would haue them simple and differing from common maydens and such as were nice and drunken S. Ciprian and S. Ambrose vppon the like argument and S. Chrisostome vpon the 12. to the Hebrewes forbid painting to women and say that they giue occasion of offence and cause men to sinne and wallow in the stye of the brickle vanities of this world And Sueton telleth how Augustus called gorgious garments markes of pryde and nestes of riotousnes And many olde doctors of the Church haue greatly complained against such as curle their haire and aboue all things reproued the vse of wearing of perwigs And Clement Alexandrin writeth that as a man would iudge one to be yll at ease which weareth a plaster on his face or one that hath beene scourged to haue beene punished by lawe so doeth painting betoken a diseased soule marked with adulterie as Iezabel was founde fault with and punished And Platina reprehendeth Pope Paul the second The auncient fathers called it a corruption and staine if many colours were mingled togither And Homer speakinge of a peece of yuorie that was coloured red writeth that it was poluted with a staine A man may rather say so by ones face As also Horace called Lentiscus a lyar because he blacked his haire And K. Archidamus tolde an Orator which had done the like that he carryed a lye in his head therefore could say nothing well K. Philip said as much to one of Antipaters friends from whome he tooke away his office after that he vnderstood that he curled his haire beard telling him that he which in his haire was fals a liar could hardly be loyal in any good affaire This is the reason why Lycurgus forbad al kind of painting artificial garnishing to be vsed in the citie of Sparta ordaining in like sort that maidens should be giuen im marriage without dower to the ende that for want of money none should remaine vnmarried nor any sought for their goods but respecting the maners of the maiden eche one should make election of vertue in her whom he would marrie A Lacedemonian being demanded by a stranger why there was no lawe made against adulterers Why said he should there be any since all riches delicatenes al painting outward garnishing is forbidden in Sparta shame to do yll honestie obedience there hath al the authoritie preheminence And if a painter would take it greeuously for a great iniury offred vnto him if any other should adde any colours to the picture whiche had finished especially vpon the counterfaict of Princes which themselues would hold for a great contempt by the ciuil law the child may haue an action of the case against him which shal deface the portract of his father Wee may wel imagin how much it displeaseth God if by painting we seek to correct his work pollute his temple as S. Ierom writeth in an Epistle to Laeta against Heluidie And S. Chrisostom vpon the ninth of S. Matth. addeth that it maketh vs resemble strumpets hasteneth wrinkles before old age Titus Liuius telleth of one Vestale Postumea that she was accused vnder colour of appareling her self too netely S. Peter would haue a Christian woman which maketh professiō of godlines to liue holily as if she were of a religion wel reformed And it was excellently wel written by Tertullian that the force of faith is such that it is perceiued by mans vnderstāding by his countenance garments euery action And Plato said that they which were curious in bedecking of their body despised the care of their soule It were not amisse if euery one that were curious were serued as a