if a man reproue him he saieth that he hath appointed another there in his place But this so faithfull a Minister considereth not that Christ when he was by his comming and death to redéeme mankinde did send none in his place nor substitute an other vnto the Crosse in his stead He himselfe came he himselfe labored he himselfe died for vs. Might we haue God and cannot haue his vicars to attend vpon the office committed vnto them They saie it is lawfull for them so that they liue within any vniuersitie or Schoole whereby they maie procure vnto themselues good arts and learning Iohn 2◠15. But Christ when he saide vnto Peter Feede my sheepe excepted no such thing But and if they shall not bee as yet meete and sufficientlie learned they ought not to take the charge of a pastor in the Church Perhappes they thinke it sufficient for them if they haue the vocation title and possession But this is to plaie masking and counterfeit parts For it behooueth 1. Cor. 4. ◠as the Apostle teacheth that the Rulers of Churches should both minister faithfully and faithfully dispence the mysteries of God that is the sacraments 33 There be thrée things then required vnto the lawfull minister of a Church Thrée thinges required to a lawful Minister of the Church The first is that the Pastor should be iustlie called secondlie that he should féede in verie déede last of all that he should doe it faithfullie and with great discretion I speake not of the sinceritie of life which is required to be more than ordinarie both bicause it ought to be common vnto all Christians and also that all men vnderstand how necessarie it is I passe ouer also of how small faithfulnesse they be of which hide the gifts that God hath bestowed vpon them and will not communicate them with others for bicause these men are sufficientlie condemned in the parable of Christ vnder the person of that seruant which buried in the ground the Talent that was committed vnto him Mat. 25. 24 Neither doeth he lesse vnfaithfullie deale who hath made the graces which he hath obtained of God so proper vnto himselfe as he ascribeth them not vnto God and he that is such a one Chrysost A similitude is by Chrysostome compared vnto him that receiuing a purple robe of the king to be kept neuerthelesse was bolde to weare the same as his owne garment Doubtlesse such a one shall be accounted guiltie of treason So that if we will be faithfull vnto God we must ascribe all good things vnto him In the Actes Acts. 3. 12. Peter said of the lame man which was alreadie healed by him Ye maruell as though we of our owne power haue healed this man when as the God of Abraham Isaac and Iacob would glorifie his sonne Iesus Vnto this faith also it belongeth that A good Pastor euen as Christ did Ioh. 10. 11. should giue his life for his sheepe Touching the flying away of ministers which in perill must not be forsaken vnlesse perhaps the persecution shall be of a particular Pastor for which cause it was lawfull for Athanasius to flie bicause of the crueltie of the wicked prince for so much as in the Church of Alexandria there were verie manie which coulde minister in his place Augustine vnto Honoratus in his 180. Augustine Epistle disputeth at large of flying awaie And furthermore manie things harde ynough hath Tertullian the which are not at this time in this place to be recited The dutie of a Pastor is so faithfullie to behaue himselfe that through his default he maie not suffer the least séelie shéepe though it be an abiect to perish in the Church He rather ought to followe Christ Mat. 18. 11. who saide that He came to seeke that which was lost and to saue that which had perished Christ is presēt with his ministers reuēgeth their iniuries And in these excellent actions Christ forsaketh not good Pastors he defendeth them oftentimes reuengeth for their sakes with great seueritie We knowe how displeasinglie he tooke it that Samuel was reiected 1. Sam. 8. 7. he reuenged that iniurie and in his furie gaue the people a king vnder whom they liued in small felicitie And he that shall peruse the Histories shal finde that they were sore afflicted vnder the greatest part of the kings 1. Sam. 22. 18. And when as Saul in the Citie of Noba had slaine manie of the Priests 1. Sa. 31. 4 he also with his sonne Ionathas vpon Mount Gelboa lamentablie perished God reuenged Moses and Aaron Numb 16. and executed vnaccustomed punishmentes vpon them that conspired against him So we sée likewise that the Iewes which siue Christ the high Priest and did ill intreate his Apostles were throwen headlong into destruction Of the Efficacie of the Ministerie 34 And first of all whereas the Corinthians are by Paul reproued bicause they made men their Authors In 1. Cor. 3. verse 4. let the faithfull Ministers of Christ learne not to make disciples or followers vnto themselues but vnto Christ vnto whom onlie the Church doth belong This did the Ethnicke Philosophers séeke namelie to distinguish the scholers which they had by their owne names so that some were called Platonians The arrogancie of Phylosophers The modestie of Socrates others Pythagorians others Epicureans But Socrates séemed more modest than the rest bicause he made not himselfe Author of the doctrine that he taught as he that affirmed himselfe to be like a midwife which shoulde bring helpe vnto parents so he thought good to be present at his questions among young men to the intent he might bring to light the sciences which they had in their minde Much rather doeth this take place in Christs affaires For although that a man teach cunninglie vnlesse that the holie Ghost doe inwardlie stirre vp the hearers he looseth his labour It is the spirit which truelie maketh the mindes fruitfull Wherefore it is saide there Who is Paul and who is Apollo 1. Cor. 3. An example of Iohn Baptist Iohn Baptist verie well declared this when being demanded of himselfe what he was said that he was not Christ nor Elias nor yet a Prophet but onelie Iohn 1. 20. A voice of a crier in the wildernesse prepare the waie of the Lord. The ministers of God haue verie ample giftes which like faithfull seruantes they ought to vse to the commoditie of other seruants and to the glorie of their Lord neither must they bend them either vnto gaine or vnto preferments 35 And although Paul séeme after a sort to abase the ministerie yet if thou diligentlie obserue what he saieth thou wilt confesse that there is nothing taken from the worthinesse thereof For in déede he leaueth vnto it a notable commendation when he saith The worthines of the ministerie 1. Cor. 3. 5 that they be Ministers by whom they beleeued Faith Remission of sinnes
Augustine In the old lawe fasting was commanded to be onelie one daie once in a yeare wherein nothing should be tasted vntill night in which place it is not described with what kind of meat they should sup And in Augustines confessions we read that the eating of flesh made not godlie men anie thing the lesse acceptable vnto God 1. Kin. 17 6. And he maketh mention of Elias who being hidden was fed by the rauens with flesh Mat. 3 4. And Iohn Baptist in the wildernes did eate locusts But on the other side Gen. 25 32. Esau being beguiled with the most simple food of pottage sold his birth-right 20 Among the Fathers they continuallie alledge Gregorie What is to be thought of Gregory of whom I make no verie great account for he was the first that brought in manie superstitious things Touching the Fathers that went before him I thinke it hath been spoken sufficient Albeit the same Gregorie bishop of Rome as we find in the decrée the 4. distinction and in the chapter Denique writeth vnto Augustine bishop in England that The laie men were woont euen in the time of Lent to be verie desirous of flesh to fill themselues immoderatelie with the same and he iudgeth Gregories opinion of eating in Lent that the priests and deacons at the least ought to refraine But vnto others he durst not appoint anie commandement or lawe least peraduenture anie worse thing should happen They vrge vs also with Councels whose decrées neuerthelesse haue not alwaies béene firme and how little the bishops of Rome haue regarded them it may appéere in that verie manie both publikelie and priuatelie doo obteine licence for monie to eat egges butter and milke Licence for mony granted by the Pope to eat certeine kinds of meats vpon their fasting daies when as it was otherwise ordeined by those decrées The latter Popes of Rome haue made most seuere lawes concerning these things as they that made it but a small matter to laie manie snares to catch the simple people All these things were ordeined but yet there is no cause why we should therefore grant them to haue beene iust These traditions of men are pernicious bicause as Christ taught at length they make the commandements of God to be of none effect Mat. 15. 3. The Lord commanded How the traditions of men doo violate the commandements of God that we should haue one God and that we should not admit anie besides him at this daie the worshipping and inuocation of saints is confirmed by traditions God forbad images at this daie they be receiued into churches by the decrées of bishops God commanded that parents should be had in honour the tradition causeth that children setting light by that authoritie doo flie vnto monasteries God willeth that our neighbours should be holpen but through these traditions men go from helping of the liuing to helping of the dead The holie scriptures declare that there is but one mediator Christ Iesus who hath procured God to be mercifull towards all our wickednes but by tradition we are taught at this daie that he suffered for originall sinne and for those sinnes which were committed before baptisme but that it is necessarie for vs concerning sinnes done after regeneration to redéeme them by our owne works Thus are the commandements of God made frustrate by the traditions of men Whether the church haue power to make lawes 21 They saie the church hath power to make lawes Which thing I denie not for we are men and it is néedfull euen in those works which apperteine vnto the worship of GOD to haue good order established for which cause we grant that there may be other decrées established in the church But then there be certeine conditions strictlie to be obserued First and foremost Vnder what conditions ecclesiasticall lawes must be reteined that such kind of iustice be not contrarie to the word of God Secondlie we must prouide that we place not the worship of God iustification and remission of sinnes in them Besides this they must not be ouer manie in number least they ouercharge and pester the church Neither must they be decréed in such wise as though they ought to be of necessitie and that they must not by anie means be changed when the saluation of the faithfull shall so require Neither ought they in such sort to be made that if a man without offense and contempt doo not obserue them he sinneth deadlie Wherefore séeing that these lawes about the choise of meats as we haue declared are against the word of God which hath ordeined meats to be frée it is cléere that they are pernicious Moreouer in this decrée of theirs for making choise of meats they repose holines and the worship of God so as they account such as absteine not from the meats which they haue appointed to be neither good nor holie nor religious In processe of time those decrées of theirs haue growne innumerable neither is there anie end of them Augustine Augustine long since complained that All things in his time were full of presumptions so as now the state of the christians was woorse than the bondage of the Iewes Séeing he spake this of the time wherein he liued The sâ—ate of the christians at this day in more bondage than the Iewes what I beséech you would he haue said of our times wherein the church is pressed with infinit burdens First they would haue an abstinence for the Lent time then afterward they added fridaie and saturdaie and in some places wednesdaie euerie wéeke Foure ember wéekes they brought in last of all eues of a number of saints Which times Gregorie the seuenth of that name added that they which will not fast doo sinne as he termeth it deadlie Wherfore seing these traditions be so gréeuous to the church that they may be called burdens intollerable the which Christ did find falt with to be laid on men by the Scribes and Pharisies they ought in no wise to be suffered Finallie thou maist adde that they would haue such choise of meats to be so necessarie and inuiolable that the church could not stand without them And such account they make of their owne traditions that they punish the transgressors more gréeuouslie for them than those which haue broken the commandements of God as théeues adulterers church-robbers and such like 22 They alledge the Rechabites Ierem. 35 2. which are commended in Ieremie An obiection touching the Rechabits for their obedience vnto their father who commanded them to drinke no wine and to enioie no certeine possessions but to wander to and fro and dwell in no citie Vnto whom God bicause they faithfullie performed these things promised a liuelie posteritie and a long induring séed Here they saie that those things which Ionadab the sonne of Rechab commanded to his children make for the choise of meats wherefore the church by commanding of these things dooth not séeme
pit or into the place of consuming Also hell is called Tsalmaueth that is The shadowe of death Psa 107 10. whereof it is soong in the 107. psalme They that dwell or sit in darknes and in the shadowe of death Also there is another name wherby it is called which is much more frequented by the latter Iewes Gehinnon to wit Gehinnon But why the same is so called it shall be good to vnderstand It is compounded of thrée words Gue that is A vallie Ben A sonne and Hinnon The proper name of a man So as it was a vallie possessed in old time by the sonne of Hinnon néere vnto the citie of Ierusalem there the Hebrues in ancient time had builded a notable high place for the worshipping of Moloch whom they thinke was Saturne vnto whom they sacrificed men burning their sonnes and their daughters This place was also called Topheth that is A timbrell or bell bicause in those horrible ceremonies they roong their bels excéeding lowd least the crieng and lamentation of their infants which were burned should be heard of them that stood by and of their parents Against this high place did the prophet Ieremie Iere. 19 2. in the 19. chapter prophesie that it would one daie come to passe that it should be cut downe and that the place should become shamefull and detestable so that there the dead bodies should be buried Which séeing it came afterward to passe the place of punishment of wicked men Why the place of punishing the wicked was called Ge-hinnom by a fit metaphor was called Ge-hinnom First bicause a vallie I meane a lowe vile place doth represent hell which is thought to be vnder the earth Secondlie bicause of the fire wherewith the wicked are tormented as in that place children were burned Lastlie bicause the place was vncleane and detestable wherein were cast not onlie dead carcases but also all the filth and vncleanlinesse which was throwen out of the citie of Ierusalem euen as vnpure and wicked soules are thrust foorth of the kingdom of heauen into hell Also our Sauiour called hell The vttermost darknes Matt. 22 13. that is the chéesest and extreme darknesse For euen as the spirits of the blessed doo inioie an incredible light Matt. 10 28 so the soules of the damned doo liue in extreme darknesse Matt. 13. 42. But he often vsed the word Gehenna and said that Gehenna is a fire to the intent he might exaggerate the vehemencie of the griefe and forment Esaie in the 30. Esai 30 30. chapter called that place Topheth An vnquenchable fire whose fewell should be much wood and brimstone He also saith there that it is a breath wherewith the fire is blowen that it may be a great deale the more kindled But Ezechiel in the 32. verse 18. chapter calleth it The nether parts of the earth the lake And Christ in the 9. of Marke described this place verie manifestlie verse 43. saieng It is better for thee to enter into the kingdome of heauen lame and with one eie than hauing two eies or two feet to be sent into hell And by exposition he addeth Into fire vnquenchable for their worme dooth not die the fire neuer goeth out And thus much of the name of hell The reasons of the Rabbins by which they prooue two infernall places 13 But the Rabbins appointing two infernall places doo alledge these reasons First that it is writen in the booke of Genesis the 15. chapter verse 15. how it was said to Abraham Thou shalt be put to thy fathers What saie they were not his parents and forefathers idolaters Yes trulie they were as the booke of Iosuah the 24. chapter verse 2. doth testifie But it agréeth not with the iustice of God that he would haue Abraham to be in a place of paines wherein idolaters were punished Wherefore they conclude that there were two infernall places in the one whereof Abraham was placed and in the other his ancestors Into which place also they thinke that Iacob supposed his sonne Ioseph to haue gone whither he himselfe also should depart by reason of sorrowe for he said Gen 37 3◠Moorning will I descend into the infernall place to my sonne But we are not to beléeue that he thought togither with his sonne to be cast into hell Albeit Rabbi Selomoh minding to infringe this place saith that The particle Al signifieth not To but For as though it stood in the place of Aal that is For this misfortune of my sonne I will go downe to the infernall place that is as this man thinketh vnto the graue As though there were here no mention made of the infernall places or of the spirit of Ioseph now placed there But the Chaldaean paraphrasis is against him wherein is written Luth-bari And the particle Luth signifieth To Neere or Toward wherefore he saith I will go to neere vnto or toward my sonne Nor can this be vnderstood of the graue bicause Iacob did not thinke that Ioseph was buried in a graue séeing he thought him to be torne in péeces and deuoured by a cruell wild beast The same also doo they gather by the historie of Samuel who is said to haue risen againe 1. Sa. 28 14 being raised vp by the witch who was not likelie to haue béene in torments with the wicked And they indeuor to prooue much more plainlie this distinction of the infernall places by his words wherein he foretold that the daie after Saule shuld be with him that is in the infernall place and yet not in the same part bicause Saule Ibidem 19. who would aske counsell of a witch and killed himselfe is thought to be sent among the damned spirits But Samuel is reckoned to be among the number of the godlie and blessed They procéed yet further and weigh the words of the most prudent woman Abigal who thus spake vnto Dauid 1. Sa. 25 29. Thy soule shall be bound in the bundle of life where by The bundle of life or of the liuing they vnderstand the congregation of saints resting with Abraham After that she added But the soules of thine enimies shall God cast out euen as out of the middle of a sling bicause the vngodlie are cast one from an other among the lower infernall places that is vnto diuers kinds of torments And to this purpose also some drawe a testimonie of Dauid wherein he saith Lift vp your heads ô ye gates Psal 24 7. and the king of glorie shall enter in as though that these things were spoken by the angels when the Lord should enter in vnto the fathers into the bosome of Abraham for the spoiling of principalities and powers as it is taught in the epistle to the Ephesians Eph. 4 8 c Col. 2 15. By others also is brought the 4. booke of Esdras albeit it is apocryphall and is not found in the Hebrue Yet is it alledged by Ambrose
to vse a strange tongue in our seruice But Paul iudgeth farre otherwise Images are allowed of them The mountaine of the scripture altogether forbiddeth them to be vsed in Religion They iudge it good that in the communion one should receaue the Sacrament for the multitude In the mountaine of the scriptures Christ saith Eate and drinke ye all of this Neither shalt thou finde it otherwise as touching the inuocation of Saintes and infinite other things which the wicked Pope without the holie scriptures thrusteth vppon the Church But why doe so fewe ascend vnto this mountaine that they may prouide for themselues rules to build withall The maruell is not so great since they be not openlie handled as they ought to be and of priuate men in their houses and are not read in the Churches Now is the doctrine of Christ by the commaundement of the kinges sacred maiestie set foorth in the mother tongue but men walke vp downe neither doe they which be in the Temple giue anie héede thereunto the Ministers remaine shut vp in the Quire they say the diuine seruice hastilie and rashlie as though they should speake it to themselues onelie Neither doe they prouide that others may vnderstād it Vpon Sundaies are verie profitable Homilies read but yet with a lowe voyce and with spitting and coffing so as it may sufficientlie appeare that manie of those which reade them doe neither attend to that they say nor yet suffer that those which stand by maie receaue anie profit of the same In old time there were Ecclesiasticall méetinges wherein it was lawfull to heare to aske questions to aunswere there men dealt not onelie as concerning the trueth of doctrine but also of discipline And of those thinges Paul vnto the Corinthians and Ambrose interpreting his wordes maketh mention that they were vsed among the Hebrewes We haue it much in Luke when the child Iesus in the middest of the doctors both asked questions and aunswered but at this day this so comfortable custome is left to the great detriment of the Church and how coldlie we deale in Catechising the thing it selfe declareth They thinke they haue wrought a great matter when they haue had him once at the board but the indeuour and attentiuenesse of children is not such that they can in so short space put off their naturall ignoraunce and bashfulnesse When the Prophet had now warned what is needefull to be doone namelie to ascende vnto the hill and from thence to bring timber to the building Hag. 1. 8. If this worke be doone he ioyneth promises therewithall It shall be acceptable vnto me and I will be glorified therin If the congregation of the faithfull be both well instituted and rightlie assembled the Lord promiseth that it shall be to his wel liking for he himselfe promiseth that he will be in the middest of them that helpe and will heare the petitions and vowes of them that pray Those things are alwaies acceptable vnto God and receaue the fruites of the promises which are doone according to the rule of Gods word when as contrariwise whatsoeuer men shall bring to passe without it is not onelie vnprofitable and vaine but the Lord now reprooueth vs thereof by Esaie Who hath required these things at your hands in that house which was to be builded God promiseth that he would become glorious which assuredlie was brought to passe when his name was there published openlie by the Messias and the Apostles Men also at this day ought so to preach in the Church as they should abound in good workes which others séeing might glorifie the father which is in heauen Furthermore the glorie of God doth not shine more in any other congregation than it doth in a Church well and godlie ordained Whereuppon Paule to the Cor. saith 1. Cor. 14. 23. If an vnbeleeuing or vnlearned man come into the Church and see all things doone well as touching the administration of doctrine he will fall downe on his face and worship the Lorde and shall bee constrained to confesse that God is in vs. But alas for pitie they haue nowe transferred this honour of the Church to incense to lights to stoles to vestments of gold and silke to golden vessels and vessels set with precious stones and infinite such other more than worldly deckings Wherfore we that will do an acceptable thing vnto God and would haue God to be glorified in vs let vs edifie our neighbors when we perceiue them to be sicke of pride enuie lust wrath weakenesse of faith and coldnesse of charitie and with other diseases of the minde and this we are accustomed to doe in the sickenesse of the bodie Let vs call Phisitians vnto vs not of euerie sort but as Chrysostom hath taught vs in a certaine homilie vnto the people of Antioch Matthew Luke Iohn Marke and the rest of the Apostles and Prophets and from thence let vs séeke to get medicines and wholesome remedies for our brethren Such Phisitians as these are most skillfull and there is no kinde of infirmities of our soules hidden from them vpon them is bestowed no expense of monie and they shewe not themselues hard to helpe but if the sicke wil they be conuersant with them day and night neither shall we finde them at contention one with an other in such sort as by their Emulation they would the sooner bring to death those whom they should heale This is to fetch Timber as the Prophet saith from the mountaine to the building of the Lordes house This worke belongeth vnto all them which are called Christians as the Prophet Ezechiell saide Eze. 48. verse 19. They which builde the Citie of Ierusalem shall bee of all the tribes And our Hagge héere maketh mention of Zorobabell to whom being the Ciuill Magistrate was assigned Iesus the sonne Iosadeck the high Priest Also the Prophets themselues did helpe as did Zachary Hagge and Malachie and finallie all the people are reckoned with them whereby we are taught that from euerie place are to be gathered the builders of the Temple But at this day the Popes Ministers take it in ill part if they perceiue a lay man as they say to haue the holie Scriptures as though this building belonged not vnto them But they them selues whereas they challenge vnto themselues the Ministerie of the Church and are inriched with many fatte and goodly benefites doe vtterly neglect to edifie by their doctrine when notwithstanding Paul vnto the Ephesians reckoning vp Apostles Prophets and Euangelistes Ephe. 4. 11. as it were diuerse giftes graunted to the Church afterwarde ioyned therewithall Pastors and Teachers Which saying when Ierom interpreteth he noteth it diligently and among other things thus he wrote Neither let any man in the Church although he be holy take to himselfe the name of a Pastor vnlesse both he can and will teach them whom he feedeth And a litle after But doth it not séeme to you that there be false Pastors in the
things wee daylie heare and feare but he being blessed inioyeth the pleasures of heauen but this doe I lament that when he had nowe brought welneere to an ende manie and notable workes the labours of manie yeares the watches of manie nightes yet could he not fullie finish them and bring them into light and reape this ioy and as it were this fruite of his labours I lament for the schooles sake which haue lost such a teacher in whose place cannot bee put the like For whomsoeuer O Fathers yee shall set in our Martyrs place another Martyr yee shall not haue For he was no vulgar Diuine or of the common number of learned men but he was also of so great a wit of so excellent learning and therewithall of such godlinesse modestie and courteous behauiour that both he was acceptable beloued and reuerenced among them with whom he liued and was euen of the aduersaries also reckened among the excellent men and was had of them in great admiration While these thinges doe both increase my sorowe and that I also see you with a heauie looke sad countenance and with waterie eyes to shewe the griefe and exceeding trouble of your minde I am ouercome with the greatnesse of sorowe and see not what beginning or what ende I may finde of my Oration Howbeit least I should faile of my duetie I will suppresse my sorowe and will not commit that in exercising of this my office mourning should bee of such force in mee as it shall hinder mee of my duetie and make me vngratefull towardes my Maister But forsomuch as the praises of Martyr bee exceeding great by reason of his excellent and diuine vertues that the power of my eloquence is exceeding smal yet the same restrained by great and vehement sorrowe I will not indeuour to set foorth euerie act of his with gorgeous and stately amplifications least perhaps by my Oration the honor of them should bee more impaired than increased but I will onely set foorth vnto you his life and death after an historicall manner and I will indeuour so farre as I am able that those things which either ye your selues haue seene or else haue heard here and there and at sundrie times of that good man and excellent diuine ye may vnderstand them all being gathered into order and placed altogether to the intent that euerie one of you may take woorthie examples of all vertues aswell to the instruction of others as eche one to the framing of his owne conuersation And I will followe the way and order vsed by them which commit other mens liues vnto writing And first of all I will set foorth his Countrie his Parents and Education Afterward when we haue as it were laide these beginnings and foundations I will begin to discourse of the residue of his life which aboundeth with examples of verie great and ample vertues For euen as in the Corne fieldes we are not onely delighted with a plentifull haruest and aboundance of fruite but therewithall we are also desirous to knowe in what manner of soyle the Corne groweth after what manner the fieldes are tilled what time they be sowen by what industrie of the husbandman they were holpen vnto so great fertillitie so in men not onelie the contemplation of vertue as it were of good fruite but also a knowledge of the Parents and Education doeth much please and delight vs. Now then Peter Martyr was borne in Florence the most florishing Citie as ye all know not onely of Hetruria but of all Italy and which a very long time hath defended and retayned her ancient freedome It was then in the yeare of our saluation M. D. which yeare is very much celebrated because of the natiuitie of Charles the v. a verie mightie Emperour And the day was the vj. Ides of September Vpon which day the fathers haue written that the Virgine the mother of God was borne and that the citie of Ierusalem was taken by Titus the sonne of Vespasian and ouerthrowen according as Christ hadde prophesied fortie yeares before His parentes were Stephanus Vermilius and Marie Fumantina both of them of an ancient and honest kindred whose ancestors for the most part bore office in the Citie These gaue vnto the childe the name of Peter Martyr by reason of a certaine vowe which according to the manner and custome of those times they hadde made vnto one Peter Martyr of Millaine who sometimes as they say was slaine of the Arrians of that time for the defence of the true faith whose temple also was not farre from his fathers house His parents had him for their onely sonne for all the rest of their children which they had begotten him excepted and his sister Gemina Felicitas died in their childhood His parents were of reasonable good wealth Their sonne whom they desired to bee well brought vp they committed to faithfull maisters and moreouer they instructed him with singular diligence at home His mother who was learned in the Latine tongue did chiefly instruct her sonne therein from his first childhoode and while he was yet young did interprete vnto him the Commedies of Pub. Terentius an excellent author in the Latine tongue neither doubtlesse was this discipline of a woman to be contemned Forsomuch as among olde authors and the most excellent in this tongue the chiefe Orators the Gracchi Lelij Catuli Iulij and Curiones receiuing of their mothers the purenesse of the Latine tongue and swetenesse of pronunciation brought it from this maternall and domesticall discipline vnto the place of pleading And in our age the noble woman Iane an English woman daughter to the Duke of Suffolke and Olympia Morata an Italian omitting those which be aliue haue euidently declared by their example what the indeuour of women maie bring to passe in eloquence if they applie their mind thereunto From this domesticall discipline he was brought vnto Marcellus Vergilius a man learned and famous for that he not long agoe translated Dioscorides and set foorth Commentaries vppon the same This Marcellus at that time exercised the office of Secretorie to the Common weale of Florence which was before the office of Aretinus and Pogghius and moreouer he taught the latine tongue vnto young gentlemen in the schooles to his great commendation In this first course of his studies he had to his fellowes friends noble young men and Senators sonnes Francis Medicis Alexander Caponius Francis Riccius and Raph Riccius also Angelus Stuphas and Pandulphus Stuphas and Petrus Victorius whose singular and excellent learning is knowen vnto all men by reason of the auncient Greeke and Latin authors either set foorth with Commentaries or otherwise restored to their owne perfectnesse And in this first course of his studies while hee was yet a young beginner euen streightway there appeared in him a singular and notable wit which brought vnto his Parentes and Maisters an vndoubted hope of great learning and excellent vertues For first of all there was