Selected quad for the lemma: city_n

Word A	Word B	Word C	Word D	Occurrence	Frequency Band	MI	MI Band	Prominent
city_n	agree_v	church_n	zion_n	29	3	10.3274	5	false

Text snippets containing the quad

ID	Title	Author	Corrected Date of Publication (TCP Date of Publication)	STC	Words	Pages
A22928	The naturall and morall historie of the East and West Indies Intreating of the remarkable things of heaven, of the elements, mettalls, plants and beasts which are proper to that country: together with the manners, ceremonies, lawes, governments, and warres of the Indians. Written in Spanish by the R.F. Ioseph Acosta, and translated into English by E.G.; Historia natural y moral de las Indias. English	Acosta, José de, 1540-1600.; Grimeston, Edward, attributed name.	1604 (1604)	STC 94; ESTC S100394	372,047	616

kingdome shall bee the Lordes This hath beene set downe acording to the letter but the hebrew Authors reade it thus And the transmigration of this O●t of the childrens which be the Cananites vnto Zarphat which is France and the transmigration of Ierusalem which is in Sapharad vnderstood for Spaine shall possesse for inheritance the Cities of the South and those which procure salvation shall mount vp to the hill of Sion to iudge the mount of Esau and the kingdome shall be the Lords Yet some of them doe not produce any sufficient testimony of the Ancients nor pertinent reasons to proove that Sapharad which S. Ierome doth interpret the Bosphor or Straight and the 70. Interpreters Euphrates should signifie Spaine but their onely opinion Others alleage the Caldean Paraphrase which is of this opinion and the ancient Rabbins which expound it on this sort as also that Zarphat is France which the vulgar and the 70 Interpreters call Sarepte But leaving this dispute which belongs to men of more leisure what necessitie is there to beleeve that the citties of the South or of Mageb as the 70 write be those of this new world Moreover what need is there to beleeve and to take the Spanish Nation for the transmigration from Ierusalem to Sapharad vnlesse we will vnderstand Ierusalem spiritually and thereby the Church So as by the transmigration from Ierusalem to Sapharad the holy spirite shewes vs the children of the holy Church which inhabit the ends of the earth the banks of the Sea for so is Sapharad vnderstood in the Syrian tongue and doth well agree with our Spaine which according to the Ancients is the ende of the earth beeing in a manner all invironed with Sea And by the Citties of the South we may well vnderstand these Indies seeing the greatest parte of this newe worlde is seated in the South and the better part looks to the Pole Antartike That which followeth is easie to interpret viz. They which procure Salvation shall ascend the hill of Sion to iudge the mount of Esau. For wee may say they vnite themselves to the doctrine and strength of the holy Church which seeke to breake and disperse the prophane errors of the Gentiles for that may be interpreted to iudge the mount of Esau whereby it followes that in those daies the Realme shall neyther bee for the Spaniards nor for them of Europe but for Iesus Christ our Saviour Whosoever shall expound the Prophecie of Abdias in this sort ought not to be blamed being most certaine that the holy Spirit did vnderstand all secrets long before And it seemes there is great reason to beleeve that mention is made in the holy Scripture of a matter of such importance as the discoverie of the Indies of the new world and their conversion to the faith Isay saith in these wordes Oh the wings of ships which come from the other part of Ethiopia Many learned Authors hold that al this Chapter is vnderstood of the Indies and that same Prophet in an other place saith Those which shall escape out of Israel shal goe farre off to Tharsis and to remote Ilands where they shal convert many Nations vnto the Lorde Amongest the which hee names Greece Italie Affricke with many others the which without doubt may well bee applied vnto the conversion of the Indies Being most certaine that the Gospel shall be preached generally throughout the world as our Saviour hath promised and then the ende of the world shall come It followes then and so we ought to vnderstand it that there be many Nations vpon the face of the earth to whom Iesus Christ hath not yet been preached Whereby we may gather that there remained a great part of the world vnknowne to the Ancients and that yet at this day there is a good part to discover By what meanes the first men might come to the Indies the which was not willingly nor of set purpose CHAP. 16. NOw it is time to make answer to such as say there are no Antipodes and that this region where we live cannot bee inhabited The huge greatnes of the Ocean did so amaze S. Augustine as he could not conceive how mankinde could passe to this new-found world But seeing on the one side wee know for certaine that many yeeres agoe there were men inhabiting in these parts so likewise we cannot deny but the scripture doth teach vs cleerely that all men are come from the first man without doubt we shall be forced to beleeve and confesse that men have passed hither from Europe Asia or Affricke yet must wee discover by what meanes they could passe It is not likely that there was an other Noes Arke by the which men might be transported into the Indies and much lesse any Angell to carie the first man to this new world holding him by the haire of the head like to the Prophet Abac●c for we intreat not of the mightie power of God but only of that which is conformable vnto reason the order and disposition of humane things Wherefore these two things ought to be held for wonderfull and worthie of admiration yea to bee numbred among the secrets of God The one is how man could passe so huge a passage by Sea and Lande The other is that there beeing such multitudes of people they have yet beene vnknowne so many ages For this cause I demaund by what resolution force or industrie the Indians could passe so large a Sea and who might be the Inventer of so strange a passage Truely I have often times considered thereof with my selfe as many others have done but never could I finde any thing to satisfie mee Yet will I say what I have conceived and what comes presently into my minde seeing that testimonies faile mee whom I might follow suffering my selfe to be guided by the rule of reason although it be very subtill It is most certaine that the first men came to this land of Peru by one of these two meanes either by land or by sea If they came by sea it was casually and by chance or willingly of purpose I vnderstand by chance being cast by force of some storme or tempest as it happens in tempestuous times I meane done of purpose when they prepared fleetes to discover new lands Besides these two meanes I see it is not possible to find out any other if wee will follow the course of humane things and not devise fabulous and poeticall fictions for no man may thinke to finde another Eagle as that of Ganimede or a flying Horse like vnto Perseu● that should carie the Indians through the aire or that peradventure these first men haue vsed fishes as Mir-maides or the fish called a Nicholas to passe them thither But laying aside these imaginations and fopperies let vs examine these two meanes the which will bee both pleasant and profitable First in my iudgement it were not farre from reason to say that the first and auncient people of these

say this word of Obrise is thesame with Ophrise for finding there seven sortes or kindes of gold as S. Ierome reportes that of Ophir was held for the most fine as heere we esteeme the gold of Valdivia and Caramaya The chiefest reason which moves me to thinke that Ophir is at the East Indies and not in the West is for that Solomons fleete could not come hither without passing the East Indies all China and a great part of the sea being vnlikely they would passe over all the world to come thither for gold that continent especially lying in that sort as they could not come to the knowledge thereof by any voiage by land And hereafter we wil shew that the Ancients had never knowledge in thearte of Navigation without the which they could not runne so farre into the sea Finally in these matters when as there appeares no certaine proofes but onely light coniectures wee are not bound to beleeve but what we shall thinke good What Tharsis and Ophir signifie in the holy Scripture CHAP. 14. IF every mans coniecture and opinion may be allowed for my part I hold that in the holy scripture these words of Tharsis and Ophir most commonly do not signifie any certaine place but it is a word and signification generall to the Hebrewes as in our vulgar tongue this word of Indies is generall vnto vs in our vsuall maner ofspeech for wee meane by the Indies those rich countries which are farre off and strange vnto vs. So we Spaniards do indifferently call Indies the countries of Peru Mexico China Malaca and Bresil and from what parts soever of these any letters come wee say they bee from the Indies which countries be farre distant and different one from another Yet we cannot denie but that name of Indies is properly to be vnderstood of the East Indies And for that in olde time they did speake of these Indies as of a countrie farre off so likewise in the discoverie of other remote lands they have given them the names of Indies being distant from the rest and held as the end of the world Even so in my iudgement Tharsis in the holy scripture doth not signifie any certaine and determined place but onely regions a farre off and according to the vulgar opinion very rich and strange for that which Iosephus and some others would affirme that Tharsis is Tarso according to the meaning of the scripture in my opinion hath bene well refuted by S. Ierome not onely for that these wordes are written with divers letters the one with an aspiration the other without but also that many things are written of Tharsis which cannot agree with Tarso a Citie in Cilicia It is true that in some places of the scripture Tharsis is said to be in Cilicia the which you shall find in the booke of Iudith speaking of Holophernes who having passed the limits of Assyria he came to the great mountaines of Ange which perchance is Taurus which hilles be on the left hand of Cilicia and that he entred into all the Castells where he assembled all his forces having destroyed that famous Citie of Melothi he ruined all the children of Tharsis and of Israell which were ioyning vnto the desart and those which were in the South towards the land of Cellon and from thence passed Euphrates but as I have saide that which is so written of Tharsis cannot be applied to the Citie of Tharso Theodoret and some others following the interpretation of the 70. in some places they set Tharsis in Affrike saying it was the same Citie which was aunciently called Carthage and is now the kingdome of Thunis and they say that Ionas ment to go thether when as the scripture reports that hefled from the Lord into Tharsis Others pretend that Tharsis is a certaine countrie of the Indies wherevnto it seemes that S. Ierome is inclined I will not now decide these opinions but I holde that in this case the scripture doth not alwaies signifie one region or certaine part of the world It is true that the wise men or Kings that came to worshippe Christ were of the East and the scripture saith they were of Saba Epha and Madiem And some learned men holde that they were of Ethiopia Arabia and Persia and yet the Psalmist and the Church sings of them The Kings of Tharsis shall bring presents Wee agree then with S. Ierome that Tharsis is a word that hath many and divers significations in the scripture Sometimes it signifies the Crisolite or Iacinth stone sometimes a certaine region of the Indies sometimes the sea which is of the colour of a Iacinth by the reverberation of the sunne But the same Doctor doth with reason deny that Tharsis is any region of the Indies whether Ionas would fly seeing that parting from Ioppa it had beene impossible to saile vnto the Indies by that sea for that Ioppa which at this day wee call Iaffe is no port of the red Sea ioyning to the East Indian Sea but of the Mediterranean Sea which hath no issue into the Indian Whereby it doeth plainely appeare that the voyage which Solomons Fleet made parting from Asiongaber whereas the shippes of king Iosaphat were lost went by the redde Sea to Tharsis and Ophir the which is directly testified in the Scripture The which voyage was very different from that which Ionas pretended to Tharsis seeing that Asiongaber is the port of a Cittie of Idumea seated vpon the Straight whereas the red sea ioynes with the great Ocean From this Ophir they brought to Salomon gold silver Elephants teeth Monkies Indian Cocks and their voyage was of three yeeres all which without doubt ought to bee vnderstood of the East Indies which is fruitfull and aboundant of all these thinges as Plinie testifieth and our owne experience doth witnes From our Peru doubtlesse they could not bring any Elephants teeth those beastes beeing vnknowne there but they might well bring gold silver and pleasant monkies Finally the holy Scripture in my opinion doth commonly vnderstand by this word of Tharsis eyther the great Sea or farre and strange Regions So as he supposeth that the prophecies which speake of Tharsis seeing the spirit of prophecie may comprehend all things may often be applied to things of our new world Of the Prophecie of Abdias which some doe interpret to be the Indies CHAP. 15. MAny say and affirme that in the holy Scripture it was foretold long before that this new worlde should be converted to Iesus Christ by the Spanish nation and to this purpose they expound the text of the Prophecie of Abdias which sayth thus At the transmigration of this O●t the children of Israel shall possesse all the the dwellings of the Cananites vnto Sarepte and the transmigration of Ierusalem which is at Bosphorus shall possesse the Citties of the South and they that shall save shall come vp to the hill of Sion to iudge the mount of Esau and the

any one failed hee would strike him over the face with a corner of the skinne defyling him with the congealed blood This invention continued vntill the skinne did stinke during which time such as went gathered together much almes which they imployed in necessary things for the service of their gods In many of these feasts they made a challenge betwixt him that did sacrifice and him that should be sacrifyced thus they tied the slave by one foote to a wheele of stone giving him a sword and target in his handes to defend himselfe then presently stept foorth hee that sacrificed him armed with an●ther sword and target if he that should be sacrificed defends himselfe valiantly against the other and resisted him hee then remayned freed from the sacrifyce winning the name of a famous Captaine and so was reputed but if hee were van●uished they then sacrifyced him on the stone wherevnto he was tyed It was an other kinde of sacrifyce whenas they appoynted any slave to be the representation of the idoll saying that it was his picture they every yeare gave one slave to the Priests that they might never want the lively image of their idoll At his fyrst entry into the office after hee had beene well washed they attyred him with all the ornaments of the idoll giving him the same name Hee was that whole yeare reverenced and honoured as the idoll it selfe and had alwayes with him twelve men for his guarde lest hee should flie with which guarde they suffered him to goe freely and where hee would and if by chaunce he fled the chiefe of the guarde was put in his place to represent the idoll and after to be sacrificed This Indian had the most honourable lodging in all the temple where he did eate and drincke and whither all the chiefe Ministers came to serve and honour him carrying him meate after the manner of great personages When hee went through the streetes of the citie hee was well accompanyed with noble men he carried a little flute in his hand which sometimes he sounded to give them knowledge when he passed Then presently the women came forth with their little children in their armes which they presented vnto him saluting him as god All the rest of the people did the like at night they put him in a strong prison or cage left he should flie and when the feast came they sacrificed him as hath beene sayde By these and manie other meanes hath the Divell abused and entertained these poore wretches and such was the multitude of those that had beene sacrificed by this infernall cruelty as it seems a matter incredible for they affirme there were some dayes five thousand or more and that there were above twenty thousand sacrifyced in diverse pla●es The divell to intertaine this murther of men vsed a pleasant and strange invention which was when it pleased the priests of Sathan they went to their Kings telling them how their gods died for hunger and that they should remember them Presently they prepared thems●lves advertised one another that their gods required meate and therefore they should command their people to be ready to goe to the warres and thus the people assembled and the companies appoynted went to field where they mustred their forces and all their quarrell and fight was to take one an other for sacrifice striving on either side to take what captives they could so as in these battells they laboured more to take then to kill for that all their intention was to take men alive to give them to their idolls to eate for after that maner brought they their sacrifice vnto their gods And wee must vnderstand that never king was crowned vntill he had subdewed some province from the which hee brought a great number of captives for the sacrifices of their gods so as it was an infinit thing to see what blood was spilt in the honour of the Divell How the Indians grew weary and could not endure the cruelty of Sathan CHAP. 22. MAny of these Barbarians were nowe wearied and tyred with such an excessive cruelty in sheading so much blood and with so tedious a tribute to be alwayes troubled to get captives for the feeding of their gods seeming vnto them a matter supportable yet left they not to followe and execute their rigorous lawes for the great awe the ministers of these idols kept them in and the cunning wherewith they abused this poore people But inwardly they desired to be freed from so heavy a yoke And it was a great providence of God that the first which gave them knowledge of the Lawe of Christ found them in this disposition for without doubt it seemed to them a good law and a good God to be served in this sorte Heerevpon a grave religious man in New Spaine tolde me that when he was in that Country hee had demaunded of an auntient Indian a man of qualitie for what reason the Indians hadde so soone received the Lawe of Ie●us Christ and left their owne without making any other proofe triall or dispute thereon for it seemed they had changed their religion without any sufficient reason to moove them The Indian answered him Beleeve not Father that we have embraced the Law of Christ so rashly as they say for I will tell you that we were already weary and discontented with such things as the idolls commaunded vs and were determined to leave it and to take an other Law But whenas we found that the religion that you preached had no cruelties in it and that it was fit for vs both iust and good we vnderstood and beleeved that it was the true Law and so we received it willingly Which answer of this Indian agrees well with that we read in the first Discourse that Fernand Cortez sent to the Emperour Charles the fift wherein hee reportes that after he had conquered the citty of Mexico being in Cuyoacan there came Ambassadors to him from the province and commonwealth of Mechoacan requiring him to send them his law and that he would teach them to vnderstand it because they intended to leave their owne which seemed not good vnto them which Cortez graunted and at this day they are the best Indians and the truest Christians that are in New Spaine The Spaniards that saw these cruell sacrifices resolved with all their power to abolish so detestable and cursed a butchering of men and the rather for that in one night before their eies they sawe threescore or threescore and tenne Spaniards sacrificed which had beene taken in a battell given at the conquest of Mexico and another time they found written with a cole in a chamber in TeZcusco these wordes Hecre such a miserable man was prisoner with his companions whom they of Tezcusco did sacrifice There happened a very strange thing vpon this subiect and yet true being reported by men worthie of credite which was that the Spaniards beholding these sacrifices having opened and drawne out the heart of the ●ustie