than accustomed vigor his grey hairs whereof he had many falling all from his head and so continuing for seven years after CHAP. XXXIII Of such Persons as have changed their Sex NAture seems to be so in love with change that she will have nothing here in this World to rest in a continued and constant state Hence it is that Rivers seek out new Channels for themselves new Cities arise out of the ruines and rubbish of the old the tops of Olympus Aetna and Parnassus do not appear so high to us as they did to our Fore-fathers and the very Heavens themselves look almost daily upon us with different Faces But whether there have been such changes in Humane Bodies as those whereof this Chapter treats that I must rest upon the credit of such Authors as have been the Relators of the following Histories 1. It is no Lye or Fable that Females may be turned into Males for we have found it recorded in the Annals that in the year when Publius Licinius Crassus and Caius Cussius Longinus were Consuls of Rome there was in Cassinum a Maid-child under the hand and tuition of her Parents who became a boy and by the appointment of the Aruspices was consin'd to a certain Desert Island and thither convey'd 2. Licinius Mutianus reports that himself saw at Angos one named Arescon who before time had to name Arescusa and was a Maid but afterwards in process of time came to have a Beard as also the parts testifying a man and thereupon marryed a Wife 3. There was in Smyrna a Virgin call'd Philotis but in the same night wherein she was marry'd to a young man those parts which were inverted and conceal'd began to appear and she rose in the Morning of a contrary Sex 4. A marvelous thing also happened in our age saith Fulgosus when Ferdinand the First was King of Naples Ludovicus Guarna a Citizen of Salerne had five Daughters of which the two Eldest were call Francisca and Carola both which at fifteen years of age found such alteration in themselves that they chang'd their Feminine Habits and Names also the one being call'd Franciscus and the other Carolus 5. In the Town of Erguira distant some nine miles from Conimbra there liv'd a Nobleman who had a Daughter named Maria Pachecha who by a like accident with the former proving to be a young man changed her habit and call'd her self Manuel Pachecha who after made a voyage into the Indies became a valiant Soldier attain'd to much wealth and honour and returning marryed a Lady of a Noble Family but never attain'd to have Issue and his countenance continued effeminate to the day of his death saith Amatus Lusitanus Consult Medic. Cent. 2. curat 39. 6. Strange is that which is related by Antonius Torquemada not far from the City of Beneventum in Spain a Country-man of a mean fortune marry'd a Wife who because she was barren us'd her very roughly insomuch that she lead with him a very discontented life Whereupon one day putting on one of her Husbands Suits to disguise her self from knowledge she stole out of the House to seek out a more peaceable fortune elsewhere And having been in divers services whether the conceit of her mans habit or whether Nature strangely wrought in her but she found a notable alteration in her self insomuch that she who had been a Wife desired to perform the office of a Husband She marry'd a Woman in that place where she had retired her self Long she kept these things close till in the end one of her familiar acquaintance travelling by chance that way and seeing her to be so like that Woman he before knew he demanded if she were not Brother to such a man's Wiâ—e who had forsaken her Husbands House so many years since to whom upon promise of secrecy she revealed all that you have heard with the circumstances before rehearsed 7. I my self am an eye-witness saith Pliny that in Aâ—frick one Cossicius a Citizen of Tisdriâ—â— turned from a woman to be a man upon her very wedding day and was alive at that time that I wrote this Book 8. At Laodicea in Syria there was a woman called Aeteta who living with her Husband was turned into a man and her name thereupon altered into that of Aetetus Marinus was then President at Athens and Lucius Lamias and Aelianus Vetus Consuls at Rome Phlegon Trallianus the freed man of Adrian the Emperour saith he saw her 9. Q. Fabius Maximus and M. Claudius Marcellus being Consuls a woman of Spoletum became a man 10. It is manifest saith S. Augustine that in part of Campania during the Reign of Constantine the Emperour a Maid became a Man and was carried to Rome 11. At Rome in the time of Alexander a Maid upon her wedding day became a Man A woman of Cajeta that was married to a Fisherman as Antonius Panormitâ— related it to us saith Pontanus after â—ourteen years acquaintance with her Husband's Bed was changed from a woman to a man Upon which being ashamed of her self as one exposed to the derisions of men and women she altered also her course of life and entred into a Monastery in which he was known to us the rest of his life He was buried in the Church of S. Mary 13. There was a woman called Aemilia married to Antonius Spentas a Citizen of Ebulum who after twelve years marriage became a Male married a wife and when a controversie arose about the restoring of her Dowry by her Husband Masius Aquosa by the command of King Ferdinand ended the Suit adjudging her Dowry to be repayed unto her 14. Antonius Loquâ—neus affirmed unto me saith Pareus that he saw a man at Rhemes in an Inn which had a Swan â—or the sign of it Anno Dom. 1560 who was ever reputed a Female to the fourteenth year of her age at which time it fell out that wantoning in bed with a Maid that lay with her the signs of a man brake out of her which when her Parents were informed of by the interposition of Eâ—clesiastical Authority her name was chang'd from Ioan to Iohn and from thenceforth she wore the habit of a man 16. Some years since saith the same Paraeus when I was in the rotinue of Charles the Ninth at Vitriac in France there was shew'd me a man call'd Germanus Garuiâ—rus by some Germanus Maria who before having been a Woman was call'd Maria he was of an indifferent Stature a square habit of Body with a thick and red Beard He was taken for a Virgin unto the fifteenth year of his age at which time â—running after the Hogs he kept which had gotteâ— into the corn and leaping over a Ditch with great violence it came to pass that the membranâ— being broke the hidden evidences of a man suddenly descended and discovered themselves not without pain Returning to their Cottage with tears she complained to her Mother
his Tiara and Robe of State for the Bishops Miter But his Courtiers prevented him saying that he was a meer Impostor and Enchanter instead of an Ambassador All Greece made vows for his safe return from thence but he never came back again 17. C. Iulius Caesar learned of Apollonius Molon at Rhodes he is said to be admirably fitted for the City Eloquence and had so improved his parts by his diligence that without all question he merited the second place in point of Eloquence the â—irst he would not have as one that intended rather to be the first in Power and Armes Cicero himself writes to Brutus that he knew not any to whom Caesar should give place as one that had an Elegant Splendid Magnificent and Generous way of Speaking And to Cornelius Nepos Whom saith he will ye prefer before this man even of those who have made Oratory their busineCâ—ess who is more acute or frequent than he in sentences who more Ornate or Elegant in words He is said to have pronounced his Orations with a sharp voice and earnest motion and gesture which yet was not without its comliness CHAP. VIII Of the most famous Greek and Latine Historians BY the singular providence of God and his great goodness it was that where the prophetick history of the Holy Scriptures breaks off there we should have an immediate supply from elsewhere and we may almost say that in the very moment where they have left there it was that 1. Herodotus the Halicarnassian began his History who relates the Acts of Cyrus and the affairs of the Persian Monarchy even unto the War of Xerxes the Histories of the Kingdoms of Lydia Media and especially of Aegypt are set down by him An account he gives of the Ionians the City of Athens and the Spartan and Corinthian Kings excelling all prophane Writers of History both in the Antiquity of the things he treats of the multitude of Examples and the purity and sweetness of his Stile His History is continued for the series of two hundred and thirty years from Gyges the King of Lydia the contemporary with Manasses King oâ— Iudah to the flight of Xerxes and Persians out of Greece which was in the year of the world 3485. Herodotus himself flourished in the beginning of the Peloponnesian war which was about the year of the world 3540. 2. Thucydides the Athenian immediately succeeds him who imbraceth in his History the space of seventy years that is from the flight of Xerxes unto the twenty first year of the Peloponnesian war for although he professedly describes only that war betwixt the Athenians and Peloponnesians wherein himself was a General yet by way of digression he hath inserted an account of those fifty years that are betwixt the end of Herodotus his History and the beginning of this war Here he explains the affairs of Cities as the former had done of Monarchies and hath framed so illustrious and express an Image of all those things that usually happen in the government of a Common-wealth hath so lively represented the miseries that attend upon war especially a civil and intestine one hath composed his many Orations with that artifice and care that nothing can be thought more sinewy and agreeable unto all times in the world than his History 3. Xenophon the Attick Bee whose unaffected sweetness and elegancy of Stile is such that Antiquity admiring thereat said the Graces had framed and directed his Speech He beginning at the end of Thucydides hath in seven Books comprehended the events of forty years wars betwixt the principal Cities of Greece as far as to the battle of Mantinea and the year of the world 3600. 4. Diodorus Siculus hath set forth his Bibliotheque or an universal history of almost all the habitable world accurately distinguished by times and years in forty Books In the five first of which he discourses the original of the world the Egyptian Assyrian Libyan Greek Antiquities and the affairs of other Nations before the Trojan War The other thirty five contain a Series of years no less than 1138. from the Trojan War to Iulius Caesar of all these there are but fifteen Books extant his sixteenth Book almost immediately follows Xenophon in which he treats of Philip of Macedon who began to Reign Anno Mumd 3604. From thence he passes to Alexander and his Successours and in the end of his twentieth Book which is the last of his extant he reaches to the year of the World 3664. which year falls directly into the tenth Book of Livy and upon the four hundred fifty second year from the building of Rome 5. Titus Livius born at Padua was the Prince of the Latin History excelling all Latin Writers in the admirable gravity copiousness and beauty of his Speech He hath written a continued History of seven hundred forty six years from the building of Rome in the year of the World 3212. to the fourth year before the birth of Christ which was the thirty seventh year of Augustus Now although of fourteen Decades or one hundred and forty Books of Livy there are only three Decades and half a fifth left yet the Arguments of the rest of the Books and the Series of the principal Histories may easily be observed from Florus his Epitome Livy died the twenty first year after the birth of Christ. 6. Câ—esias Gâ—idius a famous Historian of the Assyrian and Persian Affairs about the year of the World 3564. in the Expedition of Cyrus the younger against his brother Artaxerxes was taken Prisoner and for his skill in Physick was received into the Kings House and Family where out of the Royal Commentaries and Records he composed the ancient History of the Kings of Assyria Babylon and Persia in twenty Books having brought it down from Ninus as far as the seventh year after the taking of Athens by Lysander 7. Plutarchus of Cheronaea flourished about the year of our Lord 100. the ample Treasury of the Greek and Latin History he wrote about fifty Lives of the principal men amongst the Greeks and Romans full of the best matter wise sentences and choice rules of life The Greek Lives he begins with Theseus King of Athens and ends with Philopoemenes General of the Achaeans who died one hundred and eighty years before the birth of Christ. The Roman Captains he describes from Romulus as far as to Galba and Otho who contended for the Empire in the seventeenth year after the birth of Christ. 8. Arrianus of Nicomedia flourished Anno Christi 140. and in eight Books wrote the Life and Acts of Alexander the Great his Affairs in India are handled most copiously by him of all other the whole is wrote in a singular sweetness and elegancy of stile 9. Dionysius Halicarnassaeus wrote accurately the Roman History the Original of the City Magistracy Ceremonies and Laws are faithfully related by him and his History continued to the beginning of the first Punick War and the four hundred eighty ninth year from
the water Upon this accident there was an Insurrection of the Frisons the Hollanders were by them driven out or slain and the Body of King William was seised and laid in the forementioned Tomb according to the prediction Twenty seven years after his bones were removed by Earl Florence his Son and the fifth of that Name to a Nunnery in Middleburg in Zealand he was slain An. 1255. 31. Appius Claudius Proconsul of Achaia at the time of the difference betwixt Pompey and Caesar was desirous to know the event of so great a Commotion and thereupon consulted the Oracle of Apollo at Delphos when he was told on this manner Thou art not concerned in these things O Roman in Euboea thou shalt find Caesar he supposing he was warned by the Oracle to sit down there in quiet not interessing himself for either Party he retired thither where he fell into a disease whereof he dyed before such time as the matter was decided in the fields of Pharsalia 32. Walter Devoreux Earl of Essex having wasted his spirits with grief fell into a Dysentery whereof he dyed after he had requested of such as stood by him that they would admonish his Son who was then scarce ten years of age that he should always propound and set before him the thirty sixth year of his life as the utmost he should ever attain unto which neither he nor his father had gone beyond and his Son never reached unto for Robert Devereux his Son and also Earl of Essex was beheaded in the thirty fourth year of his age so that his dying Father seemed not in vain to have admonished him as he did but to speak by divine inspiration and suggestion 33. Guido Bonatus shewed the wonderful effects of Astrology when he foretold to Guido Count of Montsferat the day wherein if he would sally out of Forolivium and set upon his Enemies he should defeat them but withal himself should receive a wound in the Hip to shew how certain he was of the event he would also himself march out with him carrying along with him such things as were necessary for the wound not yet made The fight and victory was as he said and which is most wonderful the Count was also wounded in the very place predicted CHAP. IV. Of several illustrious persons abused and deceived by Predictions of Astrologers and the equivocal Responses of Oracles SUch is the inveterate envy and malice of the Devil which he bears to poor man that from the Creation to this day he never was without his engines and subtile contrivances whereby he might undo him or at the least dangerously deceive and delude him In subservience to these his designs he set up his places of Oracular residence and though it was a lower way of trading amused the World with Judicial Astrology by both which he continually mocked and abused the curiosity and credulity of over-inquisitive men and still doth which is no wonder notwithstanding all Ages by their experience have detected his falshood 1. Henry the Second to whom Cardan and Guuricus two Lights of Astrology had foretold verdant and happy old age was miserably slain in the flower of his youth in games and pleasures of a Turnament The Princes his Children whose Horoscopes were so curiously looked into and of whom wonders had been spoken were not much more prosperous as France well knew 2. Zica King of the Arabians to whom Astrology had promised long life to persecute Christians dyed in the year of the same prediction 3. Albumazar the Oracle of Astrology left in writing that he found Christian Religion according to the influence of the Stars should last but one thousand four hundred years he hath already bely'd more than two hundred and it will be a lye to the Worlds end 4. The year 1524. wherein happened the great Conjunction of Saturn Iupiter and Mars in the Sign Pisces Astrologers had foretold the World should perish by water which was the cause that many persons of Quality made Arks in imitation of Noah to save themselves from the Deluge all which turned into laughter 5. It was foretold a Constable of France well known that he would dye beyond the Alpes before a City besieged in the 83. year of his age and that if he escaped this time he was to live above an hundred years which was notoriously untrue this man deceasing in the 84. year of a natural death 6. Croesus King of Lydia having determined to war upon Cyrus consulted the Oracle of Apollo at Delphos touching the success whence he received this Answer Croesus Halyn penetrans magnam disperdet opum vim When Croesus has the Halys past A world of Treasure shall he wast He interpreted this of the riches of his Adversaries but the event shewed they were his own for he lost his Army Kingdom and Liberty in that Expedition 7. Cambyses King of Persia was told by the Oracle that he should dye at Ecbatana he therefore concluding that he should finish his life at Ecbatana in Media did studiously decline going thither but when by the falling of his Sword out of its Scabbard and his falling upon it he was deadly wounded in his Thigh being then in Syria he inquired the name of the place and being informed it was Ecbatana he acknowledged it was his Fate to dye there and that he had hitherto mistaken the name of the place 8. Anibal was told by the Oracle that the Earth of Libyssa should cover the Corps of Anibal while therefore he was in a foreign Country he was not very apprehensive of any danger as thinking he should dye in his own Country of Libya But there is a River in Bythinia called Libyssus and the fields adjoyning Libyssa in this Country he drank poyson and dying confessed that the Oracle had told him truth but in a different manner to what he had understood it 9. Pyrrhus King of Epirus had resolved a War against the Romans and consulting the Oracle of Apollo about the success had this Verse for his Answer Aio te Aeacida Romanos vincere posse Achilles Son the Romans may o'recome The sense was ambiguous and might be construed in favour of Pyrrhus or the Romans but he interpreted it to his own advantage though the event proved quite otherwise 10. There was an Oracle that e're long it should come to pass that the Athenians should be Masters of all the Syracusans They therefore equipped a great Navy and in favour of the Leontines warred upon them of Syracusa It so fell out that when their Navy drew near to Syracuse they seised a Ship of the Enemy which carried the Tables wherein were enrolled the names of all the Syracusans that were able to bear Arms by which means the Oracle was fulfilled but not agreeable to the hopes of the Athenians for they became not the Lords of the Syracusans as they supposed they should but were beaten
This Work cost three hundred millions of Sesterces Certainly if a man consider the abundance of water that is brought thereby and how many places it serveth as well publick as private the Bains Stews and Fish-Pools Kitchens and other Houses of Office for Pipes and little Rivulets to water Gardens as well about the City as in Mannors and Houses of Pleasure in the fields near unto the City besides the mighty way that these waters are brought the number of Arches that must of necessity be built to convey them the Mountains that are pierced and wrought through the Vallies that are raised and made even and level he will confess that there never was any design in the whole World enterprised and effected more admirable than this CHAP. VI. Of the choicest Libraries in the World their Founders and number of Books contained in them AS Treasures both publickly and privately are collected and laid up in the Republick to be made use of when necessity requires and the greater and rarer they are the more precious they are accounted So the Treasures of Learning and of all good Arts and Sciences which are contained in Books as so many silent Teachers are worthily collected by publick and private persons and laid up amongst the choicest goods of the Common-wealth where they may be made use of to all sorts of persons as their studies incline them or as necessity shall require at any time whether in peace or war The most famous Repositories of Books were as followeth 1. Ptolomaeus Philadelphus the Son of Ptolomaeus Lagus reigning in Egypt and also by the concurrent and laborious endeavours of Demetrius Phalareus there was an excellent Library founded in Alexandria the noblest City of all Egypt in the year before Christs birth 280. and of the World 3720. This Library saith Baronius was enriched with more than 200000 Volumes brought out of all places in the World with exquisite care and diligence Amongst these were also the Books of the Old Testament translated by the LXX After which Translation the King also procured so many Greek Chaldee Egyptian Books and Latine ones translated into Greek as also of divers other Notions that at last he had heaped up therein saith Gellius seven hundred thousand Volumes But alas in how short a time did the splendour of so much vertue suffer an Eclipse for in the 183 Olympiad from the building of the City Caesar fighting in Alexandria that fire which burnt up the Enemies Navy took hold also of this burnt the greatest part of the City saith Orosius together with four hundred thousand Books so that from the founding of it to its destruction there were elapsed only 224 years 2. Eumenes the Son of Attalus and Father of that Attalus who was the last King of Pergamus and who dying made the people of Rome â—is Heir was the Founder of that excellent Library at Pergamus in the year from the Creation 3810. wherein were contained above twenty thousand choice Books 3. Queen Cleopatra about the year of the World 3950. and thirty years before the Birth of Christ gathered together such Books as had escaped the fire of Caesar in Alexandria built a place for them in the Temple of Serapis near to the Port and transferred thither 200000 Books from the Attalick or Pergamenian Library 4. M. Varro by the appointment of Iulius Caesar had the peculiar care committed to him of erecting a publick Library but it had come to nothing but for the helping hand of Augustus who succeeded him It was he that erected a famous Repository for Books in the Hill Aventine adorned it with Porticoes and Walks for the greater convenience of Students and enriched it with the spoils of conquered Dalmatia this was a little before the Birth of Christ and in the year of the World 3970. Nor did the bounty of this great Prince rest there but always aspiring to greater things he opened two other little inferiour to that in the Aventine one whereof he called the Octavian from the name of his Sister and the other the Palatine from the Mount or Hill on which it was erected Over the Keepers of which by his Imperial Order was C. Iulius Hyginnius an excellent Grammarian 5. Fl. Vespasianus about the sixth year of his Empire the seventy seventh from the Birth of Christ and of the World 4050. founded a Library in the Forum at Rome and contiguous to the Temple of Peace as if he thereby intended to shew that nothing was so requisite to advance men in Learning as times of peace 6. The Emperour Trajanus in the tenth year of his Reign one hundred and eight years after the Birth of Christ and from the Creation of the World 4092. built a sumptuous Library in the Market-place of Trajan which he called after his own sirname the Vlpian Library Dioclesian afterwards being to edifie some and adorn other Baths translated this Library unto the Viminal Hill which at this day hath the Gate of St. Agnes opening upon it 7. Domitianus the Emperour erected another near to his own house which he had built upon the Capitoline Hill which yet soon after was reduced to ashes in the Reign of Commodus which happened as Eusebius Dion and Baronius witness in the eighth year of Commodus his Empire the 189. year from the Nativity of Christ and from the Creation of the World about the four thousand one hundred sixty and third 8. Gordianus Senior about the two hundred and fortieth year after Christ built a Library which contained sixty and two thousand Books the greater part whereof were left as a Legacy to the Emperour by Geminicus Gammonicus 9. Constantinus the Emperour by the testimony of Baronius erected a sumptuous Library in the Province of Thrace at Byzantium called New Rome which was enriched with an hundred and twenty thousand Volumes he called that City Constantinople in the year from the Birth of Christ 324. but through the discord of his Sons about the year of the World 4321. and from the Birth of Christ 340. to wit of Constantinus Constantius and Constance the Emperours in the deplorable declination of the Empire and much more by fire it lost its fame and name being burnt by the people in hatred of Basilius the Emperour as saith Zonaras and Cedrenus which happened about the year from the Nativity of Christ 476. but being repaired and increased by the accession of three hundred and three Volumes Leo Isaurus in hatred of sacred Images burnt both it and its Keepers who were Counsellors of great renown This happened about the year of Christ 726. as witnesseth Zonaras Cedrenus and others In this Library was as is reported the gut of a Dragon 120 foot long upon which was written Homers Poems Iliads and Odysses in Letters of Gold 10. The Sâ—ptalian Libâ—aâ—y now in the possession of Manfrâ—d Septala a Patâ—ician of Mâ—llâ—ine 1664. contains seven thousand two hundred ninety Volumes amongst which are many
somewhat black and that of his left was grey 9. Olo the Son of Syward King of Norway by the Sister of Harold King of the Danes had so truculent an Aspect that what others did with Weapons that did he with his Eye upon his Enemies frighting the most valiant amongst them with the brandishes of his Eye 10. Apollonides tells that in Scythia there are a sort of Women which are call'd Bythiae that these have two sights in each Eye and that with the Eye they kill as many as they look upon when they are throughly angry 11. Theodorus Beza as was observ'd in him by those of his Family had Eyes of such a brightness that in the night time when it was dark they sent out such a light as form'd an outward Circle of it about the rounds of his Eyes 12. Mamertinus in his Panegyrick Orations saith thus of Iulian the Emperour while he warr'd upon the Barbarians Old men saith he have seen the Emperour not without astonishment pass a long life under the weight of Arms they have beheld large and frequent sweats trickle from his gallant Neck and in the midst of that horror of dust which had loaded both his Hair and Beard they saw his Eyes shining with a Star-like light 13. The Soldiers of Aquileia by a private sally set upon Attila being at that time attended with a small company they knew not then that Attila was there but they afterwards confess'd that nothing was so great a terrour to them as those fiery sparkles that seemed to break from his Eyes when he look'd upon them in the fury of the sight 14. It may seem incredible that there should be found a Nation that are born with one Eye alone And yet St. Augustine seems not to doubt of it but saith That he himself did behold such persons I was now saith he Bishop of Hippo when accompanied with certain of the Servants of Christ I went as far as Aethiopia that I might preach the holy Gospel of Christ to that people and in the lower parts of Aethiopia we saw men that had but one Eye and that placed in the midst of their Foreheads 15. Iulio de Este bad such a peculiar sweetness and alluring force in his Eyes that Cardinal Hypolito de Este his own Brother caused them to be put out because he had observed that they had been overpleasing to his Mistress 16. Maximus the Sophist a great Magician and of whom it was that Iulian the Emperour learn'd Magick at Ephesus Of this man it is reported that the Apples of his Eyes were voluble and turning and the vigor and agility of his swift and ready wit did seem to shine out of his Eyes whether he was seen or heard both ways he strangely affected such as had conversation with him while they were neither able to bear the sparkling motion of his Eyes nor the course and torrrent of his Speech so that even amongst eloquent persons and such as were improv'd by long practice and experience there was not one found that did dare to oppose him when he had conference with any of them 17. Edward the First King of England is describ'd by Polydor Virgil to be a Prince of a beautiful countenance his Eyes were inclining to black which when he was inflamed with anger would appear of a reddish colour and sparks of fire seemed to fly out of them CHAP. XVII Of the Face and Visage and admirable Beauty plac'd therein both in Men and Women THe Ancieâ—ts were so great admirers of Beauty that whereas Gorgon had such a loveliness imprinted upon her Face that she ravish'd the Eyes of her Spectators with it and made them stand as men amazed and astonished They hereupon fain'd in their Fable that she convertted Men into Stone with the sight of her The barbarous Nations had also such veneration for it that they thought no Man capable of any extraordinary action unless his person was thus digniâ—ied by Nature And further the accidental meeting of a beautiful person was held as a special passage of some future good whereas the sight of one deformed was reputed a most unlucky Omen Thus Beauty hath found its favourers amongst all sorts of persons it hath done so too in all places not excepting such as are the very Theatre of Blood and Death For 1. Parthenopaeus one of the seven Princes of the Argives was so exceeding beautiful that when he was in Battel if his Helmet was up no man would offer to hurt him or to strike at him 2. Tenidates the Eunuch was the most beautiful of all the Youth in Asia when Artaxerxes King of Persia heard that he was dead he commanded by his Edict that all Asia should mourn for him and he himself was difficultly comforted for his death 3. Antinous of Claudiopolis in Bythinia was a young Man exâ—eedingly dâ—ar to Adrian the Emperour for the perfection of his Beauty so that when he was dead the Emperour in honour of him built a Temple at Mantinea and another at Ierusalem he also built a City near the River Nilus and call'd it by his name he caus'd his Coyn too to be stamp'd with his Essigies 4. Alcibiades the Athenian was a person of incomparable Beauty and which is remarkable the loveliness of his form continued constant to him both in his Youth Manhood and Age It seldom falls out that the Autumn of a Man should remain â—lourishing as his Spring a thing which was peculiar to him with few others through the excellent temper of his constitution 5. Xerxes Army which he lead to Thermopylae against the Grecians is computed by Herodotus to amount to the number of five hundred twenty eight Myriad three thousand and twenty eight fighting men amongst all which almost incredible number of Mortals there was none found who could compare with Xerxes himself for extraordinary handsomeness in person or elevated Stature of Body nor any who in respect of Majestick port and meen seemed more worthy of that command than he 6. Dometrius Poliorcetes Son of Antigonus King of Asia was tall of Stature and of that excellent and wonderful Beauty in his Face that no Painter or Sratuary was able to express the singugar Graces of it there was Beauty and Gravity Terror And amiableness so intermingled a young and fierce Aspect was so happily confounded with an almost invincible heroick and kingly Majesty that he was the admiration of all strangers and was followed wheresoever he went on purpose to behold 7. Maximinus the younger was a most beautiful Prince In the Letter of Maximinus the Father to the Senate concerning him is thus written I have suffered my Son Maximinus to be saluted Emperour as in respect of the natural affection I bear him So also that the people of Rome and the Honourable Senate may swear they never had a more beautiful Emperour His Face had such Beauty in it that when it
the saddle and left a wound upon the back of the Horse The Mahometans observing that terrible blow provoked him no farther but departed as they came The Almain without mending his pace came up safely to the rest of the Army 26. Iohn Courcy Baron of Stoke Courcy in Somersetshire the first Englishman that subdued Vlster in Ireland and deservedly was made Earl of it he was afterwards surprised by Hugh Lacy corrivaâ— to his title sent over into England and by King Iohn imprisoned in the Tower of London A French Castle being in controversie was to have the title thereof tryed by combat the Kings of England and France beholding it Courcy being a lean lank body with staring eyes is sent for out of the Tower to undertake the Frenchman and because enfeebled with long durance a large bill of Fare was allowed him to recruit his strength The Monsieur hearing how much he had eat and drank and guessing his courage by his stomach or rather stomach by his appetite took him for a Cannibal who would devour him at the last course and so he declined the Combat Afterwards the two Kings desirous to see some proof of Courcy's strength caused a steel Helmet to be laid on a block before him Courcy looking about him with a grim countenance as if he intended to cut with his eyes as well as with his arms sundred the Helmet at one blow striking his Sword so deep into the wood that none but himself could pull it out again Being demanded the cause why he looked so sternly Had I said he fail'd of my design I would have killed the Kings and all in the place Words well spoken because well taken all persons present being then highly in good humour He died in France anno Dom. 1210. 27. Polydamus the Son of Nicias born at Scotussa in Thessalia was the tallest and greatest man of that age his strength was accordingly for he slew a Lion in the Mount Olympus though unarm'd he singled out the biggest and fiercest Bull from a whole Herd took hold of him by one of his hinder feet and notwithstanding all his struggling to get from him he held him with that strength that he left his hoof in his hand being afterwards in a Cave under a Rock the earth above began to fall and when all the rest of his company fled for fear he alone there remain'd as supposing he was able with his Arms to support all those ruines which were coming upon him but this his presumption cost him his life for he was there crush'd to death 28. Ericus the second King of Denmark was a person of huge Stature and equal strength he would throw a Stone or a Javelin as he sate down with much greater force than another that stood as he sate he would struggle with two men and catching one betwixt his knees would there hold him till he had drawn the other to him and then he would hold them both till he had bound them He also would take a rope by both the ends of it and holding it thus in his hands sitting he gave the other part of it to four strong men to pull against him but while they could not move him from his seat he would give them such girds now with the right and then with the left hand that either they were forced to relinquish their hold or else notwithstanding all they could do to the contrary he would draw them all to the feat where he sate 29. The Emperour Tiberius had the joynts of his Fingers so â—irm and strongly compacted that he could thrust his Finger through a green and unripe Apple and could give a â—illip with that force that thereby he would break the head of a lusty man CHAP. XXV Of the marvelous fruitfulness of some and what number of their descendants they have liv'd to see also of superfoetation IN the front of this Discourse it will not be amiss to revive the memory of a Roman Matron in whom there were so many wonders concentred that it would almost be no less to forget her Ausonius calls her Callicrate and thus Epitapheth for her as in her own person Viginti atque novem genitrici Callicrateae Nullius Sexus mors mihi visa fuit Sed centum quinque explevi bene messibus annos Intremulam baculo non subeunte manum Twenty nine birth 's Callicrate I told And of both Sexes saw none sent to grave I was an hundred and five Summers old Yet stay from staff my hand did never crave A rare instance which yet in the two former respects you will find surpass'd in what follows 1. There lyes a Woman bury'd in the Church at Dunstable who as her Epitaph testifies bore at three several times three Children at a Birth and five at a Birth two other times 2. Elionora Salviata the Wife of Bartholomew Frescobald a Citizen of Florence was delivered of fifty and two Children never less than three at a Birth 3. One of the Maid-servants of Augustus the Emperour was delivered of five Children at a Birth the Mother together with her Children were bury'd in the Laurentine way with an Inscription upon them by the order of Augustus relating the same 4. Also Serapia a Woman of Alexandria brought forth five Children at one Birth saith Coelius 5. Anno 1553. The Wife of Iohn Gissinger a Tigurine was delivered of Twins and before the year was out brought at once five more three Sons and two Daughters 6. Here is at Bononia one Iulius Seutinarius yet living and is also a fruitful Citizen himself he came in the World with six Births and was himself the seventh his Mother was the Sister of D. Florianus de Dulphis my Kinsman saith Carpus 7. Thomas Fazel writes that Iane Pancica who in his time was marryed to Bernard a Sicilian of the City of Agrigentum was so fruitful that in thirty Childbirths she was delivered of seventy and three Children which saith he should not seem incredible seeing Aristotle affirms that one Woman at four Births brought forth twenty Children at every one â—ive 8. There is a famous story of the beginning of the Noble Race of the Welfs which is this Irmentrudes the Wife of Isenbard Earl of Altorf had unadvisedly accus'd of Adultery a Woman that had three Children at one Birth being not able to believe that one man could at one time get so many Children adding with all that she deserv'd to be sow'd up in a Sack and thrown into the River and accusing her in that regard to the Earl her Husband It hapned that the next year the Countess felt her self with Child and the Earl being from home she was brought to Bed of twelve Male-children but all of them very little She fearing the reproach of Adultery whereof yet she was not guilty commanded that eleven of them should be taken and cast into a River not far from the House
provoked him he restrain'd and kept in his Soldiers till such time as the Gods being consulted by Sacriâ—ice had given encouragement to begin the Fight This was somewhat long in the performance so that in the mean time the Enemy interpreting this delay as an instance of fear began to pres hard upon him so that many of the Greeks fell yet would he not suffer in this extremity a single Javelin to be thrown against them but multiplying the Sacrifices he at last lift up his hands to Heaven and prayed That if the Fates had determined that the Grecians should not overcome yet at least it might please the Gods that they might not die unrevenged nor without performing some famous and memorable exploit upon their Enemies He was heard and straâ—ght the Fowels of the Sacrifice promised him success he marched out and obtained the Victory but what a Soul was that how fixed and earnest in the holy Rites of his Country that chuse rather to be butâ—hered and slain than to draw a Sword while the Gods seemed unwilling 17. The Aegyptians worshipped Dogs the Indian Rat the Cat Hawk Wolf and Crocodâ—le as their Gods and observe them with that kind of Religion and Veneration that if any man whatsoever knowingly or otherwise killed any of these it was death to him without mercy as a Roman Citizen found to his cost in the time of Diodorus Siculus who writes and vouches himself as a spectator and witness of what follows At such time saith he as Ptolemeus whom the Romans afterwards restored to his Kingdom was fiâ—st of all stiled the Associate and Friend of the Senate and people of Rome there was a publick rejoycing and a mighty concourse of people Here it fell out that in a great crowd amongst the rest were Romans and with them a Soldier who by chance and not willingly had killed a Cat straight there was a cry a sudden fury and tumult arose to pacifie which not the ignorance of the miserable wretch not any reverence of the Roman Name not the command of the King himself who had sent the chiefest of his Noble to appease it none of all these booted the poor man but that forthwith he was pulled in pieces by a thousand hands so that nothing of him was left either to bury or to burn 18. Vespasianus the Emperour returning out of the East when he found the City of Rome exceedingly disfigured by Civil Wars he began the restoration of it with the repairs of the sacred Buildings and the Temple of Iupiter Capitolinus wherein he betook himself to the work He carried timber upon his own Back he wrought in the Foundations with his own hands not conceiving that he any way injured the Majesty of an Emperour by putting his hand to a work that concern'd the worship of the Gods The Christians were about to build a Chappel in Rome wherein to perform service to Almighty God but they were complained of and the ground challenged by certain â—nholders in that City The matter was brought before the Emperour Alexander Severus who thus determin'd The things said he that concern the Gods are to be preferred before the concerns of man and therefore let it be fâ—ee â—or the Christians to build their Chappel to their God who though he be unknown to us at Rome ought nevertheless to have honour done unto him if but for this respect alone that he beareth the name of a God So great a Reverence to Religion had the Aethiopâ—an Kings to the time of Ptolemy King of Aegypt that whensoever the Priests of Iupiter who is worshipped in Mâ—roe declared to any of them that hâ—s life was hateful to the Gods He immediately put an end to his days Nor was there any of them found to have had a more tender regard to the safety of his own life than he had reverence to Religion till King Aâ—gâ—nes who lest the Priests should tell him he should dye began with themselves put them all to death first and thereby abolished the custom There was a mighty famine in Aegypt so that all kind of Food failing them they betook themselves to feeding upon mans flesh when in the mean time they spared Dogs Cats Wolves Hawks c. Which they worshipped as their Gods and not only forbore to lay hands upon them but also fed them and that doubtless with Mans Flesh also There was a Brazen Statue of Saturn at Carthage with Hands somewhat lifted up The Statue it self was open hollow and bending towards the earth a Man or Youth was solemnly laid upon these Arms and thence he was streight tumbled down headlong into a burning Furnace that was flaming underneath This burning alive was bestowed upon that God yearly upon a set day and at other times also ever with multiplyed Victims especially in â—ase of any great Calamity that should befal the City Accordingly upon the slaughter they received by Agathocles they made a decree I tremble to speak it to offer up two hundred of their noblest youth in this manner to Saturn And who would believe it there were as many more who freely offered themselves to the same death The Soldiers of Alaricus the Goth at the sacking of Rome while as yet they breath'd after slaughter and spoil It chanced that some sacred Virgins came amongst the Ranks of them carrying Vessels of Gold upon their heads uncovered They so soon as they were informed that both the Persons and the Plate were consecrate in honour of the Apostles suâ—â—ered both to pass through them untouched The Emperour Constantine being present at the Council of Chalcedon did their sit below all the Priests and when the Writings were brought to him that contained their mutual accusations and the charges that they had drawn up one against a the others he folded them all up in his Lap and committed them all unread to the fire saying that the Priests as so many Deities were set over men for the better Government of them and that therefore he would reserve the Judgment of them entirely to God himself Metellus was the chief Priest of the Temple of Vesta and when through some misadventure it had taken fire he with others being busied in carrying out the Statues of the Gods with the consecrated Vessels and such like the Flames increasing upon them the high Priest was thereby deprived of both his Eyes which the Senate of Rome did so highly approve of as an action of Religious Gallantry that as a testimony thereof they allowed that Metellus should as often as he pleased be carried in a Charito the Senate House An honour which was granted to none before him Cyprian Euchovius a Spanish Chorographer above all other Cities of Spain commends Barcino in which there was no Beggar no man poor c. but all rich and in good estate and he gives the reason They were more Religious and more truly devout than the rest of their Neighbours
concerning his Love to Truth 17. Euricius Cordus a German Physician hath this honour done to his memory It is said of him that no man was more addicted to truth than he or rather no man was more vehemently studious of it none could be found who was a worser hater of ing and falshood he could dissemble nothing nor bear that wherewith he was offended which was the cause of his gaining the displeasure oâ— some persons who might have been helpful to him if he would but have sought their favour and continued himself therein by his obsequiousness Thus much is declared in his Epigrams and he saith it of himself Blandire nescis ac verum Corde tacere Et mirare tuos displicuisse libros Thou canst not flatter but the truth dost tell What wonder is 't thy Books then do not sell. Paulus Lutherus Son to Martin Luther was Physician to Ioachimus the Second Elector of Brandenbuog and then to Augustus Duke of Saxony Elector It is said of him that he was verè 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 a lover of liberty and freedom of Speech far from â—lattery and assentation and in all points like unto that Rhesus in Euripides who saith of himself Talis sum et ego rectam sâ—rmonum Viam secans nec sum duplex vir Such a one am I that rightly can Divide my Speech yet am no double man The virtues of this Luther were many and great yet I know not any wherein he more deservedly is to be praised than for this honest freedom of speaking wherein he mightily resembled his Father 19. When I lived at Vtricht in the Low Countries the Reply of that valiant Gentleman Colonel Edmonds was much spoken of There came a Country-man of his out of Scoâ—land who desiring to be entertained by him told him that my Lord his Father and such Knights and Gentlemen his Cousin and Kinsmen were in good health Colonel Edmonds turning to his friends then by Gentlemen said he believe not one word he says My Father is but a poor Baker in Edinburg and works hard for his living whom this Knave would make a Lord to curry favour with me and make you believe that I am a great man born when there is no such matter CHAP. V. Of such as have been great Lovers and Promoters of Peace THere is a certain Fish which Aelian in his History calls the Adonis of the Sea because it liveth so innocently that it toucheth no living thing strictly preserving peace with all the offspring of the Ocean which is the cause it is beloved and courted as the true darling of the Waters If the frantick world hath had any darlings they are certainly such as have been clad in Steel the destroyers of Cities the suckers of humane blood and such as have imprinted the deepest scars upon the face of the Universe These are the men it hath Crown'd with Lawrels advanc'd to Thrones and â—latter'd with the misbecoming Titles of Heroes and Gods while the Sons of peace are remitted to the cold entertainment of their own vertues Notwithstanding which there have ever been some who have found so many Heavenly Beauties in the face of Peace that they have been contented to love that sweet Virgin for her self and to Court her without the consideration of any additional Dowry 1. The Inâ—abitants of the Island Borneo not far from the Moluccas live in such detestation of war and are so great Lovers of peace that they hold their King in no other veneration than that of a God so long as he studies to preserve them in peace but if he discover inclinations to war they never leave till he is fall'n in Battle under the Arms of his Enemies So soon as he is slain they set upon the Enemy with all imaginable fierceness as Men that fight for their liberty and such a King as will be a greater Lover of peace Nor was there ever any King known amongst them that was the perswader and Author of a war but he was deserted by them and suffer'd to fall under the Sword of the Enemy 2. Datanes the Persian being employed in the besieging of Sinope received Letters from the King commanding him to desist from the Siege Having read the Letter he adored it and made gratulatory sacrifices as if he had received mighty favours from his Master and so taking Ship in the very next Night he departed 3. The Emperour Leo who succeeded Martianus having given to Eulogius the Philosopher a quantity of Corn one of his Eunuchs told him that such kind of largess was more fitly bestowed upon his Soldiers I would to God said the Emperour that the state of my Reign was such that I could bestow all the stipends of my Soldiers upon such as are learned 4. Constantinus the Emperour observing some differences amongst the Fathers of the Church called the Nicene Council at which also hmself was present At this time divers little Books were brought to him containing their mutual complaints and accusations of one another All which he received as one that intended to read and take cognizance of them all But when he found that he had received as many as were intended to be offered he bound them up in one bundle and protesting that he had not so much as looked into any one of them he burnt them all in the sight of the Fathers giving them moreover a serious exhortation to peace and a Cordial Agreement amongst themselvrs 5. It is noted of Phocion a most excellent Captain of the Athenians that although for his military ability and success he was chosen forty and five times General of their Armies by universal approbation yet he himself did ever perswade them to peace 6. At Fez in Africk they have neither Lawyers nor Advocates but if there be any controversies amongst them both parties Plaintiff and Defendant came to their Alsakins or Chief Judge and at once without any further appeals or pitiful delays the Cause is heard and ended It is reported of Caesar to his great commendation that after the defeat of Pompey he had in his custody a Castle wherein he found divers Letters written by most of the Nobles in Rome under their own hands sufficient evidence to condemn them but he burnt them all that no Monument might remain of a future grudge and that no man might be driven to extremities or to break the peace through any apprehension that he lived suspected and should therefore be hated 8. Iames King of Arragon was a great enemy to contentions and contentious Lawyers insomuch as having heard many complaints against Semenus Rada a great Lawyer who by his Quirks and Wiles had been injurious as well as troublesome to many he banished him his Kingdom as a man that was not to be endured to live in a place to the Peace of which he was so great an enemy 9. I read of the Sister of Edward the Third King of
they were But let it be observed that he was thrust out of his Kingdom made a private man died in infamy and the hatred of all men 7. Iulianus at the first feigned himself to be a Christian and as some say was entred into Orders for Deacon from a worshipper of Christ he afterwards turn'd a great Persecutor and mocker of the Christians and Christianity it self in contempt of which he permitted the Jews to re-edifie that Temple of theirs which had been ruined under Titus and the care of that affair was committed to Antiochenus Philippus but the divine power shew'd forth it self to the terrour of men for so soon as they had laid the Stones in the Foundation of it the earth began to make a horrid noise and exceedingly trembled it cast out the begun Wall sent forth a flame that slew the Workmen and consumed all the Tools and Instruments that were there as well Iron as other This was it that occasioned the work to be laid aside the next night there were divers Crosses found upon the garments of many men and those in such manner set on that they could not be washed or any other way got out thence At last this Iulianus waging War with the Persians by an unknown hand he received a deadly wound betwixt his Ribs when filling his own hands with his own blood and throwing it up towards Heaven he brake out into these words Satisfie thy malice O Galilean so he called Christ for I acknowledge I am overcome by thee 8. Pope Leo the tenth admiring the huge mass of money which by his Indulgences he had rak'd together said most Atheistically to Cardinal Bembus Vide quantum haec fabula de Christo nobis profuit See what a deal of wealth we have gotten by this Fable of Christ And when he lay upon his death-bed the same Cardinal rehearsing a Text of Scripture to comfort him his reply was Apage has nugas de Christo Away with these baubles concerning Christ. 9. Nero the Emperour spoiled Temples and Altars without any difference and thereby shew'd that Religion was not only despised but also hated by him nor did he spare that Syrian Goddess which he worshipped but sprinkled the face of her with urine by these and the like means he became hated both of God and men so that the people of Rome revolted from him whereby he was compell'd to a fearful and miserable slight and fearing they would inflict on him torments worse than death he laid violent hands upon himself 10. Antoninus Commodus had not only abused himself divers other waies but even in the midst of the solemnities of Religion he could not abstain from impiety When he sacrificed to Isis with the Image of that Goddess which himself carried he laid upon the heads of the Priests and enforced them so to pelt one another with Pine Nuts which according to the Rites of their Religion they carryed in their hands that sometimes some of them died upon it With these and other wicked acts of his he was grown into that hatred that he lost his life as he lay in his bed slain by such as were about him to the great rejoycing of the people of Rome his body after it had some time lain unburied was cast into Tyber 11. A Cardinal with great Pomp making his entrance into the City of Paris when the people were more than ordinarily earnest with him for his fatherly Benediction Quandoquidem said he hic populus vult decipi decipiatur in nomine Diaboli Since these people will be fool'd let them be fool'd in the Devils name 12. Iohn King of England having been a little before reconciled to the Pope and then receiving an overthrow in France in great anger cryed out That nothing had prosper'd with him since the time he was reconciled to God and the Pope Being also on a time a Hunting at the opening of a fat Buck See said he how the Deer hath prospered and how fat he is and yet I dare swear he never heard Mass. He is reported in some distress to have sent Thomas Hardington and Raph Fitz-Nichols Knights in Embassage to Miramumalim King of Africk and Morocco with offer of his Kingdom to him upon condition he would come and aid him and that if he prevail'd he would himself become a Mahometan and renounce his Christian Faith The end of him was that he was poysoned by a Monk of Swinstead Abbey in Lincolnshire 13. Theophylact son of the Emperour by the absolute power of the Emperour was seised of the Patriarchate of Constantinople he then became a Merchant of Horses which he so violently affected that besides the prodigious race of two thousand which he ordinarily bred he many times left the Altar where he sacrificed to the living God to hasten to see some Mare of his that had Foaled in the Stable 14. Leo the fourth Emperour of Constantinople thrust on by his covetous desire in shew of jest as another Dionysius took off the Crown from the head of St. Sophia which had been made by former Princes in honour of her not without vast expences he afterwards wore it upon his own head But his impiety passed not without its punishment for instead of Gemms Carbuncles and envenomed Pustules brake out on every part of his head so that he was constrain'd thereby to lay aside his Crown and also to depart the World 15. Paulus Graecus had revolted from Bamba King of the Goths usurped the title of the King of Spain and besides divers other evil actions of his he had taken out of a Temple in the City of Gerunda a Crown which the devout King Bamba had consecrated to St. Foelix not long after he was duly rewarded for it For he was taken by Bamba against whom he had rebelled he was brought from Nemausis a City in France to Toledo in Spain Crown'd with a Diadem of Pitch his eyes put out riding upon a Camel with his face turned towards the tail and followed all along with the reproaches and derision of all that beheld him 16. M. Crassus the Roman General going upon a Military expedition into Parthia as he passed through Iudaea his covetousness put him upon the thoughts of Sacriledge so that he risted the Temple of Ierusalem of the Treasures that were laid up in it but divine vengeance had him in chase for it for not long after he was overcome in Battel by the Parthians where he lost both his fame and life and son together with his ill gotten Goods and being found by his enemies when dead had molten Gold poured into his mouth to upbraid his covetousness 17. Mahomet the second being repulsed by the Inhabitants of Scodra in a furious assault he had made upon that City wished that he had never heard of the name of Scodra and in his choler and frantick rage most horribly blasphem'd against God most wickedly saying That it was enough for
well and at ease As touching the other Furniture of this Theatre in rich Hangings which were of Cloth of Gold painted Tablets the most exquisite that could be found Players Apparel and other stuff meet to adorn the Stage there was such abundance thereof that there being carried back to his House of Pleasure at Tusculum the surplusage thereof over and above the daintiest part whereof he had daily use at Rome his Servants and Slaves there upon indignation for this waste and monstrous superfluity of their Master set the said Country-house on fire and burnt as much as came to an hundred millions of Sesterces Yet was this magnificent piece of Building by the testimony of Pliny but a temporary Theatre and scarce to endure for a month 15. C. Curio desirous to shew pleasure unto the people of Rome at the Funerals of his deceased Father and seeing he could not out go the forementioned Scaurus in rich and sumptuous Furniture devised to surpass him in Wit This Curio then in emulation caused two Theatres to be framed out of Timber and those exceeding big yet so as they might be turned about as a man would have them approach near one to the other or be removed farther asunder as one would desire and all by the means of one Hook apiece they hung by which bare the weight of the whole Frame the counterpoise was so even and all the whole Fabrick thereof sure and â—irm Now he ordered the matter thus that to behold the several Stage-plays and Shews in the forenoon they should be set back to back that the Stages should not trouble one another and when the people had taken their pleasure that way he turned the Theatres about in a trice against the afternoon so that they fronted one another and toward the latter end of the day when the Fencers and Sword-players were come in place he brought both Theatres nearer together and yet every man sute still and kept his place according to his rank and order In so much that by the meeting of the horns or corners of them both together he made a fair round Amphitheatre of it wherein he exhibited to them Fencers fighting at sharps Thus the bold man carried the whole people of Rome round about at his pleasure bound sure enough for stirring or removing supported betwixt heaven and earth and sitting at the devotion only of two Hooks or Pins A marvellous work in the Framer and as strange a folly in them that sate there 16. The Temple of Peace was built by Vespasian three hundred foot in length and in breadth two hundred so as Herodian deservedly calls it the greatest and fairest of all the Works in the City of Rome and the most sumptuous in Ornaments of Silver and Gold Iosephus writes that upon this Temple were bestowed all the rarities which before men travelled through the World to see and Pliny saith of all the choice Pieces I have spoken of in the City the most excellent are laid up and dedicated by Vespasian in the Temple of Peace which were before in the Golden House of Nero. 17. The Amphitheatre begun by Vespasian but finished and dedicated by Titus was most famous the height of which was such saith Ammianus that the eye of man could hardly reach it It was reared saith Cassiodore with Rivers of Treasure poured out It contained only upon the steps or degrees sufficient and easie seats for eighty seven thousand persons so as the vacant places besides might well contain ten or twenty thousand more Martial prefers it before all the rare and great Works at Rome It stood in the place where sometimes were Nero's Ponds 18. The Escurial or Monastery of St. Laurence in New Castile was built by Philip the Second a place saith Quade of that magnificence that no Building in times past or the present is comparable to it The Front towards the West is adorned with three stately Gates the middlemost whereof leadeth into a most magnificent Temple a Monastery in which are one hundred and fifty Monks of the Order of St. Ierome and a Colledge The Gate on the right hand openeth into divers Offices belonging to the Monastery that on the left unto Schools and Out-houses belonging to the Colledge At the four corners there are four Turrets of excellent workmanship and for height majestical Towards the North is the Kings Palace on the South part divers beautiful and sumptuous Galleries and on the East side sundry Gardens and Walks very pleasing and delectable It containeth in all eleven several Quadrangles every one encloistered and is indeed so brave a Structure that a Voyage into Spain were well employed were it only to see it and return 19. The Aquaduct vaulted Sinks and Draughts of Tarquinius Priscus King of the Romans were the greatest Works of all his other which he devised by undermining and cutting through the seven Hills whereupon Rome is seated and making the City hanging as it were in the Air between heaven and earth like unto the ancient City of Thebes in Egypt so as a man might pass under the streets and houses with Boats And if this were the marvel of men in those days how would they be astonished now to see how M. Agrippa in his Edileship after he had been Consul caused seven Rivers to meet together under the City in one main Chanel and to run with such a swift stream and current that they take all afore them whatsoever there is in the way and carry it down into Tyber and being sometimes increased with sudden showers and Land-slouds they shake the paving under them they drive against the sides of the Walls about them sometimes also they receive the Tyber water into them when he riseth extraordinarily so as a man shall perceive the stream of two contrary waters affront and charge one another with great force and violence within and under ground And yet for all this these Water-works aforesaid yield not a jot but abide firm and fast without any sensible decay occasioned thereby Moreover these streams carry down ever and anon huge and heavy pieces of stones within them mighty loads are drawn over them continually yet these arched Conduits neither settle and stoop under the one nor are endamaged by the other Many a house falleth of it self upon them many are made to fall by frequent fires and sometimes terrible Earthquakes shake the whole Earth about them yet for all these injuries they have continued since the days of Tarquinius Priscus inexpugnable and that is almost eight hundred years 20. Of all the Aquaducts that ever were before this time that which was begun by Caligula and finished by Claudius his Successour surpassed in sumptuousness for they commanded the two Fountains Curtius and Ceruleus whose heads were forty miles distant and these they carried with such a force before them and to such a height that they mounted up to the highest Hills in Rome and served them that dwelt thereupon
great Founder of it was Sir Thomas Bodley formerly a Fellow of Merton Colledge he began to furnish it with Desks and Books about the year 1598. after which it met with the liberality of divers of the Nobility Prelacy and Gentry William Earl of Pembroke procured a great number of Greek Manuscripts out of Italy and gave them to this Library William Laud Archbishop of Canterbury bestowed 1300 choice Manuscripts upon it most of them in the Oriental Tongues At last to compleat this stately and plentiful mansion of the Muses there was an accession to it of above eight thousand Books being the Library of that most learned Antiquary Mr. Iohn Selden By the bounty of these noble Benefactors and many others it is improved in such manner that it is a question whether it is exceeded by the Vatican it self or any other Library in the World CHAP. VII Of such persons who being of mean and low Birth have yet attained to great Dignity and considerable Fortunes IT was the dream of some of the Followers of Epicurus that if there were any Gods they were so taken up with the fruition of their own happiness that they mind not the affairs or miseries of poor mortality here below no more than we are wont to concern our selves with the business of Ants and Pismires in their little Mole-hills But when we see on the one side pompous Greatness laid low as contempt it self and on the other hand baseness and obscurity raised up to amazing and prodigious heights even these to a considering mind are sufficient proofs of a superiour and divine Power which visibly exerts it self amongst us and disposes of men as it pleases beyond either their fears or hopes 1. The great Cardinal Mazarini who not long since sate at the Stern of the French Affairs was by birth a Sicilian by extraction scarce a Gentleman his education so mean as that he might have wrote man before he could write but being in Natures debt for a handsome face a stout heart and a stirring spirit he no sooner knew that Sicily was not all the World but he left it for Italy where his debonaire behaviour preferred him to the service of a German Knight who plaid as deep as he drank while his skill in the one maintained his debauches in the other The young Sicilian deemed this shaking of the elbow a lesson worth his learning and practised his art with such success amongst his Companions that he was become the master of a thousand Crowns Hereupon he began to entertain some aspiring thoughts so that his Master taking leave of Rome he took leave of his Master after which being grown intimate with some Gentlemen that attended the Cardinal who steered the Helm of the Papal interest he found means to be made known to him and was by him received with affection into his service after his Cardinal had worn him a year or two at his ear and distilled his State-maxims into his fertile Soul he thought fit the World should take notice of his pregnant abilities He was therefore sent Coadjutor to a Nuntio who was then dispatched to one of the Princes of Italy whence he gave his Cardinal a weekly account of his transactions here the Nuntio's sudden death let fall the whole weight of the business upon his shoulders which he managed with that dextrous solidity that his Cardinal wrought with his Holiness to declare him Nuntio His Commission expired and the Affairs that begot it happily concluded he returns to Rome where he received besides a general grand repute the caresses of his Cardinal and the plausive benedictions of St. Peter's Successour About this time Cardinal Richelieu had gotten so much glory by making his Master Lewis the Thirteenth of a weak man a mighty Prince as he grew formidable to all Christendom and contracted suspicion and envy from Rome it self this made the Conclave resolve upon the dispatch of some able Instrument to countermine and give check to the cariere of his dangerous and prodigious successes This resolved they generally concurred in the choice of Mazarini as the fittest Head-piece to give their fears death in the others destruction To fit him for this great employment the Pope gives him a Cardinals Hat and sends him into France with a large Legantine Commission where being arrived and first complying with that grand Fox the better to get a clue to his Labyrinth he began to screw himself into Intelligence but when he came to sound his Plots and perceive he could find no bottom and knowing the other never used to take a less vengeance than ruine for such doings he began to look from the top of the Enterprise as people do from Precipices with a frighted eye then withal considering his retreat to Rome would neither be honourable nor safe without attempting something he resolves to declare himself Richelieu's Creature and to win the more confidence unrips the bosome of all Rome's designs against him This made the other take him to his breast and acquainted him with the secret contrivance of all his Dedalaean Policies and when he left the World declared him his Successor and this was that great Cardinal that umpired almost all Christendom and that shined but a while since in the Gallick Court with so proud a Pomp. 2. There was a young man in the City of Naples about twenty four years old he wore linen Slops a blue Wastcoat and went bare-foot with a Mariners Cap upon his head his profession was to angle for little fish with a Cane Line and Hook and also to buy fish and to carry and retail them to some that dwelt in his quarter His name was Tomaso Anello but vulgarly called Masaniello by contraction yet was this despicable creature the man that subjugated all Naples Naples the Head of such a Kingdom the Metropolis of so many Provinces the Queen of so many Cities the Mother of so many glorious Hero's the Rendezvous of so many Princes the Nurse of so many valiant Champions and sprightful Cavaliers This Naples by the impenetrable Judgment of God though having six hundred thousand Souls in her saw her self commanded by a poor abject Fisher-boy who was attended by a numerous Army amounting in few hours to one hundred and fifty thousand men He made Trenches set Sentinels gave signs chastised the Banditi condemned the guilty viewed the Squadrons ranked their Files comforted the fearful confirmed the stout encouraged the bold promised rewards threatned the suspected reproached the coward applauded the valiant and marvellously incited the minds of men by many degrees his superiours to battel to burnings to spoil to blood to death He awed the Nobility terrified the Viceroy disposed of the Clergy cut off the heads of Princes burnt Palaces rifled houses at his pleasure freed Napâ—es from all sorts of Gabels restored it to its ancient Priviledges and lest not until he had converted his blue Wastcoat into Cloth of Silver and made himself a more absolute Lord of
the perswasion of Paulus the Patriarch of Constantinople made him a Deacon and afterwards caused him to be slain although he had received the sacred Mysteries at his hands After which oftentimes in his sleep he seemed to see his dead Brother in the habit of a Deacon reaching out to him a cup filled with blood and saying to him Drink Brother The unhappy Emperour was so afflicted and terrified with the apprehensions of this and the stings of his own conscience that he determined to retire into Sicily where also he dyed 10. Hermannus Bishop of Prague when he lay a dying with a heavy sigh complained that he had spent a far greater part of his life in the Courts of Princes than in the House of the Lord that he might have given check unto sundry vices but that with his Courtier-like life he had rather administred a further licence to sin while after the manner of others he endeavoured to seem to Princes rather pleasant than severe and this fault above others he earnestly desired that God Almighty of his mercy would forgive him 11. Memorable is the Example of Francis Spira an Advocate of Padua An. 1543. who having sinned in despite of conscience fell into that trouble and despair that by no endeavours of learned men he could be comforted he felt as he said the pains of Hell in his Soul Frismelica Bullovat and other excellent Physicians could neither make him eat drink nor sleep no perswasions could ease him Never pleaded any man so well for as this man did against himself and so he desperately died 12. Catullus Governour of Libya had fraudulenty and unjustly put to death 3000 Jews and confiscated their Goods now though neither Vespasian or Titus said any thing to him yet not long after he fell into a grievous disease and was cruelly tormented not only in body but also in mind For he was greatly terrified and still imagined to see the Ghosts of them whom he had so unjustly slain ready to kill him so that he cryed out and not able to contain himself leapt out of his bed as though he had been tortured with torments and fire And this disease daily increasing his guts and bowels rotting and issuing out of him at last he died CHAP. XL. Of Banishment and the sorts and manner of it amongst the Ancients c. THE Nature of man is to rush headily and at all adventures upon that which is forbidden him and to account himself as a sufferer wherein he is any way infringed of his liberty although it be really to his advantage to be so restrained This was perhaps the reason why 1. The Emperour Claudius banished some persons after a new kind of fashion for he commanded that they should not stir beyond the compass of three miles from the City of Rome wherein they lived 2. Damon the Master of Pericles was banished by the Athenians by a Decree of ten years Exile for this only reason That he was thought to have a wisdom and prudence beyond what was common to others 3. The Ephesians banished Hermodorus the Philosopher for this only cause That he had the reputation of an honest man and lived in great modesty and frugality the Tenor of their Decree was That no man should amongst them be a good husband or excel others in case he did he should be forced to depart 4. Ostracisme was a form of Banishment for ten years so called because the name of the party banished was writ on an Oyster-shell it was used towards such who either began to grow too popular or potent amongst the men of service This device allowable in a Democracy where the over-much powerfulness of one might hazard the liberty of all was exercised in spight oftner than desert It was frequent amongst the Athenians and by virtue hereof Aristides Alcibiades Nicias and divers others were commanded to leave their Country for ten years 5. Petalism was a form of Banishment for five years from the Greek word 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 which signifies a leaf it was practised chiefly in the City of Syracuse upon such of their Citizens as grew too popular and potent the manner was to write his name in an Olive-leaf and that once put into his hand without more ado he was thereby expelled the City and its Territories for five years yet could not this device so well secure them in the possession of their so much desired freedom but that this City fell oftner into the power of Tyrants than any one City in the World 6. The Carthaginians banished Hanno a most worthy person who had done them great services not for any fault but that he was of greater wisdom and industry than the State of a free City might well bear and because he was the first man that tamed a Lion for they judged it not meet to commit the liberty of the City to him who had tamed the fierceness of savage beasts 7. Iohn Chrysostome Bishop of Constantinople was twice banished by the procurement of Eudoxia the Wife of Arcadius the Emperour and the chief if not the only ground of this her severity against him was because she was not able to bear the free reprehensions and reproofs of that holy man 8. In the Island of Seriphus as also amongst some of those Nations that live about the Mountain Caucasus no man is put to death how great soever the crime is that he hath committed but the severest of all punishments with them is to interdict a man any longer abode in his Country and to dispose of him into banishment where he is to continue all the rest of his life 9. Rutilius was so little concerned with his banishment that when he was recalled by one whose order it was death to disobey yet he despised his return and chose rather to continue in his Exile perhaps it was for this reason That he would not seem in any kind to oppose the Senate or even the unjust Laws of his Country or whether it was that he would be no more in such condition wherein it should be in the power of others to banish him his Country as oft as they pleased CHAP. XLI Of the wise Speeches Sayings and Replys of several persons A Wise man has ever been a scarce commodity in all places and times whole Greece it self could boast no more of this sort than only seven and a Cato and a Laelius was almost the total sum of the Roman Inventory in this kind Being so few they must needs be the harder to be found and seeing that the wisest men are commonly the least speakers hereupon it is that there is almost as great a penury of their Sayings as of their persons and yet of these too every man will determine according to his own pleasure a liberty which the Reader shall not be refused to make use of in these few that follow 1. Cardinal Pompeius Colomne being imployed used such means
that Cardinal Franciotto Vrsin being put by Clement mounted to the See Apostolick After Clement was Pope Pompeius obtained of him many graces and honours but assuring himself that nothing could be denied him he was one time importunate in some such matter which the Pope judged to be unjust and inconsistent with his Holiness honour to grant so that Pompey failing of his expectation herein began to reproach the Pope and to tell him that it was by his means that he was Pope His Holiness answered him that it was true and prayed him to suffer him to be Pope and that he would not be it himself for in proceeding in this manner he took that from him which he had given him 2. Robert Winchelsea Archbishop of Canterbury was banished by King Edward the First but afterwards restored again by him and all the Rents that had been sequestred during his absence repaid him whereby he became the richest Archbishop that had been in that Seat before Wherefore often recording his troubles he would say Adversity never hurteth where no iniquity over-ruleth 3. The Emperour Frederick the Third when he heard of the death of a great Noble man of Austria who lived ninety three years most wickedly in fleshly pleasures and yet never once in all that time afflicted with grief or sickness he said This proveth that which Divines teach That after death there is some place where we receive reward or punishment when we see often in this World neither the just rewarded nor the wicked punished 4. When Theopompus was King of Sparta one was saying in his presence That it now went well with their City because their Kings had learned how to govern The King prudently replied That it rather came to pass because their people had learned to obey shewing thereby that popular Cities are most injurious to themselves by their factious disobedience which while they are addicted to they are not easily well governed by the best of Magistrates 5. Dionysius the Elder reproving his Son for that he had forcibly violated the chastity of the Wife of one of the Citizens of Syracuse asked him amongst other things If he had ever heard that any such thing had been done by him No said the Son but that was because you had not a King to your Father Neither said Dionysius will you ever have a King to your Son unless you give over such pranks as these The event proved that he then said the truth For when this young man succeeded his Father he was expelled the Kingdom of Syracuse for his evil behaviour and manner of life 6. Aristippus having lost all his Goods by shipwrack was cast naked upon the shore of Rhodes where yet by reason of his Learning he found such estimation that neither he nor his Companions were suffered to want any thing that was convenient for them When therefore some of his company were about to return home they asked him if he would command them any thing Yes said he tell my relations from me that I advise them to procure such riches for their children as a tempest at Sea has no power over shewing thereby how precious Learning is which no storms of adverse Fortune can take away from us 7. Cineas was in great honour with Pyrrhus King of Epirus and he made use of him in all his weighty affairs professing to have won more Cities by his Eloquence than by his own Arms. He perceiving Pyrrhus earnestly bent upon his Expedition into Italy one time when he was at leisure and alone Cineas spake thus to him The Romans O Pyrrhus have the reputation of a warlike people and command divers Nations that are so and if God shall grant us to overcome them what fruit shall we have of the Victory That 's a plain thing said Pyrrhus for then saith he no City will presume to oppose us and we shall speedily be Masters of all Italy the greatness vertue and riches of which is well known to you Cineas was silent a while and then having said he made Italy our own what shall we then do Sicily said he is near reaching out its hand to us a rich and populous Island and easie to be taken It is probable said Cineas but having subdued Sicily will that put an end to the War If God said Pyrrhus give us this success these will be but the Praeludia to greater matters for who can refrain from Africa and Carthage which will soon be at our beck And these overcome you will easily grant that none of those that now provoke us will be able to resist us That 's true said Cineas for it is easie to believe that with such Forces we may recover Macedon and give the Law to all Greece But being thus become Lords of all what then Pyrrhus smiling Then said he good man we will live at our ease and enjoy our selves in compotations and mutual discourses When Cineas had brought him thus far And what hinders said he but that we may now do all these seeing they are in our power without the expence of so much sweat and blood and such infinite calamities as we go about to bring upon our selves and others 8. He was a wise man that said Delay hath undone many for the other World Haste hath undone more for this Time well managed saves all in both 9. A Christian Matron being imprisoned by the Persecutors fell in labour there the extremity of her pains enforced her to cry out extremely whereupon the Keeper of the Prison reproached her and said he If you are not able to bear the pains of child-birth to day what will you do to morrow when you come to burn in the flames Today said she I suffer as a miserable Woman under those sorrows that are laid upon my sex for sin but to morrow I shall suffer as a Christian for the Faith of Christ. 10. Sir Francis Walsingham Secretary of State in Queen Elizabeths Reign towards the latter end of his life wrote to the Lord Treasurer Burleigh to this purpose We have lived enough to our Country to our Fortunes and to our Soveraign it is high time we begin to live to our selves and to our God In the multitude of affairs that passed through our hands there must be some miscarriages for which a whole Kingdom cannot make our peace And being observed to be more melancholy than usual some Court-humorists were sent to divert him Ah! said Sir Francis while we laugh all things are serious about us God is serious when he preserveth us and hath patience towards us Christ is serious when he dyeth for us the Holy Ghost is serious when he striveth with us the holy Scripture is serious when it is read before us Sacraments are serious when they are administred to us the whole Creation is serious in serving God and us they are serious in Hell and Heaven and shall a man that hath one foot in the grave jest and