Augustus had taken Adiatoriges a Prince of Cappadocia together with his Wife and Children in War and had led them to Rome in Triumph he gave order that the Father the elder of the Brothers should be slain The designed Ministers of this Execution were come to the place of restraint to this unfortunate Family and there inquiring which of the Brethren was the eldest there arose a vehement and earnest contention between the two young Princes each of them affirming himself to be the Elder that by his death he might preserve the life of the other when they had long continued in this pious Emulation the Mother at last not without difficulty persuaded her Son Dyetentus that he would permit his younger Brother to die in his stead as hoping that by him she might be more probably maintained Augustus was at length certified of this great example of Brotherly love and not only lamented that act of his severity but gave an honourable support to the Mother and her surviving Son Heywoods Hist Women XLIII Heliodorus the Brittain had afterward the Sirname of Pius upon this occasion the People provoked with the Cruelty and Avarice of Archigallus had deposed him and raised Heliodorus to the Throne of his Brother one time when the King went on hunting he accidentally met with his Brother Archigallus in a Wood whose altered visage and ragged cloths gave sufficient evidence of his afflicted condition as soon as the King knew him though he was not ignorant how he had sought his Restoration both by force and fraud yet he lovingly imbraced him and caused him privately to be conveyed into the City The King pretended he was sick and giving forth that he would dispose of the Affairs of the Realm by his last Will and Testament he called his Nobles together he then signified that he would confer in private with each of them singly and as every man entered into his Chamber he caused him to be laid hold on threatning him with death if he would not consent to the sparing of his Brother and that he should resign the Throne and Kingdom to him having by this means gained an universal assent he then opened the business in the presence of them altogether so that Archigallus was restored to the Kingdom and he dying in few years Heliodorus succeeded him with equal Justice and Glory Fulgosus Examples p. 634. XLIV There was a Soldier in the Camp of Pompeius who in the War with Sertorius perceiving a Soldier on the other side to press hard upon him he sought with him hand to hand and having slain him he went about to strip him of his Arms which when he had done he found it was his Brother who had fallen under him whereupon having a long time curst his unhappy Fate he carried his dead Brother into the Camp and having covered the Body with a precious Garment he laid the Corps upon the Funeral Pile and put fire to it which done he immediately drew the same Sword wherewith he had slain his Brother and thrust it into his own Breast and so falling prostrate upon the dead Body of his Brother they were both burned together Valerius Maximus p. 146. XLV There was a report though a false one that Eumenes King of Asia was slain by the fraud of Perseus upon the news whereof his Brother Attalus seized upon the Crown and married the Wife of his Brother but being informed of Eumenes his return he went forth to meet him not without apprehensions of fear in regard of what he had done in his absence Eumenes made no shew of his displeasure only whispered him in the Ear That before he married another Mans Wife he should besure her Husband was dead This was all and not long after dying though by his Wife he had a Son of his own yet he left the Kingdom to his Brother together with the Queen his Wife Attalus on the other side that he might not be surpassed in Brotherly love though he had many Children by his own Wife yet he educated that Son she had by Eumenes to the hope of the Kingdom and when he came of sufficient Age freely resigned up all to him and lived a private life many years after Burtons Melancholy p. 564. XLVI Darius King of Persia being extreamly provoked by Crimes of an extraordinary nature had pronounced Sentence of death upon Ithaphernes his Children and the whole Family of them at once the Wife of Ithaphernes went to the Kings Pallace and there all in tears was so loud in her mournful Lamentations that her cries coming to the Kings Ear moved him in such manner to compassion that the King sent her word That with her own he gave her the life of any single Person whom she would make choice of among the condemned the Woman begged the life of her Brother Darius wondred that she should rather ask his life than that of her Husband or any of her Children and therefore asked her the reason who replied That since her Father was dead she could never hope for a Brother more if she should lose this but that her self being but young as yet might hope for another Husband and other Children Darius was moved with this answer and being inclined to Brotherly love as well as prudence he gave her also the life of her eldest Son Heywoods Hist Women XLVII Tiberius being at Ticinum and hearing that his Brother Drusus lay sick in Germany he immediately put himself on an hasty Journey to give him a visit he passed the Alps and the Rhine and changing his Horse night and day he travelled outright two hundred miles with only one Person in his Company as his Guide Drusus though at that time labouring for life being informed of his coming commanded his Legions with their Ensigns to march out and meet him and to salute him by the Title of Imperator or Emperor he ordered a Praetorial Tent to be erected for him on the right hand of his own and gave him the Confular and Imperial name at the same time yielding this honour to his Brother and his Body to death Valerius Maximus p. 146. XLVIII Great was the love of Timolaeon the Corinthian to his Brother for when in a Battel with the Argives he saw his Brother fall down dead with the wounds he had received he leaped over the dead body of his Brother and with his Shield he protected the body as it lay and though in this enterprize he was sore wounded himself yet would he not retreat into any place of safety till such time as he had seen the dead body of his Brother carried off from the Field Fulgosus lib. 5. XLIX Neither has the extraordinary Love of Servants toward their Masters wanted great Examples some of whom have discovered eminent Fidelity and Virtue so that Fortune may seem to have treated them injuriously not to allot them as great advantages as their Masters they lived under for we read that the Servant of Vrbinius Panopion knowing
Plutarch's Lives p. 675. V. Charles the Fifth Emperour of Germany had his Forces and Camp at Ingolstadt and was obmpassed about with an huge number of confederated Enemies yet would he not fight whether because some Forces he expected were not yet come or that he foresaw a safe and unbloudy Victory in the mean time the Enemy who abounded with great Guns thundred among his Tents in such a manner that Six Thousand great shot were numbred in one day so that the Tents were every where bored through yea the Emperours own Tent escaped not the fury of the Guns Men were killed at his back on each side of him and yet the Emperour changed not his place no nor his carriage nor his countenance and when his Friends intreated him that he would spare himself and all them in him he smiling bid them be of good courage For no Emperour was ever killed with a great Gun These things are short in the Relation but so mighty to consider of as to deserve the memory and applause of Ages to come The like Constancy and Gravity in all his Actions and Behaviour accompanied him throughout his whole Life Lipsius Monit p. 110. VI. A Dutch Seaman being coâ—demned to death his punishment was changed and he was ordered to be left at St. Hellen's Island This unhappy Person representing to himself the horrour of that uninhabited place fell upon a resolution to attempt the strangest action that ever was heard of There had that day been buried in the same Island an Officer of the Ship the Seaman took up the Body out of the Coffin having made a kind of Rudder of the upper board ventured himself to Sea in it It happened fortunately to him to be so great a calm that the Ship lay immoveable within a League and half of the Island His companions seeing so strange a Boat float upon the Waters imagined they saw a Spirit and were not a little startled at the Resolution of the man who durst hazard himself upon that Element in three boards slightly nailed together though he had no confidence of finding or being received by those who had so lately sentered him to death accordingly it was put to the Question whether he should be received or not some would have the Sentence put in Execution but at last Mercy prevailed and he was taken aboard and came afterward to Holland where he lived in the Town of Horn and related to many how miraculously God had delivered him Mandelslo's Travels p. 280. VII Phocion the Athenian was a man that stood with immoveable courage against the multitude the Nobles Fortune and Death itself there was once an Oracle recited at Athens That there was amongst them one single man that ever dissented from the agreeing Opinions of all the rest All the People were enraged and enquired after that man Now pray said Phocion leave off your enquiry I am the man you seek for for not one thing of all that you do did ever please me Lipsius Monit p. 96. VIII Some Men have been likewise very famous for Fortitude and personal Valour among whom Charles the Fifth Emperour aforementioned is very renowned in History who was so active from his Youth as few Princes can parallel him For he made Nine Journeys into Germany Seven into Italy Ten to Flanders Four to France Two to England and two expeditions into Africa He made Eight Voyages on the Mediterranean Sea and Three on the Ocean what a multitude of valiant Atchievements did he perform in these Expeditions He sent away Solyman the great Turk weeping from before the Walls of Vienna and so stopped that huge torrent of destraction that was like to have overwhelmed all Germany and soon after the rest of Christendom He made Barbarossa that formidable Pyrate and his Dragon the Admiral Gallion wherein he sailed to fly before him What notable Conquests were those of Goletta and Tunis where the Roman Eagles had not flown since the time of Scipio and Hannibal and had not the Emulations of some Christian Princes found him work at home and diverted him probably he had conquered and civilized all Barbary In Europe he took the Duke of Cleve with all his Towns and Territories He quell'd the Duke of Saxony the head of the Lutheran party He imprisoned the Duke of Millain He subdued and plundered Rome He tamed the mutinous City of Gaunt where he first breathed Air and had been rockt in his Cradle He pierced the very heart of France forcing that King to fly to the Great Turk for help against him whom he afterward took Prisoner even on that day upon which he was born yet touching this Action as he himself confessed though Charles had more of Fortune yet K. Francis had got as much of Glory considering all circumstances being taken with a naked Sword in his hand and amidst a throng of fighting Enemies all about him weltting in blood colours flying and victory fluttering on both sides with doubtful wings The full discovery of the New World was made in his time with the Mines of Peru In fine he had such a continual Tide of good success that it seems as if that Age was designed for his Glory He fought Twenty pitcht Battles and made above Three Hundred Seiges nor did he know what a repulse was but only at Algier Marseilles and Mite Howels Hist Naples IX Godfrey of Bullion was brought up in that School of valour the Court of Henry the Fourth Emperour Whilst he lived there an intricate suit in Law happened between him and another Prince about the title to some Land and because the Judges could not untie the knot it was concluded the two Princes should cut it asunder with their Swords in a single combate Godfrey declined the Fight as much as in him lay as conceiving any private Title for Land not ground enough for a Duel Notwithstanding he yielded to the Tyranny of Custom and after the manner of that Country entred the Lists when at the first encounter his Sword brake but he struck his Adversary down with the Hilt yet saved his Life and gained his own Inheritance Another parallel Act of his valour was when being Standard bearer to the Emperour he with the Imperial Ensign killed Rodulphus the King of Saxony in single fight and fed the Eagle on the bowels of that Arch-Traitor Fullers Hol. War p. 44. X. In the Reign of King William the Conqueror a private Norwegian Soldier himself alone upon a Bridge resisted the whole Army of the English slew forty of them and maintained the place for divers hours together till one getting under the Bridge found means to thrust up a Spear into his Body and so killed him Bakers Chronicle p. 45. XI Alexander the Great had besieged a City of the Oxydracae and resolving to carry it by storm had broke in at a Gate and forced the Enemy to fly into the Castle here while the rest of the Macedonians were busied in undermining the Walls he
with many and cruel blows and threatned to be beheaded to which he answered You worship such Gods as will perish like dung upon the Earth but as for me come life come death I will worship none but the God of Heaven and Earth Acts and Mon. Vol. 1. XXVI St. Origen when he was but seventeen years old his Father being carried to Prison had such a fervent mind to suffer Martyrdom with him that he would have thrust himself into the Persecutors hands had it not been for his Mother who in the night time privately stole away his Cloths and his very shirt also whereupon more for shame to be seen naked than for fear of death he was forced to stay at home yet he writ thus to his Father Pray Sir be sure you do not change your Resolution for my sake Clarks Mar. XXVII Valence the Emperor being an Arrian sent Messengers to St. Basil to persuade him to imbrace that Heresy they gave him good words and promised him great Preferment if he would do it but he answered Alas Sir these Speeches are fitter to catch little Children that look after such things than such as me who being taught and instructed by the Holy Scriptures had rather suffer a thousand deaths than that one syllable or tittle of Gods Word should be altered the Governor being in a rage threatned him with confiscation of his Goods Torments Banishment and Death Basil replied He need not fear Confiscation that had nothing to lose nor Banishment to whom Heaven only is a Country nor Torments when his Body may be dashed in pieces by one blow nor Death which is the only way to set him at liberty and I wish it would fall out so well on my side that I might lay down this Carcase of mine in the Quarrel of Jesus Christ and in the defence of his Truth The Praefect told him that he was mad I wish said he that I may be for ever thus mad Clarks Examples XXVIII The same Emperor Valence coming to the City of Edessa perceived that the Christians did keep their Assemblies in the Fields for their Churches were pulled down and demolished whereat he was so inraged that he gave the President Methodius a box on the Ear for suffering such their Meetings commanding him to take a Band of Soldiers and to scourge with Rods and knock down with Clubs as many as he should find of them this his order being proclaimed there was a Christian Woman who with a Child in her Arms ran with all speed toward the place and was got amongst the ranks of those Soldiers that were sent out against the Christians and being by them asked whither she went and what she would have she told them That she made such hast lest she and her little Infant should come too late to be partakers of the Crown of Christ amongst the rest of those that were to suffer When the Emp. heard this he was confounded desisted from his enterprize and turned all his fury against the Priests and Clergy Wanly Hist Man p. 214. XXIX St. Chrysostom stoutly rebuked the Empress Eudoxia for her Covetousness telling her That she would be called a second Jezabel and when she sent him a threatning Message Go tell her said he I fear nothing but Sin and when she confederating with his other Enemies had procured his banishment as he went out of the City he said None of these things trouble me for I said before within my self if the Queen will let her banish me the Earth is the Lords and the fulness thereof if she will let her saw me asunder the Prophet Isaiah was so used if she will let her cast me into the Sea I will remember Jonah If she will let her cast me into a burning fiery Furnace or to the wild Beasts the three Children and Daniel were so dealt with If she will let her stone me or cut off my head I have St. Stephen and John the Baptist for my blessed Companions If she will let her take away all my goods and substance naked came I out of my Mothers Womb and naked shall I return thither again He was so beloved that on a time when he was like to be silenced the people cried out we had better want the shining of the Sun then the Preaching of Chrysostom Clarks Lives p. 78. XXX In the persecution of the Church under the Arrian Vandals who committed all manner of Cruelties upon the true Christians there were a great number condemned to be burnt in a Ship to which they were accompanied by a multitude of their Brethren being led like innocent Lambs to the Sacrifice and looking upon their weighty Chains and Irons wherewith they were loaded as rare Jewels and Ornaments they went with all cheerfulness and alacrity to the place of Execution even as though they had gone to a Banquet singing praises with one voice unto the Almighty as they went along the Streets saying This is our desired day more joyful to us then any Festival behold now is the accepted time now is the day of Salvation when for the faith of our Lord God we suffer death that we may not lose the Garment of Faith and Glory The People likewise with one voice cried out Fear not O Servants of God neither dread the Threats of your Enemies die for Christ who died for us that he might redeem us with the price of his saving blood Amongst them was a little Boy to whom a subtle Seducer said why hastest thou my pretty Boy unto death let them go they are mad take my Counsel and thou shalt not only have life but great advancement in the Kings Court to whom the Lad answered You shall not get me from the fellowship of these Holy Men who bred me up and with whom I have lived in the fear of God and with whom I desire to die and with whom I trust I shall obtain the Glory to come and so being all put into the Ship they were burnt together Clarks Martyr XXXI Among others who were terribly tormented they tortured Women and especially Gentlewomen stark naked openly without all shame and particularly a young Lady called Dyonisia whom they saw bolder and more beautiful than the rest they first commanded her to be stripped stark naked and made ready for the Cudgels who spake stoutly to them saying I am assured of the love of God vex me how you will only my Womanhood disclose you not But they with the greater rage set her naked upon an high place for a publick spectacle then did they whip her till the streams of blood did flow all over her body whereupon she boldly said Ye Ministers of Satan that which you do for my reproach is to me an honour And beholding her only Son that was young and tender and seemed fearful of Torments checking him with a Motherly Authority she so incouraged him that he became more constant than before to whom in the midst of his terrible Torments she said Remember O my
the Sepulcher and with sighs and tears he delivers the very Keys of Conimbria into the Kings hands with these words As long O King as I did judge thee to be alive I endured all extremities I fed upon Skins and Leather and quenched my thirst with Vrine I repressed or quieted the minds of the Citizens that were inclining to Sedition and whatsoever could be expected from a faithful Man and one sworn to thy interest that I performed and persisted in only one thing remains that having delivered the Keys of the City to thine own hands I may return freed of my Oath and to tell the Citizens their King is dead God send thee well in another and a better Kingdom This said he departed acknowledged Alphonsus for his lawful Prince and was ever after faithful to him Lipsius Monit p. 324. LXIII King John had made Hubert Burgh Governor of Dover Castle and when King Lewis of France came to take the Town and found it difficult to be overcome by force he sent to Hubert whose Brother Thomas he had taken Prisoner a little before that unless he would surrender the Castle he should presently see his Brother Thomas put to death with exquisite Torments before his Eyes but this Threatning moved not Hubert at all who more regarded his own Loyalty than his Brothers life then Prince Lewis sent again offering him a great sum of Money neither did this move him but he kept his Loyalty as faithfully and inexpugnably as he did his Castle Bakers Chron. p. 110. LXIV Sanctius King of Castile had taken Tariffa from the Moors but was doubtful of keeping it by reason both of the Neithborhood of the Enemy and the great cost it would put him to there was with him at that time Alphonsus Guzman a noble and rich Person a great Man both in Peace and War he of his own accord offered to take the care of it and to be at part of the charge himself and the King in the mean time might attend other affairs A while after the Kings Brother John revolted to the Moors and with some Forces of their's suddenly sate down before Tariffa the Besieged feared him not but relyed upon their own and their Governors valour only one thing unhappily fell out the Son and only Son of Alphonsus was unfortunately taken by the Enemy in the Fields him they shewed before the Walls and threatned to put him to a cruel death unless they speedily yielded the Town the hearts of all men were moved only that of Alphonsus who cried with a loud voice that had they a hundred of his Sons in their power he should not thereupon depart from his Faith and Loyalty and saith he Since you are so thirsty for blood there is a Sword for you throwing his own Sword over the Wall to them away he went and prepared himself to go to Dinner when upon the sudden there was a confused noise and cry that recalled him he again repairs to the Wall and asking the reason of their amazement they told him That his Son had been put to death with barbarous Cruelty Was that it then replied he I thought the City had been taken by the Enemy And so with his former unconcernedness and tranquillity he returned again to his Wife and his Dinner the Enemies astonished at the greatness of his Spirit departed the Siege without any further attempt upon the place Lipsius LXV Boges the Persian was besieged in his City Etona by Cimon General of the Athenians and when he was offered safely to depart into Asia upon delivery of the City he constantly refused it lest he should be thought unfaithful to his Prince being therefore resolved he bore all the inconveniences of a Siege till his Provisions being now almost utterly spent and seeing there was no way to break forth he made a great fire and cast himself and his whole Family into the flames of it concluding he had not sufficiently acquitted himself of his Trust to his Prince unless he also laid down his life for his Cause Herodot p. 417. LXVI Liamgzus the Conductor of the Rebel Thieves had seized the Empire of China taken the Metropolis Peking and upon the death of the Emperor had seated himself in the Imperial Throne he displaced and imprisoned what great Officers he pleased amongst the rest was one Vs a venerable Person whose Son Vsangueius led the Army of China in the confines of Leatung against the Tartars the Tyrant threatned this old man with a cruel death if by his Fatherly power he did not reduce him with his whole Army to the acknowledgment of his Power promising great rewards to them both if he should prevail wherefore the poor old man writ thus to his Son Know my Son that the Emperor Zunchinus and the whole Family of Taimingus are perished the Heavens have cast the Fortune of it upon Licungzus we must observe the times and by making a virtue of necessity avoid his Tyranny and experience his liberality he promiseth to thee a Royal Dignity if with the Army you submit to his Dominion and acknowledge him as Emperor my life depends upon thy Answer consider what thou owest to him that gave thee life To which his Son Vsanguineus returned this answer He that is not faithful to his Soveraign will never be so to me and if you forget your duty and fidelity to your Emperor no man will blame me if I forget my duty and obedience to such a Father I will rather die than serve a Thief And immediately he sent an Ambassador to call in the aid of the Tartars to subdue this Usurper of the Empire Hist China p. 277. CHAP. III. The Transcendent Effects of Chastity Temperance and Humility discovered in divers notable Histories THere is no Vice whatever that is easy to overcome but that of the Lust of the Flesh seems to have a peculiar difficulty in the Conquest of it as being born with us and which accompanies us all along from the Cradle to the Tomb for the most part having so firmly fixed its roots within us that not one of manyis able to prevail against it by how much the more strong therefore the Enemy is and the more intimate and familiar he is with us the more noble is the Victory and the Conquest more glorious which yet some in all Ages have attained as may appear by the following instances I. Scipio had taken the City of New Carthage where besides the rest of the Spoil there were found a number of Boys Girls the Children of the Nobility amongst the rest one Virgin was brought presented to Scipio whose marvellous beauty had attracted the Eyes of all men whithersoever she went it was supposed this would be no unacceptable Present to the young General but he as soon as he looked upon her said only thus I would accept and enjoy this Virgin were I a private Person and not in such command as I am for the Commonwealth keeps my mind sufficiently imployed
by the neighbours who starting out of their beds and breaking open the doors found them in the very act before the body was cold for which they were apprehended and laid in Prison Fettered with heavy Chains After their condemnation for this horrid fact the morning before the time appointed for Execution the Father strangled himself and the Mother was carried by the Devil out of the Dungeon in the Prison and her body was found dead in a stinking ditch with her neck broken asunder Beards Theater p. 72. XXX In 1620 There was a young Gentleman whose name was Duncomb that fell in love with a Gentlewoman to whom he vowed his heart and promised Marriage but her fortune not answering his Fathers humour he threatned to disinherit him if he married her and the better to alienate him from her he sent him as a Souldier in the Earl of Oxfords Regiment into Germany hoping that time and absence might wear out those Impressions that his present fancy had fixed upon him charging him at his departure never to think of her more lest with the thoughts of her he lost him for ever The young man being now long absent from her and having his heart full with the remembrance of her could not contain himself but let her know that no threats or anger of Parents should ever blot her memory out of his thoughts which he illustrated with many expressions of love and affection but the careless young man writing at the same time to his Father superscribed his Fathers Letter to his Mistriss wherein he renounced her and his Mistrisses Letter to his Father wherein he admired her the Father swoln with rage and anger against his Son sent him a bitter Letter back again full of threats and whether that or the shame for his mistake that she should see he renounced her whom he professed to Love did overcome his reason is not known but he hereupon killed himself to the great grief of all the English there and by this example Parents may see what it is to be too rigid to their Children for it was not the young mans hand but the old mans hard heart that killed him Hist Great Brit. p. 140. XXXI There was a Peasant a Macedonian by Nation named Rachoses who being the Father of seven Sons perceived the youngest of them played the little Libertine and unbridled Colt he endeavoured to reclaim him by fair words and reasons but finding him to reject all manner of good Counsel he bound his hands behind him carried him before a Magistrate accused him and required that he might be proceeded against as an Enemy to Nature The Judges who would not discontent this incensed Father nor hazard the life of this young man sent them both to the King which at that time was Artaxerxes The Father went thither with a resolution to seek his Sons death where pleading before the King with much earnestness and many forcible reasons Artaxerxes stood amazed at his Courage But how can you my Friend said he endure to see your Son die before your face he being a Gardiner by Trade As willingly said he as I would pluck away Leaves from a rank Lettice and not hurt the root The King threatned the Son with death if his Carriage were not better and perceiving the old mans zeal to Justice of a Gardiner made him a Judge Causins H. Court p. 112. XXXII Epaminondas the Theban being General against the Lacedemonians it fell out that he was called to Thebes upon the Election of Magistrates at his departure he commits the care and government of the Army to his Son Stesimbrotus with a severe charge that he should not fight till his return The Lacedemonians that they might allure the young man to fight reproach him with dishonour and Cowardice he impatient of these Contumelies contrary to the commands of his Father ingages in a Battel wherein he obtained a signal Victory The Father returning to the Camp adorns the Head of his Son with a Crown of Triumph and afterward commanded the Executioner to take it off from his Shoulders as a violator of Military Discipline Plutarch XXXIII Philip the Second King of Spain out of an unnatural and bloody zeal suffered his eldest Son Don Carlos to be murthered by the Fathers of the Hellish Inquisition because he favoured the Protestant Religion which when the Pope heard of he abusively applied that Text of Scripture to him He spared not his own Son but delivered him up for us all Acts and Monum XXXIV One of the Sons of Pyrrhus King of Epyrus being but a Boy asked his Father one day to which of his Sons he would leave his Kingdom to whom Pyrrhus answered To him that hath the sharpest Sword an answer not much unlike that Tragical Curse of Oedipus toward his Children Let them for me divide Both Goods and Rents and Lands With glittering Swords and bloody blows By force of mighty hands XXXV In the year 1551. at a Town called Weidenhasten in Germany Nov. 20. A cruel Mother inspired by the Devil shut up all her doors and began to murder her four Children in this manner she snatcht up a sharp Ax and first set upon her eldest Son being but eight years old searching him out with a Candle behind an Hogshead where he had hid himself and immediately notwithstanding his lamentable Prayers and Complaints clove his Head in two pieces and chopped off both his Arms next she killed her Daughter of five years old in the same manner another little Boy of three years seeing his Mothers madness hid itself poor innocent behind the Gate whom as soon as this Tyger espied she drew out by the hair of the head into the floor and there cut off his Head the youngest lay crying in the Cradle but half a year old him she without all compassion pluckt out and murdered in the same manner these Murders being committed this Devil incarnate for surely no Humanity was left in her to take punishment of her self for the same cut her own Throat and tho she lived nine days after and confessing her horrid Crimes died with abundance of Tears and great repentance yet we see how it pleased God to arm her own hands against her self as the fittest Executioner of Vengeance Beards Theat p. 225. XXXVI Fausta the Wife of Constantine the Great fell in love with Constantine her Son in Law whom when she could not persuade unto her Lust she accused unto the Emperor as if he had solicited her Chastity for which this innocent young man was condemned and put to death but the truth being afterward discovered Constantine ordered her to be put into an hot Bath and suffered her not to come forth till the heat had choked her revenging upon her own head her Sons death and her own Unchastity Idem p. 225. XXXVII Robert de Beliasme delighted much in Cruelty an Example whereof he shewed on his own Son who being but a Child and playing with him the Father for
Parricide was infinitely miserable for first near Sumachan Cycala's Son the Turkish General wounded him in the Arm and by that gained the Victory over the Persians the same night he was also assaulted in his Tent by his inraged Countrymen who in his stead cut a Sod omitick Boy his cursed Bed-fellow to pieces missing him who at the first Alarum made his escape and though he so far exasperated the Persians to revenge that he brought the whole Army into Georgia resolving there to act unparallel'd Tragedies yet was he over-reached in his stratagems for upon Parley with the Queen his late Brothers Wife he was shot to death at a private signal given by that Amazon to some Musquiteers ambushed on purpose betwixt both Armies a just punishment for such a Viper Herberts Travels p. 291. XLIV Justin tells of a certain African called Cartallus who by the Vote of the People was raised to an eminent degree of Dignity and was soon after sent upon a solemn Ambassy into a place where his Father with many others were banished he looking upon himself at that time like a Peacock gloriously furnished out with the Cloths and Ornaments of his Imployment thought it was not suitable to his Honour to admit his Father so much as to see him though the old man desired it with great earnestness the unfortunate Father became so much inraged with this contempt of himself and the proud refusal of his Son that he instantly raised a Sedition and mustering together a tumultuary Army of banished men he fell upon his Son although a Magistrate took him and condemned him to death he presently prepared a high Gibbet and attired as he was in Gold and Scarlet with a Crown on his head he hanged up this young disobedient Gallant as a strange spectacle to all beholders Causins Holy Court p. 112. XLV A certain degenerate and cruel Son longing and gaping after the inheritance of his Father which nothing but his lifehindered him from used this villanous means to accomplish his desire he accused his Father of a most abominable Crime namely that he had committed beastliness with a Cow knowing that if he were convicted thereof the Law would take away his life wherein he was guilty of a twofold wickedness one in going about to take away his life whom by nature he ought to have preserved the other in robbing him of his good name which would likewise redound to his Posterity he notwithstanding being possessed by Satan goes before a Magistrate and accuses his Father of this horrid Crime which he says was upon his own knowledge the poor innocent Father is seized and denying all as well he might he is put upon the Rack to extort a confession from him who not being able to endure the torment thereof accused himself but as soon as he was off he absolutely denied it again however this his forced Confession stood for Evidence and he was condemned to be burnt with Fire which was speedily executed and constantly endured by him exclaiming still upon the false accusation of his Son and his own unspotted Innocency as by the issue thereof clearly appeared for his Son not long after fell stark mad and hanged himself and the Judge who condemned him with the witnesses who evidenced his forced Confession on the rack died all within one month after in a most wretched and miserable manner and thus it pleased God both to revenge his death and also to clear his Reptitation and innocency from ignominy and discredit in this world Beards Theat p. 223. XLVI An unnatural Son pretended to keepd is Father in his old age but used him more like a slave than a Father and thought every thing too good for him one day a dainty dish of meat being brought to the Table the Son conveyed it away because his Father should not partake thereof and ordered more ordinary victuals in the room thereof but observe what his dainties turned to when the Servant went to fetch it again he found instead of meat snakes and instead of sawce Serpents to the great terror of his Conscience and further one of the Serpents leaped on his face and catching hold by his lip hung there till his dying day so that he could never feed himself but he must likewise feed the Serpent Idem p. 155. XLVII It is reported of a certain unkind perverse Son that he one time beat his aged Father and drew him by the heir of the head to the threshold who when he was old was likewise beaten by his Son and drawn by the hair of the head not only to the threshold but out of doors into the midst of the street and that be reflected then upon himself saying He was rightly served only that his Son was more severe to him for he left his Father at the door and did not drag him out into the dirt thus did his own mouth bear record of his Impiety Another disobedient Son provided a Hog trough for his poor aged decrepit Father because forsooth he did not eat his meat cleanly enough which his little Son observing asked for what use it was he replyed it was made for his Grand-Father What said the Child must I make you such a one when you are old At which words he was so disturbed that he presently threw away the Hog trough Idem p. 156. LXVII One Garret a Frenchman and a Protestant by Profession was given to all manner of debauchery for which he was cast off by his Father yet he found entertainment in a Gentlemans house of note in whose Family he became a Sworn Brother to a Young Gentleman that was a Protestant soon after Garret came to his Estate and then turned Papist of whose constancy because the Papists could hardly be assured he promised his confessor to prove himself an undoubted Catholick by setting a sure seal to his Profession whereupon he plotted the death of his dearest Protestant friends and thus effected it he invited his Father Mounsieur Seamats who was his sworn Brother and six other Gentlemen of his acquaintance to dinner all dinner time he entertained them with Protestations of his great obligations to them but the bloody Catastrophe followed dinner being ended Sixteen armed men came up into the room and laid hold on all the Guests and this wicked Parricide seized upon his Father and commanding the rest to hold their hands till he had dispatched him he stabbed the old Gentleman crying to the Lord for mercy four times to the heart and then with his Poniard kill'd all the rest but three who were dispatched by these armed Ruffians at their first entrance and then they flung the dead bodies out at a Window into a Ditch Clarks Mirrour p. 78. XLVIII Tarpeia the Daughter of S. Tarpeius betrayed her Father and the Castle whereof he was Governor to Tatius King of the Sabines who then beseiged it upon condition that she should be rewarded with all that the Sabine Soldiers wore upon their left Arms
him condemned him to death the Executioner being in readiness and he stretching forth his Neck to receive the stroke of the Ax behold in the very instant his Comerade appears in the place whereupon the Centurion who had the charge of the Execution commands the Executioner to forbear and carries back the condemned Soldier to Piso toge her with his Comerade thereby to manifest his innocency and the whole Army waited on them with joyful Acclamations But Piso in a rage gets him up to the Tribunal and condemns both the Soldiers the one for returning without his Comerade and the other for not returning with him and lastly he likewise condemns the Centurion for staying the Execution without Warrant which was given him in charge and thus three suffered death for the innocency of one Causins Holy Court XVII Mahomet the Great first Emperor of the Tarks after the winning of Constantinople fell in love with a most beautiful young Greekish Lady called Irene upon whose incomparable Perfections he so much doted that he gave himself wholly up to her love but when he heard his Captains and chief Officers murmured at it he appointed them all to meet him in his great Hall and commanding Irene to dress and adorn her self in all her Jewels and most gorgeous Apparel not acquainting her in the least with any part of his design taking her by the hand he led this Miracle of Beauty into the midst of his Nobles and Bassa's who dazled with the brightness of this illustrious Lady acknowledged their Errour professing that their Emperor had just cause to pass his time in solacing himself with so peerless a Paragon but he on a sudden twisting his left hand in the soft curls of her hair and with the other drawing out his sharp Scimeter at one blow he struck off her Head from her Shoulders and so at once made an end of his love and her life leaving all the Assistants in a fearful amaze and horror of an act of that Cruelty Turkish Hist p. 351. XVIII Vladus Dracula as soon as he had gained the Kingdom of Moldavia he chose out a multitude of Spear-men as the Guard of his Body after which inviting as many as were eminent in Authority in that Country to come to him he singled out from them all that he thought did not love him or had any inclination to a change all these together with their whole Families he empaled upon sharp stakes sparing neither the innocent age of young Children the weak Sex of Women nor the obscure condition of Servants the Stakes and place where they were set took up the space of seventeen furlongs in length and seven furlongs in breadth and the number of those that were thus murdered and in this barbarous manner were said to be no less than twenty Thousand Idem p. 363. XIX Johannes Basilides Emperor of Russia in 1569. Used for his Recreation to cause noble and well deserving Persons to be sewed up in the skins of Bears and then himself set Mastiss upon them which cruelly tore them in pieces he often invited Michael his Father in Law to banquet with him and then sent him home to his â—…ily through the snow having first caused him to be stript stark naked sometimes he shut him up in a room in his own House till he was almost famished causing four Bears of Extraordinary bigness to be tyed at the door to keep all Provisions from him these Bears he at other times would let loose among the People especially when they were going to Church and when any were killed by them he said His Sons had taken great pleasure in the sport and that they were happy who perished in this manner since it was no small diversion to himself Upon a mere suspition which he had conceived against the City of Novogorod he entred the same and caused to be slain and thrown into the River two thousand seven hundred and seventy Persons without any respect of Age Quality or Sex besides an Infinite number of poor People who were trampled to death by a Party of his Horse and there were so many bodies cast into the River of Volga that being stopped therewith it overflowed the Neighbouring fields the Plague which followed this Butchery was so great that no body venturing to bring provisions into the City the Inhabitants were forced to feed on the dead Carcases The Tyrant took a pretence from this inhumanity to cause all those that had escaped the Plague Famine and his former cruelty to be cut in pieces The Arch-Bishop of this place having escaped the first fury of the Souldiers either as an acknowledgment of the favour or to flatter the Tyrant entertained him at a great Feast in his Archiepiscopal Pallace whither the Duke failed not to come with his Guards about him but while they were at dinner he sent to plunder the rich Temple of St. Sophia and seized on all the treasures which had been brought thither and to other Churches as to places of safety After dinner he caused the Arch-Bishops Pallace to be in like manner Pillaged and then told the Arch-Bishop That it would now be ridiculous for him to act the Prelate since he had not wherewithal to support the dignity of his place that he must put off his rich habit which henceforth would be but troublesome to him and that he would bestow on him a bagpipe and a Bear which he should lead up and down and teach it to dance to get money that he must resolve to marry and that all the other Prelates and Abbots that were about the City should be invited to the Wedding setting down a precise Sum of money which each of them should present to the new married Couple And there were none of them but brought what they had made a shift to save thinking the poor Arch-Bishop should have had it but the Tyrant took all the money and causing a white Mare to be brought he said to the Arch-Bishop This is thy Wife get upon her and go to Mosco the poor Arch-Bishop was forced to obey and as soon as he was mounted they tyed his legs under the Mares belly and thenhung about his neck some Pipes a Fiddle and a Tymbrel and would needs make him to play on the Pipes all the other Abbots and Monks who were present were either cut in peices or with Pikes and Halberds forced into the the River this Tyrant had a particular longing for the money of one Theodore Sircon a rich Merchant whereupon he sent for him to his Camp at Novogorod and having fastened a Rope about his wast he commanded him to be cast into the River drawing him from one side to the other till he was ready to give up the Ghost then he asked him what he had seen under water the Merchant stoutly answered That he had seen a great number of Devils carrying the Dukes Soul with them into Hell the Tyrant replyed Thou art in the right but it 's just I