in thys Prince in my iudgement was his peaceable gouernment after he attained the Imperiall crowne And although to some it may seme straunge to commend in one man twoo contrary thinges warre and peace yet in deede the varieties of times and other circumstances considered it is no straunge thing at al. His warres were against Gods enemies his peace was with gods people Euer sithens he was created Emperour his wars with the Turks once cōpounded he hath only studied to maintain publike peace he hath not attempted as other men haue to enlarge his dominion with theffusion of Christiā bloud he hath not stirred vp any ciuil warres vnder coulour and pretence of religion or for any other titles but rather peaceably gouerned nourishing concord and amitie among al the states of the Empire so that by meanes therof Germanie before afflicted bothe by ciuil and foreine warres is at this present by manye mens iudgement more floorishing both for men and wealth then it was anye one time this hundreth yeares that this man might wel haue vsed like wordes with Augustus the Emperour when he died Germaniam lateritiam accepi marmoream relinquo I receiued a Germanie of bricke I leaue it of Marble Therfore as in his warres I compared him to valiaunt king Dauid so in this latter time for his peacefull gouernment he may be verye well compared to Salomon who is termed by the interpretacion of his name pacificus peaceable or a Prince of peace And so he alone hath matched .2 most worthy Princes in two seuerall and moste princelye qualities The third thing that I commend specially in this Prince whiche I must speake not of knowledge but of moste credible reporte is his chastitie he was a chaste Prince a Prince that did truly and as they say preciselye keepe his wedlocke A notable vertue in anye man but more notable in a Prince and moste notable in so great a Prince specially in this loose and licentious age For in these daies it is to be feared that not onelye Princes but others of farre meaner estate think vnchaste life and the breache of Matrimonie a thing not onelye in them selues worthy of no reprehēsion but also accompt others of like state in power and authoritie very fooles and dastardes if they of conscience forbeare to do the same Like in that to the Ethnickes of whom S. Peter writeth these wordes Atque hoc absurdum illis videtur quod non accuratis vnae cum illis in eādem luxus refusionem And it seemeth to them a straunge or fonde thing that ye runne not with them in to the same excesse of riot or loosnesse But let these men assure them selues of that which foloweth in the same place These men saith saint Peter shal geue accompt to him that is prepared to iudge the quicke and the dead God hath not geuen a particular but a general law neither hath he geuen his commaundementes to poore men onelye or to men of meane estate but to all men and to al estates high and low Emperours kynges Quenes Lordes Ladies riche poore Yea the greatest Prince of the world shal as wel tremble at the iudgement seate of Iesus Christ and passe as hard an account as the poorest man of the earth an harder to for that he hath a greater charge cōmited vnto him according as it is writen Cui multū creditum multū requiretur ab eo et potentes potenter tormenta patientur To whom much is cōmitted of him much shalbe required and the mightye shall suffer mighty tormentes Let no man thinke therfore that high estate in this world geueth him a licence to liue wickedlye and vnchastely but rather follow this prince who vertuously godly and Christianly liued in honorable matrimonie And may therefore herein iustlye be compared to the vertuous Emperour Gratianus one of his predecessours To whom saint Ambrose geueth this laudable testimonie Fuit Gratianus castus corpore vt praeter coniugium nescierit alterius foeminae consuetudinem Gratianus was a chaste man of his body who out of wedlocke or besides his wife knew not the companie of any other woman And behold I beseche you how wonderfully God blessed him for his chaste obseruacion of Matrimonie For wher other Princes liuing heretofore incontinently haue bene plaged of God with sterilitie want of roial issue of their bodies and so the direct line of succession hath bene cut of after them God hath not onelye geuen vnto this Prince plentie of honourable children both Sonnes and Daughters but also according to the verse of the Psalme caused him see Filios filiorum his childers children to a very great number The honourable mariages of hys daughters in sundrie places of Christendome I omitte but one thing I cannot but note vnto you that hee receyued at Gods hande the same blessing which God graunted vnto Dauid whereof he hym selfe maketh mencion in the thirde booke of the Kinges the first chapiter in these woordes Benedictus dominus deus Israel qui dedit hodie sedentem in solio meo videntibus oculis meis Praised be God saith Dauid when Salomon his sonne was proclaimed king before his death which hath geuen me one of mine own to sit this day on my seate myne eyes looking on Like occasion to praise God had Ferdinandus the Emperour of whom wee speake for he afore he died sawe the most excellent and noble Prince Maximilian his eldest sonne now Emperour crowned king of Romanes and therby in most sure certentie if he liued to succeede him A great blessing to a Prince and a great blessing to a countrey where the case standeth so God for his mercies sake at his good appoynted tyme send such a blessing to England Amen Amen Thus much I haue thought good to speake in the cōmendacion of this noble Emperour both to continue an honorable memorie of the vertues that were in him as the occasion of this time and place iustly requireth and also to styr vp those that be present of all estates to followe these good thinges that were commendable in him And here I might cease to speake any more of him were it not y t there remaineth yet one scruple to be remoued For it will be obiected peraduenture that this Prince thus commended dissented from vs in religion and an answer therein required I answer that the matter of religiō is a matter of great weight in dede and such a matter as we must commend vnto God onely Let vs whom God in his mercy hath lightened with the bright beames of his Gospel render vnto him most harty thankes for the same Let vs thankfully embrace it and Christianly vse it to the glory of God and our own health And let vs pray instantly to god the geuer of al good gifts that he wyl in his good appointed time so lighten the eyes and directe the hartes of all Christian Princes that they may see the light of the truth and walke thereafter in the
e effect is this WheÌ„ the tribes of Ruben Gad and the halfe tribe of Manasse had receaued their portioÌ„ beyond Iordan at their returne home they builded a peece of worke lyke a great aultar whiche when the reste of the Israelites heard of they intended warre agaynste the twoo tribes and the halfe and sent messengers vnto theÌ„ burdenyng them with apostasie and reuolting from Gods religion for that they had builded an other aulter besides the aulter in the tabernacle whiche was the onely aulter appoynted by God The two tribes and the halfe aunswered that with callyng of God to witnes that they ment no such thyng nor neuer enteÌ„ded to offer any sacrifice vpon it But onely buylded it for a bouÌ„der for a testimonie both for them their children y t the bouÌ„des of their possessions reached so farre The reste of y e Israelites were with thys answere very well satisfied and contended and absteyned for any warre makyng agaynste them So I do not doubte but those who thinke this action to haue any affinitie with the superstitious abrogated ceremonies if any such men be when they shal vnderstand that there is no suche thyng neyther done nor ment they wilbe likewyse satisfied Firste of all here is no inuocation or massyng for the dead nothyng els done but that is godly First singyng of the Psalmes afterwardes readyng of the Scriptures which put vs in remembraunce of our mortalitie and of the generall resurrection with doctrine and exhortation All whiche thinges tend to edifieng of the lyuing not benefiting of the dead The rest of thynges tend to the honorable memoriall of this greate prince as hath bene vsed in all ages euen emongs Gods people Herein also we declare that we reuerence and honour the authoritie of Magistrates as those in whoÌ„ the Image of God here on earth is represented vnto vs. Purgatorie gaineth nothyng by this dayes action or such like but rather receaueth a blow for at such times there is alwaies iust occasioÌ„ ministred to speake against that foolish fable And as for this magnificence costes the Quenes maiesties act therin deserueth great coÌ„mendacion shewing her selfe therin a Prince of honor by doing the office of a Prince to the greatest Prince that raigned therby exercising the amitie that ought to be betwixt Christian Princes And that suche actes for Princes dead are with such circumstances lawfull and commendable may appere by the scriptures The prophet Ieremye rebuking king Ioachim saith thus Pater tuus nonne com edit et bibit et fecit iudicium et iustitiam et bene erat ei c â–ª Did not thy father saith he meaning good king Iâ—sias eate and drinke and dyd iudgement and iustice it went well with him What meaneth the Prophet by eatyng and drinking no man can liue without meate and drinke He meaneth that Iosias did not onely eate and drinke for necessitte but also vpon iust occasions made great roial feastes was sumptuous in other matters meete for hys estate but he ioyned withal iudgement iustice he destroied the monuments of idolatry he ministred iudgement to the idolatrous priests he ministred iustice to the oppressed to the widow and fatherles God was well pleased with him saith the prophet And so if the example of Iosias be folowed in the rest God wil not be offended with this And which is more special it is threatned to wicked kings by y e same prophet they shal not mourne for him alas y â— noble prince c. but as Asses shal they be cast abroade c. So that this our doing is an honour due euen by the scriptures to this worthy most noble prince Let no man here obiect diuersity of religion Ioseph dyd not refuse to take the Egiptians being of a diuers religion in his coÌ„pany to solemnize the burial of his father And Dauid sent a princely embassage to Hanon king of the Amonites to coÌ„fort him vpon the death of his father Naas I am of S. Augustines minde whatsoeuer saith he teÌ„deth to the edifieng or encrease either of faith or of charitye is commendable These kindes of actions bisides the entents before alledged tend to thincrease of charitie to the continuaunce and confirmation of vnitie concord and amity with a most noble and mighty prince our neighbour and therfore cannot but be coÌ„mended of al those that be louers of peace and vnitie But let this suffice of that matter Now resteth somthing to speake of the third part which is how a maÌ„ should prepare him selfe to die Wherin I entend to be very short bicause I haue speÌ„t much time in the former matters A very necessary matter it is for a maÌ„ to prepare him selfe to die wel and Christianly for in that resteth al. And therfore they are pronounced happy that dye in y e Lorde But this preparation must be made according to the direction of Gods woord not according to the deuise of mans phantasy In times past men made preparacioÌ„s afore death but God knoweth farre out of square Some redemed for money great plentye of Indulgencies from Rome and he that had the greatest plentie of them to bee cast with him into his graue when he was buried whiche I my selfe haue sene done was counted the best prepared for death Others made prouisions or foundacions to haue great number of Masses said for them after death thereby to be the sooner deliuered out of Purgatorie Other there were that thought it a more reasonable and speedye waye to quench the fire of Purgatory afore they fel into it and therfore they procured a great number of Masses Trentals to be said for them afore death Some of those y t haue bene learned the more was the pity haue died in an obseruant or gray Friars cowle and afterward bene buried in the same and so thought them selues well prepared But alas al these preparacioÌ„s were preposterous ParchmeÌ„t and leade Masses and Trentals were they before death or after the gray or blacke coulour of the Friars cowle were very slender matters of defence before Gods iudgement seate These thinges therfore being not onelye not commaunded of God but also tending to the diminishing of the efficacie and vertue of Christes crosse were more apte to kindle the vnquenchable fire of hel then to quenche the phantastical fire of Purgatorie which is no where It is not to be denied but our forefathers wer wise meÌ„ and in very many thinges highly to be commended yet lamentable it is to heare into what grosse errours superstitions they were caried by those that made a marchaundise of religion teaching thinges not conuenient for filthy lucres sake as S. Paule foreshewed To be briefe therfore as the time ouerspent requireth the true preparacioÌ„ to die well is to liue well A few wordes but a long lesson Saint Augustine hath a like saying Non potest male mori qui bene vixit et vix potest bene mori
by burning candels is signified the light of faith and Christian conuersacion the very fruite of true fayth and so in suÌ„me that we should be altogether in a readines Saint Peter also when he maketh mention of the ende of al thinges to be at hand vseth much like exhortacion Be ye sober saith he and vigilant in praier signifieng thereby that temperaunce in meates and drinkes sobrietie of conuersation in al the partes of our life vigilancie and continuauÌ„ce in praier and other godly exercises are sure signes that we make preparation for death and for the comming of Christ. Of such like exhortacioÌ„ to prepare against death the scriptures are most full so plaine that this part needeth no long prosecution Now for the second part there be two causes that ought if we be not altogether vnsensible to moue vs to prepare for death The one is the necessitie of death The other is the vncertaintie therof The ineuitable necessitie of death is very wel expressed by saint Paule in these wordes Statutum est omnibus hominibus semel mori post hoc iudicâ—um It is ordained or it is a statute concluded and enacted in the high court of the heauenly Parliament such a statute as neuer shalbe repealed y t al men of what estate oâ— condicion so euer they be shal once die and after that foloweth the iudgement The wise man sayth Moritur doctus simul et indoctus The learned vnlearned both die The Ethnickes also did very wel expresse this necessity of death For Horace saith thus Pallida mors aequo pulsat pede pauperum tabernas regumque turres Pale death or death that maketh the most beutyfull and best couloured faces pale doth knocke as indifferently at princes palaces as at poore mens cottages An other Poet hath these woordes Mors sceptra ligonibus aequat Death maketh scepters and mattockes equal and assone arresteth he the Prince that carieth the scepter as the poore man that diggeth with the mattocke Dauid calleth death Viam vniuersae carnis the wayâ— of all flesh But what needeth many testimonies in so plain a matter so vniuersally knowen by dayly experience in all places and times Now as concerning the vncertaintie of death which is the second and greatest cause to moue vs to be in redines This may be truly affirmed that as nothing is more certaine then that death wil come so is there nothing more vncertaine then the houre when it wyll come And therfore is our life in the scriptures coÌ„pared to things that vpon light and sodaine causes are alterable as grasse a flower shadow smoke vapour and death resembled to the stealing in of a theefe to a snare intangling the 〈◊〉 and the hooke catching the fishe vnwares This 〈◊〉 is also touched in my text Quia qua hora noÌ„ putatis c For the Lord will come at the houre which ye thincke not But both these things shall appeare more clerely by examples And to begin first with thexamples of the latter parte Nothing doth more euidently declare the vncerteinty of death theÌ„ the sodaine deathes of persons of all ages and degrees of which we finde plenty both in prophane histories and in the Scriptures Plinie in the seuenth booke of his naturall history hath a whole Chapiter intituled De mortibus repentinis And the like Chapiter hath Valerius Maximus where they write that many vpoÌ„ most light causes sodenly haue died One at Rome as he went forth at his chaÌ„ber doore did but stricke his finger a litle on the dore cheke and immediatly fel downe deade An other did but stumble as he weÌ„t forth and died forthwith An Ambassadour of the Rhodians after he had declared his message to the Senate departing forth of the Counsell chamber fell downe by the waye sodenly and there died Aeschilus the Poete lieng on slepe bare headed nere the Sea a great seafowle thinkyng his head to be a stone whereon he might breake the shelfishr whiche he caried lette it fall on hys heade wherewith he was killed out of hande Luciane a man in deede learned and eloquent but a derider of all religion and namely a blasphemer of Christian religion trauailing by the way was sodeinlye set vpon wurried with dogs a death worthy such a blasphemer and a terrible example to all coÌ„temners and deriders of religioÌ„ and pietie The Scriptures also want not like exaÌ„ples The churlish rich maÌ„ Nabal who at his sheepeshearing held a feast in his house like a kyng but denied to relieue Dauid theÌ„ persecuted and in distres within ten dayes after was smitten of the Lorde so diâ—d Ananias and Sapphira preteÌ„ding y t they gaue their whole patrimonie to y e relief of the poore in the primitiue Church but in dede reseruing a portion to them selues and so lieng to the holy Ghost were immediatly stricken of God and so ended their lyues to the fearefull example of all hypocrites and dissemblers namely in matters pertayning to Gods religioÌ„ Herodes Agrippa being in his most glorious magnificencie contented to heare him self magnified and extolled as a God and not a man was sodenlie smitten by the Angell of the Lord and dyed a most miserable death The riche man of whom meÌ„tion is made in the xii of Luke that entended to pull downe hys barnes and granaries and to builde larger sayd to his soule Soule thou hast prouision layed vp in store for many yeares and therfore take thyne ease Eate drinke and be merie But what became of him God sayd vnto him Thou foole euen this very night shall thy soule be taken from thee and then who shall haue that thou hast prouided Thexample of Nabuchodonosor is veri terrible who walkyng in his pallace and glorieng in his strong and stately Citie Babilon whiles the wordes were yet in his mouth was sodenly stricken with a plague worse then death for the vse of reason was taken from hym and he him self turned forth among beastes became as a beast eating hay like an oxe to teach al posterities ensuing not to glory in things of this world which are but vaine but that he which glorieth should glory in the Lord. It shal not be amisse if I adde one example of myne owne knowledge For Gods IudgemeÌ„tes exercised in our dayes are also to be obserued and marked I knew a Priest who had rapped together foure or fiue benefices but was resident vpon neuer a one of them All this sufficed him not and therfore he longed for a prebend also there to spende at ease the milke and the fleese of the flockes whiche he had neuer fed At length by mediation of money he obteyned a Prebende and when his man brought him home the seale thereof cast into a maruelous ioye hee brust foorth into these woordes of the Psalme taken out of his Portesse whiche was all his study Hec requies mea This is my rest saith the Priest this is my place of
quiet here entend I to make mery so long as I liue What folowed hereof Assuredly nulla requies no rest but within a few dayes after he was stricken with a paulsie y t he could not stirre him selfe besides bereft of al his wits and vnderstaÌ„dyng that where before he was accoumpted a worldly wise man afterwards he was altogether foolish not long after died And who is there y t hath liued any nomber of yeares but they haue knowen or heard of many that haue died sodenly some sitting in their chaires some sleping in their beds some haue falleÌ„ down dead going in y e streetes some haue fallen of froÌ„ their horses besides many other like cases coÌ„ming by fraud force â— violeÌ„ce wrought by one maÌ„ against an other wherof be infinite and to many examples Wherfore to coÌ„clude this part let al those whom God hath blessed with prosperitie in this world learne further out of these examples that when they are in the highest best state of wealth fauour honour dignitie then haue they most cause to bee vigilant and in a redynes for then most commonly Gods stroke is nerest at hande and sodaine destruction lighteth vpoÌ„ such as in the middest of worldly prosperitie haue not God before their eies but cast him cleane out of their remembraunce Now to come to necessitie a fewe exaÌ„ples in that shall suffice Dayly experience sheweth that al are subiect to death Some note that it is not without an Emphasis and to be marked that in the fifte of Genesis where mention is made of the olde fathers that lyued some seuen some eight some nine hundreth yeares euer in the ende Moses addeth these woordes Et mortuus est and he died to geue vs to vnderstande that lyue we neuer so longe yet at length commeth death and maketh an ende of all If strength could haue preserued from death Sampson had yet lyued if wisedome Salomon yf valeauncye Dauid yf beautie Absolon yf riches Croesus yf largenes of dominion Alexander the great had yet remayned a lyâ—e But what nede we to seke farre examples Beholde thys present assemblie and solemnitie most liuely expresseth to al our senses the britlenes of our nature and the necessitie of death For if the most noble and myghty prince FerdinaÌ„dus the Romayne Emperour for whose Funeral this preparation and concourse is here made hath entred the way of all fleshe and thoughe he were the greatest and honourablest of all earthly kynges hath as a subiect obeyed the irreuocable Statute of the heauenly Emperour spoken of before Let vs in respecte farre inferiour persons assure our selues we shall followe and that howe soone we cannot tell And bycause it is commonly vsed that some thyng should be spokeÌ„ at y e Funerals of great and notable personages in their prayse and commendation agreable to their conditions I will also agreablie to the sayd custome speake something in commendation of the vertues of this most noble prince In whiche doyng I shall do no new thyng but therein follow the steppes of the moste godlye auncient and best learned fathers of the Church Gregorie Nazianzene who for hys excellent knowledge was called Theologus that is the diuine wrote diuers and sundry Funeral Orations or Sermons and in them hyghely commended the partyes discessed as Basilius Magnus Cypriane Athanasius hys owne father for his father was a maried Bishop and diuers other S. Ambrose in like SermoÌ„s hyghly coÌ„mended UaleÌ„tinianus Theodosius the Emperours Which was not done of these learned fathers either for vayne ostentatioÌ„ of eloqueÌ„ce or for flattery of their frendes remayning a liue but partly to coÌ„tinue a reuerent honorable memory of y e parties discessed partly to excite and stirre vp others by rehearsall of their vertues to the imitation of the same And here I must craue pardon if I shall not so largely and particularly speake in the commeÌ„dation of this noble Emperour as did Ambrose of Ualentinian Theodosius For this prince was to me personally vnknowen Ambrose was much conuersaunt with both the other And therfore of this prince I can reporte onely those thinges whiche either are credibly written of him in the histories of our tyme or that are notoriouse by common fame or that I my selfe haue heard by very certeine reporte of men of good credite And here I will briefly passe ouer those thinges which Orators could prosecute with much eloquence at great length As first of all his highe parentage and nobilitie of birth being in dede very notable descendyng in direct line from sundry Emperours Fridericke TheÌ„perour of that name the third was his great graundfather Maximilian the Emperour sonne to the said Fridericke was his graundfather Phillip kyng of Spayne father to Charles the last Emperour and to him his mother was the daughter and heire of the kyng of Spaine his fathers mother was the onely daughter and heire to Carolus Audax Charles y e bold Duke of Burgundie and Lord of all the lowe countreis in dede a Duke by stile but when he liued terrible to the mightiest kynges of his time he him selfe also descending lyneally froÌ„ the kings of Fraunce So that there was compacted in this princes person as it were a bundell of the principall nobilitie of the christiaÌ„ world out of the compas of the which world ther is no true nobilitie but al Barbarie I wil likewise passe ouer the dignitie and honor of his estate whiche was the highest tipe of all worldly preeminencie to the whiche he ascended by all steppes and degrees of honor As first of all after the death of Maximilian the Emperour his graundfather besides other his titles and stiles he was created not a Duke which is a place of great honor and namely in those countries but an Archduke I meane Archduke of Austria and that more is the onely Archduke of the worlde so farre as I haue read or heard Other ther were Archdukes in stile but he onely so long as he liued was Archduke in possessioÌ„ Soone after he was crowned king of Boheme then elected king of Romanes after that king of Hungarye last of al Emperour of Rome whiche is the highest steppe and degree of honour that any man in Christianitie can attain vnto When I say highest I do not here except the pretensed supereminencie of the Popes holines for I take his holines in chalenging to be aboue the Emperour to bee an vsurper and in this point I haue Tertuliane to make with me who writeth plainly thus Imperator omnibus hominibus maior solo deo minor The Emperour saith he is greater then al men and yet lesse then God alone Thus much concerning the royall progenie and imperial state of Ferdinandus which thinges I haue briefely passed ouer as matters more meete for them that write Panegyrical Orations then for the Pulpet For although they be the giftes of God therfore to be estemed in their kinde yet be they the thinges that rather