saftie of all if the common people bee not so rashly as vsualie is wont to be done mixed togeather nor leaue be graunted for euerie man at his pleasure without order or consideration to goe whither he will Concerning the thinges them selues which being brought out of infected places haue withall brought the infection so many examples come to hand that time and paper will sooner faile mee then examples if I woulde rehearse but the least part of them Letting goe therefore the eldest which by reason of their age purchase the lesse credite at our handes let vs speake of a fewe at the least and such as haue happened but a little before our tyme or els in this selfe same time of ours There is a storie recited knowen vnto many worth y e noting When as Verona in the borders of Italie was besieged by the Emperour Maximilian there happened a Plague in the campe of the Germanes so that 2000. or thereaboutes dyed of the same In this slaughter this was founde out for certaine that 25. souldiers were infected and died one after another by meanes of one leather garment For as one departed straight way came an other and tooke the garment as a bootie for him and put it on And so farre went on this destruction vntill that the cause of this death and infection was spied out by the Chirurgeons Whiche thing being knowen this leathren pylch which was in deed infectious was cast into the fire and burnt and after the punishment thereof the plague by little and little slaked and at the lenght quite ceased Alexander Benedictus who liued in the yeere 1493. maketh report of a certain like matter which hapned at Venice in these wordes I heard saith hee in the dayes of my father that in the citie of Venice in the time of the Plague there was a certaine mattres suspected and cast into the inner part of the house of a certaine commoner of the Citie and after seuen yeeres sought out againe which the good wife of the house willed to be dressed vp For by lying long mustying in a secret corner it had gotten a greate infection by meanes whereof the seruantes were foorthwith taken with a sodaine plague A storie not dislike vnto this albeit he had it not first from the partie was once tolde vnto mee whiche else where I haue set downe in Dutch the effect whereof is thus In the yeere 1564. when as Coloine was sore visited with this sicknesse of the Plague a certayne Carrier who dwelled foure myles from thence did by chaunce bring certayne wares thither and agayne brought home with him alas a most hurtfull reward for his labour this infection and in shorte time died of the same Sixe weekes after for so long did the poyson keepe in without any harme doyng died all the children in the same house and all the seruauntes the good wife of the house onelie remayning aliue This beeyng done the sicknesse stayed without any hurte almost two whole moneths But when as al men hoped that all was well beholde the widow that was left did by chaunce giue the shirt of her sonne that was dead vnto y e sonne of a poore bodie her neighbour wherewith the childe being couered in the night and on the sodaine infected died forthwith together with the whole houshold y e mother again excepted The which whē after y e same manner as before it had now staied a lōg time at y e lēgth there came certaine strāgers to dwell with the widow y e was left y e plague whiche was thought to be dead reuiued agayn together destroyed thē al cōtinued so raging vntil Ianuary vntil y t at the last it also being cōquered w t the winter cold died not w tout y e great reioysing of the neighbors There is another no lesse sorowful example to bee added which I haue obserued in our Citie of Breme for a certain smith dying of y e plage his heire of y e same occupatiō being too greedy of y e goods y t were left alas together with the housholdstuf brought both the sicknes death also into his house For whē as among other thinges there was a vessell to bath in made after y e māner of y e coūtrey he with 5. of his familie washed in the same the first night they were al infected with the plague died Histories doubtles worthy the noting vnto the which albeit a man shal hardly finde the like yet this which I may self haue seene I can̄not keepe close namely the famous city of Venice to haue bin almost wholly infected only with vessel certaine garmentes which were priuily brought thither frō Iustinopolis albeit through the singuler wisdom of the magistrate the vnweariable care of all degrees trusting vnto the help of God it neyther continued long nor tooke away many The like almost happened not many yeers sithens in the countie of Hoyen neere vnto vs that a womans garment beyng brought in a certayne Village from the Citye of Hamburg where then the sicknesse was within a verye shorte time there dyed fiftie and vnlesse by and by through the grace of God it had bin stayed by the labour and wisedome of the rulers it had doubtles crept further especially through y e rashnes of y e poore countrie people for want of counsell what to doe Vnto these I could adde vnles some man might thinke thē meeter to be suppressed because of the outragiousnesse of the matter then to be put in story published suche thinges as I my selfe haue seene in the citie of Padway namely that the infection was wōderfully incresed through certain things infected with the pestilēt ayer being partly cast priuily into other houses y t were sound partly giuē vnto yōg childrē for gifts Thē the which fact it is yet more wicked whiche was told me as I was writing this booke of a certaine famous city in Germany namely that there were certaine layers foorth of the dead and suche as carrie them to Churche who beyng eyther hyred of some for money or through their owne greedie couetousnes that they might make their profit by the disprofite of others infected the publike Conduites and Cesternes with the infectious matter which they had taken of the sores of such as were sick of the plague O haynous fact cruel wicked and in the memorie of man vnheard of The wicked Sorceresses whom they commonly call witches deserue no questiō a great punishment albeit in many places too rashly and sometimes vnlawfully let me heere say this by the way for learned men at this day haue throughly canuazed this matter they vse to be handeled Moloch casting water or fire vpon them on euery side who is woont to bee delighted with such sacrifices but shal these poysoners which infect with the plague seeme vnto you worthy of lesse punishment Wherfore when as we haue now vnderstood of how
Plague began to grow in the partes neere vnto him who so carefully and so fatherly dealt by the aduice of his Phisitions whiche was published through al his dominiōs y t he may worthily bee a patterne for other godly and wise Princes magistrates to followe of the which in the next Chapter shall be spoken more at large Lastly y e like did y e magistrat of our worthy of me much to be honored cōmon wealth when as in the yeere 1565. hee had intelligence that this wylde beast through the vnwary dealing of some had inuaded or assaulted a fewe houses of his citie They called me into the Senate or Counsaile house and asked my direction and aduice how they might preserue without hurte the people by GOD committed vnto them of a godlie care and vnlesse I greatly bee deceaued a care indeede moste beseeming a Christian Magistrate Which thinges being so if princes Magistrates be desirous to maintaine their name which I said in the beginning to haue beene giuen them not onely by the Prophetes but also by wise men among the Heathen and wil be indeed as they are called in name Nurses and Pastors they must thinke that it standeth them vpon faithfully and wisely to handle the matter that in such a time of the plague they let passe no care which may by anie meanes make for the turning away of so deadlie and infectious a disease and for the preseruing and deliuering of their subiectes from the same That the Magistrate before all thinges proclayme a publike repentance Cap. 2. BVt some man maye peraduēture say you so deale as if y e whole matter lay in y e foresight strength of man and make no mention of the help of God on whō hangeth all hope of victorie especially in so doubtfull a battel whē as notwithstanding by the iudgment of Mesua himselfe it is manifest that in al things which we doe we ought to set God before that we may make proofe of all thinges with more safety and boldnes I answeare when as I speake of the duetie of a faithfull Magistrate and beeing my selfe a Christian deale with Christians that my meaning is to haue these two thinges that is to say the grace of God and trauayle of man so lincked together that the one be not voyde of the helpe of the other For Hippocrates hath sayd both very well and verie godlye It is indeede seemelie and verie good to pray vnto the Goddes but yet man himselfe ought to doe some thing and withall to call vppon the Goddes Why so Because man without God can do nothing God without man wil not doe all things God indeed is boūteous man verie poore needy whē as he hath nothing which he hath not receiued at his hād but god loueth to be asked y t mē by this meane should acknowledge their need wherby we should be driuen to obey him in whom all our happines doth lie If saie Moses Aaron thou shalt diligently heare the voice of the Lorde thy God and doe that whiche is right in his eyes and shall obey his commandementes and keepe all his statutes I will sende no griefe vppon thee whiche I haue sent vpon the Aegyptians because I am the Lord that healeth thee but if yee shall not heare me saith God and shal not doe all these commaundementes and if ye shal refuse my statuts and fulfil not al my precepts but shal rather make void my couenant I also will do this vnto you I will visite you with feare swelling and a burninge feuer whiche shall consume your eyes and make your lyfe to pyne awaye Likewise in many other places there is especial mention made of the plague which god eyther threatneth vnto the disobedient or from the which he promiseth to delyuer the godly so that there is no doubt that albeit we vnderstand that euery plague is not the peculyar and proper punishment of GOD nor yet alwayes immediatelye sent of God whiche is a thinge chieflye to bee obserued and marked but sometymes commeth eyther by the course of nature as hath beene sayde beefore or through the faulte and neglygence of men yet whatsoeuer originall and beginning it hath alwayes and beefore all thinges wee must flye vnto the helpe of GOD vnto whose myghtie hand wee moste assuredly beleeue all both sicknesse and health lyfe and death to be subiect Wherefore when as it is manifest that this cause also whiche wee nowe haue in hande doth especially concerne the Magistrate according to his power to preserue his people from the daunger at hande and from the infection of sicknesse or to delyuer them from the same when it is come Fyrste of all lette them haue this care that they them selues turninge earnestly vnfeignedly vnto God proclaime vnto their subiectes vniuersally and proclaymed execute a publike repentance which is wont to be shewed by prayers made both priuatly and also in the solemn assemblie by almes and absteyning not onelye from meate and drinke but from all riot daunsing and banquetting after the example of the people of Niniuie vnto whom when as the Lorde by his Prophet threatned punishement for their sinnes the king inioyned a fast of 3. dayes not onelie vnto the men but also to the bruit beastes besides other workes of repentance that by this meanes they might reconcyle God being angrie vnto them When as Dauid had transgressed the commandement of the Lorde there was sent vpon the people so fierce a pestilence that in the space of three dayes there died 70. thousād persons With the which plague Dauid being moued confessed vnto the Lorde his sinne and by prayer obteyned at his hand that foorthwith all that affliction ceassed The like is read of king Ezechias when death was threatned vnto him yet through earnest turning vnto God and bitter weeping his life was prolonged by the space of fifteene yeeres It is also read that in the dayes of Elias when as the heauens had bin shut vp three yeeres and more and that it raigned not a drop whereupon folowed a miserable dearth of victuals that at the prayer of Elias this scarcitie was recompensed with sodaine plentie Hitherto may worthilie be referred the commendable fact of the most honorable prince D. Philip the Landgraue whose publik writing concerning this matter turned by mee into latin I haue thought good to set down as the perfect patterne of a faithful and wise Magistrate for all men to follow and thus it is in Englishe Wee woulde haue it knowen to all and singuler our subiects howe wee are giuen to vnderstande that the infectious sicknes of the plague doth sore rage rounde about in places neare vnto our dominions insomuch that it is to be feared that it will come also into our Territorie and Countrie and assault our subiectes For as much therefore as without all doubt such a Plague is a punishment for sinne wee doe
liuer and in great consent of mindes in agreeable gouernment of your subiects and finally in peaceable folowing of true religion to resemble a most beautifull harmonie of a trinitie wherein I iudged my selfe to owe this dutie not to one of 3. especially sith this care appertaineth indifferently vnto all magistrates but vnto three rather in one Wherefore it shall bee your part right honourable and most reuerend Lords Patrones to take in good woorth this testimonie of my readie good will and seruice and to take as commended vnto you this care of the cōmon saftie which I haue heere in some measure portraited and drawen out Which things if at any time they shall be ouerruled by the ordinance of God which cannot bee called backe it shall be sufficient to haue approued your indeuour and good will vnto men Christe Iesus the true turner away of all euill and the Phisition as wel of the body as of the soule begottē of vnbegotten God in man true life in death that I may end with the woordes of Egysippus preserue you with your subiectes vnhurt of this deadly infection and alwaies in good health Dated at Breame in the yeere 1581. Your H H. most bounden Iohn Ewich D. of Phisicke ¶ Of the duetie of a faithful and wise Magistrate in preseruing and deliuering the common wealth from infection in the time of the plague or Pestilence The first Booke That the care and charge of the common wealth belongeth vnto the Magistrate Cap. 1. ESAIAS the diuine Prophet Homer the chiefe of Poets the one enlightened with the heauenlie lawe and the other with the law of nature haue adorned and set out Princes and Magistrates with an excellent title whilest the one in his tongue calleth them Omenim that is to say Nurses to wit of the Churche and the other tearmeth them Poimênos Laôn that is Pastors or Shepheardes of the people to witte for this cause that they ought with wholsome lawes and good discipline to gouerne and defend their subiects and also after a sort prouide for them such thinges as are necessarie for their food liuing For albeit they doe not as Parentes to their children put in euery one his hand what to eate and drinke albeit they nourishe not vs being idle yet when as by wise pollicie they bring this to passe that nothing be wanting what euery mā laboureth either by traffick or trauel or goodes to get and that what by honest meanes is gotten the same he may in safetie possesse and with gladnesse enioy they haue not without a cause giuen vnto them this honourable title and commendation And as it is not sufficient for a diligent nurse faithful Pastor to haue prouided for his nurse childe flock such things as are requisite needful vnto the necessary vses of life but also they be careful to turne away y e things which might endammage their health to prouide wholesome remedy for them being in danger So also the wise and faithful Magistrate ought not onely to haue care and diligence for those things whiche concerne the trade of lawfull traffick and diligent practise of handy crafts the preseruing of peace and keeping of quiet among the Citizens but also he ought to prohibite or let those thinges which may eyther take away the same or greatly weaken or infect the whole societie and fellowshippe with daylie contagion or infection assayle and destroye with miserable ruine the life of euery particular member iudging the looking vnto the common safetie to be the chiefest part of his rule and office For if they be Goddes and as the Psalmist himselfe both king and ruler tearmeth them the sonnes of the most highest certes it is their partes to knowe that they in this poynt are with all diligence to imitate and followe GOD of whom we daylie craue both thinges needefull and also pray to bee kept from thinges not needefull or hurtfull that they furnishe the Citie not onelie with profitable necessarie and wholesome thinges but preserue deliuer it from thinges also vnprofitable and hurtfull Which thinges when as the heathen sawe albeit ignoraunt of the true God that this was a thinge highlye needefull and in a manner heauenlie they called their Kinges and Rulers of the people Goddes not proportionablie as the Iewes and Christians but in verie deede began to honour mortall men with honour diuine or belonging vnto God For when as there neuer yet was anye nation so barbarous whiche had not some feeling of y e godhead nay when as the Apostle in playne words affirmeth y t for this same cause y e very Gentiles are without excuse because y e they had written in their mindes which might bee knowen concerning God who would think them so foulie to be deceaued in that they iudged those to be to be honored for Goddes which Plinie said to be a diuine thing whō they saw to imploy al their indeuour to help others For albeit they did not rightly giue vnto many that thing whiche was due vnto one yet by the power of nature they profited thus farre that they almost atteyned vnto the knowledge of the nature and office of God although they did not rightlie worship him Moreouer y e Apostle in an other place compareth the Churche vnto the bodie of a man for as the members of a man haue euery one their power and office yet are all gouerned by the onely vertue of the braine desire and imbrace things profitable shunne thinges hurtfull so also the magistrates who in this externall or outward societie or fellowship are the head of the common people ought to set before the other Citizens profitable thinges and keepe away thinges hurtfull that they may bee saide truelie to fulfill the office of Pastors and Nurses But if any man wil say that it is the proper office of God to preserue and gouerne mankinde the which in his singuler counsel he hath made I answere that this indeed is true but yet as God by the ministery or seruice of man doeth teache vs deliuer vs from sinne make vs partaker of his grace and saue vs albeeit in very deede these same are not the workes of men euen so he doth gouerne and preserue the life of man by the seruice of those men whō he chooseth vnto this office and suffereth to be partakers of this prayse Hereuppon Romulus whiche buylded the Citie of Rome and is thought to bee that Quirinus was by a certayne right reckoned in the number of the Goddes because that hee shewed himselfe a louing and bounteous gouernour vnto the people Hercules borne of Iupiter and Alcmena gotte not onelie this name for thus the Oracle answered Immortal fame by helping mē thou certainly shalt win which was aduāced with immortal honour but also was registred in the bedroll of the goddes because that with vnweariable toyle and most singuler labour he killed such mōsters as endammaged men and
to drink are opē vnto al daylie y e market also y e shambles publike places also in which linnē is washed and diuers sortes of people are wont to be mixed together are haunted In this case therfore lawes must be made by the preseruers whereby such meetinges may be forbidden or els seuered into diuers places and times And first concerning Churchmeetinges this counsel is to be giuen that they come not by heapes or by thronges neither in nor goe out and that they flocke not by great nūbers into one Church where they shalbe driuen to fit streightly and neere together especiall in one Citie whereas there are more places fit for this purpose in the whiche the diuine seruice that is the expounding of the woorde of God and administration of the Sacraments may be done For albeit these thinges may peraduenture seem vnto some to be but smal and of little importance yet nothing is to be omitted which by any meanes may make for the turning away of the infection And that which Cicero saide that when as wee ought to doe for the benefite of men and do seruice to the felowship of mankind nothing is to be kept close whatsoeuer commodity or store we haue the same especially ought to haue place at this time If marriages be to be made albeit whom can these contractes like in such an estate of thinges in whiche if at anie time else the counsayle of the Apostle ought to preuayle that for the present necessitie it were better to remayne single let them bee kepte with a verie small number of persons and without all pompe As for drunkennesse and gormandize dauncinges and other not necessarie or rather daungerous and hurtefull ceremonies and fashions whiche for the moste parte are woont to bee vsed let them be sent packing farre awaye least as it is in the Prouerbe this sweete meate haue sower sawce and least they bewayle the nexte daye the ouersight committed the daye before But chieflye drunkennesse is suche a vice which doeth not onelye greatlye offende God where it is lefte vnpunished but also draweth with it other most horrible sinnes as blasphemie periuries bawdries wronges murthers incests adulteries fornications al which for the most part are wont to issue out of y e vgly serpent do prouoke the wrath of God against y e whole nation I wil not say y t those which daily vse this customable glutting quaffing are more subiect to this sicknes harder to bee cured Histories report of Socrates for y t he liued tēperatly y t he alwaies was of sound health althogh he liued in many great plagues which raigned at Athēs For as Aristotle Galen say there is such a constitution in sounde bodies y t they seldom be infected with y e plague or if they be yet they die not On y e other side it is manifest by y e exāples of many newly takē with the plague y t whē as they haue plentifully filled thēselues with wine they haue comen into great dāger miserable present death For in this case if at any time els the counsell of Galē is most profitable where he saith that the body must be pure sound winded Wherfore it is not only y e duty of y e magistrate to make a law set a sharp punishment against such gluttōs but they thēselues also if they wil seeme Christiās not rather altogether Pagās must take heed y t they run not into y e sharp saying of S. Paule in which is pronounced y t drūkards shalbe shut out frō y e kingdō of God let thē remēber alwaies y e cōmandement of Christ where he saith Take heed that your bodies be not ouerloden with surfetting drūkennes Which commādemēt they which so carelesly dare set thēselues against stir vp others vnto y e like riot I cānot iudge how they shold not be plain Antichristes For what is more Antichristian thē directly to cast off y e cōmādemēt of christ to cōmand y e which Christ forbiddeth But I will not heere more largely rake vp this puddle when as such offences ought not so much to be kept vnder with arguments as by lawes As for these daunsings friskings which are wont to be vsed so vnseasonably to wit straight after meate the table taken away for thus haue many perswaded themselues if no man wil dance that is sober except it be a mad mā that they deale very wisely if they doe it when they be drunke that is stuffed and crammed till they are like to burst againe with wine and meate these are to none more hurtful thē vnto y e dauncers thēselues namely gathering together aboundance of rawe humors which oftentimes doe quickly engēder great rottennesse and obstructions or stoppings of the veines whereof are woont to growe hurtfull and pestilent feuers And hereof saieth Leonarth Fuchsius a most excellent Phisition of our countrey of Germany that he by experiēce hath tried that many whilest they were in dauncing were infected with this plague and died Further I saide also that publike bathes were for many causes to be auoyded whiche in such a time is as it were a present deadly poyson for that many and diuers sorts of mē one with an other vse to be gathered together in that same vaporous or reeky ayer of the whiche some not long before were infected with this disease and now by sweating wold emptie out the remnants of the same others being annoynted with sundry medicines and preseruatiues of the which euery one bringeth his seueral filth and infectious breaths wherewith they fill that same ayer shut in the which ayer receiued by those which are there present haue their bodies now rarified or made thinne through the heate is very easily drawen in by the mouth and nostrels and also by the pores or smal holes of the skin being opened and many times beeing carried vnto the heart or brayne or liuer by the arteryes and vaynes may very speedily corrupt with infection Now concerning houses of learning and schooles in which children come together what shal I say els then that it seemeth very conuenient and in manner necessarie if wee will auoyd the spreading of the infection that those which cannot bee brought vnto a place more commodious be for a time shut vp and that the youth be rather taught at home albeit with neuer so small profit and giue themselues to priuate readinges then with so great daunger by heapes to come together For the age of children and laddes as being giuen to feeding intemperate tender thin vnwary is wont to be more subiect vnto this sicknes then it that is elder of more yeeres Wherefore Rhases the chiefe of the Arabiā Phisitions and after him Franciscus Valleriola Phisition of Arles geue counsell that Infantes and children bee with speede remoued frō infectious places into an other countrey where they neede feare no danger of infection
also increase can hardly bee kept from those places it foloweth by good reason y t wee briefly treate of purging the ayre of cleāsing the streetes of keeping away kine hogges and geese the which doe greatly defile the same For I see that al the learned yea and the common sort also doe holde this namely that the causes are to be taken away if wee will take away y e effects which grow of the causes also that the pure ayre doth make much to the strengthning of the spirites and vnto health so that it hath giuen occasion of a prouerbe Such ayre such mind also it is knowen that nothing doth so much dissolue the powers as stench And because the streetes can not bee kept cleane nor consequently stench rottennesse and vnpurenesse of the ayre to be letted so long as suche liuing creatures are suffered which ingender store of such filth these must bee put into some place without the Citie which seemeth fit for this turne namely which is neere the riuer if it may bee that their filthie excrements may be purged into it or els that from thence the stinking reekes as little infect the Citie as may be For the doung and excrements of those beastes whiche I haue spoken of doe more then will be beleeued infect and weaken the spirites and principall members as the braine the heart c. There is alike fault vnto this and too abhominable the which I maruaile to bee suffered in worshipfull Cities and I shame to speake it that the streetes and allies yea and the Church yards also are euerie where in some places so defiled with y e doung of shamelesse Roges and Beggars that whiche way so euer you turne your selfe with reuerence bee it spoken you will thinke you see not a publike and commendable way in the Citie but a vile and beastlye Iakes The like in maner you may say of lye water wherewith linen clothes and vessel are washed the which maids are wont commonly to caste before the dores of the neighbours when as they cannot abide it at their owne houses Wherefore the Preseruers muste doe theyr indeuour that when as they haue freeed the Citie from these beasts they also commaunde these filthes to be carried all away and by lawe decree that none heereafter do either maintaine or admit any such filthines The which y t it may the better be obserued there must be made in place fit for that purpose sties and stables in such maner as hath been said also publike houses of office and sinckes vnder grounde into the which may bee carried all such kind of foule stuffe whiche places when they begin once to bee ful let them be couered with lyme to drinke it vp withall for the other practise which is vsed in carrying it out is not without danger at that time Afterwardes also the Ditches if there be any within or without the Citie for the walles of Cities manie times are wont to bee compassed about with ditches which often serue the common people in steede of priuies whilest they carry out into the same as into some foule hole all their filth Also pondes and standing waters if from out of them there bee suspicion of any euill reekes as when Flaxe and Hempe or Tanners skines are steeped in them or when as houses of offices by vautes vnder the grounde doe emptie their sincks into them they are eyther to bee filled vp with earth or by trenches to bee let out and carryed awaye or finallye if it maye bee they are some certaine tymes to bee scowred by lettinge in some swifte brooke into them For such many times as Paulus Aegineta doth witnesse are causes procuring contagious and infectious ayre The same do all Phisitions and manye great Diuines thinke of Churchyardes of the which somewhat more shal be sayd in the second book Of Africa wee reade that it was sometymes infected with a great plague by reason of a corrupt breath fuminge vp from sea lopsters cast vp on the shore and there dying The same witnesseth Alexander Benedictus to haue happened sometymes after great earthquakes For saith he a filthy vapour lyinge a longe time restinge and moulding vnder the earth as it were in euerlasting darkenesse maye infecte the moyst and pure ayre and bringe newe and euill feuers Suche as histories recorde were sometymes at Venice by meanes whereof all women almost that were great with Child were delyuered of their Children dead beefore their time and anone after dyed of the plague the same yeere For whereas some layde the cause hereof vppon a Dragon which laye lurking in those Caues it was but a tale It is needlesse to bring hyther more examples albeit it might bee doone in great plenty For experience and reason two chiefe causes of making thinges to bee beeleeued doe agree to this opinion Wherefore the Preseruers must take great heede leaste when as they haue vsed other kinds of industrie and payne taking and leaue beehynde these present breeders of corruption they lose both their coste and also their labour But heere peraduenture some manne will obiecte vnto mee that common sayeinge that one poyson is dryuen out with an other lykes as one nayle with an other Also the vsage of some Nations who at such tymes are woont not to keepe or cleanse the places infected from euill and filthy sauours but to fill and stuffe them Whereof Alexander Benedictus reciteth a storie of his tyme woorthye to bee remembred concerninge the countreye Sarmatia the whiche also hee thinketh maye be confirmed by naturall reason A certayne noble Merchaunte sayeth hee of Creta when as hee traded Merchandize in the Countrey of Tauros and that a moste cruell Pestilence was growne by reason of the corruption of the ayre by meanes whereof there was no ende of dying reported that hee sawe a Physition in that notoryous death of menne a dweller of that place for the Sarmatians doe inhabite there who commaunded Dogges to bee kylled and euerye where to bee cast in the wayes and streets whiche Dogges beeing swollen vppe and rotten filled the ayre with a filthy sauour and that by this remedie the Cittie was straight restored to health Also that the Sarmatians are woonte often to vse this medicine For the Dogges putrifying chaunged the nature of the ayre whiche was onelye hurtefull vnto the menne For so dooth vnlykenesse and discorde of thinges woorke and one poyson is maystered of an other Which thinge also one Zoar amonge the latter Arabian Phisitions doth affyrme This storie telleth Alexander the which least anye laysie bones might alleadge in defence of his sloathfulnesse whilest hee is desirous to auoyde such meanes and labour of cleansing as wise men doe counsayle or leaste anye manne shoulde rashlye followe that which he vnderstandeth not howe it is done the cause of so vnhearde of and vnwoonted remedye is to bee sought out I graunt therefore it to bee true that one poyson sometymes is driuen out with