it is shedde k If Marcus Puluillus in his dedication of the Temple to Ioue Iuno and Min◅ false newes beeing brought c by those that enuied his honour of his sonnes death that so hee might leaue all the dedication to his fellowe and goe perturbed away did neuerthelesse so contemne the newes that d hee bad them cast him forth vnburned his desire of glory vtterlie conquering his griefe of beeing childlesse why should that man say hee hath done much for the preaching of the gospell which freeth and gathereth Gods citizens out of so many errours to whome beeing carefull of his Fathers funerall the LORD sayd Follow mee and let the dead bury their dead If M. Regulus not to deale falsely with his most cruell enemies returned backe to them from Rome it selfe because as hee answered the Romaines that would haue staid him hee could not liue in the dignitie of an honest cittizen in Rome since hee had beene a slaue in Africke and that the Carthaginians put him to an horrible death for speaking against them in Romes Senate What torments are not bee scorned for the faith of the country vnto whose eternall happinesse faith it selfe conducteth vs Or what reward had GOD for all his benefits if for the faith which euery one owes to him hee should suffer as much torment as Regulus suffered for the faith which he ought to his bloudiest foes Or how dare any Christian boast of voluntary pouerty the f meanes to make his trauell vnto his country where GOD the true riches dwelleth more light and easie when he shall heare or read of g L. Valerius who dying consull was so poore that his buriall was paid for out of the common purse or of Q. h Cincinatus who hauing but 4. acres of land and tilling it himselfe with his owne hands was fetched from the plough to bee Dictator an office i more honorable then the Consulls and hauing k conquered his foes and gotten great honor returned to his old state of pouerty Or why should any man thinke it a great matter not to bee seduced from the fellowship of celestial powers by this worlds vanities when as hee reades how l Fabricius could not bee drawne from the Romaines by all Pyrrhus the King of Epirus his promises though extended euen to the 4. part of his Kingdome but would liue there still in his accustomed pouerty for whereas they had a ritch and powrefull weale-publike and yet were so poore themselues that m one that had been twise Cons◅ was put out of that Senate of n poore men by the Censors decree because hee was found to bee worth ten pound in siluer if those men that inritched the treasury by their triumphs were so poore themselues then much more ought the christians whose ritches are for a better intent all in common as the Apostles acts record to be distributed to euery man according to his neede neither any of them said that any thing he possessed was his owne but all was in common much more I say ought they to know that this is no iust thing to boast vpon seeing that they doe but that for gayning the society of the Angells which the other did or neere did for their preseruing of the glory of the Romaines These now and other such like in their bookes how should they haue beene so knowne and so famous had not Romes Empire had this great and magnificent exaltation and dilatation Wherefore that Empire so spacious and so contin◅ant renowned by the vertues of those illustrious men was giuen both to stand as a rewarde for their merrites and to produce examples for our vses That if wee obserue not the lawes of those vertues for attaining the celestiall Kingdome which they did for preseruing one but terrestriall wee might bee ashamed but if wee doe then that wee bee not exalted for as the Apostle saith The afflictions of this present time are not worthy of the glory which shal be shewed vnto vs. But their liues seemed worthy of that present temporall glory And therfore the Iewes that executed Christ the New testament reuealing what the old cōceiled that God was not be worshipped for the earthly benefites which he bestowes vpon bad as well as good but for life eternall and the perpetuall blessing of that supernall citty were iustly giuen to be the slaues and instruments of their glory that those that sought earthly glory by any vertue soeuer might ouercome and subdue those that refused and murdered the giuer of true glory and eternall felicity L. VIVES NO other a place Some texts want the second negatiue but erroneously I◅ must bee read as wee haue placed it a M. Puluillus Liu. lib. 2. Ualer lib. 5. Plut. in Poplicol Dionys and others This temple to Ioue Iuno and Minerua Tarquin Priscus vowed Tarquin the proud built and the dedication falling to the Consulls Puluillus had it and was informed as Augustine saith that his sonne c. c by those that by M. Ualerius brother to P. Valerius Consul who greeued that that magnifi◅nt temple should not be dedicated by one of his family and so brought that news of Puluillus his sonnes death that the greefe of his family might make him giue ouer the dedication d Hee bad them cast him Plutarch Liuy sayth hee bad them bury him then e Let the dead Liuing to the world but dead i◅ deed since dead to God let them bury such as they thinke are dead f the meanes In ones life as in ones trauell the lesse Burthen he hath about or vpon him the lighter he goeth on his iourny g L. Ualerius Liu Plutarch and Ualerius write that this Ualerius Poplicola was so poore that they were faine to bury him at the charge of the citty So doth Eutropius and others It is said each one gaue somewhat to his buriall Plut farthings a peece saith Apuleius Apolog. de Magia Augustine doth but touch at the story respecting neither his surname not the yeare of his death for he was called Publius not Lucius and died a yeare after his 4. consulship Uerginius and Cassius being Conss the sixt yeare after the expulsion of the Kings Liu. D◅ h Q. Cincinatus Liu. lib. 3. Ualer lib. 4. i More honorable The dictatorshippe was a regall office from it was no apeale to it were consulls and all obedient it continued by the law but sixe monethes and was in vse onely in dangerous times the election was made alwaies in Italy and in the night Hee was called the maister of the People and had the Maister of the horsemen ioyned with him This office had originall in the CCLII yeare of the Citty after Caesars death by the law of Antony the consul and for enuy of Caesar perpetuall dictatoriship was abolished for euer k conquered The Aequi and triumped ouer thē l Fabritius One not rich but a scorner of ritches Being sent Embassador to Pyrrhus King of Epirus abut the rans◅ming of the prisoners he
Abraham was then but seauentie two yeares of age and his father begetting him when he was seauentie yeares old must needs bee a hundred fortie fiue yeares old and no more at his departure Therefore hee went not after his fathers death who liued two hundred and fiue yeares but before at the seauenty two yeares of his owne age and consequently the hundred forty fiue of his fathers And thus the Scripture in an vsuall course returneth to the time which the former relation had gone beyond as it did before saying That the sonnes of Noahs sonnes were diuided into nations and languages c. and yet afterwards adioyneth Then the vvhole earth vvas of one language c. as though this had really followed How then had euery man his nation and his tongue but that the Scriptures returne back againe vnto the times ouer-passed Euen so here whereas it is said the daies of Thara were two hundred fiue yeares and he died in Charra then the scriptures returning to that which ouer-passed to finish the discourse of Thara first then the Lord said vnto AbrahaÌ„ get thee out of thy country c. after which is added So Abraham departed as the Lord spake vnto him and Lot went with him and Abraham was seauenty yeares old when he went from Charra This therefore was when his 〈◊〉 was a hundred forty and fiue yeares of age for then was Abraham seauenty fiue This doubt is also otherwise dissolued by counting Abrahams seauenty 〈◊〉 when he went to Charra from the time when he was freed from the fire of 〈◊〉 Chaldaaens and not from his birth as if he had rather beene borne then 〈◊〉 Saint Stephen in the Actes discoursing hereof saith thus The God of glory apâ—… to our father Abraham in Mesopotamia before he dwelt in Charra and said 〈◊〉 him get thee out of thy country from thy kindred and come into the land which 〈◊〉 giue thee According to these words of Stephen it was not after Tharas death 〈◊〉 â—…od spake to Abraham for Thara died in Charra but it was before he dwelt 〈◊〉 â—…rra yet was in Mesopotamia But he was gone out of Chaldaea first And â—…eas Stephen saith Then came hee out of the land of the Chaldaeans and dwelt in 〈◊〉 this is relation of a thing done after those words of God for hee went 〈◊〉 Chaldaea after God had spoken to him for hee saith God spake to him in Mesopotamia but that word Then compriseth all the time from Abrahams departure vntill the Lord spake to him And that which followeth After that his father 〈◊〉 dead God placed him in this land wherein he now dwelleth The meaning of the place is And God brought him from thence wher his father dyed afterwards and placed 〈◊〉 â—…ere So then we iust vnderstand that God spake vnto Abraham being in Mesoâ—…tamia yet not as yet dwelling in Charra but that he came in to Charra with â—…er holding Gods commandement fast and in the seauenty fiue yeare of 〈◊〉 departed thence which was in his fathers a hundred forty fiue yere Now 〈◊〉 that he was placed in Chanaan not he came out of Charra after his 〈◊〉 death for when hee was dead he began to buy land there and became 〈◊〉 possessions But whereas God spake thus to him after hee came from 〈◊〉 and was in Mesopotamia Get thee out of thy country from thy kindred 〈◊〉 thy fathers house this concerned not his bodily remouall for that hee 〈◊〉 before but the seperation of his soule from them for his mind was 〈◊〉 â—…arted from them if he euer had any hope to returne or desired it this â—…d desire by Gods command was to bee cut of It is not incredible 〈◊〉 â—…erwards when as Nachor followed his father Abraham then fulfilled the â—…nd of God and tooke Sara his wife and Lot his brothers sonne and so 〈◊〉 out of Charra L. VIVES 〈◊〉 a inextricable doubt So Hierome calles it and dissolueth it some-what â—…sly from Augustine although hee vse three coniectures dissolâ—…â—…us â—…us Hierome dissolueth it out of an Hebrew history for that which we read the 〈◊〉 of Chaldaea the Hebrew hath 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 Ur Shadim that is the fire of the Caldaeâ—…â—…pon the Hebrewes haue the story Abraham was taken by the Chaldaeans and 〈◊〉 he would not worshippe their Idols namely their fire he was put into it from whence 〈◊〉 â—…ed him by miracle and the like story they haue of Thara also his father that hee 〈◊〉 he would not adore their images was so serued and so escaped also as whereas it is 〈◊〉 Aram dyed before his father in the land where hee was borne in the country of 〈◊〉 they say it is in his fathers presence in the fire of the Chaldaeans wherein beâ—…â—…ould not worship it he was burned to death And likewise in other places of yâ— text 〈◊〉 â—…hen he comes to this point saith the Hebrew tradition is true that saith that Thara 〈◊〉 came out of the fire of the Chaldaees that Abraham being hedged round about in 〈◊〉 with the fire which he would not worshippe was by Gods power deliuered from thence are the number of his yeares accounted because then hee first confessed the Lord God and contemned the Chaldee Idols Thus farre Hierome without whose relation this place of Augustine is not to bee vnderstood Iosephus writeth that Thara hating Chaldaea departed thence for the greefe of his sonne Arams death and came to dwell in Charra and that Arams tombe was to bee seene in Vr of the Chaldees The order and quality of Gods promises made vnto Abraham CHAP. 16. NOw must we examine the promises made vnto Abraham for in them began the oracles presaging our Lord Iesus Christ the true God to appeare who was to come of that godly people that the prophesies promised The first of them is this The Lord said vnto Abraham get thee out of thy countrey and from thy kinred and from thy fathers house vnto the land that I will shew thee And I will make of thee a great nation and will blesse thee make thy name great and thou shalt be blessed I will also blesse them that blesse thee and curse them that curse thee and in them shall all the families of the earth bee blessed Here wee must obserue a double promise made vnto Abraham the first that his seede should possesse the land of Canaan in these words Goe vnto the land that I will shew thee and I will make thee a great nation the second of farre more worth and moment concerning his spirituall seede whereby hee is not onely the father of Israel but of all the nations that follow his faith and that is in these words And in thee shall all the families of the earth bee blessed This promise was made in Abrahams seauentie fiue yeare as Eusebius a thinketh as if that Abraham did presently there vpon depart out of Charra because the Scripture may not be controuled that giueth
an horne thus much Hierome In Spaine this Prouerbe remaineth still but not as Augustine taketh it The Lord wil be altogither seene but in a manner that is his helpe shall bee seene d Obeyed Ob-audisti and so the old writersvsed to say in steed of obedisti Of Rebecca Nachors neece whome Isaac maried CHAP 33. THen Isaac being forty yeares old maried Rebecca neece to his vncle Nachor three yeares after his mothers death his father being a hundred and forty yeares old And when Abraham sent his seruant into Mesopotamia to fetch her and said vnto him Put thine hand vnder my thigh and I will sweare thee by the Lord God of heauen and the Lord of earth that thou shalt not take my sonne Isaac a wife of the daughters of Canaan what is meant by this but the Lord God of Heauen and the Lord of Earth that was to proceed of those loynes are these meane prophesies and presages of that which wee see now fulfilled in Christ. Of Abraham marrying Kethurah after Sarahs death and the meaning therefore CHAP. 34. BVt what is ment by Abrahams marrying Kethurah after Sarahs death God defend vs from suspect of incontinency in him being so old and so holy and faithfull desired he more sonnes God hauing promised to make the seed of Isaac 〈◊〉 the stars of Heauen and the sandes of the Earth But if Agar and Hismaell did signifie the mortalls to the Old-testament as the Apostle teacheth why may not Kethurah and her sonnes signifie the mortalls belonging to the New-testament They both were called Abrahams wiues his concubines But Sarah was neuer called his concubine but his wife only for it is thus written of Sarahs giuing Agar vnto Abrahā Then Sarah Abrahams wife tooke Agar the Egiptian her maid after Abraham had dwelled tenne yeares in the land of Canaan and gaue her to her husband Abraham for his wife And of Kethurah wee read thus of his taking her after Sarahs death Now Abraham had taken him another wife called Kethurah Here now you heare them both called his wiues but the Scripture calleth them both his concubines also saying afterwards Abraham gaeue all his goods vnto Isaac but vnto the sonnes of his concubines he gaue guiftes and sent them away from Isaac his sonne while he yet liued Eastward into the East country Thus the concubines sonnes haue some guifts but none of them attayne the promised kingdome neither the carnall Iewes nor the heretiques for none are heyres but Isaac nor are the sonnes of the flesh the Sonnes of God but those of the promise of whome it is said In Isaac shal be called thy seede for I cannot see how Kethurah whome hee married after Sarahs death should bee called his concubine but in this respect But hee that will not vnderstand these things thus let him not slander Abraham for what if this were appointed by God to shew a those future heretiques that deny second mariage in this great father of so many nations that it is no sinne to many after the first wife be dead now Abraham died being a hundred seauenty fiue yeares old and Isaac whome hee begat when hee was a hundred was seauenty fiue yeares of age at his death L. VIVES THose a future The Cataphrygians that held second mariage to bee fornication Aug ad quod vult Hierome against Iouinian doth not onely abhorre second mariage but euen disliketh of the first for he was a single man and bare marriage no good will The appointment of God concerning the two twins in Rebeccas womb CHAP. 33. NOw let vs see the proceedings of the Citty of God after Abrahams death So then from Isaacs birth to the sixtith yere of his age wherin he had children there is this one thing to be noted that when as he had prayed for her frutefulnes who was barren and that God had heard him and opened her wombe and shee conceiued the two twins a played in her wombe where-with she being trou bled asked the Lords pleasure and was answered thus Two nations are in thy wombe and two manner of people shal be diuided out of thy bowells and the one shall bee mightier then the other and the elder shall serue the younger Wherin Peter the Apostle vnderstandeth the great mistery of grace in that ere they were borne and either done euill or good the one was elected and the other reiected and doubtlesse as concerning originall sin both were alike and guilty and as concerning actuall both a like and cleare But myne intent in this worke curbeth mee from further discourse of this point wee haue handled it in other volumes But that saying The elder shall serue the yonger all men interpret of the Iewes seruing the Christians and though it seeme fulfilled in b Idumaea which came of the elder Esau or Edom for hee had two names because it was afterward subdued by the Israelites that came of the yonger yet not-with-standing that prophecy must needs haue a greater intent then so and what is that but to be fulfilled in the Iewes and the Christians L. VIVES THe two twinnes a played So say the seauentie 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 or kicked Hierome saith mooued mouebantur Aquila saith were crushed confringebantur And Symmachus compareth their motion to an emptie ship at sea 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 b Idumaea Stephanus deriueth their nation from Idumaas Semiramis her sonne as Iudaea from Iudas another of her sonnes but he is deceiued Of a promise and blessing receiued by Isaac in the manner that Abraham had receiued his CHAP. 36. NOw Isaac receiued such an instruction from God as his father had done diuerse times before It is recorded thus There was a famine in the land besides the first famine that was in Abrahams time and Isaac went to Abymelech king of the Philistines in Gerara And the Lord appeared vnto him and said Goe not downe into Aegypt but abide in the land which I shall shew thee dwell in this land and I will bee with thee and blesse thee for to thee and to thy seed will I giue this land and I will establish mine oath which I sware to Abraham thy father and will multiply thy seede as the starres of heauen and giue all this land vnto thy seede and in thy seede shall all the nations of the earth bee blessed because thy father Abraham obeyed my voyce and kept my ordinances my commandements my statutes and my lawes Now this Patriarch had no wife nor concubine more then his first but rested content with the two sonnes that God sent him at one birth And hee also feared his wiues beautie amongst those strangers and did as his father had done before him with-her calling her sister onely and not wife She was indeed his kinswoman both by father and mother but when the strangers knew that she was his wife they let her quietly alone with him Wee not preferre him before his father tho in that hee had but one
eternall after the last iudgment vnto them that endure them temporally after death For some shal be pardoned in the world to come that are not pardoned in this and acquitted there and not here from entring into paines eternall as I said before L. VIVES Willingly a or by Willingly that is of set purpose or through a wrong perswasion that 〈◊〉 doth him good when he hurteth him as the torturers and murtherers of the martyrs beleeued These were all guilty nor waâ—… their ignorance excuseable which in what cases it may be held pardonable Augustine disputeth in Quaest. vet Nou. Testam The 〈◊〉 all paines of this life afflicting all man-kinde CHAP. 14. BVT fewe theâ—… 〈◊〉 that endure none of these paines vntill after death Some indeed I haue known heard of that neuer had houres sickenes vntil their dying day and liued very long though notwithstanding mans whole life bee a paine in that it is a temptation and a warre-fare vpon earth as Holy Iob saith for ignorance is a great punishment and therefore you see that little children are forced to a auoyde it by stripes and sorrowes that also which they learne being such a paine to them that some-times they had rather endure the punishments that enforce them learne it then to learne that which would avoyde them a Who would not tremble and rather choose to die then to be an infant againe if he were put to such a choyce We begin it with teares and therein presage our future miseries Onely b Zoroastres smiled they say when hee was borne but his prodigyous mirth boded him no good for hee was by report the first inuentor of Magike which notwithstanding stood him not in a pins stead in his misfortunes for Ninus King of Assiriaouer came him in battel and tooke his Kingdome of Bactria from him So that it is such an impossibility that those words of the Scripture Great trauell is created for all men and an heauy yoke vpon the sonnes of Adam from the day that they go out of their mothers wombe vntill the day that they returne vnto the mother of all things should not be fulfilled that the very infants being Baptised and therein quitte from all their guilt which then is onely originall are notwithstanding much and often afflicted yea euen sometimes by the incursion of Deuills which notwithstanding cannot hurt them if they die at that tendernesse of age L. VIVES WHo a would Some would thinke them-selues much beholding to God if they might begin their daies againe but wise Cato in Tully was of another minde b Zoroastres smiled He was king of Bactria the founder of Magique Hee liued before the Troian warre 5000. yeares saith Hermodotus Platonicus Agnaces taught him Hee wrot 100000. verses Idem Eudoxus maketh him liue 5000. yeares before Plato his death and so doth Aristotle Zanthus Lydius is as short as these are ouer in their account giuing but 600 betweene Zoroastres and Xerxes passage into Greece Pliny doubts whether there were many of this name But this liued in Ninus his time hee smiled at his birth and his braine beate so that it would lift vp the hand a presage of his future knowledge Plin. He liued twenty yeares in a desert vpon cheese which hee had so mixed that it neuer grew mouldy nor decayed That the scope of Gods redeeming vs is wholly pertinent to the world to come CHAP. 15. BVt yet notwithstanding in this heauy yoke that lieth vpon Adams children from ther birth to their buriall we haue this one meanes left vs to liue sober and to weigh that our first parents sin hath made this life but a paine to vs and that all the promises of the New-Testament belonge onely to the Heritage layd vp for vs in the world to come pledges wee haue here but the performance due thereto we shall not haue till then Let vs now therefore walke in hope and profiting day by day let vs mortifie the deeds of the flesh by the spirit for God knoweth all that are his and as many as are led by the spirit of God are the sons of God but by grace not by nature for Gods onely sonne by nature was made the sonne of man for vs that we being the sons of men by nature might become the sonnes of God in him by grace for hee remayning changelesse tooke our nature vpon him and keeping still his owne diuinity that wee being changed might leaue our frailety and apnesse to sinne through the participation of his righteousnesse and immortallity and keepe that which hee had made good in vs by the perfection of that good which is in him for as wee all fell into this misery by one mans sinne so shall wee ascend vnto that glory by one deified mans righteousnesse Nor may any imagine that hee hath had this passe vntill 〈◊〉 bee there where there is no temptation but all full of that peace which wee seeke by these conflicts of the spirit against the flesh and the flesh against the spirit This warre had neuer beene had man kept his will in that right way wherein it was first placed But refusing that now hee fighteth in himselfe and yet this inconuenience is not so bad as the former for happier farre is hee that striueth against sinne then hee that alloweth it soueraygnty ouer him Better is warre with hope of eternall peace then thraldome without any thought of freedome We wish the want of this warre though and God inspireth vs to ayme at that orderly peace wherein the inferiour obeyeth the superior in althings but if there were hope of it in this life as God forbid wee should imagine by yeelding to sinne a yet ought we rather to stand out against it in all our miseries then to giue ouer our freedomes to sinne by yeelding to it L. VIVES YEt a ought we So said the Philosophers euen those that held the soules to be mortall that vertue was more worth then all the glories of a vicious estate and a greater reward to it selfe nay that the vertuous are more happy euen in this life then the vicious and thereâ—… Christ animates his seruants with promises of rewards both in the world to come and in this that is present The lawes of grace that all the regenerate are blessed in CHAP. 16. BVt Gods mercy is so great in the vessells whome hee hath prepared for glory that euen the first age of man which is his infancy where the flesh ruleth without controll and the second his child-hood where his reason is so weake that it giueth way to all â—…nticements and the mind is altogether incapable of religious precepts if notwithstanding they bee washed in the fountaine of regeneration and he dye at this or that age he is translated from the powers of darknes to the glories of Christ and freed from all paynes eternall and purificatory His regeneration onely is sufficient cleare that after death which his carnall generation had contracted with death But when he cometh to
intemperate through extremity of cold also the further parts of Ister to Scithia and the hether parts towards Thracia Where the Towne Tomus is famous by the banishment of OVID who often writeth that he liued amongst the Getes They also inhabited the Mediterranean parts towards Germanie and the spring head of the Riuer Ister STRABO writeth in his seauenth book that in former time they were named DACI and DAVI when those nearer vnto Pontus were named GETES by the Greeks and that both those people spake one kinde of language Although PLINIE intimateth vnto vs that there was no other difference betweene this people but that the Greekes named them Getes whome the Romaines called Daci But wee will follow STRABO in this place The Getes sayth hee are a barbarous and sauage nation strong and of a stout minde contemning death because they are perswaded that the soules doe returne againe as MELA writeth or if they doe not returne yet that they are not vttterly extinguished and that they remoue into better places But if neither happen yet that death is better than life It is reported that in later times the Getes were named Ostrogothes and the Daci called Visigothes after their countrey names because these bordered more toward the West and the other more toward the East But oftentimes these names are attributed as well to the one as to the other without any difference both by the olde and new writers They report that this nation when the Romaines did flourish most made an inuasion into a Prouince of the people of Rome in the warre of MITHRIDATES whome LVCVLLVS beeing Generall and managing the military affaires in Asia with a great armie expelled out of Misia After that they departed out of their owne countrey boundes with Baerebista their Captaine after hee had accustomed them to labour and millitary discipline and that they brought many Nations vnder the yoke of subiection And that hauing passed ouer the riuer Isther with a great armie they wasted and spoyled Thracia Macedonia Illiryum farre into the countries putting the Romaines in great feare of them And that while the Romaines were making ready their forces to goe out against them BaeREBISTA their Captaine dyed AVGVSTVS sent forth almost tenne Legions against them and so wasted and diminished their forces that hee brought them from two hundred thousand to forty thousand and sped so well against them that he had almost subiugated the whole Nation to the Romaine Empire But a few yeares after they entring into the boundes of the Romaines slew OPPIVS SABINVS and his armie who had borne the office of a Consull yet CORNELIVS FVSCVS DOMITIAN being Emperour after many bickerings at last repressed their fury TRAIANVS the Emperor warred often against them whereby he gotte him-selfe greate glory and renowne ANTONIVS CARACALLA plagued them grieuously oportunity seruing his turne when they neither dreamed nor suspected any such matter Also in the daies of GORDIANVS they spread them-selues often into the bounds of the Romains But GORDIANVS the younger compelled them with little labour to depart out of their Prouince with great losse Now this stout and mutinous people discontented with the limits of their owne abode many times hunted after oportunity to inuade the possessions of other nations Therefore PHILIPPVS VOSTRENSIS being Emperor who first of the Romaine Princes professed Christian religion More then three hundred thousand of them making a great slaughter and spoyle entred forciblie into Thracia and Mysia adioyning neaerest vnto them DECIVS was sent to driue them away who had such bad lucke in his attempts that hee gaue ouer before he obtained his purpose which thing he closely smothered succeeding PHILIPPVS in his gouernment Afterward GALLVS the father and VOLVSIANVS his son concluded a peace with them vpon conditions vnprofitable vnto them-selues which the Gothes kept not very long bearing them-selues bolde vpon the slothfulnesse and idlenesse of GALIENVS the Prince and assayled not only to make an attempt against Thracia and Mysia but also against Asia Minor They wasted and spoiled Bythinia and returning 〈◊〉 Europe they made great spoyle and wast in Thrasia and Macedonia and when they were making towards Achaia MAâ—…RINVS incountred them discomfited them aâ—… put them to flight pursuing them so hard at the heeles that hee draue them into their owne boundes But they did not stay long there although now departing out of their bounds they were to deale with a most valiant Prince who had bone no lesse fortunate than he was valorous if he had liued longer in his Princely gouernment CLAVDI S was the man which partly destroyed and partly tooke CCC thousand of them Which is an argument that the number of this people were almost infinite For not many yeares after they rose vp in armes against AVRELIAVS possessing the Empire and were vanquished at the first encounter at Danubius 〈◊〉 COTANTINVS made such a slaughter of them that at last he inforced them to be at quiet for many yeres For the condit on of their fight was such that they did neither conquer without great harme done to 〈◊〉 enemies nor were ouercome without much hurt done to them-selues And these things were acted by the Gothes while they had proper places of their owne to inhabite Now in the raigne of Prince VALENS the Hunns which are likewise Scythians them-selues yet more cruell barbarous and rude in the affaires of humane Commerce remaining neare the Riphaean mountaines enclosed betweene Tanais and the people named Massagetae chased the Gothes by force out of the region which they did inhabite And although this region be not very commodious for the vse of men by reason of the extreme coldnes yet the Hunns did esteeme it to bee more wholesome and pleasant than all the rest being a people bred and brought vp in a soile seldome warmed with the beames of the sun Now the Gothes driuen out of their country houses and dwelling places hauing bene accustomed before time to inuade the bounds of other Nations were now in such a narrow streight that they must either valiantly lose their liues or remaine within the possessions of strangers hauing none of their owne There are some that affirme that those Getes which we said were named Ostrogothes came into the territories of the people of Rome but that the Visigothes dismayed and amated with the aduerse fortune of their associats aduised them-selues to shift their dwelling dreading to abide the like tempest that the Ostrogothes had suffered the forces of the Hunns ouerflowing al like the swelling Sea spoiling and destroying the neighbouring countries round about This matter induced the Visigothes to dispatch Ambassadors with spee dy expedition to VALENS the Romame Emperor who in the name of the whole Nation humbly intreated that he would grant them the countrey of Mysia which is on this side the Riuer Danubius for their habitation and dwelling â—…arnestly pretesting and vowing in the behalfe of all their Countrey-men that they would all receiue the
vndoubted faith in our scriptures all which made choyce rather to endure the tirany of their enemies then bee their owne butchers But now we will prooue out of their owne records that Regulus was Cato's better in this glory For Cato neuer ouer-came Caesar vnto whom he scorned to be subiect and chose to murder himselfe rather then bee seruant vnto him But Regulus ouer-came the Africans and in his generallship returned with diuers noble victories vnto the Romanes neuer with any notable losse of his Citizens but alwaies of his foes and yet being afterwards conquered by them hee resolued rather to endure slauery vnder them then by death to free himselfe from them And therein hee both preserued his paciencie vnder the Carthaginians and his constancy vnto the Romanes neither depriuing the enemy of his conquered body nor his countrymen of his vnconquered minde Neither was it the loue of this life that kept him from death This hee gaue good proofe of when without dread hee returned back vnto his foes to whō he had giuen worse cause of offence in the Senate-house with his tongue then euer he had done before in the battaile with his force therefore this so great a conqueror and contemner of this life who had rather that his foes should take it from him by any torments then that hee should giue death to himselfe howsoeuer must needes hold that it was a foule guilt for man to bee his owne murderer Rome amongst all her worthies and eternized spirits cannot shew one better then hee was for hee for all his great victories continued b most poore nor could mishap amate him for with a fixt resolue and an vndanted courage returned he vnto his deadliest enemies Now if those magnanimous and heroicall defenders of their earthly habitacles and those true and sound seruants of their indeede false gods who had power to cut downe their conquered foes by lawe of armes seeing themselues afterwardes to bee conquered of their foes neuerthelesse would not be their owne butchers but although they feared not death at al yet would rather endure to bee slaues to their foes superiority then to bee their owne executioners How much more then should the Christians that adore the true God and ayme wholie at the eternall dwellings restraine themselues from this foule wickednesse whensoeuer it pleaseth God to expose them for a time to taste of temporall extremities either for their triall or for correction sake seeing that hee neuer forsaketh them in their humiliation for whom hee being most high humbled himselfe so low e especially beeing that they are persons whom no lawes of armes or military power can allowe to destroy the conquered enemies L. VIVES IN a his flesh For hee was afflicted with a sore kinde of vlcere b Most poore Liuy in his eighteene booke and Valerius in his examples of pouerty write this When Attilius knew that his generallship was prolonged another yeare more hee wrote to the Senate to haue them send one to supply his place His chiefe reason why hee would resigne his charge was because his seauen acres of ground beeing all the land hee had was spoyled by the hired souldiers which if it continued so his wife and children could not haue whereon to liue So the Senate giuing the charge of this vnto the Aediles looked better euer after vnto Attilius his patrimony c Especialy being that they He makes fighting as far from Christian piety as religious humanity is from barbarous inhumanity That sinne is not to be auoided by sinne CHAP. 24. VVHat a pernicious error then is heere crept into the world that a man should kill himselfe because either his enemy had iniured him or means to iniure him whereas hee may not kill his enemy whether hee haue offended him or bee about to offend him This is rather to bee feared indeede that the bodie beeing subiect vnto the enemies lust with touch of some enticing delight do not allure the will to consent to this impurity And therefore say they it is not because of anothers guilt but for feare of ones owne that such men ought to kill themselues before sinne be committed vpon them Nay the minde that is more truly subiect vnto God and his wisdome then vnto carnall concupiscence will neuer be brought to yeeld vnto the lust of the owne flesh be it neuer so prouoked by the lust of anothers But if it be a damnable fact and a detestable wickednesse to kill ones selfe at all as the truth in plaine tearmes saith it is what man will bee so fond as to say let vs sinne now least we sinne hereafter let vs commit murder now least wee fall into adultery hereafter If wickednesse be so predominant in such an one as hee or shee will not chuse rather to suffer in innocence than to escape by guilt is it not better to aduenture on the vncertainety of the future adultery then the certainety of the present murder is it not better to commit such a sinne as repentance may purge then such an one as leaues no place at all for repentance This I speake for such as for auoyding of guilt not in others but in themselues and fearing to consent to the lust in themselues which anothers lust inciteth doe imagine that they ought rather to endure the violence of death But farre bee it from a Christian soule that trusteth in his God that hopeth in him and resteth on him farre bee it I say from such to yeeld vnto the delights of the flesh in any consent vnto vncleanesse But if that a concupiscentiall disobedience which dwelleth as yet in our b dying flesh doe stirre it selfe by the owne licence against the law of our will how can it bee but faltlesse in the body of him or her that neuer consenteth when it stirres without guilt in the body that sleepeth L. VIVES COncupiscentiall a Disobedience The lust of the bodie is mooued of it selfe euen against all resistance and contradiction of the will and then the will being ouercome by the flesh from hence ariseth shame as we will shew more at large hereafter b Dying flesh Our members being subiect vnto death doe die euery day and yet seeme to haue in them a life distinct from the life of the soule if then the lustfull motions that betide vs in sleepe bee faltlesse because the will doth not consent but nature effects them without it how much more faltlesse shall those bee wherein the will is so so farre from resting onely that it resists and striues against them Of some vnlawfull acts done by the Saints and by what occasion they were done CHAP. 25. BVt there were a some holy women say they in these times of persecution who flying from the spoylers of their chastities threw themselues head-long into a swift riuer which drowned them and so they died and yet their martirdomes are continually honored with religious memorialls in the Catholike Church Well of these I dare not iudge rashly in any thing
this and feare to doe well before men and so become lesse profitable by striuing to keepe their vertuous acts in secret then other-wise he saith againe Let your light so shine before men that they may see your good workes and glorifie your father which is in heauen Doe not well with an intent that men should see you doe so and so turne to behold you who are not what you are by them but doe so that they may glorifie your father in heauen vnto whom if they turne they may bee such as you are Thus did the Martirs that excelled the Scaeuola's Câ—…rtij and Decij not by punishing them-selues but by learning the inflictions of others in true vertue piety and innumerable multitude But the others liuing in an earthly citty wherein the end of all their endeuours was by them-selues propounded to themselues the fame namely and domination of this world and not the eternitie of heauen not in the euerlasting life but in their owne ends and the mouthes of their posteritie what should they Ioue but glory whereby they desired to suruiue after death in the e memories and mouthes of such as commended them L. VIVES THen yeeld a to it So must the sence be wee must resist the desire of glorie and not yeeld to it b Not onely not wee haue giuen it the best reading of all I thinke and the nearest to likelyhood c Before my father Matt. 10. 33. d Before the Angels of God Luc. 12. 9. e Memories and mouthes I flie as liuing through the mouthes of men â—…aith Ennius Of the temporall rewards that God bestowed vpon the Romaines vertues and good conditions CHAP. 15. SVch therefore as we haue spoken of if God did neither meane to blesse them with eternitie in his heauenly cittie amongst his Angels to which societie that true pietie brings men which affordeth that true diuine worship which the Greekes call a 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 to none but onely the true God nor to vouchsafe them an earthly glory or excellence of Emperiall dignity then should their vertues the good actes whereby they endeuoured to ascend to this glory passe vnrewarded But the Lord saith euen of such as doe good for humaine glory Verely I say vnto you they haue their reward These therefore that neglected their priuate estates for the common-wealth and publike treasurie opposing couetise hauing a full care of their countries freedome and liuing according to their lawes without touch of lust or guilt these seemed to goe the right way to get them-selues honour and did so honored they are almost all the world ouer all nations very neare receiued their lawes honored were they then in all mens mouths and now in most mens writings through the world Thus haue they no reason to complaine of Gods iustice they haue their reward L. VIVES Call a 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 of 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 to worship or to serue Of the reward of the eternall cittizens of heauen to whom the examples of the Romaines vertues were of good vse CHAP. 16. BVt as for their rewarde that endure reproches here on earth for the cittie of GOD which the louers of the world doe hate and deride that is of another nature That City is eternall No man a is borne in it because no man dieth in it Felicity is there fully yet no goddesse but a Gods guift of this habitation haue wee a promise by faith as long as wee are here in pilgrimage on earth and longe for that rest aboue The Sunne ariseth not there both vpon good and bad but the Sonne of righteousnesse shineth onely ouer the good There shal be no neede to respect the common treasury more then the priuate truth is all the treasure that lieth there And therefore the Romaine Empire had that glorious increase not onely to bee a fit guerdon to the vertues of such worthies as wee fore-named but also that the cittizens of heauen in their pilgrimages vpon earth might obserue those examples with a sober diligence and thence gather how great care loue and respect ought to bee carried to the heauenly country for life eternall if those men had such a deare affect to their earthly country for glory so temporall L. VIVES NO man a is borne That is their is no increase of them no more then there is decease theâ—… iust number being predestinate and fore-knowne by the eternall GOD himselfe The fruites of the Romaines warres both to themselues and to those with whom they warred CHAP. 17. FOr what skilleth it in respect of this short and transitory life vnder whose dominion a mortall man doth liue so hee bee not compelled to actes of impiety or iniustice But did the Romaines euer hurt any of the nations whom they conquered and gaue lawes vnto but in the very fury and warre of the conquest If they could haue giuen those lawes by agreement it had beene better but then had beene no place for triumph for the Romaines liued vnder the same lawes themselues that they gaue to others This a had beene sufficient for the state but that Mars Bellona and Victory should then haue beene displeased and displaced also if they had had no wars nor no victories Would not then the states of Rome and other nations haue beene all one especially that beeing done which was most grauely and worthyly performed afterwardes b euery man that belonged to the Romaine Empire beeing made free of the citty as though they were now all cittizens of Rome whereas before there was but a very few so that such as had no landes should liue of the common this would haue beene granted vnto good gouernours by other nations sooner by intreaty then force For what doth conquering or beeing conquered hurt or profit mens liues manners or dignities either I see no good it doth but onely addeth vnto their intollerable vaine-glory who ayme at such matters and warre for them and lastly receiue them as their labours rewarde Doth not their land pay tribute to the state as well as others Yes May they learne any thing that others may not No. c And are there not many Senators that neuer saw Rome True Take away vaine-glory and what are men but men Anâ—… if the peruersenesse of the age would permit the verie best meanes for 〈◊〉 beare away the greatest honours then should not this humaine honour bâ—… so prize-worthy howsoeuer beeing but a breath and a light fume But yet 〈◊〉 vs vse these things to doe our selues good towardes GOD. Let vs coâ—…sider what obstacles these men haue scornâ—…d what paines they haue takâ—… what affects they haue suppressed and onely for this humaine glorie which afterward they receiued as the reward of their vertues and let this serue to suppresse our pride also that seeing the cittie wherein wee haue promised habitation and Kingdome is as farre diffrent from this in excellence as Heauen from earth life eternall from mirth temporall firme glory from fuming vaine-glory angells
not exclude numbers from Gods knowledge Plato hauing so commended God for vsing them in the worlds creation and our Scripture saith of God Tâ—… 〈◊〉 ordered al things in measure number and weight and the Prophet saith He 〈◊〉 the world and the Gospell saith All the heires of your heads are numbred God forbid the that we should think yâ— he knoweth not number whose wisdome 〈◊〉 â—…standing is in numerably infinite as Dauid saith for the infinitenesse of 〈◊〉 â—…hough it bee beyond number is not vnknowne to him whose knowâ—… infinite Therefore if whatsoeuer bee knowne be comprehended in the 〈◊〉 that knowledge then is all infinitenesse bounded in the knowledge of 〈◊〉 â—…ecause his knowledge is infinite and because it is not vncomprehensiâ—… 〈◊〉 knowledge Wherefore if numbers infinitenesse bee not infinite vnâ—… knowledge nor cannot bee what are wee meane wretches that dare preâ—…â—…mit his knowledge or say that if this reuolution bee not admitted in 〈◊〉 renewing God cannot either fore-know althings ere hee made them 〈◊〉 them when hee made them whereas his wisdome beeing simply and â—…ly manifold can comprehend all incomprehensibility by his incomâ—…le comprehension so that whatsoeuer thing that is new and vnlike to all 〈◊〉 should please to make it could not bee new nor strange vnto him nor 〈◊〉 â—…ore-see it a little before but containe it in his eternall prescience L. VIVES 〈◊〉 Two men two horses or whatsoeuer make both one number I inquire not 〈◊〉 â—…hether the number and the thing numbred bee one or no the schooles ring of that â—…gh b Doth not The best reading Of the worlds without end or ages of ages CHAP. 19. 〈◊〉 doth so and that there is a continual connexion of those times which 〈◊〉 â—…lled Secula a seculorum ages of ages or worlds without end running 〈◊〉 indestinate difference onely the soules that are freed from misery reâ—…â—…ernally blessed or that these words Secula seculorum doe import the 〈◊〉 remayning firme in Gods wisdome and beeing the efficient cause of â—…ory world I dare not affirme The singular may bee an explication of 〈◊〉 as if wee should say Heauen of heauen for the Heauens of heauens â—…D calls the firmament aboue which the waters are Heauen in the sinâ—… 〈◊〉 and yet the Psalme saith and you waters that bee aboue the Heauens 〈◊〉 of the LORD Which of those two it be or whether Secula 〈◊〉 another meaning is a deepe question We may let it passe it belongs 〈◊〉 proposed theame but whether wee could define or but obserue 〈◊〉 discourse let vs not aduenture to affirme ought rashly in so obsâ—…â—…ouersie Now are wee in hand with the circulary persons that 〈◊〉 â—…ings round about till they become repaired But which of these opiniâ—… be true concerning these Secula seculorum it is nothing to these reuoâ—…â—…cause whether the worlds of worlds bee not the same revolued but oâ—…â—…uely depending on the former the freed soules remayning still 〈◊〉 â—…lesse blisse or whether the Worldes of worldes bee the formes 〈◊〉 â—…sitorie ages and ruling them as their subiects yet the circulariâ—…â—…o place heere how-soeuer The Saints b eternall life ouerthroweth 〈◊〉 L. VIVES 〈◊〉 a The scriptures often vse these two words both together Hierome in â—…p ad Gal. expounds them thus we 〈◊〉 saith he the difference betweene Seculum Seculum Secuâ—… and secula seculorum Seculuâ—… some-times a space of time some-times eternity the hebrew is 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 and when it is written with the letter van before it it is eternity when otherwise it is 50. yeares or a Iubily And therefore the Hebrew seruant that loued his Maister for his wife and children had his care bored and was commanded to serue an age Seculum 50. yeares And the Moabites and Amonites enter not into the Church of God vntill the 15. generation and not vntill an age for the yeare of Iubily quit all hard conditions Some say that Seculum seculorum hath the same respect that Sanctu Sanctorum Caelum Caelorum the Heauens of heauens had or as the Works of workes or Song of songs That difference that the heauens had to those whose heauens they were and so the rest the holy aboue all holy the song excelling all songs c. So was secula seculorum the ages excelling all ages So they say that this present age includeth all from the worlds beginning vnto the iudgement And then they goe further and begin to graduate the ages past before and to come after it whether they were or shal be good or ill falling into such a forrest of questions as whole volumes haue beene written onely of this kinde b Eternall Returning no more to misery nor were that happy without certeynty of eternity nor eternall if death should end it Of that impious assertion that soules truely blessed shall haue diuers reuolutions into misery againe CHAP. 20. FOr what a Godly eares can endure to heare that after the passage of this life in such misery if I may call it a life b being rather so offensiue a death and yet c we loue it rather then that death that frees vs from it after so many intollerable mischieues ended all at length by true zeale and piety wee should be admitted to the sight of God and bee placed in the fruition and perticipation of that incorporeall light and vnchangeable immortall essence with loue of which we burne all vpon this condition to leaue it againe at length and bee re-infolded in mortall misery amongst the hellish immortalls where GOD is lost where truth is sought by hate where blessednesse is sought by vncleanesse and bee cast from all enioying of eternity truth or felicity and this not once but often being eternally reuolued by the course of the times from the first to the later and all this because by meanes of these circularities transforming vs and our false beaâ—…des in true miseries successiuely but yet eternally GOD might come to â—…ow his owne workes Whereas otherwise hee should neither bee able to rest from working not know ought that is infinite Who can heare or endure this Which were it true there were not onely more wit in concealing it but also 〈◊〉 speake my minde as I can more learning in not knowing it d for if wee shalbâ—…â—…ssed in not remembring them there e why doe wee agrauate our misery 〈◊〉 knowing them here But if wee must needs know them there yet let vs 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 selues ignorant of them here to haue the happier expectation then the 〈◊〉 that wee shall attaine here expecting blessed eternity and there 〈◊〉 onely blisse but with assurance that it is but transitory But if they â—…y that no man can attaine this blisse vnlesse hee know the transitory reuolutions thereof ere hee leaue this life how then doe they confesse that the more one loues GOD the easilier shall hee attaine blisse and yet teach the way how 〈◊〉 â—…ll this louing affect 〈◊〉 will not but loue him lightly whome hee
by feare of misery My mother Blanche a 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 had wâ—…t to tell me whâ—…n I was a childe that the Syrens sung 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 and 〈◊〉 in faire wether hhoping the later in the first and fearing the first in the 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 Our hope Not of vnhappinesse but vnhappy of the happinesse to come 〈◊〉 Gâ—… from Hee toucheth the Platomists controuersie some holding the soules giuen of GOD 〈◊〉 others that they were cast downe for their guilt and for their punnishment 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 k sportes of soules A diuersity of reading but let vs make good 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 Of the state of the first man and man-kinde in him CHAP. 21. â—…rd question of Gods power to create new things without change of 〈◊〉 because of his eternitie being I hope sufficiently handled wee may 〈◊〉 that he did farre better in producing man-kinde from one man onely 〈◊〉 had made many for whereas he created some creatures that loue to be 〈◊〉 in deserts as Eagles Kites Lyons Wolues and such like and others 〈◊〉 rather liue in flockes and companies as Doues Stares Stagges a 〈◊〉 and such like yet neither of those sorts did hee produce of one alone 〈◊〉 many together But man whose nature he made as meane betweene Anâ—…asts that if hee obeyed the Lord his true creator and kept his hests 〈◊〉 be transported to the Angels society but if hee became peruerse in 〈◊〉 offended his Lord God by pride of heart then that hee might bee cast â—…h like a beast and liuing the slaue of his lusts after death bee destinate â—…all paines him did hee create one alone but meant not to leaue him â—…th-out another humaine fellow thereby the more zealously commendâ—… concord vnto vs men being not onely of one kinde in nature but also â—…dred in affect creating not the woman hee meant to ioyne with man â—…did man of earth but of man and man whom hee ioyned with her not of 〈◊〉 of himselfe that all man-kinde might haue their propagation from one L. VIVES 〈◊〉 Daâ—… in the diminutiue because it is a timorous creature neither wilde noâ—… 〈◊〉 God fore-knew that the first Man should sinne and how many people hee was to translate out of his kinde into the Angels society CHAP. â—…22 〈◊〉 was not ignorant that Man would sinne and so incurre mortallitye 〈◊〉 for him-selfe and his progenie nor that mortalls should runne on in 〈◊〉 of iniquitie that brute a beasts should liue at more attonement 〈◊〉 betweene them-selues whose originall was out of water and earth 〈◊〉 whose kinde came all out of one in honor of concord for Lyons neâ—… among them-selues nor Dragons as men haue done But God fore-saw 〈◊〉 that his grace should adopt the godly iustifie them by the holy spirit â—…ir sinnes and ranke them in eternall peace with the Angels the last 〈◊〉 dangerous death being destroyed and those should make vse of Godsâ—…g â—…g all man-kinde from one in learning how well God respected vnity in 〈◊〉 L. VIVES 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 Any place will holde bruite-beasts without contention sooner then 〈◊〉 mâ—…n is Woolâ—…e to man as the Greeke Prouerbe saith Pliâ—… lib. 7. and all other â—…gree among them-selues and oppose strangers The sterne Lion fights not with 〈◊〉 nor doth the Serpent sting the Serpent the beasts and fishes of the sea aâ—… with their owne kinde But man doth man the most mischiefe Dicâ—… saith Tully wrote a booke of the death of men He is a free and copious Peripatetique and herein hauing reckned vp inondations plagues burning exceeding aboundance of beaâ—… and other externall causes he compares then with the warres and seditions wherewith man hath destroyed man and finds the later farre exceeding the former This warre amongst men did Christ desire to haue abolished and for the fury of wrath to haue grafted the heate of zeale and charity This should bee preached and taught that Christians ought not to bee as wars but at loue one with another and to beare one with another mens minds are already to forward to shed bloud and do wickedly they neede not be set on Of the nature of mans soule being created according to the image of God CHAP. 23. THerefore God made man according to his a image and likenesse giuing him a soule whereby in reason and vnderstanding hee excelled all the other creatures that had no such soule And when hee had made man thus of earth and either b breathed the soule which he had made into him or rather made that breath one which he breathed into him for to breath is but to make a breth then c out of his side did hee take a bone whereof he made him a wife and an helpe as he was God for we are not to conceiue this carnally as wee see an artificer worke vp any thing into the shape of a man by art Gods hand is his power working visible things inuisibly Such as measure Gods vertue and power that can make seedes of seeds by those daily and vsuall workes hold this rather for a fable then a truth But they know not this creation and therefore thinke vnfaithfully thereof as though the workes of ordinary conception and production are not strange to those that know them not though they assigne them rather to naturall causes then account them the deities workes L. VIVES HIs a Image Origen thinkes that man is Christs image and therfore the scripture calls man Gods image for the Sonne is the fathers image some thinke the Holy Ghost is ment in the simyly But truely the simyly consists in nothing but man and the likenesse of God A man saith Paul is Gods image It may be referred to his nature and in that he is Gods likenesse may be referred to his guifts immortallity and such wherein he is like God b Breathed It is a doubt whether the soule were made before infused after or created with the body Aug de gens ad lit li. 7. saith that the soule was made with the other spiritual substances infused afterwards and so interpreteth this place Hee breathed into his face the breath of life Others take it as though the soule were but then made and so doth Augustine here c Out of his Why the woman was made after the man why of his ribbe when he was a sleepe and how of his rib read Magister sentent lib. 2. Dist. 18. Whether the Angels may be called creators of any the least creature CHAP. 24. BVt here wee haue nothing to doe with a them that hold the diuine essence not to medle with those things at all But b those that follow Plato in affirming that all mortall creatures of which man is the chiefe were made by the lesser created Gods through the permission or command of the creator and not by him-selfe that framed the world let them but absure the superstition wherein thy seeke to giue those inferiors iust honors and sacrifices and they shall quickly avoid the error of this
dying nor in death For this is sought as present in the change of the times and is found the one passing into the other without the least interposed space Doe we not see then that by this reason the death of the bodie is nothing If it bee how is it any thing beeing in nothin and whereing nothing can be for if we liue it is not any thing yet because wee are before it not in it if we liue not it is nothing still for now wee are after it and not in it But now if death bee nothing before nor after what sence is there in saying before or after death I would to God wee had liued well in Paradise that death might haue bin nothing indeede But now there is not onely such a thing but it is so greeuous with vs as neither tongue can tell nor reason avoide Let vs therefore speake according to c custome for so wee should and call the time ere death come before death as it is written d Iudge none blessed before his death Let vs call the 〈◊〉 when it is already come after death this or that was after his death and let us speake of the present time as wee can hee dying gaue such a legacy hee dying left thus much or thus much though no man could do this but the liuing and rather before his death then at or in his death And let vs speake as the holy scripture speaketh of the dead saying they were not after death but in death For in death there is no remembrance of thee for vntill they rise againe they are iustly said to bee in death as one is in sleepe vntill hee awake Though such as are in sleepe wee say are sleeping then may wee not say that such as are dead are dying For they that are once seperate wholy froÌ„ them bodies are past dying the bodily death whereof we speake any more But this that I say one cannot declare how the dying man may be sayd to liue or how the dead man can be sayd to bee in death for how can he bee after death if hee bee in death since wee cannot call him dying as we may doe hee that is in sleepe sleeping or hee that is in languor â—…guishing or hee that is in sorrow sorrowing or in life liuing But the dead vntill they arise are said to bee in death yet wee cannot say they are dying And therefore I thinke it was not for no cause perhaps God decreed it that mortor the latine word for to die could not by any meanes bee brought by e grammartians vnto the forme of other verbes f Ortor to arise hath ortus in the preterperfect tense and so haue other verbes that are declined by the participle of the pretertense But Morior must haue mortuus for the preterperfect tence doubling the letter V. for Mortuus endes like fatuus arduus conspicuus and such like that are no preterperfect tenses but nownes declined without tenses 〈◊〉 times and this as if it were a nowne decsinable that cannot be declined is put for the participle of the present tense So that it is conuenient that as it cannot effect the signification by act no more should the name be to bee g declined by arte Yet by the grace of Our Redeemer we may decline that is avoide the second death For this is the sore one and the worst of euills beeing no separation but rather a combination of body and soule vnto eternall torture Therein sâ—…all none bee a fore death nor after death but eternally in death neuer liuing neuer dead but euer dying For man can neuer be in worse death then when the death he is in is endlesse L. VIVES TOo a strange Insolens for insolitum vn-accustomed Salusts worde that antiquary and Gellius his ape b When is he Oh Saint Augustine by your fauor your witts edge is too blunt here you not our rare schoole diuines the first is the first is not the last is the last is not death is not in this instant for now it is done conceiue you not Why thus It was but now and now it is not not yet then thus but you must into the schooles and learne of the boies for those bables are fitter for them then for men But you and I will haue a great deale of good talke of this in some other place c Custome The mistresse of speach whom all artes ought to obserue d Iudge none Like Solons saying No man can bee called blessed and he be dead because hee knowes not what may befall him e Grammarians You are too idle in this chapter Saint Augustine First in commanding vs to apply our speech to the common sence and secondly in naming gramarians in a matters of diuinity how much more in drawing any argument pertayning to this question from them If any smatterer of our diuines had done it hee should haue beene hissed out of our schooles but you follow the old discipline and keepe the artes combined mixing each others ornament and no way disioyning them f Orior That comparison holdes in grammar it is a great question and much tossed Aristarchus a great grammarian defended it and Crates building vpon Chrisippus his Perianomalia did oppose it Varro's fragments herevpon lay downe both their reasons and Quintilian disputes of it Caius Caesar wrote also to Cicero concerning Analogie Doubtlesse it must be allowed in many things but not in all otherwise that art cannot stand nor hardly worldly discourse g Declined Alluding to the ambiguity of the worde declinari it cannot bee declined that is avoided nor declined that is varied by cases Of the death that God threatned to promise the first man withall if he transgressed CHAP. 12. IF therefore it bee asked what death GOD threatned man with all vpon his trangression and breach of obedience whether it were bodily or spirituall or that second death we answere it was all the first consisteth of two and the second entirely of all for as the whole earth consists of many lands and the whole Church of many Churches so doth the vniuersall death consist of all the first consisting of two the bodies and the soules beeing the death wherein the soule beeing foresaken of GOD forsaketh the bodie and endureth paines for the time but the second beeing that wherein the soule being forsaken of GOD endureth paines for euer Therefore when GOD sayd to the first man that hee placed in Paradise as concerning the forbidden fruite Whensoeuer thou eatest thereof thou shaâ—… die the death he comprehends therein not onely the first part of the first death wheresoeuer the soule looseth God nor the later onely wherein the soule leaneth the body and is punished after that seperation but also that last part or the second which is the last of deaths eternall and following after all all this is comprehended in that commination What punishment was first layd on mans preuarication CHAP. 13. FOr after mankinde had broken the precept hee was
freed a-many from it 2. Of the carnall life apparant in the soules viciousnesse as well as the bodies 3. That sinne came from the soule and not the flesh and that the corruption which sinne hath procured is not sinne but the punishment of sinne 4. What it is to liue according to man and to liue according to God 5. That the Platonists teach the natures of soule and bodie better then the Maniches yet they erre in ascribing sinne vnto the nature of the flesh 6. Of the quality of mans will vnto which all affections Good and Bad are subiect 7. That Amor and Dilectio are of indifferent vse in the Scriptures both for Good and Euill 8. Of the three passions that the Stoykes allow a wiseman excluding sadnes as foe to a vertuous mind 9. Of the perturbations of mind which the iust doe moderate and rule aright 10. Whether Man had those perturbations in Paradise before his fall 11. The fall of the first Man wherein Nature was made good and cannot bee repair'd but by the Maker 12. Of the quality of Mans first offence 13. That in Adams offence his Euill will was before his euill woorke 14. Of the pride of the transgressioÌ„ which was worse then the transgression it selfe 15. Of the iust reward that our first parents receiued for sinne 16. Of the euill of lust how the name is geâ—…rall to many vices but proper vnto venereall concupiscence 17. Of the nakednesse that our first parents discouered in themselues after their sinne 18. Of the shame that accompanieth copulation as well in common as in mariage 19. That the motions of wrath and lust are so violent that they doe necessarily require to bee suppressed by wisdome and that they were not 〈◊〉 our Nature before our fall depraued it 20. Of the vaine obscaenity of the Cynikes 21. Of the blessing of multiplication before sinne which the transgression did not abolish but onely linked to lust 22. That God first instituted and blessed the band of marriage 23. Whether if man had not sinned hee should haue begotten children in paradice and whether there should there haue bin any contention betweene chastity and lust 24. That our first parents had they liued without sinne should haue had their members of generation as subiect vnto their wills as any of the rest 25. Of the true beatitude vnattayne ablâ—… 〈◊〉 this life 26. That our first parents in Paradise migâ—… haue produced manking without any shamâ—… appetite 27. That the sinners Angels and men caâ—…not with their peruersenesse disturbe Gods prouidence 28. The state of the two Citties the Heauenly and the Earthly FINIS THE FOVRTEENTH BOOKE OF THE CITTIE OF GOD Written by Saint Augustine Bishop of Hippo vnto Marcellinus That the inobedience of the first man had drawne all mankinde into the perpetuity of the second death but that Gods grace hath freed a many from it CHAP. 1. WE said in our precedent bookes that it was Gods pleasure to propagate all men from one both for the keeping of humaine nature in one sociable similitude and also for to make their vnity of originall be the meanes of their concord in heart Nor should any of this kinde haue dyed but the first two the one whereof was made of the other and the other of nothing had incurred this punishment by their disobedience in committing so great a sinne that their whole nature being hereby depraued was so transfused through all their off-spring in the same degree of corruption and necessity of death whose kingdome here-vpon became so great in man that all should haue beene cast headlong in the second death that hath no end by this due punishment but the vndue a grace of God acquitted some from it whereby it comes to passe that whereas man-kinde is diuided into so many nations distinct in language discipline habite and fashion yet is there but two sorts of men that doe properly make the two citties wee speake of the one is of men that liue according to the flesh and the other of those that liue according to the spirit either in his kinde and when they haue attained their desire either doe liue in their peculiar peace L. VIVES VNdue a grace For God owes no man any thing and therefore it is called grace because it comes gratis freely and because it maketh the receiuer gratum thankfull Who hath giâ—… vnto him first and hee shall be recompensed Rom. 11. 35. If it were due he should not then giue but restore it Not by the workes of righteousnesse which wee haue done but according to his 〈◊〉 hee saued vs. Tit. 3. 5. Of the carnall life apparant in the soules viciousnesse as well as the bodies CHAP. 2. WE must first then see what it is to liue according to the flesh and what according to the spirit The raw and inconsiderate considerer hereof not attending well to the scriptures may thinke that the Epicureans were those that liued according to the flesh because â—…hey made bodily pleasure that summum boâ—… and all such as any way held corporall delight to be mans chiefest good as the vulgar also which not out of Philosophy but out of their owne pronenesse to lust can delight in no pleasures but such as are bodily and sensible but that the Stoickes that placed this summum bonum in the minde liue according to the spirit for what is mans minde but his spirit But the Scriptures prooue them both to follow the courses of the flesh calling the flesh not onely an earthly animate body as it doth saying All flesh is not the same flesh for there is one flesh of men and another flesh of beasts and another of fishes and another of birdes but it vseth the worde in farre other significations amongst which one is that it calleth whole man that is his intire nature flesh vsing the part for the whole as By the workes of the lawe shall no flesh be iustified What meanes hee by no flesh but no man hee explaineth him-selfe immediatly a man is iustified by faith without the workes of the lawe And in another place No man is iustified by the lawe The word was made flesh What is that but man Some misconceiuing this place held that Christ had no humaine soule For as the part is taken for the whole in these words of Mary Magdalene They haue taken away my Lord and I know not where they haue laide him Meaning onely the flesh of Christ which shee thought they had taken out of the Sepulchre so is the part taken for the whole when wee say flesh for Man as in the quotations before Seeing therefore that the Scripture vseth flesh in so many significations too tedious heere to recollect To finde what it is to liue according to the flesh the course being enill when the flesh is not euill let vs looke a little diligently into that place of the Apostle Paul to the Galathians where hee saith The workes of the flesh are
shal be fulfilled which is written Death is swallowed vppe into victory They feare to offend and desire to perseuer they sorrow for sinne and reioyce in doing good they feare to sinne because for that iniquity shal be increased the loue of many shal bee cold they desire to perseuer because He that endureth to the end shal be saued they sorrow for sin because If we say that we haue no sin we deceiue our selues and there is no truth in vs they reioyce in good workes for GOD loueth a cheerefull giuer And as they are strong or weake so doe they desire or feare to bee tempted reioycing or sorrowing in temptations they feare to bee tempted for If any man fall into a falt by any occasion yee which are spirituall restore such an one with the spirit of meekâ—…nesse considering thy selfe also least thou bee tempted they desire to bee tempted for Prooue mee O LORD and trie mee examine my reines and mine heart said Dauid They sorrow in temptations for they heare how Peter wept they reioyce in them for Brethren count it exceeding ioye when yee fall into diuers temptations saith Iames. And they doe not feele affects for themselues onely but for others also whom they desire should bee freed and feare least they perish sorrowing at their fall and reioycing at their deliuerance for if wee that are come from a Paganisme to Christianity may giue an especiall instance in that worthy and dauntlesse man that boasted of his infirmities that teacher of fayth and truth to the nations that toyler aboue all his fellow Apostles that edifier of Gods people by sermons beeing present and by more Epistles then they all beeing absent that blessed Man Paul I meane CHRISTS Champion b taught by him c anointed from him d crucified with him e glorified in him f in the Theater of this World where hee was made a spectacle to GOD Angells and Men fighting a g lawfull and h great fight and following hard towardes the i marke for the k prize of the high calling How gladlie doe wee with the eyes of fayth behold him weepe with them that weepe and reioyce with them that reioyce l fightings without and terrours within desyring to bee dissolued and to be vvith CHRIST desyring to see the Romaines and to receiue fruite from them as well as the others beeing iealous ouer the Corinthians and fearing least their mindes should be corrupted from the chastity vvith is in CHRIST hauing great sadnesse and continuall sorrow of heart for Israell that beeing ignorant in GODS iustice would erect one of their owne and not bee subiect vnto gods and denouncing his lamentation for diuers that had not repenâ—…d them of their fornication and vncleanesse If these affects arising from the loue of good bee vicious then let true vices bee called vertues But seeing their vse is leuelled by the rule of reason who dare call them fraile or imperfect passions of the minde Our LORD himselfe lyuing in the forme of a seruant yet without sinne vsed them when hee thought it requisite for wee may not thinke that hauing mans essentiall bodie and soule hee had but seeming affectes And therefore his sorrow for Ierusalems hardnesse of heart his ioy for the beleeuers his teares for Lazarous his desire to eate the Passeouer with his disciples and his deadly heauinesse of soule vpon the approach of his passion these are no fained narrations But these affects of man hee felt when it pleased him as hee was made man when it pleased him Wherefore wee confesse that those affects in their best kinde are but pertinent to this present life not vnto that which wee hope for heereafter and that wee are often ouer-pressed by them a laudable desire or charity may mooue vs m yet shall wee weepe whether wee will or no. For wee haue them by our humaine infirmity but so had not CHRIST n for hee had his very infirmity it selfe from his owne power But as long as wee liue in this infirmity wee shall liue worse if wee want those affects For the Apostle dispraiseth and detests o such as want naturall affect And so doth the Psalme saying I looked for some to pitty mee and there was none For to want the sence of sorrow in this mortall life as a p great scholler held neuer be-falls a man without great stupidity of bodie and barbarisme of minde q Therefore the greeke 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 or impassibility beeing meant of the minde and not the bodie if it bee vnderstood as a want of those perturbations onely which disturbe the minde and resist reason it is to bee defended and desired For the Godly wise and holy men not ordinary ranglers say all directly if wee say that wee haue no sinne wee deceiue our selues and there is no truth in vs. But if a man had this same 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 meant as before hee had no sinne indeed in him But it is well if wee can liue heere without r crime but hee that thinkes hee liues without sinne doth not avoide sinne but rather excludes all pardon But now if 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 bee an vtter abandoning of all mentall affects whatsoeuer who will not say such a stupidity is not worse then sinne Wee may fitly say indeede that true happinesse shal be vtterly voide of feare and sorrow but who can say it shal be voide of loue and ioy but hee that professeth to oppose the truth but if this 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 bee a freedome from feare and sorrow wee must not ayme at it in this life if wee meane to liue after the lawe of GOD. But in the other promised life of eternity s all feare shal bee excluded from vs. For that feare whereof the Apostle Iohn saith There is no feare in loue but perfect loue casteth 〈◊〉 feare and hee that feareth is not perfect in loue is not that kinde of feare whereof the Apostle Paul feared the fall of the Corinthians for loue hath this feare in it and nothing hath it but loue but the other feare is not in loue whereof the same Apostle Paul saith for yee haue not receiued the spirit of bondage to feare againe But that chaste feare remayning world without ende if it bee in the world to come and howe else can it remaine worlde without ende shal bee no feare terrifying vs from euill but a feare keeping vs in an inseperable good For where the good attained is vnchangeably loued there is the feare to loose it inseperably cheined For by this chaste feare is meant the will that wee must necssarily haue to avoide sinne not with an vngrounded carefulnesse least wee should sinne but beeing founded in the peace of loue to beware of sinne But if that firme and eternall security be acquit of all feare and conceiue onely the fulnesse of ioy then the feare of Lorde is pure and indureth for euer is meant as that other place is The pacience of the
is the New Testament but the opening of the Old one Now Abraham is sayd to laugh but this was the extreamity of his ioy not any signe of his deriding this promise vpon distrust and his thoughts beeing these Shall he that is an hundred yeares old c. Are not doubts of the euents but admirations caused by so strange an euent Now if some stop at that where God saith he will giue him all the Land of Canaan for an eternall possession how this may be fulfilled seeing that no mans progeny can inherite the earth euerlastingly he must know that eternall is here taken as the Greekes take 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 which is deriued of c 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 that is seculum an age but the latine translation durst not say seculare here least it should haue beene taken in an other sence for seculare and transitorium are both alike vsed for things that last but for a little space but 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 is that which is either endlesse at all or endeth not vntill the worlds end and in this later sence is eternall vsed here L. VIVES I Wil be a his God Or to be his GOD. 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 a grecisme hardly expressed in your latine b The very The gentiles had also their eight day wherevpon the distinguished the childs name from the fathers 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 It is Seculum aetas annâ—…m eternitas in latine Tully and other great authors translate it all those waies from the greeke Of the man-child that if it were not circumcised the eight day iâ—… perished for breaking of Gods couenant CHAP. 27. SOme also may sticke vpon the vnderstanding of these words The man child in whose flesh the fore-skinne is not circumcised that person shal be cut off from his people because he had broaken my couenant Here is no fault of the childes who is hereexposed to destruction he brake no couenant of Gods but his parents that looked not to his circumcision vnlesse you say that the yongest child hath broken Gods command and couenant as well as the rest in the first man in whom all man-kinde sinned For there are a many Testaments or Couenants of God besides the old and new those two so great ones that euery one may read and know The first couenant was this vnto Adam Whensoeuer thou eatest thereof thou shalt die the death wherevpon it is written in Ecclesiasticus All flesh waxeth 〈◊〉 as a garment and it is a couenant from the beginning that all sinners shall die the death for whereas the law was afterwards giuen and that brought the more light to mans iudgement in sinne as the Apostle saith Where no law is there is no transgression how is that true that the Psalmist said I accounted all the sinners of the earth transgressors b but that euery man is guilty in his owne conscience of some-what that hee hath done against some law and therefore seeing that little children as the true faith teacheth be guilty of originall sinne though not of actuall wherevpon wee confesse that they must necessarily haue the grace of the remission of their sinnes then verily in this they are breakers of Gods coueâ—… made with Adam in paradise so that both the Psalmists saying and the Apostles is true and consequently seeing that circumcision was a type of regeneration iustly shall the childs originall sinne breaking the first couenant that 〈◊〉 was made betweene God and man cut him off from his people vnlesse that regeneration engraffe him into the body of the true religion This then we must conceiue that GOD spake Hee that is not regenerate shall perish from â—…gst his people because he hath broke my couenant in offending me in Adam For if he had sayd he hath broke this my couenant it could haue beene meant of nothing but the circumcision onely but seeing hee saith not what couenant the child breaketh we must needes vnderstand him to meane of a couenant liable vnto the transgression of the child But if any one will tie it vnto circumcision and say that that is the couenant which the vncircumcised child hath broken let him beware of absurdity in saying that hee breaketh their couenant which is not broken by him but in him onely But howsoeuer we shall finde the childs condemnation to come onely from his originall sinne and not from any negligence of his owne iucurring this breach of the couenant L. VIVES THere a are many Hierome hath noted that wheresoeuer the Greekes read testament 〈◊〉 Hebrewes read couenant Berith is the Hebrew word b But that There is no man so barbarous but nature hath giuen him some formes of goodnesse in his heart whereby to 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 honest life if he follow them and if he refuse them to turne wicked Of the changing of Abram and Sara's names who being the one too barren and both to old to haue children yet by Gods bounty were both made fruitfull CHAP. 28. THus this great and euident promise beeing made vnto Abraham in these words A father of many nations haue I made thee and I will make thee exceeding fruitfull and nations yea euen Kings shall proceed of thee which promise wee see most euidently fulfilled in Christ from that time the man and wife are called no more Abram and Sarai but as wee called them before and all the world calleth them Abraham and Sarah But why was Abrahams name changed the reason followeth immediately vpon the change for a father of many nations haue I made thee This is signified by Abraham now Abram his former a name is interpreted an high father But b for the change of Sara's name there is no reason giuen but as they say that haue interpreted those Hebrew names Sarai is my Princesse and Sarah strength wherevpon it is written in the Epistle to the Hebrewes By faith Sarah receiued strength to conceiue seed c. Now they were both old as the scripture saith but c shee was barren also and past the age d wherein the menstruall bloud floweth in women which wanting she could neuer haue conceiued although she had not beene barren And if a woman be well in years and yet haue that menstruall humour remayning she may conceiue with a yongman but neuer by an old as the old man may beget children but it must bee vpon a young woman as Abraham after Sarahs death did vpon Keturah because shee was of a youthfull age as yet This therefore is that which the Apostle so highly admireth and herevpon he saith that Abrahams body was dead because hee was not able to beget a child vpon any woman that was not wholy past her age of child-bearing but onely of those that were in the prime and flowre thereof For his bodie was not simply dead but respectiuely otherwise it should haue beene a carcasse fit for a graue not an ancient father vpon earth Besides the guift of begetting children that GOD gaue him lasted after Sarahs death and he
God So did Christ found her in his Patriarchs 〈◊〉 â—…hets before he tooke flesh in her from the Virgin Mary Seing therefore 〈◊〉 Prophet so long agoc said that of this Citty which now we behold come 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 In steed of fathers thou shal haue children to make them Princes ouer all the 〈◊〉 so hath shee when whole nations and their rulers come freely to conâ—… 〈◊〉 proffesse Christ his truth for euer and euer then without all doubt there 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 â—…ope herein how euer vnderstood but hath direct reference vnto these 〈◊〉 stations L. VIVES 〈◊〉 a generation So read the 70. whom Augustine euer followeth 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 and this reduplication is very emphaticall in the Hebrew b To those that hee neuer Christ while hee was on the earth neuer came nor preached in any nation but Israell Nor matterâ—… 〈◊〉 thaâ—… some few Gentiles came vnto him wee speake here of whole nations c Men shall call it The seauenty read it thus indeed but erroneously as Hierome noteth In Psalm 89. for they had written it 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 what is Sion which reading some conceyuing not reiected and added 〈◊〉 reading it 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 an other Siâ—…n and that the rather because it followeth hee was made man therein But the vulgar followeth the Hebrew and reads it with an interrogation Of the references of the 110. Psalme vnto Christs Priest-hood and the 22. vnto his passion CHAP. 17. FOr in that psalme that as this calleth Christ a King enstileth him a priest beginning The Lord said vnto my Lord sit thou at my right hand vntill I make thine enemies thy foote-stoole we beleeue that Christ sitteth at Gods right hand but we see it not nor that his enemies are all vnder his feete which a must appeare in the end and is now beleeued as it shall hereafter bee beheld but then the rest the Lord shall send the rod of thy power out of Sion be thou ruler amidst thine enemies This is so plaine that nought but impudence it selfe can contradict it The enemies themselues confesse that the law of Christ came out of Sion that which we call the Ghospell and auouch to be the rod of his power And that he ruleth in the midst of his enemies themselues his slaues with grudging and fruitlesse gnashing of teeth doe really acknowledge Furthermore the Lord sware and will not repent which proues the sequence eternally established thou art a Priest for euer after the order of Melchisedech The reason is Aarons priest-hood and sacrifice is abolished and now in all the world vnder Christ the priest wee offer that which Melchisedech brought forth when hee blessed Abraham who doubteth now of whom this is spoken and vnto this manifestation are the other Tropes of the psalme referred as wee haue declared them peculiarly in our Sermons and in that psalme also wherein CHRIST prophecieth of his passion by Dauids mouth saying they perced my hands and my feete they counted all my bones and stood gazing vpon me These words are a plaine description of his posture on the crosse his nayling of his hands and feete his whole body stretched at length and made a rufull gazing stock to the beholders Nay more they parted my garments among them they cast lots vpon my vesture How this was fulfilled let the Ghospell tell you And so in this there are diuers obscurities which not withstanding are all congruent with the maine and scope of the psalme manifested in the passion chiefly seeing that those things which the psalme presaged so long before are but now effected as it fore-told and euen now are opened vnto the eyes of the whole world For it saith a little after All the ends of the world shall remember themselues and turne vnto the Lord all the kindreds of the earth shall worship before him for the kingdome is the Lords and he ruleth among the nations L. VIVES VVHich a â—…st apeare In the end but now is onely beleeued Saint Paul writeth much of it vnto the Corynthians and Hebrewes Christs death and resurrection prophecied in psalme 3. 40. 15. 67. CHAP. 18. NEither were the psalmes silent of his resurrectioÌ„ for what is that of the third psalme I laid me downe and slept and rose againe for the Lord susteined me wil any one say that the prophet would record it for such a great thing to sleepe and to rise but that he meaneth by sleepe death and by rising againe the resurrection things that were fit to bee prophecied of Christ this in the 41. psalme is most plaine for Dauid in the person of the mediator discoursing as hee vseth of things to come as if they were already past because they are already past in Gods predestination a and praescience saith thus Mine enemies speake euill of me saying when shall he die and his name perish and if he come to see he speaketh lies and his heart he apeth vp iniquity within him and hee goeth forth and telleth it mine eneâ—… whisper together against me and imagine how to hurt me They haue spoken an vniust thing vpon me shall not he that sleepeth arise againe this is euen as much as if he had said shall not he that is dead reuiue againe the precedence doth shew how they conspired his death and how he that came in to see him went for to bewray him to them And why is not this that traitor Iudas his disciple Now because hee 〈◊〉 they would effect their wicked purpose to kill him hee to shew the fondnesse of their malice in murdering him that should rise againe saith these words â—…ll not he that sleepeth arise againe as if hee said you fooles your wickednesse procureth but my sleepe But least they should do such a villany vnpunished hee meant to repay them at full saying My friend and familiar whom I trusted and who eate of my â—…ead euen he hath b kicked at me But thou Lord haue mercy vpon me raise me vp 〈◊〉 shall requite them Who is hee now that beholdeth the Iewes beaten out of 〈◊〉 â—…nd and made vagabonds all the world ouer since the passion of Christ 〈◊〉 â—…ceiueth not the scope of this prophecy for he rose againe after they had 〈◊〉 and repayed them with temporall plagues besides those that hee reâ—… for the rest vntill the great iudgement for Christ himselfe shewing his 〈◊〉 to the Apostles by reaching him a peece of bread remembred this verse 〈◊〉 â—…alm shewed it fulfilled in himself he that did eate of my bread eueÌ„ he hath 〈◊〉 â—…e the words in whom I trusted agree not with the head but with the â—…ts properly for our Sauiour knew him well before hand when he sayd c 〈◊〉 is a diuell but Christ vsed to transferre the proprieties of his members 〈◊〉 â—…mselfe as being their head body and head being all one Christ. And therâ—… 〈◊〉 of the Ghospell I was hungry and you gaue me to eate hee expoundeth afâ—… thus
Empresse of Asia vntill her yong sonne Ninus came at age so shee vndertoke the gouerâ—… and kept it fourty two yeares This now some say but the Athenians and Dion after 〈◊〉 affirme that shee begged the sway of the power imperiall of her husband for fiue daies 〈◊〉 which hee granting she caused him to be killed or as others say to bee perpetually â—…oned l They say he slew She was held wounderous lustfull after men and that she still murâ—… him whome she medled with that shee tempted her sonne who therefore slew her 〈◊〉 for feare to fare as the others had or else in abhomination of so beastly an act The 〈◊〉 say shee died not but went quicke vp to heauen 〈◊〉 â—…lt Babilon Babilon is both a country in Assyria and a Citie therein built by Semiâ—… as Diodorus Strabo Iustine and all the ancient Greekes and Latines held But Ioseâ—… Ensebius Marcellinus and others both Christians and Iewes say that it was built by 〈◊〉 â—…genie of Noah and onely repaired and fortified by Semiramis who walled it about 〈◊〉 such walles as are the worlds wonders This Ouid signifieth saying Coctilibus muris cinxisse Semiramis vrbem Semiramis guirt it with walles of Brick And this verse Hierome citeth to confirme this In Ose. Some hold that Belus her father in law built it Some that hee laide the foundations onely So holdes Diodorus out of the Egiptian monuments Alexander saith that the first Belus whome the Greekes call 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 reigned in Babilon and that Belus the second and Chanaan were his two sonnes But hee followeth Eupolemus in allotting the building of Babilon to those that remained after the deluge Eus. de pr. Euang. lib. 8. Chaldaea was all ouer with water saith Abydenus in Eusebium de praep Euang. li. 10. And Belus dreined it drye and built Babilon the walles whereof being ruined by flouds Nabocodronosor repaired and those remained vnto the time of the Macedonian Monarchie and then hee reckoneth the state of this King impertinent vnto this place Augustine maketh Nemrod the builder of Babilon as you read before Heare what Plinie saith lib. 6. Babilon the chiefe Citty of Chaldaea and long famous in the world and a great part of the country of Assyria was called Babilonia after it the walles were two hundred foote high and fifty foote brode euery foote being three fingers larger then ours Euphrates ranne through the midst of it c. There was another Babilon in Egipt built by those whome Sesostris brought from Babilon in Assyria into Egipt to worke vpon those madde workes of his the Piramides n This sonne His mother brought him vp tenderly amongst her Ladyes and so hee liued a quiet Prince and came seldome abroade wherevpon the other Kings his successors got vp an vse to talke with few in person but by an interpretour and to rule all by deputies Diodor. Iustin. o Ninus Some call him Zameis sonne to Ninus as Iosephus and Eusebius and some Ninius p Telexion In the translated Eusebius it is Selchis whome hee saith reigned twenty yeares In some of Augustines olde copies it is Telxion and in some Thalasion but it must be Telexion for so it is in Pausanias What Kings reigned in Assyria and Sicyonia in the hundreth yeare of Abrahams age when Isaac was borne according to the promise or at the birth of Iacob and Esau. CHAP. 3. IN his time also did Sara being old barren and past hope of children bring forth Isaac vnto Abraham according to the promise of God And then reigned a Aralius the fift King of Assyria And Isaac being three score yeares of age had b Esau and Iacob both at one birth of Rebecca Abraham his father being yet liuing and of the age of one hundred and sixtie yeares who liued fifteene yeares longer and then dyed c Xerxes the older called also Balaeus reigning the seauenth King of Assyria d and Thuriachus called by some Thurimachus the seauenth of Sicyon Now the kingdome of the Argiues began with the time of these sonnes of Isaac and Inachus was the first King there But this wee may not forget out of Varro that the Sycionians vsed to offer sacrifices at the tombe of the seauenth King Thurimachus But e Armamitres being the eight King of Assyria and Leucippus of Sycionia and f Inachus the first King of Argos God promised the land of Chanaan vnto Isaac for his seede as hee had done vnto Abraham before and the vniuersall blessing of the nations therein also and this promise was thirdly made vnto Iacob afterwards called Israel Abrahams grand-child in the time of Belocus the ninth Assyrian monarch and Phoroneus Inachus his sonne the second King of the Argiues Leucippus reigning as yet in Sycione In this Phoroneus his time Greece grew famous for diuerse good lawes and ordinances but yet his brother Phegous after his death built a temple ouer his tombe and made him to be worshipped as a God caused oxen to be sacrificed vnto him holding him worthy of this honour I thinke because in that part of the kingdome which he held for their father diuided the whole betweene them hee set vp oratories to worship the gods in and taught the true course and obseruation of moneths and yeares which the rude people admiring in him thought that at his death hee was become a God or else would haue it to bee thought so For so they say f that Io was the daughter of Inachus shee that afterwards was called g Isis and honored for a great goddesse in Egipt though some write that h shee came out of Ethiopia to bee Queene of Egipt and because shee was mighty and gratious in her reigne and taught her subiects many good Artes they gaue her this honour after her death and that with such diligent respect that it was death to say shee had euer beene mortall L. VIVES ARalius a In the old copies Argius in Eusebius Analius sonne to Arrius the last King before him hee reigned fortie yeares The sonne in Assyria euer more succeeded the father Uelleius b Esau and Iacob Of Iacob Theodotus a gentile hath written an elegant poem and of the Hebrew actes And Artapanus and one Philo not the Iew but another Alexander Polyhistor also who followeth the Scriptures all those wrote of Iacob c Xerxes the elder Aralius his sonne hee reigned forty yeares There were two more Xerxes but those were Persian Kings the first Darius Hidaspis his sonne and the second successor to Artaxerxes Long-hand reigning but a few moneths The first of those sent the huge armies into Greece Xerxes in the Persian tongue is a warriour and Artaxerxes a great warriour Herodot in Erato The booke that beareth Berosus his name saith that the eight King of Babilon was called Xerxes surnamed Balaus and reigned thirty yeares that they called him Xerxes Victor for that hee wone twise as many nations to his Empire as Aralius ruled for hee was a stoute and fortunate souldiour and enlarged his kingdome
his time were the Israelites freed and in the beginning of his reigne the seauen sages flourished g Solon born in Salaminia vnder the dominion of Athens son of Exestides one descended from the bloud-royall of Codrus the â—…lified Draco his bloudy lawes gaue the Athenians better for Draco wrote his with bloud not with inke as Demades said al crimes great and smal yea euen idlenes it selfe was 〈◊〉 of death Solon hated his cousin Pisistrates his affectation of a Kingdom who attaining it 〈◊〉 got him into Aegipt from thence to Craesus King of Lydia then to Cilicia where hee 〈◊〉 Solos afterwards called Pompeiopolis because there Pompey ouercame the pâ—…rates thence to Cyprus and there he died being 70. yeares old He was Archon of Athens Olymp. 46. in the third yeare therof For they elected now euery yeare not euery tenth yeare as they had done before The Athenians offered him their Kingdom which he stoutly refused exhorted them earnestly to stand in their liberty Laertius and Plutarch recite some of his lawes which the Romans put into their twelue tables h Chilo His fathers name was Damagetes he was one of the Ephori Magistrates much like the Romaine Tribunes for he first ordained the â—…yning of the Ephori with the Kings he was a man of few words and briefe in phraze as the Lâ—…ans were naturally Hee dyed at Pisa imbracing his sonne comming victor from the Olympicks He had an epigram vnder his statue that called him the wisest of the seauen i i Periander I see no reason he should haue this honor for hee was a tyrant most furious vicious couetous and abhominably incestuous These are no parts of wisdome therefore many do put him out of this number But Sotion and Heraclitus say that the wise Periander was not hee of Corynth but an Ambracian borne Aristot saith hee was borne at Corinth and â—…-germaine to the Tyrant Plato saith no. k Cleobulus Borne at Lindus in Rhodes some say in Caria Duâ—…is His father was called Euagoras the most beautious and valorous person of his time Hee learnt his knowledge in Egypt his daughter Cleobulâ—…a was a famous prophetesse c. l Bias. His fathers name was Teutaâ—…us Prieâ—…ia is in Ionia To him they say the golden Tripos was brought and hee sent it vnto Hercules of Thebes Hee freed his country from the great warre of Craesus the Lydian his was that phrase Omnia â—…ea meâ—… porto Myne owne and all mine owne I beare about me Cic. Paradox I wonder the Greekes make no mention of this in his life They speake not of Prienes taking in all his whole life Tully I beleeue was deceiued in this nor is this his onely errour Seneca seemes to giue it more truely to Stilpo of Megara for Demetrius as then tooke Megaâ—…a Bias died sweetly with his head in the lap of his grand child by his daughter The Prienmans built a chapell to him Satyrus preferreth him before all the other Sages m Better discipline They were not learned nor Philosophers saith Dicaearchus but they were hardy men and good politiâ—…s And so saith Tully De Amicit. n good instructions We haue Greeke sentences vnder there names Ausonius hath made some of them into verse Thales his motto was Nosce te know thy selfe Pittacus his Nosce occasionem take time while time is Solons Nihil nimis the meane is the best Chilons Sponsioni non deest iactura Bargaines and losses are inseparable or he that wil aduenture must loose Perianders Stipandus Imperator dediturus non est armis sed beneâ—…lentia loue and not armes guard him that would rule Cleobulus caâ—… iâ—…micorum insidias aâ—…corum inuidias beware of your foes emnity and your friends enuy Bias Plureâ—… mali The worse are the more So agree Augustine and Eusebius who saith that their inuentions were nothing but short sentences tending to the instituting of honest disciplines into mens hearts Prep Euang. liber 10. o No records Yet Solon and Bias they say left some verses The Romaines were freed from their Kings and Israel from captiuity both at one time CHAP. 26. AT the same time a Cyrus King of Persia Caldaea and Assyria gaue the Iewes a kinde of release for hee sent 50000. of them to re-edifie the Temple and these onely built the Altar and layd the foundations for their foes troubled them with so often incursions that the building was left of vntill Darius his time b The story of Iudith fell out also in the same times which they say the Iewes receiue not into their cannon The seauenty yeares therefore being expired in Darius his reigne the time that Hieremy c had prefixed The â—…ewes had their full freedome Tarquin the proud being the seauenth King of Rome whom the Romaines expelled and neuer would be subiect to any more Kings Vntill this time had Israell prophets in great numbers but indeed we haue but few of their Prophecies cannonicaly recorded Of these I said in ending my last booke that I would make some mention in this and here it is fittest L. VIVES CYrus a King Sonne to Mandanes Astiaeges his daughter the Median King and Cambyses one of obscure birth hee was called Cyrus after the riuer Cyrus in Persia nere to which he was brought vp Hee foyled his grandfather in warre and tooke the Monarchy from the Medes placing it in persia He conquered Chaldaea also For the Meâ—… hauing gotten the Monarchy to them-selues after Sardanapalus his death had their Kings all crowned at Babilon and Nabuchodrosor was their most royall ruler his exploytes they extoll aboue the Chaldean Hercules actes saying that hee had a conquering aâ—…mye as farre as the Gades Strabo ex Megasthene Megasthenes sayth Alphaeus affirmes that Nabuchodrosor was a stouter soldier then Hercules and that hee conquered all Libya and Asia as farre as Armenia and returning to his home he cryed out in manner of prophecying O Babilonians I presage that a great misfortune shall befall you which neither Bâ—…lus nor any of the gods can resist The Mule of Persia shall come to make slaues of you all Hauiâ—…g thus sayd presently hee vanished away Milina Rudocus his sonne succeeded him and was slaine by Iglisares who reigned in his place and left the crowne to his sonne Babaso Arascus who was slaine by treason Nabiuidocus was made King Him did Cyrus taking Babilon make Prince of Carmania Thus farre Alphaeus Alexander Polyhistor differeth somewhat from this but not much Iosephus sayth there were two Nabuchodrosors and that it was the sonne that Megasthenes preâ—…erres before Hercules and the father that tooke Babâ—…lon The sonne dying left his crowne to Amilmadapak or Abimatadok and he freed Iechonias and made him one of his Courtiers Amilmadapak dyed hauing reigned eighteene yeares and left his son Agressarius to inherâ—…te who reigned fourty yeares and his sonne Labosordak succeeded him who dyed at the end of nine monthes and Balthazar otherwise called
much latine spoken in their Prouinces in so much that Spaine and France did wholy forget their owne languages and spake all latine Nor might any Embassage bee preferred to the Senate but in latine Their endeauour was most glorious and vsefull herein whatsoeuer their end was c Yea but Here hee disputeth against the Gentiles out of their owne positions That true friendship cannot bee secure amongst the incessant perills of this present life CHAP. 8. BVt admit that a man bee not so grossely deceiued as many in this wretched life are as to take his foe for his friend nor contrariwise his friend for his foe what comfort haue wee then remayning in this vale of mortall miseries but the vnfained faith and affection of sure friends whom the a more they are or the further of vs the more we feare least they bee endamaged by some of these infinite casualties attending on all mens fortunes We stand not onely in feare to see them afflicted by famine warre sicknesse imprisonment or so but our farre greater feare is least they should fal away through treachery malice or deprauation And when this commeth to passe and wee heare of it as they more friends wee haue and the farther off withal the likelier are such newes to be brought vs then who can decypher our sorrowes but he that hath felt the like we had rather heare of their death though that wee could not heare of neither but vnto our griefe For seeing wee enioyed the comfort of their friendships in their life how can wee but bee touched with sorrowes affects at their death hee that forbiddeth vs that may as well forbid all conference of friend and friend all sociall curtesie nay euen all humane affect and thrust them all out of mans conuersation or else prescribe their vses no pleasurable ends But as that is impossible so is it likewise for vs not to bewaile him dead whom wee loued being aliue For the b sorrow thereof is as a wound or vlcer in our heart vnto which bewaylements doe serue in the stead of fomentations and plaisters For though that the sounder ones vnderstanding be the sooner this cure is effected yet it proues not but that there is a malady that requireth one application or other Therefore in al our bewayling more or lesse of the deaths of our dearest friēds or companions wee doe yet reserue this loue to them that wee had rather haue them dead in body then in soule and had rather haue them fall in essence then in manners for the last is the most dangerous infection vpon earth and therfore it was written Is not mans life a b temptation vpon earth Wherevpon our Sauiour said Woe bee to the world because of offences and againe Because iniquity shal be increased the loue of many shal be cold This maketh vs giue thankes for the death of our good friends and though it make vs sad a while yet it giueth vs more assurance of comfort euer after because they haue now escaped all those mischieues which oftentimes seize vpon the best either oppressing or peruerting them endangering them how-soeuer L. VIVES THe a more they are Aristotles argument against the multitude of friends b Temptation The vulgar readeth it Is there not an appointed time to man vpō earth Hierom hath it a warfare for we are in continuall warre with a suttle foxe whom wee must set a continuall watch against least he inuade vs vnprouided The friendship of holy Angells with men vndiscernable in this life by reason of the deuills whom all the Infidells tooke to be good powers and gaue them diuine honours CHAP. 9. NOw the society of Angells with men those whom the Philosophers called the gods guardians Lars and a number more names they set in the fourth place comming as it were from earth to the whole vniuerse and here including heauen Now for those friends the Angels we need not feare to be affected with sorrow for any death or deprauation of theirs they are impassible But this friendship betweene them and vs is not visibly apparant as that of mans is which addes vnto our terrestriall misery and againe the deuill as wee reade often transformes himselfe into an Angell of light to tempt men some for their instruction and some for their ruine and here is need of the great mercy of God least when wee thinke wee haue the loue and fellowship of good Angells they prooue at length pernicious deuills fained friends and suttle foes as great in power as in deceipt And where needeth this great mercy of GOD but in this worldly misery which is so enveloped in ignorance and subiect to be deluded As for the Philosophers of the reprobate citty who sayd they had gods to their friends most sure it was they had deuills indeed whom they tooke for deities all the whole state wherein they liued is the deuills monarchy and shall haue the like reward with his vnto all eternity For their sacrifices or rather sacriledges where-with they were honored and the obscaene plaies which they themselues exacted were manifest testimonies of their diabolicall natures Thereward that the Saints are to receiue after the passing of this worlds afflictions CHAP. 10. YEa the holy and faithfull seruants of the true GOD are in danger of the deuills manifold ambushes for as long as they liue in this fraile and foule browed world they must be so and it is for their good making them more attentiue in the quest of that security where their peace is without end and without want There shall the Creator bestowe all the guifts of nature vpon them and giue them not onely as goods but as eternall goods not onely to the soule by reforming it with wisdome but also to the body by restoring it in the resurrection There the vertues shall not haue any more conflicts with the vices but shall rest with the victory of eternall peace which none shall euer disturbe For it is the finall beatitude hauing now attained a consummation to all eternity Wee are sayd to bee happy here on earth when wee haue that little peace that goodnesse can afford vs but compare this happinesse with that other and this shall be held but plaine misery Therefore if wee liue well vpon earth our vertue vseth the benefits of the transitory peace vnto good ends if we haue it if not yet still our vertue vseth the euills that the want thereof produceth vnto a good end also But then is our vertue in full power and perfection when it referreth it selfe and all the good effects that it can giue being vnto either vpon good or euill causes vnto that onely end wherein our peace shall haue no end nor any thing superior vnto it in goodnesse or perfection The beatitude of eternall peace and that true perfection wherein the Saints are installed CHAP. 11. WEE may therefore say that peace is our finall good as we sayd of life eternall because the psalme saith vnto that citty whereof we write this
disgrace banishment death and bondage which of these can be performed in so little time as the offence is excepting a the fourth which yeelds euery man the same measure that hee meateth vnto others according to that of the law An eye for an eye and a toâ—…th for a tooth Indeed one may loose his eye by this law in as small a time as hee put out another mans by violencâ—… 〈◊〉 is a man kisse another mans wife and bee therefore adiudged to bee whipt is not that which hee did in a moment paid for by a good deale longer sufferance is 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 pleasure repaide with a longer paine And what for imprisonâ—… 〈◊〉 â—…ry one iudged to lye there no longer then hee was a doing his villaâ—… 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 seruant that hath but violently touched his maister is by a iust law 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 many yeares imprisonment And as for damages disgraces and 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 are not many of them darelesse and lasting a mans whole life wherâ—… be 〈◊〉 a proportion with the paines eternall Fully eternall they cannot 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 the life which they afflict is but temporall and yet the sinnes they 〈◊〉 are all committed in an instant nor would any man aduise that the contiâ—… 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 penalty should be measured by the time of the fact for that be it 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 or what villany so-euer is quickly dispatched and 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 to be weighed by the length of time but by the foulenesse of the crime 〈◊〉 for him that deserues death by an offence doth the law hold the time that 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 â—…ing to bee the satisfaction for his guilt or his beeing taken away from the fellowship of men whether That then which the terrestriall Citty can do by the first death the celestiall can effect by the second in clearing her selfe of malefactors For as the lawes of the first cannot call a dead man back againe into their society no more do the lawes of the second call him back to saluation that is once entred into the second death How then is our Sauiours words say they With what measure yee mete with the same shall men mete to you againe if temporall sinnes be rewarded with eternall paines O but you marke not that those words haue a reference to the returning of euill for euill in our nature and not in one proportion of time that is hee that doth euill shall suffer euill without limitation of any time although this place be more properly vnderstood of the iudgments and condemnations whereof the Lord did there speake So that he that iudgeth vniustly if he be iudged vniustly is paid in the same measure that hee meated withall though not what he did for he did wrong in iudgment and such like he suffreth but he did it vniustly mary he is repaid according to iustice L. VIVES EXcepting the a fourth This was one of the Romanes lawes in the twelue tables and hereof doth Phauorinus dispute with Sep. Caecilius in Gellius lib. 20. The greatnesse of Adams sinne inflicting eternall damnation vpon all that are out of the state of Grace CHAP. 12. BVt therefore doth man imagine that this infliction of eternall torment is vniustice because his fraile imperfection cannot discerne the horriblenesse of that offence that was the first procurer thereof For the fuller fruition man had of God the greater impiety was it for him to renounce him and therein was hee worthy of euer-lasting euill in that he destroyed his owne good that otherwise had beene euerlasting Hence came damnation vpon all the stock of man parent and progenie vnder-going one curse from which none can be euer freed but by the free and gracious mercy of God which maketh a seperation of mankinde to shew in one of the remainders the power of grace and in the other the reuenge of iustice Both which could not bee expressed vpon all man-kinde for if all had tasted of the punishments of iustice the grace and mercy of the redeemer had had no place in any and againe if all had beene redeemed from death there had beene no obiect left for the manifestation of Gods iustice But now there is more left then taken to mercy that so it might appeare what was due vnto all without any impeachment of Gods iustice who not-withstanding hauing deliuered so many hath herein bound vs for euer to praise his gracious commiseration Against such as hold that the torments after the iudgement shall bee but the meanes whereby the soules shall bee purified CHAP. 13. SOme Platonists there are who though they assigne a punishment to euery sinne yet hold they that all such inflictions be they humaine or diuine in this life or in the next tend onely to the purgation of the soule from enormities Where-vpon Virgil hauing said of the soules Hinc metunt cupiuntque c. Hence feare desire c And immediatly Quin vt supremo cum lumine vita reliquit Non tamen omne malâ—…m miseris nec funditùs omnes Corporeae excedunt pestes penitùsque necesse est Multa diù concreta modis inolescere miris Ergo exercentur poenis veterumque malorum Supplicia expendunt aliae panduntur inanes Suspensa ad ventos aliis sub gurgite vasto Insectum eluitur scelus aut exuritur igni For when the soules do leaue the bodies dead Their miseries are not yet finished Nor all their times of torment yet compleate Many small crimes must needes make one that 's great Paine therefore purgeth them and makes them faire From their old staines some hang in duskie ayre Some in the deepe do pay the debt of sinne And fire is chosen to cleanse others in They that hold this affirme that no paines at all are to be suffered after death but onely such as purge the soules and those shall be cleared of all their earthly contagion by some of the three vpper elements the fire the ayre or the water The ayre in that he saith Suspensae ad ventos the water by the words Sub gurgite vasto the fire is expresly named aut exuritur igni Now indeed wee doe confesse that there are certaine paines during this life which do not properly afflict such as are not bettred but made worse by them but belong onely to the reforming of such 〈◊〉 take them for corrections All other paines temporall and eternall are laid vpon euery one as God pleaseth by his Angells good or bad either for some sinne past or wherein the party afflicted now liueth or else to excercise and declare the vertue of his seruants For if one man hurt another a willingly or by chance it is an offence in him to doe any man harme by will or through ignorance but God whose secret iudgement assigned it to be so offendeth not at all As for temporall paine some endure it heere and some here-after and some both here and there yet all is past before the last iudgement But all shall not come into these eternall paines which not-with-standing shall bee
hath related their opinion concealing their names haue said something which although it be false because the soules returning into the bodies which they haue before managed will neuer after forsake them not-withstanding it serueth to stoppe the mouth of those babblers and to ouerthrow the strong hold of many arguments of that impossibility For they doe not thinke it an impossible thing which haue thought these things that dead bodies resolued into aire dust ashes humors bodies of deuouring beastes or of men them selues should returne againe to that they haue beene Wherefore let Plato and Porphyry or such rather as doe affect them and are now liuing if they accord with vs that holy soules shall returne to their bodies as Plato saith but not to returne to any eiuls as Porphyrie saith that that sequele may follow which our Christian faith doth declare to wit that they shall receiue such bodies as they shall liue happily in them eternally without any euill Let them I say assume and take this also from Varro that they returne to the same bodies in which they had beene before time and then there shall bee a sweete harmony betweene them concerning the resurrection of the flesh eternally L. VIVES FOr a certaine Three things moued not only Greece but the whole world to applaud Plato to wit integritie of life sanctity of precepts and eloquence The b dead Euseb lib. 11. thinketh that Plato learned the alteration of the world the resurrection and the iudgement of the damned out of the bookes of Moyses 〈◊〉 Plato relateth that all earthly thinges shall perish a cercaine space of time being expired and that the frame of the worlde shall bee moued and shaken with wonderfull and strange â—…otions not without a great destruction and ouerthrow of all liuing creatures and then that a little time after it shall rest and bee at quiet by the assistance of the highest God who shall receiue the gouernment of it that it may not fall and perish endowing it with an euerlasting flourishing estate and with immortalitie c For he declareth Herus Pamphilius who dyed in battell Plato in fine in lib. de rep writeth that he was restored to life the tenth day after his death Cicero saith macrob lib. 1. may be grieued that this fable was scoffed at although of the vnlearned knowing it well ynough him-selfe neuerthelesse auoyding the scandall of a foolish reprehension hee had rather tell it that he was raized than that he reuiued d Labeo Plin lib. 7. setteth downe some examples of them which being carried forth to their graue reuiued againe and Plutarch in 〈◊〉 de anima relateth that one Enarchus returned to life againe after hee died who said that his soule did depart indeed out of his bodie but by the commandement of Pluto it was restored to his bodie againe those hellish spirits being grieuously punished by their Prince who commaunded to bring one Nicandas a tanner and a wrastler forgetting their errant and foulie mistaking the man went to Enarchus in stead of Nicandas who dyed within a little while after e Genethliaci They are mathematicall pettie sooth-sayers or fortune-tellers which by the day of Natiuitie presage what shall happen in the whole course of mans life Gellius hath the Chaldaeans and the Genethliaci both in one place lib. 14. Against them saith he who name them-selues Caldaeans or Genethliaci and professe to prognosticate future thinges by the motion and posture of the stars f 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 Regeneration or a second birth Lactant. also lib. 7. rehearseth these wordes of Chrysippus the stoicke out of his booke de prouidentia by which he confirmeth a returne after death 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 c. And wee saith hee certaine reuolutions of time being complet and finished after our death shall be restored to the same figure and shape which we haue now Of the quality of the vision with which the Saintes shall see GOD in the world to come CHAP. 29. NOw lette vs see what the Saintes shall doe in their immortall and spirituall bodies their flesh liuing now no more carnally but spiritually so far forth as the Lord shal vouchsafe to enable vs. And truly what maner of action or a rather rest and quietnesse it shall be if I say the truth I know not For I haue neuer seene it by the sences of the bodie But if I shall say I haue seene it by the mind that is by the vnderstanding alasse how great or what is our vnderstanding in comparison of that exceeding excellencie For there is the peace of God which passeth all vnderstanding as the Apostle saith what vnderstanding but ours or peraduenture of all the holy Angels For it doth not passe the vnderstanding of God If therefore the Saintes shall liue in the peace of GOD without doubt they shall liue in that peace Which passeth all vnderstanding Now there is no doubt but that it passeth our vnderstanding But if it also passe the vnderstanding of Angels for hee seemeth not to except them when hee saith All vnderstanding then according to this saying wee ought to vnderstand that we are not able nor any Angels to know that peace where-with GOD him-selfe is pacified in such sort as GOD knoweth it But wee beeing made partakers of his peace according to the measure of our capacity shall obtaine a most excellent peace in vs and amongst vs and with him according to the quantity of our excellency In this manner the holy Angels according to their measure do know the same but men now doe know it in a farre lower degree although they excell in acuity of vnderstanding Wee must consider what a great man did say Wee know in part and we prophecie in part vntill that come which is perfect And wee see now in a glasse in a darke speaking but then wee shall see him face to face So doe the holy Angels now see which are called also our Angels because we beeing deliuered from the power of darkenesse and translated to the kingdome of God hauing receiued the pledge of the Spirite haue already begunne to pertaine to them with whome wee shall enioy that most holy and pleasant Cittie of God of which wee haue already written so many books So therefore the Angels are ours which are the Angels of God euen as the Christe of God is our Christe They are the Angels of GOD because they haue not forsaken God they are ours because they haue begunne to account vs their Cittizens For the Lord Iesus hath sayd Take heed you doe not despise one of these little ones For I say vnto you that their Angels doe alwayes beholde the face of my father which is in heauen As therefore they doe see so also we shall see but as yet wee doe not see so Wherefore the Apostle saith that which I haue spoken a little before We see now in a glasse in a dark speaking but then wee shal see him face to face
easily are they lost how quite doth deafenesse or blindnesse take away hearing and sight and then for the reason how soone is it subuerted by a phreneticall passion a Lethargy or so Oh it is able to wring teares from our eies to see the actions of phrenetique persons so wholy different nay so directly contrary vnto reasons direction what need I speake of the Dâ—…moniakes whose vnderstanding the diuel wholy dulleth and vseth all their powers of soule and body at his owne pleasure and what wise man can fully secure himselfe from these incursions Againe how weake is our apprehension of truth in this life when as we reade in the true booke of wisedome the corruptible body is heauy vnto the soule and the earthly mansion keepeth downe the minde that is full of cares And that same b 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 that violent motion vnto action c which they recken for one of natures first positiues in good men is it not that that effecteth those strange and horrible acts of madnesse when the reason sence are both besotted and obnubilate Besides vertue which is not from nature but commeth after wards from industry when it hath gotten the highest stand in humanity what other workehath it but a continuall fight against the in-bred vices that are inherent in our owne bosomes not in others chiefely that d 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 that temperance which suppresseth the lusts of the flesh and curbeth them from carying the mind away into mischiefe for that same is a vice when as the Apostle saith the flesh lusteth against the spirit and that contrary is a vertue when the spirit lusteth after the flesh for they saith hee are contrary so that you cannot do what you would And what would wee what is our desire in this perfection of God but that the flesh should not lust against the spirit and that there were no vice in vs against which the spirit should lust which since we cannot attaine in this life would wee neuer so faine let vs by God grace endeuour this that we do not subiect our spirit vnto the concupiscence of our flesh and so seale vnto the bond of sinne with a free consent So that farre bee it from vs euer to thinke that wee haue attayned the true happinesse whilst wee liue here Who is so wise but hath now and then divers fights against his owne lustes what is the office of prudence is it not to discerne betweene things to be chosen things to be refused to the end that no error be incurred in either This testifieth that there is euil in vs and that we are in euil It teacheth vs that it is euill to assent vnto sinne and good to avoyd it But yet neither can prudence nor temperance rid our liues of that euill which they fore-warne vs of and arme vs against And what e of Iustice that giueth euery one his due and the iust order of nature is that the soule bee vnder God the flesh vnder the soule and both together vnder God Is it not plaine that this is rather continually laboured then truely attained in this life for the lesse that the soule both meditate of God the lesse it serueth him and the more that the flesh lusteth against the soule the lesse command hath the soule ouer it wherefore as long as wee are obiected vnto this languour and corruption how dare we say we are safe or if not safe much more blessed by the perfection of attayned blesse Now there is also Fortitude another authenticall testimony of humaine miseries endured with Patience I wonder with what face the Stoikes deny these to bee euills of which f they confesse that if a wise man cannot or ought not to endure them hee may lawfully nay he must needs kill him-selfe and auoyd this life To this hight is their proud stupidity growne building all there beatitude vpon this life that if their wise man g were blind deafe lame and made the very hospitall of all agonies and anguish which shouldly so sore on him that they should force him be his owne death yet this life that is enuironed with all those plagues are not they ashamed to call blessed Osweete and blessed life which it is requisite that death do conclude for if it be blessed why then keepe it still but if those euills make it avoydable what is become of the blisse or what are these but euills that haue such power to subuert the good of fortitude making iâ—… not onely guilty of deiection but of dotage in affirming that one and the same life is blessed and yet must be auoyded who is so blind that seeth not that if it be the one it cannot possibly be the other O but say they the auoydance is caused by the effect of the ouerpressing infirmity why may they not aswell bid adue to obstinacy and confesse that it is wretched was it patience that made Cato kill him selfe no he would not haue done it but that he tooke Caesars victory so vnpatiently where was his fortitude now gone it yeelded and was so troden downe that it fled both light and life as blessed as it was Was not his life then blessed why then it was wretched Why then are not they true euills that can make ones life so wretched and so to be auoyded And therefore the Peripatetiques and old Academikes whose sect Varro stands wholy for did better in calling these accidents plainely euill But they haue one foule errour to hold his life that endureth these euills blessed if hee rid him-selfe from them by his owne voluntary destruction The paines and torments of the body are euill say they and the greater the worse which to avoyde you must willingly betake your selfe to death and leaue this life what life this that is so encombred with euills What is it then blessed amongst so many euills that must bee avoyded or call you it blessed because you may abandon these euills when you list by death what if some power diuine should hold you from dying and keepe you continually in those euills then you would say this were a wretched life indeed well the soone leauing of it maketh not against the misery of it because if it were eternall your selfe would iudge it miserable It is not quit of misery therefore because it is short nor much lesse is it happynesse in that the misery is short It must needes be a forcible euill that hath power to make a man nay and a wise man to be his owne executioner it being truely said by them-selues that it is as it were natures first and most forcible precept that a man should haue a deare respect of him-selfe and therefore avoyde the hand of death by very naturall instinct and so bee-friend him-selfe that hee should still desire to bee a liuing creature and enioy the coniunction of his soule and body Mighty are the euills that subdue this natural instinct which is in al men to desire to aviod death and subduing
it so farre that what was before abhorred should now be desired and rather then wanted effected by a mans owne hand Mighty is the mischiefe that maketh fortitude an homicide if that bee to bee called fortitude which yeeldeth so to these euills that it is faine to force him to kill him-selfe to auoyde these inconueniences whome it hath vndertaken to defend against all inconueniences Indede a wise man is to endure death with patience but that must come ab externo from another mans hand and not from his owne But these men teaching that hee may procure it to him-selfe must needs confesse that the euills are intollerable which ought to force a man to such an extreame inconuenience The life therefore that is liable to such a multitude of miseries can no way bee called happy if that men to auoyd this infelicity bee faine to giue it place by killing of them-selues and being conuinced by the certainty of reason are faine in this their quest of beatitude to giue place to the truth and to discerne that the perfection of beatitude is not resident in this mortall life when in mans greatest guifts the greater helpe they affoord him against anguish dangers and dolours the surer testimonies are they of humaine miseries For if true vertue can bee in none in whome there is no true piety then doe they not promise any many in whom they are any assurance from suffering of temporall sorrowes For true vertue may not dissemble in professing what it cannot performe but it aimeth at this onely that mans life which being in this world is turmoyled with all these extreames of sorrowes should in the life to come bee made pertaker both of safety and felicitie For how can that man haue felicitie that wanteth safety It is not therefore of the vnwise intemperate impacient or vniust that Saint Paul speaketh saying Wee are saued by hope but of the sonne of truepiety and obseruers of the reall vertues Hope that is seene is not hope for how can a man hope for that which hee seeth But if wee hope for that wee see not wee doe with patience abide for it Wherefore as wee are saued so are wee blessed by hope and as wee haue no holde of our safety no more haue wee of oâ—… felicity but by hope paciently expecting it and beeing as yet in a desert of thornie dangers all which wee must constantly endure vntill wee come to the paradise of all ineffable delights hauing then passed all the perills of encombrance This security in the life to come is the beatitude wee speake of which the Philosophers not beholding will not beleeue but forge them-selues an imaginarie blisse here wherein the more their vertue assumes to it selfe the falser it procues to the iudgement of all others L. VIVES TUlly a vpon Hee had two children Marke a sonne and Tullia a daughter marryed first to Piso-frugus Crassipes and afterwards to Cornel. Dolabella and dyed in child-bed Tully tooke her death with extreame griefe Pompey Caesar Sulpitius and many other worthy men sought to comfort him both by letters and visitation but all being in vaine hee set vp his rest to bee his owne comforter and wrote his booke called Consolatio vpon this subiect which is not now extant yet it is cited often both by him and others There-in hee saith hee bewailed the life of man in generall and comforted him-selfe in particular Tusc. quest 1. b 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 is to goe to any acte with vehemencie and vigor to goe roundly to worke 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 is the violence of passion that carieth euery creature head-long to affect or to auoyde and are conuersant onely about things naturally to bee affected or auoyded as the Stoikes say and Cato for one in Tully c Which they The instinct where-by wee affect our owne preseruation is of as high esteeme as eyther the witte or memorie for turne it away and the creature cannot liue long after d 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 Of this before e Of Iustice It comprehendeth both that distributiue change of estate and also vnto the line of reason and religion f They confesse Cic. de fin lib. 3. Tusc. quaest 4. g Were blinde It is a wise mans duty saith Cato the Stoike in Tully some-times to renounce the happiest 〈◊〉 So saith Seneca often h Ouer-passing infirmitie A diuersity of reading in the texts of Bruges and Basil but it is not to bee stood vpon i Natures first Cic. off 1. and De 〈◊〉 3. and 5. Of liuing sociably with our neighbour how fitt it is and yet how subiect to crosses CHAP. 5. WE doe worthily approoue their enioyning a wise man to liue in mutuall society for how should our Celestiall Citty the nineteene booke whereof wee now haue in hand haue euer come to originall to prolation or to perfection but that the Saints liue all in sociable vnion But yet what is he that can recount all the miseries incident vnto the societies of mortalls Here what the Comedian saith with a generall applause a I married a wife b O what misery wanted I then I begot children so there 's one care more And those inconueniences that Terence pins on the back of loue as c iniuries enmities warre peace againe do not all these lackey our mortality continually do not these foote some times into the friendliest affections and doth not all the world keepe these examples in continuall renouation as warre I meane iniuries enmities And our peace is as vncertaine as we are ignorant of their affects with whome wee hold it and though we nigh know to day what they would do to morrow we shall not Who should be greater friends then those of one family yet what a many secret plots of malice lye euen amongst such to expell security their firmer peace becomming fouler malice and being reputed most loyall whereas it was onely most craftily faigned the far spread contagion of this made Tully let this saying runne out with his teares Treason is neuer so close carried as when it lurketh vnder the name of duty or affinity An open foe is easily watched but this your secret serpent both breedes and strikes ere euer you can discouer it Wherefore that which the holy scripture saith d A mans enemies are the men of his house this wee heare with great greefe for though a man haue fortitude to endure it or preuention to auoyde it yet if hee bee a good man hee must needes take great griefe at the badnesse of those so neare him bee it that they haue beene vsed vnto this viperous dissimulation of old or haue learnt it but of late So then if a mans owne priuate house affoord him no shelter from these incursions what shall the citty doe which as it is larger so is it fuller of brables and sutes and quarrels and accusations to grant the absence of seditions and ciuill contentions which are too often present and whereof the Citties are in continuall danger