town of Champaigne to remoue the siege wherewith it was girt by the Duke of Burgoine and other of the English captaines Sir Iohn Leupembrough a Burgonian knight took her aliue and conueied her to the city of Roane where she faining her self with child when the contrarie was knowne was condemned and burnt And thus these two holy women that in a diuerse kind mocked the people of England and France by their hypocrisie by the iustice of God came to deserued destructions CHAP. XXIII Of Coniurers and Enchanters IF God by his first commandement hath enioined euery one of vs to loue serue and cleaue unto him alone in the coniunction and vnity of a true faith and hope vnremoueable there is no doubt but he forbiddeth on the other side that which is contrarie to this foresaid dutie and herein especially that cursed familiarity which diuerse miserable wretches haue with that lying spirit the father of error by whose delusions and subtiltie they busie themselues in the studie of sorceries and enchantments wherevpon it is forbidden the Israelites in the nineteenth of Leuiticus Leuit. 19.31 to turne after familiar spirites or to seeke to soothsayers to bee defiled by them and the more to withdraw men from this damnable crime in the chapter following there is a threat set downe against it in manner of a commandement 20.27 That if either man or woman haue a spirit of diuination or soothsaying in them they should die the death they should stone them to death their blood should be vpon them Exod. 22.18 so in the twentie two of Exodus the law of God saith Thou shalt not suffer a witch to liue and Moses following the same steps giueth an expresse charge in in the eighteenth of Deutronotny against this sinne saying Let none bee found among thee that vseth witchcraft Deu. 18.10.11 nor that regardeth the clouds or times nor a sorcerer or a charmer or that counselleth with a spirit or a teller of fortunes or that asketh counsell at the dead for all that doe such things are abhomination vnto the Lord 1. Sam. 15. Isay 8.19.20 and therefore this sinne in the 1. Sam. 15. Is reputed amongst the most hainous and enormous sinnes that can bee When they shall say vnto you saith the Prophet enquire at them that haue a spirit of diuination and at the soothsaier which whisper and murmure answer Should not a people inquire at their God From the liuing to the dead To the law and to the testimony Wherfore it was a commendable thing and worthy the imitation when they that had receiued the faith by Paules preaching Acts. 19.19 hauing before vsed curious arts as Magicke and such like being touched with the feare of God brought their bookes and burned them before all men although the price thereof amounted to fifty thousand peeces of siluer which by Budeus his supputatiō ariseth to fiue thousand French crownes The counsels as that of Carthage and that other of Constantinople kept the second time in the suburbes vtterly condemned the practise of all coniurers and enchanters The twelue tables in Rome adiudged to punishmēts those that bewitched the standing corn And for the ciuill law this kind is condemned both by the law Iulia and Cornelia In like manner the wisest Emperours those I meane that attained to the honor of Christianity ordained diuerse edicts and prohibitions vnder very shape greeuous punishments against all such villanie as Constantine in the ninth booke of the Cod. tit 18. enacted that whosoeuer should attempt any action by art Magicke against the safety of any person or should bring in or stirre vp any man to make him fall into any mischiefe or riotous demeanour should suffer a greeuous punishment in the fifth law hee forbiddeth euery man to aske counsaile at witches or to vse the helpe of charmers and sorcerers vnder the paine of death Let them saith hee in the sixt law bee throwne to wild beasts to bee deuoured that by coniuring or the helpe of familiar spirits go about to kill either their enemies or any other Moreouer in the seuenth law hee willeth that not so much as his owne courtiers and seruants if they were found faulty in this crime should be spared but seuerely punished yet neuerthelesse many of this age giue themselues ouer to this filthy sinne without either feare of God or respect of law Some thorough a foolish and dangerous curiositie others through the ouerruling of their owne vile and wicked affections and a third sort troubled with the terrours of an euill conscience desire to know what shall befall and happen vnto them in the end Thus Saul the first king of Israel being troubled in himselfe terrified with the army of the Philistims that came against him would needs foreknow his owne fortune and the issue of this doubtfull warre Now whereas before whilst he perfourmed the duty of a good king and obeied the commaundement of God hee had cleansed his realme of witches and enchaunters yet is he now so mad as to make them serue his owne turne and to vse their counsels in his extremitie adding this wickednesse to the number of his other great sinnes that the measure thereof might be full hee went therefore to a witch to seeke counsell who caused a deuill to appeare and speake unto him in the shape of Samuel and foretell him of Gods iust iudgement vpon his wickednesse his vtter and finall ruine and destruction Plutarch in the life of Romulus reporteth of one Cleomedes a man in proportion of body and cruell practises Plutarch Romulus huge and giantlike who for that hee was the cause of the death of many little children and was pursued by the parents of those dead infants who sought to be reuenged on him for that cruell part hee hid himselfe in a coffer closing the lid fast to him but when the coffer was broken vp the coniurer was not therein neither aliue nor dead but was transported by the malicious spirit the deuill vnto a place of greater torment Ancient histories make mention of one Piso a man of credit and authoritie among the Romanes Tacit. whome the Emperour Tiberius gaue vnto his sonne Germanicus for an helper counsellour in the managing of his affaires in Asia so well was he perswaded both of his sufficiencie courage and loialtie towards him It chanced a while after that hee was suspected to haue bewitched to death the said Germanicus the signes markes of which suspition were certaine dead mens bones digged out of the earth with diuers charmes and curses and Germanicus name engrauen in tables of lead and such like trash which witches exercise to murder men withall were found with him whereupon Tiberius himselfe accused him of that crime but would not haue the ordinary iudges to sit vpon it but by speciall priuiledge committed the enquiry thereof vnto the Senate Pise when euery man thought hee was preparing himselfe for his defence against the morrow like
necessarie points concerning this matter CHAP. IIII. How the iustice of God is more euidently declared vpon the mighty ones of this world then vpon any other and the cause why SEeing then that these men are more guiltie and culpable of sinne then any other they deserue so much a more grieuous punishment by how much their misdeedes are more grieuous Psal 58 11. for doubtlesse There is a God that iudgeth the earth as the Psalmist saith who as he is benigne and mercifull towards those that fear and obey him so he will not suffer iniquitie to goe vnpunished This is he saith the Prophet that executeth iustice mercie and iudgement vpon the earth for if it be the dutie of an earthly prince to exercise not onely clemencie and gentlenesse but also sharpenesse and seueritie thereby by punishing and chastising malefactors to suppresse all disorders in the Commonwealth then it is verie necessarie that the iustice of our great God to whom all soueraine rule and authority belongeth and who is the Iudge of the whole world should either manifest it selfe in this world or in the world to come and chiefly towardes them which are in the highest places of account who being more hardned and bold to sinne doe as boldly exempt themselues from all corrections and punishments due vnto them being altogether vnwilling to bee subiect to any order of iustice or law whatsoeuer and therefore by how much the more they cannot bee punished by man and that humane lawes can lay no hold vpon them so much the rather God himselfe becommeth executioner of his owne iustice vpon their pates and in such sort that euery man may perceiue his hand to be vpon them Let anie aduersitie or affliction light vpon a man of low degree or vvhich is poore and desolate no man considereth of it rightly but talking thereof men cease not to impute the cause of this poore soules miserie either to pouertie or want of succour or some other such like cause Therefore if anie such be in griefe or by chance fallen into some pit and drowned or robbed killed in the way by theeues straight way this is the saying of the vvorld That it commeth thus to passe either because hee vvas alone without companie or destitute of helpe or not well looked to and regarded and thus they passe ouer the matter But as concerning great men vvhen they are anie vvay afflicted no such pretences or excuses can be alleaged seeing they want neither seruants to attend vpon them nor any other means of help to succour them therefore when these men are ouertaken and surprised vvith anie great euill which by no meanes they can eschew whē their bold and wicked enterprises are pursued concluded with strange and lamentable euents in this wee must acknowledge an especiall hand of God who can entangle and pull downe the prowdest and arrogantest he that liues those whom the world feareth to meddle vvith all these prowd gallants are they against whom God displaieth his banner of power more openly then against meaner and baser persons because these poore soules find oftentimes to their paines that they are punished vvithout cause and tormented and vexed by those Tyrants not hauing committed any offence at all to deserue it whereas as Philip Comine saith vvho dare be so bold as to controll or reprehend a King and his fauorites or to make inquirie of his misdeedes or hauing made inquisition of them who dare presume to enforme the Iudge thereof Who dare stand vp to accuse them Who dare sit downe to iudge them Nay vvho dare take knowledge of them And lastly vvho dare assay to punish them Seeing then in this case that our vvorldly iustice hath her handes bound behind her from executing that which is right it must needs bee that the soueraine Monarch of heauen and earth should mount vp into his throne of iudgement and from thence giue his definitiue vnchaungeable sentence to deliuer vp the most guilty and hainous sinners to those paines and torments which they haue deserued and that after a strange and extraordinarie manner which may serue for an example to all others CHAP. V. How all men both by the law of God and Nature are inexcusable in their sinners NOw to the end that no man should pretend ignorance for an excuse God hath bestowed vpon euery one a certaine knowledge and iudgement of good and euill which being naturally engraued in the tables of mans heart is commonly called The law of nature whereby euery man 's owne conscience giueth sufficient testimony vnto it selfe when in his most secret thoughts it either accuseth or excuseth him for there is not a man liuing which doth not know in his owne heart that he doth an euill deed when he wrongeth another although he had neuer bene instructed elsewhere in that point So although that in Tarquinius Superbus time Cicero saith there was no written law established in Rome forbidding the rauishing and deflouring of wiues and virgines yet the wicked sonne of this Tarquine was not therefore lesse guilty of an hainous crime when contrary to the law of nature hee violently robbed Lucrece of her chastity for no man can be ignorant that it is a most grieuous crime to lay siege to the chastitie of a maried woman with such outrage and so the whole people of Rome did esteeme of it as a crime most wicked strange and intollerable and worthy of grieuous punishment Euery man knoweth thus much that he ought not to do that to another which he would not another should do to him which sentence the Emperour Seuerus made alwaies to be spoken aloud and declared by the sound of the trumpet in the way of aduertisement as often as punishment was taken vpon any offender as if it were a generall law pertaining to all men This is that equity iustice which ought to be ingrafted in our hearts wherof nature herself is the schoolmistresse from this fountaine all humane and ciuill lawes are deriued if we had not rather say that they are deriued from that true spring of equity which is in the law of God which law he hath giuen for a plaine and familiar manifestation of his will concerning iust holy and reasonable things touching the seruice honour and glorie which is due vnto himselfe and the mutuall dutie friendship and good will which men owe one to another whereunto he exhorteth and entiseth euery one by faire and gratious promises and forbiddeth the contrarie by great and terrible threatnings so gentle mercifull is he towards vs and desirous of our good This is that law which was published before the face of more then six hundred thousand persons with the mighty resoūding noise of trumpet with earthquake fire and smoke with thunders lightnings to make men more attentiue to heare more prepared to receiue it with all humility feare reuerence also to put them in mind that if they were disobedient rebellious he
humbled vnder so grieuous a scourge as neuer forsook him til his death When the arke of the couenant was in bringing from Abinadabs house in Kyriathiarim in a cart guided by Vzza and Ahio Abinadabs sonnes 1. Sam. 6. 1. Chron. 13. it fell out by the way that it being shaken by the oxen vnfit seruitors for such a worke Vzza put forth his hand to hold it but therin he went beyond his charge therefore was punished forthwith with present death for his inconsiderate rashnes for albeit he was both a Leuit and thought no euill in his heart yet in no respect was he licenced to touch the arke being a thing lawfull for the Priests onely Let therefore euery one bee aduised by these examples to follow that rule in seruing God which is by him designed in all simplicitie modesty and obedience without altering or declining or vndertaking any thing aboue or beside their calling CHAP. XXIX Of Periurers THe third commandement which is Thou shalt not take the name of the Lord thy God in vaine is first and especially broken by periurie when God is so lightly esteemed nay so despised that without any regard had to his name that is to say to his greatnes maiesty power diuine vertue and fearfull iustice for these be his names men by fraud and malice abuse their othes either in denying that which is true or affirming that which is vntrue or neglecting their promises made vowed to others for this is neither to haue respect vnto his presence who is euery where nor reuerence to his maiestie who is God of heauen and earth but rather to make him bear witnes to our lie falshood as if he approued it or had no power to reuenge the iniury dishonor done vnto him And therfore against such in threatning words he denounceth this iudgement that Hee will not hold him guiltlesse that taketh his name in vain Howbeit very many ouerboldly giue themselues ouer to this sinne making little or no conscience to cousen one another euen by forswearings whereby they giue most cleare euidence against themselues that they haue very little feare of God before their eies and are not guided by any other rule saue of their owne affections by which they square-out and build their othes and pull them downe againe at their pleasures for let it be a matter of vantage and then they wil keepe them but straightway if a contrarie persuasion come in their braine they will cancell them by and by wherein they deale farre worse and more iniuriously with God then with their knowne enemies for hee that contrarie to his sworne faith deceiueth his enemie declareth that therein he feareth him but feareth not God and careth for him but contemneth God It was therefore not-without good reason that all antiquity euer marked thē with the coat of infamie that forswore themselues And therevpon it is that Homer so often taunteth the Troians by reason of their so vsuall periuries Diod. lib. 2. ca. 2. The Aegyptians had them in detestation as prophane persons and reputed it so capitall a crime that whosoeuer was conuinced thereof was punished by death The ancient Romanes reuerenced nothing more then Faith in publicke affaires for which cause they had in their city a temple dedicated to it wherein for a more streight bond they vsed solemnly to promise and sweare to all the conditions of peace truces and bargaines which they made and to curse those which went about first to breake them for greater solemnitie and confirmation hereof they were accustomed at those times to offer sacrifices to the image of faith for more reuerence sake Hence it was that Attilius Regulus chiefe captaine of the Romane army against the Carthaginians was so highly commended of all men because when hee was ouercome and taken prisoner and sent to Rome he only for his othes sake which hee had sworne returned againe to the enemie albeit hee knew what greeuous torments were prouided for him at his returne Others also that came with him though they were entreated and by their parents wiues and allies instantly vrged not to returne to Hannibals campe could in no wise bee moued therevnto but because they had sworne to the enemie if the Romans did not accord to those conditions which were offered to come againe they preferred the bond and reuerence of their promised faith though accompanied with perpetuall captiuity before their priuate commodities and neerest linke of affection But two of those ten for so many were they falsified their oth whatsoeuer mist they may cast to darken and disguise their periurie with yet were they condemned of all men for cowards and fainthearted traitors in so much that the Censors also noted them with infamie for the fact whereat they tooke such griefe and inward sorrow that being wearie of their liues they slew themselues Now what can they pretend that professe themselues Christians and Catholickes to excuse their periuries Cic. offic lib. 1. seeing that the very Heathen crie out so loud and cleare that an oth and faith is so sacredly to be kept towards our enemies This is one of the greatest vertues and commendations which the Psalmist attributeth to the faithfull man and him that feareth God and whome God auoucheth for his owne Psal 15. Iosh 9. not to falsifie his oth that he sweared though it bee to his dammage The Gibaonites although they were so execrable a people that for their great and horrible wickednesses and abhominations they might be well esteemed for Heretikes yet the Princes of Israell after they had sworne and giuen their faith vnto them would in no wise retract or goe against their oth albeit therein they were abused deceiued by them for feare of incurring the wtath of God that suffereth not a periurer to go vnpunished Vpon what ground or example of holy Scripture then may that doctrine of the counsell of Constance bee founded the purport whereof is That a man ought not to keepe his faith to Heretiks I omit to speake how these good fathers by Heretikes meant those men who fearing God relied themselues vpon his word and reiected the foolish and superstitious inuentions of men And vnder what colour can the Popes vsurpe this authoritie to quit and discharge subiects of their oth wherwith they are bound to their superiors yet this was the impious audacity of Pope Zacharia pope Boniface the eight and pope Benedict de la Lune Platina who freed the Frenchmen from their dutie and obedience which they ought vnto their kings In like manner disgorged Gregory the seuenth his choller and spite against the Emperour Henry by forbidding his subiects to be his subiects Enguerran de Monstrelet and to yeeld that obedience vnto him which subiects were bound to doe Howbeit if an oath be made either against God or to the dammage and hurt of our neighbour it being for that cause vnlawfull it behooueth vs to know that we ought to reuoke it
with this iudgement he caused his wife to bring forth a child with a head like a dog that seeing hee preferred his dogs before the seruice of God he might haue one of his owne getting to make much of At Kimstat a town in France Iob. Fincel lib. 3. de mirac there liued in the yere of our Lord 1559 a certaine couetous woman who was so eager vpon the word and greedy of gaine that she would neither frequent the Church to heare the word of God her selfe nor suffer any of her family to do it but continually abode labouring and toiling about drying and pilling flax and doing other domesticall businesses neither would shee be reclaimed by her neighbors who admonished and dehorted her from such vntimely workes One Sabbath day as they were thus busily occupied fire seemed to issue among the flaxe without doing any hurt the next Sabbath day it tooke fire indeed but was quickly extinct for all this shee continued obstinate in her prophanenesse euen the third Sabbath when the flax againe taking fire could not be quenched till it had burnt her two of her children to death for though they were recouered out of the fire aliue yet the next day they all three died And that which was most to be wondred at a young infant in the cradle was taken out of the midst of the flame without any hurt Thus God vseth to exercise his iudgements vpon the contemners of his commandements Cent. 12. cap. 6. The Centuriators of Magdeburge intreating of the manners of Christians made report out of another history that a certaine husbandman in Parochia Gemilacensi grinding corne vpon the Lords day the meale began to burne Anno Dom. 1126 which though it might seeme to be a thing more casuall Ecclesiast hist. Cent. 12. ibid. yet they set it down as a iudgement of God vpō him for breaking the Sabbath As also of that which they speake in the same place of one of the kings of Denmark who when as he contrary to the admonition of the priests who desired him to defer it would needs vpō the day of Pentecost make war with his enemy died in the battell But that may be better known to vs all which is written in the 2 book of Machabes of Nicanor the Iewes enemy who would needs set vpon them on the Sabbath from which whē other the Iewes that were compelled to be with him could no way dissuade him he was slaine in the battell and most miserably but deseruedly handled euen the parts of his body shamefully dismembred as in that history you may read more at large Concil Paris lib. 1. cap. 50. Therfore in the councill at Paris euery one labouring to persuade vnto a more religious keeping of the Sabbath day when they had iustly cōplained that as many other things so also the obseruation of the Sabbath was greatly decaied through the abuse of Christian liberty in that men too much followed the delights of the world and their owne worldly pleasures both wicked and dangerous they further adde Multi nanque nostrum visu multi etiam quorundam relatu didicimus c. For many of vs haue bene eye witnesses many haue intelligence of it by the relation of others that some men vpon this day being about their husbandry haue beene stricken with thunder some haue beene maimed and made lame some haue had their bodies euen bones and all burnt in a moment with visible fire and haue consumed to ashes and many other iudgements of God haue bene and are daily whereby it is declared that God is offended with the dishonor of so high a day And our time hath not wanted examples in this kind whosoeuer hath obserued them when sometimes in the faires vpon this day the wares haue swom in the streets somtimes the scaffolds at plaies haue fallen downe to the hurting endangering of many somtime one thing somtime another haue fallen out and that which is most strange within these late yeres a whole town hath bene twise burnt for the breach of the Sabbath by the inhabitants The iust report thereof because I probably know not I passe ouer here to set downe vntill such time as I shall be better instructed Famous and memorable also is that example which happened at London in the yeere 1583 at Paris garden where vpon the Sabbath day were gathered togither as accustomably they vsed great multitudes of prophane people to behold the fport of bearbaiting without respect of the Lords day or any exercise of religiō required therin which profane impiety the Lord that he might chasten in some sort shew his dislike therof he caused the scaffolds suddenly to breake and the beholders to tumble headlong downe so that to the number of eight persons men women were slain therwith besides many others which were sore hurt bruised to the shortning of their daies Surely a friendly warning to such as more delight themselues with the cruelty of beasts vaine sports than with the works of mercy religion the fruits of a true faith which ought to be the sabbath daies exercise And thus much for the examples of the first table wherof if some seeme to exceed credit by reason of the strangenes of them yet let vs know that nothing is impossible to God and that he doth often worke miracles to controll the obstinate impietie and rebellion of mortall men against his commaundements Besides there is not one example here mentioned but it hath a credible or probable authour for the auoucher of it Let vs now out of all this that hath beene spoken gather vp this wholsome lesson to loue God with all our heart and affection to the end wee may worship him inuocate his holy name and repose all the confidence of our saluation vpon him alone through Christ Iesus seeking by pleasing and obeying his will to set forth his glorie and render him due thankes for all his benefits FINIS The second Booke CHAP. I. Of rebellious and stubborne children towards their parents WEe haue seene in the former booke what punishments they haue incurred that either malitiously or otherwise haue transgressed and broken the commandements of the first Table Now it followeth to discouer the chastisements which God hath sent vpon the transgressours of the second Table And first concerning the first commandement thereof which is Honour thy father and mother that thy daies may be prolonged in the land which the Lord thy God hath giuen thee Cham one of old Noahs sonnes Gen. 9. was guilty of the breach of this commandement who instead of perfourming that reuerence to his father which hee ought and that presently after the deluge which being yet fresh in memory might haue taught him to walke in the feare of God came so short of his duty that when he saw his nakednesse hee did not hide it but mocked and iested at it for which cause hee was cursed both of his father and of God
Elerius Plinie lib. 7. two Romane knights that died in the very action of filthinesse Theodebert the eldest sonne of Clotharius Mich. Rit Neap. died amidst his whores to whom he was though married too too much addicted The like befell one Bertrane Ferrier Lib. de obedi at Barselon in Spaine according to the report of Pontanus In like manner there was one Giachet Geneue of Saluces Fulgos lib. 9. cap. 12. a man that had both wife and children of his owne of good yeares well learned and of good esteeme amongst his neighbor citizens that secretly haunted the company of a yong woman with whō being coupled one euening in his studie he sodainly died his wife and children seeing his long tarriance when time required to goe to bed called him and knockt at his dore very hard but when no answere was made they broke open the dores that were locked on the inner side and found him to their great griefe and dismay lying vpon the woman starke dead and her dead also Claudius of Asses counsellour of the Parliament of Paris a man very euill affected towards the professors of the Gospell committed villanie with one of his waighting maids in the very middest whereof hee was taken with an apoplexie which immediately after made an end of him CHAP. XXI Shewing that Stues ought not to be suffered amongst Christians BY this which hath beene spoken it appeareth manifestly how infamous a thing it is among Christians to priuiledge and allow publike places for adulteries albeit it is a common thing in the greatest cities of Europe yea and in the very bowels of Christendome where no such villanie should be tollerated There is nothing that can cast any coulor of excuse vpon it seeing it is expressely contrarie to Gods edict in many places as first Thou shalt not commit Adulterie And in the 19 of Leuit. 29. Thou shalt not pollute thy daughter in prostituting her to be a whore least the land bee defiled with whoredome and filled with wickednesse And in Deut. 23.17 Let there bee no whore of the daughters of Israell neither a whorekeeper of the sonnes of Israel this is the decree of God and the rule which hee hath giuen vs to square our affections by and it admitteth no dispensation But some doe obiect that those things are tollerated to auoid greater mischiefes as though the Lord were not well aduised when he gaue forth those commandements or that mortall men had more discretion than the immortall God This truly is nothing els but to reiect and disanull that which Saint Paul requireth as a duty of al Christians Ephes 5. namely That fornication and all vncleannesse should not once be named amongst vs neither filthinesse foolish talking or ieasting which are things not comely for so much as no whoremonger nor vncleane person can haue any inheritance in the kingdome of God Dial 3. Plato the Philosopher though a Panym and ignorant of the knowledge of the true God forbad expressely in his Commonwealth Poets and Painters to represent or set to the view any vncleane and lasciuious counterfeit whereby good manners might bee any waies depraued Lib. 7. cap. 7. Aristotle following his maisters steps ordained in his Politiques That all filthie communication should bee banished out of his city How farre were they then from giuing leaue and libertie for filthie and stinking brothel-houses to bee erected and maintained In this therefore the very Heathen are a shame and reproch to those that call themselues Christians and Catholiques Besides the goodly reason which they alledge for their vpholding of their stewes is so farre from the truth that the contrarie is euer truer namely that by their odious and dishonest libertie more euill ariseth to the world than otherwise would in so much as it setteth open a wide dore to al dissolutenesse and whoredomes an occasion of lecherie and vncleannesse euen to those that otherwise would abstaine from all such filthie actions How many young folke are there aswell men as women that by this means giue themselues ouer to loosenesse and vndoe themselues vtterly how many murthers are haue beene and still will bee committed thereby What a disorder confusion and ignomie of nature is it for a father to lie with her with whom his son had been but a little before Or the sonne to come after the father and such like but by the iust iudgement of God it commeth to passe that that which is thought to be enclosed within the precincts of certaine appointed places spreadeth it selfe at large so farre that oftentimes whole streetes and cities are poysoned yea euen their houses who in regard of their place either in the law or pollicie ought to stop the streame of such vices nay which is more meruaile they that with open mouth vaunt themselues to bee Gods Leiutenants on earth Christs vicars and successors to his Apostles are so filthie and abhominable as to suffer publicke bauds and whores to be vnder their noses vncontrouled and which is more to enrich their treasures by their traffique Cornelius Agrippa saith that of all the hee-bauds of his time Pope Sextus was most infamous for hee builded a most glorious and stately Stues if any state or glorie can abide in so bad a place aswell for common Adulterie as vnnaturall Sodomy to bee exercised in Hee vsed as Heliogabalus was wont to doe to maintain heards of whores with whom he participated his friends and seruants as they stood in need and by Adulteries reared yearely great reuenues into his purse Baleus sayth that at this day euery whore in Rome paies tribute to the Pope a Iulle which amounted then to twentie thousand dukats by the yeare at least but now the number is so encreased that it ariseth to fortie thousand I thinke there is none ignorant how Pope Paule the third had by computation fiue and fortie thousand whores and courtizans that paid him a monthly tribute for their whoredomes and thus also this holy father was a protector and vpholder of the Stues and deserued by his villanous behauiour for hee was one of the lewdest Adulterers of that time to beare the name of the maister and erector of these filthie places And herein both hee and the rest of that crue haue shewed themselues enemies to God and true Antichrists indeed and haue not onely imitated but farre surpassed shamelesse and wicked Caligula in all filthie and monstrous dealings Deut. 23. Thou shalt not saith Moses bring the hire of a whore into the house of the Lord thy God for any vow by what title then can these honest men exact so great a rent from their whorish tenants seeing it is by the law of God a thing so abhominable truly it can no otherwise bee but a kind of art of bauderie as may bee gathered out of the law which is in F. de ritu nuptius L. palam Qui habet mancipia c. the meaning whereof is That hee which for gaine
and hardening himselfe in his sinne that contrariwise he cast downe and humbled himselfe and craued pardon and forgiuenesse at the hand of God with all his heart and true repentance not like to such as grow obstinate in their sinnes and wickednesse and make themselues beleeue all things are lawfull for them although they be neuer so vile and dishonest This therefore that wee haue spoken concerning Dauid is not to place him among the number of leud and wicked liuers but to shew by his chastisements beeing a man after Gods owne heart how odious and displeasant this sinne of Adultery is to the Lord and what punishment all others are to expect that wallow therein since hee spared not him whome he so much loued and fauoured CHAP. XXVI Other examples like vnto the former THe history of the rauishment of Helene registred by so many worthy and excellent authours and the great euils that pursued the same Herodot lib. 2. is not to be counted altogither an idle fable Thucyd. or an inuention of pleasure seeing that it is sure that vpon that occasion great and huge warre arose betweene the Greeians and the Troianes during the which the whole countrey was hauocked many cities and townes destroied much blood shed and thousands of men discomfited amongst whome the rauisher and adulterer himselfe to wit Paris the chiefe moouer of all those miserable tragedies escaped not the edge of the sword no nor that famous citie Troy which entertained and maintained the adulterers within her wals went vnpunished but at last was taken and destroied by fire and sword In which sacking old and gray headed king Priam with all the remnant of his halfe slaine sonnes were togither murdered his wife and daughters were taken prisoners and exposed to the mercy of their enemies his whole kingdome was entirely spoiled and his house quite defaced and well nigh all the Troiane nobilitie extinguished and as touching the whore Helene her selfe whose disloialtie gaue consent to the wicked enterprise of forsaking her husbands house and following a stranger shee was not exempt from punishment for as some writers affirme shee was slaine at the sacke but according to others Anton. Vols vpon Ouids epist of Hermione to Orestes she was at that time spared and entertained againe by Menelaus her husband but after his death shee was banished in her old age and constrained for her last refuge beeing both destitute of reliefe and succour and forsaken of kinsfolkes and friends to flie to Rhodes where at length contrary to her hope shee was put to a shamefull death euen hanging on a tree which shee long time before deserued Tit. Liu. The iniury and dishonour done to Lucrece the wife of Collatinus by Sextus Tarquinius sonne to Superbus the last king of Rome Rape l. 2. c. 19. was cause of much trouble and disquietnesse in the city and elsewhere for first shee not able to endure the great iniury and indignity which was done vnto her pushed forward with anger and despite slue her selfe in the presence of her husband and kinsfolke notwithstanding all their desires and willingnesse to cleare her from all blame with whose death the Romans were so stirred prouoked against Sextus the sonne and Tarquinius the father that they rebelled forthwith and when hee should enter the city shut the gates against him neither would receiue or acknowledge him euer after for their king Whereupon ensued warre abroad and alteration of the state at home for after that time Rome endured no more king to beare rule ouer them but in their roome created two Consuls to be their gouernours which kind of gouernment continued to Iulius Caesars time Thus was Tarquinius the father shamefully deposed from his crowne for the adultery or rather rape of his sonne and Tarquinius the sonne slaine by the Sabians for the robberies and murders which by his fathers aduise he committed amongst them and hee himselfe not long after in the warre which by the Tuscane succours hee renued against Rome to recouer his lost estate Plutarch in the life publick was discomfited with them and slaine in the midst of the rout In the Emperour Valentinianus time the first of that name many women of great account and parentage were for committing adulterie put to death as testifieth Ammianus Marcellinus When Europe after the horrible wasting and great ruines which it suffered by the furious inuasion of Attilia Lib. 28. began to take a litle breath and find some ease behold a new trouble more hurtfull and pernicious than the former came vpon it by meanes of the filthy leachery and lust of the Emperour Valentinianus the third of that name who by reason of his euill bringing vp Procop. and gouernment vnder his mother Placidia being too much subiect to his owne voluptuousnesse and tied to his owne desires dishonoured the wife of Petronius Maximus a Senatour of Rome by forcing her to his pleasure an act indeed that cost him his life and many more beside and that drew after it the finall destruction of the Romane Empire and the horrible besacking and desolation of the city of Rome For the Emperour being thus taken and set on fire with the loue of this woman through the excellent beauty wherewith shee was endued endeauoured first to entice her to his lust by faire allurements and seeing that the bulwarke of her vertuous chastity would not by this meanes be shaken but that all his pursuit was still in vaine hee tried a new course and attempted to get her by deceit and pollicy which to bring about one day setting himselfe to play with her husband Maximus he woon of him his ring which he no sooner had but secretly he sent it to his wife in her husbands name with this commaundement That by that token shee should come presently to the court to do her duty to the Empresse Eudoxia shee seeing her husbands ring doubted nothing but came forthwith as shee was commanded where whilst she was entertained by certaine suborned women whome the Emperour had set on he himselfe commeth in place and discloseth vnto her his whole loue which he said he could no longer represse but must needs satisfie if not by faire meanes at least by force and compulsion and so he constrained her to his lust Her husband aduertised hereof Rape l. 2. c. 19. intended to reuenge this iniury vpon the Emperor with his owne hand but seeing he could not execute his purpose whilst Actius the captain generall of Valentinianus army liued a man greatly reuerenced and feared for his mighty and famous exploits atchieued in the warres against the Burgundians Gothes and Attila he found meanes by suggesting a false accusation of treason against him which made him to be hated and suspected of the Emperour to worke his death After that Actius was thus traiterously and vnworthily slaine the griefe of infinite numbers of people for him in regard of his great vertues and good seruice which he had
he knoweth hee shall rather run into further charge than recouer any of his old losse Beside this it happeneth that poore small theeues are often drawne to the whip or driuen to banishment or sent to the gallows when rich grand theeues lie at their ease and escape vncontrouled albeit the qualitie of their crime bee far vnequal according to the Poet The simple doue by law is censured Dat veniam coruis vexat censura columbas When rauenous crowes escape vnpunished The world was euer yet full of such rauenous rauens so nimble in pilling others goods and so greedy of their owne gaine that the poore people in steed of being maintained and preserued in the peaceable enioying of their portions are gnawne to the very bones amongst them for which cause Homer in the person of Agamemnon calleth them deuourers of men likewise also the Prophet Dauid in the sixteenth Psalme calleth them eaters of his people and yet want they not flatterers and trencher-friends Canckerwoms of a Cōmonwealth that vrge thē forwards deuise daily new kind of exactions like horseleaches to sucke out the very blood of mens purses shewing so much the more wit deceit therein by how much the more they hope to gaine a great part therof vnto their selues being like hungerstarued Harpeis that will neuer bee satisfied but still snatch and catch al that commeth neare their clouches and these are they that doe good to no man but hurt to all of whom the Marchant findeth himselfe agreeued the Artificer troden vnder foot the poore laborer oppressed and generally all men endamaged CHAP. XXXVI Of the excessiue burdenings of the Comminaltie AS it is a iust approued thing before God to doe honor and reuerence to kings and Princes and to bee subiect vnder them in all obedience so it is a reasonable and allowable duty to pay such tributes and subsidies whereby their great charges honourable estate may bee maintained as by right of equitie are due vnto thē and this is also commanded by our Sauior Christ in expresse words when hee saith Mat. 22.21 Giue vnto Caesar that which is Caesars And by the Apostle Paule more expressely Rom. 31.7 pay tributes render vnto all men their due tribute to whome tribute belongeth and custome to whom custome Marke how hee saith Giue vnto all men their due and therein obserue that kings and princes ought of their good and iust disposition bee content with their due and not seeke to load and ouercharge their subiects with vnnecessary exactions but to desire to see them rather rich and wealthie than poore and needy for thereby commeth no profite vnto themselues further it is most vnlawfull for them to exact that aboue measure vpon their commons which being in mediocrity is not condemned I say it is vnlawfull both by the law of God and man the law of God and man is termed all that which both God and man allow and agree vpon and which a man with a safe conscience may put in practise for the former we can haue no other schoolmaster nor instruction saue the holy scripture wherein God hath manifested his will vnto vs concerning this very matter as in Deuteronom 18 speaking of the office and duty of a king he forbiddeth them to be horders vp of gold and siluer and espousers of many wiues and louers of pride signifying thereby that they ought to containe themselues within the bounds of modestie and temperance and not giue the raines to their owne affections nor heape vp great treasures to their peoples detriment nor to delight in warre nor to be too much subiect to their owne pleasures all which things are meanes of vnmeasurable expense so that if it be not allowable to muster togither multitudes of goods for the danger and mischiefe that ensueth thereof as it appeareth out of this place then surely is it much lesse lawfull to leuy excessiue taxes of the people for the one of these can not be without the other and thus for the law of God it is cleare that by it authority is not committed vnto them to surcharge and as it were trample downe their poore subiects by vnmeasurable and vnsupportable imposition As for that which the Prophet Samuel in the name of God giueth notice to the Israelites of touching the right of a king wherein he seemeth to allow him the disposition of the goods and persons of his subiects I answer first that God being an immooueable truth cannot contradict himselfe by commanding and forbidding the same thing and secondly that the word of the text in the originall signifieth nothing else but a custome or fashion as it appeareth in the 1. Sam. 11.13 besides the speech that the Prophet vseth importeth not a commandement but an aduertisement of the subiection whereunto the people were about to thrust themselues by desiring a king after the manner of other nations whose customes amongst them was to exercise authority and dominion as well ouer their goods as their persons for which cause God would haue them forewarned that they might know how vile a yoke they put their owne neches vnder and what grieuous and troublesome seruitude they vndertooke from the which they could no waies be deliuered no though they desired it with teares Furthermore that a king in Israel had no power in right and equity to take away the possessions of any of his subiects and appropriate it to himselfe it appeareth by Nabaoths refusal to king Achab 1. King 12. to giue him his vineyard though he requested it as in may seeme vpon very reasonable conditions 1 King 12. either for his money or for exchange so that a man would thinke hee ought not to haue denied him howbeit his desire being thus crossed he could not mend himselfe by his authority but fell to vexe and grieue himselfe and to champe vpon his owne bit vntill by the wicked and detestable complot of Iezabel poore Nabaoth was falsly accused vniustly condemned and cruelly murdered and then hee put in possession of his vineyard which murder doubtlesse shee would neuer haue attempted nor yet Nabaoth euer haue refused to yeeld his vineyard if by any pretence of law they would haue laid claime vnto it but Nabaoth knowing that it was contrary to Gods ordinance Num 36.9 for him to part with his patrimonie which he ought most carefully to preserue would not consent to sell ouer his vineyard neither for loue nor money nor other recompence and herein hee did but his duty approoued by the holy scripture Now how odious a thing before God the oppression of poore people is it is manifest by his owne words in the prophesie of Ezechiel where hee saith Chap. 15.9 Let it suffice O princes of Israel leaue off crueltie and oppression and execute iudgement and iustice take away your exactions from my people and cease to thrust them from their goods and heritages Now concerning the law of man which all men agree vnto because
recompence of his malice Nice li. 4. c. 26. which custome as it was laudable and necessary so was it put in execution at diuerse times as namely vnder the Emperor Commodus when a prophane wretch accused Apollonius a godly profest Christiā afterward a constant martyr of Christ Iesus before the iudges of certaine greeuous crimes which when he could by no colour or likelihood of truth conuince proue they adiudged him to that ignominious punishment to haue his legs broken because he had accused defamed a man without cause Eustathius bishop of Antioch a man famous for eloquence in speech vprightnesse of life Nicep li. 8. c. 46. whē as he impugned the heresie of the Arians was circumuented by them and deposed from his bishoprick by this meanes they suborned a naughtie strumpet to come in with a child in her armes and in an open synode of two hundred fiftie bishops to accuse him of Adultery to sweare that he had got that child of her body which though hee denied constantly no iust proofe could bee brought against him yet the impudent strumpets oth tooke such place that by the Emperours censure hee was banished from his bishopricke howbeit ere long his innocencie was knowne for the said strumpet being deseruedly touched with the finger of Gods iustice in extreame sicknesse confessed the whole practise how shee was suborned by certaine Bishops to slander this holy man and that yet shee was not altogether a lier for one Eustathius a handy-crafts man got the child as she had sworne and not Eustathius the bishop The like slander the same heretikes deuised against Athanasius in a synode conuocated by Constantine the Emperour at Tyrus Phil. Melanct. chro lib. 3. Nicep li. 9. c. 23. for they suborned a certaine leud woman to exclaime vpon the holy man in the open assembly for rauishing of her that last night against hir will which slander he shifted of by this deuise hee sent Timotheus the presbiter of Alexandria into the synode in his place who comming to the woman asked her before them all whether she durst say that hee had rauished her to whom she replied yea I swear and vow that thou hast done it for she supposed it to haue ben Athanasius whom shee neuer saw whereat the whole synode perceiued the cauill of the lying Arrians and quitted the innocencie of that good man Howbeit these malicious heretiks seeing this practise not to succeed inuented another worse than the former for they accused him to haue slaine one Arsenius whom they themselues kept secret and that hee carried one of his hands about him wherewith he wrought miracles by enchātment but Arsenius touched by the spirit of God stole away from thē came to Athanasius to the end he should receiue no dammage by his absence whom he brought into the iudges and shewed them both his hands confounded his accusers with shame of their malice insomuch as they ran away for feare and satisfied the iudges both of his integrity and their enuious calumniation the chiefe broker of all this mischiefe was Stephanus bishop of Antioch but he was degraded from his bishoprick and Leontius elected in his roome Histor tripart Hetherto we may adde the example of one William Feming who accused an honest man called Iohn Cooper of speaking traiterous words against Queene Mary and all because he would not fell him two goodly bullockes which he much desired for which cause the poore man being arraigned at Berry in Suffolke was condemned to death by reason of two false witnesses which the said Feming had suborned for that purpose whose names were White and Greenewood so this poore man was hanged drawne and quartered and his goods taken from his poore wife and nine children which are left destitute of all helpe but as for his false accusers one of them died most miserably for in haruest time being well and lusty of a sodaine his bowels fell out of his body and so hee perished the other two what ends they came vnto it is not reported but sure the Lord hath reserued a sufficient punishment for all such as they are Acts and mon. pag 2100. Many more be the examples of this sinne and iudgements vpon it as the pilleries at Westminster and daily experience beareth witnesse but these that wee haue alledged shall suffice for this purpose because this sin is cousen Germane vnto periurie of which you may read more at large in the former booke It should now follow by course of order if wee would not pretermit any thing of the law of God to speake of such as haue offended against the tenth commandement what punishment hath ensued the same but for so much as all such offences for the most part are encluded vnder the former of which we haue alreadie spoken and that there is no adultery nor fornication nor theft nor vniust-warre but it is annexed to and proceedeth from the affection and the resolution of an euill and disordinate concupiscense as the effect from the cause therefore it is not necessary to make any particular recitall of them more than may well be collected out of the former examples added hereunto that in simple concupiscense and affection of doing euill which commeth not to act though it be in the sight of God condemned to euerlasting torments yet it doth not so much incurre and prouoke his indignation that a man should for that onely cause be brought to apparant destruction and be made an example to others to whome the sinne is altogither darke and vnknowne therefore wee will proceed in our purpose without intermedling in speciall with this last commandement CHAP. XLV That kings and princes ought to looke to the execution of Iustice for the punishment of naughtie and corrupt manners NO man ought to be ignorant of this that it is the duty of a prince not onely to hinder the course of sinne from bursting into action but also to punish the doers of the same making both ciuill iustice to be administred vprightly and the law of God to be regarded and obserued inuiolably for to this end are they ordained of God that by their means euery one might liue a quiet and peaceable life in all godlinesse and honestie to the which end the maintenance and administration of iustice beeing most necessary they ought not so to discharge themselues of it as to translate it vpon their officers and iudges but also to looke to the execution thereof themselues as it is most needfull for if law which is the foundation of iustice be as Plato saith a speechlesse and dumbe magistrate who shall giue voice and vigour vnto it if not hee that is in supreame and soueraigne authority for which cause the king is commaunded in Deuteronomie Deu. 17.18 19 To haue before him alwaies the booke of the law to the end to doe iustice and iudgement to euery one in the feare of God And before the creation of kings