and clasping him fast about the middle asked one Capistranus standing beneath whether it would bee any daunger of damnation to his soule if he should cast himselfe downe headlong with the Dog so hee tearmed the Turke to bee slaine with him Capistranus aunswering that it was no daunger at all to his soule the Bohemian forthwith tumbled himselfe downe with the Turke in his armes and so by his owne death onelie saued the life of al the Citie so the deuil like the great Turke besieging not onely one Citie but euen all mankinde Christ alone like this noble Bohemian encountred with him And seeing the case was so that this Dog the Diuell coulde not bee killed starke dead except Christ dyed also therefore he made no reckoning nor account of his life but gaue himselfe to death for vs that he only dying for all the people by his death our deadly enemie might for euer be destroyed As it was bootlesse for Golias to brandish his speare against Dauid so it little auailed the Diuel to shake his speare likewise in the hand of the soldior against the heart of Christ As Dauid hauing heard Golias prate talke his pleasure when they came to the point at the first stroke ouerthrewe him so Christ with that very selfe same speare which gaue him a little venny in comparison or if it be lawful for me so to speake but a phillip on the side which was soone after recured gaue the Diuell a deadlie wound in the forehead which with al his pawes he shal neuer be able to claw off As Dauid only with his sling slew Golias so Christ only by his death and by the power of his crosse which is the sling of Dauid did conquer and subdue the diuel The Palme tree though it haue manie waights at the top and many snakes at the roote yet still it sayes I am neither oppressed with the waights nor distressed with the snakes Penny royall being hung vp in the larder house yet buds his yellow flowers and Noahs Oliue tree being drowned vnder the water yet keepes hir greene branch and Aarons rod being clung and drie yet brings forth ripe Almonds and Moses bramble bush being set on fire yet shines and is not consumed so Christ the true Palme tree though all the iudgments of God and all the sinnes of the world like vnsupportable waights were laide vppon him yea though the cursed Iewes stoode beneath like venemous snakes hissing and biting at him yet hee was neither so oppressed with them nor so distressed with these but that euen vpon his crosse he did most flourish when he was most afflicted The Phenix though sitting in his neaste among the hote spices of Arabia hee bee burnt to ashes yet still hee saies I die not but olde age dyeth in mee so Christ the true Phenix though lying in his graue among the hot spices wherewith Nichodemus embalmed him hee was neuer like to rise from death to life againe yet hee dyed not but mortalitie died in him and immortality so liued in him that euen in his sepulchre hee did most liue when he seemed most to be dead Epaminondas beeing sore wounded in fight demaunded of his souldiours standing by whether his enemies were ouerthrowne or no. They aunswered yea Then whether his buckler were hole or no. They aunswerered also I. Nay then sayes hee all is well This is not the ende of my life but the beginning of my glorie For nowe your deere Epaminondas dying thus gloriouslie shall rather bee borne againe then buried so Christ was sore wounded but his enemyes death and the Diuell were ouerthrowne and spoyled His Buckler which was his Godheade was whole and vntouched Therefore there was no harme doone His death was no death but an exaltation vnto greater glory As snowe couereth the grounde when it is ragged and deformed so Christ with his coat without seame couereth our sins and though they were as crimson yet hee maketh them white as snow As Gedeons fleece when it was moist the earth was drie but when it was drie the earth was moist so when Christes fleece was moist as a greene Tree then were all we drie like rotten stickes but when his fleece was drie all the bloud and water being wrounge out of his precious side then were wee moistned with his grace As Iacob trauailing towardes Haram when hee had laide an heape of stones vnder his heade and taken a nap by the way was much reuiued with it after his tedious iourney so Christ trauailing towardes heauen when hee had slept a little in that stony sepulchre which was hewen out of a Rocke liued then most Princelie after his paynefull passion As Ionas was in the Whales belly three dayes and three nights so and so long was the Sonne of man in the bowels of the earth yet he had no more hurt then Ionas had As Daniell was not hurt of the hungrie Lions so Christ was not hurt either of the terrours of death or of the horrours of Hell As Adam and Eue both in one daie were expelled out of Paradice about noon when the winde blewe so Christ and the theefe both in one day were receiued into Paradice yea both in one houre of the day about the sixt houre that is about twelue a clocke in the day time As Peters shadow gaue health to the sicke so Christs shadow giueth life to the dead As Elizeus being dead raised vp one frō the dead so Christ being dead was a Phisition to the dead Pliny reporteth that there was a dyall set in Campus Martius to note the shadowes of the sunne which agreeing verie wel at the first afterwards for thirty yeares together did not agree with the sun so all the time of those thirty yea three and thirtie yeares that Christ liued in his hmiliation heere vpon earth you might haue seen such a dyall in which time the shadow of the diall did not agree with the shining of the sunne but thankes bee to God all the better for vs. As the sunne went backward tenne degrees in the dyall when Ezechias went forward fifteene degrees in his life hee liued fifteene yeares longer so the going of this sunne Iesus Christ tenne degrees backewarde hath healed all our sicknesse and set vs a thousand degrees forward and infinitly aduanced vs by his death to euersting life As Rachel died her selfe in childbirth to bring forth her sonne Beniamin aliue so Christ dyed to bring vs vnto euerlasting life As when many byrdes are caught in a net if a Pellican or any other great bird that is among them gette out all therest that are little ones follow after so Christ as a great byrde hauing broken through the net of death all we escape with him As far as the Tree of life excelleth the tree of knowledge of good and euill so far the crosse of Christ excelleth the tree of life As hony being found in a dead Lion the death of the Lion was the sustenance of Samson so Christes gall
minde vnlesse ingenious education helpe vices spring vp with vertues Idem de ira As husbandmen weede their fieldes of hurtefull plants so parentes and teachers shoulde weede vices out of the mindes of their ehildren and schollers ibidem An vntamed horse becommeth dangerous so an vntaught sonne becommeth mischieuous As a field long neglected groweth wild and bringeth forth briers and thornes so youth neglected bringeth forth vices and vanities Chrysost hom 5. in Math. As we doe not set a mad or a drunken keeper ouer our horses and Asses so wee should not set an asse-headed schoolemaister or a vicious Tutor ouer our Children Idem hom 60. As a vessell doth keep the tast of the first liquour that it was seasoned with so doe childrē tast of their first education Horati The Greeke history reporteth that Alexander that most potent king and conqueror of the world could not leaue those vices which hee had in his tender yeares learned of his maister Leonida so whatsoeuer we are infected withal in youth wee cannot relinquish in age Hieronimus epist ad Laetam de institutione filiae As water doth follow thy finger guiding it whither thou pleasest so tender age is flexible to any thing and is easily drawne whither soeuer thou leadest it Idem epist. ad Gaudentium de pacatulae educat Parents AS a Scorpion is not then only supposed to haue a sting when he smiteth but is alwaies to bee taken heed of so they that are propagated of wicked parentes although they doe not presently runne into mischiefe yet they haue poison Plut. As fishes bredde and nourished in the sea haue no tast of the saltnesse of the sea so some being bred brought vp among Barbarians are farre off from all Barbarousnesse As the younger Storkes do sustaine and releeue their aged and decrepit dammes so should children prouide for and succor their aged and decaied parents Philo. lib. de Decalogo As the Eagle beeing the vnnaturallist birde to her young ones that flies in the ayre casteth one of her two young ones out of the neast and nourisheth the other so many vnnaturall parents especially the female sexe maketh especially much of some one childe and neglecteth all the rest the eldest hath all the landes and the other become beggers Basilius Homil. 8. exameron Birdes that haue griping tallents doe beate their young ones when they are fledgd and cast them out of their neastes so many churlish and filthy minded parents then especially shew their scuruines and vnnaturall dealing to their children when they grow to pregnancy and maturity Isidorus Clarius orat 57. tom 1. The Crow is commended for the loue to her young birdes because shee waiteth vpon them when they begin first to flie and seeketh foode for them so those parents are to be praised who continue their kindnesse to their children not onely in childhood but also in further yeares ibid. As the Emperour Octanianus taught his sonnes feates of war and his daughters the Art of cloathing that they might get their liuing if any aduersitie happened so should parents doe now a daies and then so many gentlemens children shoulde not come to the gallowes Policrates libro 6. Cap. 4. Ely the Priest brought the curse of God vpon himselfe and vpon his children because he did not correct them so do many parents now adaies Aulus punished his sonne with death because he helde friendship with Catiline his enemy so should Christian parents punish their children for keeping ill company although not so seuerely Augustin lib. 5. de ciui Dei cap. 18. Children AS Iron and steele do excel other things in hardnes but are exceeded of the Adamant so the loue towards children is a mighty and a powerful thing but the loue towards God doth excell it As the sap and moisture doth ascende from the roote to the plant but the plant doth not returne it againe to the roote but to fruit seed so the loue of parents doth ascend from them to their children but it doth not return again from the children to the parents Chrysost hom 1. ex varijs in Mathaeum locis homil 32. operis imperf As children resemble their ancestors in the shape of body disposition of mind in habit gesture aduice and action so it is probable that in the seed of Princes there is a certain hability engendred beseeming a Prince Philo de legatione ad Caium As it is the rule of nature that euery man should be borne hauing two eies and fiue fingers yet somtimes that the workes of God might be manifested some haue sixe fingers so man seldom erreth beyond the lawe of nature that the child is borne vnlike his parents Chrysostom Homil. 45. in Math. As a Scorpion is not only to be thought then to haue a sting when hee smiteth but is alwaies to bee taken heede of so those children that descend from wicked parentes although they doe not offende yet they haue poyson Plutarchus in Moral As the soft waxe receiueth whatsoeuer print is in the seale and sheweth no other impression so the tender babe being sealed with his fathers giftes representeth his image most liuely Wheat thrown into a strange grounde turneth to a contrary graine the vine translated into another soile chāgeth his kind a slip pulled from the stalke withereth so a young childe as it were slipped from the paps of his mother and put out to nursing either changeth his nature or altereth his disposition A newe vessell will long time sauour of that licour that is first powred into it so the Infant will euer smell of the nurses maners hauing tasted of her milke As the moisture and sappe of the earth doth chaunge the nature of that Tree or plant that it nourisheth so the wit and discretion of a childe is altered and changed by the milke of the Nurse As the parts of a childe as soone as it is borne are framed and fashioned of the Midwife that in all pointes it may bee straight and comely so the maners of the childe at the first are to bee looked vnto that nothing discommend the minde that no crooked behauior or vndecent demeanour be found in the man As the stecle is imprinted in the softe waxe so learning is ingrauen in the mind of a young impe Cockering APes almost strangle their whelps with embracing so many parents by too much cockering their children do vtterlie spoile them Plin. lib. 5. cap. 54. The young Cuckow although a bastard yet it deuoureth the legitimate yoūg ones with their dam so some children brought vp with too much cockering and loue do subuert their parentes Plinius libro 10. cap. 9. The herbe Fenegreeke the worse it is handled the better it prospereth so some children the hardlier they are dealt with the better men they proue and some again the more they are made of the worset they are As vnbridled Colts do cast their riders so cockered Cockneys do subuert their fathers houses and consume their patrimonies Youth EVen as
forme so is the minde that searcheth for the friendship of many ibidem The friendship of a few AS Briareus feeding fiftie bellies with an hundred handes was no happier then we that feede one with two handes so thou shalt reape as much commoditie by the friendship of a few as by the friendshippe of many for the discommoditie is recompenced if a few do minister vnto thee thou hast to minister but vnto a few Plutarch As it is absurde for a leane man or a blinde man to feare least hee should become come Briareus with an hundred hands or Argus with an hundred eyes so some do absurdlie feare least they should haue too many friendes when they haue not as yet one true friend Idem Friendship neglected EVery Tree cannot be brought to good fruit nor euery wild beast to be tamed therefore wee are to conuert them to as good vse as wee may so they that cannot bee brought vnto friendshippe let vs vse their hatred vnto our owne commoditie Plutarch The Storke albeit she go away yet shee alwayes returneth to the same neast so it is meet that wee shoulde not forget our friendes although they be seuered in place from vs but wee ought alwaies to carrie their memory about with vs. Plin. lib. 10. cap. 23. Friendship broken off AS a Diamonde if it chance to bee broken with a hammer doth fall into such small peeces that they can hardly be discerned with the eyes so the nearest and dearest friendship if it chance to be broken off is turned into the greatest grudge and displeasure and of the firmest leagues if once they be broken do spring the deadliest discords For lenity being requited with vnkindnes doth rage aboue measure Plin. lib. 37. cap. 4. As peeces of Christal can by no meanes bee ioyned together againe so it is a most harde thing to reconcile those who are fallen from firme friendship into mortall hatred Plin. libro 17. cap. 3. libro 37. Cap. 2. As those things which are wont to bee glued if they be dissolued are easily glued together againe but if the body bee broken it is hardly set together againe so among some if friendship bee a little wronged it is easilie knit againe but if it be broken betweene brethren it neuer knitteth againe or if it knit it is with a scar Plutarch There is nothing so fast knit as glasse yet once broken it can neuer bee ioyned nothing fuller of mettall then steele yet ouerheated it will neuer bee hardened so friendship is the best pearle but by disdain throwne into vineger it bursteth rather in peeces then it will bowe to any softnesse It is a salt fish that water cannot make fresh sweet hony that is not made bitter with gall hard golde that is not mollified with fire so he is a miraculous friend that is not made an enemy with contempt Friendship reconciled THe Fir tree doth so stick together with glewe that first the soundest parte of the tree will breake then that which was glewed so after returning into fauour againe the friendship ought to bee the firmer and they should more firmely cleaue together whome the glew of mutuall beneuolence hath coupled together then those whom nature hath ioyned Plin. lib. 16. cap. 2. As Tin doth soulder together brasse being broken in peeces by reason of the affinitie it hath with it so a friende ought to reconcile friendship broken off by some vnkindnes by applying himselfe vnto his friend Plut. The choyse and tryall of Friendes AS thou doest trie money whether it bee counterfeit before thou hast need to vse it so thy friend is to be tryed before thou hast neede of him Plutarchus in Moralibus As hee is a foole that buying an horse doth not looke vpon him but vpon his furniture so he is a very foole that choosing a friende doth estimate him by his apparell and wealth Seneca As Zeuxis did leasurely paint that which should long endure so that friend is to be had long in triall that is long to continue Plin. lib. 35. cap. 9. 10. As that ship is strongly to be built which in tempestes is to bee a refuge vnto vs so that friend is diligently to be tried whome wee are to vse at all assaies Plutarchus in Moralibus Ixion louing Iuno fell into a cloude so some whilst they seeke for true friendship doe embrace that which is counterfet and false ibidem As they that by tasting of deadly poison doe caste themselues into destruction so he that admitteth of a friend before he knowe him learneth to his owne harme what he is Ibidem As swallowes do build their nests vnder the roofs of mens houses yet are not conuersant with men not do trust them so some haue alwayes their friendes in suspition iealousie especially Ilanders Plin. lib. 10. cap. 24. As carefull husbandmen doe first discerne by certaine markes whether the grounde be fruitfull and doe trie it before they commit their best seede vnto it so a friend is to bee tryed before thou committest thy secrets vnto him As first we make trial of a vessell by water and afterwardes powre in wine so first wee must commit some trifling thing vnto our friendes that wee may trie the faithfulnesse of their silence which albeit they tattle abroad there is no daunger in it Plutarch As the Pyrit stone doth not display his fiery nature except thou rubbest it then it burneth thy fingers so the maliciousnes of certain who professe themselues friends is not known till thou hast made sufficient triall of them The Camel first troubleth the water before he drinks the Frankensence is burned before it smell so friendes are to bee tried before they bee trusted least shining like the Carbūcle as though they had fire they be foūd being touched to be without fire A true Friend AS that is not good groūd which bringeth forth no fruit except it be continually watered but that is good grounde which during both heat and colde preserueth nourisheth and cherisheth that was committed vnto it so is he not to be called a friend who no longer staieth with thee then thy prosperity lasteth but he is a true friend that at al assaies standeth with thee and in all fortunes standeth by thee As that Wife is more worthy of commendations which keepeth her fidelitie to her husband being far remoued from him then she is that doth the same being in her husbandes sight so is it among friendes As a Phisitian if the matter require it doth somtimes cast into his cōfections saffron and spikenard and causeth his patient to taste of toothsome meates so also a friende doth vse as the time requires kinde blandishmentes and comfortable conference Plutarke As that sounde is more pleasant which consisteth of many voices and those different then that which is only one voice so that friende is more pleasing who is so agreeing that sometimes he doth disagree then he that by flattering agreeth with his friend in all things As
verbis Isayae Vidi dominum As a Pilot seeing one starre can direct his course to any citie or prouince so the diuel being the prince of the aire doth not only see but also knowe all the principalities and dignities of the world and therefore he could point out to our Sauiour the honour and state of euerie kingdome Idem hom 5. operis imperfect Hell If we be so delicate and tender in this life that we cannot suffer patiently a feuer of 3. daies so much lesse shall we in the life to come bee able to suffer euerlasting fire Lud. Granat lib. 1. ducis peccat If we be terrified when we see any horrible punishmente inflicted vpon a malefactour in this life so much more shall we be tormented at the sight of the dreadfull and intollerable punishments in the other Ibidem As the wicked haue offended God with al their parts powers and sences and haue imployed them all as instruments to serue sin with euen so shall Gods diuine iustice ordaine that in all the selfe same parts powers and sences they shall suffer son owe and torment that so that may be fulfilled which is written Howe much he glorified himselfe and was in delicacies giue him so much torments and lamentations ibid. As it happened to Sisera who before he slept drunk of the sweete milk in Iaels bottle but she awaked him after another maner by nailing his head downe fast to the ground euen so do men sup vp the sweet milke of this worldes vanities till they are suddenly ouertaken with death eternall because they cannot awake from the drowsie sleepe wherin they are fast nailed downe by their owne negligent follies Stella de contemptu mundi As Egypt a figure of hell was full of darknes and a lande of captiuity so is hell Rupertus lib. 2. in Math. As in this world it is a kind of solace to haue others partakers of our miseries so in hell it shall be great vexatiō to the damned to see others tormēted as themselues Chrysost hom 48. de Ira. As entrance into the house of Dedalus was open but regresse was denied so the way into hell is very wide and open but the return from it is altogither impossible As Abeston a stone of Archadia being once sette on fire can neuer be exstinguished neither by rain nor tempest as saith Isidore so hell fire being once kindled can neuer be quenched As an old man said in the liues of the fathers when a nource woulde weane her childe she layeth some bitter thing vpon her dugge which when the childe feeleth he abhorreth it so oppose the bitternesse of Hell agaynst the delightes of the worlde and thou shalt bee withdrawne from them As the righteous shall reioyce in heauen by reason of their great ioy and blessednes so on the contrarie part sinners shall bee tormented with vnspeakeable tortures in hell Lodouicus Granat in suis septem Meditationibus Meditatione septima As beautie agilitie fortitude libertie health pleasure and eternitie is matter of reioycing vnto the righteous in heauen so the vglines of sinne the burthen of it imbecilitie seruitude infirmitie anxietie and euerlasting death shall with grieuous torments afflict sinners in hell Ibidem As the friends of God shall bee secure that they shall not loose their blessednes in heauen so the enemies of God shall loose all hope to bee deliuered from those torments which they liue in in hell ibidem As in this worlde we are all vnder one Sunne yet wee do not feele the heate of it all alike because one is more hot and another lesse hot so in hel in the fire there is not one maner of burning because here what the diuersitie of bodies doth for after one maner the fire doeth burne chaffe after another wood and after another iron that there doth the diuersitie of sins they haue the same fire and yet it dooth not burne them alike ibidem As the saints in heauen haue loue perfect charitie so the damned in hel do burne against all with spite and hatred ibidem As the saints in heauen do reioyce at anothers good so the damned in hell doe repine at it neither is there any thing found at which they more greeue then at the glorie of the saints and therfore they wish that all might be damned with them ibid. As God made heauen for good men so he made hell for wicked men FINIS A Table of the Common places into which these Similitudes are digested A ABdication pag. 160 Abstinence pag. 86 Abuse vse of a thing pag. 198. b Admonition pag. 148 Adoption pag. 160 Aduersitie vide Tribulation Adulterie pag. 308 b Affections pag. 133. b Affliction pag. 183 Age. pag. 153 b Almes deeds pag. 90 b Ambition pag. 313. b Ancetors vide nobility Angels pag. 21 b Anger pag. 31 b Antiquitie vide speech bookes Artes. pag. 57 b Assiduitie pag. 159. b Assiduitie taketh away admiration pag. 160 Atticke tongue vide speech Auditour and his duty pag. 255. b Authours vide bookes B. Banishment pag. 235 Barbarians vide anger Beautie pag. 149 b Benefits pag. 154 b Beneuolence pag. 155 b Bishops vide courtly life Bitternes vide mariage Bodies of little stature wiser then those that be vaster pag. 153 Bookes pag. 265 Reading of books pag. 266 b A choice is to be had in reading bookes pag. 267 b The vse of reading many Bookes pag. 268 b Braggers and boasters pag. 177 b Brethren pag. 147 Breuiloquence pag. 257 b Businesse pag. 156. C. Calamitie vide Tribulation Captaine pag. 227 Ceremonies pag. 162 b Charitie pag. 77 Chastitie pag. 109 Chance pag. 162 Chiding pag. 181 b Choice and tryall of a friend pag. 121 Choise pag. 175 Children pag. 63 Christ pag. 10 b Christians pag. 33 b Christian discretion vide zeale Church pag. 26 b Clergy vide courtly life Cockering pag. 64 Comaedians vide poets Cōmendation vide praise Commenders of themselues vide praysers of themselues Commoditie pag. 158 b Common-wealth pag. 226 Concord pag. 104 Cōcupiscēce vide luxury Conquest vide victorie Conscience pag. 55 b Continencie pag. 109 Contrarietie pag. 174 Conuersing and liuing to gither pag. 190 b Conuersation ibidem Contemplation pag. 245 Correction pag. 161 Counsell pag. 195. b Euill counsel is the worst vnto him that giueth it pag. 196 Rash counsell pag. 197 Courtly life pag. 215 Court ibid. Courtiers pag. 216 Couetousnes pag. 292 b Crosse vide tribulation Cunctation pag. 175 Custome pag. 188 D Death pag. 326 b Debt pag. 188 Decencie pag. 105 Defence ibid b Deuotion pag. 93 Dignity pag. 209 b Those things are difficult which are excellēt pag. 208 b Disciplines pag. 57 b Discord vide Concord matrimoniall Society Disputation pag. 257 b Deuill pag. 330 b Doctors Doctrine pag. 56 b Drunkennes pag. 307 E Education pag. 58 b Education of a Prince pag. 222 Eares vide Hearing Eloquence pag. 250 Eloquent men ibid. Eloquence threefold ibi Empire pag. 224 b Emperors vide Princes Emulation pag.