is Illeque and hee to be vnderstood it beeing vnderstood of Curius f T is true Nay all 〈◊〉 Marius built them after the Cymbrian warre but because there was a gutter betwixt them they seemed a couple h Opinion of men This is glory in generall but the true glorie is a soâ—…d aâ—…d expresse thing saith Tully no shadow and that is the vniforme praise of them that are gooâ—… 〈◊〉 vncorrupted voice of such as iudge aright of vertues exellence which answeres vertâ—… 〈◊〉 Eccho and followeth it like a shadow Tusc. quaest lib. 3. i Should not This Cato of Utica of whom he speaketh sued for the tribuneshippe and got it the praetorship and after one repulse Vatinius a fellow hated of GOD and man beeing preferred before him got that too the consulship and there had a finall repulse Hee was a man saith Plutarch fit to bee â—…ought for a magistrate and more fit to bee forced vnto dignities then to sue for them k Opinion In his oration which beeing Tribune hee made in the Senate against the Câ—…spiratours Salust Catilin l Hee that heareth The later Romaines were alwaies a talking of the vertues of their ancestry extolling them to heauen either because all things declined from better to worse or because they thought still that the times past were best m And 〈◊〉 â—…ption A diuersity of reading vitium esse contrarium è contrario all to one sence 〈◊〉 â—…ter is in all the old manuscripts Oâ—…â—…bition which beeing a vice is notwithstanding heerein held a vertue that it doth restraine vices of worse natures CHAP. 13. Bâ—…t hee is better sighted that can see this desire of glory to bee a vice Horace 〈◊〉 it and therefore sayd 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 tâ—…es sunt certa piacula quae te b 〈◊〉 lecto poterunt recreare libello You swell with thirst of praise but I can tell A medecine read this booke thrice ouer b well 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 his Odes hee sung this to the same purpose of suppressing ambitious thouâ—… 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 auidum domando 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 si Lybiam remotis 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 vterque Paenus Seruiat vni He that can conquer his affects rebelling Hath larger Monarchy then he that swaâ—…s The Lybians c Gades and both Africas And more excelling 〈◊〉 notwithstanding those that doe not bridle their exorbitant affects by 〈◊〉 by the powre of the holy spirit and the loue of that intellectuall beauty 〈◊〉 they cannot bee happy yet they may bee lesse vnhappy in auoyding this 〈◊〉 of humaine glory howsoeuer Tully could not f dissemble this in his 〈◊〉 Of the Common-wealth where speaking of the instruction of a Prince for 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 hee saith hee must bee g nourished with glory and so there-vpon inferâ—… what worthy deedes this glory had drawne from his ancestors So that 〈◊〉 â—…e so farre from resisting this vice that they did wholy giue themselues 〈◊〉 â—…nt and excite each one thinking it vse-full to the state Though in 〈◊〉 bâ—…s of Philosophy Tully neuer dissembles h this contagion but confesâ—…th 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 cleare as day For speaking of studies ayming at the true good and contemning the vaine blasts of humaine praises hee inferreth this axione i Honour nourisheth artes and glory keepeth all men on worke in studies and what men approoue not lieth vnregarded L. VIVES Sayd a Epist. lib. 1. to Maecenas ter purè thrise ouer b well The Philosophers bookes of manners are to bee read purely diligently not against the will but desirously that wee may reape profit thereby for so doing wee shall Prophyry saith wee must come with cleane handes as vnto a sacrifice c Latius Carm. lib. 2. ad Salust d Gades An Island of Spaine famous for Hercules his trauells and pillers e Both Africa's Acron and Porphyâ—…y thinke that by the one hee meaneth Lybeans and by the other the Gadetanes whom the Africans first placed there as if the Poet intended a coniunction of Empire in lands diuided by seas as hee saith in the said place before f Dissemble Some read Silere conceale but the old Copies â—…ead it as wee haue set it downe g Nourished Stoicisme A wise man is a creature of glory Symonides quoted by Xenophon in his Hieron distinguisheth a man from all other creatures in this especiall thing that hee is touched by glory and honour h This contagion The proposition ab in the Latine text is superfluous our reading is in the better i Honour Prooem Tusc. quaest That wee are to auoide this desire of humaine honour the glory of the righteous being wholy in GOD. CHAP. 14. VVHerefore without doubt wee had better resist this desire then a yeelde to it For much the nearer are we to GOD as we are purer from this impurity which although in this life it bee not fully rooted out of the heart because it is a temptation that troubleth euen the best proficients in religion yet let the loue of righteousnesse suppresse the thirst of ambitiousnesse And thus if some things lie vnrespected because men approoue them not and yet bee good and honest then let the loue of humaine praise blush and giue place to the loue of truth For this is a great enemy to our faith if that the affect of glory haue more roome in our hearts then the feare or loue of our GOD and therefore hee saith How can you beleeue that expect honor one from another and seeke not the honour thâ—… commeth of GOD And likewise it is said of some that beleeued in him and yet durst not professe it They loued the praise of men more then the praise of GOD. Which the holy Apostles did not for they preached the name of Christ where it was b not onely not approoued of as Tully saith and what men approoue not lieth vnregarded but where it was euen detested holding the rule that their maister the mindes phisition had taught them Whosoeuer shall deny mee before men him will I also deny c before my Father which is in Heauen and d before the Angells of GOD So that all their reproaches by their cruell persecutions their extreame paines could not driue them from preaching this saluation let the madnesse of man oppose what it could And whereas this diuine life conuersation and doctrine of theirs hauing suppressed all hardnesse of heart and erected the peace of righteousnesse was crowned with an vnbounded glory in Christ 〈◊〉 church this did not they rest as in the expected guerdon of their vertues but referred it all vnto Christ his glory by whose grace they were what they weâ—… And the same did they trans-fuse into such as they conuerted vnto the 〈◊〉 of him whereby they might become such as they were before them 〈◊〉 to keepe them from touch of humaine ambition their Maister taught thâ—… this Take heede that you doe not your good deedes before men to be seene of them or else yee shall haue no rewarde of your father which is in heauen But least they should misconceiue
otherwise they should bee guilty of offring iniury either to all their gods if they all loue plaies or which is worse to those whom they account as the good ones if they onely affect them L. VIVES THey a durst not exempt Sisitheus presenting a Commedy wherein he scoffed at Cleanthes the Stoicke whereas others were offended at it they say the Philosopher himselfe replied that it were a shame for a man to fret at such things seeing that Hercules and Dionysius being gods are dayly mocked thus and yet are not displeased b Labeo There were three Labeo's all of great skill in the ciuill law But the most learned of them all was Antistius Labeo who liued in Augustus his time he was scholler to Trebatius Testa and was cunning not onely in the law but in all antiquity and knowledge being as Gellius reports an exact historian But Augustus did not much affect him by reason of his great freedome of speech and largenesse of wit This opinion of his hee seemes to deriue from Platonisme and Stoicisme though with some alteration For the Platonists held that all the gods were good but that amongst the Daemones and Heroes some were good and some were badde Porphiry in his booke of sacrifices saith that a true worshipper must neuer sacrifice any liuing creature vnto the gods but onely vnto those Daemones And the same author in his booke De via intelligibilium explaines more fully which are good Daemones and which are euill But of this in another place c the bad ones The worse that these gods are and the more infernall the sadder kind of inuocations doe they desire to be vsed to them so doe the Hell-gods Pluto Proserpine and others Lucane brings in Erichtho inuocating the infernall Deities thus Sivos satis ore nefando Polluâ—…óque voco si nunquam haec carmina fibris humanis ieiuna â—…ano si pectora plâ—…na Saepe deâ—…i laui calido prosecta cerebro si quis qui vestris caput extáque lancibus infant Imposuit victurus crat If â—…uer I â—…uok'd In well black't phrase if ere my charmes lackt guilt of mangling humane brests if I haue spilt Bloud in such plenty brought your quarters vvasht in their ovvne braynes if â—…re the members gasht I seru'd you in vvere to reuiue d. reuelling vpon beds Hereof in the third booke That the Romaines in abridging that liberty with the Poets would haue vsed vpon men and in allowing them to vse it vpon their gods did herein shew that they prized themselues aboue their gods CHAP. 12. BVt the Romaines as Scipio glorieth in that booke of the common wealth would by no meanes haue the good names and manners of their cittizens liable to the quippes and censures of the Poets but inflicted a capitall punishment vpon all such as durst offend in that kind which indeed in respect of themselues was honestly and well instituted but in respect of their gods most proudly and irreligiously for though they knew that their gods were not onely pacient but euen well pleased at the representing of their reproaches and exorbitances yet would they hold them-selues more vnworthy to suffer such iniuries then their gods thrusting such things into their sollemnities as they auoyded from themselues by all rigor of lawes Yea Scipio dost thou commend the restraint of this poeticall liberty in taxing your persons when thou seest it hath beene euer free to callumniate your gods Dost thou value the a Court alone so much more then the Capitoll then all Rome nay then all heauen that the Poets must be curbed by an expresse law from flowring at the Citizens and yet without all controll of Senator Censor Prince or Priest haue free leaue to throw what slander they please vpon the gods what was it so vnseemely for Plautus or Naeuius to traduce P. or Cneius Scipio or for Caecilius to ieast vpon M. Cato and was it seemely for b your Terence to animate a youth to vncleannesse by the example of the deed of high and mighty Iupiter L. VIVES YOur a Court The Court was the place where the senate sat here it is vsed for the Senators the Capitoll for the gods themselues b your Terence for indeed he was very familiar with Scipio and Laelius and many thinke that they helped him in writing of his commedies which he himselfe glanceth at in his prologue to his Adelphy Memmius thinkes he meanes of Scipio in that Oration which he made for himselfe Quintilian lib 10. Institut Of Laelius Cornelius Nepos maketh mention and Tully also in one of his epistles vnto Atticus but from other mens reports That the Romaines might haue obserued their gods vnworthynesse by their desires of such obscaene solemnities CHAP. 13. IT might be Scipio were he aliue againe would answer mee thus How can we possibly set any penalty vpon such things as our gods them-selues do make sacred by their owne expresse induction of those playes into our customes and by annexing them to the celebration of their sacrifices and honors wherein such things are euer to be acted and celebrated But why then say I againe doe not you discerne them by this impurity to be no true gods nor worthy of any diuine honors at all for if it bee altogether vnmeete for you to honor such men as loue to see and set forth Playes that are stuffed with the reproche of the Romaines how then can you iudge them to bee gods how then can you but hold them for vncleane spirits that through desire to deceiue others require it as part of their greatest honors to be cast in the teeth with their owne filthinesses Indeed the Romaines though they were lockt in those chaines of hurtfull superstition and serued such gods as they saw required such dishonest spectacles at their hands yet had they such a care of their owne honestie and dignitie that they would neuer voutchsafe the actors of such vile things any honor in their common-wealth as the Greekes did but according to Scipio his words in Cicero Seeing that a they held the art of stage-playing as base and vnmanly therefore they did not onely detaine all the honours of the Cittie from such kinde of men but appointed the b Censors in their views to remooue them from being part of any tribe and would not voutchsafe them to be counted as members of the Cittie A worthy decree and well beseeming the Romaine wisdome yet this wisdome would I haue to imitate and follow it selfe Rightly hath the councell of the cittie in this well desiring and deseruing commendations shewing it selfe to be in this c truly Romaine appointed that whosoeuer will choose of a Cittizen of Rome to become a Player he should not onely liue secluded from all honors but by the Censors censure should bee made vtterly vncapable of liuing as a member of his proper tribe But now tell mee but this why the Players should be branded with inhability to beare honors and yet the Playes they acte inserted into
rest should be intirely hers now let vs looke in to the reasons why that God that can giue those earthly goods aswel to the good as the euill and consequently to such as are not happy should vouchsafe the Romaine empire so large a dilatation and so long a contiunance for we haue already partly proued and hereafter in conuenient place will proue more fully that it was not their rable of false gods that kept it in the state it was in wherefore the cause of this was neither a Fortune nor Fate as they call them holding Fortune to be an euent of things beyond al reason and cause and Fate an euent from some necessity of order excluding the will of god and man But the god of Heauen by his onely prouidence disposeth of the kingdomes of Earth which if any man will say is swayd by fate and meane by that fate b the will of God he may hold his opinion still but yet he must amend his phrase of speach for why did hee not learne this of him that taught him what fate was The ordinary custome of this hath made men imagine fate to bee c a power of the starres so or so placed in natiuities or conceptions which d some do seperate from the determination of God and other some do affirme to depend wholy therevpon But those that hold that the starres do manage our actions or our passions good or ill without gods appointment are to be silenced and not to be heard be they of the true religion or bee they bondslaues to Idolatry of what sort soeuer for what doth this opinion but flattly exclude alll deity Against this error we professe not any disputation but onely against those that calumniat Christian religion in defence of their imaginary goddes As for those that make these operations of the starres in good or bad to depend vpon Gods will if they say that they haue this power giuen them from him to vse according to their owne wills they do Heauen much wronge in imagining that any wicked acts or iniuries are decreed in so glorious a senate and such as if any earthly city had but instituted the whole generation of man would haue conspired the subuersion of it And what part hath GOD left him in this disposing of humaine affaires if they be swayed by a necessity from the starres whereas he is Lord both of starres and men If they do not say that the starres are causes of these wicked arts through a power that god hath giuen them but that they effect them by his expresse commaund is this fit to be imagined for true of God that is vnworthy to be held true of the starres e But if the starres bee said to portend this onely And not to procure it and that their positions be but signes not causes of such effects for so hold many great schollers though the Astrologians vse not to say f Mars in such an house signifieth this or that no but maketh the child-borne an homicide to g grant them this error of speech which they must learâ—…e to reforme of the Philosophers in all their presages deriued from the starres positions how commeth it to passe that they could neuer shew the reason of that diuersity of life actions fortune profession arte honour and such humaine accidentes that hath befallne two twinnes nor of such a great difference both in those afore-said courses and in their death that in this case many strangers haue come nearer them in their courses of life then the one hath done the other beeing notwithstanding borne both within a little space of time the one of the other and conceiued both in one instant and from one acte of generation L. VIVES FOrtune a Nor fate Seeing Augustine disputeth at large in this place concerning fate will diue a littlle deeper into the diuersity of olde opinions herein to make the â—…est more plaine Plato affirmed there was one GOD the Prince and Father of all the rest at whose becke all the gods and the whole world were obedient that al the other gods celestial vertues were but ministers to this Creator of the vniuerse and that they gouerned the whole world in places and orders by his appointment that the lawes of this great God were vnalterable and ineuitable and called by the name of Necessities No force arte or reason can stoppe oâ—… hinder any of their effectes whereof the prouerbe ariseth The gods themselues must serue necessity But for the starres some of their effects may be auoided by wisdome labour or industry wherein fortune consisteth which if they followed certaine causes and were vnchangeable should bee called fate and yet inferre no necessity of election For it is in our powre to choose beginne or wish what wee will but hauing begunne fate manageth the rest that followeth It was free for Laius saith Euripides to haue begotten a sonne or not but hauing begotten him then Apollo's Oracle must haue the euents prooue true which it presaged Thâ—… and much more doth Plato dispute obscurely vpon in his last de repub For there hee puttes the three fatall sisters Necessities daughters in heauen and saith that Lachesis telleth the soules that are to come to liue on earth that the deuill shall not possesse them but they shal rather possesse the deuill But the blame lieth wholy vpon the choise if the choise bee naught GOD is acquit of all blame and then Lachesis casteth the lottes Epicurus derideth all this and affirmes all to bee casuall without any cause at all why it should bee thus or thus or if there bee any causes they are as easie to bee auoided as a mothe is to bee swept by The Platonists place Fortune in things ambiguous and such as may fall out diuersely also in obscure things whose true causes why they are so oâ—… otherwise are vnknowne so that Fortune dealeth not in things that follow their efficient cause but either such as may bee changed or are vndiscouered Now Aristotle Phys. 2. and all the Peripatetikes after him Alex. Aphrodisiensis beeing one is more plaine Those things saith hee are casuall whose acte is not premeditated by any agent as if any man digge his ground vppe to make it fatte finde a deale of treasure hidden this is Fortune for hee came not to digge for that treasure but to fatten his earth and in this the casuall euent followed the not casuáll intent So in things of fortune the agent intendeth not the end that they obtaine but it falleth out beyond expectation The vulgar call fortune blinde rash vncertaine madde and brutish as Pacuuius saith and ioyne Fate and Necessity together holding it to haue 〈◊〉 powre both ouer all the other gods and Ioue their King himselfe Which is verified by the Poet that said What must bee passeth Ioue to hold from beeing Quod fore paratum 〈◊〉 id summum exuperat Iouem For in Homer Ioue lamenteth that hee could not saue his sonne
such ridiculous manner had no such power thus fâ—…r haue we proceeded in this book to take away the questioÌ„ of destiny fate least some man being perswaded that it was not the deed of the gods should rather ascribe it vnto fate then to gods wil so mighty so omnipotent The ancient Romains therfore as their histories report though like to all other nations exceping the Hebrewes they worshipped Idols and false goddes offering their sacrifices to the diuels not to the true Deity yet their desire of praise made them bountifull of their purses they loued glory wealth honestly gotten honor they dearly affected honestly offering willingly both their liues and their states for them The zealous desire of this one thing suppressed al other inordinate affects and hence they desired to keep their country in freedom and then in soueraingty because the saw how basenesse went with seruitude and glory with dominion Where-vpon they reiected the imperiousnesse of their Kings and set downe a yearely gouernment betweene two heads called Consuls à Consulendo of prouiding not Kings nor Lords of reigâ—… and rule though Rex do seeme rather to come à Regendo of gouerning regnum the Kingdome of Rex then otherwise but they held the state of a King to consist more in this imperious domination then either in his discipline of gouernance or his beneuolent prouidence so hauing expelled Tarquin and instituted Consuls then as a Salust saith wel in their praise the citty getting their freedom thus memorably grew vp in glorie as much as it did in power the desire of with glo ry wrought al these world-admired acts which they performed Salust praiseth also M. Cato and C. Caesar both worthy men of his time saying the CoÌ„mon-wealth had not had a famous man of a long time before but that theÌ„ it had a couple of illustrious vertue though of diuers conditions he praiseth Caesar for his desire of Empire armes and war wherby to exemplifie his valour trusting so in the fortune of a great spirit that he rouled vp the poore Barbarians to war tossing Bellona's bloudy enâ—…igne about that the Romaines might thereby giue proofe of their vigors This wrought he for desire of praise and glory Euen so in the precedent ages their loue first of liberty and afterward of soueraignty and glory whetted them to all hard attemâ—… Their famous Poet giues testimony for both saying Nec non Tarquinium eiâ—…ctum Porsenna iâ—…bebat Accipere ingeâ—…tique vrbem obsidiore premebaâ—… Aenead 〈◊〉 in serrum pro libertatâ—… râ—…bant c. Porsennâ—… guiâ—…ts them with a world of men Commands that Tâ—…rquin be restor'd But then To armes the Romaines for their freedome runne For then was it honour to die brauely or to liue freely but hauing got their freedome then succeeded such a greedynesse of glory in them that freedome alone seemed nothing without domination hammering vpon that which the same Poet maketh Ioue to speake in prophetique-wise Quin aspera Tuno Qua â—…re nunc terrasque metu câ—…lumque satigat 〈◊〉 in melius reseret mecumque fouebit 〈◊〉 rerum dominos gentemque togatum Sâ—… 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 lustris labentibus â—…tas Câ—… dâ—… Aâ—…raci Phithiam charasque Mycenas 〈◊〉 prâ—…et ac victis dominabitur argis â—…nd Iuno though shee yet Fill heauen and earth with her disquiet fitte Shall turne her minde at length and ioyne with me To guard the Romaines c goâ—…ned progeny It stands succeeding times shall see the day That old d Assaracus his stocke shal sway e Phithia Micena and all Argos round c. VVhich Virgill maketh Iupiter speake as prophetically beeing falne out true before he wrote these verses But this by the way to shew that the Romaines affection of liberty and domination was a parcell of their most principall glory and lustre Hence it is that the same Poet in distributing the artes amongst the Nations giues the Romains the art of Domination soueraignty ouer others saying Exâ—… 〈◊〉 spâ—… 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 Crâ—… 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 â—…re 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 â—…elius câ—…lique meatus 〈◊〉 râ—…dio surgentia sydera dicent Tâ—…ere imperio populos Romane memento 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 â—…es pacique imponere morem 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 debellare superbos Others câ—… better câ—… in brasse perhaps f T is â—…ue or cutte the â—…one to humaine shapes Others can better practise lawes loud iarres Or teach the motions of the fulgid starres But Romanes be your artes to rule in warres To make all knees to sacred peace be bow'd To spare the lowly and pull downe the proud Thâ—…se artes they were the more perfect in through their abstinence from pleasurâ—… 〈◊〉 couetousnesse after ritches the corrupters both of body and minde from 〈◊〉 from the poore cittizen bestowing on beastly plaiers So that in thâ—… dominion of those corruptions which befell afterwards when Virgil and Saâ—… did both write the Romaines vsed not the fore-said arts but deceites and â—…es â—…o raise their glories And therefore Salust saith At first mens hearts gaue 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 â—…bition rather then couetousnesse because that was more neere to vertue for 〈◊〉 â—…rious and the sloathful haue both one desire of honor glory and souerainty But 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 saith he goeth the true way to worke the later by craft false means because he hâ—…â—…t the true course The true are these to come to honor by vertue not by ambitiâ—… 〈◊〉 honor Empire and glory good and bad wish both alike But the good goeth 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 that is by vertue leading him directly to his possession of honor glory soueâ—… Tâ—…t this was the Romanes course their temples shewed vertues honors being 〈◊〉 close togither though herein they tooke Gods gifts for gods themseluâ—… wherein you might easily see that their end was to shew that their was no accesse to honor but by vertue wherevnto all they that were good referred it fâ—…â—…e euil had it not though they laboured for honor by indirect means namely by â—…ceite and illusion The praise of Cato excelleth of whom he saith that the 〈◊〉 â—…ned glory the more it pursued him For this glory that they seeke is the gooâ—… 〈◊〉 â—…ion of men concerning such or such And therefore that is the best vertue that sâ—…h not vpon others iudgements but vpon ones own conscience as the Apâ—…â—…h Our glory is this the testimony of our conscience and againe Let euery 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 his owne worke and so shall hee haue glory in himselfe onely and not in anoâ—… â—…o that glory honor which they desire so aime so after by good means 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 go before vertue but follow it for there is no true vertue but leuelleth 〈◊〉 chiefest good And therefore the honors that Cato required i he should not haue required but the city should haue returned him them as his due desart But whereas there were but two famous Romaines in that time Caesar Cato Catoes vâ—…tue seemes far nerer the truth of vertue then Caesars And let vs take Cato's
man could neuer please GOD though hee should raise the dead to life b They They take willingly and begge impudently Apollos oracle did alwayes bid his clients remember him with a guift to make them-selues more fortunate by yet the craftie deuill desires not their money he needed not but their mindes that was his ayme c Prohibited Christ forbids his Apostles to assume the name of Maisters to sit high at table or loue salutes in the streetes and commands that the chiefe should bee but as a minister For honor arose with Heathenisme and should fall there-with and not suruiue in the Church nor is it magnanimous to affect but to contemne it d Our very enemies Mat. 5. 44. Loue your enemyes blesse them that curse you c. It sufficeth not to beare them no hate we must loue them which is not impossible For first Christ did it and then Steuen Hierom. e Passions and perturbations or passionate perturbations Of that religion that teacheth that those spirits must bee mens aduocates to the good gods CHAP. 18. IN vaine therefore did Apuleius and all of his opinion honor them so as to place them in the ayre and because God and man as Plato a saith haue no immediate commerce these are the carriers of mens prayers to the gods and their answers to men For those men thought it vnfit to ioyne the gods with men but held the spirits fit meanes for both sides to b to take the prayers hence and bring answers thence that a chaste maâ—… and one pure from Magicall superstition 〈◊〉 â—…se them as his patrons by whome hee might send to the gods that loue 〈◊〉 things as if hee for beare to vse it maketh him farre more fitt â—…o bee heard of 〈◊〉 â—…ies for they loue stage-filthe which chastitie lâ—…heth they loue all the 〈◊〉 of witch-crafts which innocence abhorreth Thus chastity and innoceâ—…â—…hey would any thing with God must make their enemies their 〈◊〉 â—…r else go empty away He may saue his breath in defence of stage-plaies 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 highly-admired maister giueth them too sore a blow if any man bee so â—…se as to delight in obscaenity him-selfe and thinke it accepted also of thâ—…â—…ds L. VIVES PLâ—… a saith In Socrates person in his Conuiuium Diotyma hauing put loue as meane 〈◊〉 mortalitie and immortalitie Socrates asked her What that loue was 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 the great Daemon Socrates for all those Daemones are betwixt gods and men Soâ—…â—…et â—…et conceiuing her asked the nature of this Daemon He carieth saith she messages 〈◊〉 â—…he gods and men their 's to vs ours to them our prayers their bounties Such as 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 middle place of the vniuerse thether descend prophecies thether aimes all cereâ—…â—…es of the Priests charmes Teletae and all the parts of Magicke And shee addeth 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 God hath no coniunction with man but vseth these Daemones in all his 〈◊〉 with men sleeping or waking b Take them Apuleius calls them Saluti-geruli 〈◊〉 â—…ers and administri ministers the first in our respect the second in the gods Caâ—… 〈◊〉 them Angeli messengers that tell the gods what we doe and Praestites because their 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 â—…e in all actions Of the wickednesse of arte Magicke depending on these wicked Spirits ministery CHAP. 19. 〈◊〉 â—…ill I out of the publike b light of all the world bring ouer-throwes 〈◊〉 â—…rtes Magicke whereof some wicked and some wretched doe make 〈◊〉 â—…he deuills name why if they bee the workes of the gods are they so 〈◊〉 punished by the lawes or haue Christians diuulged these lawes against 〈◊〉 any other intent then to suppresse a thing so generally pernitious vnto 〈◊〉 kinde what saith that worthy Poet Testor chara deos te germana tuumque Dulce caput Magieas inuitam accingier artes b Sister by heauen and thee that hearst my vowes I would not vse arte Magick could I choose 〈◊〉 which hee saith else-where c Atque satas aliò vidi traducere messes I saw the witch transport whole fields of corne 〈◊〉 these diabolicall artes were reported of power to remooue whole harâ—… 〈◊〉 corne and fruits whether they pleased was not this as Tully saith recorâ—…â—…e xii tables of Romes ancient lawes and a punishment proclaimed for all 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 vsed it Nay d was not Apuleius him-selfe brought before Christian 〈◊〉 for such practises If hee had knowne them to be diuine hee should haue â—…ed them at his accusation as congruent with the diuine powers and haue â—…ed the opposite lawes of absurde impietie in condemning so admirable 〈◊〉 the deities For so might hee either haue made the Iudges of his minde 〈◊〉 had beene refractâ—…rie and following their vniust lawes put him to 〈◊〉 the spirits would haue done his soule as good a turne as hee had deâ—… in dying fearelesly for the due auouching of their powerfull operations Our martyrs when Christianity was laide to their charge knowing it was the tract of eternall glory denied it not to auoide a temporall torment but auerred it constantly bore all tortures vndantedly and dying securely struck shame vpon the lawes fore-heads that condemned it as vnlawfull But this Platonist wrote a large and eloquent oration c now extant wherein hee purgeth himselfe of all touch of vsing these artes and sees no meanes to prooue his owne innocence but by denying that which indeed no innocent can commit But f for all these magick miracles hee rightly condemneth them as done by the workes and operations of the deuills wherefore let him looke how hee can iustly giue them diuine honors as mediators betweene the gods and vs when he shewes their workes to be wicked and such indeed as wee must auoyde if wee will haue our prayers come neare to the true God And then what are the prayers that hee affirmeth they doe beare vnto the gods Magicall or lawfull If magicall the gods will receiue no such prayers if lawfull then vse they no such ministers But if a sinnet chiefly one that hath sinned in Magicke repent and pray will they carry vp his prayers or obtaine his pardon that were the causers of his guilt and whom hee doth accuse Or doe these deuills to obtaine his pardon first repent them-selues for deceiuing him and receiue a pardon them-selues also afterward Nay none will say so for they that hope to get pardon by repentance are farre from being worthy of diuine honors for if they were desirous of them and yet penitents also their pride were to be detested in the first though their humility were to bee pittied in the latter L. VIVES LIght a of the Some read law b Sister Dido vnto hir sister Anna when Aeneas was departed This Virgill grounds vpon the Romaines lawes who for all their superstion yet condemned Magick Seruius d Atque satas Uirg Pharmaceute Plin. l. 18. Duod Tab. Hee that Enchants the corne c. and so in diuerse places Pliny saith that Uectius Marcellus Nero's Harbinger had an Oliue-yeard in
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
inextinguible lampe This they may obiect to put vs to our plunges for if wee say it is false wee detract from the truth of our former examples and if wee say it is true wee shall seeme to avouch a Pagan deity But as I sayd in the eighteenth booke we need not beleeue all that Paganisme hath historically published their histories as Varro witnesseth seemeing to conspire in voluntary contention one against an other but wee may if we will beleeue such of their relations as doe not contradict those bookes which wee are bound to beleeue Experience and sufficient testimony shall afford vs wonders enow of nature to conuince the possibility of what we intend against those Infidells As for that lampe of Venus it rather giueth our argument more scope then any way suppresseth it For vnto that wee can adde a thousand strange things effected both by humane inuention and Magicall operation Which if wee would deny we should contradict those very bookes wherein wee beleeue Wherefore that lampe either burned by the artificiall placing a of some Asbest in it or it was effected by b art magike to procure a religious wonder or else some deuill hauing honour there vnder the name of Venus continued in this apparition for the preseruation of mens misbeleefe For the c deuills are allured to inhabite some certaine bodies by the very creatures of d God and not their delighting in them not as other creatures doe in meates but as spirits doe in characters and signes ad-apted to their natures either by stones herbes plants liuing creatures charmes and ceremonies And this allurement they doe sutly entice man to procure them either by inspiring him with the secrets thereof or teaching him the order in a false and flattering apparition making some few schollers to them and teachers to a many more For man could neuer know what they loue and what they loathe but by their owne instructions which were the first foundations of arte Magike And then doe they get the fastest hold of mens hearts which is all they seeke and glory in when they appeare like Angells of light How euer their workes are strange and the more admired the more to be avoided which their owne natures doe perswade vs to doe for if these foule deuills can worke such wonders what cannot the glorious angells doe then Nay what cannot that GOD doe who hath giuen such power to the most hated creatures So then if humane arte can effect such rare conclusions that such as know them not would thinke them diuine effects as there was an Iron Image hung e in a certaine temple so strangely that the ignorant would haue verely beleeued they had seene a worke of GODS immediate power it hung so iust betweene two loade-stones whereof one was placed in the roofe of the temple and the other in the floore without touching of any thing at all and as there might be such a tricke of mans art in that inextinguible lampe of Venus if Magicians which the scriptures call sorcerers and enchanters can doe such are exploytes by the deuills meanes as Virgil that famous Poet relateth of an Enchantresse in these words f Haec se carminibus promittit soluere mentes Quas velit ast aliis dur as immittere curas Sistere aquam fluuiis vertere sydera retrò Nocturnosque ciâ—…t manes mugire videbis Sub pedibus terram descendere montibus Ornos She said her charmes could ease ones heart of paine Euen when she list and make him greeue againe Stop flouds bring back the stars and with her breath Rouse the black fiends vntill the earth beneath Groan'd and the trees came marching from the hills c. If all this bee possible to those how much more then can the power of GOD exceed them in working such things as are incredible to infidelity but easie to his omnipotency who hath giuen vertues vnto stones witte vnto man and such large power vnto Angells his wonderfull power exceedeth all wonders his wisdome permitteth and effecteth all and euery perticular of them and cannot hee make the most wonderfull vse of all the parts of that world that hee onely hath created L. VIVES PLacing a of some Asbest Or of a kinde of flaxe that will neuer bee consumed for such there is Plin. lib. 19. Piedro Garsia and I saw many lampes of it at Paris where wee saw also a napkin of it throwne into the middest of a fire and taken out againe after a while more white and cleane then all the sope in Europe would haue made it Such did Pliny see also as hee saith himselfe b By art magique In my fathers time there was a tombe â—…ound wherein there burned a lampe which by the inscription of the tombe had beene lighted therein the space of one thousand fiue hundered yeares and more Beeing touched it fell all to dust c Deuills are allured Of this reade more in the eight and tenth bookes of this present worke and in Psell. de Daem d And not theirs The Manichees held the deuills to bee the creators of many things which this denieth e In a certaine temple In the temple of Serapis of Alexandria Rufâ—…n Hist. Eccl. lib. 21. f Haee se Aeneid 4. Gods omnipotency the ground of all beleefe in things admired CHAP. 7. VVHy then cannot a GOD make the bodies of the dead to rise againe and the damned to suffer torment and yet not to consume seeing hee hath filled heauen earth ayre and water so full of inumerable miracles and the world which hee made beeing a greater miracle then any it containeth But our aduersaries beleeuing a God that made the world and the other gods by whom he gouerneth the world doe not deny but auoutch that there are powers that effect wonders in the world either voluntarily or ceremonially and magically but when wee giue them an instance wrought neither by man nor by spirit they answere vs it is nature nature hath giuen it this quality So then it was nature that made the Agrigentine salt melt in the fire and crackle in the water Was it so this seemes rather contrary to the nature of salt which naturally dissolueth in water and crakleth in the fire I but nature say they made this perticular salt of a quality iust opposite Good this then is the reason also of the heare and cold of the Garamantine fountaine and of the other that puts out the torch and lighteth it againe as also of the Aâ—…beste and those other all which to reherse were too tedious There is no other reason belike to bee giuen for them but such is their nature A good briefe reason verely and b a sufficient But GOD beeing the Authour of all nature why then doe they exact a stronger reason of vs when as wee in proouing that which they hold for an impossibility affirme that it is thus by the will of Almighty GOD who is therefore called Almighty because hee can doe all that hee will hauing created so
alwaies good but Fortune not so Fortune Plutus lame and sound Fortunes Image did speake by the diuels meanes Fortuna Muliebris Faith Vertues Parts Habuc 3. Vertues Temple Mens a Goddesse Faith Scaeuola Curtius Decius Chastities Chappels Virtue what it is Vertue Hee louanists like not this but leaue it Arte whence Cato Mens her temple The nuptiall gods Peitho Hymenaeus Siluer when first coined Gold coine first Rubigo The sorts of the Nymphes Pittie The Capitol Summanus Lucullus Picus Faunuâ—… Tiberinus â—…la Feares and Pallors temple Pieties chappell Terminus Batylus Iuuentas Thunders of how many sorts Honours temple Ioues adulteries Titus Latinus history Mercurie The reâ—…all of the Romain Empires 〈◊〉 Rom. 1. Hadrian Iulian. Iouian Tullies dislike of images and fables of the gods The gods warâ—…es An accadeâ—… The Titanâ—… Religious Superstitioâ—… God no soule but the soules maker The Teletâ—… Who first brought Images to Rome Gen 46. The dipeâ—…sion of the Iewes Fortune Fate what What the vulger hold fate The Astrologianâ—… necessity of the starres Fate what it is The destenies 3. Epicurus Fortunes Casualties what they are as Aphrodyseâ—… thinketh The Starrs dominion Plotine Seneca Mars a Staâ—… Possidonius Horoscope what Nigidius Figulus The stars out run ouâ—… slacke thoughtes Gen. 25. Hipocrates his guesse The Angles of heauen Man is not conceiued after the first conception vntill the birth 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 Creatures superfaetanâ—… that is breediâ—…g vpon blood Twinnes both be gotten and borne The tide of the sea What male female is Astrologers how true presagers Hesiod â—…riters of husbandry Sup Gen ad lit et 2. de doct Chr. Godâ—… fore-knowledge The Stoiks fate Foure opinions of Fate God the changer of the Will Psal. 14. 1 Fâ—…te of no fâ—…rce Voluntary causes Genes 1. Spirit of life Euill willes not from God Our wills causes Deny gods praeâ—…cience and deny God 〈◊〉 of 〈◊〉 kindâ—… 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 God 〈◊〉 God almighty indeed â—…raescience freedom of will also How man sâ—…neth Democritus Chrysippus Pluto Goâ—… pâ—…science no câ—… oâ—… 〈◊〉 Loue of glory Kings Consuls Vertues and honors temples Glory 2. Cor. 1. Galat. 6. True vertue Lib. 2. Cap. 18. Consulls 〈◊〉 Phthia Larissa Micaenae Argos Glory Cato of vtica Epist lib. 〈◊〉 Car. lib. 2 Glory a Princes nourishment Philosophy to be well read The loue of iustice should excell the loue of glory â—…o 5. 43. â—…o 12. 43. Mâ—…t 10. 33 Luc. 12. 9 Mat. 6. 1. Mat. 5. 16. True pietie Latria The eternall city Rom. 8. Mat. 5. 2. Cor. 5. Remission of sinnes Romulus his sanctuary All the Romaine subiects made free of the citty Barbarians who they are Rhines bankes God the mindeâ—…â—…rue wealth Torquatus Camillus Scaenola Curtius Mat. 10. 28 The Decii Reguluâ—… The praise of voluntary pouerty Valerius Poplicola Q. â—…incinatus Fabricius Act 4 Rom. 8. veâ—… 18. The dictatorship Fabricius a scorner of ritches Corn. Silla Desire of rule without loue of glory Desire of rule vvithout loue of glory Contempt of glory Gods prouidence is it that raisâ—…h the vvicked Pro. 8 15. Iob 34. True vertue serueth not glory Tyrannus Aneaâ—… The picture of pleasure Zoroafter Two kinds of soules in Plato's world Pythagoras his numbers The Manichees Vespasian Domitian Iulian. Warres soone ended Warres hardly ended Euentus Christian Emperors dying vnfortunately Constantine Pyzance Constantinople The Romaine world Iouinian Gratian. Pompey Theodosiuâ—… Iohn an Hermit and a Prophet A great wind ayded Theodosius 〈◊〉 hâ—…s humiâ—…y Iohn the Anchorite Claudian Fooâ—… Valens The massacrâ—… 〈◊〉 Thessalonica Thâ—…odosius 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 more 〈◊〉 â—…hen truth In prâ—…at hâ—…stor nat Psam 40. 4. Life eternal in vaiâ—… asked of the gods Varro while he liued had his Seaâ—…e â—…p Terentianus Laurentina Hercules whoâ—…e deified Euemerus Adonis his death Venus her statue on mount Libanus Gingâ—…e what it iâ—… Thiâ—…le wiâ—… to â—…atinus a Mimike actor Saturne a deuourer of his sons * It signifies the enabling of the woman to bring â—…th a childe Bacchus Maenades Pilumnus Para 〈◊〉 Priapus Nâ—… Seneca's reprehension of the gods altars Iohannes and â—…eas Scraneus Strato 〈◊〉 Eternall life Diuinity wherefore to bee sought Mergarides perhaps our English potatoes A good minde better then memory Ianus Aeneas would haue Saturnia called Aeneopolis Berosus the Chaldean The nimph Crane Iohn 10. Sacrifices of men Falshood ouerthrowes it selfe Saturne The golden age Proserpina Ceres sacrifices Triptolemus The filthinesse of the 〈◊〉 sacirfices Perephatte 〈◊〉 Orgieâ—… Cerealia Politian Bacchus his sacrifices Phallus Philagogia Ithyphallâ—… Plostelum Lauinium Venilia Salacia Hel. Varro his degrees of soules The intellect The soules two parts Dis Proserpina Romulus called Altellus Earths surnames Libers sacriâ—…ces Cybeles sacrifyces Scapus Why the Gallâ—… geld themselues Plato hiâ—…â—…iddle The Louanists omit this Ganimede The Samothracian gods Cabeiri Platos Idea Pluto The workes of the â—…ue God Angels All things fulfilled in Christ. How the Prophets vnderstood the prophecy both Heathen others Who were the Gntiles gods Numa founder of the Romaine religion The reâ—…rence of Sepulchers Hydrâ—…mancie Necromancie Gods proâ—…dence Tâ—… religiâ—… 〈◊〉 the deâ—… Thâ—… kinds of Dâ—… Wisdome 7. 10. Heb. 1. Philosophy The Italian Philosophy The IoÌ„nike Philosophy Ionia Phythagoras Thales of Miletus The 7. Greeke Sages Anaximaâ—…der Anaximenes Anaxagoras Diogenes Archelâ—… the Naturalist The final good The Socratists of diuers opinions Socrates The true Phylosopher The Louanists leaue this Socrates his statue Aristippus Antisthenes The stuâ—…y of wisedom and what â—…t concernes Plato Effecting disciplines Plato This note the Louanists haue left out wholy Plato And this also for company All the phylosophers short ofâ—…lato The Stoikes sire The corporcal world The gods of the higher house Scoikes Epâ—…s Pyâ—… God onely hath true essence al the rest depend vppon him Things sensible and intelligible Mutable what Rom 1. 19. 20. God is no body Dieâ—…s the Diuine Cieâ—…r Acad Quest. lib. 1. The Phylosophers coÌ„â—…tion about the greatest good Knowledge of the truth Platosâ—… Phylosopher a louer of God Coloâ—… 28. Rom. 1. 19. 20. Act. 17. 18. Rom. 1. 21. 22. 23. Plato's opinion of the greatest good Valla. Loue. Delight Toenioy Atlantikes Atlas Egiptians Brachmans Persians Chaldees Scithians Druides Spaine Psal. 19. 1. This is no good doctrine inthe Louanists opinion for it is left out as distastefull to the schoolemen though not to the direct truth Plato heard not Hieremy Gen 1. 1. 2 Platos growndâ—… out of diuinity Exod. 3. 14. Rom. 1. 19 20. Hiâ—…emy Plato an Attike Moyses Plato held heauen fire One God Epicharmus Plaâ—…onists Aristotle Plato and Aristotle compared Speusippus Xenocrates Academy what and â—…ence The schâ—…les of Athens Plotine Iamblichus Porphyry Desires Labeo Why the euill gods are worshipped The supernall gods haue no creatures liuing offered to them The deuills community with gods and men The orders of the gods Mans hope aboue the deuils despaire The deuills bodies The serpents renouation Lib. 8. Apul de Doâ—… Socratis Olympus Plato's deuills Immortality worse then mortality Mat.