A BRIEFE CONFERENCE OF DIVERS LAWES Diuided into certaine Regiments By Lodowick LLoyd Esquier one of her Maiesties Serieants at Armes Eccle. 21. Vidi in loco iudicij impietatem in loco institiae iniquitatem LONDON Printed by Thomas Creede 1602. TO THE MOST HIGH AND MIGHTIE PRINCE Elizabeth by the grace of God Queene of England France and Ireland c. I Knew not how most gratious Queene to make my most bounden dutifull seruice known vnto your Maiestie But as Dauids seruaunts ventured theyr liues through the middest of their enemies to fetch water from the well of Bethelem to please their Lord and Maister So my selfe thought it my dutie to trauell into some farre countries in no daunger but of your Maiesties displeasure by presenting some straunge Iewels among so many as might dislike your Highnesse which should scorch mee more then the Sunne did Ionas when his gourd was off and terrifie me more then the countenance of Moses terrified the Iewes without his vaile on But your Maiestie which forget nothing but iniuries will the sooner forgiue mee my ouermuch boldnesse the rather for that I present your highnesse but with Iewels such as far excell the Iewels on Aarons garment the onely pearles which ought to be bought with al the wealth we haue the Iewels which we ought to seeke with all the studie and trauell wee can the onely Vrim and Thummim which should shine bright on a Princes breast which the auncient Kings of Israel ware as tablets about their necks as frontlets on their foreheads and gardes on their garments which Iewels many other kings sought and mist. Licurgus sought these Iewels for the Lacedemonians at Delphos Mena sought them of Mercurius for Egipt Numa of the Nymph Egeria for the Romanes Zaleucus of Minerua for the LocreaÌ„s Of these Iewels also I brought the best Pearles I could finde among them vnto your Maiestie in hope of your wonted gracious fauour to accept these Iewels for their owne sake as Artaxerxes accepted water of the riuer Cyrus for Cyrus sake Your Maiesties most bounden and obedient seruant Lodowick LLoyd A BRIEFE CONFErence of diuers Lawes diuided into certaine regiments In the first Regiment is expressed the antiquitie and force of the Lawe the states of Common-wealths vnder diuers kindes of gouernments ALl creatures of God as well in heauen as in earth had lawes giuen them after they were created to be gouerned and ruled by the Sunne the Moone and the Starres to keepe their perpetuall motions and course in their places and regiments so the seas haue their limits and bounds how farre they should rule and raigne and though one starre differeth from an other in glorie in greatnesse and in brightnesse yet are they gouerned by one perpetuall lawe so the seas though the waues thereof be so loftie and proud yet are they shut vp within doores and commaunded to keepe in and not to goe further then the place to them by lawe appointed By lawe also the elements are commaunded to staie within their owne regiments without trespassing one of another as Manilius faith Certa stant omnia lege For the stanes by lawe haue their leaders before them they haue their watch giuen them they haue their motions and marching appointed them and as all riuers and waters haue their course and recourse to the seas and from the seas as from their chiefe commaunder so all starres haue their brightnesse light from the Sun as from their chiefe generall Neither were the Angels in heauen being the first and the chiefest creatures of God nor man in Paradise beeing the last creature Tanquam Epilogus operum dei without lawe the breach wherof made such a generall confusion that it so obscured the first integritie of the lawe of nature that the Angels that offended in heauen lost heauen and were iudged to perpetuall darkenesse and man for his disobedience in Paradise cast out of Paradise to euerlasting punishment so that the Angels were not pure nor the heauens cleare before God The earth likewise and the seas and all the creatures in them by breaking of the first lawe which Tertullian calleth Primordialem lâ—…gem legum omnium matricem lost the benefites of the first creation for in Adams fall all creatures were cursed which made Augustine to woÌ„der Vtrùm mirabilius homines iustos creare quà m iniustos instificare whether the mercy of God were more in creating iust men or in iustifying wicked men though with God it was of equall and like power yet said Augustine it was of greater mercy to iustifie vniust men for that Iustificatio er at secunda hominis creatio Yet the old Patriarches liued vnder the lawe of nature so Paul testifieth that the lawe was first written not in tables of stones but in fleshly tables of the heart for I will put my lawe saith the Lorde in their inward parts and in their hearts will I write it so Augustine saith Audi linguam non in lapide sed in corde scribentem for from the eternall lawe which is Creatrix gubernatrix vniuersitatis was reuiued and lightned the lawe of nature vnder the which the Patriarches liued for the lawe of nature which the Patriarches had being not corrupted differeth nothing froÌ„ the written lawe giuen to Moses which is the whole summe of the morall lawe What else is the lawe written giuen to Moses but a short repetition and compendious catalogue expounding vnto vs the lawe of nature beeing obscured and corrupted by the fall of Adam but by the second Adam renued written and giuen to Moses in tables of stones Tanquam norma rectitudinis in Deo So Paule sayeth that if the Gentiles which haue not the lawe doo by nature those things contained in the lawe they hauiug not the lawe are a lawe to themselues and therefore the Heathens are not excuseable for conscience which is that Flammeus gladius is a witnesse of theyr fault and a signe of the anger and iudgement against them for theyr sinne Agnitio Peccatilex and therefore the lawe was giuen to shewe vs our infirmities and that by the lawe grace might bee sought for Fides enim impetrat quod lex imperat for when the lawe was first giuen in Mount Sinai to Moses it was with such feare lightning and thundering with such cloudes smoake and fire that euery part of Sinai trembled and quaked when the lawe was giuen for the law is full of terror and ministreth vnto death The law said Plato punisheth wicked meÌ„ rewardeth good meÌ„ so Cicero saith Lex vitioruÌ„ emeÌ„datrix virtutuÌ„ est commendatrix By the lawe we know our selues without the which we wander in darknesse without light in ignorance without knowledge in sin without feare whose force and authoritie is from God and not from man so could Cicero say Tantalegis vis est vt ea non homini sed deo Delphico tribueretur And therefore the first and auncient kings and
law-makers of the world Quibus omnes antiquae gentes quondā paruerunt both for the more credit of thēselues better authoritie of their lawes made their subiects people beleeue when their first lawes were made that the gods were so carefull that they gaue them seuerall lawes to gouerne the people So Mena one of the first kings of Egipt affirmed that he had instructions for making of his lawes and decrees to the Egiptians from god Mercurius In like sort Licurgus made the Lacedemonians beleeue that the lawes which he gaue vnto them were deliuered vnto him from Appollo in Delphos The people of Creete were perswaded fully by Minoes their first lawe-maker that the lawes which he gaue vnto them were deliuered vnto him from Iupiter that thereby the law might the more be feared and the law-makers better obeyed So did Numa Pomp. warrant his lawes which he established among the Romanes concerning religion from the Nimph Egeria for the gouernmēt which was vnder kings is by Aristotle called Primus diuinissimus principatus When the first gouernment and state of Common-wealths fell by too much seueritie of kings as among the Romaines who were wearie of kings and had no lawe but Ius regis the iudgement and sentence of the king called in Romulus time Lex curiata whose seueritie grew to be such that the second gouernment in Rome which was by Consuls and Senators tooke place by fall of the first which lawe was called Senatus Consultus which grew so great by authoritie of the Consuls that a third kind of popular gouernment vnder the Tribune of the people was authorised to suppresse the misgouernment both of the Consuls and Senators as the Ephori were among the Lacedemonians made by Theopompus to bridle the insolencie of the kings So were the wise men called Magi in Persia without whom the kings of Persia could make no lawes And so the Magistrates called Megistenes had the like authoritie with the kings of Armenia as the Ephori had in Sparta Among the Carthagineans also were two chiefe Magistrates named Suffetes the one with the other to looke to the gouernment of the kings that they should iustly and rightly minister iustice to the people The Hebrewes likewise where God placed Iudges to gouerne the people of the which they were wearie and would haue a king so that the Romanes being wearie of kings would haue Consuls and the Hebrewes being wearie of Iudges would haue kings for all nations at the beginning began with the gouernment of kings sauing the Hebrewes which were as straungers and bondmen in Egipt without eyther king lawe or libertie foure hundred thirtie yeares euen from the comming of Abraham into Egipt vntil Moses and Aaron were commaunded to bring Israel out of Egipt at what time a lawe was giuen in Mount Sinai to Moses within fiftie dayes after the Israelites came out of Egipt that they should bee gouerned thereby before they possessed the land of Canaan After they had receiued the lawe the Lorde commaunded them that they should not make gods of siluer nor gods of golde hee also commaunded that they should make him an Aultar and thereon to offer burnt offerings and peace offerings with a straight charge that they should not make him an Aultar of hewed stones like the aulter at Damascus which Achab brought to Israel for that they should doo nothing of themselues after the manner of the Gentiles but by the Lords prescript rules which are his eternall lawes Yet before this lawe was giuen to Moses there were Aultars builded and sacrifices offered by Noah after hee landed out of the Arke at Baterion by Abraham after he came to the land of Canaan at Sychem by Isaac in Bersabe by Iacob in Bethel where hee fled from his brother Esau they were instructed by the lawe of nature written in the tables of their hearts to worship the Lord to feare him euen from the creation Vnder the lawe of nature the people of God liued and were assisted by the spirit of the Lord ministred vnto them by Angels and instructed by the Patriarches and liuely tradition of the fathers to the sonnes two thousand fiue hundred yeares before the lawe written Who doubtes but what Methusalem beeing in the company of Adam aboue two hundred fiftie yeares and with the rest of the Patriarches vnto the very floud liuing vnder the lawe of nature heard of Adam but Methusalem deliuered it to Sem what Sem heard of Methusalem but hee instructed Abraham therewith what Abraham heard of Sem hee shewed it to Iacob and what Iacob heard of Abraham hee taught it to Amri who was father to Moses to whom the lawe written was giuen so that the one was instructed by the other from the father to the sonne to serue and feare the Lord by the lawe of nature So that Enoch Noah Abraham Iacob Iob and all the olde Patriarches and godly fathers liued in the feare of God by the lawe of nature No doubt many things were written of the olde fathers before the floud and left to their posterities and after the floud generally ouer the whole world before the vse of paper lawes and learning were giuē by traditions frō the parents to the children their posterities as the Indians which had no lawes written no more then the Lacedemonians but by obseruations vntill the Indian Philosophers called Brachmaines found meanes to write in Sindone fine linnen or lawne as the old Egiptians vsed to write on the inward side of the barke of the tree Biblus or as Vlpian saith the Grecians vsed to write on the barke of the tree Tilia for in auntient time from the beginning lawes were written on the inward side of barks of trees as on the barke of Beech trees Elme Ashe Palme trees and such for the great library in Alexandria by Philadelphis compiled and the library in Asia by A◅talus and Eumenes gathered together were written in Haedonis Chartis in goate skinnes During all which time there was no mention made neither of gods nor of Idols though Satan plaid the first Idolater in practising to Adam Eue saying Eritis vt dij Ye shal be like gods on earth your eies shal be opened Satan by degrees deceiued Adā first asking him questions then doubting then denying saying you shal not die which was the first lye in the world so Satan proceedeth with his stratagems as Gregorius Magnus saith in Vnoquoque lapsu a minimis semper incipitur Yet after the lawe written was giuen Idolatry was presently committed before Moses came downe from the Mount so that there was no Idols mentioned nor spoken of before Rachel Iacobs wife stole her father Labans Image and brought it from Mesopotamia in her husbands company towards Canaan where Laban accused his daughter that she stole his gods away But Iacob within a while after he came to Canaan commaunded his houshold and all that were
of the souldiers in the one oxe and the other souldier in the other oxe and left their heads out of the oxen that thereby they might speake one to an other as long as they liued Was not Abraham called from the Chaldeans because they were wicked Idolaters Did not Iacob long in Mesopotamia for the land of Canaan Did not Dauid wish to be in Iudah from among the Amalekites wicked Infidels Were not the captiue Israelites most desirous from Babilon to come to Ierusalem yet not before the time that God had appointed and determined for Elizeus could not prophesie before Elias threw his mantle vpon him neither could Dauid appeale the furie of Saul before hee played on his harpe neither could Aaron become a high Priest before his rod blossomd in the Arke The very Heathens forsooke the company countrey of wicked people as Hermadorus forsooke his countrey Ephesus for the iniquitie of the people Anacharsis left Scythia his barbarous countrey and came to Greece to learne wisedome and Philosophie in Athens Plato left Athens and went from Greece to Egipt to be taught in the religion ceremonies and lawes of the Egiptians Paul left Tharsis to goe to Ierusalem to learne the lawes of the Iewes at Gamaliel Queene Saba came from Aethiope to heare Salomons wisedome in Ierusalem It was lawfull by the lawe of Solon in Athens to kill an adulterer beeing taken in the act as among the olde Romanes the husband might kill his wife if hee found her an adulteresse but this lawe of Solon in Athens was after mitigated by Solon with a lesse punishment The Parthians supposed no offence greater then adultery neither thought they any punishment to be equall with so great a crime Among the Arabians the lawe was that the adulterer should die such a death as the partie grieued should appoint Diuers Philosophers euer thought adultery worse then periurie and without doubt greater harmes growe by adultery then periurie though the one be in the first Table against the maiestie of God to take his name in vaine and the other in the second Table against thy neighbour whom thou oughtest to loue as thy selfe and yet some of the best Philosophers as Plato Crisippus and Zeno iudged that common-wealth best gouerned where adultery was freely permitted without punishment that libertie they brought from Egipt vnto Greece where the Egiptians might marrie as many wiues as they would like the Persians Among diuers other nations adulterie was left vnpunished for that they had no lawe against adultery Histories make mention that the virgins of Cypria and of Phaenizia get their dowrie with the hire of their bodies vntil they gaue so much for their dowries that they might make choise of their husbands and be married The Troglodites the nights before they be married vnto their husbands must lye and keepe company with the next of their kin and after their marriage they were with most seuere lawes punished if they had offended It should seeme by the lawes of Licurgus in Sparta 300. yeares before the law of Solon in Athens which was 200. yeares before the law of Plato among the Cicilians which made no lawes against adultery that the Grecians tooke their instructions by imitation from the Egiptians For one after an other Solon after Licurgus and Plato after Solon trauelled to Egipt to other farre countries and brought the lawe of Bocchoris out of Egipt the lawe of Mynoes out of Creete and the lawes of the Gymnosophists out of India into Greece As among the Lesbians Garamites Indians Massagets Scythians and such that were more like to sauage beasts then to temperate people for by the lawe wee knowe sinne for I had not knowne what adultery was vnlesse the lawe had commaunded thou shalt not lust And therefore it was not lawfull by Moses lawe that a bastard or the sonne of a commonwoman should come vnto the congregation of the Lord or serue in any place of the Tabernacle or enter into the ministerie vntill the tenth generation so hatefull vnto the Lord was fornication adulterie and vncleannesse of life When Iacob had blessed all his children yet for that Ruben lay with his fathers concubine Bilha his father Iacob prophesied that he should not be the chiefest of his bretheren though hee was the eldest sonne of Iacob and the eldest of his bretheren for that he was as vnstable as water for defiling his fathers bed for among the Israelites it was a great shame and reproach for women to be barren therfore the wiues brought their maides to their husbands for childrens sake as Sarah brought her maide Agar vnto Abraham and Leah and Rachel brought to Iacob their two maides Bilha and Zilpha so Rachel gaue leaue to Iacob to lye with Bilha her maide who bare to Iacob two sonnes whom Rachel though not their mother named them as her owne sonnes Dan and Nepthali So Leah brought her maide Zilpha to Iacob who conceiued and brought him two sonnes of whom Leah was so glad that she named them as her owne sons the one Gad and the other Asar so that foure of Iacobs sonnes were borne by his maides and not by his wiues This was tollerated but not lawfull Though the Hebrewes were tollerated by the lawe of Moses to haue many wiues and concubines and Libels of diuorcement for the hardnesse of the lewes hearts as Christ said yet said our Sauiour Non fuit sic ab initio it was not so from the beginning Euen from the creation men liued vnder the law of nature for in mans heart yet not corrupted before the fall there was perfect knowledge in the lawe of nature as in the first man Adam was seene before his fall vnder the which the olde Patriarkes liued and sinnes were corrected and punished by the same lawe for it was a positiue lawe by nature set foorth and written in the hearts of men thus was the written lawe yet by Moses tollerated When it was tolde Iudah that his daughter in lawe Thamar was with childe hee commaunded that shee should be brought forth and be burnt Here the law of nature before the lawe written commaunded whoredome to be punished with death here Iudah though he detested whoredome in Thamar yet being found that the incest was committed by him found his fault greater then hers If a man be found with a woman that hath a wedded husband let them both die the death so shalt thou put euill away from Israel for the lawe is you shall maintain no harlots in Israel as the Cyprians and Locreans doo It was not lawfull among the old Romaines to call a bastard by the name of his father because he was the son of a common woman and no man knew who should be his father but they vsed for his name to write these two letters S. P. quasi sine patre as though he had neuer a father In Athens by the law of Solon a bastard
which were written many things concerning the lawe of nature and the influence and motions of the starres that if the bricke pillar were destroyed by water the stone pillar should reserue and keepe safe their lawes theyr seruice and sacrifice to God which the Patriarkes vsed as instructions to their posteritie after the floud which continued vntill Iosephus time which as Iosephus himself writes he sawe in Syria Moses at his death deliuered to the Hebrewes the booke of the lawe and he commaunded them to lay vp those lawes in the Arke within the Tabernacle where it was lawfull for none to come to them but the high Priest which continued from Moses time vntill Ierusalem was destroyed by Nabuchodonozer at what time Ieremie tooke the Tabernacle the Arke and the Aultar of Incense and brought them to Mount Nebo where Moses dyed where he found a hollow caue wherein he layed the Tabernacle the Arke the Aultar of Incense and so closed and stopped the caue Among the Egiptians their lawes were so reuerenced and honoured that none but onely the Priests of Memphis had the keeping thereof in the Temple of Vulcan The Lacedemonians in like sort so reuerenced and kept their lawes that their kings and the magistrates called Ephori came once a moneth to the Temple which they dedicated to the goddesse Feare and there in the porch of the temple the Senators of Lacedemonia which were 28. in number did minister an oath both to the King and the Ephori before the people to serue keep Licurgus lawes in the which Temple their lawes were lockt vp and kept with great care The Romaines made so much of the lawes of their Sybils that they were so kept and so strongly lockt with such care and diligence in a stony Arke in the Capitoll vnder the ground where none might come to them see nor read them but the officers called Duumuiri who had the charge ouer them neither they vntill the Consuls and the Senate had occasions to conferre with the lawes which continued from Torquinius Priscus time vntill Lu. Syllas time at what time the Capitoll was burnt and withall the lawes of the Sybils and if any of these officers would reueale any secrets out of the lawes of the Sybils hee was punished like a murtherer sowed aliue in a sheete and throwne into Tiber. So the Athenians very carefull of their lawes written first by Draco and after by Solon in Tables of wood called Syrbes that they were set vp to bee kept in theyr chiefe court place which the Athenians named Prytanion where Magistrates should sit and iudge causes of lawes The lawe of the Turkes is that the Priests after some ceremonies done should haue a sword and a speare which is set by him in the Pulpit and to shewe the same to the people saying see that you haue these weapons in a readinesse to defend the lawes and religion of Mahomet the penaltie of the Turkes lawe is that if any man speake against their law his tongue should be cut out in so much that the booke called Muzaph wherein their lawe is written is so reuerenced and honoured among the Turkes that no man may touch it with bare hands Thus were lawes in all countries reuerenced and with great care and diligence obserued After lawes decrees and statutes were made in euery Countrey with such circumstances as agreed with the time with the place and with the people for without law no Common-wealth nor Kingdome can be gouerned as Aristotle saith In legibus salus ciuitatis si ta est Iudges were appointed to execute the same in all countries and magistrates in euery citie as among the Hebrewes the Elders called Synadrion Iudges and yet in euery citie of Iudah was a seuerall Iudge Among the Egiptians they had 30. Iudges which they elected from Eliopolis Memphis Thaebes Alexandria and other citties of Egipt of the which 30. they elected one to be chiefe Among the Aethiopians the sage Philosophers the Gymnosophists executed theyr lawes among the Indians likewise the Brachmaines called also Sacerdotes solis Among the Grecians the generall Iudges called Amphictions which sate twise in the yeare once at Trozaena in the spring time and in the Autumne in the Temple of Neptune in Isthmos In many countries women for their wisedome and knowledge were admitted to sit in counsell as among the Persians with King Xerxes who in any great cause of counsell would sende for Artemisia Queene of Caria whose counsell he found so wise that chiefly among all the Princes of Persia in many causes he allowed and followed her counsell So the Queenes in Egipt altogether ruled and gouerned the whole estate of the kingdome to whom greater honour and homage was giuen rather then to the kings of Egipt for that the whole state of their kingdome was rather gouerned by the Queenes then by the Kings Women among the Lacedemonians were not only admitted in publike counsell to sit and determine in courts but also sent for to cōsult in secret matters of state with the Senators The old Gaules in the time of Haniball in any contention betweene them and the Carthagineans if the breach of the lawes or any league broken were committed by the Gaules the women should determine a satisfaction to the Carthagineans if any offence grew by the Carthagineans the Senators of Carthage should satisfie the Gaules It is as well saith Aristotle if men gouerne like women that women should gouerne Quid inter est vtrùm faeminae an qui gubernant gubernentur à faeminis The Romaines though they had a lawe that no woman nor young man should bee admitted to counsell yet suffered they such graue and wise women as Agrippina Meza Cornelia and others to sit in some secrete place where they might see and not bee seene Solon therfore forbad by law that young men should neither giue counsell nor be magistrates in a common-wealth So Plato saith Concilium eius est qui rei cunisque peritus est Yet Deberah and Hebrew woman was a Iudge in Israel gouerned and ruled the Hebrews for fortie yeares To this woman came all the children of Israel for iudgement and she gouerned them wisely and discreetly ministred vnto them in all points the lawes of Moses and deliuered them out of the hand of Iabin King of Canaan who had sore oppressed Israel for the space of twentie yeares But among the Athenians it was not lawfull that women should sit and determine in matters of state in Athens as the women in Sparta did or as the women of Persia. The Athenians sent to Delphos to know what lawe and religion were best to bee obserued among the people It was answered the auntient lawes and religion of their Elders The second time they sent againe saying that the lawes of the Elders were often chaunged It was by the Oracle answered that they should take the best lawes of diuers
fashions of the Sichemites neiiher like the Sabine virgins going to the feast Consualia to see playes in Rome neither like the maides in Siloh to go abroad to play to daunce and to sing What was the end of this libertie first the ouerthrow of Sichem and the Sichemites for violating Dina Iacobs daughter secondly the rauishment of the Sabine virgins which moued publike warres betweene the Sabines and the Romanes and so of the virgins of Siloh Neither like that light woman which is spoken of in the Prouerbes of Salomon saying I haue deckt my bed with ornaments with carpets and carued workes laces of Egipt I haue perfumed it with mirrhe Aloes and Synamom come and let vs take our fill of loue vntill the morning and take our pleasure in dalliance and he followed her as an oxe that goeth to the slaughter as a foole to the stockes or as a bird hastneth to the snare not knowing what danger he runneth into for can a man take fire in his bosome and not be burnt can a man goe barefoote vpon coales and his feete not be burnt so he that goeth to his neighbours wife shall not be innocent saith Salomon It was a custome among the Hebrewes that the spowse was brought to her her husband her head being couered so Rebecca tooke availe and couered her head when shee sawe Isaac in token of shamefastnesse and chastity for the way to become chast is first to be shamefaste Men must haue chaste eyes Holosernes offended and desired to sinne with Iudith at the sight of her slippers So the two Elders offended at the sight of Sufanâ—… bathing her selfe in the well This made Abraham to speake to his wife Sarah I know thou art a faire woman that when the Egiptians see thee they will kill me to obtaine thee The eye of Herod was delighted so much at the dancing of Herodias daughter that he foolishly promised whatsoeuer she would aske which hee cruelly performed with the head of Iohn Baptist. To become chast is the gift of the Lord not by vnlawfull meanes as Origen did though learned and religious yet missed in the meanes to be temperate so that he made himselfe to be made an Euenuke and his stones to be taken away thinking thereby to become continent for you shall not teare nor cut your flesh nor make any print of a marke by whipping of your bodies or burning marks any where vpon the flesh as the Heathens and Pagans did So the Prophet Elizeus commaunded Naman the Syrian to goe to wash him in Iordan to elense him of his leprosie So Christ commanded a poore cripple to goe to the water of Syloh to wash him the water wherof being stirred by the Angell many were healed I do not speake of the waters which in olde time the Romaine marchants vsed to sprinkle themselues withall called Aqua Mercurij whereby they supposed that their God Mercurius would giue them good successe great gaines Mary Magdalene trusting too much the false reports of some Rabines was deceiued in the seeking of the Messias but hauing founde whome shee sought the Messias her loue was such that shee washt his feete with the teares of repentance and dried them with the haires of her head and therefore many sinnes were forgiuen her because she loued the Lord much Among the Gentiles also there were so many that made meanes to become chast as they which were called Animphi and another sort called Abij which in no sort could abide women but led a single life especially the heatheÌ„ priests in all countries they should not come and offer sacrifice vnto their gods vntil they had shaued their haires and washed their bodies ouer from top to to toe and abstained from wine and women The Gymnosophists in Aethiopia graue and wise Iudges they made means likewise to become chast by thin fare feeding on Gurgins and course bread made of the huskes of corne with Apples and Rice this was their meanes to become temperate in their prophane religioÌ„ So in India Sacedotes solis the Priestes of the Sunne thought the meanes to make themselues continent not only by abstaining from flesh wine and women as the Priests of Athens of Rome and of Egipt did but also by refraining their owne beds in their owne houses and to liue sub dio to lie in their cloathes vpon the earth Among the Romanes and the Grecians the lawes of the 12. tables commaunded commended to them chastitie in such sort that they might neither serue sacrifice nor offer vnto their gods vnlesse for a certaine time they had abstained froÌ„ wine women the words of the law were these Ad diuos adeunto castè Pietatem adhibento opes admouento How straightly the Gentiles obserued this you read before yet seeke they their warrant from Moses for the high Priest Abimelech would know of Dauid whether he and his company were pure and cleane frooÌ„ women before they should eat of the shewe bread which was lawfull for no man to eate but the Priest The lawe of Moses was that money gotten by common women might not be accepted neither in offring nor in sacrifice vpon the Lords Aultar for the law saith thou shalt neither bring the hire of a whore nor the price of a dogge into the house of the Lorde for euen both these are abhominations vnto the Lord for there shall be no whore nor whore keeper in Israel So Numa Pomp made a lawe in Rome that a strumpet or a leaud woman should not so much as touch the aultar of Iuno for it was his lawe that Pellex non tangerâ—… Innonis aram so all the Pagans and Heathens would haue cleane and pure things offered and sacrificed vnto their gods vpon their prophane aultars so it is written by Cicero Impij donis non audeant Placare deos In the ninth Regiment is signified the continuance of lawes in diuers countries and the care in keeping of their lawes AFter lawes were made and executed in all countries reuerenced with obedience and so kept with care that Licurgus lawes were kept in Sparta among the Lacedemonians fiue hundred and odde yeares the lawes of the Sybils in Rome continued welnigh fiue hundred yeares the lawes of Bocchoris in Egipt endured seuen hundred yeares the lawes of Solon in Athens continued one hundred yeares from Solons time to Xerxes at what time Athens was burnt by the Persians The lawes of the Rechabites were obserued kept three hundred yeares by the children of Ionadab but the lawes of the Iewes from the comming of Moses out of Egipt to the last destruction of Ierusalem vnder Titus continued 1500. yeares So carefull were the first age that the children of Seth hearing Adam prophesying of two destructions which should come vpon the whole world the one by fire the other by water builded vp two arches or pillars the one of bricke the other of stone in the