money vsurie of meate or vsurie of any thing that is put to vsurie thou shalt take no vsurie or aduantage of him but thou shalt feare thy God that thy brother may liue with thee if thou take thy neighbours rayment to pledge thou shalt restore it vnto him before the sunne goe downe ye shall not oppresse the poore with vsurie An example therof in the Gospell a seruant ought to his maister ten thousand talents and vpon intreatie his maister loosed him and forgaue him the debt but that seruant went out and found one of his fellowes that ought him an hundred pence laid hands on him tooke him by the throate and cast him into prison without compassion vntill the debts were payd There is an other kinde of theft which is not the least to steale the good name and fame of any man by scandalous tongues and therefore it was not lawfull in Athens not so much as to reach the longest finger towards any man for it was a note of infamie as though he should call him Catapygos a dog or a beast Likewise if any would call a man Hodidocos or Sycophant in Athens he might haue an action by the lawe of Solon before the Iudges called Areopagitae So to call a man in Egipt an asse an action might bee had by the lawe of Bocchoris against the partie The like lawe was in Persia against those that would call a man a coward The lawe of Christ set downe in the Gospell is that whosoeuer calleth his brother Racha or a foole is in danger of iudgement so it is commaunded by the lawe of Moses that none shall goe vp and downe with slaunderous tongues to tell tales among the people for the punishment of this fault is stripes or amerciaments by the same lawe And therefore he that will see good dayes must refraine his tongue from euil and his lips that they speake no guile saith the Prophet Liber a animaÌ„ meam à labijs iniquis lingua dolosae The tongue is fire yea a world of wickednesse it defileth the whole body it setteth on fire the curse of nature wee put bittes into the horses mouthes that they should obey vs and we turne them about as we list And therfore saith Xenophon Omnibus animalibus facilius est quà m hominibus imperitare all creatures are more obedient to the lawe then man Shippes which though they bee so great yet are they turned about with a very small rudder our of one mouth proceedeth blessings cursings with the which we blesse God and curse men which are made after the similitude of God all things are tamed by man but the tongue can no man tame for it is an vnruly euill full of deadly poison Thou shalt not slaunder thy neighbour neither shalt thou hate thy brother in thy heart These and many such iudiciall lawes are set downe in the lawe of Moses Therefore said Salomon he that keepeth his mouth keepeth his life but the wicked mans tongue is full of slaunder and shame Futiles in vtiles and therefore it is great wisedome not to beleeue any thing rashly for it was euer good counsel Caue cui credas neruus sapientiae est and therefore the punishment of the tongue was in diuers countries diuersly punished And therefore Alexander the great reading certaine secret Letters suffered his onely friend Ephestion to read the same Letters and after Ephestion had read them Alexander tooke his signet laide it on Ephestions mouth as a seale to keep silence and said Anima consilij secretum And therefore the punishment of the tongue was in diuers countries diuersly punished In Persia the tongue should be cut off and nailed to a post or to a pillar in the market place In Egipt the tongue should be cut off and sowed vpon the souldiers helmet in offending the lawe of armes or for offending the state hangd vpon their hats or caps In other places for their blasphemy itshould be hangd vpoÌ„ pinnacles of temples or on walles of cities to be eaten of fowles of the aire The like lawe made Plato for the hand that kild it selfe that it should not be buried Yet Augustus Caesar being perswaded by his friends that one Aelianus that spake hard of the Emperor should be punished for his ill tongue answered No more but Aelianus shal know that Caesar Augustus hath also a toong The like answere gaue Phillip of Macedon to an ill tongued man whom when his Councell would haue him banished out of Macedonia God forbid said Philip he will speake worse of me in a straunge country then in his owne But Ramyrus king of Spaine being so soft and so gentle of nature that many of his Nobles had him in contempt for his softnesse but he at length in the midst of their contempt and of his softnesse caused eleuen of them to be beheaded in the citie of Osca saying Nescit vulpecula caÌ„ quo ludat for it is an old saying It is dangerous to plaie with Lyons LeoneÌ„ vellicare periculosum est Yet many slaunderous tongues with wicked counsell euer practised mischiefe as Doigs counsell to Saul against Abimelich Achitophels counselto Absâ—…on against Dauid his father But the counsell of Daniel to Nabuchodonozer was to hate sinne by righteousnes and his iniquitie by mercy towards the poore such was the counsell of Ioseph to Pharao in Egipt in prouiding against the famin to come Many with the false prophet Balaam haue theyr tongues with Israel but their hearts with Balaac Multi malum sub lingua non in lingua habent Many there be like Laban that deceiued Iacob for his wife and gaue Leah for Rachel too many there be like the Samaritans that seemed in publique shewe to helpe the Israelites to build the Temple and yet secretly in what they could hindred them Many such say with Sigismundus the Emperour that he which cannot dissemble cannot liue like Tiberius who onely preferred and commended his dissimulation before all other his vertues for it was euer Tiberius saying Nullam ex suis virtutibus magis quam dissimulationem diligebat Vlixes dissembling to be beside himselfe least hee should go out of Greece with Agamemnon to the warres Palamides tried him with this stratagem laid Vlixes child before the plough share whereby Vlixes dissimulation was found out by Palamides So Gedeon found out the Ephraimites not to be true Giliadites by pronouncing the letter Schiboleth who slaundered the Gileadites to be runnagates of Ephraim and therefore Gedeon commaunded that none should passe ouer Iorden vnlesse he could pronounce Schiboleth The Gibionites very cunningly dissembled how farre they came what paine and trauell they tooke to feeke the fauour of Ioshua and the Israelites Yet Plato allowed dissimulations in Princes and Gouernours to effect some purpose for said he Mendatie fraude vti imperantes debere ad comodum subditorum There is nothing so necessary in a
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
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