Selected quad for the lemma: order_n

Word A	Word B	Word C	Word D	Occurrence	Frequency Band	MI	MI Band	Prominent
order_n	chief_a	common_a	great_a	151	3	2.1182	3	false

Text snippets containing the quad

ID	Title	Author	Corrected Date of Publication (TCP Date of Publication)	STC	Words	Pages
A08566	The fiue bookes of the famous, learned, and eloquent man, Hieronimus Osorius, contayninge a discourse of ciuill, and Christian nobilitie A worke no lesse pleasaunt then profitable for all, but especiallye the noble gentlemen of England, to vievv their liues, their estates, and conditions in. Translated out of Latine into Englishe by VVilliam Blandie late of the Vniuersitie of Oxeford, and novv fellovv of the middle Temple in London.; De nobilitate civili et christiana. English	Osório, Jerónimo, 1506-1580.; Blandie, William.	1576 (1576)	STC 18886; ESTC S113632	145,792	234

writinges which may profit vs at all no dought nothinge For they bereue vs of the vse of reason Whereas they do vtterly abandon and as it were plucke vp by the rootes all kindes of affections geuen vs by nature wherewith sometimes we are quickned to the exercise of vertue Howe cleare and apparant that is I leaue at this time to speake For there is no man so very a dolt but séeth how contrary it is to mans nature and they that would driue into our mindes that astonishment which the Stoikes call tranquility doe not determine mans felicity but do vtterly extinguish and bury in vs all kinde of humanity That therefore that is so manifest let vs omit● And let vs consider howe profitable to the preseruation of the ciuill society of man that opinion is Put the case that a rumour spread of the enemy comminge doth wonderfully terrefie the Citizens The whole Cittie beinge astonied with feare taketh great care howe they may put from them the euell which maye ensue In this case the gouernours and cheife rulers will looke vnto the common safetye the moste couragious and lustiest men they will appointe ready in armes garrisons they will set in order all the reste for the power and abylitye that euerye man hath wil diligentlye bestirre themselues to dryue from theire boūdes the force of the enemye which as a mischiefe and that no small mischiefe they make accoumpte of But this great wyse man in that generall feare and horrour of all his country will not be by any meanes he which more will esteeme of this terryble tumulte then his owne pryuate studie and contemplation For why shoulde hee for a sorte of silye simplemens sakes withdrawe himselfe frō the study of wisedome he wil not do it in any wyse Nay whiche is more hee will not so much as chaunge his countenaunce in that greate hurlie burlye of the whole citty All this tyme he deludeth their doinges accompting thē very simple and ignorante whiche dreade that as a greate daunger and mischiefe which hee supposeth not to be accompted among the nombre of euil things At the length when he dooth see the siege layd agaynste the whole citye and the city to be set vppon wyth mayn force and that the chief rulers resist with might and main he cannot refrain from laughing to see the citizens with whom he dwelleth tremble and quake for feare sometymes to rūne all on a heape sometimes to runne giddily hither and thither and to trye and assay euery way how to remoue and put away the force of the enemy Nay a wyse man woulde thynke in ihis pityfull plyght and common misery he should take armes and presently encounter with the stoutest of his enemies not for that he lightly thinketh it a great and perilous mischiefe as through reason and iudgemente hee is leade and induced to beleue the same But let vs know I pray you to what end and purpose this Stoyck should take weapon For wyse men are neuer noted to be rash in their doings and hasty and what they take in hand procedeth of great iudgement and consideration Therefore for what cause chiefly should he take weapō in that kind of enterpryse Tel me I praye you should he for the assisting his neighboures and poore countryemen But for that cause he estemeth them onely miserable for that they are ignorant and caried away with vanity and errour of opinion Agayne that by the glimse and o●tw●rde shewe whereof he seeth them striken into suche a dampe of feare an euil thinge he can in no wyse accounte And albeit he confesseth it bee a sharpe showre yet not to be so muche regarded that for the peeuishe opynion of a sorte of fooles it should be so exceedingly feared Therfore lasely and slothfully not manfully and couragiouslye doth he thinke that in that perilous conflict and bickeringe he shoulde behaue hymselfe Then I pray you what great fruite bringeth this wonderfull wisdome or where shall he shewe that so singular stoutnes of an inuincible mynde I do think at the last this will be the end of this tragicall matter whē he shall see the City beaten doune to the ground when hee shal see all the treasure goodes and substance of the Citezens driuen caried away before his face he must shew himselfe suche a one as whom no sorrowe will daunte or dismaye no pouerty pinch no calamity crucifye but rather he vaunteth himselfe to be in bondage a kinge in extreame wante of all thinges a man stored wyth welthe in grife happye in misery florishinge and in good estate And that he mought proue the same and withdrawe his fryndes from folly in which onely hee reposeth the chife misery that maye happē to mā hee framth certain horned crabbed sophistical arguments wherby he woulde geue vs a cert●yne salue for the moste fonde opinion of his therby meaninge to proue death banishment pouerty lack of ofpringe contumelious reproche bondage not to bee accompted euill All these thinges to confesse the trueth are lustely and lostely spoken but the common socetye of men reapeth at al no fruit or commoditye thereby For if a mā be furnished wyth no other kind of skill and wysedome thē this it is not possible he should by wysedome preuent the imminent daungers of warre or wyth a valiant force or courage resist them that be present But paraduenture you will say This opinion auayleth much in thinges apperteyninge to ciuill affayres In what causes I pray you In publique matters Howe can hee vprightlye execute the office of a iudge or magistrate which maketh no difference of thinges doon in house of parlament or in place of iudgemēt which iudgeth him worthy of as much punishmente whiche hath but lightlye offended as him which hath most wickedly and abominablye destroyed his father What shal I stande in shewinge you that in priuate causes whiche happeneth betweene man and man it profiteth nothinge at all For how is it possible that hee wil haue compassion of the impotente pitee the afflicted succor the poore whiche holdeth hym that is mercifull a manne base minded and seruile Agayne may we thinke him apte to rebuke offenders and wicked persons sharply eyther to rewarde bountefullye men liuinge vertuouslye whiche is vtterly moued wyth no sence of loue or hatred And that I may knitt vp all in one woorde what shall hee profit the common sotiety of man which forgetteth himselfe to bee a man and in a maner diuorceth himselfe from humaine nature For the affections of the mynde are to be cutt of by reason not rashly to be plucked vppe by the rootes For the one is good and a profitable way and by wisedomes moderation maye bee obteyned the other maye in no wyse be compassed and if it might yet it were not so muche to be desired For all maner of vertue of what kind soeuer it be is at it were key colde and feeble which doth not spring out of a mynd stirred with most earnest prouocations of industrye and

in the entermingling so many contrary sciences who besydes that he vnreuerently ioyned liberall artes and seruile occupations together omitted the knowledge skil of som things wherby the estate of a common wealth is kept and mainteined To passe ouer many which myght be spoken of I find not where he maketh mention of chiualrie which is the onlye defence and safegard of a common wealth But it could not be that Hippias nowe cutting out his cloake ▪ thē grauing his ring and sowing his sockes could haue any leasure to learne the feats of warre poynts of a good souldiar It is a thinge therefore most nedefull that some shoulde beare rule sit in the place of maiesty by whose wisedome and pollicye the multitude should be gouerned other some should geue them selues to warlike practises or to be cōning in some science through the perfectiō wherof they mighte in distresse and daunger be a staye to theyr countrye other till the ground other worke at annile all to the commoditie of their natiue countrie Whereas then it is very requisite that men should differ in degree ▪ dignitie in labour industrie Nature hath prouidētly wrought the varietie of witts of dispositions qualities Herehence the sharpe witte deepe iudgement the high and loftie minde proceedeth wherewith some are especially through Natures benefite endued Who through their good constellacion may both wisely forsee daunger and couragiously repell imminente mischiefe Socrates in the Booke entituled Phaedro calleth this excellency of Nature the gould of the Gods whereby he is indured to thincke that they whose mindes are thus beautifyed are vnto them allyed and fitte of all other to be placed on the earth in the Throne of Maiestie Dame Nature therefore the mother of all things hath placed them principally in highest roome of dignitie Other some she hath not framed in such perfite wise either for witte prowesse and valiauntnes yet hath shee imparted vnto them greate strength and much courage in so much they will not easly fainte but manfully obseruinge lawes and ordinaunces and aide their country in time of daunger Other she hath made more simple of vnderstandinge more coulde of courage and therefore iustly hath appointed them to toyle in seruile Artes of which sort are they whom we terme men of occupation For so it is brought to passe by the wōderfull prouidence of God that whereas ech man helpeth an other and laboureth in the Vocation wherunto he is called the estate of man kinde is thereby happely preserued And the diuersitie of man his inclination and disposition was knowen euen from that time when men as Barbarians wandered in woods and desolate places voyde of reason and all good ciuilitie For at that time some one beside the rest excelling in witte knowledge and industrie withdrew them through great perswasiōs from rudenes to ciuill gouernment from barbarousnes to all maner of gentlenes The which thing the best learned haue declared vnto vs vnder fictions and Poets tales As when Orpheus is fained to haue drawen vnto him the woods and wilde beastes by his sweete sounde and pleasaunt Harmonie Amphion in like maner is sayd to driue at his pleasure whither him listed stones and sensles things through the swetnes of his songe Whereby it is geuen vs to vnderstand that those men which for want of vnderstanding were as blunte as blocks were wonne by wysedome and brought by the pollicie of other to much ciuility By such a deede Theseus wanne great fame immortall memory Who first assembled into one place the people of Athens miserablye deuided geeuinge them profitable lawes and good ordinaunces I will in meane time let to speake of those who were longe before Theseus whiche erected and builded many Citties Then was it to bee seene howe much the gentlemanlike and Princely mynde was preferred before the base and abiecte courage In those vertue was so much loued and merueyled at that they which had receyued so greate benefite by such which excelled in vertue and honestye yelded themselues with all submission to be ruled by their wysdome in so much that when they were deade they gaue vnto them deuine honoures and embraced wyth entyre loue theyr children and ofspring Principally they were moued therevnto for that their benefites were freshe in memorye which were so great and many that of deutye they thought to render thanckes to theyr posteritye When afterwardes they founde and had experiensed that there was in the issue the true and liuely image of the parente not to be seene so much in the feature and makinge of the bodye as in the qualitye and disposition of the mynde then they were styrred vp excedingly not onely for the loue that they bare to theyr auncestours as for the especiall regarde that they had to the Noble dispositions of their progeny to honour that stocke and family to whom they did offer the swaye and gouernment of the common wealth most wilinglye If then any man will demaunde at what tyme Gentilitye first began hee is to learne that then it firste entred when men oute of order were reduced to good order by the perswasion and pollicie of such as were endued with the excellency of good Nature and noble bloud Which degree of honour was geuen for two causes First for the iust desertes of parents then for the great expectation and hope which they had in their ofspringe and progenie For it was imprinted in the minds of men in time paste that the father which did excell in vertue coulde not but leaue a sonne endued with the like giftes and the behauour maners and disposition to declare the worthines of noble birth and parentage which is most wisely noted by Euripides In tender yeares a Princely grace Is token sure of noble race The opinion wherof so much preuayled wyth our forefathers that who so descended from a worthy stocke him they hoped to see in processe of time adourned with noble vertues If so then the worthines and vertue of any one man was had in such admiration that he might challēge vnto himself as his owne right the superioritie the same man litle regarding these vaine and transitorie pleasures deriued the first originall cause of his birthe and Generation from the Deuine Nature of the Gods. The cause why the common people was induced and brought to this opinion proceeded not so muche from ignoraunce and superstition as from the great shew of vertue which appeared in their life and conuersation For it seemed vnto them a thinge very likely and probable that those sprang of a Deuine Nature which were endued with the excellencie of vertue and honestie Herehence arose those worthy wighes which Homer setteth out in his Ilias amonge whom no one was founde which fotte not his petegree from the Emperiall throne of Maiestie As for example Hector the noble Troian who whyle hee liued was the verye strength and staye of his countrye of whom Neptune warneth the Greecians Aie me I feare the enmies force

cleare lighte and purchased true fame to his posteritie Now therfore it remayneth that we know by what meanes this so noble aduaūsing of his stocke and kindred maye happen to him who is the first rayser of his family to the highe princely place of honour Nobilitie No doubt that I may aunswere briefly by the same meanes whereby it is mainteyned and preserued But it is sayd before that Nobilitie is a kinred excelling in moste rare and principall vertues And those according to the opinion of Aristotle the moste learned Philosopher I accompt principall vertues which are occupied about the preseruatiō of cōmon societie through which also the safetie and securitie of men is best kept and maintayned But he which through priuate education is verye well trayned and well instructed with preceptes of moralitie may of good right be termed a good and vertuous man but yet by other qualities he shall neuer procure great prayse and worthynes except he applie them to the profite cōmoditie of the weale publique For if we were borne onely for our owne sakes and our owne cōmodities it were sufficient that we sought the aduauncement of our owne selues and the preferment of those which are conteined within our owne family But wheras we are moued by the instinct of Nature to helpe and profite other he seemeth beste to haue discharged the dutie to him assigned whose labour studye and diligence hath bin imployed in matters of great waight and importaunce to the benefite and wealthe of his natiue country Not for that truly that the vertue of any priuate man should bee despysed and set at noughte for by his good aduise and counsell if not all yet some parte of the common wealth as his owne house family is well ruled and ordered But wheras the vertue and wisedome of this priuate and peculiar man is conteyned wythin the bound and walles of his owne house and extendeth it selfe no further it seemeth good reason that the like honour and dignitie should not be due to him that is to some other whose vertues are founde more vniuersall and generall and whose minde is more occupied with the carefull cause of his common wealth For all men would not generally accord to honour reuerence a few except they did all manifestly perceiue thēselues in cases of great extremity by theyr greate paynes and trauaile to be assisted Therefore by knowledge of ciuill affayres and experience there was made a certaine entrie to this kinde of gentilitie THe chiefest and most principall part therefore of ciuil gouernement is iustice which hath in it selfe the greatest and most apparaunt shew of vertue The admiration whereof did in the beginning so greatly excite stirre vp the minds of men that they surrendered theyr goods and possessions into the hands of some especiall peeres whom aboue all other they did honour and reuerence For thus when we treate of vertue we vse to dispute The tyme hath bin when men like barbarians haue lyued in woods open fields and desolate places without politique rule ciuill gouernment neyther embracinge religion nor by mutual loue and dutie shewing theyr humanity Nothing was done in those dayes by due order of reason and discipline but most matters were executed violently whereas frantique and furious headines had the vpper hand Whē then robberies were rife murthers infinite those who in force and sturdines passed other would afflict and trouble iniuriously the weaker sorte and theyr whole lyfe compassed wyth innumerable mischiefes all they which had receyued the greater more greeuous iniuryes besought the assistaunce of some one man in witte and pollicy exceeding other whom they perceyued to be vnto the rest as it were a lanterne of Iustice a myrroure of myldnes curtesie This Patrone and supporter of right when he had taken on him the charge of those seely soules miserably suppliantly yelding themselues declared vnto them the earnest desire he had to take away pillages robberies to represse violent murders valiantly to reueng wrongfull oppressions and to sincke vnder like lawes both the mighty men simplet sort it came to passe that as many as tenderd their peculiar liberty and soughte their owne security and quietnes supposed him to be the defence and bulwarke of their safety prosperous estate whose fame moste flourished for iustice and equity From this fountayne therfore and head spring of iustice issued out the power and auctority of Kinges and the prerogatiue of princely gouernment herehence proceeded the high degree of Nobility herehence soueraingtie and the cause of all renowne glory was deriued so that there is no one stocke more aunciente or more excellente then the petegree of Kinges which through their owne vertue and valiauntnes abandoned al barbarous crueltie reducing the people to good order and ciuilitie Whose moste deuine nature Hesiodus hauing in great admiration in his Booke intituled the Genealogie of the Gods fetcheth the liue and descent of Princes from Iupiter himselfe Which opinion iudgemente of his hath ben also receyued of many in so much that they did most certainly surmise that hee coulde not but descende from the Gods which moste of all other excelled in vertue For it is reported that AEacus Minos and Rhadamanthus were iudged to be the sonnes of Iupiter they were so much of all men for their iustice magnifyed who as the Poets do fayne are sayde to appointe lawes to the infernal spirites So much did antiquity yea euen amonge the deuils and hellishe hounds beleue that seueritie of Lawes and force of iustice was expedient and necessary to restraine the vnbridled desires of a disordered multitude Pittacus of Mytilene was through his perfect skill and experience in iustice aduaunced to the highe estate of a ruler Which thinge also befell to Numa Pōpilius being at Rome for by vpright dealing and supportinge of iustice hee was thoughte and proclaymed by the whole consent of the Romaines worthely to succeede Romulus in the state of royal maiesty What needeth mee here to speake of Lycurgus Draco and Solon that I omit in meane while to make any mention of Mercurie Phoroneus and diuers other who haue beene longe time before which haue wrought the safegarde and preseruation of their Citizens by prescribinge lawes and ordinaunces and haue thereby bene aduaunced to great honour haue purchased to their posterity perpetual fame and memory Therefore to perswade our selues that no one vertue deserueth the like preheminence eyther is a like to be honoured it is hereby to be séene that each kinde of vertue beinge voyde of Iustice hath lost his honour and estimation whereas Iustyce alone secluded from other vertues reteineth still his especiall grace and dignity For profe whereof I mighte alledge a number of examples but because I meane to vse breuity I wil stande onely vppō two Aratus of Sicyon although him selfe held no Empyre yet through commendation of Iustice gotte such renoume that by the iudgement of al men

diligence For whereas all kynd of dutye is framed and fashioned by the mynde he can do nothinge lustely valiantlye forcebly whose mynd is not kindled and wonderfully inflamed with ardēt desire And wheras they take it for a thing already graūted vnto thē that euery affection is contrary to reason that no wise mā wil graunte whereas they see reason it selfe prescribeth lawes to al affections of the mind and sheweth them how farre forth it is lawful for them to ranige And therfore according to reasō we somtimes waxe angry cholerick we hate we loue we pitie we feare many things that may ensue we greeuouslye take present mischaūces we are stir redde vppe wythe greate desire wee are moued marueylouslye wythe ioye and pleasure Which affections when they excede measure they are to be restrayned with the bridle os reason and vnderstanding not to be extinguished and put oute vtterly Therefore the motions of the mynd doe not impugne re●son whereas they for the most parte by her rule and gouermente are leade and ordered Certes lyke as in the sea such quiet and calme weather is not to be desired where with the floud may not be with the lest puffe of winde troubled but rather such open aire wherby the shippe at the stearne may sulke the seas wyth a mery gale and prosperous wynd euen so there is to bee desired in the mynd a litle puffe and as it were a blowing billow to hoise vp the sayls of the mynd whereby the course therof may be made swift and certayn And euen as askilfull and couragious horseman doth not alwaye delight in a softe gentle pace but sometymes geueth his horse the spurre to the end his stede should moue more lyuely So by reason sometymes the perturbations of the mynde are stirred and pricked forward that we mought more chearfully dispatche our busines Therefor what can we make of this felicitye which a man by no meanes may obtayne if it could bee gottē it nothing furthreth the good estate condition of men And wheras they argue the onely vertue accōplisheth a blessed and happy life they seem not to vnderstande what the nature of that word is for vertue cānot so muche as by imagination bee conceiued to bee anye things els but a thing perfecte in his kynd absolute But what force of with be it gotten by neuer so much study and diligence is of that power and nature that is able to con● 〈…〉 that infinite gredines and desire that is by nature ingraft in our mindes of thinges both many and wonderfull Againe by what vertue I beseech you that I may leaue other thinges vntouched is a man ab e to diminish or stake the feruent zeale of tracinge out the truth wherewith they are most tormented which woulde fayne be accoūpted perfect wise men Either hath there bene anye man a liue which hath attained the skill of all artes which hath vnderstoode the reason of all naturall causes which hath had the knowledge by wysedome to rule and gouerne a common wealth All thinges are hidden so in the excéedinge deepnes and bosome of nature that there hath bene at any time no questi●n so plaine and easie wherof profound learned clarkes hath not geuen diuers and intricate iudgementes For howe harde is it to open effectually the argument wee nowe entreate of and presently haue in hande and I assure you we are not able sufficiently to discourse of the nature of the body soule which playnly proueth what slender perfection in knowledge learninge we are able to attaine vnto Therefore howe may this wise Stoike haue through vertue his contentation when he infinitly desireth the science of those thinges whereof he is ignorant neither only doth couet the knowledge of those thinges which he seeth with his eye but also would vnderstande manye other thinges whereon hys minde runneth whereas he himselfe is not able throughly and perfectly to knowe the nature of the leaste thinge that is But then we suppose that the estate of the minde is perfect when the minde it selfe is so fully fraighte with vertues that there is nothinge els which it may desire No man I thinke by this time doubteth but that the chiefe and soueraigne good cānot consist in single and bare vertue which the Stoikes so highly extol when neither in vertue are cōteyned al thinges which to the estate maintenāce of a man are required nor our mind with vertue alone can rest cōtēted especially desiring those things that by no meanes that man can worke are to be attained For all humaine thinges whether they be externall or els worthy induements of the body and minde are streyghted into a litle and narrowe compasse but our minde hath bred and naturally ingraffed therein this affection and disposition euer vnmesurably and insatiably to desire some one thing of great excellēcy worthines And easier maye you with a litle drop of water quench the fiery flames of Aetna then slake the vnquencheable thyrst of desire that naturally possesseth the mindes of men In consideration whereof wicked naughty persons are not to be rebuked because they haue infynite desires but beecause they desire thinges vnlawfull and abhominable For it is geuen vnto vs by nature to haue vnsatiable desires but to haue wicked desires that procéedeth from a disordered custome and leude conuersation For truely neither he which doth endeuour with al study to atchiue to honour and worship kéepeth order and measure in the desire of honest thinges But let vs feyne imagine some one to haue attained that felicity which Zeno hath reposed in onely vertue Let him be exquisitely learned in all sciences Let him be merueylously spoken of for his excéedinge and great vertues Let him haue if it please you all those good thinges which are within and without the body for as much as bothe the Academikes and Peripatetikes are of this opinion that these thinges are to be rekoned of and had in estimation as the instrumentes and handemaidens of vertue As strength puissaunce goodlines of personage soūdnes of senses perfection of health and many other of like nature then ryches and substance gentility honour children florishinge and indued with al noble qualities frindes not wauering but tyed with an assured knot of perpetual frendship Last of all yf you thinke good that the Epicure maye not so mutch as bende his browe against vs let the abundance be graunted vnto him of all pleasure with that which the bodie the minde might be delighted againe let him haue cause neither of feare or lamentation if it may be possibly attained through mans counsell and prouidence This man saie you may be thought of all other most happy as who aboundeth in all thinges which appertaine to glory prosperity and pleasure But if you woulde demaunde of this good felowe whether there were anye thinge els which he could finde in his hart to possesse no doubte he would cry out if he meane not to glose and

free from all felowship and coniunction of the body desire nothing els but to behold their maker neither cā they reape any cōmoditie or conceiue any pleasure of things beneath in these lowe parts And to thinck this substanciall workmanship was made cheiefly for vnreasonable creatures or for the vse of trees plantes it were a thinge to absurde For were it not a thing farre vnsitting wyth the maiesty of God to haue framed so great and wonderfull a worke for brute beastes and creatures voyd of reason and vnderstanding and therefore ioyned vnto him by no kinde of affinitie and likelines God hath not therfore deuised this so goodly a frame for himselfe for Angels for the fruites of the earth for liuinge creatures voyde of reason but for man made of body reasonable soule consistinge of both those natures cōioyned that he might both with his outward sences vew the excellent workemanship of the worlde and also conceiue in minde deepely the exceding glory greatnes of the workeman Wherefore all the world with the beauty pleasure therof was ordeyned for the profite and vtility of man Firste and principally that hee mighte haue a dwellīg place wherin not onely the body should be nourished comforted wyth diuers sondry fruits of the earth which it aboūdantly bringeth forth for the maintenaūce sustentacion of all lyuing creatures but also that the minde obseruing through vnderstanding iudgemēt the works of Nature with the varietie pleasure and delectacion thereof might by a proper peculiar foode which chiefly consisteth in the manifeste seinge of the truth be fedde and receyue his solace and contentation That when the order settled rule and constant gouernment of so greate a woorke should stirre vp exceedingly the minde of man it mought also induce him to the cōtemplacion of the chiefe and principall workeman So that the goodly proportiō and frame of the worlde mighte be a schole and a certayne way and trade of learning wherby man might be taught to honour and worship his lord maker And thus it is cleare apparant that the most high mighty God hath for mans sake made and created fruites and cōmodityes which the earth wyth wonderfull plenty yeldeth sensible creatures all maner of soyles whatsoeuer the seas ouerwhelmed wyth a grosse and foggie aier the heauens the firmament the sterres by whose gentle mouinges much good happeneth to all lyuing creatures Man was not as yet created when God had prepared for him so beautifull so rich so bountefull a kingdome At length when the world it selfe was fully finished he made man his body of earth and be breathed thereinto a soule finely fashioned accordinge to his owne Image and similitude Here may you see manifestly the originall and beginning of the most excellent noble soule of man which being deriued and taken oute from no other thinge then the spyrite of God and being inclosed in the body as in a worthy vessel retayneth a deuine forme pure and deuoyde of all filthye corruptiō Then the body was not infected wyth any vice whereby reason mought be disturbed or the minde it selfe with darcknes ouerwhelmed The first mā therfore knew all sciēces vnderstoode the causes of all things was sufficiētly learned in the rule and discipline of life beinge instructed by no other teacher then God himselfe the giuer of all knowledge wisedome And he did not onely excel all other creatures in the comely shape feature of his bodye but he was farre beyond them all in the amiable and the most excellent and deuine shape forme of the minde For both parts thereof were wyth so singuler passing clerenes enlightened also vnited with such concord agreement the scarcely any surer concord or any more decent and seemely maner of comlines could be imagined There was in the mind no errour no motion in the sence wherby the rule of reason might be disordered whereas reason it selfe as it were in a perfect flourishing cōmonwealth so in a peaceable quiet estate coulde very easlie restraine all raging affections The minde therfore had no kinde of let and impediment wherby it might be hindered from daily contemplacion But the vnderstandinge capacitie of mā being flourishing quick bent to the search of highe matters when it had found out and discussed the nature of all thinges that were contayned and as it were hidden in the ayre the sea earth beneath it was not satisfyed with those things which were vnder the circle sphere of the Mone and with those things which mighte be seene but woulde needes pearce the clouds and search the nature of heauen it selfe And being thus made of so excellent a dispositiō and nature was also indued with those vertues which excede the common state of man by the exercise and fruition whereof he might be the more assured alwayes of the loue and grace of his lord maker For the charecter figure of true perfect iustice which prepareth the minde to all holines is the most surest bulwarke and defence therof was deepely imprinted in him There was therein a firme and assured constancie of vertue the exceedinge perfecte shape comlines of honestie it self Againe he had his wit tyed to no kinde of necessity neither parcially inclined to any cause nor intermedled with any kind of affectiō or perturbation To be briefe God hauing shewed himselfe so liberall bountefull towards man he made him presidēt chiefe ruler of the earth appointed him a Princely place for his habitaciō The Grekes call it Paradise a gardeine flowing with most pleasaunt springs most delectable and decked with great store varietie of sweete smellinge flowers most fit to liue in in all felicitie pleasure In this most pleasaunt seate mā was placed that by that place which they say was high and mounted alofte he mought learne not onely like a ruler and gouernour wysely to guide the sterne thereof but also thereby be admonished with discrete gouernment free liberty to take vppon him the charge and rule ouer all other lyuinge creatures In the ordering of which kingdome he folowed not a written law but the law of nature that is a most perfecte order agreeable to the deuine nature of God which they terme the chiefest and most soueraigne law of all other Furthermore there was a promise made a reward appointed that if he did administer the gouernment assigned vnto him godly righteously he should enter into that heauenly kingdome and euerlastinge blisse the which in this life he would so much desire This was the first estate allotted and appointed to mā this was the first beginning foundatiō of that Nobility whereunto man aspired in which no man can note any thīg but that which is right honourable worthy of high estimacion Whereby it is euidently to be perceiued what a miserable miste of darcknes auerwhelmed the mīds of them which hauing theyr soule created by the prouidēce