her sonne Itis begot by her husband Tereus The Daiedes or Danaes daughters of Danaus for cutting the throats of their husbands and kinsmen the sonnes of AEgiptus The Lemniades or women of Lemnos who in the same Island most cruelly slew their sonnes and fathers Harpalice the daughter of Climenus who killed the childe which her incestuous father begot on her owne body Tullia the daughter of Servius King of the Romans who caused her chariot to be drawne ouer the body of her dead father for the horridnesse of which fact the street in the citie Rome where this was done was called Vicus sceleratus Of those abhorred for Incestuous congresse the most remarkable were Iocasta who had issue by her sonne Oëdipus and Pelopaea by her father Thiestes Harpalice with her Sire Climenus c. Some are to this day made infamous for killing their husbands As Clitemnestra the daughter of Thestius for conspiring with Egistus in the murder of her Lord Agamemnon the son of Atreus Iliona the daughter of Priam for killing her husband Polymnestor K. of Thrace Semyramis Queen of Babylon for the death of Ninus King of Assyria Helena after the death of Paris Deiphebus the sonne of Priam. Agave her husband Lycothersis in Illyria and Deianeira for sending the poysonous Shirt to her Lord Hercules of Lybia c. Others for killing their wiues As the same Hercules his wife Megara the daughter of Creon King of Thebes Theseus Antiopa the Amazon and daughter of Mars Cephalus the son of Deionis or of Mercury Procris the daughter of Pandion by his vaine jelousie c. Fathers for killing their daughters As Agamemnon the great General of the Grecian Army in their famous expedition against Troy who sacrificed his daughter Iphigenia to the goddesse Diana Climenus the sonne of Oeneus slew his daughter Harpalice because she killed her child and serued it in vnto him at a banquet Hyacinthus his daughter Spariantides vpon an answer returned from the Athenians Erichthaeus the sonne of Pandion his daughter Colophonia vpon the like occasion Cercyon the sonne of Vulcan his daughter Alopes for committing incest with Neptune AEolus his daughter Canace for the like done with her brother Mallaraeus c. Of mothers that most cruelly and vnnaturally haue murthered their owne children we reade That Medea the daughter of Oâ—tes King of Colchos slew her two sonnes Machareus Pherelus begot by Iason Progne the daughter of Pandion killed her son It is which she had by Tereus Ino the daughter of Cadmus yong Melicertes begat by Athamas the sonne of AEolus Althaea the daughter of Thestius Meleager by Oeneus the sonne of Parthaâ—n Themisto the daughter of Hypseus Plinthius and Orchomenes her two sonnes by Athamas Tyros the daughter of Salmoneus two sonnes begot by Sisiphus the sonne of Eolus Agave the daughter of Cadmus Penthaus the sonne of Echion at the imposition of Liber Pater c. So likewise of Selfe-murtherers Egeus the sonne of Neptune and father of Theseus cast himselfe headlong into the sea from whose death it still retaines the name of Mare Egeum i. the Egean sea Euhemus the sonne of Hercules precipitated himselfe into the riuer Lycorma which is now called Chrysorroas Aiax the sonne of Telamon slew himselfe for the losse of Achilles his armor Lycurgus the sonne of Briantus being strooke with madnesse by Liber Pater laid violent hands vpon himselfe Agrius the son of Parthaon being expulsed from his kingdome by Diomedes King of AEtolia slew himselfe So Ceneus the sonne of Elatus Menicus the father of Iocasta or as some call him Menaetis precipitated himselfe from the walls of Athens Nisus the son of Mars hauing lost his purple locke cast himselfe vpon his sword and so died As likewise Climenus the sonne of Coeneus King of Arcadia after he had committed incest with his daughter Cyniras the sonne of Paphus King of Assyria after hee had committed the like with his owne naturall childe Hercules cast himselfe into the fire and so perished Adrastus with his sonne Hipponous did the like Pyramus the Babylonian slew himselfe for the loue of Thisbe And Oedipus the sonne of Laius destroyed his owne life for hauing incestuous Issue by his mother whose name was Iocasta c. Of Women that so dispairingly died these Hecuba the wife of Priam cast her selfe into the sea as Ino the daughter of Cadmus did the like with her sonne Melicertus Anticlia the mother of Vlysses and daughter of Antolychus strangled her selfe because she heard a false rumour of her sonnes death The like did Stoenobaea the daughter of Iobates and wife of King Praetus for the loue of Bellerephon Evadne the daughter of Philacus because her husband Capaneus was slaine at Thebes cast her selfe into the same funeral fire in which his body was burned AEthra the daughter of Pythaus for the death of her children Iliona for the death of her parents Themisto for her children Erigone for her father Phedra for the incestuous loue borne to her step-sonne Hyppolitus Phyllis for Demophoon Calypso daughter to Atlas for the loue of Vlysses Dido the daughter of Belus for AEneas c. Time would sooner faile me than Historie yet these I haue introduced to this purpose to shew That Atheisme and want of the true knowledge of God hath bin the cause of so many Murthers and Incests hath made so many Parracides and Fratricides and indeed hath beene the ground of all prodigious acts and inhumanities whatsoeuer Something is requisit to be spoken of Idolatry The word is deriued from 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 and 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 i. Cultus and Colo The definition thereof is Cultus Deo debitus Creaturae exhibitus i. The worship that is due onely to God conferre vpon the Creature An Idol is when any Statue or Image in which either some Deitie or any other thing shall stand for a Power a Patron Protector or Sauiour is represented and worshipped Of which kind was the golden Calfe Basil saith vpon the third of Esay What thing can appeare more vain and ridiculous than for a man to professe himselfe to be the workeman of his God and Maker To shew how abhominable Idolatry was in the eyes of the Almighty I will only quote you one place out of many in the holy Text Take therefore good heed vnto your selues for you saw no Image in the day that the Lord spake to you in Horeb out of the midst of the fire that you corrupt not your selues nor make you a grauen Image or representation of any figure whether it be likenesse of male or female the likenesse of any beast that is on the earth or of any feathered fowle that flieth in the aire or of any thing that creepeth on the earth or of any fish that is in the waters beneath the earth And lest thou lift vp thine eyes to heauen and when thou seest the Sunne the
They haue found out a thousand wayes to die Then came the Brasen Age worse than the two former yet not altogether so wicked as the last of which Ovid Met. lib. 1. makes mention Tertia post illas successit ahaenea proles Saevior ingenijs c. The third succeeds the Brasen Issue stil'd More cruell in their natures and more vild More apt to horrid Armes than those forepast And yet not all so wicked as the last The Iron Age is the last of which the soâ—e Poâ—t in the selfe same booke makes this description de Duro est vltimâ— Ferro c. The fourth of Iron into whose veines are crept All those grand mischiefes that beforeâ— time slept Truth Modestie and Faith together fled As banisht from the earth into whose sted Came Craft Deceit Fraud Iniurre and Force And that than which there 's nothing can be worse Base Auarice for not the Earth could breed Out of her plenteous crop enough to feed Insatiate Mankinde but that they must dare To rip her reuerend bowels vp nor spare To teare her brest and in the Stigian shade What she had long hid boldly to inuade And dig vp wealth the root of all things bad By this means wounding Iron at first was had Made to destroy they then discouer'd Gold More hurtfull far though of a purer mold Then War strengthned by both doth armed stand Shaking a weapon in each bloudy hand All liue on spoile the guest is not secure In his Hosts house nor is the Father fure Protected by the Son ev'n Brothers â—arre True loue and friendship is amongst them rare The husband doth insidiate the wife And she againe seekes to supplant his life The rough brow'd Step-dame her yong step-Step-son hugs Temp'ring for him meane time mortiferous drugs The Sonne after his Fathers yeares enquires And long before the Day his death desires Goodnesse lies vanquisht Piety betray'd Vertue is trod on and the heav'nly Maid Astraea now a better place hath found And left the Earth in bloud and slaughter drown'd So much for the Ages of the World It will be no great deuiation to speake a word or two concerning the Age of Man Servius Tullius King of the Romans called those Pueri i. Laddes or Youths who were vnder seuenteene yeares and from thence to forty six Iuniâ—res as those that were fit to be exercised in warre and from the six and fortieth yeare they were called Seniores and then exempted from Armes Varro diuided Mans Age into Infancie Adolescencie the strength of Youth and Old-Age and them retracted into their parts the first Viridis i. Greene the second Adulta i. Growne the third Praecepti i. Stooping It was also diuided into fiue Sections and euerie one contained fifteene yeares the first were called Pueri ex Puritate Children by reason of their puritie and innocence of life the second to thirty Adolescentes from their growth and encrease the third Section gaue them the title of Iuviues ab adiumenta because they were able then to assist in the wars vntill the forty fifth yeare At threescore yeares they were stiled Seniores i. Elder men And in the fift and last Section all their life time after they were called Senes Hippocrates as Censorinus Lib. de Die Natal affirmeth maketh seuen degrees of the Age of man the first endeth in the seuenth yere the second in the fourteenth the third in the one and twentieth the fourth in the fiue and thirtieth the fift in the two and fortieth the sixth in sixty and the seuenth to the end of his life c. Galen in his booke De Deâ—â—nit Medic. will allow but foure Iuvenum Vigentium Mediorum Senum And these are not vnaptly compared with the seasons of the yeare as Ovid with great elegancie doth thus set it downe Quod non in species secedere quatuor Annum Aspicis AEtatis per agentem imit amina nostrae The Yeare thou seest into foure seasons castâ— Suting our Age which is to come or past Infancie and Childehood is represented in the Spring Youth in Sommer the middle or intermediate betwixt Strength and Weaknesse to Autumne and Old-Age to cold and feeble Winter Concerning which we thus reade the before-named Author Nam tener lacteus Puerique similimus aevâ— c. The new Spring comes to which we may compare Children that feed on milke and tender are The yong and springing grasse the season tells For weake and without strength it growes and swells Sweetning the Farmers hopes all things are greene The fields looke pleasant floures are each where seene And decke the Meads in a discoloured suit The branches only bud but beare no fruit Spring into Sommer passeth now the yeare More strong and potent doth like Youth appeare No Season of more vigor and abilitie More ardent or abounding with fertilitie Youths feruor being somewhat now allay'de Ripe Autumne in his course begins to'inuade And mildely doth 'twixt Youth and Age beare sway His head part blacke but somewhat mixt with gray Then comes old Winter with a palsied pace His haire or white or none his head to grace You may also trace him thus Met. lib. 2. Verque novum stabat cinctum florente corona c. Now Spring stood there a fresh wreath girt his braine And Sommer naked in a crowne of graine Autumne from treading grapes in torne attyre And rugged Winter new come from the fire I will conclude this with Pliny lib. 10. cap. 23. As no man saith he knoweth when the Storkes come till they be come and no man can tell when they remoue and depart till they be vtterly gone because they come and goe priuately in the dead of night when no man can take notice or be aware of either so no man can perceiue his age to come till it be vpon him nor his youth going till it be quite gone And as hee that hath sung much is not to be approued but he that hath sung skilfully so he is not to be commended that hath liued long but he onely that liued well I conclude the premisses with Plato's Yeare The yeare is called Annus which Festus would deriue from the Greeke word Enos But others would haue it a meere Latine word as Atteius Capito so Macrobius lib. 1. Saturn witnesseth of him who thinkes it so called of the circle or compasse of Time of An which is Circum and Nonus which signifieth the Nones Which word may for the vnderstanding of some need a little explanation They are called Nones of Novenus as Denus quasi decimus of the number nine Rutilius writeth That thereupon the Romanes called their Faires Nondinae because that for eight dayes together the Husbandmen were employed in ploughing tilling sowing or reaping but euery ninth day was a day of intermission either for conuerse in the City or hearing of their Lawes read and expounded They are called the Nones of euery month because from
stung him to death Iupiter for his vertue and valour translated him to the starres and at the entreaty of Diana did as much for the Scorpion who had auenged her of her enemie Aristom informeth vs That one Caâ—brisa a citisen of Thebes being issulesse desired the gods to foelicitate him with a sonne and to that purpose made vnto them many Diuine sacrifices To whom Iupiter Mercury and Neptune came and guested for whose entertainment he slew an Oxe humbly petitioning to them for a male issue whom they commiserating at the motion of Mercury the three gods pissed in the hide of the Oxe and commanded him to bury it in the earth Which after the space of forty weeks being opened there was found a male Infant whom they called Vrion ab Vrina Others thinke him to be Arion the Methimnaean so excellent vpon the Harpe who being affrighted by Pyrats cast himselfe into the sea and by the vertue of his Musicke was borne safe to the shore on the backe of a Dolphin But their opinions by the best Authors are altogether exploded Cum tetigit solis radios accenditur astaâ— Discernitque ortu longe fata vivida firmat At quibus artatae frondes an languida radix Examinat nullo gaâ—det maiâ—sve minusve Agricola sidus primo speculatur ab orta The chiefe Star of Canis major or Laelaps is called Alhavâ—r and that of Canis minor or Procion Algomeisa so saith Higinus But Aratus speaketh onely of that which he calleth Syrius Stella the Syrian star which is placed in the middle centre of the Heauens into which when the Sunne hath accesse the heate thereof is doubled by which mens bodies are afflicted with languishment and weakenesse It is called Syrius for the brightnesse of the flame The Latines call it Canicula whence they terme the Dog-dayes Dies Caniculares for so long as the Sunne hath power in it that time is thought to be pestiferous and obnoxious to many diseases and infirmities Some thinke it to be the same Dog which with the Dragon was giuen as a Keeper to Europa which was after bestowed vpon Procris and by her presented to her husband Cephalus who carried him to Thebes to the hunting of that Fox which had done so much hurt to the inhabitants thereof A like fate belonging both to the Dog and the Fox for neither of them could be slain Therefore Iupiter turned the Fox into a stone and placed the Dog in the centre of the Firmament Amphianus a writer of Tragedies relates That the Dog was sent vpon a message to Dolora of whom so soone as he beheld her hee grew greatly enamoured and still was more and more ardently inflamed towards her insomuch that he was enforced to invoke the gods to qualifie his extraordinarie feruor Who sent the North winde Boreas by his cold breath to giue some mitigation to his scorching flames Which hee accordingly did and those gusts are called Etesiae which are bleake North-East windes which blow onely at one time of the yeare Others will haue him to be Mera the Dog belonging to Icarus and his daughter Erigoneâ— of whom I haue before sufficiently spoken Haec micat in Coelo lateri non amplior actus Qua surgit malus qua debet reddere proram Intercepta perit nullae sub imagine formae Puppis demisso tantum stat lucida Coelo The chiefe star of note in the Ship is called Canopos and it is seated in the first oare and it hath place iust by the taile of the greater Dog Which it obtained at the request of Minerva who as they say was the first deuiser thereof making the Sea navigable to man which practise till then was vnknown but in it's scite it is onely visible from the rudder or stearne to the mast Some say that Danaus the sonne of Belus who by many wiues had fiftie daughters and his brother AEgyptus as many sonnes Who had plotted to murther Danaus and all his foeminine issue that hee might solely be possessed of his fathers Empire and therefore demanded his daughters to make them wiues vnto his sons But his malice and mischieuous purpose being discouered to his brother Danaus hee invoked Minerva to his aid who built him this Ship called Argo in which Danaus escaped out of Africa into Argos AEgyptus sent his sons to pursue their Vncle his daughters who arriuing in Argos began to make warre vpon him Whom seeing he was not able to withstand hee gaue his daughters vnto them but with this command That the first night of their marriage they should murther them in their beds Which was accordingly done sauing that the yongest Hipermnestra preserued the life of her husband Linus for which shee had after a Temple reared to her perpetuall honour The other Sisters are said to be tormented in Hell by filling a bottomlesse tub with leaking vessels But most are of opinion That was the Argo in which the greatest part of the prime Princes of Greece by the name of the Argonauts accompanied Iason to Colchos in the quest of the golden Fleece Of which Tiphis the son of Phorbantes and Hymane was said to be the Pilot who was of Boëtia and Argus the sonne of Polibus and Argia or as some will haue it the sonne of Danaus halfe brother to Perseus the Ship-Carpenter or builder who was by birth an Argiue After whose death Ancaâ—â— the sonne of Neptune gouerned the Decke or fore-Castle Lynceus the sonne of Aphareus famous for his quickenesse of sight was the prime Navigator The Boat-swaines were Zetes and Calais sonnes to Boreas and Orithâ—a who were said to haue feathers growing out of their heads and feet In the first ranke of the rowers were seated on the one banke Peleus and Telamon on the other Hercules and Hylas He that gaue the charge to the Rowers and Steersman was Orpheus the sonne of Oegrus but Hercules forsaking his seat in his room came Peleus the son of AEacus c. Oceanum occasu tangit tanto magis arte Thuribulo motae vim Coelo suscipit iam Praecipiti tactu vastis dimittitur vndis Ara is called Sacrarius and Pharumâ— a Signe alwaies opposite to Nauigation and it followeth the taile of the Scorpion therefore is thought to be honoured with a scite in the Firmament because the gods thereon made a solemne conjuration when Iupiter made war against his father Saturne and after left remarkable vnto men because in their Agonalia which were certaine Feasts in which were celebrated sundry sorts of actiuitie and so called because they were first practised in the mountaine Agon in their sports Qinquennalia so called because celebrated euery fift yeare in which they vsed Crownes as witnesses of diuers couenants Their Priests and Prophets also skilled in Diuinations gaue their answers in their Symposia or banquetting houses c. Inde per Ingentes costas per Crura per Harmos Nascitur intacta
there is a God or beleeue him to be what he is not or knowing despise him by which they become as negligent in Humane actions as carelesse of Diuine From hence arise wicked cogitations blasphemous speeches and nefarious proiects al which are abhominable in the sight of God and man as in all their refractorie courses professing no reuerence or regard of the Creator by which they can haue no commerce with any thing that is essentially good or honest In Athens a strict Edict was made That all such as were proued to be Divum Contemptores i. Scorners or Despisers of the gods should be conuented before the Areopagitae and beeing conuicted their goods were sold at a publique out-cry and their irreligions grauen vpon pillars to make their persons odible Those also who aimed their iniuries and insolencies against their Parents Countries or any superiour Magistrates were not onely branded with infamie but their bodies punished with great seueritie Of the former Iuvenal thus speakes Sunt qui infortunae iam casibus omnia ponunt Et nullo credunt mundum rectore moveri Natura volvente vices lucis anni Atque ideo intrepid◠quaecunque altaria tangunt Some all the Power to Chance and Fortune giue And no Creator of the world beleeue Say Nature guide's the Sun's course and the yeare These touch the holy Altars without feare What may we thinke then of Cheopes King of Egypt remembred by Herodotus who caused all the Temples throughout his Prouinces to be fast shut and barred vp left any of his people should offer diuine sacrifice vnto the gods We reade likewise of Diagoras melius before spoken of who flourished in the eightie eighth Olympiad This Man because he persuaded the People from the worship of their gods was not onely banished Athens the city wherein he taught but after his confinement a Talent was proposed for a reward to him that would kill him These and the like were no doubt altogether ignorant That man was created for the seruice of God and That there can be no surer signe of the imminent ruine of a Kingdome and Commonweale than Contempt of Religion of which saith Basil no Creature is capable but Man onely Where no Religion resteth there can be no vertue abiding saith Saint Augustine Therefore the first Law that ought to be imposed on man is The practise of Religion and Pietie for if wee did truely apprehend the vertue thereof from thence the Voluptuous man would suppresse his pleasures the Couetous man acquire his wealth the Proud man deriue his felicitie and the Ambitious man his glory being the Bodies health and the Soules happinesse and indeed the onely mean to fill the empty corners of the heart and satisfie the vnlimited affects of the Desire Iosephus Langius reporteth That diuers learned and religious men supping together by appointment a profest Philosopher or rather a prophane Atheist had intruded himselfe among them who in all his arguing and discourse spake in the contempt of Religion and the Soules future felicitie often vttering these words Coelum Coeli Domino Terram autem dedit filijs hominum i. Leaue Heauen to the Lord of heauen but the Earth he gaue to the sons of men At length he was strooke with an extraordinarie iudgement being tormented at once in all the parts and members of his body so that he was forced to exclaime and cry ô Deus ô Deus ô God ô God Which the rest obseruing one of them vpbraided him in these words Thinkest thou ô Naturall man to contemne so great a Deitie and to vilifie his holy Ordinance and escape vnpunished Whom another thus seconded Do'st thou now begin to distrust thy philosphy and to call vpon and complain vnto him whom til now thou either wouldst not or didst not know Why do'st thou not suffer that Lord of heauen to rest quietly in that heauen which he hath made but that thou thus importunest him with thy clamours Where is now thy Coelum Coeli Domino c. Lucian of whom I before gaue a short Character was sirnamed Samosatensis because borne in Samosata a city scituate not far from Euphrates he was called Blasphemus Maledicus and Atheos He liued in the time of Traianus Caesar and was at first an Aduocate or Lawyer and practised at Antioch a city in Syria but it seemes not thriuing by his parsimonious and close-fisted Clients he forsooke that profession and retyred himselfe though to a lesse profitable yet a more pleasing study namely to be a follower of the Muses Volaterranus reports of him That hee was a Christian but after prooued a Renegade from that Faith and being demanded Why he turned Apostata his answer was That he had gained nothing by that profession more than one bare syllable added to his name being christened Lucianus where before his name was plaine Lucius His death as the best approued Authors relate of him was wretched and miserable for walking late in the euening hee was assaulted by band-dogs and by them worried and torne in pieces A most condigne punishment inflicted vpon him because in his life time he spared not to snarle against the Sauiour of the world And me-thinkes the Epitaph which hee composed vpon his owne Timon of Athens syrnamed Misanthropos i. Man-hater might not vnproperly be conferred vpon himselfe Hic iaceo vita miseraque Inopique solutus Nomen ne quaeras sed male tale peri. Here do I lie depriv'd of life Most miserable and poore Do not demand my name I dy'de Remember me no more Superfluous it were to make much forreine inquisition abroad seeing so many domesticke iudgements at home Far be it from me to iudge but rather to feare that many of them haue beene made remarkable among vs by reason of Irreligion and Atheism I forbeare to nominate any both for the dignitie of their places and greatnesse of their persons yet hath it beene no more than a nine dayes wonder to see the losse of heads the breaking of necks from horses some pistolled when they haue beene least prepared some stab'd with their own poniards others prouiding halters for their owne necks a sonne thrusts his sword through the womb of the mother which conceiued him one brother insidiates the life of another the husband hath killed his wife the wife slaine her husband and both of them their children the master his seruant the seruant his master the mistresse her maid the maid her mistresse And what can all these be but the fruits of the neglecting of the Lord God and the contempt of his Sabboth Much to be lamented it is that these things should be so frequent amongst Christians nay our owne kingdome when euen the Ethnicke Poets in their writings haue exprest not only an honour due to their gods but euen vnto the daies dedicated vnto their memories Plautus vseth these words Quod in diuinis rebus sumas sumptus sapienti lucro est c. i. That which a
wise man bestoweth vpon Diuine worship is no losse but a gaine vnto him And Ouid speaking of their holy-daies Postera lux oritur linguisque animisque fauete Nunc dicenda bono sunt bona verba die c. The Feast is come your tongues and mindes compell To speake good words this day becomes them well Keepe your eares free from vaine and mad contention Workmen cease worke be free from reprehension And Tibullus vpon the like occasion and argument Luce sacra requiescat humus requiescat Arator c. Vpon the sacred day let the ground rest Nor let it be with the rude Plow opprest Your yokes vnloose of labour there 's no need Let your crown'd Oxen at the manger feed All Holy-daies a priuiledge should win In which let not the handmaid card or spin How people ought to come prepared to their sacrifices and offerings is thus liuely expressed in Ouid Innocui veniant procul hinc procul impius esto Frater in partus Mater c. ¶ Thus interpreted Th' Innocuous hither come Brothers prophane And impious Mothers from this place abstaine He that shall thinke his father liues too long Or that his mothers life may his state wrong The moth'r in law that hates her step-sonnes life And the Tantalidan brothers still in strife Be banisht hence Medea come not here Nor Progne nor her sister let appeare In that choise place where we the gods applaud Nor any that hath gain'd his wealth by fraud So carefull were the Poets to commend Vertue to posteritie and to lay a blacke aspersion on Vice to all perpetuitie that such as were pious and addicted to goodnesse they striued to memorise if not immortalise and those of the contrary that were irreligious and despisers of the gods they laboured in all their Records to expose their liues and actions to aspersion and obloquie For example For their chastitie these were made remarkeable Penelope the daughter of Icarius and wife to Vlysses Evadne daughter to Philax and wife to Capanaeus Laodamia daughter to Acastus wife to Protesilaus Hecuba daughter of Cissaeus wife to King Priamus Theone daughter of Thestor wife to King Admetus And amongst the Romans Lucretia daughter of Lucretius wife to Collatyne c. For their Pietie these Antigona the daughter of Oedipus who gaue sepulture to her brother Polynices Electra daughter of Agamemnon for her loue to her brother Orestes Iliona daughter of Priam for her goodnesse extended toward her brother Polidore and her parents Pelopaea daughter of Thiestes for reuenging the injuries done vnto her father Hypsipilae daughter of Thoas for preseruing the life of her Parent Calciope for not forsaking her father in his miserie after the losse of his kingdome Harpalice daughter of Harpalicus for interposing her selfe in battell preseruing her Father and chasing his enemies Agave the daughter of Cadmus who in Illyria slew the King Lycotherses by which she restored her Father to his kingdome Xantippe who when her father Myconus or as it is read in Valerius Cimonus was shut vp in close prison there to be famished preserued his life with the milke from her brests Tyro the daughter of Salmoneus who to saue her father sacrificed the liues of her owne children c. And of men Damon who snatcht his mother from the fire AEneas for bearing his father on his shoulders through swords and flames Cleops and Bitias or according to Herodotus Cleobis and Biton the sonnes of Cidippe Priest vnto Iuno Argiua for drawing their mother in her Chariot vnto the Temple when her Oxen were absent and the penaltie of her not being there was no lesse than the losse of her life c. Some they haue eternised for erecting of Temples as Pelasgus the sonne of Triopa who was the first that built a Church consecrate to Iupiter Olympius in Arcadia Thessalus reared another to Iupiter Dodonaeus in Macedonia scituate in Molossus Eleuther was the first that erected an image vnto Liber pater and taught how it should be honored Phronaeus the sonne of Inacus was the first that built a Temple to Argiue Iuno Otrira the Amazon and wife of Mars laid the foundation of that in Ephesus and dedicated it vnto Diana Lycaon the son of Pelasgus erected another to Mercury Cillenius in Arcadia c. Some for diuers vettues knowne to be in them they haue immortalised and of men made gods to encourage others by their example As Hercules the sonne of Iupiter and Alcmena for his justice in supplanting Tyrants and Vsurpers Liber Pater or Bacchus the sonne of Iupiter and Semele for being supposed to be the first that planted the Vine Castor and Pollux the sonnes of Iupiter and Laeda and brothers to Helena for their valour and vertue Perseus the sonne of Iupiter and Danaë was for the like translated into a star So was Arcas the sonne of Iupiter and Calisto who first gaue that prouince the denomination of Arcadia related into one of the Septentriones and Cynosura the Nurse of Iuno into another The like we reade of Asclepius the sonne of Apollo Erodine and Ariadne the daughter of Minos and Pasiphae who being forsaken by Theseus in the Isle Naxos and found by Liber Pater was placed amongst the stars by the name of Libera Pan the son of Mercury and Penelope was for his care ouer the herds and flocks made one of those gods called Semones i. Semi homines So Croton the son of Pan Euphemes who was said in his infancie to haue suckt with the Muses was transferred into the star called Sagittary So were Icarus with his daughter Erigone he changed into Arcturus and she into the coelestial Signe Virgo As Ganimed the son of Assaracus into Aquarius c. Others for other causes haue had free ingresse and regresse in and from Hell As Ceres when in her maternall piety she sought her daughter Proserpina and found her in the armes of Pluto Liber Pater when in his filiall duty he made descent to visit his mother Semele Hercules when he brought thence Cerberus Protesilaus to re-visit his wife Laodamia Alceste for her husband Admetus Theseus in search of his deare and entired friend Perithous Orpheus the sonne of Oeagrus to fetch thence his best beloued wife Euridice Castor and Pollux Vlysses and AEneas the one the son of Laertes the other of Anchises to visit their fathers Hippolitus the son of Theseus who was after called Virbius Adonis the sonne of Cymizes and Smirna by the intercession of the goddesse Venus whose Paramour he was Glaucus the sonne of Minos restored to life by Polyidus the sonne of Caranus c. Now of the contrary such whose barbarous cruelties and strange impieties were related vnto vs were Sylla the daughter of Nysus who by cutting off his purple locke betrayed vnto the Enemie his life and kingdome Ariadne the daughter of Minos who slew her brother and sonnes Progne the daughter of Pandion who murdered
Countrey he died in the thirtieth yeare of his age In honor of whom the City in which hee was borne erected his statue in Brasse and writ vpon his Monument these Verses following Oppianus sum suasi loquens Vates Quem crudelis atque inhumani iâ—â—idia fati Ante diem â—ripuit I Oppianus am when I did speake Poets in place did thinke their wits too weake Me cruell and inhumane Fate enuy'd Which was the cause before my time I dy'd Homer in his eighth Odyss speakes to this purpose Among all other men Poets are most worthy to participate honour and reuerence because the Muses themselues teach them their songs and are enamoured both of their profession and them But I had almost forgot my self for in proceeding further I might haue forestalled a Worke which hereafter I hope by Gods assistance to commit to the publick view namely the Liues of all the Poets Forreine and Moderne from the first before Homer to the Novissimi and last of what Nation or Language soeuer so farre as any Historie or Chronologie will giue me warrant Therefore here in good time I breake off yet cannot chuse but remember you ' what Ovid speaketh in his last Elegie Ergo cum silices c. When Flints shall faile and Iâ—'on by age decay The Muse shall liue confin'd to Time nor day Kings and Kings glorious Triumphs must giue way And Tagus blest sands vnto them obay Thus much to shew you in what honour Poets haue been But now and hence Illae Lachrimae to shew you in what respect they are and not onely in the Times present but what an heauy Fate hath heretofore as now been impending ouer the Muses De dura misera sorte Poetarum thus far heare me Heu miseram sortem durâmque à sidere vitam Quam dat docti loquis vatibus ipse Deus 'Lasse for the poore and wretched state That either Phoebus or sad Fate Inflicts on learned Poets whether They or their wills with them together Conspire all these we wretched find Who euer by their Wits haue shyn'd Homer to whom Apollo gaue The Palme scarce dying found a Graue And he that was the Muses Grace Begg'd with his Harpe from place to place Poore injur'd Virgil was bereft Of those faire fields his Father left And in the flourishing state of Rome In Caesars Stable serv'd as Groome Though Ovid next Augustus dwelt Yet he as great disaster felt And dy'd exil'd amongst the Geats No better Fate the Muse entreats Though all men Horace did commend In populous Rome he found no Friend Saue one Mecaenas Hesiod borne In wealthy Cuma hauing worne A tedious age out was betray'd By his two Brothers who inuade Him sleeping cut his throat asunder Who breathing was the worlds sole Wonder Lynus who for his Bookes compil'd Virgil The Son of Phoebus styl'd And whom the Muses long had cherisht By much incenst Sagipta perisht Antipater Sidonius well Knowne for extempo'rall wit to'excell By Cicero and Crassus neuer Vpon his birth day scap'd a Feuer Of which in his best dayes and strength Of Nature he expyr'd at length Bassus Cesius a man Well knowne vnto Quintilian A Lyricke Poet when the Towne In which he sojourn'd was burnt downe By Theeues and Robbers the fierce flame Left of him nothing but his Name Lisimachus such want did feele That he was forc'd to turne a Wheele For Rope-makers The like we reede Of famous Plautus who to feede His empty stomacke left his Quill To toile and labour at the Mill. Calisthenes a Kinsman neare To Aristotle and much deare To Alexander yet because The King against him found some clause The Muse which had so late him pleas'd Was quite forgot and his life seas'd Nay worse if worse may be than thus Quintus Lactantius Catulus Romes Consull yet a Poet far'd Who notwithstanding he out-dar'd The Cimbri'ans and in battell slew Their Generall his Troupes withdrew And quite forgetting his bold action Expos'd him to a muti'nous faction Of Rebels who not onely rifled His Treasure but with wet brands stifled Him in his chamber whose sad fate Sylla reueng'd Nor had their hate Extended to such deepe despight But that the Muse was his delight Poore Ibichus was robb'd and slaine Yet did before his death complaine And prophesy'd The very Crowes That saw his bloud shed would disclose The barba'rous act and so it fell But though they suffer'd for 't in Hell Th' amends to him could seeme but poore Since all his life could not restore Old AEscilus whom all Greece knew By whom the Tragicke Buskin grew First knowne on Stage whilest he alone Vncouer'd sate so like a stone His bare scalpe shew'd that from on hye And AEgle who did o're him flye Dropt downe a Shell-fish on his head And with the sad blow strooke him dead Anacreon for the Lyricke straine In Greece illustrous may complaine Of the like Fate who in his pride Choakt with a Grape by drinking dy'de O that the Wine which cheares the Muse On him such tyranny should vse Petronius Arbiter a Wit To sing vnto the gods more fit Than humor Nero yet such power Fate hath the Tyrant did but lower And then the Muse which Rome admir'd By cutting of his Veines expir'd Ev'n Sapho the Faire Poetesse Who did the Lyricke straine professe Vse all the skill and art she can Yet Louing a poore Ferriman Distracts her with such deepe despaire That as her Muse her death is rare For from a Promontories top She downe into the sea doth drop To quench the hot fire in her brest Thus Fate the best Wits hath opprest c. I am loth to proceed further in this argument to reckon vp all in that kinde who as they liued eminently so haue died miserably for it would aske too long a circumstance Yet I cannot escape Iohannes Campanius without commemorating vnto you some few of his Saphickes De Poetarum Miseria in these words Nemo tam claro genitus parente Nemo tam clara pròbitate fulsit Mox edax quem non peremit vetustas Vate remoto c. None that of antient Birth can boast Or in their Vertue glory most But that their memory is lost Without a Poet And yet whilest others strut in gold He weares a garment thin and cold So torne so thred-bare and so old He shames to owe it The Painter by his Pensill eats Musitions feed out of their frets Nay ev'n the Labouring man that sweats Not one 'mongst twenty But is with needfull things supply'de Yet as if Fate did them deride They poore and wretched still abide In midst of plenty Now dry'd vp are the Muses Springs And where the Swans once washt their wings Pies chatter and the Scritch-Owle sings Their wrongs pursuing Therefore you Dukes of proud ostent And Princes to whom pow'r is lent Ev'n for your owne Name-sakes lament
and Purple shine And scorning others thinkst thy selfe Diuine Tomorrow of thy pompe art dis-array'd And in the Graue aside for wormes meat layd Why doth thy tumerous heart swell thus in vaine Things both beyond thee and deny'd t' attaine Why in Mansolean Structures aime to sleepe Thinking thereby thy rottennesse to keepe From the lesse putrid earth O foolish man Be not deceiv'd for know Before thou can Aspire a glorious place aboue to haue Thou must as all lie rotten in thy Graue Adages concerning man and their good or bad affections one towards another are these Homo Homini Deus Homo Homini Lupus One Man to Man a god we see Another a meere Wolfe to be Amongst many other ingenious and accurate Emblems written by Anton. F. Castrodunensis I haue onely selected one to this purpose Ornamenta gerens Cornix aliena superbit c. The Crow trickt vp in borrow'd plumes growes prowd And thinkes her selfe with what 's her owne endow'd But when each Bird doth for her feather call Dis-rob'd she growes a publique scorne to all Man whilst he liues to be that Crow is knowne Who nothing that he weares can call his owne Death summoning and you stript naked then Alas what haue you to be proud of Men The Hierogliphycke of Man is the Palme tree and that for a twofold reason first Because it bringeth forth no fruit vnles the male be planted neere and in sight of the female By which it is imagined they haue a kinde of Coitus or copulation the boughes being full of masculine gemmes like seed And next because in the vpper part thereof there is a kinde of braine which the Hebrewes call Halulab and the Arabs Chedar or Gemmar which being bruised or tainted the tree instantly withereth as man dieth presently when his braine is perished which is onely to be found in this Plant. Besides in the top or head thereof there is that which resembleth haire The branches grow after the manner of the armes and hands extended and stretched forth and the fruit thereof is like fingers and therefore are called Dactili or Digiti Erudit quid lib. 2. Hierogl Collect. Concerning Hell and the torments thereof wee reade the Fathers thus Gregory Moral lib. 9. saith In horrible manner it hapneth to those wretched Soules who haue Death without death End without end Defect without defect because Death euer liueth the End alwayes beginneth and Defect knoweth not how to be deficient Death slayeth but killeth not sorrow excruciateth but easeth not the flame burneth but consumeth not And the same Father Lib. 4. Dialog The Soule confined thither hath lost the happinesse to be well but not to Be for which reason it is compelled to suffer death without death defect without defect end without end because vnto it Death is made immortall Defect indeficient and End infinite And Saint Augustine lib. de Agenda cura pro Mortuis speaking of the Rich man tormented in Hell saith That his care of the Liuing whose actions hee knew not was like ours of the Dead or whose estate wee are ignorant Isiod lib. 1. de Summo Bono saith That the fire of Hell giues light vnto the Damned so farre as they may see whereat to grieue but not to behold from what they may draw comfort And the same Author in his Meditation Gehennalis supplicij Consider all the paines and afflictions of this World all the griefe of torments the bitternesse of sorrowes and grieuousnesse of afflictions and compare them with the least torment of Hell and it is easie which thou sufferest for the punishment of the Damned is in that place doubled for sorrow burneth the heart and the flame the body And Hugo lib. 4. de Anima The infernall Lake is without measure it is deepe without bottome full of incomparable heate full of intollerable stench full of innumerable sorrowes there is miserie there is darkenesse there is no order but all confusion there is horror eternall no hope of any good nor termination of euill Saint Chrisostome Hom. 48. de Ira vseth this similitude I would not haue thee to thinke saith he that as it is in this life so it is in the other That to haue partners and companions in grief can be any comfort or abatement to thy sorrow but rather of the contrarie For tell me If a father condemned to the fire shal behold his sonne in the same torment will not the very sight thereof bee as another death vnto him For if those who be in perfect health at the sight of others torments faint and are ready to depart with life how much more shal they be afflicted and excruciated when they are fellow-sufferers of the same tortures Mankind is prone to compassion and wee are easily moued to commiserate other mens grieuances Therefore how can the Father take comfort to behold his sonne in the same condemnation the husband the wife or the brother the brother c. rather it doth adde vnto their miseries and make their griefe the greater Saint Origen in Matth. cap. 16. vseth this comparison As euery gate of a city hath it's proper denomination so may wee say of euery port or dore that opens into Hell one may be called Scortatio or Whoring by which Whore-monghrs enter another Swearing by which Blasphemers haue accesse And so of Enuy Gluttony and the rest euery one bearing name according to the nature of the offence Bion was wont to say That the passage vnto Hell was easie because men might finde the way thither blinde-fold or with shut eyes For so it fareth with all dead men from whence wee reade that in Virgil facilis discensus Averni Noctes atque dies patet atri janua ditis The same Bion was wont to jest at the punishment of the daughters of Danaus in Hell who are forced to carry water in bottomlesse pales to fill a leaking Vessell saying The torment had beene greater if their pales had been whole and sound for so their burdens had been the heauier Laërtius lib. 4. cap. 7. And Demonax being demanded of one What he thought the estate and condition of the Soules departed was in the other World made answer That he could not as then resolue him but if hee had the patience to stay till hee had beene there hee would write him newes thereof in a letter Intimating thereby That hee beleeued there was no Hell at all Erasmus Lib. Apotheg Sophocles in Oëdip calleth Hell a blacke Darknesse And Euripides in Aristid An obscure House or Pallace shadowed from the bright beames of the Sunne Theogius giues it the name of the Blacke Gates And Eustathius in 1. Isliad saith it is a dark place vnder the earth Saint Basil sup Psal. 33. calleth it a darke Fire that hath lost it's brightnesse but keepes it's burning And Saint Gregory Moral lib. 9. cap. 46. It burneth but giueth no light at all The antient Poets in regard of the tenebrositie thereof compare Hell to a
that blacke deed For ev'ry one in deepe amasement stood As loth to dip their hands in sacred blood Pray giue me leaue to make a short digression Of a most needfull note to make expression Fitly'inserted here t' auoid confusion Which else might be some maime to the conclusion She was no sooner Partner in the Throne But fearing how her father would bemone Her desp'rat losse shee 's willing that her state He and her friends should all participate And therefore Letters were dispatch'd with speed To signifie how all things did succeed The journall of her trauels she recites With ev'ry circumstance and then inuites Her Father Brother Sister hauing past So many dangers and now come at last To such an eminent fortune they would please To leaue their natiue Soile crossing the seas To giue her a wisht visit since all joyes Pleasures delights and honors seem'd but toyes And idle dreames nay ev'n the Diadem It selfe if not worne in the sight of them Too late this newes was for vpon her losse Immediatly the good man needs would crosse To Delphos then the Sister him pursues Of him or her t' enquire some certaine newes Resolv'd abroad their trauels how to frame So both were absent when these letters came But the glad tydings when the Brother h'ard He for a voyage instantly prepar'd For till he saw her in her state appeare Each day an Age seemes ev'ry houre a yeare Imagin him arriv'd vpon the Coast Where she whose presence he desired most Waits till the Captaine of the Pyrats can Be thither brought who meagre pale and wan Enters but like the picture of Despaire His head browes cheekes and chin o'regrowne with haire His Cloathes so ragg'd and tatter'd that alas No one could ghesâ—e him for the man he was Besides consider but their severall change No wonder each to other seem'd so strange For none of them could haue least expectation To meet there after such long separation Therefore the Queene conceiues not the least doubt But that he was the same he was giv'n out For a meere desp'râ—t Ruffian she doth take him And in the open coâ—â—â—uence thus bespake him Thou of the Seas a Rouer and a Theefe And of these late wâ—ackt Pyrats head and chiefe By the Heav'ns iust doome throwne vpon our borders And for your outrages and base disorders Doom'd vnto lasting durance if this day I shall propose to shee a certaine way By which thou may it thine owne inlargement gaine With all the rest of thine imprisoned traine Wilt thou accept it He who had not seene The Sun of long till then casts on the Queene A stedfast looke and with some admiration Of her rare beauty makes this protestation Angell or goddesse whether 'T is my feare To question which you are for you appeare To be the one or other since that face Had neuer breeding from a mortall Race O but your language tun'd to such a motion Makes me beleeue you' are she who from the Ocean Was thought to be emergent Elce that Maid Who of the braine of Iupiter was said To be conceiv'd not borne although there bred Till Vulcan with an hatchet cleft his head Elce Iuno she that 〈◊〉 Hymens fires The Queene of Marriage and of Chast desires One of these three vnto your lot must fall Who stroue on Ida for the golden Ball. You speake of my inlargement Set me cleare And were 't to coape a Tygre or a Beare With Theseus Minotaure or Perseus Whale That huge sea-Monster who had 〈◊〉 scale Lesse penetrible than brasse set me vpon A fierce Chimaera as Bellerephon Was once implov'd three horrid shapes commixt An Hiena and a Crocodile betwixt But since I needs must into mischiefe runne Your Will is Law and something must be done Yet first beare record you and all your Traine I am no such base Ruffian as to staine My hands in innocent bloud I haue nor skill Nor practise how to rauish rob or kill No Pyrat but a Father much distrest By Neptune's fury shipwrackt in the quest Of a lost Childe whom might I liue to see Death now alas would be new life to mee But that 's past hope In search of her I came Epyre my Countrey Thestor is my name And be you Testates all of you how I A wretched Father Fortunes Martyr dy No sooner had he vttred that last word And ready now to fall vpon the sword But out the Priest steps from amongst the rest And snatcht the weapon from her fathers brest Which forc'd out of his hand she said No father There is no cause why you should die but rather This lustfull Queene Then aim'd to strike her dead Who stands amas'd at what her father sed A Courtier next her the keene point put by When suddenly the Queene was heard to cry O Father I am she you long haue sought And with that word about his necke him caught This when the elder Sister wondring sees Her haire with strugling fell below her knees Seeming to those which did this change behold As were she mantled in a shroud of gold Which made her Sex apparant to their view So by degrees each one the other knew How should my barren Braine or Pen be able T' expresse their joyes which are not explicable For extasies arising from the heart By sudden chance surcharging ev'ry part Of the Soules faculties in most strange fashion Make rapture to proceed from admiration In such a pleasing diffidence they grow They scarce beleeue what they both see and know Of what all are assur'd no one but feares Till joyes affects breed the effect of teares Much would be said but none can silence breake All full of matter but none pow'r to speake In this distraction there 's a rumor growne Of a yong man a stranger and vnknowne Arriv'd at Court who hearing the great fame Of that braue Queene as far as Epire came To visit her At the word Epire they Are startled all the Princesse bids make way To giue him entrance O what expectation Had they then to behold one of their Nation By reason of her Letters the Queene she Might happily conjecture who't might be But the two other could not apprehend What man should be employ'd or who should send Therefore new scruples in their thoughts begin When by a Lord-like Eunuch vsher'd in Hee 's brought into the Presence and soone knowne Because assuming no shape but his owne Then suddenly they all vpon him runne The Sisters cry out Brother Thestor Sonne And all at once their armes about him cast But were so chang'd from that he saw them last To haue retyr'd himselfe was his intent Not vnderstanding what such greeting meant Because the elder Sister at first sight Appear'd to him a strange Hermophrodite Nor of the other could he knowledge haue The Sire so ragged and the Queene so braue But finding them persist in their embraces And
make the meat disgest The good old man perceiuing by his looke And change of cheare he Gospell could not brooke Rose at the table and cry'd out amaine Auaunt thou Fiend with thy infernall traine Thou hast no pow'r howeuer thus disguis'd O're them who in Christs name haue beene baptis'd The roaring Lion shall not vs deuour That in his bloud are ransom'd from thy pow'r These words with such like were no sooner spoke But he with all his traine vanisht like smoke And of his people they no more could finde Sauing three ougly bodies left behinde With a foule stench and they were knowne to bee Felons before-time strangled on a tree Now of those Sp'rits whom Succubae we call I reade what in Sicilia did befall Rogero reigning there a yong man much Practis'd in swimming for his skill was such That few could equall him one night bee'ng late Sporting i' th sea and thinking then his Mate Had been before him catcht him by the haire To drag him to the shore when one most faire Appear'd to him of a most sweet aspect Such a censorious Cynicke might affect Though he had promis'd abstinence Her head Seem'd as in golden wires apparelled And lo quite naked shee 's before him found Saue that her modest haire doth cloath her round Astonisht first to see so rare a Creature Richly accomplisht both in face and feature He viewes her still and is surpris'd at last And ouer her his vpper garment cast So closely brought her home and then conueyd Her to his priuat chamber where she stayd So long with him that he with her had won Such grace she was deliuer'd of a Son Within some forty weekes But all this while Though she had lent him many a pleasant smile Not making anything betwixt them strange That wife might with her husband interchange She neuer spake nor one word could he heare Proceed from her which did â—o him appeare Something prodigious Besides it being knowne How this faire seaâ— borne Venus first was growne In his acquaintance Next how his strange sute Came first and that she still continu'd mute A friend of his that had a seeming care Both of his bodie and his soules welfare Told him in plaine termes he was much mis-led To entertaine a Spectar in his bed At which words both affrighted and inrag'd To thinke how desp'ratly he had ingag'd Both soule and body home he posts with speed And hauing something in himselfe decreed First mildely treats with her and after breakes Into loud termes yet still she nothing speakes At this more angry to haue no reply He takes his sword and sonne then standing by And vowes by all the oathes a man can sweare Vnlesse she instantly deliuer there Both what she is how bred and whence she came And vnto these particular answer frame His purpose is receiue it how she will The pretty Babe betwixt them got to kill After some pause the Succubus reply'd Thou onely seek'st to know what I would hide Neuer did Husband to himselfe more wrong Than thou in this to make me vse my tongue After which words she vanisht and no more Was thenceforth seene The childe threatned before Some few yeares after swimming in the place Where first the father saw the mothers face Was from his fellowes snatcht away and drown'd By the same Sp'rit his body no where found Besides these Marcus vpon Psellius findes To be of maligne Spirits sundry kindes That beare in the foure elements chiefe sway Some Fiery and AEtherial are and they Haue the first place Next Spectars of the Aire Water and Earth but none of them that dare Beyond their bounds Others that all light fly And call'd Subterren or Lucifugi Vnto the first those prodigies of Fire Falling from heav'n which men so much admire The Learn'd ascribe As when a burning stone Dropt from the Sky into swiâ—t AEgion A Floud in Persia in Darius dayes As when three Moones at once in splendant rayes With a huge bearded Comet did appeare To all mens wonder in the selfe same yeare Pope Iohn the two and twentieth by his pow'r Curst Lewis Bavarus then Emperour Because he cherishr in litigious hope Petrus Carbariensis Anti-Pope As when three Sunnes at once shoâ— in the Sky Of equall sise to all apparantly Neere to the Village cal'd Taurometane In Sicily a Merchant bred in Spaine Coasting that way sees where before him stand Ten Smiths and each a hammer in his hand About them leatherne aprons and before He can aduise well he espies ten more And one aboue them all like Vulcan lame So shapt that you would take him for the same Describ'd in Homer Him the Merchant asks To what place they were bound About out tasks Vulcan replies Is it to thee vnknowne How famous we are late in AEtna growne Which if it be lag but a while behinde And see what thou with thousands more shalt finde To whom the Merchant What worke can there bee For men of your profession where we see Nothing but drifts of snow the mountaines clad In Winters cold where no fire can be had That shall be try'd said Vulcan once againe And with that word he vanisht with his traine At which the Merchant with such feare was strooke That all his limbes and joints were Ague-shooke To the next house his faint steps he applies And had no sooner told this but he dies His life set with the Sun E're mid-night came The vast Sicilian Mount was all on flame Belching forth fire and cinders and withall Such horrid cracks as if the rocks would fall And tumble from their height into the Plaine Mixt with such tempests both of Haile and Raine Such bellowing shriekes and such a sulphur smell As had it been the locall place of Hell This dismall night so dreadfull did appeare Vnto all such as did inhabit neere They left their houses to seeke dens and caues Thinking no place so safe then as their graues And of this nature are those fires oft seene Neere Sepulchres by which many haue beene Deluded much in Church-yards and such places Where the faint-hearted scarce dare shew their faces Such are the Ignes Fatui that appeare To skip and dance before vs ev'ry where Some call them Ambulones for they walke Sometimes before vs and then after stalke Some call them leaping Goats and these we finde All to be most malicious in their kinde By leading Trauellers out of their way Else causing them mongst theeues or pit-falls stray And such are Sulphur-colour'd others white And these haunt ships and Sea-men in the night And that most frequent when a tempest 's past And then they cleaue and cling close to the mast They call it Helena if one appeare And then presage there 's some disaster neere If they spie two they iudge good shall befall them And these thus seene Castor and Pollux call them And from that kinde of Sp'rits the Diuination Held in fore-times