use of wine THE MYSTERIES BY Bacchus is ordinarily meant Wine which is the fruit of Semele that is of the Vine so a called because it shakes the limmes for no liquor so apt to breed palsies as wine ashes because hot make good dung for Vines therefore Bacchus is said to proceed of his mothers ashes and to be cherished in Iupiters thigh because the Vine prospers best in a warme aire and in a soile most subject to thunder which is caused by heat which is most fervent and thunders most frequent in July and August when the grapes do ripen He was bred in Egypt because a hot aire and mellow soile as Aegypt is is fittest for wine and because moisture is required for the increase of wine therefore he was said to be nursed by the Hyades and Nymphs Hee subdued the Indians either because wine makes resolute souldiers or because most countries are subdued with excessive drinking and abuse of wine and indeed Bacchus may weare the Diadem for he doth triumph over all nations of all sorts of people and professions there be few that with Lycurgus will oppose him his Thirsus reacheth farther than any Kings Scepter or the Roman Fasces if we would see his Orgia or sacrifices his Priests or a Maenades his Panthers Tigers and Lynces with which his chariot is drawen the Satyrs and Sileni his companions with their Cymbals and vociferations we shall not need to go far he never had greater authority over the Jndians than he hath over this Kingdom he once slept three years with Proserpina but we will not let him rest one day The Thebans tore Orpheus for bringing in Bacchus his sacrifices among them and Icarius was thought to have brought in poyson when he brought in wine but the case is otherwise with us if any discommend the excesse of wine he shall have Alcithoes doome she for discommending Bacchus was turned into a Bat and he shall be accounted no better yet I discommend not the moderat use of wine which is Iupiters sonne or the gift of God for it strengthens the body comforts the heart breeds good bloud for which cause Bacchus was alwayes young for wine makes old men look young if it be moderate otherwise it makes them children for so Bacchus is painted he had also both a virgins and a bulls face hee was both male and female sometimes hee had a beard and sometimes none to shew the different effects of wine moderatly and immoderatly taken he was worshipped on the same altar with Minerva and was accompanied with the Muses to shew that wine is a friend to wisdome and learning Mercury carried him being a child to Macris the daughter of Aristaeus who anointed his lips with honey to shew that in wine is eloquence and so likewise the naked truth therefore Bacchus is alwayes naked and if Amphisbaena the Serpent that is sorrow or care bit the heart let Bacchus kill him with a vine-branch wine refines the wit therefore the quick sighted Dragon was consecrated to Bacchus and to shew that much pratling was the fruit of wine the chattering Pye was his bird And because wine makes men effeminat therefore women were his priests he slept three yeares with Proscrpina to shew that Vines the first three yeares are not fruitfull he was turned unto a Lion to shew the cruelty of drunken men he was torne by the Titans buried and revived againe for small twigs cut off from a vine and set in the earth bring forth whole vines He was called a Liber because wine makes a man talk freely and freeth the mind from cares and maketh a man have free and high thoughts it makes a begger a gentleman a Dionysus from stirring up the mind he was the first that made bargains and so it seems to be true by the Dutch-men who wil make no bargains till they be well liquored 2. Bacchus is the Sun who is both Liber and Dionysus free from all sublunary imperfections and freeth the world from darknesse and inconveniencies of the night and pricks forward the mindes of men to their daily actions he is still yong not subject to age and decay naked for he makes all things naked and open to the eye of the author of generation of all things as well as of wine the son of Iupiter because he is a part of heaven and of burned Semela because they thought that the Sun was of a fiery matter he dyeth and reviveth again when after the cold winter he recollects his heat strength and vigour his sleeping with Proserpina sheweth his abode under our Hemisphaer the wilde beasts which accompany him sheweth the extremity of heat with which beasts are exasperated he is a friend to the Muses for by his influence our wits are refined a destroyer of Amphisbaena that is the winter which stings with both ends for at its coming and going it breeds diseases and distempers in our bodies he was painted sometimes like a childe sometimes like a man because in the winter the dayes are short and his heat weak but in summer his heat is strong and dayes are long he is cloathed with the spotted skin of a Deer to shew his swiftnesse and multitude of Stars with which he seems to be covered at night the travels of Bacchus do shew the motion of the Sun 3. Originall sin like Bacchus received life by the death of Eva who for her disobedience was struck with the thunder of Gods wrath and it hath been fomented by Adams thigh that is by generation this unruly evil hath travell'd farther then Bacchus did and hath an attendance of worse beasts then Tygers Panthers c. to wit of terrours and of an evil conscience and actuall sins it hath subdued all mankinde and as Bacchus turning himself unto a Lyon made all the mariners in the ship wherein he was carried leap into the Sea so this sin turned us all out of Paradise unto the Sea of this world 4. Christ is the true Dionysius {non-Roman} {non-Roman} {non-Roman} {non-Roman} {non-Roman} the minde of God the internall Word of the Father born of a woman without mans help as the Graecians fable their Bacchus to be and yet they give a credit to their figment and not unto our truth he is Liber who makes us onely free the great King who hath subdued all Nations whose Diadem is glory He hath kill'd Amphisbaena the Devil the two-headed Serpent his two stings are sin and death with the one he hath wounded our souls with the other our bodies he triumpheth over all his foes his body was torn with thorns nails and whips and went down to hell but he revived and rose again he is the true friend of wisdom and learning and who hath given to us a more comfortable wine then the wine of the grape that wine which we shall drink new with him in his Kingdom his lips were truly anointed with honey grace was diffused in them and never man spake
'l woorry you before you feel their wounds Look to their teeth shun these Actaeons hounds ADONIS HE was a beautiful youth with whom Venus was in love but whilst he was hunting was killed by a boare or by Mars in the shape of a boare and by Venus was turned unto a red flower called Anemone hee was kept after death by Ceres or Proserpina six months under ground and other six months by Venus above THE MYSTERIES IF by Adonis we understand wheat that lodgeth with Proserpina that is lyeth buried in the ground six months in the winter the six summer months it is above in the aire with Venus by which the beautie of the yeare is signified by the boare may be meant the cold frosty and snowy season in which the wheat seemes to be killed 2. If with Macrobius by Adonis we understand the Sun he may be sayd to lodge six months with Proserpina in respect of his southerly declination the other six months with Venus for then the creatures give themselves to procreation he is killed by the boare and lamented by Venus for in winter his beames are of no force to dispell the cold which is the enemie of Adonis and Venus that is of beautie and procreation 3. Mars in the forme of a boare kils him because wars and hunting are maculine exercises and not fit for weak bodies and effeminate spirits 4. Adonis is from {non-Roman} {non-Roman} {non-Roman} {non-Roman} {non-Roman} to sing for beauty and musick are friends to Venus 5. Adonis may signifie the good government of a Common-wealth which is the beauty thereof which is killed by Mars in the form of a Boar for Mars and wantonnesse are enemies of all government 6. Beautifull Adonic is turned into a fading flower to shew that beauty quickly perisheth 7. Yong and fair Adonis is killed by a Boare so wantonnesse and leachery are the destroyers of youth and beauty 8. Our Resurrection in this may be typed out for although death kill us it shall not annihilate us but our beauty shall increase and wee shall spring out of the ground again like a beautifull flower in the Resurrection 9. Though our bodies dye yet our good name shall flourish and like a fair flower shall live and smell when wee are gone 10. Myrrha of her own Father begot this childe Adonis which Myrrha flying from her angry Father was turned into a tree and with the blow of her Fathers sword was delivered of this childe because the Sun the common Father begot the sweet Gum Myrrhe of that Arabian tree of the same name which Gum doth cause much delight and pleasure for so in Greek Adonis signifieth In this Gum Venus is much delighted as being a help to decayed beauty to a stinking breath to procreation and the vitiosity of the matrix 11. Let them remember who hunt too much after pleasure that the Devil is that great Boare who lyeth in wait to kill them You that hunt after pleasures eye that Boare Who would your health and wealth and souls devour Dote not on beauty beauty 's but a flower Whose pride and lustre fadeth in an hour Strive that your names may flourish after death Let them out-live Adonis flower yeeld a fragrant breath ADMETUS HE being a sutor to Alceste carryed her away by the assistance of Apollo and Hercules in a Chariot drawn by a Lyon and a Boare afterward being like to dye was recoverd by the voluntary death of his wife whom Hercules delivered out of hell and restored her to Admetus THE MYSTERIES HE that intends to marry had need take the aid of Apollo and Hercules that is of wisdom and strength of body 2. {non-Roman} {non-Roman} {non-Roman} {non-Roman} {non-Roman} is one that cannot be tamed as many lusty yong men are therfore it is good for such to marry with a Alceste 3. Many foolish women like Alceste refuse many good matches and at last are carryed away by a Lyon and a Boare that is by one that is lasciviously given and who can put on the bold face of a Lyon 4. Fruitfull women are like Alceste who cast themselves unto the jaws of death by childe-bearing that their husbands may live in the fruit of their womb for parents live in their children But by the means of Hercules that is of the strength of Nature women are delivered from death 5. Alceste is our hope with which we shall marry if first we can subdue the Lyon of pride and the Boare of concupiscence 6. Admetus or the untamed spirit of Satan doth carry away the soul which is the daughter of God in the Chariot of vanity drawn with pride and fleshly pleasures and in hell the soul should have continued for ever if Christ our Alcides had not delivered it from thence Let not Man think on Hymen till he finde What is Apollo's and Alcides minde And you weak Maids and Widows too before You marry shun the Lyon and the Boare Think not to carry Hope and Confidence Till you subdue pride and concupiscence By Hope lay hold on Christ he will sustain Your souls in death and them restore again AEACUS MINOS RHAD AMANTHUS THese were Iupiters sons and Judges in hell at the request of Aeacus when the Iland Aegina was depopulated with sicknesse Iupiter turned the Ants unto men so was Graecia delivered also by the prayers of the same Aeacus THE MYSTERIES IUst Judges are the sons of God 2. The good laws of just Judges shal not be forgotten but when they are in Hell that is when they are dead their lawes shall be still in force 3. These three Judges are the three effects of a wicked mans conscience to wit to accuse condemne and torment the sinner and in this sense a man may be said to be in hell whilst he is on earth 4. Aeacus by his wisdome causing the barbarous inhabitants to forsake their caves and holes wherin they dwelt and to build houses to leave their diet of roots and fruits and to sow corne in teaching of them civilitie and military discipline whereby they overcame the Pirats which used to molest them for these respects he was said to turne them from Ants unto men 5. In relieving Graecia by his prayers from the plague doth shew us That the prayers of the just availeth much 6. Before Christ came the Gentiles were but Ants men of earthly conversation being fed with roots of superstition molested with spirituall pirates but by the preaching and intercession of Christ the wisdome of the Father and the Iudge of all the world they were made men taught to forsake the dark holes of Idolatry and to build them an house in heaven to feed upon the bread of Gods Word and to fight against their spirituall enemies Consider Judges though you be but dust Gods sons you are yea Gods if you be just Let no man sin securely though alone For each man hath three Judges in a Throne Within his brest these Judges will torment thee Here and in
have turned the Churches beauty into blacknesse but these goods make them never the fatter they passe suddenly from them as Pheneus meat did thorow the Harpies they are troubled with a continual b flix or lientery neither can their crooked tallants hold them long I grant the blindnesse and wickednesse of Pheneus that is of the Clergie gave occasion to this but now their eyes are open and their lives reformed therefore the sons of Boreas the Magistrate and Minister with the arrows of authority and wings of Gods word may be expected shortly to drive away these Harpies 7. Pheneus is a covetous miser who is blind and seeth not what a number of Harpies gape for his death that they may deyour these goods which he himselfe had not power to touch 8. Gods Spirit like Boreas a cooling and refreshing wind which filled the Apostles and came on them like the rushing of a mighty wind delighteth in the soule of man whilst that in the flowry meadows of the Church watered with the cleare fountain of Gods Word shee is gathering spirituall comfort and when shee is joyned to that blessed Spirit Zetis and Calais that is divine raptures are begotten whose haires are skie-coloured and feet winged that is heavenly meditations and swift affections which are nimble in the wayes of Gods Commandements and ready to fly upward from earthly things are the effects of this spirituall conjunction and so by these all Harpies that is covetous and earthly desires are driven away 9. God like Boreas being in love with his Church hath begot in the wombe of the blessed Virgin that winged Conquerour who with the arrowes of his power and wings of his Word have driven away all spirituall Harpies Who think you may with priviledge Rob Churches and the Priests annoy Know this that for your sacriledge The Lord at last will you destroy You 'r like those monsters virgin-fac'd Whom Calais and Zetis chas'd Your virgin-looks do shew you 'r pure Your Feathers make you very gay But by your tallents I am sure You 'r nothing else but birds of prey Which eat our tithes and them pollute But what you eat you quickly mute These Tables shall you not avail These Morsels shall not make you fat For still you eat and still you 'r pale Your craw's ne'r full your belly 's flat Those blew-hair'd winged sons one day Perhaps shall blow you quite away And you rich grubs who do abound With wealth and meat laid up in store Hark how the Harpies wings resound About your windows and your dore They wish you dead that they might share Those goods among them which you spare And now Lord with thy powerfull breath Drive all these hellish birds away Which have conspir'd to work my death And of my Table make a prey Restore my sight that I may see Their filthinesse and treachery And whil'st I 'm gathering fragrant flowers Of comfort by the Chrystall springs Of thy pure Word drop down sweet showrs Of grace on me and give me wings To flye to thee and make my hair In colour like the Azure sphaere Make though my feet walk here below My head may alwayes be above O let thy cooling spirit blow And ravish me with thy true love Let me go with winged paces To injoy thy chaste imbraces Sweet Boreas come blow on me With thy cold breath and do not stay My soul longs much to joyn with thee O let this be our wedding day Wherein I which is still my wish Thy Myrrhe-distilling lips may kisse CHAP. III. C CADMUS and HARMONIA HE was King of the Thebans to whom Iupiter gave Harmonia to wife who was the daughter of Mars and Venus the chief gods were present at the wedding and gave severall gifts This Cadmus was sent by his father to seek out his sister Europa whom when he could not finde and not daring without her to return home built Thebes and kill'd a Dragon which kept a Well the teeth of which he sowed and of them were begot armed men who by means of a stone which Cadmus flung among them fell to quarrelling and kill'd each other afterward he was turned unto a Dragon and by Iupiter was sent unto the Elysian fields THE MYSTERIES CAdmus may be meant of a wise Governour who marrieth with Harmonia when he doth all things with order and Harmonie and where this Marriage is God bestoweth many blessings Ceres will not be wanting with her corn nor Apollo with his Cithern nor Mercurie with his Harp nor Minerva with her golden chain and artificially wrought Cloak that is both profit and pleasure and arts are to be found where wisdom and order go together in Government it is this which seeketh out Europa that is countries for new Plantations by this Thebes and Cities are built by this the Dragon that is malicious and subtill enemies are slain and if of one enemy many should arise it is the parr of a wise Prince to fling among them that is to use some means wherby they may fall out among themselves that so they may be weakned and their violence kept off from Him he must also be of a favourer of learning for Cadmus brought from Phaenicia unto Greece sixteen letters Alphabeticall and a Prince must have the Dragons eye and be turned unto a Dragon when wickednesse gets the upper hand that hee may be fearfull to those that do evill and such a Prince at last shall be received unto the Elysian fields that is shall have rest and liberty again a King must do nothing but by advise of Minerva that is of his wise and learned Counsell the two cheif props of a Kingdom are Mars and Venus warre and propagation and these two live in harmony and order as parents in their children a wise man that cannot live securely in a publick place will with Cadmus turn himself unto a Serpent that is live a private and solitary life 2. A good Minister like Cadmus must do all things with order and decencie he must do nothing without advice from God he must seek out Europa his sister that is every lost soul and if she cannot or will not be found he must not be idle but must give himself to build the city of God for these two a Minister must do seek those that be lost and confirm or stablish those that stand he must also kill the Dragon that infecteth the Well that is the Heretick who poysoneth the cleer fountain of Gods Word and if the destruction of one Heretick be the generation of many as we see in the Arrian Heresie being overthrown by the Nicene Synod of which as out of the Dragons teeth arise Eusebians Photinians Eudoxians Acacians Eunomians Macedonians Aetians Anomians Exucontii and Psatyrians wee must fling Minerva's stone that is wise Arguments out of Gods Word amongst them that these armed men may destroy one another so we read in that the Councell of Selentia the Arrians went together by the ears among themselves being divided into
raise us from below Not for half a yeer or so But for all eternity O my God amongst May flowers When I spend some idle hours When my joyes do most abound I will think on Deaths black Coach That if then it should approach I may be then ready found Thou do'st feed me daily Lord With sincere milk of thy Word O then give me constancie That I may by night indure Thy hot furnace for I 'm sure Thou know'st what is best for me CHARON HE was the sonne of Erebus and night the boat-man of Hell who admitted none to his boat without mony and till they were dead and buried Yet Aenaeas by his pietie Hercules and Theseus by their strength Orpheus by his musick were admitted there before their death THE MYSTERIES BY Charon doubtlesse death was understood from {non-Roman} {non-Roman} {non-Roman} {non-Roman} {non-Roman} to dig or make hollow for death is stil holow eyed or from {non-Roman} {non-Roman} {non-Roman} {non-Roman} {non-Roman} joy for good men in death have true joy {non-Roman} {non-Roman} {non-Roman} {non-Roman} {non-Roman} also is a benefit and death is such and an advantage to good men but so it is made by Christ for in it selfe death is the childe of Hell and night and as Charon is described by a the King of Poets to be old but yet vigorous uggly furious terrible sad covetous so is death that which they fable of Aenaeas Hercules c. was true in our Saviour who overcame Charon or death by his piety strength power of his word c. He that would be admited into Charons boat that is have a joyfull death must carry money in his mouth that is make him friends of his unjust Mammon for what wee bestow on the poor that we carrie with us to wit the benefit and comfort of it and we cannot have a joyfull death or be admited into Charons boat till our body of sin be buried by repentance 2. Charon is a good conscience which is a continuall feast this carrieth us over the infernall rivers that is over all the waters of affliction in this life 3. Charon is the sin of drunkennesse the cup is the boat the wine is the river Phlegeton which burnes them and Acheron wherin is no true joy Styx which causeth sadnesse and complaints for these are the effects of drunkennesse Charons fierie face ragged cloaths brawling and scolding tongue rotten boat still drinking in water are the true emblems of a drunkard he is the childe of Hell and begot of Satan and the night for they that are drunk are drunk in the night he admits of no company but such as are dead in this sin buried in it and such as have mony in their mouths that is spend-thrifts who spend all on their throats Remember this all you that spend Your life on drink and mark your end As oft as cups and pots you tosse So oft the river Styx you crosse You 'r Owls you do not love the light You are the sons of Hell and night Black Erybus begot you then You 'r Monsters sure you are not men You are afraid that if you dye Your bodies should unburied lye And so your souls be forc'd to trade A hundreth yeers in death's black shade Before you can admitted be In Charons boat this you foresee And wisely to prevent this soare You 'l be intomb'd in drink before And thus you make your Funerall Your selves by times in wine and oil You have an old and leaking throat Still sucking in like Charons boat No company you will admit But who are buried in the pit Of wine whose mouths must fraughted be With coin such are your company O Lord before I go from hence Give me a joyfull conscience That I may joyfully ride on The billows of affliction Save me O God from this foul vice Of drunkennesse and from avarice When D ath's wherry shall receive me Let not then thy comfort leave me So shall I not fear Charons looks Nor be dismaid to crosse these brooks Of Styx Cocytus Acharon Nor waves of scalding Phlegeton CHIMAERA THis was a monster having the head of a Lyon breathing out fire the bellie of a goat and the taile of a Dragon which did much hurt but was killed at last by Bellerophon THE MYSTERIES SOme thinke that this was a Hill on the top wherof were Lyons and Vulcans of fire about the middle was pasture and goates at the foote serpents which Bellerophon made habitable others thinke this was a Pirates ship having the picture of these three beasts in it others that these were three brothers called by these names which did much hurt others that by this fiction is meant a torrent of water running furiously like a Lyon licking the grasse upon the banks like a goat and winding like a serpent as may be seen in Natal Comes and others but I had rather thinke that by this Monster may be meant a whore which is the wave or a scum of love wherin many are drowned she hath a Lyons devouring mouth still craving and devouring mens estates she hath the wanton belly of a goat but in the end will sting and poyson like a Dragon 2. By Chimaera I thinke wine may be meant which makes men furious like Lyons wanton like goats and cunning or craftie like serpents 3. The life of man may be meant by this Monster for man in his youthfull yeares is an untamed Lyon in his middle age a wanton or an aspiring goat still striving to climbe upon the steep rockes of honour and in his old age he becomes a wise and crafty serpent 4. Satan may be understood by Chimaera who in the beginning of the Church did rage like a Lyon by open persecution in the middle and flourishing time thereof like a goat made her wanton and in the end will shew himself to be that red Dragon labouring by secret cunning and slights to undermine and poyson her but Christ already hath and we in him shall overcome this Monster Then let us all take heed of wine and whores If we will save these wretched souls of ours Or if we would preserve our lands and monies From these devourers of mens patrimonies Against these monsters rather fight then flye I 'le rather kill them then they shall kill me The Lyons fury 's kill'd with patience The goatish wantonnesse with abstinence Against the Dragons sting use Antidotes Resist his cunning plots with counterplots Fear not our life 's a warfare either we Must fight or else where is our victory Without which there 's no triumph no renown And where there is no conquest there 's no crown O Lord in this great combate strengthen me That through thy power I may victorious be And let thy presence cheer my heart refresh My fainting spirits and my trembling flesh Thou art the Lord of hoasts O let thy word Be unto me a Buckler Helmet Sword What can Chimaera do if thou assist me Be thou my God and then who dare resist
me CHIRON WAs a Centaur begot of Saturn in the forme of a horse of Phyllyra the daughter of Oceanus he was an excellent Astronomer Physitian and Musitian whose schollers were Hercules Apollo and Achilles he was wounded in the foot by one of Hercules his arrows of which wound he could not die being immortall till he intreated Iupiter who placed a him among the stars with a sacrifice in his hand and an Altar before him THE MYSTERIES THat Charon is begot of Saturn and Phillyra is meant that Astronomie Physick Musick and all other arts begot of time and experience or of time and books for Phyllyra is a thin skin or parchment or paper or that which is betwixt the bark and the wood of the tree and is called Tyllia on which they used to write 2. Saturn or time begets learned Chiron that is arts and sciences by the help of reading but he must do it in the forme of a horse that is with much patience and labour 3. Chiron may signifie to us the life of a Christian which consisteth in contemplation and so he is an Astronomer whose conversion and thoughts are in heaven and in action which consisteth in speaking well and so he is a Musitian and in doing well and so he is a Physitian and because Christianitie is more a practick then speculative science he hath his denomination Chiron from a the hand not from the head lastly suffering is a part of Christianitie and so Chiron patiently suffered the wound of Hercules his arrow 4. Chirons feet were wounded before he was admitted amongst the stars so our affections must be mortified before we can attain heaven 5. Chirons pain made him desire to die so affliction makes us weary of this world and fits us for heaven 6. Chiron hath his Altar still before him and his sacrifice in his hand so Christ our Altar must be still in our eyes and our spirituall sacrifices still ready to be offered 7. In that a Centaur had so much knowledge we see that sometime in mis-shapen bodies are eminent parts as were in Aesop Epictetus and others 8. Achilles so valiant Hercules so strong Apollo so wise yet were content to learne of a deformed Centaur so all should hearken to the Ministers doctrine be his life never so deformed though he be a Centaur in his life yet he is a man nay an Angel in his doctrine To gaze upon nights sparkling eyes Which still are rolling in the skies Is Chirons head but we Must have his curing hands also And 's feet which may indure Gods blow And 's voice of melody Our hands must work salvation Our heads must meditate upon Heavens shining Canopy Our tongues must praise Gods actions The feet of our affections For sin must wounded be I will before my Altar stand With sacrifices in my hand And thus to God will pray Lord heal these wounded feet of mine Then make me as a Star to shine Or as the brightest day Give me the head of knowledge and A well-tun'd tongue a working hand And feet which may thy blow Indure O wound me so that I By wounds may be prepar'd to dye And wean'd from things below CIRCE THe daughter of Sol and Persis and by her grandchilde of Oceanus she was a witch skilfull in hearbs she poysoned her husband King of Scythia and for her cruelty was banished thence and carryed by her father Sol in a chariot and placed in the Iland Circaea she turned Vlisses fellowes unto swine but over him she had no power she could not procure the good will of Glaucus who loved Scylla better then Circe shee infected the water in which Scylla was wont to wash and was having touched this water turned unto a Sea-Monster THE MYSTERIES CIrce saith Nat. Comes is the mixture of the Elements which is caused by heat and moysture the 4. Elements are the 4 hand-maids she is immortall because this mixture is perpetuall and the strange shapes shew the varietie of strange forms brought in by generation she had no power over Vlisses because the soul commeth not by mixtion of the Elements or generation 2. By Circe I suppose may be fittly understood death caused by Sol and Oceanus grand-childe because death and corruption proceed out of heat and moysture the poysoning of her husband shews that death is no accepter of persons Sol carrieth her in his chariot for where the Sun shines there is death and corruption her turning of men unto beasts shews that man is like the beast that perisheth yea a living dog is better then a dead man but she hath no power over Vlisses that is over the soul which is immortall death hath no power the four hand-maids that gathered poyson for her were Adams pride gluttonie infidelitie and curiositie which made Adams death poyson all his posteritie 3. By Circe may be meant the Devill who hath caused beastly dispositions in the nature of man and hath poisoned us all as Circe infected Vlisses fellows but not himself so he poysoned Iobs body but had no power over his soul and because God had set his love upon man and had rejected him for his pride being an Angel he to be revenged poysoned man as Circe did Scylla 4. Circe is physicall knowledge consisting much in herbs she is the daughter of Sol because herbs proceed of his heat she turneth men unto beasts because some physitians searching too much unto nature become beasts in forgetting the God of nature she dwelt on a hill full of physicall simples to let us understand wherein the physitians skill and studie lyeth he hath no power over Vlisses the soul but the bodies of men he may poyson or preserve his 4 hand-maides are Phylosophy Astronomie Anatomie and Botancie or skill of simples 5. Sin is a Circe chiefly drunkennesse and whoredom which poyson men and turn them unto swine Circe hath both a cup and a rod with which she poysoned men so in sin there is a cup of pleasure and the rod of vengeance though Vlisses fellows were poysoned yet he would not himself be enticed by Circe but by means of the herb Moly and his sword he hath defended himself and made Circe restore his fellows again to their wonted shapes so Governers and Magistrates must not be overtaken with the Circe of drink and fleshly pleasure howsoever others are but they must use Moly that is temperance in them selves and use the sword against this Circe in others All you that love your souls Beware of Circes bowls And go not to her feasts Where men are turn'd to beasts Remember whil'st you 'r drinking wine How Circe turned men to swine The whore with painted smiles The wanton youth beguiles She hath a pleasant cup Which silly fools drink up But whil'st you 'r drinking eye the wand Which Circe beareth in her hand At first sin seems to be A pleasing thing to thee And fools with vain delights Do cloy their appetites But every pleasure hath
thy honour will due Trophees raise ERYCHTHONIUS THis was a monster or a man with Dragons feeet begot of Vulcans seed shed on the ground whilst he was offering violence to Minerva the virgin which monster notwithstanding was cherished by Minerva and delivered to the daughter of Cecrops to be kept with a caution that they should not look into the basket to see what was there which advice they not obeying looked in and so grew mad and broke their own necks THE MYSTERIES VUlcan shedding his seed on the ground is the elementarie fire concurring with the earth in which are the other two elements and of these all monsters are procreated and by Minerva that is the influence of heaven or of the Sun cherished and fomented though not at first by God produced but since Adams fall and for the punishment of sin 2. Vulcan offering wrong to Minerva is that unregenerate part of man called by the Apostle the law of our members rebelling against the law of the minde of which ariseth that spirituall combate and strife in good men which is begun by the flesh but cherished and increased by the spirit till at last the spirit get the victorie 3. Minerva that is he that makes a vow to live still a virgin must look to have the fierie Vulcan of lust to offer him violence and so he shall never be free from inward molestation and trouble therefore better marrie then burne and if he intertains any unchast thoughts though his bodie be undefiled yet he is no pure virgin as Lactantius a sheweth that Minerva was not because she cherished Erychthonius therefore an unchast minde in a chast body is like Minerva fomenting Vulcans brat he is a pure virgin sayth a S. Hierom whose minde is chast as well as his body and this he ingeniously confesseth was wanting in himself 4. Minerva that is wisdom hath no such violent enemie as Vulcan that is firie anger which doth not only overthrow wisdom in the minde for a time for it is short fury but is also the cause of Erychthonius that is of all strife and contention in the world 5. War is a firie Vulcan an enemie to learning or Minerva the cause of Erychthonius of monstrous outrages and enormities and oftentimes fomented by seditious schollers and learning abused 6. Erychthonius is a covetous man as the world shews for {non-Roman} {non-Roman} {non-Roman} {non-Roman} {non-Roman} is contention and {non-Roman} {non-Roman} {non-Roman} {non-Roman} {non-Roman} is the earth and what else is covetousnes but a presumptious desire of earthly things and the cause of so much strife and contention in the world this monster came of Vulcan the god of fire that is of Satan the god of this world who reigns in the fire of contention and in the fire of Hell and is fomented by Minerva the soul which is the seat of wisdom 7. Tertullian b sayth that Erychthonius is the devil and indeed not unfitly for he is the father of all strife and of avarice he hath a mans wisdom or head to allure us to sin but a Dragons feet to torment us in the end for sin whosoever with delight shall look on him shall at last receive destruction 8. Let us take heed we pry not too curiously in the basket of natures secrets lest we be served as Cecrops daughters or as Pliny and Empedocles were 9. A Magistrate or Governour must be like Erychthonius who was himself King of Athens he must be both a man and a Dragon if the face of humanitie and mercy will not prevail then the Dragons feet of vigour and justice must walk 10. If any firy or chollerick Vulcan shall offer us wrong we must wisely defend our selves with Minerva and conceal the injury our own grief as she did Erychthonius 11. Though the preserving and cherishing of Vulcans childe is no certain proof that Minerva lost her virginitie neither did shee lose it though Vuloffred her violence because there was no consent yet it becoms all chiefly virgins to aovid both the evil the occasion therof that there may be no supition 1. Why Vulcans fire With Vesta did conspire To make the monster Erychthonius It was because Man would not keep Gods Laws But run the course that was erroneous 2. There was no hell Nor death till Adam fell Nor monster or deformed Progeny Minerva's thigh Nor Sols resplendant eye Did neither cherish nor such monsters see 3. Now Vulcan sues Minerva to abuse And to pollute her pure virginity So doth the coal Of lust inflame my soul The flesh against the spirit strives in me 4. O if my minde Could peace and freedom finde From inward broils and Vulcans wanton eye O if the fire Of lust and all desire Of earthly things in me would fade and dye 5. My soul is vext And too too much perplext With angers fear and fiery violence Which breeds in me Much strife continually That darkneth both my judgement and my sence 6. And how shall I Resist the tyrannie Of Vulcan if I have not arms of strength Therefore O Lord Lend me thy conquering sword That I may be victorious at length EUMENIDES THese were the 3 furies the daughters of Pluto and Proserpina or of hell darknesse night and earth in heaven they were called Dirae in earth Harpiae in hell Furiae they had snakes in stead of hairs brasen feet torches in one hand and whips in the other and wings to fly with THE MYSTERIES COmmonly these 3 furies are taken for the tortures of an evill conscience proceeding from the guilt of sin they cause feare and furie as the word Erinnys signifieth hell is the place of their aboad and where they are there is hell the tortures wherof are begun in the conscience of wicked men 2. There are three unruly passions in men answering to these three furies covetousnesse is Alecto which â—ever giveth over seeking wealth and indeed this is the greatest of all the furies and will not suffer the 〈…〉 r to eat injoy the goods that he hath gotten a 〈…〉 riarum maxima juxta accubat et manibus p 〈…〉 contingere mensas this is a Harpie indeed 〈…〉 ly delighting in rapine but polluting every t 〈…〉 hath b contracting omnia faedat immund 〈…〉 may be called Iupiters dog or rather a dog 〈…〉 manger neither eating himself nor suffering others to eat the other furie is Megaera that is enâ—â—â— full of poyson and snakie hairs the third is Tisiphone which is inordinate anger or a revengefull dispositioÌ„ the burning torch and wings shew the nature of anger all these have their begining and being frâ—â— Hell from darknesse and night even from Satan and the two-fold darknesse that is in us to wit the ignorance of our understanding and the corruption of our will but as the Furies had no access unto Apollo's temple but were placed in the porch c ultricesque sedent in lumine Dirae although otherwayes they were had in great
flow silver streams of grace In whom all goodnesse and perfection dwels He was a harmlesse spotlesse Dove The Center of his Fathers love The object of my chief desires And he in whom my soul respires Who on the wing of his Divinity Was elevated far above our sight And now inhabits that eternall light Which with our mortall eyes we cannot see He Nectar of his merit pow'rs Before his Father and down show'rs On us his graces from above Out of the bottles of his love O if some cloud-dividing Eagle would Under my feet spread forth his airy wings And lift my minde from these inferiour things That I my God in glory might behold Lord let my prayer pierce the skies And from the bottles of mine eyes Receive the Nectar of my tears And drink them with thy gracious ears O if I could with Eagles pinions cleave The highest clouds and with their piercing eye Could my Redeemer in his glory see Triumphing over death and o're the grave And as the Eagles do repair To places where dead bodies are So where thy flesh is Lord let me Resort that I may feed on thee And when my soul shall leave this house of clay Command thy winged Messengers who still Are ready to obey thy blessed will To be my soul-supporters in that day And in the Resurrection When soul and body meets in one Let them uphold me then and there Where I shall meet thee in the air GENII THese were the sons of Iupiter and Terra in shape like men but of an uncertain sex every man had two from his nativitie waiting on him till his death the one whereof was a good Genius the other a bad the good ones by some are called Lares the bad Lemures and by Tertullian and his Commentator Pamelius they are all one with the Daemones they were worshipped in the forme of Serpents THE MYSTERIES GEnius a gignendo for by them we are ingenerated and so whatsoever is the cause or help of our generation may be called Genius thus the elements the heavens the stars nature yea the God of nature in whom we live move and have our being may be called Genii in a large sence and Genii quasi Geruli a gerendo vel ingerendo from supporting us or from suggesting good bad thoughts into the mind therfore gerulofiguli in Plautus is a a suggestor of lyes and so by these Genii may be understood the good and bad Angels which still accompanie us and by inward suggestion stir us up to good or evill actions The form of Serpents in which the b Geni were worshipped doth shew the wise and vigilant care which the Angels have over us when after this life they punish us for sins they are called c Manes Therefore the Genii were painted with a platter full of flowers and garlands in one hand and a whip in the other to shew that they have power both to reward punish us They have oftentimes appeared in the forme of men therefore they are painted like men but they have no sex nor do they procreate for which cause perhaps the fruitfull Palm tree was dedicated to them with which also they were crowned because they were held of a middle kind between Gods and men they were called the sons of Iupiter and earth or rather in reference to Plato's opinion which held Angels to be corporeall our souls also are Genii which from our birth to our death do accompanie our bodies every mans desire and inclination may be called his Genius to which it seemes the Poet alluded saying an sua cuique deus fit dira cupido and perhaps Aristotles intellectus agens is all one with Plato's Genius for without this we have no knowledge because the passive intellect depends in knowledge from the active in receiving the species from it which by the active intellect is abstracted from time place and other conditions of singularitie and this is all one as if we should say we receive no information of good or evill but from our Genius and as the Gentiles beleeved the stars to be Genii so the Jews thought them to be Angels and that they were living creatures therefore they worshipded them called them the hoast of heaven but indeed Christ is our true Genius the great Angel who hath preserved and guarded us from our youth by whom we are both generated regenerated the brasen Serpent from whom we have all knowledge who alone hath power to reward and punish us who appeared in the forme of man and in respect of his 2 natures was the son of Iupiter and Terra of God and earth and who will never forsake us as Socrates his Genius did him at last who came not to affright us or to bring us the message of death as Brutus his Genius did to him but to comfort us and to assure of eternall life let us then offer to him the sacrifice not of blood crueltie or oppression which the Gentiles would not offer to their Genius thinking it unfit to take away the life of any creature that day in which they had received life themselves but let us offer the wine of a good life and the sweet fumes of our prayer a and let us not offend this our Genius or deprive him of his due but make much of him by a holy life and though the Gentiles assigned unto every man his Genius and Iuno to the women yea we know that Christ is the Saviour and keeper both of men and women that with him there is no difference of sex To what high dignity and place Hath God advanc'd our humane race To whose beak and command He did subdue all things that creep And flye within the air and deep And move upon dry land Besides heavens blessed Harbingers Gods nimble-winged Meslengers Are with a watchfull eye By his appointment to defend Us from all hurt and to attend On us continually Lord send to me these winged Posts And guard me with these heavenly hoasts From Satans pollicies And let them with their shady wings Protect me from all hurtfull things And from mine enemies And let this hoste in squadrons flye Before me Lord unclose mine eye That I may see my guard How with their Tents they me inclose And how they fight against my foes And keep their watch and ward And let these be my Tutors to Instruct my minde what it must do And how it must obey O by these sacred Pursuvants Shew me thy just commandements And guide me in my way And let these comforters asswage The pains of this my pilgrimage In my last agony Let these swift-winged Legions Through all the starry regions My soul accompany And when the trump Angelicall Shall sound which must awake us all And raise us from our dust Let these intelligences bring Me to the presence of my King And place me with the just O thou great Angel who hath still Been my protector from all ill