Hebrew people For speaking the trueth Ionathas the Sonne of Gedeon was murthered by Abimilech reproouing him but iustly Ieremie reprehending king Asa was therefore cast in prison with fetters on his feet Iohn Baptist telling king Herode of his vnlawfull mariage lost therefore his head Daniell because he told the Babylonians that Bel the Dragon were not Gods was cast into the den of Lyons All the holy Martyrs were slaine by wicked Tyrants and other iust men most cruelly persecuted for no other cause but for openly speaking and iustifying the trueth I haue read of a vertuous religious man according to some writers it was venerable Beda of England who had his eyes puld out for speaking the truth in manner following In search of ancient monuments in Rome there was foūd a goodly door of Marble on the forefront wherof these letters were engrauen P. P. P. S. S. S. R. R. R. F. F. F. many good wits were called to expresse the true sense of them but none knew directly how to construe them At last this reuerend man was sent for because in those times he was greatly esteemed for the same of his study in good letters was far neer renowmed He looking on these mysterious letters gaue the true interpretation of them as followeth The three P. P. P. signified Pater Patria Profectus est the three S. S. S. were thus read Sapientia Secum Sublata est the three R. R. R. had this meaning Regnum Romae Ruet the three F. F. F. were thus interpreted Ferro Flamma Fame And because he told the truth he was thought to prognosticate the ruine of Rome and for his reward had his eyes pluckt out Claudio Alas my Lord what needes so long a discourse or expence of time in approouing how odious trueth hath been and yet is to the world it selfe For the only truth it selfe the Son of God what trauailes endured he in the world al which he suffered for the trueth for confession whereof the Nazarites his neighborly compatriots would haue throwne him from the mount whereon their citty was builded For the trueth the Iewes tooke vp stones to stone him withall for the truth they prosecuted him euen to death at last he dyed for the truth Ego sum veritas I am the truth Ego in hoc natus sum ad hoc veni in mundum vt testimonium perhibeam verit ati For this cause am I borne and for this cause came I into the world that I should beare witnesse vnto the truth Hee came to teache trueth to the world Si veritatem dico vobis quare non creditis mihi And If I say the truth why do ye not beleeue me He came to teach vs the holy law whose precepts are not other then truth Omnia mandata tua veritas All thy commandements are truth The kingdome of heauē suffereth violēce and to apprehend it there are no armes more meet then truth Scuto circundabit te verit as eius His truth shall be thy shield and buckler When Christ ascended into heauen he promised nothing else to his disciples but the spirit of trueth Expedit vobis vt ego vadam Si autem abiero mittam ad vos spiritum veritatis It is expedient for you that I goe away but if I depart away I wil send you the comforter the spirit of truth If the holy spirit do teach men any thing it is nothing else but truth Cùm autem venerit ille Spiritus veritatis docebit vos omnem verit atem Howbeit when he is come which is the spirit of truth he will leade you into all truth If the Father would be worshipped he would haue it done in spirit and truth Adorabunt patrē in spiritu veritate They shal worship the Father in spirit and truth If that we be made free verit as liberauit vos The truth hath set you free The word of God is nothing else but trueth Sermo tuus verit as est Thy word is trueth If Christ be persecuted it is for speaking the trueth Quaeritis me interficere hominem qui veritatem vobis loquutus sum you goe about to kill me a man that haue told you the truth If God be sayd to be sorie for Lucifer for no other cause is it but for hauing forsaken the trueth Ille homicida erat ab initio in veritate non stetit quia non est veritas in eo He hath bin a murtherer from the beginning abode not in the trueth because there is no truth in him If God be sayd to greeue for men he lamenteth for nothing else but because they left the trueth and addicted themselues vnto lyes Non est in ore eorum veritas cor eorum vanum est Filii hominum vsque quò graui Corde vt quid diligitis vanitatem quaeritis mendacium There is no trueth in their mouth within they are very corruption O ye sons of men how long will you turne my glory into shame louing vanity and seeking lyes If God do sweare he sweares the trueth Iurauit Dominus Dauid veritatem non frustrabitur eum The Lord hath sworne in trueth vnto Dauid and he will not shrinke from it If God do draw neere to any man it is in regard of the truth Prope est Dominus omnibus inuocantibus eum in veritate The lord is neer vnto all that cal vpon him in trueth If he giue heauen to vs mortalles it is onely to such as speake the trueth Domine quis habitabit in tabernaculo tuo aut quis requiscet in monte sancto tuo Qui loquitur veritatem in corde suo qui non egit dolum in lingua sua Lord who shall dwell in thy Tabernacle who shall rest in thy holy mountaine He that speaketh the trueth in his hart he that hath no guile in his tongue There is nothing more acceptable to God then trueth is because he is the trueth it selfe Therefore Stobeus telles vs that Pythagoras being demanded what thing men ought to doe to be like vnto God made answere Let them speake trueth because God is trueth the center for full confirmation the scope wherat all vertues aime Aeschines the Philosopher and Oratour the corriuall of Demosthenes in a certaine Oration which he wrote against him sayeth That the power of trueth is such as without it all strength is weakenesse all wisedome follie all temperance turpitude all iustice reuenge all humility deceipt all patience to no purpose chastity is hurtfull riches are but losse and pitty meere vanity For trueth among all substances it is the cheefest among the heauens the imperial among mettals pure gold among the elements the fire among pretious stones the Carbuncle among Sciences the most celebrate And as without light light cānot be seen euen so without trueth we can
grace thou hast euacuated their proper will singular sense and priuate affection which giues them now to know both their own frailtie how much they were subiected to misery But by sending thy sanctified spirit into them thou hast created a new man within them formed according to thine owne diuine will Induimini nouum hominem qui secundum Deum creatus est in iustitia sanctitate veritatis Put on the new man which after God is created in righteousnes and true holinesse The iust man being filled with this spirit speakes holy wordes deliuers heauenly doctrine frames arguments of truth and grounded altogether vpon gods worde Eructauit cor meum verbum bonum My heart will vtter foorth a good matter And as a glasse being full with a very little turning aside doth emptie some part of the licquor contained in it Euen so the iust man with the least breath of an ardent sigh sendes foorth part of his grace receiued vnto vs making vs partakers of his inward blessings and so by the vertue of his good spirit he purgeth and dryeth vp the watrishnesse of our sinne so much as in him lyeth Lodouico How can this doctrine holde If winde be of a colde and moiste qualitie then it hath no drying vertue if we doe presse it according to the letter I speake not this to gaine-say you but rather to learne Claudio Aristotle the Prince of the Peripatecians in his twentie seauenth Probleme and fift particle going about to search by what occasion the winde being of qualitie colde and moiste hath yet notwithstanding a drying vertue answers him selfe thus Because it takes away and euaporates the part more colde As if he would say The winde is of a temperate coldnesse and humiditie therefore it makes the part more colde and moiste to euaporate it selfe as meaning thereby mudde and water The holy ghost is called a spirit and winde Tanquam spiritus vehemâ—â—tis As of a rushing and mighty winde Veni Auster perfla hortum meum fluent aromata illius Arise O North and come O South and blowe on my garden that the spices thereof may flowe outâ— because it cooleth the heate of carnall concupiscences Therefore the Angell speaking of this spirit to the virgin Marie said Spiritus sanctus superveniet in te virtus altissimi obumbrabit tibi The holy ghost shall come vpon thee and the power of the most High shall â—uershadow thee This shadowing is expounded by almost all the doctours that it signifyeth The taking away of all lasciuious or carnall affections and purgeth euerie loose concupiscence When therefore the holy spirit bloweth on the minde of him that listens to the woord of God it causeth to euaporate and vanish by his expulsiue vertue the excessiue coldenesse of sinne which is of such chilnesse as it freezeth vp the heate of all charitie So euacuating this colde it disposeth the soule to quietnesse and to lend attention to the holy doctryne of Christ For Saint Iohn Chrysostome saith That as it is not possible for the earth to fructifie by water only without winde Euen so as impossible is it that the Doctrine of the iust which is as the water celestiall they like pregnant cloudes Qui sunt isti qui vt nubes volant What are these that fly like a cloude that they I say should cause any fruite to growe in the ground of our soules without the sweet breathing winde of the holy ghost which of it selfe disposeth mens hearts to the hearing of gods word and makes them to bloome forth after the manner of the earth Euen as when Zephirus sends his kindely blastes abroad in the month of March according to the Poet Mantuans description The iust man therefore opens his mouth in the middes of the people and the Lord filleth it with the diuine spirit of wisedome and from hence proceede infinite good fruites to the soules of his hearers According as from the Apostle Peter it did who at the very first Sermon he made conuerted to the faith of Iesus Christ three thousand persons or thereabout as is to be read in the Actes of the Apostles the second Chapter Lodouico Yet by your licence my Lord it is necessary for vs to know what wisedome is so much the rather because according to the Prince of Latine Oratorie It is most expedient in an Oratour who without wisedome is tearmed ignorant and his full tide of speech is called loquacity not eloquence Whereupon being once demaunded what eloquence was he answered Nihil est aliud eloquentia nisi copiose loquens sapientia Claudio Iob maketh a long discourse of wisedome searching where it should be and what it was Finally after a long repetition of sententious wordes and a very large inuestigation of them he concludes That God onely knoweth what it is And he reuealing the same vnto man sayth That wisedome is nothing else but the feare of the Lord. Et dixit homini Ecce timor Domini ipsa est sapientia recedere a malo intelligentia And vnto man he said Behold the feare of the Lord is wisedome and to depart from euill is vnde standing And Dauid sayth Initium sapientiae timor Domini The beginning of wisedome is the feare of the Lord. The Peripatecians vsed to say That wisedome is an intellectuall vertue and by the highest and most noble causes makes thinges to be knowen Whereupon in the sixt booke of Ethickes the sixt Chapter and in the first of Metaphysickes the first Chapter defyning a wise man Aristotle saith Sapiens est qui scit omnia difficilia propter certitudinem causam ipsum scire propter se quaerens alios ordinans persuadens And a little after he saith That the wise man ought to be knowen not onely by the cause but also by the highnesse of the the cause According to the Stoickes and moral Philosophers such perhaps as were Seneca Socrates and Boetius wisedome is taken for none other But a masse or a heape of morall vertues which make a man to be vertuous Therefore according to this kinde of wisedome Seneca sayth in his booke of the tranquillitie of the minde That to a wise man there can happen no iniury or offence at all to molest the felicity of his minde which in the Stoicks opinion ought to bee imperturbable and his heart adamantine But according to the sacred Theologians or diuines Wisedome is a gift supernaturally infused whereby a man hath cognition of diuine things and of humane by diuine and spirituall inspiration or by some especiall gratious vicinity to God And because there is none more neerer vnto God then the innocent man so cleane as possible he may be from the foule staines of sinne who by such innocencie is made apt to vnderstand the secrets diuine therefore sayd Iob that wisedome is nothing else but the feare of God and the
vnchaste acte committed with his owne sister as loath to displease him because in deede he dearely loued him procured God to let him be slayne by his owne brother Absolon in the merrie sporting time of a sheep-shearing banquet and that Absolon should likewise rebell against him chase him foorth of his owne kingdome and that Salomon should also become an Idolater so that all his sonnes almost dyed miserably Therefore the holy Ghost sayd well Qui parcit virgae odit filium suum qui autem diligit eum instanter erudit Lodouico Such Fathers may be compared to the Iuie that hugs so close to the tree and pretending to beautifie and adorne it winds and writhes it selfe so fast about it as in fewe moneths it makes it drie and dead The very like doth that father and mother that is too nice and fond of their child with kisses they kill it with sweete meates they poyson it and with cockering make it vnapt to any vertuous action Therefore it was the pleasure of God that such as were appointed for the seruice of his maiestie they should be trayned vp from their verie childhoode in the diuine worship of him as we may reade in Leuiticus Hence was it that the wise man sayde Curua ceruicem filij tui ab adolescentia sua Bow downe the neck of thy son while he is young And he giues a reason for the same in another place of that very Chapter Equus indomitus euadet durus filius remissus euadet praeceps An vntamed horse will be stubborne and a wanton child will be wilfull It is ouerlate to resist the enemie when hee hath alreadie surprized the Citie and little auayles it to cast salt vpon the flesh that before is putrified Instruction then is most needfull for children and without all doubt the first vertue that Parentes or Schoolemasters ought to teach youth is to restrayne the tongues libertie and to speake vnder correction and if we will credit morall Cato he sayth Virtutem primam esse put a compescere linguam The first vertue that a Christian childe shoulde be taught is to bee silent or to speake vnder chastisement which vertue is of such excellencie as it makes vs neere neighbours or like vnto God Proximus ille Deo est qui soit ratione tacere sayth the same Cato Dauid in a dialogue which he composed where the speakers are onely God and himself falling into questions with the Lord he saith Lord who shall dwell in thy Tabernacle and who shall rest vpon thy holy mountaine The Lord answereth He that walketh vprightly and worketh righteousnesse speaketh the truth in his hart and hath no deceite in his tongue Heere may be apparantly discerned how conformably Cato spake with Dauid considering that he that thinketh the truth in his heart and offendeth not with his tongue he shall dwell neerest vnto God it is euen all one with his wordes to weere hee that refrayneth his tongue and knowes reason when to be silent is neere vnto God Claudio Nay more he is like vnto God for he that speaketh the truth with his mouth and in his hart thinketh no deceipt is like vnto God who is the same truth Therefore Salomon sayde well that life and death is in the power of the tongue because he that delighteth to speak alwaies the truth is in true life with God that giueth life to all things and he that delights in lying and deceipte is contrarie to God and so consequently is dead from him Mors vita in manu linguae As among all things that are to bee desired there is nothing more affected then life euen so all our daylie labour and endeauour is the more willingly pursued for the maintenance of this present life which we do hold in so deare respect and are so much enamoured thereof as although we knowe there is another life much better and no way subiect to death yet doth this life so highly please vs and inexorable death is so horrible to vs as wee woulde gladly take any paynes whatsoeuer to transporte vs quickly to that other life without touch or taste of the sting of death or depriuation of these earthly goods and spoyles Oh we would fayne bee soone cloathed with immortality If then we would hunt this track with such earnest desire we should be somewhat mindfull of our tongues custodie which is the laylor as it were and keeps the key both of life and death with all our harts we should loue the truth which is the onely occasion of life and with the swift celeritie of an Hart flye from foolish talking lyes and vaine babbling the very begetter and nourisher of most horrid and abhominable death Nam qui sumus in hoc tabernaculo ingemiscimus grauati eò quòd nolumus expoliari sed superuestiri vt absorbeatur quod mortale est à vita For indeed we that are in this tabernacle sigh and are burdened because we would not be vnclothed but would be clothed vpon that mortality might be swallowed vp of life thus spake the Apostle to the Corinthians If then life and death bee in the hand and power of the tongue you see what an especiall care should bee had thereof because in no parte of the bodye can we carie any greater perill of life then in the tongue which is the gate as it were whereby life passeth foorth and death enters into vs. A bad creditour is this tongue with so rich a treasure as is the pretious and vnualuable iewell of life it beeing a member so voluble soft vnstable without boane which might giue it more firmenesse and hazarding life continuallye to infinite daungers Well did the Apostle knowe this when he sayd to the same Corinthians Habemus autem the saurum istum in vasis fictilibus But we haue this treasure in earthen vessels Since then the custos of our soule is so fraile we goe in dayly dreade of loosing the treasure of celestiall grace What thing can be more frayle then the mouth which by a turne of the tongue may make shipwrack both of temporall and eternall life offending with blasphemies the maiestie of our omnipotente God and by one iniurious word oftentimes it comes to passe life is miserably lost for a generous minde is more aggreeued at an iniurious word then is a slaue or villayne by the stroake of a weapon Lodouico Perhappes this is the true sense and meaning of that sentence of Salomon because in effect a pleasing word is sweete and much contents a mans minde and a bitter sharpe taunte mooues much strife and discorde So saith he Responsio mollis frangit iram sermo durus suscitat furorem A soft answere putteth away wrath but grieuous words stir vp anger And againe he saith Lingua placabilis lignum vitae quae autem immoderata est conteret spiritum A wholesome tongue is a tree of life but the
a man but by your leaue I am no lyar Lodouico You are a lyar because you are a man if you will giue credite to Saint Paul who confirming the former saying of the Prophet Dauid wrote to the Romanes Est autem verax Deus omnis autem homo mendax Let God be true and euery man a lyar If God be only true and euery man a lyar you being a man are also a lyar except from the community of men you know how to diuide your selfe Claudio I know very well that I am a man and yet no lyar because I haue alwayes delighted in the trueth Lodouico If the truth be so pleasing to you and yet you are a man it is because you haue no knowledge of your selfe nor of your owne excellencie For though euery man be a lyar yet in thus much you are not a lyer by how much you are not the sonne of a man but the sonne of God because Mendaces filii hominum in stateris The children of men are vanitie the chiefe men are lyars to lay 〈◊〉 vppon a ballance they are altogether lighter then vanity Then in speaking the truth and delighting therein and not beeing a man but the child of God you are no lyer Deus de Coelo prospexit super filios hominum vt videat si est intelligens aut requirens Deum Omnes declinauerunt simul inutiles facti sunt non est qui faciat bonum non est vsque ad vnum God looked downe from heauen vpon the children of men to see if there were any that would vnderstand and seek God Euery one is gone back they are altogether corrupt there is none that dooth good no not one but if one it was Christ who beeing a man was God also Claudio Whence proceedeth it that al men were lyers and vnprofitable Lodouico Because it pleased him to become both God and man it was to diuert man from infinite former euilles and to heale him of as infinite infirmities particularly those of the vnderstanding to the end hee should not be a lyar but by delighting in the truth he gaue power vnto men to become the sonnes of God Dedit eis potestatem filios Dei fieri So by the meanes of this singular grace Lying ceassed in men because they ceassed to bee the sonnes of men Moreouer they are sayd to be Gods Ego dixi Dij estis filii excelsi omnes I haue sayd you are Gods you are al children of the most high If then they are Gods God is truth Est autem Deus verax Then are they truth as he is as Gods by participation redeemed by grace of the Sauiour bought with the price of the bloud of Iesus Christ borne againe with the water of holy Baptisme and made eternall heyres of the kingdome of heauen this is venerable Bedes opinion vpon the Epistle of Saint Paul to the Romanes Claudio I dare say nothing against so great a Doctour but if for further instruction it be lawfull to aske I would gladly know of you if onelye those men which are called the sonnes of God or Gods by participation how many soeuer they be be true and all other men beside are lyars as for example the Gentiles depriued of faith separated from the Church sonnes of the deuill yet they speaking sometimes truth in that many of them by theyr writings haue giuen occasion to vs Christians to know the truth yea and by some of their compositions And if the adopted Sonnes of God onely bee true it is then most cleere that not all Christians that know and speake the truth are the sons of God in forsaking their father Christ and making themselues by sinne the sonnes of the diuell How then do only the sonnes of God and not the sonnes of men speake the truth Lodouico I answere that inasmuch as the Gentiles and Christians onely in name speake the trueth they are true by how much they participate of the first trueth God himselfe but for the rest by that which is to be expected as of their owne nature they are false and lyers Hereupon was it that Dauid sayd Emitte lucem tuam veritatem tuam ipsa me deduxerunt adduxerunt in montem sanctum tuum in tabernacula tua Send thy light and thy trueth let them leade mee let them bring mee vnto thy holy mountaine and to thy Tabernacles As water of it selfe hath no colour at all but is so much the more coloured as colour commeth vpon it euen so man insomuch as he is of himselfe is a lyer but insomuch as he partakegth of the cheefe truth to weet God the only authour of truth so much is he true Another answere in declaration of Dauids wordes can I make you as thus In Dauids saying Omnis homo mendax is as much to say as that a man partaketh more of his not beeing then of his beeing therefore in saying that euery man is a lyar and a lye beeing the deniall of the trueth is the trueth spoken and the ends of both are conuertible since that Bonum verum ens conuertuntur according as the Philosopher saith All that which is true is good and all that which is good is true then that which is a lye hath neither beeing nor goodnesse but onely may be tearmed a priuation of beeing of trueth and of goodnesse When Dauid saith Omnis homo mendax he meanes that man is nothing as of himselfe and into nothing shall he returne without the onely truth God himselfe As to the same effect he speaketh in another place Veruntamen vniuersa vanitas omnis homo viuens Surely man in his best estate is altogether vanity which is euen as much as when he saith Omnis homo mendax And the more that we consider a man in this manner the more we shall find him to be a lyar and nothing be he a still fitter a trauailer or how else to be comprehended but considering him as partaking with the trueth it selfe and his infinite goodnesse and essence wee shall find him to be true good and that he hath a perfect beeing Omnis homo mendax is likewise as much to say according to Marcilius Ficinus vpō Plato that a man knowes much more by negation then by affirmatiō because lying is a negation of the truth so in Dauids saying Euery man is a lyar importeth that so far as a mans own knowledge extēdeth he knows more by denying thē by affirming I know that God is not a stone wood not a star and yet I know not directly what he is I know that the soule is not a body nor mortal but yet cānot so readily tell what it is indeede Heereto will I ioyne another description which perhappes may better fit you because it commeth from an Angell-like doctor and very hetoycall in all his doctrine and thus it is The truth sayth hee
saying Hi sunt Dij tui Israell qui te eduxerunt de terra Aegypti These bee thy Gods O Israel which brought thee out of the land of Aegypt VVhereuppon they builded Altars offered sacrifices making solemne feastings they sung sounded and daunced at the dedication of theyr Altars Quod cum vidisset Aaron edificauit altare coram eo praeconis voce clamauit dicens Cras solemnitas Domini est Surgentesque mane obtulerunt holocausta hostias pacificas sedit populus manducare bibere surrexerunt ludere When Aaron sawe that he made an Altar before it and Aaron proclaymed saying To morow shall be the holyday of the Lord. So they rose vp the next day in the morning and offered burnt offerings and brought peace offerings also the people sate them downe to eate and drinke and rose vppe to play See what ensueth of the flattering tongue of howe much euill it was the occasion by infamous prayses If Ieroboam and Aaron had had anye about them that in charitye and zeale woulde haue reprooued them as they had manye flatterers commending theyr vnworthye worke doubtlesse they had neuer moulded and framed those Calues Therefore very well sayde the Prophet Ose speaking of such flatterers In malitia sua laetificauerunt Regem They make the king glad with their wickednesse If this tongue of the flatterer doe nurse vp so much euill in the commonwealth but more especially in Princes Palaces and great mens houses much better were it for all Christendom to sentence it selfe with perpetual silence and be as it were eternallye dumb then either by gestures of the bodie or with the tongue to be flatterers of any An infectious plague a damnable disease a sweete poyson and a deadly hony baite is the tongue of a flatterer inueigling by entising poysoning by smoothe perswading and like to a second Iudas killing men by kissing Finis Cap. 8. The Argument Discoursing of the leasing and lying tongue what an infamous sinne a lye is and how highly God is pleased with trueth of whose excellencie and beauty ariseth a profitable short discourse concluding that a strict silence is more commendable then telling of lyes which are a greatly displeasing to God because he is the truth himselfe Also approouing that lying is so brutish and damnable aâ— no one can so much as thinke thereon without a purpose to deface some part of trueth Chap. 9. LODOVICO Flatterie for certaintye is a most vile sinne as already hath beene at large approoued but in any case I account that to be a greater sinne then it which by contemning the trueth flatters it selfe more then the flatterer can doe for if the flatterer were not listened vnto neither could he continue or any one be flattered by him But man is such an enemie to reprehension of errors committed as he can no sooner heare himselfe by trueth reprooued but immediately ariseth an intestine hatred toward the reproouer whereupon first sprung the auncient adage Verit as odium parit From hence afterward ensued that in regard men were so enuious against reproose others became as silent contrary to the debt of charity and no man woulde check his neighbours vice because he made a scruple of displeasing him but rather commended his error as if it had bin a vertue this was no other then meer flatterie it selfe Man of himselfe is so proude by nature as he would not willingly be reprehended beside he is such a louer of liberty as he would haue all things lawfull which likes himself to act Trueth hath a greate proportion and similitude with hony which although it be sweete yet neuerthelesse beeing applyed to any wound it makes it to suffer great anguish So the trueth though it be amiable most excellent and of all to be desired yea euen of the lyer himselfe who albeit he lyes willingly and hath therefore no regard but of them to whome he telles his lyes yet notwithstanding to the vulnerated and smitten sinner very greeuously gasht and wounded with sinne it is painefull and bitter when his faultes are iustly reprooued by trueth Therefore the Prophet Esay lamenting for such called them The sons of lying louers of lyes and enemies to the diuine lawe which is nothing else but the truth For Dauid sayth Omnia mandata tua veritas All thy commandements are trueth Hereupon it arose that men would say to holy Prophets and preachers of the trueth speake of tastable things and such as are pleasing stand not to disturb our content with reprehensions Filii mendaces filii nolentes audire legem Dei qui dicunt vident ibus nolite videre loquimini nobis placeÌ„tia Afterward it came to this passe that euery one perceiuing how loth men were to haue their iniquities blamed some gaue themselues to publique applause and became pleasers of mens affections not onely forbearing to reprooue them but meerely extolled them Whereat God grew so aggreeued as he sayd by Ieremie the Prophet Stupâ—r mirabilia facta sunt in terra Prophetae prophet abant mendacium sacerdotes applaudebant manibus suis populus meus dilexit talia quid igitur fiet in nouis simo eius An horrible and filthy thing is committed in the land The Prophets prophecie lyes the priests receiue gifts in their hands and my people delight therein What will ye then do in the end thereof As much to say as when shall these lyes appeare before the high trueth God himselfe Of these and such like that loue flatteries and become refusers of holy correction Saint Paul foretold when he wrote vnto Timothy Erit enim tempus cùm sanam doctrinam non sustinebunt Sed ad sua desideria coaceruabunt sibi magistros prurientes auribus â— veritâ—â—â— quidem auditum auertent ad fabulas autem conuertentur For the time will come when they will not suffer wholesome doctrine But hauing their eares itching shall after their owne lustes get them an heape of teachers and shall turne their eares from the truth and shall be giuen vnto fables Man then becoÌ„ming a contemner of truth was the cause why so many gaue themselues to flatterie to lyes wherby we may safely say Veritas odium parit Claudio A monstrous birth of so faire and noble a mother was it for trueth to beget hatred Lodouico A thousand examples doe giue faithfull witnesse of this infamous child birth Saul grew into hatred against Ionathan his owne Son because with trueth he excused the innocence of Dauid and reprooued his vnfatherly cruelty and vniust persecution Balaac the king of the Moabites hated Balaam because he tould him the truth and could not curse the people of Israel Achior the Ammonite was hated of Holofernes Prince of king Nabuchadnezzers army caused him to be strictly bound to a tree because he told the trueth in speaking of the
neuer attaine see nor enioy God the only soueraigne trueth of all Anacharsis the Philosopher speaking of the trueth sayth It is a health free from all sicknesse a life that neuer dieth an antidote that preserueth all a Sun without setting a Moone neuer eclipsed a doore neuer shut a walke neuer weary neither is there any thing in the world more high more profound more long more large more auncient or more new then is truth the light of heauen and splendour of the earth The trueth is in such esteeme with God that albeit in his owne bounty he winkes at some sinnes yet will he neuer pardon him that belyeth the trueth which made the holy Prophet to saye Perdes omnes qui loquuntur mendacium Thou shalt destroye all them that speake lyes Lodouico And woorthily too because there is no sin which more opposeth it selfe against God beeing the trueth selfe then lying dooth For it is a sin against nature which peruerteth and defaceth all naturall order in regard that nature did ordaine the voyce and speeche to the end that thereby one might manifest to another the true conceipte of his minde as the Philosopher affirmeth in the first chapter of his Periermenia VVhence Plato likewise tooke occasion in his Thymeus to saye Propter hoc nobis datus est sermo vt praestò forent mutuae voluntatis indicia They then that sound otherwise with their words then the heart thinketh do lye and go against the order naturall Wherfore the Angelical doctor in his 2. 2. q. 110. a. 3. sayth Innaturale est indebitum quòd aliquis voce significet id quod meute non habet And his master saith 2. sen d. 35. Mendacium grauis simum est in quantum est privatiuum ordinis secuÌ„dum mores ad optimum finem qui est veritas And Tully making of lying sayth Mendacium est falsa significatio vocis cum intentione fallendi Lying then beeing such an enormous sinne deseruedly should lyers be seuerely punished as enemies to God sons of the deuill Therfore saith Saint Ambrose Brethren keep your selues from lying because all such as loue lyes are children of the deuill Christ sayeth Chrisostome vppon Saint Matthewe is such a louer of the trueth as hee will make no acceptaunce of a lyer Claudio If by the fairenesse of the light the fowle deformitie of darkenesse is discerned by the excellencie of trueth we may easilye perceiue the brutish shape of lying which is a vice so infamous as the deuill himselfe the father of lyes had not the courage to do it in his own proper forme but tooke vpon him the shape of a Serpent And Saint Paul sayth that oftentimes he chaungeth himselfe selfe into an Angell of light when hee woulde fasten a beleefe of lyes in men Ipse enim Sathanas transfigurat se in Angelum lucis For Sathan himselfe is transformed into an Angell of light Moreouer his ministers and children doe the same knowing there is nothing more infamous and odious to men then lying is therefore of them writes the same Apostle to the Corinthians Noâ— est ergo magnum si ministri eius transfigurentur velut ministri iustitiae quorum finis erit secundum opera ipsorum Therefore it is no great thing though his ministers transforme themselues as though they were the ministers of righteousnesse whose end shall be according to their works Trueth is so faire and so louely as they themselues that take delight in beguiling others with a lying tongue hould nothing dearer neither can bee more displeased then to bee deceiued with a lye Can there then be sound any thing more brutish more misshapen and horrid then is a lye that is so offensiue to him that telles it God cannot abide it because he is trueth it selfe the deuill when he does it transformes himselfe into an Angell of light and man he mantles it vp in colours and ouerclokes it with some shewe of trueth because hee woulde not bee held for a lyer Chilo discoursing on trueth sayth It is a publique faithfull bond that neuer perisheth a shield that cannot bee pearced through a firme certainty neuer to be perturbed an army that cannot be daunted a flower that neuer fadeth a Sea neuer tempested a safe arriuing port without any perill Shall then such an excellent thing as trueth is bee counterpoised with a matter so misshapen as a lye is Claudio A lye is so offensiue to the Lord as holy Anselme sayeth That God as patron of the vniuersall world may in some sort be sayd to dispense with theft not accounting it such a weighty sinne as he tolerated the fault of the children of Israel who despoyled the Aegyptians of all their gold and pretious things winking likewise at the breache of the other precepts but he neuer yet dispensed for at were a great sin to say he did with lying being a thing most pernicious and damnable euen a meere denying of himselfe who is the onely truth Beside it is well worthy consideration to note that Christ neuer called any sinner Sonne of the deuill but onely the lying man Vox ex patre diabolo estis desyderia patris vestri vultis facere illae homicida erat ab initio in veritate non steâ—it Ye are of your father the deuill and the lustes of your father ye will do he hath beene a murtherer from the beginning and abode not in the trueth Can there be found a greater infamy in the world then this to be the son of the deuill the subiect of the deuill gouerned by the deuill possessed with the diuell and directed by the deuill How can a man stand but like one confounded when he but thinks of vttering a lye whereby he makes himself most odious to God to al creatures which are capable of reason Claudio A miserable procreation a most vile seruitude an accursed subiection a most detestable gouernment Lying polluteth the vnderstanding whose only obiect is trueth there becommeth the root of disloyalty the occasion of fraude the mother of malice the nurse of violence the cordiall of detraction the heire of murmuring the gossip of hypocrisie the destructioÌ„ of truth the perditioÌ„ of neighbourly faith the rooter vp of true friendship and the vtter losse of faith concord vnity and peace He that takes a delight in lying is so generally hatefull and condemned that he cannot be beleeued when hee speaketh truelye and euery one points at him with his finger Lying is become such a merchandise through the whole world as there are very fewe merchauntes but they make a vse thereof But by the iust iudgement of God see what ensueth thereon when they expect to become rich they growe very poor and not knowing the reason thereof can say nothing else but that their traffique makes no such returne now as heeretofore it hath doone
creatures honoured it yea haue stood in feare and trembling of it because there is no iniquitye at all in it The king is wicked wine is wicked women are wicked all the sonnes of men are wicked and all their workes wicked for there is no trueth in them and in their wickednesse they perish but the trueth continueth stedfast it begets strength of it selfe and stands on strict tearmes with eternity it liueth euer winneth victory ouer al things it is no accepter of persons iudgeth all iustly without either feare or respect In truthes iudgement there is no sinfull thing but is throughlie full of power rule and emperie the maiestie thereof abydeth to all times and ages and for a finall conclusion to approoue his wordes hee sayde Benedictus Deus veritatis and so ceassed No sooner had hee imposed silence to his speeche but all the whole Senate of most noble spectatours with an high voyce and cheerefull applause accorded to the sentence of this third yong man and cried out Magna est veritas praeualet Then did the king accept him as his Cousen and promised to giue him whatsoeuer hee would demaund But he like a iust man desired onely that the king woulde but bee mindfull of his vow made to God for reedifying the Temple of Ierusalem againe and restauration of all those vesselles of gold and siluer which serued for the vse of sacrificing Lodouico An excellent Enigmae an excelleent interpretation and so much the more excellent as in agreeing and consenting with that which the holy Scripture sayeth on the behalfe of trueth Veritas Domini manet in aeteruum The trueth of the Lord endureth for euer Which is so strong that it ouercommeth all things euen as oyle mounteth abue all other liquors and because the trueth is God himselfe there can bee nothing imagined more strong then hee A lye hath shorte legges sayth the aunciente prouerbe and his halting is very soone discerned for it lastes no longer then comming to discouerie and then it departes with most infamous reproofe And in regarde it is such a hatefull vice I suppose the wise man wrote thus thereof Potior fur quà m assiduitas virâ— mendacis perditionem autem ambo haereditabunt A theefe is better then a man that is accustomed to lye they both shall haue destruction to heritage For both are theeues one stealeth mens goods the other stealeth trueth honour and reputation from men For euer let this accursed tongue bee dumbe because it is better to bee sentenced with eternall silence neuer so much as to dare to speake one word then to vtter falshoode to the dishonour of him that speakes it the daunger of our neighbour and iniurie of God the trueth it selfe Muta fiâ—â—t labia dolosa Finis Cap. 9. The Argument Wherein according to the course hitherto continued they now discourse on the seuerall tongues of the detractor and murmurer and vpon what occasion the Deuill hauing a great delight to lye and accuse vs was sayd to be dumbe Herein likewise are handled many deceipts of the Deuill many mysteries of confessing our sinnes vnto God And how one angellis sayd to speake vnto another without sight of eche other A discourse very curious learned and profitable Chap. 10. CLAVDIO Hell is better then an euill tongue sayth the holy ghost by the mouth of Salomon Multi ceciderunt in ore gladij sed non sic quasi qui interierunt per linguam suam Mors illius mors nequissima vtilis infernus potius quà m illa There be many that haue perished by the edge of the sword but not so many as haue fallen by the tongue The death thereof is an euill death hell were better then such a one How is it possible that the tongue how vile soeuer it be should not be better then hel If there be no greater paines then those of hel how is the tongue sayd to be worse then hell Lodouico Exceeding great are the paynes of hell I cannot deny it but yet they hurt not so much as the byting tongue doth which blasphemeth God murmures against the Saintes and speaketh euill of men Hell hurteth none but such as are thereinto condemned but the tongue outrageth God and his Saintes whome hell by no meanes can offend And more profitable is hell then the wicked tongue because hell being duely considered on by vs makes vs refraine from sin but the euill tongue is the cause of many sins for by hearing the murmurings one of another we are easilie drawne to iudge and speake euill Therefore the holy ghost affirmeth that the wicked tongue as meaning perhaps that of the detractour murmurer and defamer hath some resemblance with the diabolicall tongue which ceasseth not to accuse vs before God according as Saint Iohn sayth Proiectus est accusator fratrum nostrorum qui accusabat illos ante conspectuÌ„ Dei nostri die nocte The accuser of our brethren is cast downe which accused them before our God day and night Claudio It is a maâ—ucilous matter and well woorthie consideration how the deuill beeing so great a murmurer that he ceasseth not day and night to accuse vs before God of all our negligences be they neuer so small yet how he should sometime hould his peace in such manner as is written of him in Saint Luke Erat Iesus eijciens Daemonium illud erat mutum Then he cast out a Deuill and he was dumbe How could so great a talker an accuser a detractour a defamer hold his peace and obserue silence Lodouico You haue brought an important matter into the field consisting of greater difficultie then it appeares to be We find that there are three kindes of speaking and as many kinds of tongues to weet of the mind of the mouth and of the act or work of all which Dauid speaking sayth Labia dolosa in corde corde loquuti sunt Flattering with their lips and speaking with a double hart there is the first tongue and the first kind of talking Disperdat Dominus vniuersa labia dolosa linguam magniloquam The Lord cut off all flattering lips and the tongue that speaketh proude things there is the second tongue and second kind of talking Linguam nostram magnificabimus labia nostra à nobis sunt or opera nostra à nobis sunt quis noster Dominus est with our tongue we will preuaile our lips are our own or our workes are our owne who is Lord ouer vs there is the thirde tongue and third kind of talking whereof it seemes the holy ghost speaking by the wise mans mouth sayth Lingua tertia multos commouit dispersit illos de gente in gentem The double tongue hath disquieted many and driuen them from nation to nation Wicked then is the first tongue that is to thinke euill in the heart worse is the second that is to spread abroad the euill
100 Psalm 4. 2. O you sonnes of men how long will you turne my glory into shame louing vanity and seeking lyes ibid. Psalm 132. 11. The Lord hath sworn in truth vnto Dauid and he wil not shrink from it c. ibid. Psalm 145. 18. The Lord is neere vnto all that call vpon him in truth ibid. Psalm 15. 1. 2. 3. Lord who shall dwell in thy Tabernacle who shall rest in thy holy mountaine He that speaketh the truth in his hearte hee that hath no guile in his tongue ibid. Psalm 117. 2. The truth of the Lord endureth for euer fol. 107 Psalm 69. 2. I stick fast in the deep mire fol. 126 Psalm 120. 2. When I was in trouble I called vpon the Lord he heard me ibid. Psalm 35. 10. All my bones shal say Lord who is like vnto thee fol. 131 Psalm 73. 9. They stretch foorth their mouth vnto heauen and their tongue goeth through the world fol. 145 Psalm 50. 21. Thou thoughtst wickedly that I am euen such a one as thy selfe but I will reprooue thee and set before thee the things that thou hast done fol. 152 Psalm 33. 19. Let the vngodly be put to confusion and be put to silence in the graue Let the lying lippes be put to silence ibid. Psalm 31. 20. Which cruelly and disdainfully and despightfully speak against the righteous ibid. Psalm 119. 134. O deliuer me from the slanders of men and I will keep thy precepts ibid. Psalm 105. 30. Their land brought foorth Frogs euen in their kings chambers fol. 157 Psalm 57.5 The children of men whose teeth are speares and arrowes and their tongue a sharp sword fol. 163 Psalm 78. 36. They flattered him with their mouth and dissembled with him with their tongue For their hart was not vpright with him neither were they faithfull in his couenant fol. 170 Psalm 68. 25. The tongue of thy dogs in the bloud of thine enemies fol. 171 Psalm 110. 2. The Lord said vnto my Lord sit thou at my right hand fol. 174 Psalm 73. 24. Thou hast receiued me to glory ibid. Psalm 3. 3. My glory and the lifter vp of my head ibid. Psalm 2. 9. Thou shalt bruise them with a rod of yron breake them in pieces like a potters vessell fol. 175 Psalm 115. 1. Not vnto vs O Lord not vnto vs but vnto thy name giue the glory fol. 176 Psalm 45. 13. Shee is al glorious within her cloathing is of broydered gold fol 195 Psalm 50. 16. 17. Why dost thou preache my lawes and takest my couenant in thy mouth whereas thou hatest to be reformed and hast cast my words behind thee fol. 196 Psalm 36. 8. They shall be satisfied with the fatnesse of thine house and thou shalt giue them drinke out of the riuer of thy pleasures fol. 198 Psalm 119. 55. Blessed are they Lord that dwell in thy house for they shall praise thee for euer and euer fol. 210 Psalm 119. 91. They continue euen to this day by thine ordināces for all are thy seruants fol. 212 Psalm 150. 6. Let euery thing that hath breath prayse the Lord. ibid. Psalm 113. 1. Praise O ye seruants of the Lord praise the name of the Lord. fol. 219 Psalm 139. 15. My bones are not hid from thee though I was made in a secret place fol. 220 Psalm 45. 2. Grace is powred in thy lips because God hath blessed thee for euer fol. 222 Psalm 8. 5. Thou hast crowned him with glory and honour fol. 223 Psalm 115. 5. 6. 7. They haue eyes and see not they haue noses smell not they haue eares and heare not they haue hands and touch not they haue mouthes and eate not fol. 224. Psalm 65. 1. O God prayse waiteth for thee in Sion fol. 231 Psalm 28. 5. They vnderstood not the works of the lord fol. 246 Psalm 129. 3. The plowers plowed vpon my back and made long furrowes fol. 247 Psalm 40. 3. And he hath put in my mouth a new Song of praise vnto our God fol. 248 Psalm 51. 1. Haue mercy vpon me O God according to the multitude of thy compassions fol. 249 Psalm 104. 29. 30. If thou take away their breath they dy and return to their dust Again if thou send foorth thy spirit they are created and thou renewest the face of the earth fol. 254 Psalm 111. 9. The feare of the Lord is the beginning of wisedome fol. 256 Psalm 10. 6. 7. For he hath said in his hart Tush I shall neuer be cast down there shall no harme happen vnto me His mouth is full of cursing deceipt and fraude vnder his tongue is vngodlinesse and vanity fol. 257 Psalm 14. 3. 4. The Lord looked down from heauen vpon the children of men to see if there were any that would vnderstand and seek after God But they are all gone out of the way they are altogether become abhominable there is none that doeth good no not one fol. 265 Psalm 69. 1. Saue me O God for the waters are com in euen vnto my soule fol. 270 Psalm 107. 18. Their soule abhorred all manner of meat they were euen at deaths door fol. 272 Psalm 73. 21. I was ignorant euen as it were a beast before thee fol. 275 Prouerbs of Salomon Chap. 18. 21. Life and death are in the power of the tongue fol. 4 Chap. 10. 9. The foolish in talk shall be beaten ibid. Chap. 17. 29. A foole when he holdeth his peace is accounted wise and he that stoppeth his lips prudent fol. 5 Chap. 10. 20. In many words there cannot want iniquity but he that refraineth his tongue is wise fol. 11 Chap. 15. 14. A soft answere putteth away wrath but greeuous wordes stirre vp anger A wholesome tongue is a tree of life but the frowardnesse thereof is the breaking of the mind fol. 20 Chap. 25. 29. A man that refraineth not his speech is like a city which is broken down and without wals fol. 22 Chap. 13. 3. He that keepeth his mouth and his tongue keepeth his soule from destruction fol. 23 Chap. 18. 4. The words of a wise mans mouth are like deepe waters fol. 30 Chap. 14. 25. VVhere many words are there want attendeth ibid. Chap. 16. 1. The answer of the tongue is of the Lord. fol. 30 Chap. 15. 2. The mouth of a foole babbleth out foolishnesse fol 57 Chap. 12. 18. The tongue of a wise man is health fol. 71 Chap. 27. 6. The wounds of a louer are better then the false kisses of an enemy fol. 86 Chap. 23. 31. 32. Looke not thou vpon the wine when it is red and when it sheweth his colour in the cup it goeth down pleasantly But in the end it will bite like a Serpent and hurt like a Cockatrice fol. 92 Chap. 16. 24. Faire words are as the hony-combes sweetnesse to the soule and health to the bones fol. 129 Chap. 17. 11. A seditious person seeketh only euil a cruel messenger shall be sent against him fol. 141 Chap.
Preacher in Vercellis Gualterus Teutonicus his words against lordanus Gualterus himselfe rauished with hearing the world Psal 18. 11. The sweetnesse of the speeche of Christ to his very enemies Iohn 7. 46. Luke 5. 1. The ministers of the Pharisies forget their fircenesse at Christes speaking Psal 29. 4. 5. Religious preachers participating with the vertue of Christs voice The words of S. Augustine of himselfe Iudg. 14. 18. The word of God is sweeter then hony Example of the sweetnesse of the word of God in Sauls seeking the death of Dauid Sauls souldiors praised god among the Prophets according as they were seuerally sent Saul incensed with rage goeth himselfe to Ramah and there was constrained to praise God also among theÌ„ The prouerbe in Israel 2. Sam. 19. â—4 2. Sam. 19. â—4 2. Our speech ought to haue the Rose colour of honesty 8 charity A check to the vnseemly language vsed now adayes Sentence An excellent comparison and his Allusion Prouer. 12. 18. An implicatioÌ„ of Salomons words Our words answerable to our worldly cogitations Apoc. 16. 13. Of S. Iohns vision in the Isle of Pathmos Application of the vision by the Author Three qualities in the frog answerable to the former application of Pride vncleannesse and auatice 2. Iohn 2. 16. 3. Our speeche ought to be like a weapon sharpe as it is in resemblance Allusion of the fierie tongues on the Apostles Heb. 4. 12. What weapon our Sauiour brought into the world and what power it hath Example of the Prophet Elias when he fled from queene Iesabell 2. Kin. 19. 9. 10. 1. King 19. 15. 16. 17. The answer of the Lord vnto Elias What we haue especially to note in this worthie example Allusion of the whole History by this powerful weapon of Gods word Example of the couuersioÌ„ of Nations by poore vnarmed men exceeding the might of all the Monarchs Apoc. 2. 16. Esay 2. 4. A question coÌ„cerning the time of the Messias comming Answere by the Allusion of the holy ghost Luke 2. 14. Comparison betweene the husband maÌ„s plough share and a sword for their seuerall vses Allusion of both in their true natures The Philosophers Orators curiosity The plain and sincere trueth of the Gospel Comparison between a forced beauty a true naturall complexion An excellent Allusion of the comparison No vain glosse is to be set on the word diuine with the manifest hurt ensuing therby A demaund by way of comparison of a besieged city and the meetest meanes of resistance Allusion to the neglect of many in these dayes for the reproofe of sin Ierem. 48. 9. The Authors applying of the Prophets words Ierem. 48. 10. A good note for vayne and idle headed preachers Example of a Greek Oratour and how Lycurgus answered him The common wealth looseth most by lack of well speaking 4. Our speech ought to shew the flexibility of the tongue The offices of this flexibility 2. Cor. 9. 22. Comparison of the tongue of a dog Allusion to the offices of our tongue Act. 2. 11. Example of the Bears producing her young ones Allusion to Prelates Preachers and fathers of families shewing what is required in the office of their tongues A methode or manner of obseruation in their speaking as occasion serueth 2. Cor. 14. 18. Similies or comparisoÌ„s of what the toÌ„gue ought to be 5. Our speeche ought to be close couched like vnto the tongue with his two guardians Prouer. 10. 14. 2. Pet. 3. 10. Plinie and Solynus of the nature of the Crocodile Allusion of the Example Prou. 10. 2â— Iames 3. 5. The tongue must be kept in like fire Apoc. 9. 18. The tongue imprisoned like a theefe Psal 140. 3. The tongue chayned vp like a dog Psal 22. 20. Most neede of all for the tongue to be close couched Many haue these seuerall qualities but in a contrarye kind Plato of the hart of man for refraining the tongue The censure that is giueÌ„ on indiscreet meÌ„ Cicero his opinion of meÌ„s workes and words Familiar sociable conference best bewrayeth him that is wise indeed Many teache others that want wisedom themselues Why a doctor in the Chaire and a foole in conference When men speak with the tongues of their Masters they are wise fools when they speake with their own Example of a king and his three Sons to approoue their wisedom The first Son would be like the Eagle The secoÌ„d Son would be like the Peacock The third Son chose to be like the Crane his reason A note for kings A worthie Sentence Example of king Pirrhus answering his Sons The strength of kings consisteth in their subiects loue Example of Salomon Example of Dauid Psal 46. 12. The Authors inference vpoÌ„ the words of Dauid worthy of all men to be regarded Of such as speake whatsoeuer comes first to mouth Psal 40. 9. The defect of the lips do endanger both body soule Psal 140. 8. Why the Latins called the lips Labia Dauids words further commented on A warning to the man negligent in his talking Example of strong Sampson ouercome by the words of a woman Dauids exhortation Psal 4. 5. Of the chastisemeÌ„t of the heart Psal 4. 6. S. Augustine Psal 50. 18. The sentence on the hart for causing the tongue to sin and the soules sacrifice for the heart A lesson for the flatterer to refraine his tongue in sinning against nature Plinie concerning the two veynes of the tongue An excellent Allusion The flatterer obserueth the humor of him he wold flatter Apte comparisons Iuuenall his verses of the flatterer Plato his censure of the flatterer 1. He names him 2. He coÌ„pares him 3. He alludes him A comparison of the flatterer to the Grashopper the Allusion Psal 141. 5. Prouer. 27. 6. Psal 31. 18. Flatterers coÌ„pared to SaÌ„psons Lyon Judg. 14. 8. Flatterers coÌ„pared to the whitest Swans Leuit. 11. 18. AllusioÌ„ to the former comparison ComparisoÌ„ of the Swans death with the flatterer Deut. 22. 11. Example of the Israelites prohibition to weare garments of linneÌ„ and wollen The authors application of the prohibitioÌ„ and Allusion to the speeches of the flatterer Of Hypocrits supposed to be figured in this similitude Esay 29. 13. Hipocrites are disgracefully silent Sap 17. 18. The flatterer coÌ„pared to the voyce of Eccho with the description of Eccho and what it is AllusioÌ„ to the flatterer The flatterers behauiour Where flatterers are most abyding Poore places are no habitations for flatterers Another comparison of Eccho How the same holds with the flatterer Flatterers compared to wine A sentence for great Lords An excellent example of king Antiochus a poor country man recorded by Plutarch A good noate for kings Princes and great men seldome heare the trueth of themselues The words of S. Gregory The flatterers tongue compared to the tongue of a Cat. How it holds in the flatteres Eccle. 20. 15. Comparison of a shadowe The shadow counterfeits al the actions of the body Allusion to the flatterer Of the