before as Caine and Abel and who dare say whether he had more besides them for it is no consequent that they were all the sons he had because they were onely named for the fit distinction of the two generations for wee read that hee had sonnes and daughters all which are vnnamed who dare affirme how many they were without incursion of rashnesse Adam might by Gods instinct say at Seths birth God hath raised me vp another seed for Abell in that Seth was to fulfill Abells sanctity not that he was borne after him by course of time And where as it is written Seth liued 105. or 205. yeares begot Eâ—…s who but one brainelesse would gather from hence that Enos was Seths first sâ—…n to giue vs cause of admiration that Seth could liue so long continent without purpose of continency or without vse of the mariage bed vnto generation for it is writte of him He begat sons and daughters and the daies of Seth were 912. yeares 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 died And thus the rest also that are named are al recorded to haue had sons daughters But here is no proofe that he that is named to be son to any of them should be their first son nor is it credible that their fathers liued al this while either immature or vnmarried or vnchilded nor that they were their fathers first â—…ome But the scripture intending to descend by a genealogicall scale from Adâ—… vnto Noah to the deluge recounted not the first borne of euery father but only such as fell within the compasse of these two generations Take this example to cleare all further or future doubt Saint Mathew the Euangelist intending to record the generation of the Man CHRIST beginning at Abrahâ—… and descending downe to Dauid Abraham saith hee begot Isaac why not 〈◊〉 he was his first sonne Isaac begot Iacob why not Esau hee was his first 〈◊〉 too The reason is he could not descend by them vnto Dauid It followeth Iacob begat Iudas and his brethren Why was Iudas his first borne Iudas begat Phâ—…es and Zara. Why neither of these were Iudas his first sonnes he had three before either of them So the Euangelist kept onely the genealogy that tracted directly downe to Dauid and so to his purpose Hence may wee therefore see plaine that the mens first borne before the deluge were not respected in this account but those onely through whose loines the propagation passed from Adam to Noah the Patriarche And thus the fruitlesse and obscure question of their late maturity is opened as farre as needeth we will not tire our selues therein L. VIVES LOnger a immature Maturity in man is the time when he is fit to beget children when as haire groweth vpon the immodest parts of nature in man or woman b Gotten Or possesse 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 say the seauenty Caine saith Hieroâ—… is 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 possession Of the lawes of marriage which the first women might haue different from the succeeding CHAP. 16. THerefore whereas mankinde after the forming of the first man out of clay and the first woman out of his side needed coniunction of male and female for propagation sake it beeing impossible for man to bee increased but by such meanes the brethren maried the sisters this was lawfull then through the compulsion of necessity but now it is as damnable through the prohibition of it in religion for there was a a iust care had of charity that them to whom concord was most vsefull might be combined togither in diuers bonds of kinred and affinity that one should haue many in one but that euery peculiar should bee bestowed abroade and so many byas many should bee conglutinate in honest coniugall society As father and father in law are two names of kinred So if one haue both of them there is a larger extent of charity Adam is compelled to be both vnto his sonnes and his daughters who were matched together beeing brothers and sisters So was Euah both mother and step-mother to them both But if there had bin two women for these two names the loue of charity had extended further The sister also here that was made a wife comprized two alliances in her selfe which had they beene diuided and she sister to one and wife to another the combination had taken in more persons then as now it could beeing no mankinde vpon earth but brothers and sisters the progeny of the first created But it was fit to be done as soone as it could and that then wiues and sisters should be no more one it being no neede but great abhomination to practise it any more For if the first mens nephewes that maried their cousin-germaines had married their sisters there had beene three alliances not two includâ—… in one which three ought for the extention of loue and charity to haue beene communicated vnto three seuerall persons for one man should be father stepfather and vncle vnto his owne children brother and sister should they two mary together and his wife should be mother stepmother and aunte vnto them and they themselues should bee not onely brother and sister but b brother and sisters children also Now those alliances that combine three men vnto one should conioyne nine persons together in kinred amity if they were seuereâ—… one may haue one his sister another his wife another his cousin another his father another his vncle another his step father another his mother another his aâ—…te and another his step-mother thus were the sociall amity dilated and not contracted all into two or three And this vpon the worlds increase wee may obserue euen in Paynims and Infidels that although c some of their bestiall lawes allowed the bretheren to marry their sister yet better custome abhorred this badde liberty and for all that in the worldes beginning it was lawfull yet they auoide it so now as if it had neuer beene lawfull for custome is a gâ—…at matter to make a man hate or affect any thing and custome herein suppressing the immoderate immodesty of coÌ„cupiscence hath iustly set a brand of ignominy vpon it as an irreligious and vnhumaine acte for if it be a vice to plow beyond your bounder for greedinesse of more ground how farre doth this exceed it for lust of carnality to transgresse all bound nay subuert all ground of good manners And wee haue obserued that the marriage of cousin-germaines because of the degree it holdeth next vnto brother and sister to haue beene wonderfull seldome in these later times of ours and this now because of good custome otherwise though the lawes allowed it for the lawe of GOD hath not forbidden it d nor as yet had the lawe of man But this although it were lawfull is avoided because it is so neare to that which is vnlawfull and that which one doth with his cousin hee almost thinketh that hee doth with his sister for these because of their neare consanguinity e are called brothers and sisters and
Whether the Church haue any sufficient testimonies that the diuine will aduised it to honor these persons memories I cannot tell it may be that it hath For what if they did not this through mortall feare but through heauenly instinct not in error but in obedience as wee must not beleeue but that Sampson did And if God command and this command be cleerely and doubtlesly discerned to bee his who dares call this obedience into question Who dare callumniate the dutie of holy loue But euery one that shall resolue to sacrifice his sonne vnto God shall not bee cleared of guilt in such a resolution because Abraham was praised for it For the souldier that in his order and obeysance to his gouernour vnder whom hee fighteth lawfully killeth a man the citty neuermakes him guilty of homicid nay it makes him guilty offalshood and contempt if hee doe not labour in all that hee can to doe it But if hee had killed the man of his owne voluntary pleasure then had hee beene guilty of shedding humaine bloud And so hee is punished for doing of that vnbidden for the not doing of which beeing bidde hee should also haue beene punished If this be thus at the generalls command then why not at the creators He therefore that heareth it sayd Thou shalt not kil thy selfe must kil himself if he commaunde him whom wee may no way gainesay Onely hee is to marke whether this diuine commaund bee not involued in any vncertainety By b the eare wee doe make coniecture of the conscience but our iudgement cannot penetrate into the secrets of hearts No man knowes the things of a man but the spirit of a man which is in him This we say this we affirme this wee vniuersally approoue that no man ought to procure his owne death for feare of temporall miseries because in doing this hee falleth into eternall Neither may hee doe it to avoide the sinnes of others for in this hee maketh himselfe guilty of a deadly guilt whome others wickednesse could not make guilty nor for his owne sinnes past for which hee had more neede to wish for life that hee might repent himselfe of them nor for any desire of a better life to bee hoped for after death Because such as are guiltie of the losse of their owne life neuer enioye any better life after their death L. VIVES BVt there were a some holy women Ambrose lib. 3. de virginibus writeth that Pelagia with his mother sisters cast themselues headlong into a riuer for feare to be rauished of the soldiers that pursued them and yet the Church saith he hath placed her amongst the number of the martires And Sophronia likewise who killed her selfe to auoide the lust of Maxentius Caesar as Eusebins recordeth in his Ecclesiasticall history b by the eare Wee iudge by appearances of what is within for our eye cannot perce into the secrets of man Whether we ought to flie sinne with voluntary death CHAP. 26. THere is one reason of this proposition as yet to handle which seemes to proue it commodious for a man to suffer a voluntary death namely least either alluring pleasures or tormenting paines should enforce him to sinne afterwards Which reason if we will giue scope vnto it will run out so farre that one would thinke that men should bee exhorted to this voluntary butchery euen then when by the fount of regeneration they are purified from all their sinnes For then is the time to beware of all sinnes to come when all that is past is pardoned And if voluntary death doe this why is it not fittest then Why doth hee that is newly baptized forbeare his owne throat Why doth he thrust his head freed againe into all these imminent dangers of this life seeing he may so easilie avoide them all by his death and it is written Hee that louâ—…th daunger shall fall therein Why then doth he loue those innumerable daungers or if hee doe not loue them why vndertakes hee them Is any man so fondly peruerse and so great a contemner of truth that if hee thinke one should kill himselfe to eschue the violence of one oppressor least it draw him vnto sinne will neuerthelesse aâ—…ouch that one should liue still and endure this whole world at all times full of all temptations both such as may bee expected from one oppressor and thousands besides without which no man doth nor can liue What is the reason then why wee doe spend so much time in our exhortations endeuouring to animate a those whom wee haue baptized b either vnto virginity or chaste widowhood or honest and honorable marriage seeing wee haue both farre shorter and farre better waies to abandon all contagion and daunger of sinne namely in perswading euery one presently after that remission of his sinnes which hee hath newly obtained in baptisme to betake him presently to a speedy death and so send him presently away vnto GOD both fresh and faire If any man thinke that this is fitte to bee perswaded I say not hee dotes but I say hee is plaine madde with what face can he say vnto a man kill thy selfe least vnto thy small sinnes thou adde a greater by liuing in slauery vnto a barbarous vnchaste maister how can hee but with guilty shame say vnto a man kill thy selfe now that thy sinnes are forgiuen thee least thou fall into the like againe or worse by liuing in this world so fraught with manifold temptation so aluring with vncleane delights so furious with bloudy sacrileges so hate-full c with errors and terrors it is a shame and a sinne to say the one and therefore is it so likewise to doe the other For d if there were any reason of iust force to authorize this fact it must needes bee that which is fore-alledged But it is not that therefore there is none Loath not your liues then you faithfull of Christ though the foe hath made haâ—…ock of your chastities You haue a great and true consolation if your conscience beare you faithfull witnesse that you neuer consented vnto their sinnes who were suffred to commit such outrages vpon you L. VIVES THose a whom we haue baptized Least any man should mistake this place vnderstand that in times of old no man was brought vnto baptisme but he was of sufficient yeares to know what that misticall water meant and to require his baptisme yea and that sundry times Which we see resembled in our baptising of infants unto this day For the infant is asked be it borne on that day or a day before whether it wil be baptized Thrise is this question propounded vnto it vnto which the God-fathers answere it will I heare that in some Citties of Italy they doe for the most part obserue the ancient custome as yet This I haue related onely to explane the meaning of Augustine more fullie b Either to virginity He toucheth the three estates of such as liue well in the Church c With so
vnto Iupiter In these words But O thou father of Gods and men keepe but the foes from hence take away the Romanes terror and stay their flight Vnto thee O Iupiter Stator doe I vowe to build a temple in this place as a monument vnto all posteritie that by thine onely helpe the citty was saued Liuius lib. 1. k Herevpon stato â sistendo of staying or à stando of stablishing that is erecting the Romaine spirits that were deiected Cicero calleth this Iupiter the preseruer of the Empire in many places I thinke it is because his house was neere this temple Saint Hierome saith that this Iupiter was formed standing not that he thinketh he was called Stator because he standeth so vpright but because Iupiter Tonans as Hermolaus Barbarus hath noted was alwayes stamped and engrauen vpon ancient coynes sitting and Stator standing as being in readinesse to helpe and assist men Seneca giues a deeper reason of his name Hee is not called stator saith he because as history reporteth hee stayed the Romaine armie after the vowe of Romulus but because by his benefits all things consist and are established De benefic lib. 4. And Tully likewise When we call Iupiter Almighty Salutaris Hospitalis Stator wee meane that all mens health and stabilitie is consisting of him and from him being vnder his protection But both these authors doe here speake Stoically For Tully maketh Cato the Stoike speake these fore-alledged words De finib lib. 3. For all these assertions of the gods the Stoikes reduced to a more Metaphysicall or Theologicall sence l Nor would these Butcheries In the middest of the fight the women gaue in betwixt the battels all bare-headed and loose haired and calling on their parents on this side and their husbands on that with teares besought them both to fall to agreement So the battell ceased a league was made the Sabines became citizens and Tatius was ioyned King with Romulus m But how long The Laurentians of Lauinium slew Tatius the fift yeare of his raigne with Romulus because his friends had iniured their Embassadors Hereof was Romulus very glad n Liues some read Iura lawes But in the old manuscripts some haue vita and some vitae liues both better then Iura How impious that warre was which the Romaines began with the Albans and of the nature of those victories which ambition seekes to obtaine CHAP. 14. BVT when Numa was gone what did the succeeding Kings O how tragicall as well on the Romaines side as on the Albanes was that warre betweene Rome and Alba Because forsooth the peace of Numa was growne loathsome therefore must the Romaines and the Albanes begin alternate massacres to so great an endamaging of both their estates And Alba a the daughter of Ascanius Aeneas his sonne a more appropiate mother vnto Rome then Troye must by Tullus Hostilius his prouocation bee compelled to fight with Rome it selfe her owne daughter And fighting with her was afflicted and did afflict vntill the continuall conflicts had vtterly tyred both the parties And then they were faine to put the finall ending of the whole warre b to sixe bretheren three Horatij on Romes sides and three Curiatij on Albas So two of the Horatij fell by the three other and the three other fell by the third onely of the Horatij Thus gotte Rome the vpper hand yet so hardly as of sixe combattants onely one suruiued Now who were they that lost on both sides who were they that lamented but Aeneas his progenie Ascanius his posteritie Venus of spring and Iupiters children for this warre was worse then ciuill where the daughter citty bore armes against the mother c Besides this brethrens fight was closed with an horrid and an abhominable mischiefe For in the time of the league betweene both citties a sister of the Horatij was espoused to one of the Curiatij who seeing her brother returne with the spoiles of her dead spouse and bursting into teares at this heauy sight was runne thorow the body by hir owne brother in his heate and furie There was more true affection in this one poore woman in my iudgement then in all the whole Romaine nation besides Shee did not deserue to be blamed for bewailing that hee was slaine to whom shee ought her faith or that her brother had slaine him to whom he him-selfe perhaps had promised her his sister For Pious Aeneas is commended in Virgill for bewailing d him whom hee had slaine as an enemie And Marcellus viewing the faire cittie Syracusa being then to bee made a prey to ruine by the armes of his conduct reuoluing the inconstancie of mortall affaires pittied it and bewailed it I pray you then giue thus much leaue to a poore woman in tender affection faultlesly to bewaile her spouse slaine by her brother since that warlike men haue beene praised for deploring their enemies estate in their owne conquests But when this one wretched soule lamented thus that her loue had lost his life by her brothers hand contrarywise did all Rome reioyce that shee had giuen their mother so mighty a foyle and exulted in the plenty of the allyed bloud that she had drawne What face then haue you to talke of your victories and your glories hereby gotten Cast but aside the maske of mad opinion and all these villanies will appeare naked to view peruse and censure weigh but Alba's cause and Troyes together and you shall finde a full difference Tullus began these warres onely to renew the discontinued valours and triumphs of his country-men From this ground arose these horrid warres betweene kindred kindred which not-withstanding Saluste doth but ouer-run sicco pede for hauing briefly recollected the precedent times when men liued without aspiring or other affects each man contenting himselfe with his owne But after that e Cyrus quoth he in Asia and the Lacedemonians and Athenians in Greece began to subdue the countries cities within their reaches thâ—…n desire of soueraignty grew a common cause of warre and opinion placed the greatest glory in the largest Empire c. Thus farre he This desire of soueraigntie is a deadly corrasiue to humaine spirits This made the Romaines triumph ouer Alba and gaue the happy successe of their mischiefes the stile of glories Because as out Scripture saith The wicked maketh boast of his hearts desire and the vniust dealer blesseth himselfe Take off then these deluding vayles from things and let them appeare as they are indeed Let none tell me Hee or Hee is great because he hath coped with and conquered such and such an one Fencers can fight conquer those bloudy acts of theirs in their combate f doe neuer passe vngraced But I hold it rather fit to expose a mans name to all taint of idlenesse then to purchase renowne from such bad emploiment But if two Fencers or sword-plaiers should come vpon the stage one being the father another the sonne who could endure such a spectacle how then
Ceres was also called libera b To norish Hereof Plin. lib. 7. It is the matter or substance fitted for generation the masculine seed congealing in it and so growing to perfection when it flowes in women with child their burthen is dead or corrupted Nigidius Then this bloud menstruall there cannot be a more filthy nor venemous thing which alone is inough to curbe and dash the proud heart of man c Wife and sister Uirgill It is common d How can This is all the Philosophers saying a man is the wonder of the world and the mind the wonder of the man e That had charge In Mineruas feasts the children caried new yeares-gifts to their maisters and made a play day of that to do seruice to Minerua that ruled the memory the store-house of discipline and the especiall signe of wit in little children as Quintilian saith shee ruleth the wit also and was called the birth of Ioues braine Ouid. fastor Pallada nunc puri tener 〈◊〉 ornate puellae Qui bene plâ—…arit Pallada doctus erit Now Pallas temple youthes and damsells fill He that can please her shall haue wit at will And so he proceedeth f Many wicked Plato in his Thaetetus saith that the cholericke person is the best memoried gessing doubtlesse by the hot and dry braine g Many father gods Ioue is aboue Saturne and he aboue Caelus whose parents are vnknowne though Phurnutus calls his father by the name of Aemon Iuno also is more famous then Ops and shee then her mother h More loues coyne Querenda Pecunia primum est vertus post nummos Haec Ianus summus ab imo Perdocet Haec recinunt iuuenes dictata senesque First coyne then vertue this doth Ianus sing And this through mouthes of youth and age doth ring Euripides presents one in a humor neglecting althings all reproches for wealth his reason is why what doe they aske how good one is how honest no how ritch each one is that which hee possesseth i Then to that which A difference of reading but it is reformed the Axiâ—… is Aristotles Poster 1. That whose end respecteth another is not so good as the end it respecteth and principles are both plainer and before their conclusions in precedency though here he speake not so much of the finall cause as of the efficient But in his Ethickes he teacheth that the things respected are better then the things respecting That the meaner gods being buried in silence were better vsed then the select whose falts were so shamefully traduced CHAP. 4. NOw any one that longed after honor might gratulate those selected gods and say their selection had bin good if it had not rather beene vsed to their disgrace then their honors for the basenesse of the meaner sort kept them from scornes Indeed we do laugh when wee see how fond opinion hath parted them into squadrons and set them to worke vpon trifles like a spittle men or the b gold-smith in the siluer-streete where the cup goeth through so many hands ere it 〈◊〉 done when as one good worke-man might do all himselfe But I thinke they had each such little shares to learne their worke the sooner least the whole should haue beene too long in learning But we can scasely finde one of the vnselected gods that is be come infamous by any foule act doing but scarcely one of the select but on the contrary The latter came downe belike to the base workes of the first but the first ascended not to the high crimes of the later In c deed of Iaâ—…s I finde nothing blame-worthy perhaps he liued honestly and out of the d ranke of villaines he receiued Saturne courteously being expelled his kingdome and shared his state with him and they built two cities the one Ianiculum the other Saturnia But those sencelesse adorers of Idolatry and filthinesse haue made him a very monster some-times with two faces some-times with foure Did they desire that since the other gods had lost all e honesty of face by their fowle actes his innocence should bee the more apparant by his many fore-heads L. VIVES I 〈◊〉 Spittle-men A diuerse reading ours is the best as I thinke Hee doth meane such 〈◊〉 as had the gathering of some abiect pence of little or no vse to the state some fragments of collections b Goldsmiths One carues one guildes one sets on an eare or a corner 〈◊〉 like though the plate sellers are not Gold-smiths but put their worke out to the gold-smiths them-selues or rather bankers or exchangers the workemen kept shops about the great market place Uitru l. 5. Liu. lib. 26. To get thee out of the market place is Plautus phrase in his 〈◊〉 Augustine vseth the Syluer-streete here for a place where the gold-smiths wrought c 〈◊〉 Hee was borne in Italy and raigned there with Cameses borne there also the 〈◊〉 as called Camesena the Cittie Ianiculum but he dying Ianus ruled all and entertained Saturne in his flight from Crete learned husbandry of him and shared his kingdome with 〈◊〉 giuing him Mount Tarpeius whereon there stood a tower and a little towne which he called Saturnia Aeneas would haue called it Aeneopolis afterwards but it kept the olde name Saturnia still there were some monuments of it remained long after the Saturnian gate called afterward Padana as the writing on the wall testifieth and the temple of Saturne in the entrance Tarquin the proud afterwards building Iunos temple and Saturne being as it were expelled from thence also by his sonne the whole Capitoll was dedicated in the name of Great omnipotent Iupiter Uirg Aeneid 8. Seru. ibid. Ouid. fast 1. Eutrop. Solin Macrob. Diony Pruâ—… There is a booke vnder Berosus the Chaldaeans name that saith Ianus was Noah I hold thâ—…â—…ke nothing but meere fables worthy of the Anian Commentaries Of Ianus 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 shall heare more d Ranke of villaines Ouid. fast 6. saith hee rauished 〈◊〉 who was afterwards called Carna and made goddesse of hinges But Augustine either 〈◊〉 forgot it or else held it but a false fiction e Honesty of face the face and the foreâ—…â—…en for shame Hence is Plinies Perfricare faciem frontem in Quintilianum to 〈◊〉 ashamed Lucan Nec color imperii nec frons erit vlla senatus The Court will want all shame the state all shape And Persius Exclamet Melicerta perisse Frontem de rebus Let Melicerta crye All shame is fledde Of the Pagans more abstruse Physiologicall doctrine CHAP. 5. 〈◊〉 let vs rather heare their naturall expositions where-with they would 〈◊〉 â—…ne to cloake their pitious errors as in cloudy mysteries First Varro so â—…nds them that he saith the pictures shapes and vestures of the gods were 〈◊〉 of old for the deuoute therein to contemplate the worlds soule and the parts thereof that is the true Gods in their mindes whereof such as erected huâ—…e shapes seemed to compare the immortall essence vnto the soule in man and 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 vessell should bee put