VVits miserie, and the vvorlds madnesse discouering the deuils incarnat of this age.

The discouery of Asmodeus, and his le∣cherous race of Deuils Incarnate in our age.

NO sooner came Asmodeus into the world by Sathans direction, but presently procured he Lothes incest with his daughters, Semi∣ramis vnlawfull whordome with her owne sonne, and Dinas vnhappy and fatall rauish∣ment; he made Thamar be enforced by her owne brother, and forced Dauid to commit murther on Vrias, and adultery with Bersabe: Pasiphae hée brought enamoured with a Bull, and Xerxes with a Plantaine trée: hée caused a young Athenian to fall in loue with the liuelesse picture of For∣tune standing neare the Pritaneum, and to offer a great quanti∣ty of mony to the Senate to buy it from their hands; of which being denied, and for which wholly inraged, after embracing, kissing, (and such other ceremonies) he crowned the statue, & lamenting, slew himselfe: he made Glauca of Cythera to loue

a dog, a young Spartan to be besotted on a bird, Xenophon to affect a hound, nay the better part of the Philosophers to be Sodomites: read Plutarchs booke of Loue, and hée will testifie for me: yet thinking these gaines too little in expression of his enuy, watching Sardanapalus one night, hée practised this mon∣strous villany: Hée assembled his hainousest thoughts, & com∣pacted them togither, hée chained his loosest desires, to the in∣ward workings and motions of the same; and after hée had drunke of Letheo, which (as the Poet saith) causeth forgetfulnes,

Laetheos potat latices obliuia mentis.* 1.1He drinkes Laethean springs which moone forget.

He slumbred awhile, and during sléepe, presented them to his Imagination; and Imagination forming them, he no sooner a∣l•…•…oke, but from his eies (like corrupt raies which frō menstrual women infect glasses) out start these deuils, & made impression in mens hearts, & euer since haue bene incarnate, & now in our world are most pratchant & busie. The first of them is Fornica∣tion (a notorious •…•…ocher) hée goes daily apparelled like a lord though he be but a deuill, his haire frisled & perfumed, y^• should Vespasian but smell him (as once hée did a knight in Rome, as Suetonius reporteth) he would banish him his court for his labor: By day he walks y^• streets & the Erchange, to spy out faire wo∣men; by night he courts them with maskes, consorts, and mu∣sicke; he will sigh like a dog that hath lost his master, if his mi∣seres refuse him, & wéepe like a Crocadile till he haue won him∣selfe credit: if his mistres saith, It is against her conscience, Tut (saith he) lechery is no sinne, find me one Philosopher that held simple fornication for offensiue. This is he that corrupts mai∣dens to vnlawsull desires for mony, and cals Adultery by ano∣ther name, A fit of good fellowship: This is the lord of all baw∣dy houses, & patron of Peticote-lane, one that would build an hospitall for decaied whores, but y^t he is loth to be at the char∣ges. If he take vp commodities, it is Cock-sparrows, Potatos, and Herringes, and the hottest wines are his ordinary drink to increase his courage: his table talke is but of how many wen∣ches he hath courted that wéeke, and (Blindnes of heart waiting like a page on his trencher) you shall heare him laugh at his

greatest villani•…•…s most heartily: when he rides you shall know him by his fan; & if he walke abroad, & misse his mistres fauor about his neck, arme, or thigh, he hangs the head like y^e soldier in the field y^• is disarmed: put him to a sonnet, Du Portes cannot equall him; nay in y^• nice tearmes of lechery he excéeds him: at Riddles, he is good; at Purposes, better; but at Tales he hath no equall, for Bandello is more perfit w^t him then his Paternoster. Tell him y^e Turks & Iewes seuerely punish such sin, & admit no stewes: I, (saith he, like a cursed Atheist) that prooues thē stocks & no men. His care is for nothing but perfumes & Elixar, y^• one to make him smel swéet, y^• other to lengthen life, for of all things he will not heare of death. A fit companion is this man for such as be idle: & if any aske, what shall we do to passe the time after the end of an Ordinary: Faith (saith he) lets serch whorehouses, for thats y^• best exercise. If you talke to him of God, Hardnes of heart saies it concerns him not: If you counsell him to fast, hée commands his cook to make ready a fat capon for his supper: he is wholly y^• deuils, of whom he is begotten. Tell him he hath y^• pox, tut it is a gentlemens disease: & the cause of purging corrupt humors, are the effects of health. Such is this Deuil incarnate, who both deserues to be known & auoided, & the rather, by reasō of his page, blindnes of heart, for he it was y^• first made the So∣domites inwardly & outwardly blind: & he it was y^• corrupted y^• false Iudges to seduce Susanna: this is he y^• distracteth our eies lest we should sée heauen, & blindeth our hearts, least we should behold Gods iust Iudgements. And therfore Antiquity in pain∣ting y^• god of loue, haue made him blind, because affectiō is blind, & maketh them blind that follow it. As therfore y^• eie of the soule (by which as Plato witnesseth, we behold y^• essence of God) is a great blessing of y^• Holy ghost; so blindnes of vnderstanding his* 1.2 opposite (wherby we are tied to carnal desires) is y^e worst of ma∣ny infirmities. Plato in his Dialogues cōpares this cōcupiscēse to a sieue, into which y^• more water you poure, y^e more it spils, & yet in y^• end it is neuer filled. In like sort a man y^• thinks to sa∣tisfie himselfe in this Fornication, demeaneth himselfe like him* 1.3 that striues to fill a sleue with water. The Doctor Gerson spea∣king to this purpose, brings an example of him y^• is seased with a

burning feuer, who if he drinke a glasse of fresh water, thinkes himselfe sufficiently cooled, but in lesse then a quarter of an houre after he is more distempered then euer: As likewise one that is troubled with the Itch, the more he scratcheth the more his flesh tingleth; so the more a man séeketh to asswage Lust, the more it encreaseth. The only conquest of this Deuill, is to flie him; and for that cause this is a Maxime held amongst the Fathers, that Facilius vincitur luxuria fugiendo, quam pugnando: Lechery is better conquered in flying it, then resisting it. Tullie (though an Ethnicke) entring into the confideration of Forni∣cation* 1.4 and Lust, saith thus, that It closeth vp the eies of our soules, and hindreth Iudgement. And Plutarch reporting Hanni∣bals follies at Cannas, holdeth Lust and effeminate pleasure to be the downfall of his fortunes. Why stand I so long on this Deuill, when a greater preaseth forth, and presents himselfe? And who is that but Adultery, an arranter knaue then his bro∣ther: Looke vpon his lips, the one is single, the other double: and though he be apparelled like a Citizen, hée hath doings in all countries: This is he will let his wife want, to maintaine a harlot; and laugh at his childrens misery, so his lust be satisfi∣ed: This fiend hath a concubine in euery corner, and ordinari∣ly a whore in his houshold: hée hath two of his owne kindred continually attending him, Precipitation, and Inconsideration; the one hindreth his prouidence and counsell, and without re∣gard transports him with amorous passions: for where Blind∣nesse of heart marcheth before, Precipitation must néeds follow to make him carelesse in his actions: For (as Plato saith) Volup∣tas omnium insolentissima est, Pleasure and Lust is the most inso∣tent of all things: for it perturbeth our spirits, and taketh away •…•…he empire of liberty. This fellow peruerts memory, hurteth consideration, kils prouidence, and treads downe aduice: The other, called Inconsideration, hinders both reason and iudge∣ment, by fleshly delights; dulleth the memory in respect of God, bréedeth an Apoplexie and benumming of the soule. Furnished with these two followers, what impietie leaues Adultery vn∣done? his neighbour is made iealous, his wife a strumpet, his doore is hourely haunted with a Sumner, and catch him out of

the Arches one tearme, hée will forseit his vpper garment for default, his owne house is hell to him, a baudie house his heauen; and for his companions hée chooseth none but the arrantest dronckards in a countrey. Hée hath no spirit to goodnesse, neither is hée mooued to godlinesse: his felici∣tie is the surfets of his flesh, and paine with him is no more thought of then it is felt: hée is readie at a iarre to set strife betwixt man and wife, and to this intent forsooth, that he may take possession of another mans frée hold, and make a common of his neighbours inclosure. He spights him most that examines his procéedings, and will chafe till he sweat againe, if a man touch him with his infirmities. Speake ought that bréeds a hate of sinne, it is a verie Hell to him: blesse your selfe out of this fiends companie, for these certaine and exampler respects, that follow, First be∣cause adulterie is a greater sinne, and more hatefull (as some schoolemen say, in the sight of God) then periurie.* 1.5 Next, because Gods law forbids it, and example dissuades it. By the law adulterers were stoned to death. Be∣fore the law they were punished by death; as appeareth by Iudas iustice on Thamar: examples of the hainousnesse of this sinne appeareth in many places; thousands of men died in the fields of Moab for this fault, and sixtie thousand of the children of Israell were put to the sword for the one∣lie rauishing of a Leuites wife. Thirdlie, for these respects is this adulterie to bée eschewed, first because it impug∣neth the law of nature, Next the law of countries; and last, for that it hath béene the ruine of manie Citties and kingdomes. If in the law of nature it had not béene odious, Pharoah and Abimelech had not answered Abraham, That had they supposed Sara for his wife, they had not taken her. Touching the lawes of countries, Solon in his, adiudged* 1.6 the adulterer to die: the Locrensians, Persians, Arabi∣ans, and Egyptians most cruelly punished it: Plato consenteth with Solon, the law of the twelue tables with both: By the Ciuile lawes, the husband adulterer looseth his marriage, and the adulteresse his wife the thirds of the goods of her hus∣band.

And as concerning the exemplarie miseries it hath fa∣tally wrought, Sodome and Gomorra were consumed with fire for adulterie and Sodomie: Troy a prowd cittie made a plowd land.

Nune seges est vbi Troia fuit.And corne now growes where Troy once stood.

Agamemnon for refusing to kéepe to Clitemnestra, and defi∣ling himself with Briseis, was prosecuted by deadly hatred by his wife, and slaine in Treason by her adulterous paramour Egi∣stus. Vlisses rather refused immortalitie at Calipsos hand, then to consent to this sin; and Lewis of France as the Hystorian saith, Maluit mori quam violare fidem sues centhorali, He had rather die then breake his faith to his espoused wife: it was the onely a∣dulteries of the French that caused a Massacre of 8000 vpon* 1.7 the ringing of one Bell in the Isle of Sicilie, Nectabanus & O∣limpus loue, the miseries of vnhappie Dalida, of Tereus, & many others, might be here alleaged, but I will end with that in Ho∣race, touching the punishments of adulterers, and the rather to* 1.8 bring men in horror of the sinne:

Hic se praecipitem tecto dedit, ille flagellis Ad mortem caesus, fugiens hic decidit acren•…•… Proedonum in turbam, dedit hic pro corpore nummos, Hunc perminxerant calones, quin etiam illud Accidit, vt quidamtestes, caudam{que} saluce•…•…. Demeteret ferro.

This lecher from a window headlong skipt, This, till he suffered death was soundly whipt; He flying, fell in cursed fellons hands. This, money gaue to ransome him from bands. Him, clownes bepist; and this doth often hap, That some leaud lechers caughtin cunning trap, Scornd and disdaind (and worthy of the scoffe)▪ Haue both their saltie taile and stones cut off.

But herein some man perhaps will take occasion to reproue me, that describing adulterie with a double lip, I discouer not

the cause why I present him so: to him let this reason suffice, which wanteth not his authoritie, I therefore giue adulterie a single and double lip, because there is a single and a double adul∣terie; that adulterie which is called single, is when as one of the two that commits the sinne is maried, and the other is not; and the double, wherein man commits Bigamy▪ or both the of∣fenders are coupled in marriage: touching two of these, I haue sufficiently discoursed (as I hope) before this▪ onely of Bigamy and Poligamie this much and so an end: both these (as against nature) the Ethnicks and Pagans despised: and that they are* 1.9 condemned by God it appeareth by his owne words, Erunt duo in carne vna, They shall be two in one flesh: he saith not, three or four: by this place shamelesse Lamech of the cursed race of Cam is condemned for beginning the pluralitie of wiues, and the la∣sciuious and sensuall Emperour Valentinian, who coupled with his wife Seneca, a yong maiden called Iustine, whom he espou∣sed as Socrates witnesseth.

Too long am I on this, behold another more hainons spirit incarnate in the bodie of a youthly & braue gallant, who comes freshly from the Tailers in a new sute of crimson Sattin, and must to Poules presently to méet with his Pandare: this fellow is called Rauishment, an vnnaturall fiend, he weareth a feather in his beuer hat which is called the plume of Inconstancie, and howsoeuer that waueth, his wit wandreth: this is hée will giue a baud ten pound for the breaking vp of a wench, nay which is most horrible, before that nature enable her: he neuer walkes without a full purse, nor sléepes before a mischiefe, nor wéepes but for pure enuie: he may not smile nor laugh, but at the de∣spoiles of chastity. He holds this ariome, That there is no plea∣sure swéet that is not accompanied with resist; and that no flowers are pleasant but those of the first gathering. He it was that rauished Danae in a golden shewer, & Mica the chast Uir∣gine in the daies of Aristotimus. All wordly delights he hath to intangle innocency with, and his grandsir Sathan hath giuen it him from the cradle, to attempt the chastest: intertaine him to your guest, your Uirgines are corrupted, your kindred desa∣med, your children pointed at, and that which is a great miserie

in these miseries, he only publisheth your shame, & reioiceth at it: he is excellent at Italian, & I think he be one by y^• mothers side: be not of his fraternitie if you be afraid of a general counsell, for the Elibertine Sinode cōdemus & excommunicates him. If you would know a baud male, or female, you shal find thē by him: for with none else is he acquainted: one marke he hath, his beard is cut after y^• Turkish fashion, & he is lame of one leg like Agesila∣us, & that he brake leaping in Florence out of a window. These tokens being sufficient to know him by, let these reasons serue to bring him in hate: Things they say the more rarer they be, the more dearer they be, Now then since that Uirginitie and chastitie is rare, and by that reason deare, how great rea∣son haue we to hate him that despoileth vs of y^• ornamēt? vnwor∣thy is he y^e name of a man y^t doth y^e work of a beast, nay most de∣testable of al men is y^• rauisher, who destroieth y^• which God can not repair. According to y^• opinion of Aristotle in his Ethicks, & Ierom vpon Amos, flie therefore this Hidra, this hateful to God* 1.10 & man: & since according to Chrisost: Pudicitia & virginit as imbe∣cillis est, Modesty & virginity is weak, let vs banish y^• sin frō our so∣cieties* 1.11 y^• is likest to disturbe & attempt it. Another spirit there is incorporated very cūningly whichin al apparitiōs I euer could sée him in, hath his face couered w^t a vaile & in it is writtē Incest, & he it was y^• made Herod abuse his sisters wife, and I feare me plaies y^e deuil couertly in our countrey, if I may chance to know it, he may be sure I wil vnmaske him. Another fiend there is, but he hants not our country, but trauaileth Flanders & y^e low coun∣tries like a souldior, this diuel robs churches, rauisheth religious women, scorns the Clergie, beats down bels & stéeple, & cōmit∣teth filthy absurdities in y^e churches, whom I only name in this place because I wish the ports might be laid if he attempt to ar∣riue here, for of al chaffare he sels best a challice, cope, & commu∣niō cup; & if he be permitted to enter among vs, no minister shal saue him a surples to say seruice on sunday in. But what visio is this, inough to affright the world? Selfe-loue, the idolater of his body, an infernal & master angell; accompanied w^t Loue of this world, y^• loaths to hear of piety: Hate of God (in y^• he prohibits sin) & horror of the world to come, in y^• he feareth iudgemēt: these foure lothsome ministers, bring in a thrée headed & vgly mōster;

nature walks apart & hides her face in her hands for feare to be∣hold him, y^e first head is Mollities inuenting voluntary pollution: the second Sodomy, peruerting the order of nature: y^• third Besti∣ality, called by y^e schoolmen (crimen pessimū:) this monsters eies are stil hanging down, as if ashamed to behold y^• light, & in his brows are written, signū reprobrationis, the mark of reprobatiō; the first* 1.12 head whispers in mine ear y^e Her & Onan were slain by an angel through his corruptiō. The secōd tels me y^• Italy can best teach me if I would know his qualities; alas chast eares, I dare not name it, thogh I fear it is to much vsed, I dare not think it, Pe∣drastia, Socrates sin. The third tels me he is a monster getter, and hath followers amongst men are vnworthy naming: wretches auant, you brood of hel, you causes of the general Cataclisme and deluge, flie from these bounds of Christ endome, I am afraid to name you, I c•…•…ure you by my praiers frō my country, y^e infer∣nal poures thēselues in their coppy of sin, hate you▪ & haue often∣times slain those y^• haue béene exercised in your villanies. That very night Christ was born, al your sodomitical crue perished, & depart you to darknes whilst I discouer your fathers villanies. God be thanked y^• monsters are vanished, saw you not one of thē kissing a sow, another dallying w^t a boy, another vsing voluntary pollutiō, fie away w^t thē they are damned villaines▪ come lets ex∣amin the workings of their father, & arm our selues against him, stand forth you pocky deuil Asmodius for I mean to swinge you.

Augustin discoursing vpon y^e effects of lechery & lust, hath this* 1.13 notable saying, Luxuria est inimica deo, inimica virtutibus, perdit sub∣stantiam, & ad tempus voluptatem diligens, futuram non sciunt cogita∣re paupertatem, Lust (saith he) is an enemie to God, an enemie to vertue, it consumeth wealth, & louing pleasure for a while, it suffe∣reth vs not to think of our future pouertie: approuing hereby in a few words, and they effectuall, that he who is intangled in the snares of desires, is distracted from God, forsaken by vertue, drowned in sensualtie, and besotted with inconsideration. This spiritual infirmite is compared to the disease of leprosie, which procéeedeth from corrupt and disordinate heat; and as the le∣prosie* 1.14 is an incurable disease, euen so is lust an irremediable mischiefe: With this infirmitie was Salomon infected,

who had seuentie Quienes and thrée hundreth concubines, so that euen in his age his heart was depraued: and whereas in al other sinnes their venome is not contracted by societie, in lust a man by conuersation may be corrupted: so that neither the wise mans wit, neither the strong mans armes, nor the holy mans meditation is defenced against lust, but as Ierome saith, ad Paulum & Eus•…•…ochaim, Ferreas mentes libido domat,

Lust conquereth the most vntamed minds. As soon saith Grego∣rie, as lust hath possessiō of the mind, it scarsly suffereth it to con∣ceiue any good desires, and in that the desires therof are vicious by the suggestion thereof riseth corrupt thought, and of thought the like affection, & of affection delèctation, & of delight consent, & of cōsent operation, & of operatiō custome, & of custome despe∣ration, and of desperation, defence of sinne and glorieng there∣in, and of glorying in sinne, damnation. Lururious men haue outwardly the Deuill suggesting them; and inwardly concupis∣cence incensing them; and of these two, al carnal sinn̄es are be∣gotten. It is likewise to be noted, that the word of God, is two waies indemnified by lasciuious men, the one way is conculcator a transeuntibus, It is troden downe by them as they passe by it: This treading downe and oppression of the word of God, is the custome of euill thoughts, whereby the Gospell is oppressed: The second is, that it is deuoured of birds; which deuouring is the suggestion of the Deuill. Against these defects there are likewise two remedies, the first is, that we fence in the inclo∣sure of our hearts, with the thornes of the memorie of the passi∣on of Christ, according to that of the wise man, Popule sepi aures* 1.15 tuas spinis. For there is no greater remedie saith Origen, nor bet∣ter means against euill cogitations, then the remembrance of Christs passion. The second remedie is, to fatten this inclosure of our hearts with the vertue of charitie; for of it it is said, That it couereth the multitude of sinnes. To conclude a sea of mat∣ter in a short circle of admonition, refraine lust and her proge∣nie for these causes, First it destroieth the infused graces of God, and the gifts of the holie ghost: Secondly, it consumeth the foure cardinall vertues: Thirdly, it weakeneth the body, in∣féebleth the spirit, and hardeneth the heart against all deuotion.

The armor against this enuie, is, The cōsideration of his defor∣mitie, The auoidance of occasions and motions of desire, The tempering and moderation of our corrupt bodies, The continu∣all thought of impendent death, The imagination of Gods con∣tinuall presence, The consideration of those infirmities where∣with it cloieth the spirit: Lastly in assaults, The office of praier; which as Cassianus saith, is a sufficient buckler against all the* 1.16 assaults of the world. I haue discouered the sore, and giuen a plaister, I beshrow those that are wounded if they make not vse of it.

Notes

• * 1.1

  Sil. Itall. 13.
• * 1.2

  Lib. 7. de 〈◊〉〈◊〉
• * 1.3

  C•…•…r. Par. •…•… 〈◊〉〈◊〉. d•…•… di∣uer•…•…. temp.
• * 1.4

  Cl•…•…. l. 2. Offic.
• * 1.5

  Lenit. 20. Deut. 21.
• * 1.6

  Gen. 12. Pano•…•…mit.
• * 1.7

  Fulgos. lib. 6.
• * 1.8

  Horace lib. 1. s•…•…t 2.
• * 1.9

  Genes•…•…▪ •…•…▪
• * 1.10

  Eth. 3.
• * 1.11

  Chrisost. des virg. cap. 80.
• * 1.12

  〈1 line〉〈1 line〉.
• * 1.13

  Lib. de da•…•… christ.
• * 1.14

  3. Reg. 8.
• * 1.15

  Eccles. 28.
• * 1.16

  〈1 line〉〈1 line〉.