¶ Of the scarsitie and pouerty of the wicked.

BVt if any man on the contrary part would know, how great the aduersities, calamities, and pouerties of the wicked be, let him reade the eight and twenty Chapter of Deuteronomie, and there he shall finde those things, that both will make him wonder and tremble. Amongst many other things thus spea∣keth the Scripture:* But if thou will not harken vnto the voyce of the Lord thy God, to keepe and to doe all his commaundements, and his ordinances, which I commaund thee this day, all these curses shall come vpon thee, and ouertake thee. Cursed shalt thou be in the Citty, and cursed in the field. Cursed shall be thy basket and thy store. Cur∣sed shall be the fruite of thy body, and the fruite of thy Land, and the increase of thy kine, and the flocks of thy sheepe. Cursed shalt thou be when thou goest in, and cursed when thou goest out. The Lord shall send vpon thee cursing, destruction, and rebuke, in all that thou settest thine hand to, and that thou doest, vntill he destroy thee, and bring thee to naught quickly, because of the wickednes of thine inuen∣tions, Page  251 and because thou hast forsaken me. The Lord shal make the pe∣stilence cleaue vnto thee, vntill hee haue consumed thee from of the Land whether thou goest to enioy it. The Lord shall smite thee vvith swelling, with feauers, heate, burning, and with the sword, with bla∣sting and mildeaw: and they shall follow thee vntill thou perrish. And the heauen that is ouer thy head, shalbe brasse, and the earth that is vnder thee shalbe yron. The Lord shall turne the raine of the Lande into powder and dust, from heauen shal they come downe vpon thee, vntill thou be brought to naught. And the Lorde shall cause thee to fall before thine enemies: thou shalt come out one way against them, and flee seauen wayes before them, and shalt be scattered among all the kingdomes of the earth. And thy carkasse shal be meate vnto all manner of foules of the ayre, and vnto the beasts of the earth, and no man shal fray them away. The Lorde will smite thee with the botch of Egipt, and the Emerods, scab, and itch, that thou maist not be hea∣led thereof. And the Lord shall smite thee with madnes & blindnes, and dazing of hart. Thou shalt grope at noone dayes, as the blind gro∣peth in darknes, and shalt not prosper in thy waies: Thou shalt be op∣pressed with wrong, and be polled euermore, and no man shall succour thee. Thou shalt be betrothed vnto a wife, and another man shall lye with her: thou shalt build an house, and not dwell therein: thou shalt also plant a vineyard, & shalt not gather the grapes. Thine Oxe shal be slaine before thine eyes, & thou shalt not eate thereof: thine Asse shall bee violently taken away before thy face, and shall not be re∣stored to thee againe: thy sheepe shalbe giuen vnto thine enemies, & no man shall rescue them. Thy sonnes and thy daughters, shall be gi∣uen vnto another Nation, & thine eyes shall see it, & daze vpon thē all the day long: and there shall be no might in thine hand. The fruite of thy Land, and all thy labours, shall a Nation which thou knowest not, eate vp: & thou shalt continually suffer violence, & be oppressed alway: so that thou shalt be cleane beside thy selfe, for the sight of thine eyes which thou shalt see. The Lorde shall smite thee in the knees & legs with a mischieuous botch, that cannot be healed, frō the sole of thy foote vnto the toppe of thy head. The Lord shall bring thee & thy King, which thou shalt sette ouer thee, vnto a Nation, vvhich neither thou, nor thy Fathers haue knowne, that there thou mayest serue strange Gods, wood & stone. And thou shalt be wondered at, spoken of, and iested at, among all Nations whether the Lorde shall Page  252 carry thee. At the length, after many and horrible curses, he ad∣deth, saying: And all these curses shal come vpon thee, & ouertake thee, till thou be destroyed: because thou harkenedst not vnto the voyce of the Lord thy God, to keepe his commaundements, and his ordinaunces which he commanded thee. And they shall be vpon thee for signes & wonders, & vpon thy seede for euer: because thou ser∣•edst not the Lord thy God with ioyfulnesse, & with a good hart, whē thou haddest aboundance of all things. Therefore shalt thou serue thine enemy, which the Lord shall send vpon thee, in hunger & thirst, in nakednesse, and in neede of all things: & he shal put a yoke of yron vpon thy necke, vntil he haue brought thee to naught. And the Lord shall bring a Nations vpon thee from farre, & from the end of the world, as swift as an Eagle flieth, a Nation whose tongue thou shalt not vnderstand: A nation of a shamelesse & cruell countenaunce, which shall not regard the person of the old, nor haue compassion on the young. The same shall eate the fruite of thy cattell, and the fruite of thy land, vntill he haue destroyed thee: & shall leaue thee neither Corne, Wine, nor Oyle, neyther the increase of thy Kine, nor the flocks of thy sheepe, vntill he haue brought thee to naught. And he shal keepe thee in, in all thy Citties, vntil he haue cast downe thy hie walles, and strong holds wherein thou trustedst, throughout all thy •and: & hee shall besiege thee in all thy Citties throughout all thy •and which the Lord thy God hath giuen thee. And thou shalt eate the fruite of thine owne body, the flesh of thy sonnes and of thy daughters, which the Lord thy God hath giuen thee, in that straightnes & siege wherewith thine enemies shall enclose thee.

All these be the words of the holy Scripture; but there are many moe in the same Chapter, which we doe now leaue of to remember. Which if they be read with attention & diligence, they will make a man, whatsoeuer hee be, to be amazed, and to faint and die in courage, for the horrour of so dreadfull & fear∣full things. And he that shall read, peraduenture shall open his eyes, and shall begin somwhat to vnderstand the rigour of the Diuine iustice, and the cruell maliciousnes of sinners, and of the great hate that the Lord beareth towards sinne, seeing that hee doth punish it in this world with such horrible punishments; whence we may easily coniecture, what is to bee looked for in the world to come.

Page  253Furthermore, it may irke the wicked of their insensablenesse and calamitie, because they liue as though they were blind, ney∣ther doe they see, what is referued for thē, or what punishments are prepared.* Neyther think that these threatnings are in vaine, onely words and speeches inuented to terrifie men: for as they are threatnings, so are they true prophecies of the calamities, in∣to which the people should fall. For in the time of Achab king of Israell, when Samaria was besieged by the Armie of the king of Syria, we read that men did eate the dunge of Doues, & that thys kinde of meate was sold for a great price. But thys was not so much, at the length it came to that passe, that mothers did kil and eate the chyldren of their owne wombe. Iosephus also wri∣teth, that the same happened at the siege of Ierusalem. But the slaughters and captiuities of this people, together with the vtter ouerthrow of the Common-wealth and the kingdome of the Iewes, are so well knowne to all, that heere they neede not to be rehearsed. An eleuen of theyr Tribes were made perpetuall seruants to the Kings of Assyria: that one Trybe which remai∣ned, a long time after beeing vanquished, was brought into ser∣uitude vnder the Romaines: in which destruction, exceeding great was the number of the captiues, but greater was the num∣ber of those that were slaine, as the same Historiographer copi∣ously describeth.

Neyther let any one deceaue himselfe, saying: that this ca∣lamitie pertaineth onely to the Iewish nation:* seeing that it ge∣nerally appertaineth to all men, who haue knowledge of the Diuine law, and doe despise it, neyther will obey it, as the Lord himselfe testifieth by his Prophet; Haue not I brought vp Israell out of the Land of Egipt, and the Philistines from Cappadocia, and the Syrians from Cyrene? Behold, the eyes of the Lord God, are vp∣pon the sinfull kingdome, and I will destroy it cleane out of the earth. Signifying, that all these changes of kingdoms, whereby thys kingdome is ouerthrowne, and that planted and raysed vp, doth come through sinne. And if any one will see that this is true, let him read ouer the histories of times past, & he shal vnderstand, how God doth chastice the froward and peruerse; but especi∣ally those, that haue the true law, and doe not keepe it. He shal see, how great a part of Europe, Asia, and Affrica, which in Page  254 times past were full of Churches, and of Christian people, now are possessed of Infidels: & he shall know also what great mas∣sacres, ruines, and destructions, the Gothes, Hunnes, and Van∣dales haue made vpon the Churches; who in the time of Saint Augustine,* destroyed and wasted the Prouinces of Affrica, and that without any mercie or compassion; they sparing neyther men nor women; neither old nor young; neither Virgins nor married. At the same time also, and after the same manner, the kingdome of Dalmatia was wasted, with the bordering Coun∣tries, as Saint Ierome showeth,* who was borne in that Coun∣try: insomuch, that he that should haue passed through & tra∣uelled those Countries, should haue seene nothing but heauen and earth; all things were so ruinated and ouerthrowen. Yea, if we will looke into our owne times, we shall see, what slaughters, and effusion of Christian blood, what desolations and euersions of Citties, sinne hath caused in Fraunce, Belgia, and many other Countryes? What mightie massacres, and lamentable diuasta∣tions hath sinne brought vppon the world by the sword of the Turkes, those professed enemies of Christianitie, who stil bran∣dish their swords against Christendome, for the sinnes of Chri∣stians? These sufficient plainly doe declare, how that true ver∣tue, and sincere religion, are not onely profitable to the obtay∣ning of eternall blessings, but also to gette and keepe temporall blessings: that the consideration of all these may inflame our mindes with the loue of Vertue, which preserueth vs from so many mischiefes, & bringeth with it so many good things.