An abridgement of the notable woorke of Polidore Vergile conteignyng the deuisers and firste finders out as well of artes, ministeries, feactes & ciuill ordinaunces, as of rites, and ceremonies, commo[n]ly vsed in the churche: and the originall beginnyng of the same. Co[m]pendiously gathered by Thomas Langley

The .iii. Chapiter. ¶The procreacion of man, the diuersitee of languages, and diuision of nations.

THE most famous wri∣ters of naturall hysto∣ries (as Diodorus re∣cordeth) spake of two sōdry maners of birth:* 1.1 and fyrst stocke of man∣kynd. For they whiche contend that the world was vngenerate, and with out any daunger of corrupcion, saye also that man hath bene in a certaine perpetuite without beginnyng. Of this opinion, were Pythagoras, Ar∣chitas, Xenocrates, & Aristotle with other Per••patetekes, affirmyng that al thinges in the eternal world, whi∣che haue bene or shall hereafter come to passe, be by generation endles and without beginnyng, and haue onely a circuite and course of generacions, wherin both the birth & natural reso¦lucion

of thynges may be perceyued. Other that suppose this worlde had both an originall cause of beyng and shal also sustein an end by putrifacti∣on,* 1.2 hold opinion that man had a time of his generacion. For this cause the Egyptians report that men wer fyrst borne among them,* 1.3 aswell by reason of the fruitful rankenes of the soyle, and seasonablenes of the ayre, as by cause of the riuer Nilus, whiche, for the lustye fatnes of the slyme, dothe procreate diuerse kyndes of beastes, & hath in it selfe naturally a certeyn power nutratiue. For in the countree of Thebais Mice be engendered of the mudde:* 1.4 Wherfore men of those parties merueil muche, when they be holde the fore partes of them to the brest walowe & moue sensibly in the mire, and the hinder partes as yet no¦thyng fashioned but all out of shap.

Neuerthelesse Psammaticus their kyng,* 1.5 desiryng to knowe in what coū∣trie men were fyrst begotten, deuised this meane. He caused .ii. yong infan¦tes newe borne to be deliuered to his herdmen to be brought vp among his cattel, & cōmaunded that no mā shuld

speake any word to them, because he would know what word they would speake fyrst. Then two yeare after, when the herdmen opened the doore where they were norished, they stret∣ched out their handes and cryed Be∣cos, which in the Phrigians lāguage signifieth breade. Thus it was kno∣wen that the Phrigians were the el∣dest linage and fyrst borne. The Ethi∣opians, of this coniecture,* 1.6 thynke them selfes to be the fyrst, because no man would come out of any other place into that region, and they of that partie bee by a general consente called home bread,* 1.7 and (as Diodorus sayeth) it is probable that those vn∣der the Meridional equator should be the aūcientest of al. For seyng the heate of the sunne dryeth vp the moy∣sture of the yearth, and hath also of it selfe a power to geue and preserue the life of thynges, it is like that the place whiche marcheth nerest to the sūne shuld bryng furth y^e fyrst liuyng creatures.* 1.8 For that cause Anaximan¦der taught that men fyrst sprong of water and yearth warmed with liue∣ly

heate. Empedocles in a maner cō∣firmeth the same, where he writeth, that euerye particular membre was seuerally made & proporcioned of the yearth (as a mother) and so to haue bene compacted and cōglutinated by heate and moysture into the perfecte figure and shappe of a man.

* 1.9Democritus thinketh menne were fyrst made of water and mudde tem∣pered together.* 1.10 Zeno iudgeth the cause of mankynde to haue proceded of the newe worlde. And menne to be onely begotten by the ayde and com∣fort of the diuine fyre, that is the pro¦uidence of God. As for the Poetes, some faine howe man was made out of softe claye by Prometheus,* 1.11 some say that they sprong of the hard sto∣nes that Deucalion and Pyrtha cast, and thus muche is of y^e vaine opiniōs of Gērilitee. But to speake the truth (as scripture teacheth) y^e beginnyng of manne was in Iurye.* 1.12 For God when he had finished the worlde, did create the fyrst mā Adam of the yerth in the felde of Damasce,* 1.13 as some thinke. Thus Adā made by God ma∣riyng his wife Eue was auctour and

beginner of the whole posterite and linage: But forsomuche as God four¦med but one man, and indued him w^t one kynd of speche onely to vtter and declare the thynges that he concey∣ueth in his mynde: men perchaunce wyl merueile, what the cause should be that there be at this daye so many diuerse lāguages, that accordyng to the varietee of countries ther be son∣dry speches. And therfore I thought it cōuenient to shew the occasion of y^e same.* 1.14 What tyme Nemroth the sōne of Cham that was sonne to Noe, af∣ter the vniuersall flud went about to withdrawe men (whiche dreade the daunger of drounyng) from the feare of God,* 1.15 supposyng all their hope to consist in their owne might & power, persuaded them to buylde a towre of suche altitude,* 1.16 that the water should not be hable to ouer flowe it. Whilest they were thus earnestly oc∣cupied aboute their enterprise, God deuided their speches in suche sorte, that one of them could not perceyue another by reason of the discord and disagreyng of their languages. And thus began the diuersytee of tonges

that we vse & haue nowe. The same o••casion was that the posterities of Noe were dispersed and scattered a broade. For when one could not vn∣derstand anothers language, it came to passe that euery mā departed into sundry prouinces and countries,* 1.17 and there named places wherof they had the gouernaūce, & also cities, whiche they builded, after their owne names as Eusebius testifyeth. The sōnes of Noe were Sem,* 1.18 Cham, and Iaphet. The yssue of Sem was Elam, where∣of the Elamites came.* 1.19 Assur, of whom the Assirians were named Arphaxad was auctoure of the Arabians and Lud of the Lidians: the children of Cham were Chus that named the E∣thiopians, and Mesre the beginner of the Egyptians. Chanaan of whom the Cananites had their name: the li∣nage of Chus was Saba wherof the Sabees came, & Euila auctoure of the Euelites. And semblably we must be¦leue that of them came al other nati∣ons and people of the worlde, whiche be now in so great nombre, that they cannot easely be nombred & counted.

Notes

• * 1.1

  Two opini∣ons of the birth of man.
• * 1.2

  The second opinion.
• * 1.3

  The Egipti¦ans opinion of man.
• * 1.4

  Mice engen∣dred of the mudde.
• * 1.5

  The story of Psammatic{us}
• * 1.6

  Ethiopians opinion of man.
• * 1.7

  Aborigines.
• * 1.8

  Anaximāder.
• * 1.9

  Democritus.
• * 1.10

  zeno.
• * 1.11

  Poetes.
• * 1.12

  God made man▪
• * 1.13

  Adam the fyrst man.
• * 1.14

  Diuersitee of speches.
• * 1.15

  Religion.
• * 1.16

  Babilon.
• * 1.17

  Deuision of nacions.
• * 1.18

  Sonnes of Noe.
• * 1.19

  Auctours of the names of countries.