History of Three Renowned Reformers, Dedication 2
To the ryght honourable and his ſyngular good Lord, the Lord Montioy, hys humble Oratour Henry Bennet Calleſian, wyſheth long lyfe with encreaſe of honour. (⸫)
THAT vertue and felicitye hauehave theyr begynnyng of laborious and daungerous attempts, Demetrius the Pagan Philoſopher abundantly declares. For if bleſſed eſtate is accident to none, but to ſuch as faſt and endure aduerſity, & thoſe that lyue in pleaſure & perpetual reſt, are eſtemed inglorious Epicures, whō God neglectes & iudgeth vnworthy to cōten…e wyth calamity. How famous & excellent were the auncient Greekes and victorious Romaines (ryght honorable, & my ſyngular good Lord) whoſe vertuous dedes & notable exploictes, not without great perils & honorable death atchieued, …yſtify to al poſterity their incredible deſyre, as well to enlarge the …myts of theyr … and illuſtrate with victories their floriſhing publicke weales, as alſo their intollerable paynes & prudent conſideracions to attaine to felicity by the ragged hyls, & ſharpe thorny wayes, whych lead to vertue. Hercules, worthely Prince of all Grecia: what labors ſuſteyned he? What ougly Monſters dyd he ouercome and with what magnanimitye dyd he penetrate the greſly denne of Pl…toes ghaſtly kingdome? By what other counſayle dyd Homexe (…udged of y• learned diuine) ſet before our eyes wandring Vliſſes as an abſolute Image of wyſdom, toſſed with many …rkſome trauayls: but to ſignify thys to be the ready way to clyme to the palaice of al felicity, and commendable vertue. Such wer Epaminundas, Alcibiades, Phociō, Alexander the great, Cam…llus, Scipio, Paulus, Aemilius, Pompeius, Auguſtus, Brutus, Cato & Cicero, no …es ornamentes of their Country then expreſſe paternes of vertue. Theſe worthi perſonages as thei ſhined in glory and lyue in the learned monumentes of vertuous writers: So y• infamous and in glorious Princes, as Heliogabalus, Sardanapalus, Nero, Caligula, & Cōmodus hauehave not onelyonly eclipſed the bryght ſunne of theyr honors by laſciuious liuing, & coward dread, but obſcurely lurke in the depe …onge on of lothſome obliuion. It is then apparēt that nothyng in this world can eſtabliſh our ſeate in ſecuriti, but onelyonly vertue, the whych with incredyble trauayl is procured. If theſe excellet Orators and Poetes hauehave celebrated the memory of theſe princes, that onelyonly endeuored to gratefy theyr Coūtry & common weale: What ſhal we worthe lye write in the commendacion of Iohn Ecolampadius and Huldericke Zuinglius, who wyth theyr monumentes of diuine ſapience, hauehave confirmed our myndes in y• feare of God, fed vsus wyth Euange…ical foode, and preached to vsus y• doctrine of ſaluaciō, I may iuſtly ſay they were not onelyonly equiualent, but alſo excelled y• other. The one a man of ſuch innocencye of lyfe, ſo ſincere in preachyng & profeſſyng the Goſpell, ſo readye to oppoſe hym ſelf to al worldly daunger, as no age can obliterate his memorye. The other ſo magnanimous in thaduaūc… mēt of Chriſtes glory, and his bleſſed Goſpell, ſo willinglye bent to dye in quarel of y• right, merites more praiſe then to be ſet fourth with foyle of my rude pen. Their liues are no leſſe mirrours for vsus vertuouſlye to lyue, then theyr bleſſed departures comfortable preparatiues, teaching vsus to dye godly. Thus deſirous to gratefy your honour, wyth ſome token of my goodwyl I hauehave engliſhed this hiſtory, the which for mani your vertues & goodli ornamēts, I dedicate vntounto your good Lordſhip. Which vertues & heauenly giftes, your honour hath not of lats acquired, but naturally are engraffed in your perſon. Ther is none at thys preſent that …auoreth of any learning but hath red the cōmendacion of your moſt noble Graundfather Wylliam, Lord Montioy. Who beſides nobility of race, was adorned with ſuch piety & good litterature, as he excelled many noble men in England. For albeit thys victorious Realme▪ flouriſhed at thoſe daies with many learned inſtructors, yet the excellency of his courage, could not be contented, vnles he wer taught of the famous & incomparable Clark Eraſmus of Roterdam, by whoſe induſtry he was ſo aduaunced in letters of humanitye, that not onelyonly in hys natiue Country, but in many foraine regions, hys glory and fame eternally ſhineth. Suche is the mutual louelove of learned men, to conſecrate one another in their lucubrations to immortalitye. And to paſſe in ſilence many other his vertues, I wil approch nigher. Your honorable father Charles lord Montioy, folowing the lyuely ſteps of his father, was inſtructed of the notable learned man Andrew Hyperius a Germain. Who not onelyonly in tyme of peace was diligently incūbent t… good ſtudies, & furdered good learnyng, but in the late famous warre, & a…iege of Boloigne ſhewed his magnanimity, & inuincible courage, wher death enuying his glori, claimed her iuſt debt of him not without the lamentable griefe and in credible ſorow of a great mani. Your honor degenerateth nothing frō their lawdable ſteppes, entertayning with lyke zealous affection Heliſeus Bomelius a Germain, who readeth vntounto your honour the liberal ſciences, & whom Phillip Melancthon hath in familiar letters prayſed highly for erudicion & godlynes. Albeit hys learned workes publiſhed geue due teſtimony therof. I pretermit many other your worthy vertues, which iuſtly to ſet forth, I leaue to ſuch as wt greater veſſels cā more aptly wade in this ſea. Ouely I wil end with your piety which is ſo great, y• you cānot bear wt any …ice, that mai offend God in your honorable houſe, your vnſtayed hand to relieue their wantes, whom you thynke woorthye to receaue your rewardes, & your zeale towardes true religion, which many to your ſyngular prayſe pronounce: In ſort y• when the Patrons of Chriſtian religion ar celebrated with iuſt encomys among men, your honor is not▪ vnremēbred. Thus hūbly deſiring your good lordſhip to beare wt the rudenes of my trā ſlacion, I commit the ſame & the moſt vertuous Lady your honorable wife, to the tuicion of the holy Ghoſt.
¶ At London the laſt of Nouember 1561. your honors moſt humble. H. B