Fifty Godly and Learned Sermons (The Decades)

What I beseech you, shall those traitors to their country say in that day, wherein the Lord shall reward the lovers and the unnatural traitors of their country and countrymen, when before their eyes, they shall see the Gentiles to excel them in virtue and love to their country people? Publij Decij, the Father ¹and the Son, gave their lives freely for the safeguard of the common weal, and died willingly for the love of their country. Codrus, the natural and loving king of the Athenians, when he understood by the Oracle of Apollo, that Athens could not be saved but by the kings death, and that therefore the enemies had given commandment that no man should wound the King, this Codrus laid aside his kinglike furniture, and clothing him self in base apparel, rushed into the thickest of his enemies, and found the means by egging to provoke one of them perforce to kill him. The two brethren called Phileni chose rather to lengthen their country with a mile of ground, then to prolong their lives with many days, and therefore did they suffer them selves to be buried alive. But what suffer we for the health and safeguard of our country? Hierocles saith. Our country is as it were a certain other God, and our first and chiefest parent. Wherefore he that first called our country by the name of Patria, did not unadvisedly give it that name, but called it so in respect of the thing which it was in deed: for Patria our country is derived of Pater a Father, & hath his ending or termination in the Feminine Gender, thereby declaring, that it taketh the name of both the Parents. And this reason doth covertly lead us to think that our country, which is but one, ought to be reverenced and loved as well as both our Parents, jointly knitting them together, to make them equal in honour.

What I beséech you, shall those traytours to their country say in that day, wherein the Lord shal reward the louers and the vnnatural traytours of their countrie and countrimen, when before their eyes, they shal sée the Gentiles to excell them in vertue and loue to their countrie people? Publij Decij, the Father ¹and the sonne, gaue their liues fréely for the safegard of the common weale, and died willingly for the loue of their countrie. Codrus, the naturall and louing king of the Atheniens, when he vnderstoode by the Oracle of Apollo, that Athens could not be saued but by the kings death, and that therefore the enimies had giuen commaundement that no man should wounde the King, this Codrus layd aside his kinglike furniture, and cloathing him selfe in base apparell, rushed into the thickest of his enimies, and foūd the meanes by egging to prouoke one of them perforce to kyll him. The two brethren called Phileni chose rather to lengthen their countrie with a myle of ground, then to prolong their liues with many dayes, and therefore did they suffer them selues to be buryed aliue. But what suffer we for the health and safegarde of our countrie? Hierocles sayth. Our countrie is as it were a certaine other God, and our first and chiefest parent. Wherefore he that first called our countrie by the name of Patria, did not vnaduisedly giue it that name, but called it so in respect of the thing whiche it was in déede: for Patria our countrie is deriued of Pater a Father, & hath his ending or termination in the Feminine Gender, thereby declaring, that it taketh the name of both the Parentes. And this reason dothe couertly leade vs to thinke that our countrey, which is but one, ought to be reuereneed and loued as well as both our Parentes, ioyntly knitting them together, to make them equall in honour.