326 Ofnodelitie. ces and Peeres,who wereboth in fame and (late chicle oral! the refs :as all° in that he did appropriate both the foueraign- Gcnef.49ro tie otter thecommon - wealth, and chiefe fuperioritie in the Church, voto certaine tribes and pofferities,whobeing thus enobled by God, did hold this honor peculiarly to them- Nutn.3 I. (clues, vnto the timeof Chri'. Secondly, this difference of order, that there fliouldbe íome noble, and fome inferiour and common people, hath his ground both fromciuill poli.. cie, for the wel.gouerning ofthe common-wealth, which could not vcll Rand, vnlelfe thefepotent Peeres, as it were chicle pillars, did vphold it; and alto fromnature it felfe,for the Lord hauing bellowed fomeheroical! gills and graces vpon fome fpeciall men, as wifdome, magnanimitie, forti- tude,magnificence,courtelie,liberalitieand the reif; clothal.. Generofa in or- fo for the good ofcommon-wealthesvfually vouchfafe,that NI Jcmina ex there fhould be certaine feeds ofthefe verrues deriued after áuenee a ferret and vnknowne manner, from them fuccefiiiuely vnto Troade. their poíieritie, wherebybeing come to maturitie, they re- femble their ancefiors in thefe fpeciall graces : and howfoe- uer God fometimesaltereth this order and courfe ofnature, either to punifh fome fpeciall fins ofthat familie, or to Phew his owneabfolute omnipotencie,which cannot be fubieEted to nature, or inferiour caufes, fuffering fome to degenerate fromtheir anceffors, and to lofe thefe heroicall gifts; as alto conferreth themvpon fome other ofmeane qualitie, whom it is his pleafure to aduance, vet moll vlùally he holdeth the former courfe; and though one ofthis noble polferitie doe degenerate,yet commonly the feeds ofthefeverrues, which haue lien hid in him, and as it were buried vnderthe earthie burthenofhis corruption, are deriued from him to his of- fpring, and being as it were againe quickened and reuiued !hew themfelues : turn as a father being by fome accident maimedofan arme or leg, doth neuertheleffc beget,peffe6f and well formed children, becaufegeneration is not tied to oneináruidurrmor finguler perron, but to the whole kind and ordinarie courfeofnature. And this proprietie ofgifts which are of fpeciall eminencie, we may obfetuc in othd creatures, as in plants,trees,birdsand beans ;that as they are bellowed
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