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ID	Title	Author	Corrected Date of Publication (TCP Date of Publication)	STC	Words	Pages
A02296	The dial of princes, compiled by the reuerend father in God, Don Antony of Gueuara, Byshop of Guadix, preacher, and chronicler to Charles the fifte, late of that name Emperour. Englished out of the Frenche by T. North, sonne of Sir Edvvard North knight, L. North of Kyrtheling; Relox de príncipes. English	Guevara, Antonio de, Bp., d. 1545?; North, Thomas, Sir, 1535-1601?; Guevara, Antonio de, Bp., d. 1545? Aviso de privados. English.; Marcus Aurelius, Emperor of Rome, 121-180.	1568 (1568)	STC 12428; ESTC S120709	960,446	762

here engraued rest That only was Camillus daughter deere Twyse twentie yeres and fixe she hath possest A couert lyfe vn touchte of any feere The king of Trinacry could not her moue To tast the swete delight of wedlockes bande Nor trayne by sute her sacred mind to loue ●nclosde in breest so deepe did chastnes stand But oh greate wrong the crawling wormes her do To gnawe on that vnspotted senceles corse That rage of youth spent vndefiled so VVyth sober life in spite of Cupides force And this was written in heroycal verse in the Greeke tongue with a maruelouse haughtie stile But to our mater ye shal vnderstand that the Romaynes kepte a certayne Lawe in the 12. tables the woordes wherof were these We ordeyne and commaund that al the Romaynes shal for euer haue specyall priuiledge in euery such place where theyr auncestoures haue done to the Romayne people any notable seruice For it is reason that where the citizen aduentureth hys lyfe there the citie should do him some honor after hys death By vertue of this lawe all the familie of Camilli euer enioyed the keping of the hyghe Capitoll for that by hys force and pollicye he chased the french men from the siege Truely it is not vnknowē that this noble knight and valyant captayne Camille dyd other thynges as great and greater than this but because it was done within the circuite of Rome it was estemed aboue all hys other actes and prowes And herein the Romaynes swarued not farre from reason for that amongest all princelye vertues is estemed to be the chiefest and worthyest whych is employed to the profyt of the comon wealth The Romayne Croniclers wyth teares cease not to lamēt the ruine of their countrye seynge that varietie of tyme the multytude of tyrauntes the crueltye of cyuill warres were occasion that the aunciente state of the Romayn gouernment came to vtter destruction and in steede therof a new and euyl trade of lyfe to be placed And hereof no man ought to maruaile for it chaunseth throughout al realmes and nacions by oft chaunging gouernours that among the people dayly spryngeth sondry new vices Pulio sayth that for no alteracion whych befell to the common weale for no calamitye that euer Rome suffred that priuiledge was taken away from the Image of Camilli I meane the gouernment of the high Capitol except it were in the time of Silla the consul when this familye was soore persecuted for none other cause but for that they fauoured the consull Marius Thys cruel Silla beinge deade and the piteful Iulius Cesar preuailinge al the banyshed men frome Rome returned home agayne to the commonne wealthe As touchinge the auncestours of the Emperoure Marcus Aurelius what hath bene their trade of lyfe estate pouertye or riches standinge infauour or displeasoure what prosperitie or aduersitie they haue had or suffred we fynde not in wrytinges thoughe with greate dilygence they haue bene serched for And the cause hereof was for that the auncient writers of the Romaine histories touched the lyues of the emperours fathers specially when they were made princes more for the good merites that were in the children then for the great estimaciō that came from the fathers Iulius Capitolinus saith that Annius Verus father of Marcus Aurelius was Pretor of the Rhodian armies and also wardein in other frontiers in the time of Traian the good Adrian the wyse and Antonye the mercifull Whiche Emperours trusted none with theyr armies but discrete and valiaunt men For good princes chose alway suche captaines as can with wisedome guide the armye and with valiauntnes giue the battaile Thoughe the Romaynes had sondrye warres in diuerse places yet chefelye they kept great garrisons alwayes in foure partes of the world That is to saye in Bizance which now is Constantinople to resist the Parthiens in Gades whiche now is called Galiz to withstand the Portugales in the riuer of Rein to defend them selues from the Germaines and at Colosses whiche now is called the I le of Rhodes for to subdue the Barbariens In the moneth of Ianuary when the Senate distributed their offices the dictatoure being appointed for 6. monethes and the. 2. Consulles chosen for one yere incontinently in the .3 place they chose 4. of the most renowmed personnes to defende the sayd 4 daungerous frōtiers For the Romaynes neither feared the paynes of hell nor trusted for reward in heauen but sought by all occasions possible in their life to leaue some notable memory of them after their deathe And that Romaine was counted most valiante of the Senate best fauoured to whom they committed the charge of the moste cruell and daungerous warres For their strife was not to beare rule and to be in office to get mony but to be in the frontiers to ouercome their enemies In what estimacion these 4. frontiers wer we may easely perceiue by that we see the most noble Romaines haue passed som part of their youth in those places as captaines vntill such time that for more weyghtie affaires they were appointed from thense to some other places For at that time there was no worde so greauous and iniurious to a citezin as to saye go thou hast neuer ben brought vp in the warres and to proue the same by examples the great Pompey passed the winter season in Constantinople the aduenturous Scipio in Colonges the couragious Caesar in Gades and the renowmed Marius in Rhodes And these 4. wer not only in the frontiers afore sayde in their youthe but ther they dyd such valiaunt actes that the memory of them remayned euermore after their death These thynges I haue spoken to proue sythe wee fynde that Marcus Aurelius father was captaine of one of those .4 frontiers it followeth that he was a man of singuler wisedome and prowesse For as Scipio sayde to his frende Masinissa in affrike it is not possible for a Romaine captayne to want eyther wisedome or courage for thereunto they were predestined at their birthe We haue no autentike authorities that showeth vs from whence when or howe in what countreis and with what personnes this captaine passed his youth And the cause is for that the Romain Croniclers wer not accustomed to write the thynges done by their prince before they were created but only the actes of yonge men whiche from their youth had their hartes stoutlye bent to great aduenturs And in my opinion it is wel done For it is greater honor to obteine an empire by policie wisedom then to haue it by discent so that ther be no tirannie Suetonius Tranquillus in his first boke of Emperours counteth at large the aduenturous enterprises taken in hand by Iulius Caesar in his yong age how farre vnlikely they wer from thought that he should euer obtayne the Roman Empiree writing this to shew vnto princes how earnestlye Iulius Cesars harte was bent to winne the Romayne Monarchie and likewise how wisdom fayled him in behauing him selfe therein A philosopher of Rome wrote to Phalaris

and committe sondrie other mischiefes whiche the women doe not but in steade of kylling menne sheading bloude and other notorious euilles that men doe they imploye them selues to increase men And since it is so then women rather then men oughte to haue dominion and commaunde in the common wealthe for women increase the common wealth and men dyminishe it For neyther deuine nor humayne lawe commaundeth that the foolyshe man should be free and gouerne and that the wyse woman should be bonde and serue Those of Achaia affirmed this opinion and groundeth them selues vppon this reason and obserued it as a custome that the husbandes should obeye and the wyues commaunde And so they dyd as Plutarche sayeth in the booke of consolation for the husbande swept and made cleane the house made the bedde wasshed the bucke couered the table dressed the dynner and went for water And of the contrary part his wyfe gouerned the goodes aunswered the affayres kepte the money if she were angrye shee gaue hym not onely foule woordes but also ofte tymes layed her handes on hym to reuenge her anger And hereof came this auncient prouerbe the which of many is redde and of fewe vnderstanded that is to wete Vita Achaiae the lyfe of an Achaian When in Rome the husband suffred to be ruled commaunded of his wyfe the neighbours would saie vnto him in maner of a reproche Vita Achaiae whiche is as muche as if a man would say go go as thou art since thou liuest after the law of Achaia where men haue so litle discretion that they suffer them selues to be gouerned be it well or euil of their wyues and that euery woman commaundeth her husbande Plinie in an epistle that he wrote reproued greatly his frende Fabatus for that he kepte in his house a wyfe the whiche in al his doinges ruled and commaunded him wherein he tolde him that he durst do nothinge without her commaundement And to make the matter to seme more heinous in the latter ende of his epistle he saide these wordes Me valde poenitet quod tu solus Rome polles vita Achaiae whiche is it greueth me muche that thou alone in Rome shouldest leade the life of one of Achaia Iulius Capitolinus sayth that Anthonius Caracalla being in loue with a faire Lady of Persia and seing that he could not enioy her nor obtaine his desire promised to marie her according to the lawe of Achaia and truly she shewed her selfe more wise in her aunswere thē he did in his demaund telling him that she would not nor might not marye for because she had promised her selfe to the goddesse Vesta and that she had rather be a seruaunte of the gods then a mistresse of men The Parthes had a law contrary to them and likewise those of Thrace the which so lytle esteamed women that their husbandes vsed them none otherwise then lyke seruauntes And in this case men had so great lybertie or to say better lightnes that after a woman had borne and brought forth twelue children the children remayned in the house and the husbande 's sold their wiues to them that wold giue most or els they chaunged them for others that were more yong And the children agreed to the selling of their owne mother to thintent that their father might refresh himselfe with another that was more yong and the old and baren woman should eyther be buried quicke or els serue as a slaue Dionisius Halicarnaseus sayth that the Lides had a law and the Numidians in lyke maner that the woman should commaund thinges without the house and the man should prouide for those that were within But according to my poore iudgement I cannot tell how this law was kept nor how they could fulfil it for by reason the wife should not go out of the house but very lytel and therfore me thinketh that they ought not to commaund any thing abroade nor the husband should enter into another mans house for to commaund there Ligurgus in the lawes that he gaue to the Lacedemonians sayth that the husbands should prouyde abrode see al thinges necessarie for the house and that the wiues should keape and dipose them within so that this good philosopher deuided the trauaile betwene the man and the woman but yet notwithstanding he reserued the rule and aucthority to the man For to say the truth it is a monsterous thing that the wife shoulde commaund the husband in his house Vnder our Christian relygion ther is neyther deuine nor humaine lawes but wil preferre man aboue all other thinges and though some philosophers would dispute to the contrary that manye men would haue folowed theym yet me thinketh that a man should not prayse nor commende them for their opinyons For there can be nothyng more vaine nor lyght then by mans lawe to giue that aucthority to woman which by nature is denyed her We se by experience that women of nature are al weake fraile feareful and tender and finally in matters of weight not very wise Then if matters of gouernment requyre not only science experience but also strengthe courage to enterprise doubtfull things wisedome for to know them force to execute them dyligence for to folow them pacyence to suffer them meanes to endure theym and aboue all great strengthe and hope to compasse them why then wyl they take frome man the gouernemente in whom all these thynges abounde and giue it to the woman in whome all these these thyngea do wante The ende whye I speake these thynges before is to requyre to counsell to admonishe and to perswade Princesses and great Ladyes that they thinke it spoken if they wil be happie in mariage to th end they should be obedient to their husbandes for speaking the truth in that house where the wife commaundeth the husband we may cal her a masculyne woman and him a feminine man Many women are deceyued in thinking that in commaunding their husbands they lyue more honorably and be better esteamed but truly it is not so for all those that see and perceiue it accompteth the woman for vaine and the men in lyke maner for folyshe I know and can tel right wel that there are some husbande 's so excessiue in spending and so wanton in liuing that it were not only good that their wiues should rule them but also chastice theym but yet in the end I saye that notwithstandynge all this is better and more tollerable that all the goodes be lost then betwene them any malyce hate or dissencion should ●yse If a womans chyldren dye she may bring forth others if she loose her goods she may get them againe if her seruauntes goeth from her she may find others if she se her self sad God may comfort her if she be sicke she may be healed but if she be at debate with her husband I cannot tell what she shal do for the wife that forsaketh the frendship of her husband gyueth to all men occasion to speake of her follye

Carthage had as great priuileges as now our sanctuaries haue for the safegard of misdoers for in times past al such offēdours as could enter into the house wher a woman lay in child bed should haue ben free frō correction of iustice As Fronto saith in his booke of the veneration of the gods the Galloys Transalpins did not only honour reuerence the womē with child but also with much care diligence watched her deliuery for it litle auaileth the shippe to haue passed safe the daungerous seas if at the shore she be cast away The case was in this sort that al the auncient gentils honoured some gods in their temples kept other in their houses the which were called Lares Penates when any woman began to labour eche neighbour brought his familiar god vnto her to present her with all because they thought that the more gods there were of so much more power they were to kepe her frō perils Speaking like a christian truly those gods were of small value since they could not helpe the woman safely to be deliuered that was in trauaile ¶ What the Philosopher Pisto was and of the rules he gaue concerning women with childe Cap. xii IN the tyme of Octauian the Emperour was a phylosopher called Pisto whiche was of the secte of Pithagoras and when Rome florished he was very familiar with the Emperour Octauian and welbeloued of all the people whiche ought not to be a litle estemed for he which of the prince is most fauoured commonly of the people is moste hated This Emperour Octauian was a prince very desirous of all vertuous thinges so that when he dyned with his captaines he spake of warre when he supped with the sages he reasoned of sciences and he that vttered any dishonest or idle worde in his presence he alwayes afterward toke him as his enemy This Pisto was very graue in weightie affaires very pleasaunt in slentes and iestes ofte times he was demaunded many questiōs of the Emperour whereof the answers of some according to the demaundes and questions here foloweth The Emperour said to Pisto of all these that liueth whom takest thou to be moste foole to whom the Philosopher aunswered In my opinion I take him to be moste foole of whose worde there commeth no profite for truly he is not so very a foole that slingeth stones into the winde as he that vttereth vayne wordes Tell me Pisto whom ought we of right to desire to speake and whom of right to commaunde to be silent he aunswered It is good when speache doth profite and good to kepe silence when speache is hurtfull for the one desiring to mainteine the good and the other to defende the euil warres beginne throughout all the worlde Tell me Pisto from what thing ought the fathers moste to kepe their children he sayd In my opiniō parentes ought in nothing to watche so much as to kepe them from being vicious for the father ought rather to haue his sonne die well then to liue euill Tell me Pisto what shall man do if he be brought to this extremitie that if he speake truthe he condempneth him selfe and if he make a lie he saueth him selfe The vertuous man saide he ought rather to chose to be ouercome by truthe then to ouercome by lies for it is vnpossible that a man which is a lier should continue long in prosperitie Tell me Pisto what shall man doe to obtaine reste he aunswered As I thinke the man can not haue reste vnlesse he forsake worldly affaires for the menne that are occupied with weightie affaires can not be without great cares are alwayes accompanied of great troubles Tell me Pisto wherein a man sheweth him selfe to be most wyse he aunswered There is no greater profe to knowe a wyse man then if he be paciēt to suffer the ignoraunt for in suffering an iniury the harte is more holpen by wysedome then by knowledge Tell me Pisto what is that thing that the vertuous man may lawfullye desire he aunswered All that that is good so that it be not to the preiudice of any other may honestly be desired but in my opinion that onely ought to be desired whiche openly without shame may be demaunded Tell me Pisto what shal men doe with their wiues when they are great with child to cause that the child in safetie may be deliuered he aunswered In the world there is nothyng more perylous then to haue the charge of a woman with child For if the husbande serue her he hath payne trauaile and if perchaunce he doe not contente her she is in daunger In this case the wiues of Rome and their husbandes also oughte to be very diligent and to the thinges folowyng more careful the which I shew them more for counsell then for commaundement For good coūsell ought to haue as much auctoritie in the vertuous as the commaundement hath in the vitious Thou Octauian as thou arte a mercifull and a pitieful Emperour and that kepest thy Nece Cossucia great with childe I know thou desirest that she had presentely good and luckye deliuery and that she were deliuered of her paine all the whyche thou shalte see if thou doest marke these thynges that I will shew the here folowynge First the woman oughte to beware of dauncing leapinge and running for leaping oftentimes maketh man to loose his speache and women with childe to loose their life wherfore it is not reason that the folly of the mother should be permitted to put in hazarde the lyfe of the childe The secound the woman beyng with child ought to beware that she be not so hardye to enter into gardeyns wher there is much frute and that for eating to many she be not yll deliuered for it is no reason that the likerousnes of the mother be punished with the death of the childe The third the woman with child ought to beware of ouer harde lacing herselfe about the midle for many Roman Dames for to seme propre doe weare their gownes so streighte that it is an occasion to kyll their creatures which is a heynous mater that the yonge babe should loose hys lyfe bycause his mother shoulde seme pretye The fourth the women with child ought to beware of eating in a great banket for oftetimes there commeth a sodayne deliueraunce only through eating without measure and it is not mete that for tastinge a thyng of litell value the mother and the child should both loose their liues The fifte the woman beyng with child ought to beware that she giueth no eare to any sodayne newes For she is in more daunger for hearynge a thing that greueth her then for suffering long sicknes that paineth her and it were vniust that for knowing of a trifeling matter the mother that is to be deliuered the child that is to be borne should both in one momēt perish The sixte the woman with child ought to beware that she go not by any meanes to any feastes wher ther

me so depely in hart why then doubtest thou to shew me the writtinges of thy study Thou doest communicate with me the secretes of the empire and thou hydest from me the bokes of thy study Thou hast geuen me thy tender harte of flesh and now thou deniest me thy harde key of yron now I must neades thinke that thy loue was fayned that thy words were doble and that thy thoughtes wer others then they seamed For if they had ben otherwise it had ben vnpossible thou shouldest haue denaied me the key that I do aske the for where loue is vnfayned thoughe the requeste be merilye asked yet it is wyllyngly graunted It is a commen custome that you men vse to deceiue vs symple women you present vs great gyftes you gyue many fayre wordes you make vs faier promyses you saye you will do marueiles but in the end you doe nothing but deceiue vs for we are persecuted more of you then of any others When men in such wyse importune the women if the women hadde power to denaye and withstande we shoulde in shorte space brynge ye vnder the yoke and leade you by the noses but when we suffer oure selues to be ouercome then you beginne to forsake vs and despise vs. Let me therfore my Lorde see thy chamber consyder I am with childe and that I dye onlesse I see it If thou doest not to doe me pleasure yet do it at the least because I may no more importune the. For if I come in daunger thoroughe this my longing I shall but lose my lyfe but thou shalte loose the childe that should be borne and the mother also that oughte to beare it I know not why thou shouldest put thy noble harte into such a daungerous fortune whereby both thou and I at one time shoulde peryshe I in dyeng so yong and thou in losyng so louynge a wyfe By the immortall gods I do beseche the and by the mother Berecinthia I coniure the that thou geue me the key or that thou let me enter into the studye and stycke not with me thy wyfe in this my small request but chaunge thy opinion for all that which without consideracion is ordeyned by importunate sewte may be reuoked We see dayly that men by reading in bookes loue their children but I neauer sawe harte of man fall in such sorte that by readyng and lokyng in bookes he should despyse hys children for in the end bookes are by the wordes of others made but children are with their owne proper bloud begotten Before that any thinge of wysedom is begon they alwayes regard the inconuenyences that maye folowe Therefore if thou wilte not geue me this key and that thou arte determyned to be stoberne still in thy will thou shalt lose thy Faustine thou shalte lose so louyng a wyfe thou shalte lose the creature werwith she is bigge thou shalte lose the aucthoritie of thy palace thou shalte geue occasion to all Rome to speake of the wickednes and this grefe shall neauer departe from thy harte for the harte shall neuer be comforted that knoweth that he onely is the occasion of hys owne griefe Yf the Gods doe suffer it by their secreate iudgementes and if my wofull myshappes deserue it and if thou my Lord desirest it for no other cause but euen to do after thy wil for denayeng me this key I should dye I would wyllingly dye But of that I thinke thou wilt repente for it chaunceth oftetymes to wysemen that when remedy is gone the repentaunce commeth sodeinlye And then it is to late as they saye to shutte the stable dore when the steade is stollen I marueill much at the my Lorde why thou shouldest shew thy selfe so froward in this case since thou knowest that all the time we haue bene togethers thy wil and myne hath alway bene one if thou wilte not geue me thy key for that I am thy welbeloued Faustine if thou wilte not let me haue it sinse I am thy deare beloued wyfe if thou wilte not geue it me for that I am great with childe I beseche the geue it me in vertue of the auncient law For thou knowest it is an inuiolate law among the Romaines that a man cānot denay his wife with child her desiers I haue sene sondry times with myne eyes many women sew their husbandes at the law in this behalfe and thou Lorde commaundest that a man should not breake the pryuileges of women Then if this thing be true as it is true in dead why wilte thou that the lawes of strang children should be kepte and that they should be broken to thine owne children Speakyng according to the reuerence that I owe vnto the thoughe thou wouldest I wil not thoughe thou doest it I will not agree therunto and though thou doest commaund it in this case I wil not obey the. For if the husband doe not accept the iuste request of his wyfe the wyfe is not bounde to obey the vniust commaundement of her husbande You husbandes desier that your wyues should serue you you desier that your wiues should obey you in all and ye will condiscende to nothing that they desyer Ye menne saye that we women haue no certeintie in our loue but in dead you haue no loue at all For by this it appeareth that you loue is fained in that it no longer continueth then your desires are satisfyed You saye furdermore that the women are suspytious and that is true in you al men may see and not in vs for none other cause there are so manye euell maried in Rome but bycause their husbandes haue of them suche iuell opinions There is a great dyfference betwene the suspition of the woman and the ielousye of the man for if a man will vnderstande the suspition of the woman it is no other thynge but to shewe to her husbande that she loueth hym with all her hearte For the innocente women knowe no others desire no others but their husbandes only and they woulde that their husbandes should knowe none others nor serche for anye others nor loue any others nor will anye others but them onely for the hearte that is bente to loue one onely would not that into that house should enter anye other But you men knowe so manye meanes and vse so manye subtelties that you prayse youre selues for to offende them you vaunt youre selues to deceiue them and that it is trewe a man can in nothynge so muche shew his noblenes as to susteyne and fauoure a Cortisan The husbandes pleaseth their wyues speakynge vnto them some merye wordes and immediately their backes being tourned to another they geue bothe their bodyes and their good I sware vnto the my Lorde that if women had the libertie and aucthoritye ouer men as men haue ouer women they should fynde more malice dysceiptfulnes and crafte by them committed in one daye then they should fynde in the women all the dayes of their lyfe You men saye that women are euill speakers it is true

the negligence of the fathers in bringing vp their childrē Sextus Cheronensis in the second boke of the sainges of the Philosophers declareth that a citezen of Athens sayed on daye to Dyogenes the Phylosopher these wordes Tel me Diogenes what shall I doe to be in the fauour of the gods and not in the hatred of men for oft tymes amonges you Philosophers I haue hard saye that there is great difference betwene that that the Goddes wil and that which men loue Diogenes aunswered Thou speakest more then thoughtest to speake that the gods will one thinge and men another for the gods are but as a center of mercy and men are but as a denne of malice if thou wilte inioye rest in thy dayes and keape thy lyfe pure and cleane thou must obserue these thre thinges The first honour thy gods deuoutly For the man which doeth not serue and honour the gods in all his enterprises he shal be vnfortunate The second be very diligent to bring vp thy children well For the man hath no enemy so troublesome as his owne son if he be not wel brought vp The third thyng be thankefull to thy good benefactours and frendes For the Oracle of Apollo sayeth that the man who is vnthankefull of all the worlde shal be abhorred And I tell the further my frend that of these thre thinges the most profitable though it be more troblesome is for a manne to teache and bring vp his children well This therefore was the aunswere that the Philosopher Diogenes made to the demaunde of the Cytezen It is great pytie and griefe to see a yonge child how the bloud doth stirre him to se how the fleshe doth prouoke him to accomplishe his desire to se sensualyte go before and he himselfe to come behinde to se the malicious world to watche him to se howe the deuill doth tempt him to se how vyces bynde him and in all that whych is spoken to se how the father is negligent as if he had no children wher as in deed the old man by the few vertues that he hath had in his youth may easely know the infirmites and vices wherewith his sonne is compassed If the expert had neuer ben ignoraunt if the fathers had neuer ben children if the vertuous had neuer ben vicious if the fyne wittes had neuer ben deceiued it were no meruaile if the Fathers were negligent in teachyng their children For the lytell experience excuseth men of great offences but synce thou arte a father and that fyrst thou were a sonne synce thou arte old and hast ben yong and besides al this synce that pride hath enflamed the lechery hath burned the wrath hath wounded the negligēce hath hindred the couetousnes hath blinded the and glotonie surfeted the tell me cruell father since so manye vices haue reigned in the why hast thou not an eye to thy childe whom of thy owne bloud thou hast begotten And if thou doest it not bycause he is thy childe thou oughtest to do it bycause he is thy nearest For it is vnpossible that the child whych with many vyces is assaulted and not succoured but in the end he should be infamed and to the dishonour of the father most wickedly ouercome It is vnpossible to kepe flesh well fauored vnlesse it be first salted It is vnpossible that the fishe should liue without water It is vnpossible but that the Rose should wyther whiche is of the thorne ouergrowen So like it is vnpossible that the fathers should haue any comforte of their chyldren in their age vnlesse they haue instructed them in vertue in their youth And to speake further in this matter I saye that in the Christian catholike religion where in dede there is good doctrine ther alwayes is supposed to be a good conscience Amongest the wryters it is a thinge well knowen howe Eschines the philosopher was banished from Athens and with all his family came to dwell at Rhodes The occasion was because that he and the philosopher Demosthenes were in great contention in the common wealth Wherefore the Athenians determined to banish the one and to keape the other with them And truly they dyd well for of the contentions and debates of sages warres most commonly aryse amongest the people This philosopher Eschines being at Rhodes banished amongest others made a solempne oration wherein he greatly reproueth the Rhodians that they were so negligente in brynging vp their children saiyng vnto them these wordes I let you vnderstande Lordes of Rhodes that your predecessours aduaunced them selues to discende and to take their beginning of the Lides the whiche aboue all other nations were curious and diligent to bring vp their children and hereof came a lawe that was among them which sayed We ordeine and commaunde that if a father haue many chyldren that the moste vertuous should enherite the goods and riches and if there were but one vertuous that he alone should inherite the whole And if perchaūce the children were vitious that then al should be depriued from the heritage For the goods gotten with trauaile of vertuous fathers ought not by reason to be inherited with vitious children These were the wordes that the philosopher spake to the Senate of the Rhodes and because he sayde in that Oration many other thinges whiche touche not our matter I wyll in this place omitte them For among excellent wryters the wryting loseth muche authoritie when the authour from his purpose digresseth into an other matter To saye the truthe I doe not maruayle that the children of princes and great lordes be adulterers and belly gods for that on the one parte youth is the mother of Idlenes and on the other litle experience is the cause of great offences And furthermore the fathers being once dead the children enherite their goodes as quietly being loden with vices as if in dede they were with all vertues endued If the younge children did knowe for a certaine that the lawes of the Lydes should be obserued that is to witte that they shoulde not enherite vnlesse they be vertuous it is vnpossible but that they would leade a good life and not in this wyse to runne at large in the worlde For they doe absteine more from doing euill fearyng to lose that whiche they doe possesse then for any loue to doe that whiche they ought I doe not denaye but according as the natures of the fathers is dyuers so the inclinations of the chyldren are variable For so muche as some folowyng their good inclination are good others not resisting euil sensualities are euill But yet in this matter I saye that it lieth muche in the father that doeth brynge them vp when as yet they are younge so that the euill whiche nature gaue by good bryngyng vp is refrayned For oftetymes the good custome doeth ouercome all euill inclination Princes and great lordes that wylbe diligent in the instruction of their chyldren ought to enforme their maisters and tutors that shall teache theim to what vyces and

of Flaunders And to euery table there was serued xxii sortes of meates I saw also at an other feast such kyndes of meates eaten as are wont to bee seene but not eaten as a Horse rosted a Cat in gely litel Lysars with whot broth Frogges fryed and dyuers other sorts of meates which I saw them eate but I neuer knew what they weare till they weare eaten And for gods sake what is hee that shall reade our writings and see that that is comonly eaten in feastes now adayes that it will not in maner breake his hart and water his plants The only spices that haue been brought out of Calicut and the maner of furnishing of our boords brought out of Fraunce hath distroied our nation vtterly For in the old tyme they had no other kinds of spice in Spaine but Saffron Comyn Garlick and Onyons and when one frend inuyted an other they had but a peece of beefe and a peece of veale no more and yt was a rare and dainty matter to add to a henne Oh mis●●appes of worldly creatures you imbrace not now the tyme that was for now i● hee bee an officer or popular person of any like condicion and that hee inuyte his frend or neighbour hee will not for shame set beefore him lesse then vi or vii seueral disshes though hee sel his cloke for hit or fare the worse one whole weeke after for that one supper or dinner Good lord yt is a wonder to see what sturr there is in that mans house that maketh a dinner or supper A .ii. or iii. dayes beefore you shall see such resorte of persons such hurly burly such flying this way such sending that way some occupied in telling the cookes how many sortes of meates they will haue other sent out to prouide a cater to by their meat and to hyer seruants to wayte on them and other poore folkes to looke to the dressing vp of the house brauling fyghting with theyr seruants commaunding their maydes to looke to the buttry to rubbe the tables and stooles and to see all things set in theyr order as syt as may bee and to tast this kynd of wine and that kind of wyne so that I would to god they would for the health of their soules but imploy half this care paines they take in preparyng one dyner to make cleane their conscienses and to cōfesse them selues to allmighty god I would fayn know after all these great feasts what there remaineth more then as I suppose the master of the house is trobled the stewards and caters weried the poore cookes broyled in the fyer the howse al foule and yet that that is worst of al sometymes the master of the feast cometh short of a peece of plate that is stollen So that hee can not choose but bee sory for the great charges hee hath been at beesyds the losse of his plate and vessell stollen and the rest of his implements of house mard and in maner spoyled And peraduenture also the inuited not satisfied nor cōtented but rather will laugh him to scorne for his cost and murmure at hym beehind his back Marcus Tullius Cicero was once bidden to supper of a couetous Roman a citizin borne whose supper agreed with his auarice So the next day it chāced this couetous citizen to meete with Cicero hee asked him how hee did with his supper veri wel said Cicero for it was so good a supper that yt shall serue mee yet for all this day Meaning to let him vnderstand by these woodrs that his supper was so miserable and hee left with such an appetite as hee should dine the next day with a better stomack at home ¶ The author continueth his purpose Yt is now more then tyme wee doo bring you apparaunt proofes aswell by scriptures as profane autors that there was neuer made feast or bancket but the diuell was euer lightly a guest by whose presence always happeneth some mischeefe The first Bācket that euer was made in the world 〈◊〉 that the deuil made to Adam and Eue with the frute of terrestriall paradyse after which followed a disobeing of gods commaundement the lesse that Adam had of his innocēcy and a soden shame and perpetual reproche to our mother Eue mans nature presētly brought to al synne vice So that wee may wel say they eate the frute that set our teeth an edge Did not Rebecca like wise make a feast to her husbād Isaac in which Esaw lost his heritage and Iacob succeeded in the same blessing Isaac through fraude whome hee tooke for Esaw all through the counsell of his mother Rebecca shee hauing her desiere and purpose as shee wished Absalon did not hee make an other to all his breethern after which followed the death of Aman one of his brothers and by one of the other bretherne their sister Thamar was defamed and their father King Dauid very sore greeued and afflicted and all the realme of Israel slaundered Kyng Assuetus made an other of so great and foolish expence that hee kept open house for a hundred and fourscore dayes and it followed that Queene Vasti was depriued of her crowne and the fayr Hester inuested in her rome many noble men of the city of Hul were murdred and he wē in peeces by meanes wherof the Ebrues came into great fauor and credit and Aman the cheefe in authoritie and fauor about the prince depriued of all his lands and shamefully executed vpon the gallows Nardocheus placed in his roome and greatly sublimed and exalted Also the xiiii children of the holy man Iob which were .vii. sonnes and so many daughters beeing all feasted at their eldest brothers howse beefore they rose from the boord were they not all slayne Also Baltezar sonne of Kyng Nabucodonosor made a bancket to all the gentlewomen and his cōcubines within the city so sumptuous and rich that the only vessell hee was serued withall and the cuppes they dranke in were robbed out of the temple of Ierusalem by his father and this followed after his great banket The self same night the Kyng with al his concubines dyed sodenly and his realme taken from him and put into the hands of his enemyes Yt had been better for all these I haue recited that they had eaten alone at home then to haue dyed so sodaninly accompanied Now let al these gourmands and licorous mowthed people marke what I shall say to them and cary yt wel in mynd and that is this that the sinne of Gluttony is nothing els but a displeasure great perill and a maruelous expence I say that it is a displeasure for the great care they haue continually to seeke out diuersityes of fine and curious meates great peril because they plōge their bodyes into many diseases and in vnmercifull charge for the curiosity and nombers of dishes So that for a litel pleasure delight wee take in the sweete tast of those deinty meates beeing but a satisfaction to the mind for a

court to chaunge that seruile trade of lyfe for quiet rest at home Thinking assuredly that enioying rest at home in his own house hee myght easely bee damned and abyding the payns and seruyce of court hee beleeued vndoubtedly hee shoold bee saued Surely wee may aptly say that thys old courtier was more then a dotard and that hee had mard the call of his conscyens since hee beleeued it was a charge of conscience to depart the court The ābition to doo much the couetousnes to haue much maketh the miserable courtiers beleeue that they haue yet tyme enough to lyue to repent them when they will So that in the court thinking to lyue two yeres only in their age good men they lyue fifty and three score yeres wicked naughty persons Plutarch in his Apothegmes saith that Eudonius that was Captain of the Greekes seeing Xenocrates reading one day in the vniuersity of Athens hee being not of thage of eyghty fyue yeres asked what that old mā was it was aunswered him that it was one of the philosophers of Greece who followed vertue and serched to know wherein true philosophy consisted Whereuppon hee aunswered If Xenocrates the philosopher tell mee that hee being now eyghty fyue yeres old goeth to seeke vertue in this age I woold thou shooldest also tell mee what tyme hee shoold haue left him to bee vertuous And hee said more ouer in those yeres that this philosopher ys of it were more reason wee shoold see him doo vertuous things thā at this age to goe and seeke it Truely wee may say the very lyke of our new courtier that Eudonius said of Xenocrates the philosopher the which if hee did look for other three score yeres or three score yeres and tenne to bee good what time shoold remain for him to prooue and shew that goodnes It is no maruel at al that the old courtiers forget their natiue countrey and bringing vp their fathers that begat them their frends that shewed thē fauor the seruants that serued them but at that that I doo not only woonder at thē but also it geeueth mee cause to suspect them is that I see they forget them selues So that they neuer know nor consider that they haue to doo till they come afterwards to bee that they woold not bee If the courtiers which in princes courts haue been rich noble in auctority woold counsel with mee or at least beleeue my writing they shoold depart from thence in time to haue a long tyme to consider before of death least death vnwares sodeinly came to take executiō of their liues O happy thrise happy may wee call the esteemed courtier whom god hath geeuen so much wit knowledge to that of him self hee doo depart frō the court before fortune hath once touched him which dishonor or layd her cruell hands vpon him For I neuer saw courtier but in the end did complain of the court of their yll lyfe that they lead in court And yet did I neuer know any person that woold leaue it for any scruple of conscience hee had to remain there but peraduenture if any did depart from the court it was for some of these respects or altogether that is to say Either that his fauor credit diminished or that his money failed him or that some hath doon him displeasure in the court or that hee was driuen from the court or that hee was denyed fauor or that his syde faction hee held with had a fal or for that hee was sick to get his health hee went into the countrey So that they may say hee rather went angry displeased with him self then hee dyd to lament his sinnes If you ask pryuatly euery courtier you shal find none but will say hee is discontented with the court either because hee is poore or afflicted enuyed or yll willed or out of fauor hee wil swere reswere again that hee desyreth nothing more in the world then to bee dismissed of this courtiers trauel painfull life But if afterwards perchaunce a lytle wynd of fauor bee put stirring in the entry of his chāberdore it wilsodeinly blow away al the good former thoughts frō his mynd And yet that that makes mee wonder more at these vnconstant courtiers vnstable brains is that I see many buyld goodly stately houses in their countrey yet they neither dwel in them nor keep hospitality there They graffe set trees plant fruits make good gardeins and ortchyards and yet neuer go to enioy them they puchase great lands and possessiōs and neuer goe to see them And they haue offices and dignities geeuen them in their countreys but they neuer goe to exercise them There they haue their frends and parents and yet they neuer goe to talk with them So that they had rather bee slaues and drudges in the court then lords and rulers in their own countrey Wee may iustly say that many courtiers are poore in riches straungers in their own houses and pilgrimes in their own countrey and banyshed from all their kinreds So that if wee see the most part of these courtiers bakbyte murmure complayn and abhorre these vyces they see dayly committed in court I dare assure you that this discontentation dyslyking proceeds not only of these vyces and errors they see committed as of the spight and enuy they haue dayly to see their enemies grow in fauor and credit with the prince For they passe lytle of the vyces of court so they may bee in fauor as others are Plutarch in his booke de exilio sheweth that there was a law amongst the Thebans that after a man was fyfty yeres of age if hee fell sick hee shoold not bee holpen with phisitians For they say that after a man is once aryued to that age hee shoold desire to lyue no lenger but rather to hast to his iorneys end By these exāples wee may know that infancy is till vii yeres Childhood to .xiiii. yeres youth to xxv yeres manhod till .xl. and age to three score yeres But once passed three score mee think it is rather tyme to make clean the nets and to content themselues with the fish they haue til now then to goe about to put their nettes in order again to fish any more I graunt that in the court of princes all may bee saued and yet no mā can deny mee but that in princes courts there are mo occasions to bee damned then saued For as Cato the Censor saith the apt occasions bring men a desire to doo yll though they bee good of them selues And although some do take vppon them and determyne to lead a godly and holy lyfe or that they shew themselues great hipocrits yet am I assured notwithstanding that they cannot keepe their tongue from murmuring nor their hart from enuying And the cause heereof proceedeth for that there are very few that follow the court long but only to enter into credit and afterwards to waxe rich

and grow in great aucthority Which cannot bee wythout hearing a lytle secrete hate and enuy against those that doo passe them in this fauor and auctority and without suspect and fear of others which in this are their equals companions It were a good counsel for those that haue lyued in the court of princes til they bee growen old grey headed that they shoold determine liue the rest of their yeres as good christiās not to passe them as courtiers so that though they haue geuen the world the meal yet they shoold in thend geeue the bran to Iesus Christ I know euery man desireth to liue in princes courtz yet they promise they wil not dye in court And since it is so mee thinks it is a great folly presūption for such men to desire to liue long in such state where they woold not dy for al the gold in the world I haue liued in court many yeres at this presēt I haue forsakē it quite wherfore I dare boldly sai that if once a man come to enioy a quiet life and reposed rest I am assured hee woold for euer hate and dislike to bee a courtier longer But alas like as these sēceles courtiers remember not the lyfe to come but only account of their vain courtly lyfe present reputing that the most blessed and happy of any other So god seeing their folly and fond addicted mynd to the vanity of court to plague them with all and scourge them with their own rodd dooth graunt them no other nor better rest then that they only inioy in princes court and so feedes them with their own humor And therefore it is truely said That rest contentation neuer entreth into a sinners house O you woorthy and noble courtiers O you beloued and fauored courtiers I wil remember you yea and again remember you that you presume not to cutt or pull of the wings of tyme since you neither shall haue tyme nor mean to pluck one fether from him much lesse the least knowledge how to doo it And therefore it is sayd Yll cutteth the knife if the edge bee broken and yll can hee gnaw bones that lacketh his teeth And if it seeme good vnto you and mee also that to day it is tyme to gather the fruit of the vyne of our youth let vs goe now again to seeke it about by the means of our amendement And if the pype or caske wherein wee shoold put our wyne bee fusty with the malignity and peruersnes of our wicked dooings Let vs season them with new and better wyne of good and holy desires And now to conclude if to sequester them selues from court it bee a holsom counsell for courtiers much more holsome and necessary it is for such as bear sway and reputation about the prince For other courtiers dayly lyue in hope to enlarge their countenaunce and credit to grow into fauor and auctority but these darlings and belyked of princes are continually afrayd to fall and vtterly to bee put out of fauor ¶ Of the continency of fauored courtiers and how they ought to shonne the company conuersation of vnhonest women and to bee carefull quickly to dispatch all such as sue vnto them Cap. xvii TItus Liuius and Plutarch wryteth that the Romains had in such veneration those men that lyued chast and those weomen also that professed virgins life that they erected statures of them in the senat house carying them thorough the citie in tryumphant chariots recommending them selues to their deuout prayers and geeuing them great giftes and presents and finally adored them as gods And this was their reason in that they honored them as gods for that they being of flesh lyuing in flesh did leaue to vse the woorks and instinct of the flesh which they held a thing more diuine then humayn Filostratus sayth that Appolonius Thianeus was borne without any payn or grief to his mother in all her trauell And that the gods spake to him in his eare that hee raised the dead to lyfe healed the sick knew the thoughts of men diuined of things to come how hee was serued wyth princes honored of the people and folowed of all the philosophers yet they dyd not make so great a woonder of all these things spoken of him as they did for that hee was neuer maried and more ouer neuer detected with the knowledge of any woman liuing much lesse suspected Whilest Carthage was enuironed with seege one eche syde a virgin of Numidia taken prisoner was presented to Scipio and shee was very faire which Scipio notwithstanding woold not only not deflower but set her at lyberty and maried her very honorably Which act of his was more apprised of the romayn writers thē was his conquest of Numidia the restoring of Rome her liberty the destruction of Charthage the socour and relife geeuen to Asia and the enobling of his comon wealth For in all these enterprises hee still fought against others but in the effects of the flesh hee fought agaynst hym selfe And therfor he must needs bee maruelous wise and of good iugement that can subdew the desiers and motions of the flesh For wee doo as much couet to follow these carnall desiers as wee are apt to our meate when wee are a hongred Cruel and bitter are the assauts of the flesh to the spirit and wonderfull is the payn the spirit abideth to resist the motions of the same which by no meanes can bee ouercome but by eschewing the occasions therof As in brideling the desires punishing the flesh liuing with spare diet incresing learning geeuyng hym selfe to teares and all together shutting the gates of our desires O yf this vice of the flesh came of aboūdance of heate or rage of blood wee might soone remedy yt with letting our selues blood Yf it wer by any sicknes of the hart yt should bee cured by interior medecines Yf of the lyuer wee would refresh it with oyntments If of melancony humor wee would wash away al the opilations If of cholex wee would procure esy purges But alas it is a disease so farr from pitty that it misliketh wee should call for phisitions and cannot abide wee should offer it any remedy It cannot bee denied but that ciuil warr is most greeuous and dangerous in a comon wealth But much more perilous is that at home beetwixt the husband and the wyfe but most ieoperdious of all is that a man hath with him selfe For wee cannot recken any other our enymy but our owne desyers I remember I saw once written in a courtiers house these woords which truly deserued to bee written in golden letters and the woords were these The dredfull warrs that I alas sustaine against my self perforce my self dooth straine where blind desier becomes my mighty so the wreckfull gods vouch saue it doo not so Surely hee that wrote this for his woord mee think hee was no foole nor euil christian syth hee nether sought for mony