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
and the house wherein she dwelleth euell combred For suche one doeth importune the lorde trobleth the ladye putteth in hazard the childe and aboue all is not contented with her selfe Finallye fathers for geuynge to much libertie to their nources oftetimes are the cause of many practises which they do wherwith in the end they are greued with the death of their children which foloweth Amongest all these which I haue red I saye that of the auncient Romaine princes of so good a father as Drusius Ge manicus was neuer came so wycked a sonne as Caligula was beyng the fourth Emperour of Rome for the historiographers were not satisfyed to enryche and prayse the excellencies of hys father neither ceased they to blame and reprehende the infamyes of his sonne And they say that hys naughtines proceadeth not of the mother which bare hym but of the nource which gaue hym sucke For oftimes it chaunceth that the tree is grene and good when it is planted and afterwardes it becommeth drye and wythered only for beyng caryed into another place Dion the greke in the second boke of Cesars sayeth that a cursed woman of Campania called Pressilla nouryshed and gaue sucke vnto thys wycked childe She had agaynst al nature of women her breastes as heary as the berdes of men and besides that in runnyng a horse handelyng her staffe shoting in the Crosbowe fewe yong men in rome were to be compared vnto her It chaunced on a time that as she was geuyng sucke to Caligula for that she was angry she tore in peces a yong child with the bludde there of annoynted her breastes and so she made Caligula the yong childe to sucke together both blud and milke The sayed Dion in hys booke of the lyfe of this Emperour Caligula sayeth that the women of Campania whereof the sayed Prescilla was had this custome that when they would geue their teat to the childe firste they dyd anoynte the nipple with the bludde of a hedge hogge to the end their children myght be more fyerce and cruell And so was this Caligula for he was not contented to kyll a man onely but also he sucked the bludde that remayned on his swerde and lyked it of with his tong The excellent Poet Homer meanyng to speake playnely of the crueltyes of Pirrus sayed in his Odisse of him suche wordes Pirrus was borne in Grece nourished in Archadye and brought vp with tigers milke whiche is a cruel beast As if more plainelye he had sayed Pirrus for beyng borne in Grece was Sage for that he was brought vp in Archadie he was strong and couragyous and for to haue sucked Tigars milke he was veray proude and câ—uell Hereof maye be gathered that the great Gretian Pirrus for wantinge of good milke was ouercome with euell condicions The selfe same historian Dion sayeth in the lyfe of Tiberius that he was a great dronckarde And the cause herof was that the nource dyd not onelye drynke wyne but also she weined the child with soppes dypped in wyne And wythout doubte the cursed woman had done lesse euill if in the steade of milke she had geueÌ„ the child poison wythout teachinge it to drinke wine wherfore afterwardes he lost his renowme For truly the Romayne Empire had lost lytell if Tiberius had died beyng a child and it had wonne muche if he had neauer knowen what drinkyng of wyne had mente I haue declared all that whyche before is mencioned to thentente that Princesses and great Ladyes myghte be aduertised that sinse in not nouryshyng their children they shewe them selues crewel yet at the least in prouidyng for them good nourses they should shew them selues pitifull For the children oftetymes folow more the condicion of the milke which they sucke then the condicion of their mothers whyche broughte them forth or of thâ—ir fathers whych begot them Therfore they oughte to vse much circumspectioÌ„ herin for in them consisteth the fame of the wyues the honoure of the husbande and the wealth of the children Of the disputations before Alexander the great concernyng the time of the suckyng of babes Chap. xxii QVintus Curtius sayeth that after the great Alexander whych was the last kyng of the Macedonians and first Emperour of the grekes hadde ouercome kynge Darius and that he sawe hym selfe onely lorde of all Asia he went to rest in babylon for among menne of warre there was a custome that after they had ben long in the warres euery on should retire to his owne house King Philip whych was father of kyng Alexander always councelled his sonne that he should lead with him to the warres valiaunt captaines to conquere the world and that out of his realmes and dominioÌ„s he should take chose the wysest men and best experimented to gouerne the empire He had reason in such wyse to councell hys sonne for by the councell of Sages that is kept and mainteined whych by the strengthe of valiaunt men is gotten and wonne Alexander the great therefore beyng in Babilon after he had conquered all the countrye since all the citye was vitious and hys armye so long without warres some of his owne men began to robbe one another others to playe their owne some to force women and others to make banquettes and feastes and when some were droncke others raysed quarels striffes and dyscentions so that a man could not tell whether was greater the ruste in their armours or the corruptions in their customes For the property of mans malice is that when the gate is open to idlenes infynite vyces enter into the house Alexander the great seing the dyssolution which was in his armye and the losse which myght ensewe hereof vnto his great empire commaunded streightly that they should make a shew and iuste thoroughe Babilon to the end that the men of warre should excersise their forces thereby And as Aristotle sayethe in the booke of the questions of Babylon the turney was so muche vsed amongest them that sometimes they caryed awaye more dead and wounded men then of a bloudy battaile of the enemy Speaking accordyng to the law of the gentiles whiche loked not glorie for their vertues nor feared hell to dye at the torney the commendemant of Alexander was veray iuste for that doyng as he dyd to the armye he defaced the vyce whych dyd wast it and for him selfe he got perpetuall memorye and also it was cause of muche suretye in the common weale This good Prince not contented to excersise his armye so but ordeined that daily in his presence the philosophers should dispute and the question wherin they shold dyspute Alexander him selfe would propounde â–ª wherof folowed that the great Alexander was made certayne of that wherin he doubted and so by his wisedom all men exercysed their craftes and wittes For in this tyme of idlenes the bokes wer no lesse marred with dust because they were not opened then the weapons were with rust which were not occupied There is a booke of Aristotle intituled the
battaile with such a renoumed captaine as Hannibal was to whom he aunswered frend I am a Romaine borne a captaine of Rome and I must daylye put my lyfe in hazard for my countries sake for so I shal make perpetual my renoume He was demaunded againe why he stroke his enemyes with such fiersenes why he did so pitefully lament those which were ouercome after the vyctory gotten in battaile he aunswered the captaine which is a Romaine and is not iudged to be a tiraunt ought with his owne hand to shed the bloud of his enemyes and also to shed the teares of his eyes A captayne Romaine ought more to aduaunce him of his clemencie then of hys bluddie victory And Marcus Marcellus sayth further when a Romaine captaine shal be in the field he hath an eye to his enemyes with hope to vanquishe them but afterl they be vanquisshed he ought to remember they are men and that he might haue bene ouercome For fortune shewith herselfe in nothinge so common as in the successes of warre Certes these were words wel beseming such a man and surely we may boldlye say that al those which shal heare or read such thinges wil commend the words which that Romaine spake but few are they that in dede would haue done the feates that he did For there be many that are ready to praise in their words that which is good but ther are few that in their workes desire to folow the same Such harts are vnquiet much altered by sight and enuie that they bare towards their auncients which through manfulnes atayned vnto great tryumphes and glory let them remember what daungers and trauailes they passed through before they came thereto For there was neuer Captaine that euer triumphed in Rome vnlesse he had first aduentured his life a thousand times in the feld I thinke I am not deceyued in this that I wil say That is to wete al are desirous to tast of the marye of fame presente but none wil breake the bone for feare of peril ensuing Yf honour cold be bought with desire onely I dare boldly say it would be more estemed in these dayes of the poore page then it was in times past of the valyaunt Romaine Scipio For ther is not at this day so poore a man but would desire honour aboue al thinges What a doleful case is this to se many gentlemen and yong knights becom euyl disposed vacabondes and loyterers the whych hearyng tel of any famous battaile fought and that many of their estate and profession haue done valiaunt feates in the same immediately therwith be stirred and set on fire through enuies heate so that in the same furye they chaunge their robes into armour and wyth al spede prepare them selues to warre to exercyse the feates of armes And finally like yong men without experience make importunate sute and obtaine licence and money of their frends to go vnto the warres But after they are ons out of their countrey and see them selues in a straunge place their dayes euyl and their nightes worse at one tyme they are commaunded to skirmish and at an other time to watch when they haue vittailes they want lodging when the pay day cometh that pay the next also is eatē and spent With these other like troubles discommodityes the poore yong men are so astonyed especially when they cal to mind the goodly wide haules so wel hanged trymmed wherin they greatly delighted to passe the time in sommer season When they remember their greate chimneis at home whereby they comforted their olde limmes and how they vsed to sit quietly vpon the sonny bankes in winter For the remembrauncr of the pleasour past greatly augmenteth the paines present Notwithstanding their parents and frends had admonished them hereof before And now being beaten with their owne folye feling these discommodities which they thought not of before they determyne to forsake the warres eche one to retourne home to his owne againe But wher as they asked licence but ons to go forth now they were enforced to aske it .10 times before they could come home And the worst is they went forth loden with money and retourne home loden with vyces But the end why these thinges are spoken is that sage and vertuous men shold marke by what trade the euil disposed seke to gaine which is not gotten by gasing at the windowes but by keping the frountiers against their enemies not with playeng at tables in the tauernes but with fighting in the fields not trimmed with cloth of gold or silkes but loden with armoure weapons not praunsing their palfreis but discouering the ambushmentes not sleaping vntill none but watching al night not by auauncing him of his apparaile and handsomnes but for his stout couragiousnes not banketing his frends but assaulting his enemies though a knight do these things yet he ought to consider that it is vanitye and folishnes But seing the world hath placed honour in such a vaine thyng that they can attaine vnto it by none other way the yong aduenturous gentlmen ought to employe therunto their strength with stout courage to atchieue to some great actes worthy of renowne For in the end when the warre is iustly begonne and that in defence of their countrey they ought to reioyce more of him that dieth in the hands of his enemies thē of him which liueth accompanied with vices It is a great shame and dishonour to men of armes yong gentlemen being at home to heare the prayse of them whych be in the warres for the yong gentlemen ought not to thinke it honour for hym to heare or declare the newes of others but that others shuld declare the vertuous dedes of him O how many are they in the world this day puffed vp with pride not very wise which stil prate of great renowne yet passe their life with smal honesty For our predecessours foughte in the field with their launces but yong men now a dayes fight at the table with their tongues Admit that al vaine men desire procure to leaue a memory of their vanity yet they ought to enterpryse such thyngs in their life wherby they might winne a famous renowne not a perpetual shame after their death For ther are many departed which haue left such memory of their works as moueth vs rather to pitie their folye than to enuy their vertue I aske those that read or heare this thynge if they wil be in loue wyth Nembroth the first tiraunt with Semiramis which sinned with her owne son with Antenor that betrayed Troy his countrey with Medea that slew her children with Tarquine that enforced Lucretia with Brutus that slew Cesar wyth Silla that shed so much bloud with Catilina that played the tiraunt in his countrey with Iugurtha that strangled his bretherne with Caligula that comitted incest with his sisters with Nero that killed his mother wyth Heliogabalus that robbed the temples with Domitian that
gladsome mynde he trained was to spend Synce that his youth which slippeth loe by stelth To waite on me he freely did commend Since he such heapes of lingring harmes did wast Aye to contente my wanton youthly wil And that his breath to fade did passe so fast To glut their thrust that thus his bloud did spill Though great the dutie be which that I owe Vnto his graued ghost and â—indred moulde Yet loe me seames my duetie well I showe Perfourming that my feble power coulde For since for me vntwined was his threede Of giltles life that ought to purchase breath Can reasons doome conclude I ought to dreede For his decaye to clyme the steppes of death In wretched earth my father graued lyes My deere mother hath ronne her rase of life The pride of loue no more can dawnt mine eies My wasted goodes ar shronke by fortunes strife My honours sone eclipsed is by fate My yong delight is loe fordone by chaunce My broken life these passed happes so hate As can my graued hart no more aduaunce And nowe remaines to duetie with my phere No more but refuse loe my yrkesome life With willing mynde followed eke with drere Whiche I resigne as sitteth for a wife And thou Sinoris whiche Iunos yoke doest craue To presse my corps to feede thy liking lust The route of Homers gods the graunt to haue In steade of roiall feates a throne of dust In chaunge of costlie robes and riche araie A simple winding sheete they deigne the giue And eke in stede of honest wedlockes staie They singe thy dirge and not vouchsaue the liue In place of himens hie vnfiled bedde They laie thée vp in closure of thy graue In steed with precious meates for to be fedde They make the wormes for fitter praie thee haue In steed of songe and musikes tuned sowne They waite on thée with loude lamenting voice In chaunge of ioyfull life and hie renowne Thy cruell death may sprede with wretched noise For you great gods that stalled be on hie Should not be iust ne yet suche titles clame Vnles this wretche ye ruthles cause to die That liueth nowe to sclaunder of your name And thou Dian that haunted courtes doost shonne Knowst with what great delight this life I leaue And when the race of spending breath is donne Will perse the soile that did my phere receaue ¶ And if perchaunce the paled ghostes despise Suche fatall fine with grudge of thankeles minde Yet at the least the shamefast liuing eies Shall haue a glasse rare wysely giftes to finde Wherein I will that Lucres secte shall gase But none that lyue like Helens line in blase AND when the praier was ended that this faire and vertuous Camma made she dranke and gaue to drynke to Sinoris of this cuppe of poyson who thought to drynke no other but good wyne and water and the case was suche that he died at noone daies and she likewyse in the eueninge after And truly her death of all Grece with as great sorowe was lamented as her life of all men was desired Princesses and great Ladies may moste euidently perceiue by the examples herein conteyned howe honest and honourable it is for them to loue and endeuoure them selues to be beloued of their husbandes and that not onely in their lyfe but also after their deathe For the wyfe to serue her husbande in his life seameth oft tymes to proceade of feare but to loue and honour him in his graue proceadeth of loue Princesses and great Ladies ought not to doe that which many other women of the common people doe that is to wete to seke some drinkes and inuente some shamefull sorceries to be beloued of their husbandes for albeit it is a great burden of conscience and lacke of shame in lyke maner to vse such superstitions yet it should be a thing to vniust and very slaunderous that for to be beloued of their husbandes they should procure to bee hated of God Truly to loue to serue and contente God it is not hurtefull to the woman for that she should be the better beloued of her husbande but yet God hathe suffered and doth permitte oftetymes that the women beinge feble deformed poore and negligent should be better beloued of their husbandes then the diligent faire and ryche And this is not for the seruices they doe to their husbandes but for the good intention they haue to serue loue God whiche sheweth them this especiall fauour for otherwyse God doth not suffer that he being with her displeased she should lyue with her husbande contented If women would take this councell that I geue them in this case I wil teache them furthermore a notable enchauntement to obteine the loue of their husbandes whiche is that they be quiet meke pacient solitary and honest with which fiue herbes they may make a confection the which neither seene nor tasted of their husbands shal not onely cause them to be beloued but also honoured For women ought to knowe that for their beautie they are desyred but for their vertue onely they are beloued ¶ That Princesses and great Ladies ought to be obedient to their husbandes and that it is a great shame to the husbande that his wyfe should commaunde him Cap. vi MAny auncient historiographers trauailed greatly and consumed long tyme in wryting to declare what authoritie the man ought to haue ouer the woman and what seruitude the woman oweth to the man and some for to auaunce the dignitie of the man and others to excuse the frailtie of the woman alleged such vayne thinges that it had bene more honour for them not to haue written at all then in suche sorte as they did For it is not possible but the wryters should erre whiche wryte not as reason teacheth but rather as their fantasie leadeth Those that defende the frailtie of the women saied that the woman hath a body as a man she hath a soule as a man she hath reason as a man dieth as a man and was as necessarie for generation as man she liueth as a man and therefore they thought it not mete that she should be more subiect to man then man to her for it is not reason that that whiche nature hath made free should by any lawes of man be made bond They saide furthermore that God created not the creatours but to augmente the generation of mankinde and that in this case the woman was more necessary then the man for the man engendreth without payne or trauayle but the woman is deliuered with perill and daunger and with payne and trauayle norysheth vp the childe Wherfore it seameth great vnkindnes and crueltie that the women whiche are deliuered with peryll and daunger of their lyues and brynge vp their chyldren with laboure and toyle of their bodyes should be vsed of their husbandes as sclaues They sayed further that men are those that cursse that moue seditions that make warres that mayntayne enmytie that weare weapons that sheade mans bloude
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
watche narrowly to know wheÌ„ and how much the nources doe eate whiche doe nourish their children For the child is so tender and the milke so delicate that with eatyng of sondrye meates they become corrupte and with eatyng muche they waxe fat If the children suck those which are fatte and grosse they are commonly sicke and if they sucke milke corrupted they ofte tymes go to bed hole and in the mornyng be found dead Isodore in his etimologies saieth that menne of the prouince of Thrace were so cruell that the one dyd eate the other and they dyd not onely this but also furder to shew more their immanitie in the sculles of those that were deade they dranke the bloud of him that was lately alyue Thoughe men were so cruell to eate mennes flesh and to drynk the bloud of the vaines yet the women â—hich nourished their children wer so temperat and moderat in eatyng thaâ—â—hey dyd eate nothyng but nettelles sodden and boyled in goates milke And â—â—ause the women of Thrace were so moderate in eatinge the philosopher Solon Solynon brought some to Athens for the auncientes sought no lesse to haue good women in the commen wealthe then to haue hardy and valiant captaines in the warre The auctoure addeth .iii. other conditions to a good nourse that giueth sucke that they drinke no wine that she be honest and chiefly that she be well conditioned Chap. xxi THe Princesses and great ladies may know by this example what difference there is betwene the women of Thrace which are fed with nettelles only and haue brought forth suche fierce men and the women of our tyme whiche through their delicate and excessiue eatyng bryng forthe suche weake and feable children Fiftly the Ladies ought to be very circumspecte not onely that nources eate not much that they be not gready but also that they be in drinkynge wine temperat the which in old time was not called wine but â—enym The reason hereof is apparant and manifest ynough for if we doe forbyd the fat meates which lieth in the stomacke we should then much more forbidde the moyst wine whyche washeth all the vaines of the body And further I say that as the child hath no other nourishement but the milke only that the milke proceadeth of bloud that bloud is nourished of the wine and that wine is naturally whot from the first to the last I say the woman whyche drinketh wine and geueth the child sucke doth as she that maketh a greate fire vnder the panne wher ther is but a litle milke so that the panne burneth and the milke runneth ouer I will not denaye but that some times it maye chaunce that the child shal be of a strong complexioÌ„ and the nource of a feable and weake nature and theÌ„ the child would more substanciall milke wheÌ„ the womeÌ„ is not able to geue it him In such a case though with other thinges milke may be conferred I allow that the nource drink a litel wine but it ought to be so litel and so well watered that it should rather be to take awaye the vnsauorines of the water then for to tast of any sauour of the wine I do not speake this without a cause for the nource being sicke and feable of her selfe and her milke not substancial it ofte times moueth her to eate more then necessitie requireth and to drinke wine which is somewhat nutritiue so that they supposyng to giue the nource triacle do giue her poyson to destroy her child Those excellent auncient Romaines if they had bene in our time and that we had deserued to haue bene in their time thoughe our time for beyng Christians is better they had saued vs from this trauaile for they were so temperat in eatyng meates and so abstinent in drynkyng wynes that they dyd not only refrayne the drinkyng therof but also they would not abyde to smell it For it was a greater shame vnto a Romayne woman to drynke wyne then to be deuorced from her husbande Dionisius Alicarnaseus in his boke of the lawes of the Romaynes sayed that Romulus was the fyrste founder of Rome and that he occupyed hym selfe more in buildyng houses to amplifie Rome then in constituting lawes for the gouernement of the commen wealth But emongest .xv. lawes which he made the seuenth therof was that no Romaine woman on paine of death shold be so hardy to drinke wine within the walles of Rome The same Historian saieth that by the occasion of this law the custome was in Rome that when any Romain Ladye would drinke wine or make any solempne feast she must nedes goe oute of Rome where euery one hadde their gardens and dwellyng place because the smell also of wine was prohibited and forhidden women within the circuite of Rome If Plinie do not deceyue vs in his .xxiiii. booke of his naturall history It was an auncient custome in Rome that at eche time that parentes met both men and women they did kisse the one the other in the face in token of peace and this ceremony began first for that they would smel whether the woman hadde dronke any wine And if perchaunce she sauored of wine the Censor mighte haue banished her from Rome And if her kinseman found her without Rome he might frely and without any daunger of lawe put her to death because within the circuite and walles of Rome no pryuat man by Iustice could put any Romaine to death As aboue is rehersed Romulus was he which ordeined the paine for dronkardes and Ruptilius was he which ordeined the paine for adulterers And betwene Romulus and Ruptilius there was .xxxii. yeares so that they ordeyned this strayght lawe for dronckardes a long time before they dyd the law for adulterers For if a woman be a dronckarde or harlot truly they are both great faultes and I can not tell whether of them is worst for beyng a harlot the woman loseth her name and for being a dronckard she loseth her fame and the husbande hys goods Then if women for the honestie of their personnes only are bound to be temperat in eating and drincking the woman which nourisheth giueth the child sucke ought to be much more corrected and sober in this case For in her is concurrante not only the grauitie of their personnes but the health and lyfe also of the creature whiche she nourisheth Therfore it is mete that the nource be kepte from wine since the honour of the one and the lyfe of the other is in peryll Sixtly the princesses and great Ladies ought to take hede that their nources be not gotten with child And the reason herof is that in that time wheÌ„ the woman is with child her natural course is stopped and that corruption is mingled with the pure bloud so that she thinking to giue the child mylke to nourish it geueth it poison to destroye it And nothyng can be more vniuste then to put the childe whiche is alredy borne and aliue in daunger for that which
want no perils For in warres renoune is neuer sold but by weight or chaunged with losse of lyfe The yong Fabius son of my aunt the aged Fabia at the .iii. CaleÌ„des of March brought me a letter the whych you sent and truely it was more briefe then I would haue wyshed it For betwene so dere children and so louinge a mother it is not suffered that the absence of your parsonnes shoulde be so farre and the letters whyche you write so briefe By those that goe from hence thyther I alwayes do sende you commendations and of those that come from thence hyther I doe enquire of newes Some saye they haue sene you other tell me they haue spoken with you so that with thys my hart is somwhat quieted For betwene them that loue greatly it may be endured that â—he sight be seldome so that the health be certain I am sole I am a widow I 〈◊〉 aged and now all my kinred is dead I haue endured many trauailes in Rome and the greatest of all is my children of your absence For the paine is greater to be voide of assured frendes theÌ„ assault is daungerous of cruel enemies Since you are yong and not very ryche since you are hardy and brought vp in the trauailes of Afrike I do not doubte but that you doe desire to come to Rome to se and know that now you are men whiche you haue sene when you were children For men doe not loue their countrey so much for that it is good as they do loue it for that it is naturall Beleue me children ther is no maÌ„ liuing that hath sene or hard speake of Rome in times past but hath great griefe sorow and pitie to se it at this present For as their hartes are pitiefull and their eyes tender so they can not behold that without great sorow which in times past they haue sene in great glory O my children you shal know that Rome is greatly chaunged from that it was wont to be To reade that that we do reade of it in times past to se that whyche we se of it now present we must nedes esteme that whiche the auncientes haue writen as a gest or els beleue it but as a dreame Ther is no other thing now at Rome but to see iustice corrupted the commen weale oppressed lyes blowen abroade the truth kept vnder the satires silent the flatterers open mouthed the inflamed personnes to be Lordes and the pacient to be seruauÌ„tes and aboue al and worse then all to se the euil liue in rest contented and the good troubled displeased Forsake forsake my children that citie where the good haue occasioÌ„ to weape the euil haue liberty to laugh I can not tel what to say in this mater as I would say Truly the coÌ„mon weale is at this day such so woful that eche wise man without coÌ„parison wold haue greater pleasure to be in the warres of Affrik then in the peace at Rome For in the good war a man seeth of whom he shold take hede but in the euil peace no maÌ„ knoweth whom to truste Therefore my children since you are naturall of Rome I wil tel you what Rome is at this present I let you know that the vestall virgines are now dissolute the honour of the gods is forgotten the profit of the coÌ„mon weale no maÌ„ seketh of the excercise of chiualry ther is no memory for the orphanes widowes ther is no man that doth aunswere to ministre iustice thei haue no regard the dissolute vices of the youth ar without measure Finally Rome that in times past was a receypt of all the good vertuous is now made a denne of al theues vitious I feare me I feare me least our mother rome in shorte time wil haue some sodein great fal And I say not without a cause some great fall for both men Cities that fall froÌ„ the top of their felicity purchase greater infamy with those that shal com after theÌ„ the glory that they haue had of theÌ„ that be past Peraduenture my childreÌ„ you desire to se the walles buildinges of Rome for those thinges which childreÌ„ se first in their youth the same they loue kepe alwaies in memory vntill their age As the auncient buildinges of rome are destroyed the few that ar now builte so would I you should loose your earnest affection to come to se theÌ„ For in dede the noble hartes are ashamed to se that thing amisse which they caÌ„ not remedye Do not thynke my chyldren thoughe Rome be made worse in maners that therfore it is diminished in buildinges For I let you vnderstand if you know it not that if a wall doth decay there is no man that doth repaire it If a house fall ther is no man that wil rayse it vp again If a strete be foule ther is no man that wil make it cleane If the riuer cary awaye any bridge there is no man that will set it vp again If any antiquitie decaye ther is no man that wil amend it If any wood be cut ther is no man that wil kepe it If the trees waxe old ther is no man that will plant theÌ„ a newe If the pauement of the streates be broken ther is no man that wil ley it again Finally ther is nothing in Rome at this day so euil handled as those thinges whiche by the commoÌ„ voices ar ordered These thinges my childreÌ„ though I do greatly lament as it is reason yet you ought litle to esteme them al but this al only ought to be estemed with droppes of bloud to be lamented That now in Rome when the buildinges in many places fal downe the vices all wholy together are raised vp O wofull mother Rome since that in the the more the walles decay the more the vices increase Peraduenture my childreÌ„ since you are in those frountiers of Affrike you desire to se your parentes here in Rome And therat I meruaile not for the loue which our naturall countreye do gyue the straung countrey can not take awaye All those which come from those parties doe bring vs no other certaine newes but of the multitude of those which dye are slain in Afrik therfore since you send vs such newes froÌ„ thence loke not that we should send you any other then the like from hence For death hath such auctoritie that it killeth the armed in the warres sleyeth the quiet in peace I let you know that Licia your sister is dead Drusio your vnckle is dead Torcquatus your neyghbour is dead His wife our cousin her .iii. doughters are dead Fabius your great frend is dead Euander his childreÌ„ ar dead Bibulus which red for me in the chaire the last yere is also dead Finally ther are so many so good with al that be dead that it is a great shame pitie to se at this present so many euill as do liue Know ye my children that all
doo not wee geeue them some safe conduct when they are in their deliuering O myserable state of man since the brute beasts are borne wtout destroying their mothers but the miserable men beefore they are born are troublesome and carefull and in the time of their birth are both perillous to them selues and daungerous to their mothers Which seemeth to bee very manyfest for the preparacion that man maketh when hee will dy that self same aught the woman to doo when shee is ready to bee delyuered Wee must also consider that though a beast hath but two feete as the birds haue hee can go moue and runne immediatly when it commeth foorth but when mā is born hee can not go nor moue much lesse ronne So that a popingey ought more to bee esteemed which hath no hands then the man which hath both hands and feete That which they doo to the lytle babe is not but a prognostication of that which hee ought to suffer in the progresse of hys lyfe that is to weete That as they are not contented to put the euil dooer in prison but they lode his hands with yrons set his feete in the stocks so in like maner to the miserable man when hee entreth into the charter of his life immediatly they bind both his hands his feete lay him in the cradel So that the innocent babe is first bound rolled beefore hee bee imbraced or haue suck of the mother Wee must note also that the hour wherein the beast is brought foorth though it know not the Sier which begat it at the least it knoweth the damme which brought it foorth which is apparant for so much as if the mother haue milk the yongling foorth with dooth suck her teats if perchaūce she haue no milk they go afterwards to hide thē selues vnder her wings Of the miserable man it is not so but the day that hee is born hee knoweth not the nurse that geeueth him suck neyther the father which hath beegotten him the mother which hath born him nor yet the midwife which hath receiued him moreouer hee can not see with his eies heare with his eares nor iudge with the tast and knoweth neither what it is to touch or smel so that wee see him to whom the seygnory ouer al brute beasts and other things that are created parteineth to bee born the most vnable of all other creatures Wee must also consyder that though the beast bee neuer so litle yet it can seeke for the teates of his mother to suck or to wāder in the fields to feede or to scrape the dūghilles to eat or els it goeth to the foūtayns riuers to drink that he lerneth not by the discours of time or that any other beast hath taught it but as soon as it is born so sone doth it know what thing is necessary for it The myserable man is not borne wyth so many present commodities hee can not eat drynk nor go make hym self ready ask nor yet complayn and that which is more hee knoweth not scarcely how to suck for the mothers oft tymes woold geeue to their children if they could the blood of their hart and yet they can not cause them to take the mylk of their breasts O great mysery of mans nature forsomuch as the brute beasts as soone as they are come foorth of theire mothers womb can know and seeke but when yt is offered vnto man hee can not know it Wee must note also that to brute beasts nature hath geeuen clothing wherewyth they may keepe them selues from the heat of Sommer and defend them selues from the cold of winter which is manyfest for that to lambs and sheepe shee hath geeuen wooll to byrds feathers to hoggs bristels to horses heare to fysh scales to snayles shells Fynally I say there is no beast which hath neede with his hands to make any garment nor yet to borow it of another Of all this the myserable man is depryued who is borne all naked and dyeth all naked not carying wyth him one only garment and if in the tyme of his lyfe hee will vse any garment hee must demaund of the beasts both leather and wooll and therunto hee must also put his whole labor and industry I woold ask princes and great lords if when they are borne they bryng wyth them any apparel and when they dy if they cary wyth them any treasour To this I aunswere no but they die as they are borne as well the rych as the poore and the poore as the rich And admit that in this life fortune doth make difference beetweene vs in estates yet nature in time of our birth and death doth make vs all equall Wee must also think and consider that forsomuch as nature hath prouyded the beasts of garments shee hath also taken from them the care of what they ought to eat for there is no beast that doth eyther plow sow or labor but doth content her selfe and passeth her lyfe eyther with the lytle flyes of the ayre with the corne that shee fyndeth in the high-ways with the herbs in the fyelds with the ants of the earth with the grapes of the vyne or with the fruits which are fallen Finally I say that without care all beasts take their rest as if the next day followyng they shoold haue no neede to eat O what a great benefit shoold god doo to the myserable man yf hee had taken from hym the trauaile to apparel him self and the care to search for things to eat But what shal the poore miserable man do that beefore hee eateth hee must till sow hee must reap and thresh the corne hee must clense it griend it paste it and bake it and it can not bee prouyded without care of mynd nor bee doon without the propre swet of the brows And yf perchaunce any man did prouide for him self with the swet of others yet shal hee liue with his owne offences Also in other things the beasts do excell vs for in the flowers in the leaues in the hearbs in the straw in the otes in the bread in the flesh or in the fruit whych they eat or in the water which they drink they feele no pain although it bee not sweete nor take any displeasure though their meates bee not sauory Fynally such as nature hath prouided them without disgysing or makyng them selues better they are contented to eat Man coold lose nothing if in this poynt hee agreed with beasts but I am very sory that there are many vicious proud men to whō nothing wanteth either to apparail or eat but they haue to much to maintein them selues and here with not contended they are such dronkardes to tast of diuers wines and such Epicures to eat of sundry sorts of meates that oft times they spend more to dresse them then they did cost the bying Now when the beastes are brought foorth they haue knowledge both of that that is profitable and also of that
they haue obteined great renowme in their life and lefte a perpetuall memorie of theym after their death I wil tel you an auncyent history as profitable to restraine our vices as it dyd then augment vertues whych is this The realme of the Lacedemoniens as Plato sayth was a long tyme as dissolute through the vnthriftines of women as infamed by the vyces of men so that of al nations they were called barbarous what time Greece of the philosophers was called the mother of phylosophers Licurgus a wise phylosophers in knowledge and a right iust king in gouernaunce partly with his doctrine very profitable partly with his lyfe most pure ordeyned lawes in the sayd realme wherby he expelled all vyces and planted al vertues I cannot tel whych of these two were moste happiest the kyng hauynge so obedyent people or els the realme to haue soo worthy a kinge Among other lawes for women he enacted one worthye of hyghe commendacion the whiche commaunded that the father whych dyed shoulde geue nothynge to his doughter and another that neither liuing nor dieng he shold geue any money to mary her with to thintent that none should take her for her goodes but al onlye for her vertues and not for her beautye but for her qualyties wher as nowe some be forsaken bycause where as now some be forsaken because they are poore soo then they abode vnmaried because they were vicious O time worthye to be desired when maydens hoped not to be maried with their fathers goodes but by the vertuous workes of their owne persons this was the time called the golden world when neither the doughter feared to be disherited by the father in his lyfe nor the father to dye sorowfull for leuynge her without dowrye at his death O Rome cursed be he that first brought gold into thy house cursed be he that first began to horde vp treasour Who haue made Rome to be so rich of treasure and so poore of vertues who hath caused noble men to mary the Plebeians leaue the doughters of Senatours vnmaryed what hath made that the rich mannes doughter is demaunded vnwillyng the doughters of a poore man none wil desire What hath caused that one marieth a foole with fyue hundreth markes rather then a wise womā with ten thousand vertues then I wil not say that in this case the flesh vanquished the flesh but I say that vanity is ouercome of malyce For a couetous person wil soner now a daies take a wife that is rich foule then one that is poore and faire O vnhappie woman that bring forth chyldren and more vnhappie be the doughters that are borne the which to take in mariage no man desireth neyther for the bloud of their predecessours nor the fauour of their frendes nor the worthynes of their persons nor for the purity of their lyues O wicked worlde where the doughter of a good man without moneye shal haue no mariage but it was not wont to be so For in the old time when they treated of mariages first they spake of the persons and after of the goods not as they do at this present in this vnhappie time for now they speake first of the goods last of al of the persons In the said golden world first they spake of the vertues that the person was endewed with and when they were maried as it were in sport they would speake of the goods When Camillus triumphed ouer the Gauls he had then but one sonne and he was such one that his desertes meryted great praise for the renowne of his father dyuers kinges desired to haue him to their sonnes and diuers senatours desired to haue him to their sonne in law This yong man being of the age of xxx yeres the father at lx was importunately stirred by his natural frends and desires of straunge kings for to marie him but alway the old Camille withstode the concel of his frends the importunity of the straungers When it was demaunded why he determyned not vpon some mariage for his sonne syth thereby should ensue the quyet life of the man the ioy of himselfe in his age he aunswered I wil not mary my sonne because some offer me rich doughters some noble of linage some yong and some faire But ther is none hath sayd to me I geue you my vertuous doughter Certenly Camil merited triumphe for that he did and deserued eternal memory for that he sayde I spake to you Faustine all these words because I se you leade your doughter to theatres and playes and bring her into the capitolle you put her to the keaping of the sword plaiers you suffer her to see the tumblers yet do you not remember that she is yong and you not to aged you go into the streates withoute lycence and sporte you by the ryuers I finde no vyllannye therin nor thynke that youre doughter is euyl but I saye it bycause you geue occasion that she shoulde not bee good Beware beware Faustine neuer trust to the race of flesh of yong people nor haue no confidens in old folkes for ther is no better way then to flye the occasion of al things For this intent the virgins vestalles are closed vp betwene the walles to eschew the occasions of open places not to be more lyght and folyshe but to be more sad vertuous flieng occasions The yong shal not say I am yong and vertuous nor the old shal not say I am old and broken For of necessity the dry flaxe wil bren in the fier the grene flagge smoke in the flame I say though a man be a dyamond set among men yet of necessitie he ought to be quicke and to melt as waxe in the heate amonge women we cannot deny that thoughe the wood be taken from the fyer and the Imbers quenched yet neuertheles the stones oftentime remaine hotte In lykewise the flesh though it be chastised with hotte and dry disseases consumed by many yeres with trauaile yet concupiscens abydeth stil in the bones What nede is it to blase the vertues and deny our naturalyties certeinly ther is not so old a horse but if he se a mare wil ney once or twise ther is no man so yong nor old but let him se faire yong damosels eyther he wil gyue a sigh or a wishe In al voluntarie things I deny not but that one maye be vertuous but in natural thinges I confesse euery man to be weake When you take the wood from the fier it leaueth burnyng when sommer cometh the cold winter ceaseth when the sea is calme the waues leaue their vehement mocions when the sonne is set it lightneth not the world I wil say that then and not before the flesh wil cease to trouble vs when it is layd in the graue of the flesh we are borne in the flesh we lyue and in the fleshe we shal dy therby it foloweth that our good lyfe shal soner end then our fleshly desires
forsake vs oftentimes some holsome fleshe corrupteth in an euill vessel and good wine sometime fauoreth of the foist I say though that the workes of our life be vertuous yet shal we fele the stench of the weake flesh I spake this Faustine sith that age cannot resist these hot appitites howe can the tender members of youth resist them vnlesse you that are the mother go the right way how should the doughter that foloweth you find it the Romaine matrons if they wil bringe vp their doughters wel oughte to kepe these rules when they se that they would wander abrode that they breake their legges and if they should be gasing then put out their eyes and if they wil lysten stoppe their eares if they wil geue or take cut of their hands if they dare speake sow vp their mouthes if they wyl pretende any lightnes burye them quycke death ought to be geuen to an euyl doughter in stede of her dowry for gyftes geue her wormes and for her house a graue Take hede Faustine if you wil haue much ioy of your doughter take from her the occasions wherby she shal be euyl To vnderset a house behoueth diuers proppes and if the principalles be taken away it wil fal downe I saye you women are so fraile that with kepers with great paine they can keape them selfe and for a smal occasion they wil lose altogether O how many euyl hath there bene not because they would be so but because they folowed such occasions the which they ought to haue eschewed It is at my pleasure to enter into this battaile but yet it is not in my power to attaine the vyctorie it is for me to enter into the sea yet it lyeth not in my handes to escape the peril it is in the hands of a woman to enter into the occasion and after that she is therin it is not in her power to escape from euill to delyuer her from tongues Peraduenture Faustine thou wilt say to me none can speake to your doughter Lucil vnlesse thou hearest it nor se her but thou seest him nor conuey her but thou knowest where nor make any appointment withoute thy consent and yet thou knowest that those whych wil her euyl seke wyth their tongues to dyshonour her and those that with their hartes loue her speake only in their harts We loue in yong bloud in the springing tyme and floryshing youth is a poyson that forthwith spreadeth into euery vaine it is a herbe that entreth into the entrayles a swowning that incontinently mortyfieth al the members and a pestilence that sleeth the harts and finallye it maketh an end of al vertues I know not what I saye but I fele that which I would say for I would neuer blase loue with my tongue except I were sore wounded therwith in my hart Ouide saith in his boke of the art of loue loue is I wot not what it commeth I know not from whence who sent it I wot not it engendreth I know not how it is satisfied I wot not wherwith it is felt I wot not how oft it sleeth I wot not wherfore and finally without breakyng the flesh outwardly loue taketh roote and molesteth the hart inwardly I know not what Ouide meaneth hereby but I trowe when he said these words he was as farre banyshed from him selfe as I am at this tyme from my selfe O Faustine they that loue together vtter the secretes of theyr harts by dyuers wayes and in sleaping they reason speake by sygnes they vnderstand ech other The many words outwardly declare smal loue inwardly and the feruent inward loue kepeth silence outward The entrayles within imbraced with loue cause the tongue outward to be mute he that passeth his lyfe in loue ought to kepe his mouth close And to thintent that ye shal not thinke that I speake fables I wil proue this by auncient histories we find aunciently that in the yere .cclxx. after the foundacion of Rome Etrasco a yong Romaine that was dombe and Verona a fayre Lady of the Latines which was dombe also these two saw ech other on the mount Celâ—o at the feastes and ther fel in loue togethers and their hartes were as sore fixed in loue as their tongues were tyde from speach It was a maruailous thing to se then fearful to note now that this yonge lady came from Salon to Rome he went from Rome to Salon sundry times by the space of 30. yeres without the knowledge of any parson and neuer spake together It chaunced at the last that the husband of the lady Verona died the wife of Etrasco also and then they discouered their loue and treated a mariage betwene them And these two dombe parsons had issue a sonne of whom descended the noble linage of our Scipions which were more famous in the feates of armes then their father mother were troubled for want of words Then Faustine marke thys thing it had litle auailed to haue cut out the tongues of the two dombe persons to haue remedyed their loue and not to haue cut out their harts And I shal tel you of Masinissa a worthy knight of Numidie and Sophonissa a famous lady of Carthage al only by one sighte as they sawe eche other on a ladder he declareth his desyre vnto her and shee knowyng hys lust breakynge the oores of feare and lyftyng vp the ankers of shame incontinente raysed the sayles of their hartes and wythe the shippes of their persones they ioyned ech to other here may we see how the first sight of their eyes the knowledge of their parsons the consent of their harts the copulacion of their bodyes the decay of their estates and the losse of their names in one day in one houre in one moment and in one step of a ladder were lost what wil you that I say more to this purpose do you not knowe what Heleyne the Greke and Paris the Troyan of two straunge nacions and of farre countreis with one only sight in a temple their willes wer so knit together that he toke her as his captiue and she abode his prisoner In Paris appeared but smal force and in Heleyne but litle resistence so that in maner those two yong persons the one procuring to vanquyshe and the other suffring to be vanquished Paris was cause of his fathers death and they both of their owne deaths losse to their realmes scaunder to al the world Al this loue grew of one onely sight When great kinge Alexander woulde haue geuen battaile to the Amosones the quene captaine of theym no lesse faire then strong and vertuous came to a riuer side the space of an houre eche of theym behelde an other with their eyes withoute vtteringe of anye worde And when they retourned to their tentes their fiersnes was turned into swete wanton amorous wordes When Pirius the faithfull defender of the Tharrentines and renowmed king of Epirotes was in Italy he came into Naples and had not
moue mee to speake and the faythe whyche I owe vnto you dothe not suffer mee that I shoulde keepe it close For manye thinges oughte to be borne amonge friendes thoughe theye tell them in earnest whiche ought not to be suffered of others thoughe theye speake it in gest I come therefore to shewe the matter and I beseche the immortall goddes that there bee noe more then that whiche was tolde mee and that it bee lesse then I suspecte Gaius Furius youre kinsman and my especiall friende as hee went to the realme of Palestyne and Hierusalem came to see mee in Antioche and hathe tolde mee newes of Italy and Rome and among others one aboue al the residewe I haue committed to memorye at the whiche I coolde not refraine laughinge and lesse to bee troubled after I hadde thought of it O how manye thinges doe wee talke in gest the whiche after wee haue well considered geeue occasion to be sorye The emperoure Adrian mye good lorde had a Iester whose name was Belphus yonge comelye and stoute allbeeit hee was verye malicious as suche are accustomed to bee and whiles the imbassadours of Germaine supped with the Emperour in greate ioye the same Belphus beeganne to iest of euery one that was present according to his accustomed manner with a certeine malicious grace And Adrian perceiuing that some chaunged colour others murmured and others weare angrye hee saide vnto thys Iester frinde Belphus if thou loue mee and mye seruice vse not these spytefull iestes at our supper which being considered on may turne vs to euil rest in our beddes Gaius Furius hath tolde me so many slaunders chaunced in Italy such nouelties done in Rome such alteracion of our Senate such contentiō strife betwene our neighbours suche lightnes of yow twoo that I was astonied to here it ashamed to writ it And it is nothing to tell after what sort he told thē vnto me onlesse you had sene how earnestly he spake them imagining that as he told thē without taking anye paine so did I receiue them as he thought with out any griefe though in deede euerye woorde that he spake seemed a sharpe percinge arrowe vnto my hart For oft times some telleth vs thynges as of small importaunce the whiche do pricke our hartes to the quicke By the oppynion of all I vnderstande that you are verye olde and yet in your owne fantasies you seame verye yonge And further theye saye that you apparell youre selues a newe nowe as thoughe presentlye you came into the worlde moreouer they saye that you are offended with nothinge so muche as when theye call you olde that in theaters where comedies are played and in the fieldes where the brute beastes do runne you are not the hindmost and that there is no sport nor lightnes inuented in Rome but first is registred in youre house And finally they say that you geue your selues so to pleasures as thoughe you neuer thought to receiue displeasures O Claude and Claudine by the god Iupiter I sweare vnto you that I am a shamed of your vnshamefastnes am greatly abashed of your maners and aboue all I am excedingly greeued for your great offence For at that time that you ought to lift vp your handes yow are returned againe into the filth of the world Many thinges men commyt which though they seme graue yet by moderacion of the person that committeth them they are made light but speaking according to the trouthe I fynde one reason wherebye I mighte excuse youre lightnes but to the contrarye I see tenne wherebye I maye condempne youre follyes Solon the phylosopher in hys lawes sayde to the Athenians that if the yonge offended hee shoulde bee gentlye admonished and grieuouslye punished beecause hee was strong and if the olde dydde erre he shoulde be lightlye punished and sharpelye admonished sithe he was weake and feble To this Licurgus in his lawes to the Lacedemonians sayde contrarye that if the yonge did offende hee shoulde bee lightly punished and greuously admonished sins through ignoraunce he dyd erre and the olde manne whiche did euill shoulde be lightly admonished and sharpely punished sins through malice he did offend These two phylosophers being as theye haue bene of suche authoritie in the worlde that is paste and consideringe that their lawes and sentences were of suche weighte it shoulde be muche rashenesse in not admittinge the one of them Nowe not receyuyng the one nor reprouynge the other mee thynketh that there is greate excuse to the yonge for theire ignoraunce and greate condempnacion o the aged for theire experience Once agayne I retourne to saye that you pardone me mye friendes and you oughte not greatlye to weye it thoughe I am somewhat sharpe in condempnation since you others are so dissolute in youre liues for of youre blacke lyfe mye penne dothe take ynke I remember well that I haue harde of thee Claude that thou haste bene lusty and couragious in thye youthe so that thye strengthe of all was enuyed and the beauty of Claudine of all men was desired I will not write vnto you in this letter mye frindes and neigheboures neither reduce to memorye howe thou Claude haste imployed thy forces in the seruice of the common wealth and thou Claudine hast wōne muche honoure of thy beautye for sundrye tymes it chaunced that men of manye goodlye gyftes are noted of greuous offences Those whiche striued with thee are all dead those whom thow desiredst are dead those which serued thee Claudine are deade those whiche before thee Claudine sighed are deade those which for thee died are nowe dead and sins all those are dead withe they re lightnesse do not you others thinke to dye your follyes allso I demaunde nowe of thy youthe one thinge and of thy beauty another thinge what do you receiue of these pastimes of these good interteinmentes of these abundances of these great contentacions of the pleasures of the worlde of the vanytye that is paste and what hope you of all these to carye into the narrowe graue O simple simple and ignoraunt persones howe oure life consumeth and we perceiue not howe we liue therein For it is no felicitie to enioy a short or long life but to knowe to employe the same well or euill O children of the earthe and disciples of vanytie nowe you knowe that tyme flyethe without mouing his wynges the life goeth without liftinge vppe hys feete the worlde dispatcheth vs not tellinge vs the cause men beegile vs not mouinge theire lippes our flesh consumeth to vs vnwares the heart dieth hauing no remedy finally our glory decayeth as if it had neuer bene and death oppresseth vs wythoute knockinge at the doore Thoughe a man be neuer so simple or so very a foole yet he can not denaye but it is impossible to make a fier in the botome of the sea to make a waye in the ayre of the thinne bloude to make roughe sinewes and of the softe vaines to make harde bones I
meane that it is vnpossible that the grene flower of youthe be not one daye withered by age ¶ The Emperour followethe his letter perswadeth Claudins Claudinus beeing now olde to geue no more credit to the world nor to any of his deceytful flatteries Cap. xx THat whych I haue spoken now tendeth more to aduertyse the yong then to teache the olde For yow others haue now passed the pryme tyme of chyldehoode the sommer of youth and the haruest of adolescency and are in the wynter of age where it seemeth an vncomly thyng that those youerhoarye heares shoolde bee accompanyed wyth such vayne follyes Sythens yong men know not that they haue to ende theire youth it is no maruail that they follow the world but the olde men which see them selues fall into this gyle why will they runne after vices againe O world for that thou art the world so small is our force and so great our debylitie that thou wylling it and wee not resisting it thow doost swallow vs vp in the most perilous goulfe and in the thornes most sharpe thow dost pricke vs by the pryuiest waies thow leadest vs and by the most stony wayes thou caryest vs. I meane that thow bringest vs to the highest fauors to the end that afterwards wyth a push of thy pike thow myghtest ouerthrow vs. O world wherein all is worldly two and fyfty yeares haue passed since in thee I was fyrst borne duryng which tyme thou neuer toldest mee one trueth but I haue taken thee wyth tenne thousaund lies I neuer demaunded the thing but thow didst promyse it mee and yet it is nothyng at all that euer thou dydst performe I neuer put my trust in thee but euer thou begildst mee I neuer came to thee but thou dydst vndo mee fynally neuer saw I ought in thee whereby thow deseruest loue but allways hatred This presupposed I know not what is in thee O world or what wee worldlyngs want for if thow hatest vs wee cannot hate the if thow dost vs iniury wee can dyssemble it yf thow spurne vs wyth thy feete wee wyl suffer it if thou beatest vs with a staff wee will hold our peace also although thou ê‘secutest vs wee wil not coÌ„playn though thou take ours wee wil not demauÌ„d it of thee though thou doost beeguyle vs wee wyl not cal our selues beeguyled and the woorst of al is that thou doost chase vs from thy house yet wee wyl not depart from theÌ„ce I know not what this meaneth I know not from whence this commeth I wore not who ought to prayse this same that wee couet to follow the world which will none of vs hate the gods which loue vs oft tymes I make accouÌ„t of my yeares past somtimes also I turn tosse my booke to see what I haue read and another time I desyre my friends to geeue mee good counsel and for no other end I do it then to attain to that I haue spoken to know that I wil say I readyng Rethoryk in Rhodes Adrian my lord mainteynyng mee there knowyng that I was two and thyrty yeares of age it happened that in the spryng tyme I found my selfe solytaryly and solytarines wyth lyberty smelled the world and smelling it I knew it and knowyng it I followed it and followyng it I attayned vnto it and attaynyng vnto it thereunto I ioyned my selfe and ioyning my selfe therewith I prooued it and in prouyng it I tasted it and in tastyng it mee thought it bytter and in fyndyng it bitter I hated it and hatyng it I left it and leauyng it is returned and beeyng returned I receyued it again fynally the world inuytyng mee and I not resistyng it two and fyfty yeares wee did eat our bread togethers in one house wee haue alwaies remained wilt thou know after what sort the world I do liue in one house togethers or better to say in one hart remain harken theÌ„ in one woord I wil tel it thee When I sawe the worlde braue I serued him when hee sawe mee sadde hee flattered mee when I sawe him wealthy I asked him when he saw mee merye hee begiled me when I desired anye thinge he holpe mee to atteine to it afterwards when the same I best enioyed then he toke it froÌ„ mee wheÌ„ he saw me not pleased he vysited me wheÌ„ he saw me he forgot me when he saw me ouerthrowen he gaue me his haÌ„d to releue me wheÌ„ he saw me exalted he tripped me again to ouerthrow me Fynally when I think that I haue somwhat in the world I fynd that all that I haue is a burden Yf thys which I haue spoken of the world be anye thinge more is that a great deale which yet of my selfe I will saye whiche is that without doubte my follye is greater then his mallice since I am begiled so ofte and yet allwaies I followe the deceiuer O worlde worlde thou hast suche moodes and fashions in thy procedyng that thou leadest vs all to perdicion Of one thinge I maruaile muche whereof I cannot be satisfied Which is since that we may go vpon the bridge yet without any gaine we doe wade through the water where as the shallow is sure we seke to ronne into the golfe and where the way is drye wee go into the plashe where we may eate wholsome meates to norishe the lyfe wee receiue poyson to hasten deathe we seke to destroy oure selues where as we may bee without daunger Fynallye I say without profite we commit a fault thoughe wee see with our eyes the pain to follow Wise men ought circumspectly to see what they do to examine that they speake to proue that theye take in hande to beware whose company they vse and aboue all to knowe whom they trust For our iudgement is so corrupt that to begile vs one is ynough and to make vs not to be disceiued tenne thosande woolde not suffise They haue so greate care of vs I meane the worlde to beegile vs and the fleshe to flatter vs that the highe way beinge as it is narrowe the patheway daungerous and full of prickes the iorney is longe the lyfe shorte our bodies are neuer but loden with vices our hartes but full of cares I haue wondered at dyuers things in this worlde but that which astonieth me most is that those that be good we make theÌ„ beleue they are euill and those whiche are euel we perswade others to beleue that they are good So that wee shoote at the white of vertues hit the butte of vices I will confesse one thinge the whiche beinge disclosed I know that infamye will follow me but paraduenture some vertuous man will marueile at it that is that in those two and fiftye yeares of my lyfe I haue proued all the vices of this worlde for no other intent but for to proue if there bee anye thynge where in mannes mallice might be satisfyed And afterwardes all well considered al examined and all proued I