and moderne haue beene and are gouerned very wisely both in peace and warre without science Rome the first fiue hundred yeares wherein it florished in vertue and Wisdome without science valour was without knowledge and so soone as it began to be learned it began to corrupt to trouble and ruinate it selfe by ciuill warres The most beautifull policie that euer was the Lacedemonian built by Lycurgus from whence haue sprung the greatest personages of the world made no profession of learning and yet it was the schoole of vertue and wisdome and was euer victorious ouer Athens the most learned citie of the world the schoole of all science the habitation of the Muses the store-house of Philosophers All those great and florishing realmes of the east and west Indies haue stood for many ages together without learning without the knowledge of bookes or writings In these dayes they learne many things by the good leaue and assistance of their new masters at the expence of their owne libertie yea their vices and their subtilties too whereof in former times they neuer heard speach That great and it may be the greatest and most florishing state and Empire which is at this day in the world is that of that great Lord who like the Lion of the whole earth makes himselfe to be feared of all the Princes and Monarks of the world and euen in this state there is not any profession of science nor schoole nor permission or allowance to reade or teach publicklie no not in matters of religion What guideth gouerneth and maketh this state to prosper thus It is wisdome it is prudence But come wee to those states wherein learning and sciences are in credit Who do gouerne them Doubtlesse not the learned Let vs take for example this our realme wherein learning and knowledge haue greater honor than in all the world besides and which seemeth to haue succeeded Greece it selfe The principall officers of this crowne the Constable Marshall Admirall the Secretaries of the state who dispatch all affaires are commonlie men altogether illiterate And doubtlesse many great Lawyers founders and Princes haue banished science as the poyson and pestilence of a Common-wealth Licinius Valentinian Mahomet Lycurgus And thus wee see what wisdome is without science Let vs now see what science is without wisdome which is not hard to doe Let vs looke a little into those that Science without wisdome make profession of learning that come from Schooles and Vniuersities and haue their heads full of Aristotle Cicero Bartolus Are there any people in the world more vntoward more sottish more vnfit for all things From hence commeth that prouerb that when a man would describe a foole or an vntowardlie person hee calleth him Clerke Pedante And to expresse a thing ill done it is the maner to say It is Clearklike done It should seeme that learning doth intoxicate and as it were hammer a mans braines and makes him to turne sotte and foole as king Agrippa said to S. Paul Multae Act. 26. te literae ad insaniam adducunt There are diuers men that had they neuer beene trained vp in schooles and colleges they had beene farre more wise and their brethren that haue neuer applied themselues to learning haue prooued the wiser men Vt melius fuisset non didicisse nam post quam docti prodierunt boni desunt Come to the practise chuse me one of these learned schollers bring him to the common counsell of a citie or any publike assemblie wherein the affaires of the state are consulted of or matter of policie or houshold husbandrie you neuer saw a man more astonished he waxeth pale blusheth cougheth and at last knowes not what to say And if he chance to speake he entreth into a long discourse of definitions and diuisions of Aristotle ergo potlead Marke in the selfe-same counsell a merchant a burgesse that neuer heard speake of Aristotle he will yeeld a better reason giue a sounder iudgement and more to purpose than these scholasticall doctors Now it is not enough to haue said that wisdome and learning seldome concurre and meete together vnlesse we seeke 20 The reason of this separation the reason and cause thereof not doubting thereby but sufficiently to content and to satisfie those that mislike what I haue said or thinke me perhaps an enemie to erudition and learning The question thereof is from whence it commeth that learning and wisdome doe seldome encounter and meete together in one and the same man And there is great reason why we should mooue this question for it is a strange thing and against reason that a man the more learned he is should not be the more wise learning and knowledge being a proper meanes and instrument vnto wisdome Behold therefore two men the one a student the other none he that hath studied is in some sort bound to be farre the wiser of the two because he hath all that the other hath that is nature reason iudgement spirit and besides these the counsels discourses iudgements of all the greatest men of the world by reading their books Is there not then great reason he should be much more wise more dexterious more honest than the other since that with these proper and naturall meanes he attaineth so manie extraordinarie on euerie side For as one saith well the naturall good cohering and concurring with the accidentall frameth an excellent composition and yet neuerthelesse we see the contrarie as hath beene said Now the true reason and answer to all this is the euill and sinister maner of studie and ill instruction They learne our 21 An answer of bookes and schooles excellent knowledge but with ill to ill discipline meanes and as bad successe Whereby it comes to passe that all their studie profiteth them nothing at all but they remaine indigent and poore in the midst of their plentie and riches and like Tantalus die for hunger in the midst of their dainties the reason is because whilest they pore vpon their bookes they respect nothing so much as to stuffe and furnish their memories with that which they read and vnderstand and presently they thinke themselues wise like him that put his bread into his pocket and not into his belly when his pocket was full died for hunger And so with a memory fully stuffed they continue fooles Student non sibi vitae sed alijs scholae They prepare themselues to be reporters Cicero hath said it Aristotle Plato hath left it in writing c. but they for their parts know nothing These men commit a double fault the one in that they apply not that which they learne to themselues that so they may forme themselues vnto vertue wisdome resolution by which meanes their knowledge is vnprofitable vnto them the other is that during all that time which with great paines and charge they employ to the heaping together and pocketing vp for another without any profit to themselues whatsoeuer
are weary with liuing or for priuate causes loath to liue any longer Neither is it sufficient that the cause be great and iust but that it be necessarie and remedilesse and that all maner of meanes to preserue life be first put in practise For precipitation and anticipated despaire is very vitious as in Brutus and Cassius who killing themselues before the time and occasion lost the reliques of the Romane libertie whereof they were protectors A man saith Cleomenes must manage his life and make vse thereof to the vttermost for to take it away a man neuer wants time it is a remedie which he hath alwaies in his owne hands but the state of things may change and grow better Ioseph and diuers others haue to their great benefit practised this counsell things that seeme altogether desperate do many times change and haue a happie successe aliquis carnifici suo superstes fuit Multa dies variusque labor mutabilis aeui Retulit in melius A man must carie himselfe in his place and calling as a defendant against him that assaileth him cum moderamine inculpatae tutelae he must trie all maner of meanes before he come to this extremitie Secondly and without doubt it is farre better and more commendable to suffer and to continue constant and firme to the end than fearefullie cowardlie to flie or die but forasmuch as it is a gift not giuen vnto all no more than continencie is non omnes capiunt verbum istud vnde melius nubere quam vri the question is whether an insupportable and remedilesse euill hapning which may vtterlie vndoe and turne topsy-turuie our whole resolution and driue vs into despaire despite and murmuring against God it be more expedient or a lesse euill for a man couragiouslie to deliuer himselfe hauing his senses sound and setled than by standing to it for feare of failing in his dutie expose himselfe to the danger of sinking and being vtterly lost It is not a lesse euill to quit the place than to be obstinate and perish to flie than to be taken It is true that it seemeth by all humane and philosoph call reason to be practised as hath been said by so many famous people of all countries and climats But Christianitie doth no way approue it nor alloweth therein any dispensation Finally it is a great point of wisdome to learne to know the point and period to chuse a fit houre to die Euery man hath his time and season to die some preuent it others prolong it there is weakenesse and valour in them both but there is required discretion How many men haue suruiued their glorie and by a desire to lengthen their life but a little haue darkened it againe and liued to helpe bury their owne honour And that which lastly sticketh by them hath no relish or feeling of what is past but continueth like an old filthie clout sowed to the hemme of a rich and beautifull ornament There is a time to gather fruit from the tree which if it hang too long it rotteth and growes worse and worse and the losse is as great too if it bee gathered too soone Many saints and holy men haue fled from death because they are yet profitable to the church and weale-publike though in respect of their owne particular they could be content to die It is an act of charitie to desire to liue for the benefit of an other Si populo tuo sum necessarius non recuso laborem Death hath diuers formes some more easie than other and 21 Formes of deaths diuers taketh diuers qualities according to the fantasie of euery one Among those that are naturall they that proceed from weaknesse and a numnesse of the members are the sweetest and the easiest among those that are violent the best is the shortest the least premeditated Some desire to make an exemplarie and demonstratiue death of constancie and sufficiencie this is to consider another thing and to seeke their owne reputation but this is vanitie for this is no act of societie but of one only person who hath enough to doe with himselfe to minister to himselfe inward comfort and hath no neede to trouble himselfe with what belongeth to another especially all the interest hee hath in his reputation ceasing with his death That is the best death which is well recollected in it selfe quiet solitarie and attendeth wholly to that which at that time is fittest That great assistance of parents friends bringeth a thousand discommodities it oppresseth and smoothereth him that is dying one tormenteth his eares another his eies another his mouth their cries and complaints if they be true stifle the heart if fained afflict and torment it Many great personages haue sought to die farre from their friends to auoide this inconuenience accounting it a childish thing and a foolish humour to be willing by their miseries to moue sorrow and compassion in their friends wee commend constancie to suffer bad fortune wee accuse and hate it in our friends and when it is our owne case it is not sufficient that they suffer with vs but they must afflict themselues too A wise man that is sicke should content himselfe with the setled countenance of his assistants CHAP. XII To maintaine himselfe in true tranquillitie of spirit the fruit and crowne of wisedome and the conclusion of this booke THe tranquillitie of the spirit is the souereigne good of man This is that great and rich treasure which the wisest seeke by sea and by land on foote and a horsebacke all our care should tend thereunto it is the fruit of all our labors and studies the crowne of wisdome But lest a man should mistake himselfe heerein you must know that this tranquillitie is not a retrait or vacation from all affaires a delightfull solitarinesse and corporally pleasant or a profound carelesnesse of all things if it were so many women idle dissolute and voluptuous persons would at their pleasure enioy as great a good as the wisest can aspire vnto with all their studie Neither multitude nor scarsitie of businesse doth any thing heerein It is a beautifull sweete equall iust firme and pleasant estate of the soule which neither businesse nor idlenesse nor good accidents nor ill nor time can any way trouble alter mend or depresse Vera tranquillitas non concuti The meanes to attaine thereunto to get and preserue it are the points that I haue handled in this second booke whereof this is a briefe collection They consist in freeing and disfurnishing of a man from all lets and impediments and furnishing him with those things that entertaine and preserue it The things that doe most hinder and trouble the rest and tranquillitie of the spirit are common and vulgar opinions which for the most part are erroneous and secondly desires and passions which ingender in vs a kinde of delicacy and difficulty which are the cause that a man is neuer content and these are kindled and stirred in him by those
is a collection of all that a man hath seene heard and read in bookes that is to say of the excellent sayings and doings of great personages that haue beene of all nations Now the garner or store-house where this great prouision remaineth and is kept the treasurie of science and all acquired good is the memorie He that hath a good memorie the fault is his owne if he want knowledge because he hath the meane Wisdome is a sweet and regular managing of the soule He is wise that gouerneth himselfe in his desires thoughts opinions speeches actions with measure and proportion To be briefe and in a word wisdome is the rule of the soule and that which manageth this rule is the iudgement which seeth iudgeth esteemeth all things rangeth them as they ought giuing to euery thing that which belongs vnto it Let vs now see their differences and how much wisdome excels the other Science is a small and barraine good in respect of wisdome for it is not only not necessarie for of three parts of the world two and more haue made little vse thereof but it brings with it small profit and serues to little purpose 1. It is no way seruiceable to the life of a man How many people rich and poore great and small liue pleasantlie and happilie that haue neuer heard any speech of science There are many other things more commodious and seruiceable to the life of man and the maintenance of humane societie as honor glorie nobilitie dignitie which neuerthelesse are not necessarie 2. Neither is it seruiceable to things naturall which an ignorant sot may as well performe as he that hath best knowledge Nature is a sufficient mistrisse for that 3. Nor to honestie and to make vs better paucis est opus literis ad bonam mentem nay it rather hindreth it He that will marke it well shall find not only more honest people but also more excellent in all kind of vertue amongst those that know little than those that know most witnesse Rome which was more honest being young and ignorant than when it was old craftie and cunning Simplex illa aperta a virtus in obscuram solertem scientiam versa est Science serueth not for any thing but to inuent crafts subtleties artificiall cunning deuises and whatsoeuer is an enemie to innocencie which willinglie lodgeth with simplicitie and ignorance Atheisme errours sects and all the troubles of the world haue risen from the order of these men of arte knowledge The first temptation of the diuell saith the scripture and the beginning of all euill and the ruine of mankind was the opinion and the desire of knowledge Eritis sicut dij scientes bonum malum The Sirenes to deceiue and intrap Vlysses within their snares offered vnto him the gift of science and S. Paul aduiseth you all to take heed ne quis vos seducat per philosophiam One of the sufficients men of knowledge that euer was spake of Science as of a thing not Salomon in his Ecclesiast only vaine but hurtfull painfull and tedious To be briefe Science may make vs more humane and courteous but not more honest 4. Againe it serueth nothing to the sweetning of our life or the quitting vs of those euils that oppresse vs in the world but contrarily it increaseth and sharpneth them witnesse children and fooles simple and ignorant persons who measuring euery thing by the present taste run thorow them with the lesse griefe beare them with better content than men of greatest learning and knowledge Science anticipateth those euils that come vpon vs in such sort that they are sooner in the soule of man by knowledge than in nature The wiseman said that he that increaseth knowledge increaseth Ecclesiastes 1. 18. sorrow Ignorance is a more fit remedie against all euils iners malorum remedium ignorantia est From whence proceed those counsels of our friends Thinke not of it put it out of your head and memorie Is not this to cast vs into the armes of ignorance as into the best and safest sanctuarie that may be But this is but a mockerie for to remember and to forget is not in our power But they would do as Chirurgions vse to do who not knowing how to heale a wound yet set a good shew vpon it by allaying the paine and bringing it asleepe They that counsell men to kill themselues in their extreame and remedilesse euils do they not send a man to ignorance stupiditie insensibilitie Wisdome is a necessarie good and vniuersallie commodious for all things it gouerneth and ruleth all there is not any thing that can hide or quit it selfe of the iurisdiction or knowledge thereof It beareth sway euery where in peace in warre in publick in priuat It ruleth and moderateth euen the insolent behauiors of men their sports their daunces their banquets and is as a bridle vnto them To conclude there is nothing that ought not to be done discretlie and wisely and contrarily without wisdome all things fall into trouble and confusion Secondly Science is seruile base and mechanicall in respect of wisdome and a thing borowed with paine A learned man is like a crow deckt with the feathers that he hath stollen from other birds He maketh a great shew in the world but at the charge of another and he had need to vaile his bonnet often as a testimonie of that honor he giues to those from whom he hath borowed his arte A wise man is like him that liues vpon his owne reuenewes for wisdome is properly a mans owne it is a naturall good well tilled and laboured Thirdly the conditions are diuers the one more beautifull and more noble than the other Learning or Science is fierce presumptuous arrogant opinatiue indiscreet querulous scientia inflat 2. Science is talkatiue desirous to shew it selfe which neuerthelesse knowes not how to do any thing is not actiue but only fit to speake and to discourse wisdom acteth and gouerneth all Learning then and wisdome are things very different and wisdome of the two the more excellent more to be esteemed than science For it is necessarie profitable to all vniuersall actiue noble honest gracious cheerefull Science is particular vnnecessarie seldome profitable not actiue seruile mechanicall melancholicke opinatiue presumptuous We come now to the other point and that is that they are not alwaies together but contrarily almost alwaies separated 19 Learning and wisdome meete not together The naturall reason as hath been said is that their temperatures are contrarie For that of science and memorie is moist and that of wisdome and iudgement drie This also is signified vnto vs in that which happened to our first parents who as soone as they cast their eies vpon knowledge they presentlie desired it and so were robbed of that wisdome wherewithall they were indued from their beginning whereof we euery day see the like in common experience The most beautifull and florishing states Common-weales Empires ancient
OF WISDOME THREE BOOKES WRITTEN IN FRENCH by PETER CHARRŌ Doct of Lawe in Paris Translated by Samson Lennard AT LONDON PRINTED For Edward Blount Will Aspley Gulielmus Hole fecit The subiect and order of these three Books THe First Booke teacheth the knowledge of our selues and our humane condition which is the foundation of Wisdome by fiue great and principall considerations of man and conteineth 62. Chapters The Second conteineth the principall rules of Wisdome the priuileges and proper qualities of a wise man and hath 12. Chapters The Third in a Discourse of the foure Morall vertues Prudence Iustice Fortitude Temperance setteth downe the particular instructions of Wisdome in 43. Chapters TO THE MOST HIGH AND MIGHTY Prince HENRY Prince of GREAT BRITAINE Sonne and Heire apparent to our Souereigne Lord the King DEceit is in the heart of them that imagine euill but to the Counsellers of peace shall be ioy It is the saying most excellent Prince of the wisest Prince that euer liued and it is the vnspeakable happinesse of vs that liue vnder the gratious gouernment of your renowmed Father that he doth not onely approoue what he sayd but practise it too and in the whole course of his gouernment findes it to be true for peace he counselleth and ioy and peace and content he enioyeth nay it is by his wisdome and prouident care that we are all at peace with the whole world and the whole world with vs a blessing that few Kingdomes of the earth do truly enioy and the greatnesse whereof we know not because we enioy it Jt is an Argument vnto my selfe of that inward peace that his Highnesse hath with God and his owne soule for Pax a nobis incipit quia dum lex carnis repugnat legimentis non modò alteri sed nec nobis possumus esse pacifici sed postquam intus spiritus imperat vt totus homo spiritui seruiat tunc pax ad alios deriuatur vt pacem cum omnibus habeamus And he that neuer spake but wisely sayth When the wayes of a man please the Lord he will make all his enemies at peace with him Euer may all his enemies be at peace with him and he with his enemies and let all that loue the peace of our Jerusalem say A men This peace right excellent Prince whose nature it is to turne swords into mattocks souldiers into husbandmen for as much as my education made mee not fit for that hath turned my sword into a penne Then my profession was armes and J fought for peace which since we now enioy J thought J should dishonour so honourable a profession too much to be idle and abuse so excellent a blessing as peace is by making it the mother of so vntoward a childe Heerupon J hung vp my sword to rust in the scabbard till good occasion might draw it forth againe and long J had not thoght with my selfe which way I might serue my King and my Country in these peaceable times but this booke fell into my hands which when I had read I thoght woorthy the translation and though I had no reason to thinke the translation worthy your Highnes protection yet the matter fittest for a Prince and your Princely clemencie to others in the like kinde haue emboldened me to become humble petitioner to your Highnes that you would be pleased to honor the excellencie of the worke with your patronage and protect my infirmities The subiect of this worke is Wisdome And what fitter for a Prince If you honor it it will honor you as it hath done your royall Father whom it hath crowned with honour as with a garland made the mirrour of Princes and the woonder of the world Long may you liue an heire apparent to his virtues and to his Kingdomes and when God shall haue turned his earthly crowne into a crowne of glorie long may you reigne a glorious Sonne of so glorious a Father Your HIGHNESSE in all humblenes of duty to be commanded Samson Lennard To the Reader I Doubt not gentle Reader but some there are that will not gently censure these my labours for I am not ignorant how hard a thing it is to please all Some are curious whom if I should endeuour to please I should displease my selfe Some are enuious and those I care not whether I please or no. As for the iudicious Reader I confesse I would willingly content him because if he be truly iudicious he will iudge of my faults as if they were his own and rather commend my good endeuors than condemne my infirmities This is the man whom I desire to satisfie and must giue to vnderstand that I haue vsed a plaine English phrase because the grauitie of the matter required it and I loue not to smell of the inkhorne and of all others I haue auoided the French wherein it was written because I would not haue it seeme to be a translation The Latine I haue left vntoucht and if that be a fault I disburden it vpon the Author He did it and why not I And if hee thought all French men vnderstood it why should not I haue as good a conceit of my Countreymen If he thought none fit to reade his booke but such as vnderstood it it is no fault in me if I thinke so too Howsoeuer or whatsoeuer my ouersights may be which I doubt not but a curious eie may make too many let it suffice that I acknowledge mine owne weaknesse and both in respect of the tongue and weight of the matter if selfe should not haue presumed to haue vndergone so heauy a burden had I not been encouraged by my learned iudicious and honest friend M. Roger Webb sometime student and fellow of S. Iohns Colledge in Oxford from whose fulnesse I am not ashamed to confesse I haue receiued that little sufficiencie whatsoeuer it be that is in me and whose learned assistance I haue vsed both in the cull and altering of such points as were either erroneous or not otherwise fit to passe the presse If any man shall thinke that by this ingenious acknowledgment of his worthinesse I detract from mine owne sufficiencie it sufficeth my turne if I adde vnto mine owne honestie by yeelding this thankfull requitall of his loue towards me and his labors bestowed vpon me which forasmuch as they were not mercenarie but friendly and neighbourly they do binde me the rather with my labours to honour him Touching the Authour of this Worke I can say little because I knew him not let his worke commend him and as for the worke let it commend it selfe for I had rather with silence passe that ouer which I can not sufficiently commend than derogate any thing from the worth thereof by speaking too little Let me only say That if I haue any way wronged him in these my labors by turning him out of his holy dayes sute into his worky-dayes apparell I am sorie for it it was not my purpose so to do but to honor
so high as when it is most deiected So that it must needs be miserable because to be happy it must be as it were lost and without it selfe This toucheth not in any sort the diuine disposition for God can to whom and when it pleaseth him reueale himselfe man in the meane time continuing setled in his sense and vnderstanding as the scripture makes mention of Moyses and diuers others 16 To conclude can there be a greater fault in iudgement than not to esteeme of iudgement not to exercise it and to preferre the memory and imagination or fantasie before it We see those great goodly and learned orations discourses lectures sermons bookes which are so much esteemed and admired written by men of greatest learning in this age I except some few what are they all but a heape and collection of allegations and the labours of other men a worke of memory and reading and a thing very easie being all culled and disposed to their hands and heereof are so many bookes composed with some few poynts handled with a good instruction or two a worke of imagination and heere is all This is many times a vanity and there appeareth not in it any sparke of iudgement or excellent vertue so likewise the authours themselues are many times weake and common in iudgement and in will corrupted how much better is it to heare a countrey swaine or a merchant talking in his counting-house discoursing of many goodly propositions and verities plainely and truely without arte or forme and giuing good and wholesome counsell out of a sound strong and solide iudgement In the will there are as many or rather more miseries and 11 Of the Will more miserable they are without number among which these following are some few of them 1 To be willing rather to seeme an honest man than to be and rather to be such to another than to himselfe 2 To be farre more ready and willing to reuenge an offence than to acknowledge a good turne in such sort that it is a corsiue to his heart to acknowledge pleasure and gaine to reuenge a proofe of a malignant nature gratia oneri est vltio in quaestu habetur 3 To be more apt to hate than to loue to slaunder than to commend to feede more willingly and with greater pleasure vpon the euill than the good of another to enlarge it more to display it more in his discourse and the exercise of his stile witnesse Lawyers Oratours and Poets who in reciting the good of any man are idle eloquent in euill The words inuentions figures to speake ill to scoffe are farre otherwise more rich more emphaticall and significant than to prayse or speake well 4 To flye from euill to doe what is good not properly for the good effect by naturall reason and for the loue of vertue but for some other strange consideration sometimes base and idle of gaine and profit vaine-glory hope feare of custome company and to be briefe not simply for himselfe and his duty but for some other outward occasion and circumstance all are honest men by occasion and accident And this is the reason why they are such vnequally diuersly not perpetually constantly vniformely 5 To loue him the lesse whom we haue offended and that because we haue offended him a strange thing and which proceedeth not alwayes from feare that he will take occasion to be reuenged for it may be he wisheth vs neuer the worse but it is because his presence doth accuse vs and brings to memory our fault and indiscretion And if the offendour loue not the offended the worse it is because the offence he committed was against his will for commonly he that hath a will to offend loues him the lesse whom he hath offended Chi offende mai non perdona He that offends neuer forgiues 6 As much may be sayd of him to whom we are much bound for courtesies receiued his presence is a burthen vnto vs he putteth vs in minde of our band and duty he reprocheth vnto vs our ingratitude and inabilities and we wish he were not so we were discharged of that duty Villaines by nature Quidam quo plus debent magis oderunt leue aes alienum debitorem facit graue inimicum 7 To take pleasure in the euill hurt and danger of another to greeue and repine at his good aduancement prosperitie I meane when it is without cause of hatred or priuate quarrell for it is another thing when it proceedeth from the ill desert of a man I speake heere of that common and naturall condition whereby without any particular malice men of indifferent honestie take pleasure to see others aduenture their fortunes at sea and are vexed to see them thriue better than themselues or that fortune should smile more vpon others than them and make themselues merry with the sorrow of another this is a token of a malitious seed in vs. To conclude that I may yet shew you how great our 12 The conclusion of these spirituall miseries misery is let me tell you that the world is replenished with three sorts of people who take vp much roome therein and carry a great sway both in number and reputation the superstitious formalists Pedanties who notwithstanding they are in diuers subiects iurisdictions and theaters the three principall religion life or conuersation and doctrine yet they are all of one stamp weake spirits ill borne or very ill instructed a very dangerous kind of people in iudgement and touched with a disease incurable It is lost labour to speake to these kind of people or to perswade them to change their minds for they account themselues the best and wisest in the world opinatiue obstinacie is there in his proper seate he that is once stricken and touched to the quick with any of these euils there is little hope of his recouery Who is there more sottish and withall more braine-sick and heady than these kind of people Two things there are that doe much hinder them as hath been spoken naturall imbecillitie and incapacitie and afterwards an anticipated opinion to do as well and better than others I do heere but name them and point them with the finger for afterwards in their places heere quoted their faults shall be shewed more at large The Superstitious iniurious to God and enemies to true religion couer themselues with the cloke of pietie zeale and 1 Superstitious See Lib. 2. Cap. 5. loue towards God euen to the punishing and tormenting of themselues more than is needfull thinking thereby to merit much and that God is not only pleased therewith but indebted vnto them for the rest What would you do to these kind of people If you tell them that they do more than they need and that they receiue things with the left hand in not vnderstanding them aright they will not beleeue you but tell you that their intent is good whereby they thinke to saue themselues and that they do it for deuotion Howsoeuer they
others prouokes them to enuie extreame iealousie furie despaire and to attempt fortunes Plato calleth them the plagues of a Common-wealth But which of the two is the more dangerous is not thorowly resolued amongst all According to Aristotle it is abundance for a State needs not doubt of those that desire but to liue but of such as are ambitious and rich According to Plato it is pouertie for desperate poore men are terrible and furious creatures for wanting either bread or worke to exercise their arts and occupation s or too excessiuely charged with imposts they learne that of the mistresse of the schoole Necessitie which of themselues they neuer durst to haue learned and they dare because their number is great But yet there is a better remedie for these than for the rich and it is an easie matter to hinder this euill for so long as they haue bread and emploiment to exercise their mysteries and liue they will neuer stir And therefore the rich are to be feared for their owne sakes their vice and condition the poore by reason of the imprudencie of gouernours Now many Law-makers and great States-men haue gone 2 Against the equalitie inequalitie of riches about to take away these two extreamities and this great inequalitie of goods and fortunes and to bring in a mediocritie and equalitie which they called the noursing-mother of peace and amitie and others likewise haue attempted to make all things common which could neuer be but by imagination But besides that it is impossible to establish an equalitie by reason of the number of children which increase in one familie and not in another and that it can hardly be put in practise although a man be enforced and it cost much to attaine thereunto it were also inexpedient and to small purpose and by another way to fall into the same mischiefe for there is no hatred more capitall than betwixt equals the enuie and iealousie of equals is the seminarie of troubles seditions and cruell warres Inequalitie is good so it be moderate Harmonie consisteth not of like sounds but different and well according Nihil est aequalitate inaequalius This great and deformed inequalitie of goods proceedeth from many causes especially two the one is from vniust lones as vsuries and interests whereby the one eat the other and grow fat with the substance of another qui deuorant plebem sicut escam panis The other from dispositions whether amongst the liuing as alienations donations endowments in mariages or testamentaries by reason of death By both which meanes some doe excessiuely increase aboue others who continue poore The heires of rich men marrie with those that are rich whereby some houses are dismembred and brought to nothing and others made rich and exalted All which inconueniences must be ruled and moderated by auoiding excessiue extremities and in some sort approching to some mediocritie and reasonable equality for to haue either entire is neither possible nor good nor expedient as hath beene sayd And this shall be handled in the vertue of Iustice FINIS OF WISDOME THE SECOND BOOKE Conteining the generall instructions and rules of Wisdome THE PREFACE Wherein is conteined a generall portrait of Wisdome and the summe of this Booke HAuing in the First Booke layd open vnto man many and diuers meanes to know himselfe and our humane condition which is the first part and a great introduction to Wisdome we are now to enter into the doctrine and to vnderstand in this Second Booke the generall rules and opinions thereof reseruing the more particular to the Third and last Booke It is worthiest consideration and as a Preamble to the rest to call man vnto himselfe to taste sound studie himselfe to the end he may know and vnderstand his defects and miserable condition and so make himselfe capable of holsome and necessarie remedies which are the aduisements and instructions of wisdome But it is a strange thing that the world should take so little care of it owne good and amendment What wit is it for a man to be vtterly carelesse that his businesse be well done Man would only liue but he eares not to know how to liue well That which a man should especiallie and only know is that which he knowes least and cares least to know Our inclinations designments studies are as we see from our youth diuers according to the diuersitie of natures companies instructions occasions but there is not any that casteth his eies to the other side that indeuoreth to make himselfe wise not any that ruminateth hereupon or that doth so much as thinke thereon And if perhaps sometimes he do it is but by chance and as it were passing by and he attendeth it as newes that is told which concerneth him not at all The word pleaseth some well but that is all the thing it selfe is neither accounted of nor sought for in this world of so vniuersall corruption and contagion To vnderstand the merit and worth of wisdome some kind of aire or tincture of nature is necessarie for men are willing to vse studie and indeuor rather for those things that haue their effects and fruits glorious outward and sensible such as ambition auarice passion haue than for wisdome whose effects are sweet darke inward and lesse visible O how much doth the world erre in this account it loueth better the wind with noise than the bodie it selfe the essence without it opinion and reputation than veritie Man as hath been said in the first booke is nothing but vanitie and miserie vncapable of wisdome Euery man hath a taste of that aire which he breatheth and where he liueth followeth the traine and custome of liuing followed by all how then should he aduise himselfe of any other We follow the steps of another yea we presse and inflame one another we inuest our vices and passions one into another no man stayes vs or cryes hola vnto it so much do we faile and mistake our selues We haue neede of some speciall fauour from heauen and withall a great and generous force and constancie of nature to note that common error which no man findeth in aduising and consulting of that which no man considereth and resoluing our selues quite contrarie to the course of other men There are some though rare I see them I vnderstand them I smell them with pleasure and admiration but what they are all Democrites or Heraclites the one sort do nothing but mock and gibe thinking they shew truth wisdome enough in laughing at error and follie They laugh at the world for it is ridiculous they are pleasant but not good and charitable The other are weake and poore they speake with a low voice their mouths halfe open they disguise their language they mingle and stuffe their propositions to make them passe more currantlie with so many other things and with such arte that they are hardly discerned They speake not distinctly clearely assuredly but doubtfully like oracles I come after them and vnder
them but I speake in good sooth that which I thinke and beleeue clearely and perspicuously I giue heere a picture with certaine lessons of wisdome which perhaps may seeme to some new and strange and such as no man in former time hath giuen in such a fashion and I doubt not but malitious people who haue neither patience nor power to iudge truly and wisely of things malitiously condemne whatsoeuer agrees not with their palat and with that which they haue alreadie receiued But that is all one for who is he that can assure himselfe of the good opinion of all But my hope is that the simple and debonairie the Aetherian and sublime spirits will iudge indifferentlie These are the two extremities and stages of peace and serenitie In the middle are the troubles tempests and meteors as hath beene Lib. 1. said To the end we may haue some rude and generall knowledge The diuision of this Booke into 4. parts of that which is handled in this booke and the whole doctrine of wisdome we may diuide this matter into foure points or considerations The first are preparatiues to wisdome which are two the one an exemption and freedome from all that may hinder the attainment thereof which are 1 Preparatiues either the externall errours and vices of the world or inward as passions the other is a plaine entire and vniuersall libertie of the mind These two first and the more difficult make a man capable and apt for wisdome because they emptie and cleanse the place to the end it may be more ample capable to receiue a thing of so great importance as wisdome is magna spatiosares est sapiētia vacuo illi loco opus est superuacua ex animo tollenda sunt And this is the first Afterwards they make him open free always ready to receiue it This is the secōd The second are foundations of wisdome which are likewise two true and essentiall probitie and to haue a certaine 2 Foundations end and course of life These two respect nature they rule and accommodate vs thereunto the first to the vniuersall nature which is reason for probitie or honestie as shall be said is no other thing the second to the particular of euery one of vs for it is the choice of the kind of life proper and fit for the nature of euery one The third belongs to the raising of this building that is to say offices and functions of wisdome which are six whereof 3 Offices the three first are principallie for euery one in himselfe which are pietie inward gouernment of our desires and thoughts and a sweet cariage in all accidents of prosperitie and aduersitie the other three respect another which are such an obseruation as is necessarie of lawes customes and ceremonies a sweet conuersation with another and prudence in all affaires These six do correspond and comprehend the foure morall vertues the first fourth and fift do properly appertaine to Iustice and to that which we owe to God and our neighbour the second and third to Fortitude and Temperance the sixt to Prudence And therefore these six are the matter and subiect of the third booke which handleth at large the foure morall vertues and in particular the offices and duties of a wise man but in this booke they are handled in generall The fourth are the effects and fruits of wisdome which are two to be alwaies readie for death and to maintaine a 4 Fruites mans selfe in true tranquillitie of spirit the crowne of wisdome and the soueraigne good These are in all twelue rules and lessons of wisdome diuided into so many Chapters which are the proper and peculiar foot-steps and offices of a wise man which are not found elsewhere I meane in that sense wherein we take them and now describe them For although some of them as honestie the obseruation of the lawes seeme to be found in others of the common and prophane sort yet not such as we heere require and decipher them to be He then is wise who mainteining himselfe truly free and noble is directed in all things according to nature accommodating his owne proper and particular to the vniuersall which is God liuing and carying himselfe before God with all and in all affaires vpright constant cheerefull content and assured attending with one and the same foote all things that may happen and lastly death it selfe CHAP. I. Exemption and freedome from errours and the vices of the world and from passions The first disposition to Wisdome IT is heere necessarie for the first lesson and instruction vnto wisdome to not the knowledge of our selues and our humane condition for the first in euery thing is well to know the subiect wherewith a man hath to do and which he handleth and manageth to bring to perfection But we hold that to be alreadie done for it is the subiect of our first booke We can only say heere as a summary repetition of all that hath beene spoken that a man aspiring vnto wisdome should aboue all things and before all other works sufficientlie know himselfe and all men besides This is the true science of man very profitable a matter of great studie fruit and efficacie for man is all in all It is proper to a wise man for only he that is wise knowes himselfe and he that knowes himselfe well is wise It is very difficult for man is extreamely counterfeited and disguised not only man with man but euery man with himselfe Euery one takes a delight to deceiue himselfe to hide to rob to betray himselfe Ipsi nobis furto subducimur flattering and tickling himselfe to make himselfe laugh extenuating his defects setting a high price of whatsoeuer is good in himselfe winking of purpose lest he should too clearely see himselfe It is very rare and sought for by a few and therfore no maruell if wisdome be so rare for they are very few that do well know this first lesson or that do studie it there is not a man that is master to himselfe much lesse to another In things not necessarie and strange there are many masters many disciples In this point we are neuer with nor within our selues we alwaies muse of outward things and man better knoweth all things than himselfe O miserie O madnesse To be wise in this point it is necessarie that we know all sorts of men of all aires climats natures ages estates professions to this end serues the traueller and the historie their motions inclinations actions not only publicke they are least to be regarded being all fained and artificiall but priuate and especially the more simple and peculiar such as arise from their proper and naturall iurisdiction as likewise all those that concerne them particularly for in these two their nature is discouered afterwards that we conferre them all together to make an entire bodie and vniuersall iudgement but especially that we enter into our selues taste and attentiuely sound our selues examin
or to make head against it This mind then wholly new and neat soft and tender doth easily receiue that impression that a man will giue vnto it and afterwards doth not easily lose it Now this is not a thing of small importance but a man may rather say it is the most difficult and important that may be For who seeth not that in a state all depends vpon this Neuerthelesse and it is the greatest most dangerous and lamentable fault that is in our policies noted by Aristotle and Plutarch wee see that the conduct and discipline of youth is wholly left vnto the charge and mercie of their parents what kind of men soeuer they be many times carelesse foolish wicked and the publike state regardeth it not cares not for it whereby all goes to ruine Almost the only states that haue giuen to the lawes the discipline of children were that of Lacedemon and Creet But the most excellent discipline of the world for youth was the Spartaine and therefore Agesilaus perswaded Xenophon to send his children thither for there saith he they may learne the most excellent science of the world and that is to commaund and to obey well and there are formed good Lawyers Emperours at armes Magistrates Citizens This youth and their instruction they esteemed aboue all things and therefore Antipater demaunding of them fiftie children for hostages they answered him that they had rather giue him twise as many men at their ripest yeares Now before we enter into this matter I will heere giue an aduertisement of some weight There are some that take great paines to discouer the inclinations of children and for what imployment they shall be most fit but this is a thing so obscure and so vncertaine that when a man hath bestowed what cost and taken what paines he can he is commonlie deceiued And therefore not to tie our selues to these weake and light diuinations and prognostications drawne from the motions of their infancie let vs indeuor to giue them an instruction vniuersallie good profitable whereby they are made capable readie and disposed to whatsoeuer This is to goe vpon a sure ground and to do that which must alwaies be done This shall be a good tincture apt to receiue all others To make an entrance into this matter we may referre it vnto three points the forming of the spirit the ordering of 9 The diuision of this matter the bodie the ruling of the maners But before we giue any particular counsell touching these three there are generall aduisements that belong to the maner of proceeding in this businesse that shew vs how to carie our selues worthily and happilie therein which must be first knowne as a preamble to the rest The first is carefullie to gard his soule and to keepe it neate and free from the contagion and corruption of the world The first generall aduice touching instruction To gard the eares that it receiue not any blot nor wicked attainture And the better to do this he must diligentlie keepe the gates which are the eares especiallie and then the eies that is to say giue order that not any no not his owne father come neere vnto him to buz into his eares any thing that is euill There needs no more but a word the least discourse that may be to make an euill almost past reparation Gard thine eares aboue all and then thy eies And for this cause Plato was of opinion that it was not fit that seruants and base persons should entertaine children with discourse because their talke can be no better than fables vaine speeches and fooleries if not worse This were to traine vp and to feede those tender yeares with follies and fooleries The second aduice concerneth not only the persons that must haue charge of this child but the discourse and conference 11 The second generall aduice touching the choice of instructors Conference Bookes wherewith he must be entertained and the bookes he must reade Touching the persons they must be honest men well borne of a sweet and pleasing conuersation hauing their head well framed fuller of wisdome than of science and that they agree in opinion together lest that by contrarie counsels or a different way in proceeding the one by rigour the other by flatterie they hinder not one another and trouble their charge and designments Their bookes and communication must not be of small base sottish friuolous matters but great and serious noble and generous such as may rule and inrich the vnderstanding opinions maners as they that instruct a man in the knowledge of our humane condition the motions and mysteries of our minds to the end he may know himselfe and others such I say as may teach him what to feare to loue to desire what passion is what vertue how he may iudge betwixt ambition and auarice seruitude and subiection libertie and licentiousnes He is deceiued that thinketh that there is a greater proportion of spirit required to the vnderstanding of those excellent examples of Valerius Maximus and all the Greeke and Romane histories which is the most beautifull science and knowledge of the world than to vnderstand Amadis of Gaule and other like vaine and friuolous discourses That child that can know how many hennes his mother hath and who are his vncles and his cosens will as easilie carrie away how many kings there haue beene and how many Caesars in Rome A man must not distrust the capacity and sufficiency of his mind but know how to conduct and manage it The third is to carrie himselfe towards him and to proceed 12 The third generall aduice Instruction milde and free not after an austere rude and seuere manner but sweetly mildly cheerefullie And therefore we do heere altogether condemne that custome which is common in all places to beat and to box and with strange words and outcries to hazen children and to keepe them in feare subiection as the maner is in free-schooles collēdges For it is a custome too vniust and as foule a fault as when a Iudge or Physitian shall be moued to choler against an offender and patient preiudiciall and quite contrarie to that purpose that a man hath which is to stir vp a desire in them and to bring them in loue with vertue wisdome science honesty Now this imperious and rude cariage breeds in children a hatred horrour and detestation of that they should loue it prouoketh them makes them head-strong abateth and taketh away their courage in such sort that their mindes become seruile base and slauish like their vsage Parentes ne prouocetis ad iracundiam silios vestros ne despondeant animum For seeing themselues Coloss 3. thus handled they neuer performe any thing of woorth but curse their master and their apprentishippe If they doe that which is required at their hands it is because the eie of the master is alwaies vpon them it is for feare and not cheerefullie and noblie and therefore not honestly If
they can robbe from other men they suffer their owne proper good to fall to the ground and neuer put it in practise They on the other side that studie not hauing no recourse vnto another take a care to husband their naturall gifts and so prooue many times the better the more wise and resolute though lesse learned lesse gainers lesse glorious One there is that hath said as much though otherwise and more briefly That learning marreth weake wits and spirits perfecteth the strong and naturall Now hearken to that counsell that I giue heereupon A man must not giue himselfe to the gathering and keeping 22 Good discipline the opinions and knowledges of another to the end he may afterwards make report of them or vse them for shew or ostentation or some base and mercenary profit but he must vse them so as that he may make them his owne He must not onely lodge them in his minde but incorporate and transubstantiate them into himselfe He must not onely water his minde with the deaw of knowledge but he must make it essentially better wise strong good couragious otherwise to what end serueth studie Non paranda nobis solùm sed fruenda sapientia est He must not doe as it is the maner of those that make garlands who picke heere and there whole flowers and so carry them away to make nose-gaies and afterwards presents heape together out of that booke and out of this booke many good things to make a faire and a goodly shew to others but he must do as bees vse to do who carie not away the flowers but settle themselues vpon them like a hen that couereth hir chicken and draweth from them their spirit force vertue quintessence and nourishing themselues turne them into their owne substance and afterwards make good and sweet honie which is all their owne and it is no more either thyme or sweet mariarom So must a man gather from bookes the marrow and spirit neuer enthrawling himselfe so much as to retaine the words by heart as many vse to do much lesse the place the booke the chapter that is a sottish and vaine superstition and vanitie and makes him lose the principall and hauing sucked and drawne the good feed his mind therewith informe his iudgement instruct and direct his conscience and his opinions rectifie his will and in a word frame vnto himselfe a worke wholly his owne that is to say an honest man wise aduised resolute Non ad pompam nec ad speciem nec vt nomine magnifico sequi otium velis sed quo Tacit. firmior aduersus fortuita rempublicam capessas And heereunto the choice of sciences is necessarie Those that I commend aboue all others and that best serue to that 23 2 The second aduice touching the choice of sciences end which I propose and whereof I am to speake are naturall and morall which teach vs to liue and to liue well nature and vertue that which we are and that which we should be vnder the morall are comprehended the Politicks Economicks Histories All the rest are vaine and frothie and we are not to dwell vpon them but to take them as passing by This end of the instruction of youth and comparison of learning and wisdome hath held me too long by reason of 24 3 The means to learne the contestation Let vs now proceede to the other parts and aduisements of this instruction The meanes of instructions are diuers especiallie of two sorts the one by word that is to By word of mouth say by precepts instructions and lectures or else by conference with honest and able men filing and refining our wits against theirs as iron is cleansed and beautified by the file This meanes and maner is very pleasing and agreeable to nature The other by action that is example which is gotten not 25 By example only from good men by imitation and similitude but also wicked by disagreement in opinions For some there are that learne better by the opposition and horror of that euill they see in another It is a speciall vse of Iustice to condemne one that he may serue for an example vnto others And old Cato was wont to say That wise men may learne more of fooles than fooles of wise men The Lacedemonians the better to disswade their children from drunkennesse made their seruants drunken before their faces to the end that seeing how horrible a spectacle a drunken man was they should the rather detest it Now this second meanes or maner by example teacheth vs with more ease and more delight To learne by precepts A comparison of these two is a long way because it is a painefull thing to vnderstand well and vnderstanding to retaine well and retaining to vse and practise well And hardlie can we promise our selues to reape that fruit which they promise vnto vs. But example and imitation teach vs aboue the worke or action it selfe inuite vs with much more ardour and promise vnto vs that glorie which we learne to imitate The seed that is cast into the earth draweth vnto it selfe in the end the qualitie of that earth whereunto it is transported and becomes like vnto that which doth there naturallie grow So the spirits and maners of men conforme themselues to those with whom they commonlie conuerse Now these two maners of profiting by speech and by example 26 From the liuing are likewise twofold for they are drawne from excellent personages either liuing by their sensible and outward frequentation and conference or dead by the reading of their bookes The first that is the commerce with the liuing is more liuely and more naturall it is a fruitfull exercise of life which was much in vse amongst the ancients yea the Greeks themselues but it is casuall depending on another and rare It is a difficult matter to meete with such people and more difficult to make vse of them And this is practised either by keeping home or by trauelling visiting strange countries not to be fed with vanities as the most do but to carie with them the knowledge and consideration especiallie of the humours and customes of those nations This is a profitable exercise the bodie is neither idle nor tyred with labour for this moderate agitation keepes a man in breath the mind is in continuall exercise by marking things knowen and new There is not a better schoole to forme the life of man than to see the diuersitie of so many other liues and to taste a perperuall varietie of the formes of our nature The other commerce with the dead by the benefit of their bookes is more sure and more neere vnto vs more constant 27 From the dead by bookes and lesse chargeable He that knowes how to make vse of them receiueth thereby great pleasure great comfort It dischargeth vs of the burthen of a tedious idlenesse it withdraweth vs from fond imaginations and other outward things that vex and trouble vs
such is the course of the world so it changeth and so it is accommodated Vir sapiens nihil indignetur sibi accidere sciat que illa ipsa quibus laedi videtur ad conseruationem vniuersi pertinere ex his esse quae cursum mundi officiumque consummant 2 Particular effects diuers The particular effects are diuers according to the diuers spirits states of those that receiue them For they exercise the good relieue and amend the fallen punish the wicked Of euery one a word for heereof wee haue spoken elsewhere 1. Lib. of the three verities cap 11. These outward euils are in those that are good a very profitable exercise and an excellent schoole wherein as Wrestlers and Fencers Mariners in a tempest Souldiers in dangers Philosophers in their Academies and all other sorts of people in the serious exercise of their profession they are instructed made and formed vnto vertue constancie valour the victorie of the world and of fortune They learne to knowe themselues to make triall of themselues and they see the measure of their valour the vttermost of their strength how farre they may promise or hope of themselues and then they encourage and strengthen themselues to what is best accustome and harden themselues to all become resolute and inuincible whereas contrarily the long calme of prosperitie mollifieth them and maketh them wanton and effeminate And therefore Demetrius was wont to say That there were no people more miserable than they that had neuer felt any crosses or afflictions that had neuer beene miserable calling their life a dead sea These outward euils to such as are offenders are a bridle to stay them that they stumble not or a gentle correction 3 Medicine and chastisment and fatherly rod after the fall to put them in remembrance of themselues to the end they make not a second reuolt They are a kinde of letting bloud and medicine or preseruatiue to diuert faults and offences or a purgation to voide and purifie them To the wicked and forlorne they are a punishment a sickle 4 Punishment to cut them off and to take them away or to afflict them with a long and miserable languishment And these are their wholsome and necessarie effects for which these outward euils are not onely to be esteemed of and quietly taken with patience and in good part as the exploits of diuine iustice but are to be embraced as tokens and instruments of the care of the loue and prouidence of God and men are to make a profitable vse of them following the purpose and intention of him who sendeth and disposeth them as pleaseth him Of outward euils in themselues and particularly AN ADVERTISEMENT ALl these euils which are many and diuers are priuations of their contrarie good as likewise the name and nature of euill doth signifie And therefore as many heads as there are of good so many are there of euils which may all be reduced and comprehended in the number of seauen sicknesse griefe I include these two in one captiuitie banishment want infamie losse of friends death which are the priuations of health libertie home-dwelling meanes or maintenance honors friends life whereof hath beene spoken before In the first booke at large We will heere inquire into the proper and particular remedies and medicines against these seuen heads of euils and that briefly without discourse CHAP. XXII Of Sickenesse and griefe WE haue said before that griefe is the greatest and to say the truth the onely essentiall euill which is most felt and hath least remedies Neuerthelesse behold some few that regard the reason iustice vtilitie imitation and resemblance with the greatest and most excellent It is a common necessitie to indure there is no reason that for our sakes a miracle should be wrought or that a man should be offended if that happen vnto him that may happen vnto euery man It is also a naturall thing we are borne thereunto and to desire to be exempted from it is iniustice we must quietly endure the lawes of our owne condition We are made to be old to be weake to grieue to be sicke and therefore we must learne to suffer that which we cannot auoid If it be long it is light and moderate and therefore a shame to complaine of it if it be violent it is short and speedily ends either it selfe or the patient which comes all to one end Confide summus non habet tempus dolor Si grauis breuis Si longus leuis And againe it is the body that endureth it is not our selues that are offended for the offence diminisheth the excellencie and perfection of the thing and sicknesse or griefe is so far from diminishing that contrarily it serueth for a subiect and an occasion of a commendable patience much more than health doth And where there is more occasion of commendation there is not lesse occasion of good If the body be the instrument of the spirit who will complaine when the instrument is imploied in the seruice of that whereunto it is destinated The body is made to serue the soule if the soule should afflict it selfe for any thing that hapneth to the bodie the soule should serue the body Were not that man ouer delicate curious that would cry out and afflict himself because some one or other had spoiled his apparell some thorne had taken hold of it or some man passing by had torne it Some base broker perhaps would be aggrieued therewith that would willingly make a commoditie thereof But a man of abilitie and reputation would rather laugh at it and account it as nothing in respect of that state and abundance that God hath bestowed on him Now this body is but a borrowed garment to make our spirits for a time to appeare vpon this lowe and troublesome stage of which onely we should make account and procure the honour and peace thereof For from whence commeth it that a man suffereth griefe with such impatiencie It is because he accustometh not himselfe to seeke his content in his soule non assuerunt animo esse contenti nimium illis cum corpore fuit Men haue too great a commerce with their bodies And it seemeth that griefe groweth proud seeing vs to tremble vnder the power thereof It teacheth vs to distaste that which we must needs leaue and to vnwinde our selues from the vanity and deceit of this world an excellent peece of seruice The ioy and pleasure we receiue by the recouerie of our health after that our griefe or sicknesse hath taken his course is a strange enlightning vnto vs in such sort that it should seeme that nature hath giuen sicknesse for the greater honor and seruice of our pleasure and delight Now then if the griefe be indifferent the patience shall be easie if it be great the glory shall be as great if it seeme ouer-hard let vs accuse our delicacie and nicenesse and if there be but few that can indure it let vs