infunde into the eares of yong meÌ„ the precepts of Vertue Notwithstanding the liuely instruction excelleth the mute For we reade that therfore many Philosophers trauailed many couÌ„treys neyther left they any vnseene as Pyhatgoras Empedocles Democritus and Plato occupied vsed nauigatioÌ„ very oft to obtaine therby that moste amiable Ladye Vertue and with their perigrinatioÌ„s and long iourneys they sought hir out curiously for they could not be conteÌ„ted nor satisfyed with the shadowed candle dropped study which they might haue had betwixte two walles but coÌ„ferred themselues thether where any worthy thing was to bee learned not bookes but perfite and skilfull Philosophers or instructours There are foure kinde of bookes of Authours princicipally to be reade which be the workes of Poets wryting honestly the painefull labours of Historiographers the wyse discrete and sage sayings of Philosophers and the deuine sense of sacred scripture Honest Poetes doe so much conduct and lead to an honest life that the most famous and lerned Cities of the Greekes in tyme paste did bring vp and educate their children firste in Poetes affirming Poetes only to be wyse sage and seuere In Poets children are taught Vertue as Horace sayth in his Epistles most truly Horatius Os purum tenerum balbumque Poeta figurat Mox etiam pectus preceptis format amicis Instruit exemplis inopem solatur egrum The tender stutting childishe mouth the Poet shapes aright And then with frendly precepts doth the heart and breast adight With good examples doth he then instruct the childishe boy He comfortes eke the nedy men whom sicknesse doth anoy Secondly the worthy Historiographers which declare vnto vs the famous gestes ciuill maners and happy fortunes of noble and worthy men by whose laudable lyfe we may se the way of well lyuing and by whose temeritie or vnlucky destinie we maye foresee to lyue more circumspectly which is a goodlye thing to vse others rashnesse to our temperance as Diodorus sayth Diodorus It is a faire thing by other mens faults to amende our owne maculous lyfe and by the example of others to knowe what is to be desired and what is to be eschewed An Historie sayth Beroaldus doth greatly profyte Beroaldus after that that is honest detesting and adnihilating the vicious extolling the sincere and godly suppressing the peruers and wretched Thirdely the bookes of the milde Philosophers which declare and enforme vs of the documentes and precepts of Vertue as the ten bookes of Aristotle intituled his Ethicke Ciceros thrée bookes of Offices Lactantius works de deuina institut Erasmus of the institutioÌ„ of a ChristiaÌ„ Prince manie mo which haue liuely vertuously frendly depainted and sette forth the trade of an honest lyfe Fourthly and last of all the bookes of holy scripture which declare and teach howe we shoulde knowe God whom to know a creator of all thinges and he to be but one onely is the dere true and perfecte wisdome of man Lactantiê° lib. 2. as Lactantius wryteth in his seconde booke ¶ Pouertie ought not to be repugnant to Vertue IT is not to be esteemed that manye accuse and condeÌ„ne pouertie wherby they can lesse apply the study of Vertue For as Apuleius sayth pouertie was in old time house seruant to the Philosophers neither was any knowen to ascende to any dignitie whome pouertie had not enutried and brought vp euen froÌ„ their infaÌ„cy Pouertie in auncient tyme was conditrix and edificatrix of all Cities the gouernour and guide of al artes cleare of all faultes the liberal rewarder of all prayse whome all nations haue extolled and magnificenced with all prayse and glory Therefore Apuleius sayth thus if any man be oppressed with pouertie let him imitate Cleantes a Philosopher who constrained through pouertie labored by night drawing water to the intente that he mighte prouide for to buye his victuall fode in the day by which meanes he mighte the more commodiously apply hys study let him therfore labour while time is that he may conciliat whereby to liue and obtayne Vertue which commeth vnto the paynefull labourers hande Seneca Whervpon Seneca sayth thus VirtuteÌ„ in Templo inuenies in Foro in Curia per muros stanteÌ„ puluerulentam colorataÌ„ callosas habenteÌ„ manê° qui nihil aliud videtur osteÌ„dere quam quod etiam laboriosos homines virtus adiuuat amplectitur Thou shalt finde vertue in the Temple in the Market place in the Court standing before the walles all dustie al to be painted with durte hauing harde handes wherby it is to be perceyued that Vertue doth also loue and imbrace laborious men ¶ Whether Vertue can be adopted without learning IN case adueÌ„ture some would say there be many vnlerned men which neuer at any tyme adhibited their mindes to study and yet are reputed and estemed men of an honest lyfe and conuersation It is to be aunswered euen as some ascend vnto Vertue by their singuler wit without learning Cicero de oration as Cicero in his booke of Orations testifieth saying I haue knowen many notable wittie men vertuous wtout learning who haue bene by nature modest and graue And this also doe I often ascribe vnto Vertue nature to be of muche more excellencye without learning than learning without nature And againe euen the same I coÌ„tend wheÌ„ as eloquence the grouÌ„d of learning is ioyned with an excelleÌ„t and noble nature then do I not know what shall continue egregious notorious This spake Cicero verye prudently ¶ Of excercise and practise YEt beside witte and science thirdely he must vse the helpe of exercyse otherwise he studieth friuolously to seeke Vertue Cicero nouae rhetor lib. 3. As Cicero testifieth in his thirde booke of newe Rethoricke In omni disciplina infirma est artis praeceptio sine summa assiduitate excitationis tuÌ„ vero in memoriis minimum valet doctrina nisi industria labore diligeÌ„tia comprebetur In euery discipline the precept of Art is feble and of no force vnlesse it be sedulously exercised And also doctrine preuayleth nothing in memorie except with great industrie labour and diligence it be proued Lactan. lib. 3. And Lactantius in his thirde boke sayth that Artes are therefore learned not that they shuld be only knoweÌ„ but also exercised that they shoulde be vsed eyther for the helpe of mans lyfe or for pleasure or else for glory and worthy fame Cicero in officiis Cicero in his booke of Offices sayth that al the prayse of vertue coÌ„sisteth not in the knowledge of Vertue but in the function thereof that is it availeth but litle to know what Vertue is what is honest and what is vicious but to vse and exercisce vertue it selfe ¶ How that this exercise of the science which thou knowest or hast had is the way to get vertue WHo so desireth the fruit and commodity of true Vertue and sincere honestie out of those .iiij. bokes that is to say of Poetrie Historiographie
The Gouernement of all estates wherein is contayned the perfect way to an honest life gathered out of many learned Authors a boke right profitable for all estates but especiallie for the trayning bringing vp of the yonger sort written in Latin by that excellent learned man Andreus Hesse Translated into Englishe IMPRINTED at London by Henry Denham for Thomas Hacket and are to be solde at his Shop in Lumbart streate N. B. In prayse of this booke WHose steps do traine to tast the sweet pleasant water spring Incumbent at the Muses féete to winne Minerues ring Approch the fountain top and Well the pleasant flouds to gaine Of HellycoÌ„ wher Nymphes do dwel and wisedome hath the raigne Imbrace with ioy hir darlings all that yéeldes to thée a crowne With hand in haÌ„d through Pallas hall to foote it vp and downe Here vertue shines here siluer streames here sacred life hath place Here Phoebus with his glistring beames appeares with golden face Here helth with welth here quiet ease here ioy and frendship growes Here medicines torned life to pease here truth and honour flowes Therefore as once before come nie Sicilides doth call And willing of thy companie bids welcome to them all To the Reader NOthing is more profitable in this world gentle Reader than honest precepts good counsels worthie and godly perswasions how to flée vice and follow vertue which is the best and chiefest part of all Philosophie for by this meanes coÌ„mon wealthes are maintained the true limmit or direction of life frequeÌ„ted and all good godly families gouerned This meane the auncient Senatours or coÌ„scribed fathers of Rome with others in tymes past haue followed yea the HeatheÌ„ Poets Philosophers also hauing tasted of the same The scope of their whole workes doth tende to no other end but to the gouernment of man howe he should vse him selfe in modestie counselling him selfe in temperance by practise fortitude and imitate iustice Also the holy Scripture whiche is the touchstone of all truth that excellent Iewell of our saluation and the bright Lantern of sinceritie hath also taught vs the way to all perfection of life righteousnesse holinesse and saÌ„ctification The principal meane aboue all others whereby thou mayst learne what maÌ„ is at such time as he liueth in the feare of God walketh vprightly in his calling So all eruditioÌ„ being agréeable vnto the Scriptures may and ought to be enthraced as a guide or Rector of mans life vnto vertue as this booke which is named the GouernmeÌ„t of all estates bicause it treateth of the trayning bringing vppe of man from his childhoode or as Terence wryteth ex Ephoebis taÌ„quam till his olde age wherin ye may learne to attaine to the perfection of a probe or honest life First written in the Latine tongue by the excellent man Hermannus Hessus wherevnto is added the institution of a Christian man by Adrianus Barlandus and now translated into English by those who doe wish thy furtherance Gentle Reader take this in good part and in so doing thou shalt cause them to thinke their labours wel bestowed and encourage them to do greater things to thy godly furtherance and profite If that as mindfull of Demosthenes thou accept their labour and momentarie practise Hauing this consideration that as the Philosopher requesting of an old woman the steppes of his passage and she by the assigning of hir finger declared the same surrendred with a beÌ„ded knée thanks for hir demerits then they not yet requesting so much curtesie shal be the willinger moued by this their industrie to race or ingresse into a sequence enterprise Thus coÌ„mitting thée to the tuitioÌ„ of God I bid thée fare well Vale in Christo ⧠To Babes and Sucklings COme forth ye babes learn now to trade your liues in liuing pure Beholde the path of blissefull state good chaunce doth you assure This little booke full tender yeares doth manifest and show How for to breake those braunches yll that on such grafts do grow It doth declare the thing the which The Philosophers olde In wrytings graue to iudge for best by reasons law were bolde What thing doth passe a mean the same is counted worst of all What thing is best within a meane the same doth neuer fall Thus haue the wysest counted it and we the same suppose This doth our filthie brutish life to all mennes eyes disclose For none within a meane can kepe it is a state to base We loue it well but that it doth our euill life deface It chaunced once Diogenes in Market place to bée Where as of men a great frequent he chaunced for to sée To whom aloude he cryed out ye men come vnto me The people then what that he would do runne straight way to sée Supposing that he had some thing vnto them for to say The which they him desire forthwith to them for to display He answered straight I calde not you but I for men did call And sure I am that not one man there is among you all And after that beholding well a stripling yong to giue Him selfe vnto Philosofie thereby to learne to liue Well done ê™ he thou callest those to puritie of minde Whom carnall beautie with hir sleights indeuoured hath to blinde Thus mayst thou sée what auncieÌ„t me accompted haue for best And what in goodnesse of this lyfe surmounteth all the rest And as he hath deserued so rewarde him for his paine Iudge right first read follow likewise hereby then shalt thou gaine FINIS J. P. What an honest lyfe is whereof it consisteth and what profite aryseth thereof ¶ The first Chapter SEing therefore man was created into thys world after all thynges were made as lord ruler of theÌ„ all Gene. 1. appointed as Gods husbandman here in earth he ought so to direct the course of his life that he may please his Caesar God that by death being called into the Heauenly Pallace Court of his Caesar as kings and princes were wonte to be called of the humaine mortall Caesars may giue his accoÌ„pt of his good husbandrie and gouernement And least he should not be able to do this he ought at al times to liue a noble probable and a Princely or honest life And to leade an honest life is nothing else than in conditions to differ from a bruite beaste and as much as by nature a man may to lyue moste lyke vnto God which consisteth in nothing els but in vertue is to flie vice and follow honestie for that is the office and ende of vertue And that the honestie and the lyfe wherwith God is most pleased doth consist by Vertue Saint Augustine testifieth sayng Virtutem esse artem bene viuendi that is Vertue to be the art of well lyuing Mantuanus and also Baptista Mantuanê° doth expresse with these wordes what vertue is and howe great commodities it bringeth to man Virtutis querimonium I am dame fortunes Maistresse of vice the scourging
glory thereof ¶ How to lead an honest and vertuous lyfe ¶ The second Chapter WHosoeuer desyreth to lyue an honest vertuous lyfe he muste obserue two necessary poyntes First that he prepare his mind whereby he may become worthy of vertue and honestie Secondlye that his minde thus prepared he seeke and searche out howe and by what meanes he maye attayne vnto Vertue The preparation of the minde must be coÌ„passed by thre things that is by a willing prompt desyre that his desire be to will that he profite in vertue for it is a great help to honesty to haue a desire to become honest for there is nothing so difficulte which may not be comprised by a willing minde so is there nothing harder than to make an vnwilling persoÌ„ willing whervpoÌ„ ryseth this Prouerbe Stultum est canes inuitos ducere venatum It is a fond thing to make vnwilling houndes hunt that is to compell a nilling man to any kinde of labour is in vaine wherefore Cornicus sayth nothing is so easye but maye be made vneasie if thou do it with an vnlustie minde Lactantius in his firste booke de instit christianorum Lactan. lib. 1. de instit Christi sayeth that Vertue it selfe oughte to be adored and not the Image of Vertue And it ought not be worshipped with any sacrifyce oblations frankincense or solemne supplication but wholly with a voluÌ„tarye and determined minde And the minde thus desirous and stirred to seke vertue must moreouer be suffulced and protected with two other precepts whiche are patience and abstinence that it sustaine suffer abide much paine and trauaile and withdrawe affection from all thinges and especially from things voluptuous Who so doth feruentlye desyre vertue must be very patieÌ„t and much suffering that he abide and beare the burthen of aduersitie and the payne of his labour quietly that he suffer aduersitie Virgilius Aened 6. And as Virgil sayth in his sixt booke of Eneidos Non cedat malis Giue not place nor be moued with any missehap or chaunce but boldely manly stoutly withstande and resiste the same For as Valerius in hys sixt booke sayth Valerius lib. 6. Euernos animos virtus odisse solet Vertue doth coÌ„temne adnihilate the weake and feble minds that is to say Vertue doth hate enuie those greatly whiche be of fearefull mindes which dare not enterprise any thing and which also vse no coÌ„stancy in their doings Moreouer to proue patience and abstinence guides teachers to seeke vertue Horace declareth playnely in these verses following Horatius Qui studet optatam cursu contingere metam Multa tulit fecitque puer sudauit alsit Abstinuit venere Baccho Who so hath inclinde him selfe to hit the wished marke His childish yeres haue suffered much and eke compiled much worke In burning heate in pinching colde his time he hath consumde From Venus sports Bacchus chéere him selfe he hath amoude Prudentius also that Christian Poet Prudentuis doth declare in these verses following howe that pacience muste nedes be the way and guide to him that seketh to Vertue Omnibus vna comes virtutibus associatur Auxiliumque suum fortis patientia miscet Nulla anceps luctameÌ„ init virtute sine ista virtus naÌ„ vidua est quaÌ„ noÌ„ patientia firmat Desine grande loqui fraÌ„git deus oÌ„ne superbuÌ„ Magna caduÌ„t inflata crepaÌ„t tumefacta promuÌ„tur Disce supciliuÌ„ deponere disce cauere Ante pedes foueaÌ„ quisquis sublime minaris Peruulgati viget nostri sententia Cbristi ScaÌ„dere celsa humilis et ad ima reddere voraces If trauail thine do race and tende the vertuous steps to gaine To pacience lore thy study bende associate thou hir traine Permit a tyme forbeare for ease proude mindes to ruine fall Let humblenesse thy fury pease the voyce of Christ doth call ¶ Of Abstinence ANd many skilful Clarks haue approued also Abstinence froÌ„ petulaÌ„cious desires voluptuous affectioÌ„s to be very nedeful to the seker of Vertue Cicero nouae rhetor lib. 4. as Cicero lib. 4 nouae Rethoricae saith Qui nihil in vita habet iucundius vita voluptuaria cuÌ„ virtute vitam colere non potest He that in hys lyfe estemeth nor regardeth nothing more than hys volupiuous and wanton lyfe can not inhabit with Vertue And also Valerius Maximê° in his fourth boke saith Valerius Maximus lib. 4. That Citie whose Inhabitants are most giueÌ„ to pleasaÌ„t delights loseth hir Empire and dominion neither can that Citye kepe or defende hir owne liberty and fredome but contrarywise that Citie whose Inhabitours doe wholly incline them selues to labour doth rule and is able to giue libertie and fredom to others Lactan. lib. 6. Lactantius also in hys sixt booke wryteth that there be three kindes of Vertues Wherof the first is to refraine euill factes nefarious workes the seconde is to tye thy tongue froÌ„ sclaundering backbyting and obserious talking the thirde is to expell all euill wicked and malicious cogitations thoughtes and premeditations from out thy minde He that followeth the first is a vertuous man He that followeth the second is a perfect vertuous man if so be that he offende neither by worde nor by deede And he that followeth the thirde followeth the likenesse for it is aboue humaine nature to passe the cogitation therof which should neither be nequitious to be done or vicious to be spoken Therfore he that seketh vertue must nedes vse the helpe of pacience and abstinence By whose helpe ayde he may beare and abide aduerse fortune and greate labour quietly abhorre ydlenesse and imbrace sweate and labour Hesiodus For Hesiodus the Poet sayth that the Gods haue placed Vertue in the highe and alte places that he which woulde winne hir should seke hir with much sweat and grieuous trauell For which consideration many Philosophers haue speÌ„t much more Oyle than Wyne haue suffred muche sweate and haue but little or nothing at all giueÌ„ them selues to idlenesse for idlenesse debilitateth and weakeneth vertue and coÌ„trariwyse labour vpholdeth sufficeth hir And abstenence is also very necessarye to abstayne from vicious liuing For Vertue as Horace sayth Horatius is nothing else but a secluder of vice And when as thou hast thus instructed and prepared thy minde that is with a voluntarie will with pacience and abstinence then must thou seeke inquire of the learned bokes and monumentes of the famous Clearkes which is the way to afcende vnto Vertue and honestie for they teach and provulgat and especially Laertius in his booke de vitis PhilosophoruÌ„ Laertius de vitis Philoso that eche doctrine requireth thre things which are nature instruction and vse that is to say wit learning and exercise ¶ These thrée are nedefull to Vertue FIrst a sharpe wit whetted and not blunt as the Beotians Plato for Plato sayth that none can be perfect wyse that is to say perfect vertuous vnlesse he
Philosophie and holy Scripture it is necessarie he learne the accustomed maner of Bees in the collectioÌ„ of their honie The Bees are accustomed when as they gather hony to flie about diuers floures to tast many floures and of the iuyce thereof to excerpe sucke somewhat and then to carye some of the moysture thereof in to their Hyues which they lay downe and fardel vp together to compound hony therof thus frequenting and doyng this often they conserue and coÌ„glomerate muche hony on heapes in length of tyme which is a sweete fruite of their labours euen so muste the desirous to be vertuous which also wissheth to come to the state of a man vse a quadruple exercise The first exercise is that he excerpate annote in a voide booke as the keper of memory whatsoeuer he shal reade or be taught which mai be a furtherance to eloquence and Vertue For an egregious man must haue the vse of them both as Cicero testifieth in his fyrste booke of his olde Rhetoricke affirming that wisdome without eloquence helpeth little to the gouernment of Cities and eloquence withoute wisdome doth hinder more than profite Let euery Student therefore make him two voyde bookes in which he shall wryte both what he hath heard and also what he hath read in the one to annote fine sugred sentences in other vertuous precepts like a couetous man who heapeth vp treasures for which he hath dyuers chestes specially where he putteth his siluer where he putteth his golde alone This exercise did Plinie the coÌ„positor of the naturall History vse and imitate of whom Plinie his seconde vncle wryteth that he neuer read any thing worthy to be noted but he comitted it to writing The second exercise is to conceale such annotations in the retentiue memorie and that he thinke to vse them often as Macrobius wryteth in his sixte booke saying Macrobiê° lib. 6. the best moste profitable way of reading and hearing is to immitate those which seeme moste probable to conuert the sayings of other to some vse of thine whiche thou thinkest most graue and most to be admyred which accustomed maner the pleasant Latines as also the noble Gretians were wont to vse which is not onely to heare any Authour to learne his wordes or to vnderstande his oration or phrase of speaking but of his learning and doctrine to collect the mellifluous eloquence and right way of liuing euen as meate receiued onely in the mouth nothing nourisheth the body except it discende into the stomacke and there concoqued and sodden in the ende conuerte to fleshe and bloude so neyther the lesson that is hearde or read profiteth any whit the student vnlesse it be conferred to some vse of talking and more wisdome The third exercise is this to drawe euery day a lyne by example of the Painter Appelles who would dayly were he neuer so sore occupyed about other affayres depaynt or drawe one lyne at the least And so doth the couetous man put dayly one piece of siluer into his treasury for many littles make a great as Hesiodus the Poet sayth Hesiodus Paruula si tentas super adiecisse pusillis idque frequenter peragas magnus cumulatur aceruê° Which is If thou adde or put little to little vse it eftsones therof riseth a great heape And in this exercise it is not to be laboured howe much we learne dayly but how wel Therfore Appelles answered an vnskilful Painter who gloried that he had draweÌ„ an Image sodenly I doe not maruell at this sayth he for thou mayest drawe many moe such foolishe pictures quickly Wherfore we ought to follow that witty sentence of Cato Sat cito si stat bene Cato Inoughe well done is done quickely inough Wherevpon Augustus Caesar vsed this adage Augustus Caesar Matura lente Haste not to much in thy worke but do it wiselye wtout muche temerity or rashnesse For the soft circumspect space profiteth more than the swifte hedlong course without all wit and reason The fourth and laste exercise is to reporte and reuolue at night whatsoeuer was learned the day before whiche vse Cato vsed as Philel wryteth in his booke de educa puero And Apuleius writeth of a certaine people in India which are called Gymnosophistae which knowe neither to inhabit their lande nor the vse of tillage neither to bridle horses neither to tame bulles neither to shere sheepe yet they adored wisdome greatly Both auncient maysters as also yong ryping scholers haue nothing in more contempt than the sluggish slouthfulnesse of the minde For when as their table was spred redy for dinner and before meate was set thereon all the yong men from diuers places and offices came to Dine Then woulde the mayster inquire of eche of theÌ„ what good he had done that day from the rysing of the sunne Then one would remember howe he had set two at vnitie and concord An other woulde say he had obeyed his parents commaundementes another would say he had founde something by practise and an other woulde say he had learned somewhat And he which coulde shew nothing was thrust dinnerlesse out of the dores to worke And so ought euery studeÌ„t at night to practise with him selfe the propertie of sheepe whose nature is that when towardes night they be driuen from out the medowes vnto the fieldes they do eate and chaw againe their meate that they haue gathered of al the day before and therefore they surrender milke into their pastors In likewise ought the enamored with vertue to repeate at nighte both what he hath read also what he hath hearde both which be grouÌ„ded on eloquence and also which be godly and vertuous in doctrines And secondly that he turne into milk that is that he vse to seeme profitable and honest of liuing that others may se wherin he hath profited euen as the sheepe shewe their pasture by their milke to haue eaten grasse not to haue spent the day idlelie And also it shall be verie profitable to examine with another whether he hath profited more in eloqueÌ„ce or in vertue For wheras he conferreth with others eyther of theÌ„ proueth what he knoweth what he doth not know Whervpon Sueto in his boke of the institutions of Grammarians sayth Sueto that in the olde time in scholes of learning it was the accustomed maner that the scholers shoulde in the fore noone contend the one with the other in disputations and in the after noone recite those disputatioÌ„s and arguments by roote ¶ What comelinesse vertue and honestie eche man ought to kéepe in all ages THe lyfe of Vertue or honestie consisteth in two thinges Firste in the comely or nature of it self And secondly in the decent and honest behauiour toward others as Macrobius testifieth saying that by Vertue a good man is made gouernour and ruler ouer him selfe and consequently ouer the coÌ„mon weale First it is nedefull that euery man rule him selfe before he instruct others
in his booke de Orat. hath this saying Pietas nihil aliud est quà m humanitas erga pareÌ„tes Piety is nothing else thaÌ„ gentlenesse to our parents Franciscê° Phile. de educat liberoruÌ„ Franciscus Philel de educat liberoruÌ„ wryteth in his thirde Chapter of the same boke concerning the dutie of chyldren to their parents that albeit they bee not able during their life to render sufficient grateful thaÌ„ks yet they ought to do to the vttermost of their power what they may vsing them most gently most curteously attending on them diligently fauoring their benigne perswasioÌ„s obeying their easy commaundements to proue allow their willes pleasures deliberations eyther to goe or to tarry eyther to spouse at their determinatioÌ„s as though they were diuine and celestiall wordes and coÌ„maundements not to rebell or mutter when as they shal be stirred with the instigation of coller paciently to abide their mines threatnings But when as they shall bid or commaund that which is vnhonest or vnlawful to refuse but gentlely reuerently without cursing or euill speaking ¶ What chaunce hath befallen them which haue not giuen eare to their parents teachings THey which haue beene wicked and froward to their parents haue neuer prospered as olde wryters do recorde Orestes a Gretian bycause he slewe his mother Clytemnestra was traÌ„sformed into one of the furyes of hell And Naero a Romain Prince bicause he was a parricide ouer his mother was euer after couÌ„ted for the most tyraunt on earth In the auncient time within the Citie of Rome the parents slayers were yerked and punished with a most vile death for they were included within a sack of leather with the coÌ„panie of dogs serpents and cockes and so dimitted headlong into the deapth of the Sea ¶ Of the duetie towardes our Scholemasters COnsequently after our parents we owe reuerence to scholemasters and instructors for they are other parents for which consideratioÌ„ the GeÌ„tiles would haue scholmasters in the place rowme of parents Iuuenal As Iuuenall writeth in his Satires For Scholemasters are parents of minds for they giue the lyfe of the mind that is to say knowledge and vertue where as parents giue but onely the life of the body In respect whereof scholemasters are to be regarded nexte after parents and are worthy of no lesse reuerence Phille li. 4 Cap. 7. For as Phill. wryteth in his fourth booke seauenth Chapter it is dayly seene how they flourish in learning which haue obeyed their Scholemasters documentes Amongst whom Traianus the Emperour triumphed Caesar coÌ„mended and praysed of al men in his time for his excellent singuler vertue And this maÌ„ reuerenced adored his master Plutarch most willingly and worthily M. Antonius a Romaine the holyest most syncere Prince did erect golden Images in his house in the honour of his Scholemasters Cicero also the Prince of eloquence for that he was esteemed the fynest Latinist in earth he celebrated his masters seuerally and by name in his egregious workes And as many as haue at any tyme exceeded in learning and honestie haue worshipped feruently loued worthyly magnified and extolled their instructor by whom they receyued those former vertues ¶ Of those who haue dishonoured and defamed their instructors and Masters SVch as haue contemned vituperated their teachers haue in the end proued most dulheaded dolts and most vile and filthy in coÌ„ditions As amongst which Naero that cruel tyrant was chiefe whom all wryters condemne and accuse giltie of ouer much wickednesse for he slewe hys Scholmaster Seneca most cruelly and most villanously For in remunerating his stripes that he had suffered of his mayster in his youth instigated incontinently with the furious rage of coller for the currish mallice he bare vnto vertue vertuous men sent vnto hym by a Centurion to electe choose his death with diobolicall furie when as he perceyued desired to be sette in a vessell of hote water and to haue hys vaynes opened and so to dye which malecious crime and coÌ„tempt of his master declared the blunt fyled witte of Nuro Futhermore Beroal in orat prouerb Beroaldus in orat prouerb sayth that who so seeketh fame by the malidictioÌ„ backbyting of his Master shall become slaunderous him selfe shall be expulsed the company of honest men as a reprobate he shalll be feared as a Viper and he shal be a common hate as though he had slaundered his parents for the Master is the parent and the shape of the mind whom vnlesse we honor in euery place and among all men we haue condignely deserued to be called flagitious and malepert ¶ Offices towardes our Masters WHerefore we ought to shew foure kinde of duties towards our Masters First to loue them as entirely as our parents Secondly in all honestie to obey their commaundementes Thirdly to be gratefull and thankefull vnto them during this life Fourthly that we labour with vigilaÌ„t studie to become as expert in knoweledge as themselues or rather more This is a lawfull and and a decent coÌ„tention for scholers to coÌ„tend either to be equal with his master in knowledge and science eyther else to exceede him And so many haue growen more perite and skilfull than their Masters As Beroaldus gloryed that he had had many Masters in the ende reade lector to them all ¶ Towards our Kinsfolkes and Affinitie WHat our dewtie is towardes our Kinsfolkes Affinitie which are ioyned vnto vs in bloude eyther by father or mother syde our owne reasoÌ„ shal perswade vs sufficiently that we be vnto theÌ„ as vnto our selues to loue them as our selues for they are nothing else but euen as other we They are parts meÌ„bers of our bloude of our stock and of our progenie wherfore we take them for none other than the proper meÌ„bers of our owne body that whatsoeuer we would not haue done vnto vs that same we should depell from them no lesse to profite them than our selues otherwyse we shoulde be worthely called ingrate Euen as he is iustly termed a foole which fauoureth one parte of his body more than an other so he shall merrite the name of a thaÌ„klesse person which wil not be ready to helpe his cosin of his owne bloude both with ayde and also with counsell for the lawe of nature biddeth vs so to doe And in the Gospell of our Sauiour Iesus Christ we are coÌ„mauÌ„ded to loue our neighbors as our selfe And they are but right neighbours who be of our affinitie and kinred ¶ Towards Frends FIfthly we ought to reuerence our Frendes which reuereÌ„ce we are taught sufficiently of the most famous Clearks and especially of Cicero in his booke de amici For there are sixe duties to be done to our Frendes First demaund of our frends nothing which is indecore or dishonest neither to do ought for thy freÌ„des pleasure but that which shall be decent lawfull The second is to reioyce no lesse at thy frendes prosperitie than
rethoricae As Cicero testifieth in his .iiij. boke nouae Rhetor. saying Qui Adolescentum peccatis ignoscendum putant oportere falluntur propteria quod aetas illa noÌ„ est impedimento bonis studiis Apti sunt ad bona discenda non minus quaÌ„ mala At hii sapienter faciunt qui Adolescentes maxime castigant vt quibus virtutibus omnem vitaÌ„ possint tueri eas in aetate maturissima sibi comparent They that thinke it good to remitte yong men their faultes are deceyued for so much that age is a furtherance to good vertuous studies for they are apt prompt no lesse to learn goodnesse thaÌ„ vyce But they are most wyse who do chasteÌ„ yong men that in their rypest age they may gette suche vertues by which they may defende all their life after ¶ Of the offices and duetie of yong men YOng men haue dyuers offices First they must choose prepose and determine the trade of their lyuing which they will vse during their life as we read that Hercules did And as the Romaynes were accustomed to bring their yong men into the common Market place apparelled with gownes as men and there should they flyng abrode nuttes with which they had played a greate whyle They should reiect their former ages youthfulnesse and should endeuour to liue an honest mans life For he that wil liue amongst men must not excede the honest meane of lyuing Secondly Cicero lib. 1. officiorum as Cicero testifieth in his first boke of Offices A yong man ought to reuereÌ„ce his elders and by the good fatherly admonitions and syncere honesty of the best most godly of them to institute and prepose his kinde of liuing to brydle him selfe from lustes from all foolish appetites and that he exercise with labour with pacience and sufferance both of the body of the mind that he may be apte and fitte both for the warres for Ciuil affayres And when as he is disposed to recreate and quicken his sprites and giue him selfe to some pastime that he beware of intemperance but alway vse reuerence shamefastnesse not to be too prodigal and lasciuious but reuerent and specially in those thinges at which he would haue his elders and seniors present Furthermore that both in place in tyme they thinke them selues men and not beastes and for that cause their maners to exceede the maners and conditions of beastes and that they thinke them selues yong men and not children or babes to play as children neyther that they thinke them selues men or fathers that of them selues they should be wyse inoughe but that they lacke as yet instructions and godly lessons ¶ Of mans age THe fifth age is called mannes age when as a man is growen to his full rype age and that his body is past growth his beard buddeth from out his chinne And this age is most apt and fitte to receyue vertue and honestie For it is of force both by reason and of the body to embrace vertue For of the Latin word whiche is attrybuted to thys age that is to say Vir the name of Vertue is deryued for adding the sillable tus to this word Vir it is made Virtus For Vertue was firste nominated of this Latin worde Vir for a maÌ„ bicause that man onely is able to receyue and learne vertue ¶ Of the honest life of man MAnnes lyfe ought to be altogether honest and vertuous For he lyueth not a perfect honest life who vseth not all Vertues though he offende but in some Therefore a man ought to be prudent iust chast and strong He must be prudent that he may do eche thing prudently wisely and warely he must remeÌ„ber both what he hath spoken and what he hath done to order those thinges that he hath presently to do ryghtly to forcast and prouide for time to come whatsoeuer he doth to do it wysely and alway to forsee the ende for it is a filthie thing as Cicero sayth Cicero in the ende to say had I wist And Terence also in Adelphos sayth Terentiê° in Adelp Istud est sapere noÌ„ quod ante oculos est solum videre sed que futura sunt prospicere It is a wyse thing not onely to vse the time preseÌ„t but to forse the things to come He must be also iust hurting or daÌ„nifying none but frendly to all men to set vnity and concord betwene all men Moreouer he must be godly gentle in al his words and dedes faythfull trusty and constant For fayth as Cicero sayth is the foundation of iustice he must be also temperate in al things vsing a meane betweene two extremities modest chast moderate sparing sober and shamefast He must be strong withall not in the force of the body but in the operation of the minde not fearefull and weake minded in the tyme of trouble not to be dasht out of countenance with euery mishap or euill fortune but boldely to go against it Let him not be sodenly moued feared but be of a strong courage howe soeuer the matter chaunce or happen Yet let him brydle hys gredy desire and wrathful anger aboue all thinges neyther desire foolishe gawdes as children neyther let him moued with anger do any thing Therefore Plato being asked what maner of men was stroÌ„gest he answered he which can refraine his owne anger Finally a vertuous man oughte to obserue these two precepts First that he be such a one as he woulde haue him selfe counted to be As Cicero sayth in his second boke of Offices that Socrates sayd Cicero li. 2. offi the way vnto glory is short easy to be adopted if euery man study to be as he would he shoulde be esteemed The second precept is that he take héede least he lose the name of an honest maÌ„ by this precept of Ouid. Omnia si perdas famam seruare memento Ouidius Qua semel amissa postea nullus eris Which is in English If thou leese all thinges remember to kepe thy name honest fame which wheÌ„ thou hast lost thou shalt be regarded as no body And that euery man may kepe it let him learne and followe this precept of Horace Horatius written in his Epistles Inter cuncta leges percontabere doctos Qua ratione queas traducere lenitèr aeuum Amongst all thinges reade demauÌ„d the learned clarkes howe and by what meanes thou mayst lead thy life peaceably ¶ Of olde age THe sixt last age is olde age to the which age wisdome and prudencie are propriate which old men haue gotten and adopted either by the loÌ„g course of their lyfe either by knowledge or experience Wherfore their office and duetie is as Cicero sayth in his first booke of Offices Cicero li. 1. offi to adiuuate and helpe yong men their frendes and the publike weale with good councell and wisedome In consideration whereof Romulus the first builder of the Citie of Rome elected and chose an
hundreth aged persons as Lyuius writeth who for their counsell wisedome should haue the gouernement of the Citie And therefore of this worde Senibus for aged meÌ„ the Senat was called Senatus which is as muche to say as a collection or companie of olde aged meÌ„ that the old men should he Rectors and Guydes of Cities an example of honestie to yong men In which respect honour dignitie is attributed and giuen vnto them as to the Image portiture of wisedom the doctors and teachers of honestie and vertue Furthermore it is the office dutie of olde men to flye auarice and couetousnesse which raigneth in them plentifully and also that they eschew al slouth and lasciuiousnesse weighing with theÌ„selues what the grey haires in their heade and the croked body postulateth requireth Truly that they vse graue and vertuous maners and conditions and remember that they do dayly draw nearer nearer death and that their graue is at hand Their body is bowed downe towardes the ground whereby they may know that by death they shall immediately enter into earth Wherefore they ought to set a syde all the pleasures and delightes of the worlde and giue them selues wholy to loke for death and abyde his comming Wherefore it were good that they knewe this verficle of Horace Lusisti satìs edisti satìs atque bibisti Horatius Tempus abire tibi est ne potum largius aequo Rideat pulset lasciua decentius aetas Quae erga alios deuÌ„ et hoiÌ„es deceat honestas Now youthfull age hath run his race an hoarie heade we sée From trifling toyes Bacchus fare auerted looke thou bée For earth doth chalenge all hir right and death doth watch hir pray With stealing steps euen as by night the théefe doth vs assay Whilst time permits for mercy craue in vertue tende thy race Do good for yll so shalt thou haue in heauen a dwelling place Hodiè mihi crà s tibi Cito pede labitur aetas Dum vires annique sinunt tollerate laborem Iam venict tacito curua senecta pede ¶ The thirde Chapter IT auaileth but a little to haue the knowledge of vertue and honestie vnlesse it be practised and had in vre Cicero For Cicero in Offic. sayth Quod omnis laus virtutis non in cognitione sed in actione consistet The prayse of vertue consisteth not in knoweledge thereof but in the vsing function therof And in his boke de Amicitia Lib. de Amicitia he sayeth Tum virtutis praemium fructus maxime capitur quum in proximum quenque confertur The greatest fruit profite of vertue is when it is employed to the commoditie of all thy neyghbours The vse of Vertue must be referred both towards God also towards man for we were borne in the obedience both of God man NotwithstaÌ„ding we owe one duety towards God and another to man ¶ What our duety is to God wardes HOnestie to God wardes consisteth in the adoring and worshipping of god Lactantiê° lib. 3. As Lactant. wryteth in his third boke Seruiendum est religioni We must doe reuerence to religion the which who so doeth not imitate prostrateth him selfe towards the ground he foloweth the lyfe of beastes and vtterly secludeth all humanitie curtesie for in the knoweledging and worshipping of God all wisedome and sapience coÌ„sisteth onely Wherefore if any man wyll question with him who studieth perfect wisdome for what cause he was borne into thys worlde he will answere him by and by that he was borne to worship honour and obey the omnipotent and eternall God who created vs for that cause that we should serue him as our Lorde and creator ¶ Of our duety towards men IMmediately and nexte after God we owe a duetie and a reuerence towards men Lactantiê° For as Lactantius writeth in his booke It is the first office and duetie of iustice to be ioyned with God secondly with man And Christ in his sacred gospell sayth Loue thy Lorde God and thy neighbor as thy selfe Man ought to be as a God to men in mercy in lenitie pietie aiding the fatigated laborious helping the poore and nedy with foode and lyuing defending the fatherlesse and poore widdowes cause Secondly what we owe to euery man I shall declare hereafter ¶ Of our duety towardes our Countrey THe first and hyest place among men our natiue Countrey possesseth to whome the olde auncient Philosophers as Phille wryteth in his fourth booke de educat liberorum gaue the preeminence aboue parents Phil. li. 4. de educat liberoruÌ„ in consideration that we were more bound to our contrey thaÌ„ to our pareÌ„ts for which cause Plato Plato said that our Countrey claimeth part of our birth for we were born to profite oure Countrey for wee may profite our countrey fiue wayes or with fiue kinde of people first with labour for the honour and prayse of our Countrey to study and endeuour vs to be such and so to remaine as in time to come we may be an honour to our couÌ„trey and that it by the meanes of vs may aggregate heape vp glory to it selfe for euer Secondly if she be foolish and vnlearned to instruct hir with prudencie and counsell For it is our duetie to teach the ignorant Thirdly that we prouide and prepare our commoditie and profite that euen in the same we may be thankfull to the land which hath borne nourished brought vs vp Fourthly that we defende hir eyther with prudence or with streÌ„gth and force howsoeuer the time necessitie shall require Fifthly if nede require and that she can not otherwise be redemed ans deliuered that we prepare our selues euen to dy in hir defence and quarrel which death is esteemed and reputed most honest Herevpon Horace sayd Horat. Dulce decorum est pro patria mori which thing many men haue ventured as you may reade more plainly in Liuius workes ¶ Our duety towards our parents NExt after God and our Countrey we ought to reuerence and obey our parents as we are commaunded both by the sacred prophane scriptures and them we must also worship both wyth vertue and honestie We ought to shew fiue poynts of honestie towards our parents First in fulfilling their will and pleasure in honest things SecoÌ„dly in seruing them to the vttermost of our power Thirdly in honouring them both in wordes and dedes not to mutter or murmure against them In deede and iesture to reuerence them bare headed bended knees Fourthly in adorning vs that is to say by our profite in vertue knowledge that they may at some times get prayse and honour of vs in the presence of other not to degenerate from them in honest condicion vertuous lyuing Fifthly in nourishing them if that they be ouerladeÌ„ with pouertie or age whiche thinges beastes doe vse and especially the Curlewes who feede their parents in their olde age Cicero de Orat. And Cicero