at a knyghtes bridale and wolde not eate at the bridale of a cōmuner Yet also though the realme of Italy was scant theyr hartes were greatte for bycause one of their Marranes for so were their kynges called had shette his gates by nyghte for to slepe the surelyer he was depriued of his realme bycause a lawe was made that noo prynce shulde shette his gates nyght nor day for they saide they had made him kynge for to dryue awaye their ennemyes and not to be daintily nourished Tarquine the last kyng of the Romayns was vnkynde to his father in lawe diffamed his blod and kynrede was a traytour to his countrey cruell of his persone and aduoutrer with Luctece but for all that he was not called vngentyll nor infamed nor traytour nor cruell nor aduoutrer but he was named Tarquine the prowde bycause he was of ylle condicions and complexions And yet by the lawe of good menne I swere to you that if the sayd vnhappy Tarquine had had good wyll in Rome for the aduoutry of Lucrece he hadde not be put out of his realme for as moche as other greatter and more greuous harmes hadde benne doone before his tyme and also moche wors sithen by aged emperours in the empire the whyche crymes by theym commytted were suche that the offence of this frayle yonge man was but small in estimation For thynge certayne these prynces holde that if they gyue dyuers occasions for their yll wyll yet a lyttell thing suffiseth if he shewe that the hate that he hath is for none yll wyll but the hate that the subiecte hath to the lorde is bycause he hath no power ¶ Iulius Cesar the laste dictatour and firste emperour bycause he forgate to be a man among men but thinking to be a god amonge goddis beynge a lawdable custome that the senate shulde salute the emperour on their knees and the emperour to ryse courteysly agaynste theym bycause of a presumptuous mind he wold not kepe the seremonie he merited to lese his lyfe with .xxiii. strokes of pen kniues And as I saye of these so fewe a nombre I maye saye of many other The phisitions with a lyttel Rubarbe purge many humours of the body and the emperor with a littel beneuolence taketh many greues fro the stomakes of his subiectes The people owe obedience to the prynce and to do his persone great reuerence and fulfyll his cōmaundementes and the prince oweth egall iustice to euery man and meke conuersation to all men ¶ Marcus Portius sayde dyuers tymes in Rome That the publycke welthe is there perpetuall and without any sodayne falle where the prynce fyndethe obedience and all the people fyndethe loue with the prynce For of the loue of the lorde bredethe the good obedience of the subiecte and of the obedience of the subiecte bredeth the good loue of the lorde The emperour in Rome is lyke to a spider that is in the myddes of her webbe For if the sayde coppe webbe be touched with the poynte of a nedell forthwith the spider feleth hit I meane that all the werkes of the emperour in Rome benne streyghte waye knowen in all the erthe I beleue that this daye I haue bene iudged of humayne malyce for accompanyenge the processyon of the captiues and that I suffredde theym to towche me that they myghte enioy the priuilege of lybertie I yelde and gyue great graces to my goddis of my good happe bycause they haue made me pitifull for to delyuer prisoners and not cruell as a tyraunte for to make theym bonde that be free The prouerbe sayth One snare maye take two byrdes So it hath ben this daye for that benefyte rebounded onely to the myserable prisoners but the fauour to all theyr nations And doo ye not knowe that by the takyng away of their yrons I haue drawen to me the hartes of all theyr realmes and countreys Fynally hit is more sure to a prince to be serued with free hartes and loue of them that be at libertie than of subiectes constreyned with feare ¶ Howe themperour Marcus deuided the howres of the day for the busynesses of thempire Ca. xviii HEre before we haue shewid how this good emperour had great hatrede of men that were of yll lyuynge and that passed their tyme in ylle exercyse It suffiseth not the philosopher to repreue the vice of other by wordes but it is necessary that he do the werkis that he requireth other to do It is reason nowe to shewe howe this Emperour by his great prudēce compassed dispatched the great and huge busynesses of the empire the particularities of his householde the recreation of his persone thexercyse of his studies the infinite reasonynge with one and other with suche peyne takyng and in so shorte tyme. He was soo apte and wel aduysed that by hym there was no tyme yl spent Nor neuer fayled to dispatche the besynes of the empire And bycause the tyme is glorious of hym that gloriously spendeth it and the tyme is accursed that to our domage and without profyte to other passeth leauing vs ignorant as brute beastes He departed the tyme by times the order wherof was thus Seuen howres he slepte in the nyght and rested one howre in the daye At dyner and supper he wasted but onely two howres he deputed two howres for the matters of Asie Other two howres for the busynesse of Europe and Affrike and in conuersation of his house and with his wife and children seruantes and frēdes that came to see him he spente other two howres And for the outwarde besynesse as to here the complayntes of theym that were greued The suites of poore men wantynge iustyce the wydowes the robberies of pyckers of mychers and vacaboundes he deputed an other houre All the rest of the day and nyght in reding of bokes to write workes to make metres to studye antyquities to practyse with wise men to dispute amonge philosophers he passed thus ordinately in wynter And in sommer if cruel warres letted hym not or that he were troubled with great and hainous matters he went euer to bed at .ix. of the clocke and awoke at .iiii. It was of custome that emperours hadde euerlyghtes brennynge in their chaumbre And therfore whan he awoke bycause he wolde not be ydel he had euer a boke at his beddes heed And thus in redynge he spente the rest of the nyght tyll it was day He rose at .vi. of the clocke and made hym redy openly not angrely but merily he wolde demaunde of them that were presente howe they had spent all the nyght tyme. And there he wolde reherse what he had redde that nyght Whan he was redye he wolde washe his handes with very well smellynge waters for he was a great louer of al swete odours He had a good and a quycke smellynge Than in the mornynge before euery man he wolde take .iii. or .iiii. morselles of electuarie of sticados and two draughtes of Aqua vite After that in sommer he wold go forthwith
chylde the great Alexander Philip her husbande and father to the yonge chylde wrote a letter to Arestotle wherin he sayde I gyue greate graces to the goddes not all onely that they haue gyuen vnto me a sonne but bycause they haue gyuen him to me in the tyme that thou mayste be his mayster and he thy disciple Marc Aurele the emperour of whom this presente boke entreatethe he speakynge of hym selfe wrote to Polion these wordes Frende I wyl thou knowe that I am not made emperour by reason of the bloude of my predecessours nor yet for the fauour of my lynage nowe present but it was bycause I haue ben always a frende and louer of the sage people and enmy to them that haue noo good knowlege Ryght happy was Rome to chose so valyant an emperour and ryghte fortunate was that emperour to come to suche an empire not by patrimonye but by sagenes And if that aege was glorious in ioyinge of his persone no lesse it is to vs to ioye of his doctrines I wyll intitle this boke the Golden boke It maye be called golden bycause in so high estimation it holdethe the vertuous discoueringe in theyr tyme this boke with the sentences as these princes holdethe their myndes of golde in theyr Indes But I saye that at this houre there be moo hartes banyshed into the Indes of golde than to employ them to rede the werkes of this boke Salust saythe that there ought great glory be gyuen to them that haue done there hygh and great actes And that there oughte no les fame and renowme be gyuen to those that in a good style haue written them In this case I confesse to deserue noo merites for my traduction or any fame but I demaunde pardon of all them that be sage for the fawtes that they shall fynde therin For excepte the diuine letters there is nothynge soo well written but that there maye be founde necessitie of correction lyne and sensure Semed this to to be trewe by that Socrates was reproued of Plato and Plato of Aristotle Aristotle of Abenruyz Scilio of Sulpice Lelie of Varro Marinê° of Tome Enio of Horace Senec of Aule Gele Estratocles of Strabo Tesato of Galene Hermagore of Cicero Origen of saint Ierom saynt Ierome of Ruffyn and Ruffyn of Donate Sythe that in them and in theyr werkes there hath ben correctyon who were men of hyghe knowlege it is no reason that I shulde be in their fraternitie seinge that I knowe so lytel as I do to the examynation of wise and vertuous men To them I submyt this present warke and to theym that haue ben suche I them require to be contente to be the reders and not iuges therof It were no pacience to suffre nor lawe to permytte that a thynge that a sage personne with great maturite and delyberation hath written to be dispraysed by a symple persone For ones redynge oftentymes the auctours and wryters are dyspraysed not of them that can traduce and compose werkes but of them that can not vnderstande them and yet lesse rede theym I saye further of aduantage that dyuers haue written of the tyme of the sayde Marke Aureleo emperour as Herodian wrote lyttel Eutropio lesse Lampridio yet lesse Iulius Capitolyn some what more The writinges of them and of other semeth rather epitomes than histories There is difference betwene this writynge and that they wrote by herynge saye but they by whome I haue composed this present warke they were wytnesse by syghte and not by herynge of other but they wrote what they sawe them selfe That is to say among the maysters who lerned the said emperour their scieÌ„ces there were thre that is to say Iunto Rastico Cina Catule and Sexto Cheronense neue we to the greatte Plutarke These bene they that haue written this present historie Sexto Cheronense in greke and the other two in latyne I thinke of this historie is but small notice bycause vnto this houre it hath not be seene imprinted Whan I departed from the college of my study and wente to preache in the palays where I sawe soo many newe nouelties in the courtes I delybered my selfe with greatte desyre to knowe thynges and gaue my selfe to serche and knowe thinges aunciente And the case fortuned on a day redynge an historie I founde therin matter to be noted in a pistel and it semed to me so good that I put all myne humayne forces to serche farther And after in reuoluyng dyuers bokes serchyng in dyuers libraries and also speakynge with diuers sages of dyuers realmes finally I founde this tretise in Florence amonge the bokes left there by Cosme de Medicis a man of good memory I haue vsed in this writinge the whiche is humayne that that dyuers tymes hath ben vsed in diuinitie that is to reduce not worde for word but sentence for sentence We other interpretours are not bounde to gyue for the meane the wordes it suffiseth to gyue for the weyghte the sentence As the historiographes of whom there were dyuers and the historie that they made was all but one thing I wyl not deny but I haue left out some wordes which were not mete nor well sittynge rude and leaste of valure and I haue medled it with outher more swete and profitable I thynke that euery wyse man after he hathe redde this boke wyll not saye that I am the principal auctour of this warke nor yet to iuge me so ignorant to exclude me clene from it for so hygh sentences are not found at this presente tyme nor to so hygh a style they of tyme past neuer atteyned ⧠Here endeth the prologue ¶ Here begynneth the boke of the lyfe of the noble and eloquent Marke Aurely emperour ¶ Of the byrth and lyguage of Marke Aurele Anthony emperour cap. primo IN the yere of the foundation of Rome .vi. C. lxxxxv in the Olimpiade a. C.lxiii Anthony the meke beinge deed than consules Fuluie Caton and Gnee Patrocle in the hygh capytol the .iiii. daye of Octobre at the demaunde of all the people Romayn and consent of the sacred Senate was declared for emperour vniuersall of all the monarche of Rome Marc Aurely Antony This excellente baron was naturally of Rome borne in the mounte Celye And accordyng as Iulius Capitolyne sayth he was born the .vi. kalendes of May the whiche accordynge to the accompt of the latyns was the xxvi daye of the monethe of Apryll passed His father was named Anio Vero. For the occasion whereof the histories dyuers tymes calle hym Marc Anthony Vero. True it is that Adriane the emperour called hym Verissimus bycause in hym was neuer founde no lyes nor neuer fayled the trouth These Anius Veres was a lignage that auaunced them to be desceÌ„ded of Numa Pompilio and of Quintê° Curtius the famous Romayn whiche for to delyuer the towne of Rome from perylle and to gyue his persone perpetualle memorye of his owne good free wylle he yelded hym selfe to the same vorage that as than was sene in
confused for by her introduction the matter was moued And howe this mariage failed the historiens write not whom we haue folowed in this werke How Marke themperour fauored al noble exercyses and hated trewandes and fooles ca. xiiii THe vertues of this good emperour and the knowlege of sciēces the worthines in armes and the purenes of his liuinge caused hym to be named amonge the famous men of Rome The gentel conuersatiō that he had with euery man made him to be renowmed amonge the worthyest of al the worlde The thinge most agreable without reprehencion of the greattest meane and least is that a lord and prynce of many be communicable and conuersaunt with many All the good werkes of good men may be condemned with the yll intentions of theym that be ylle But the good condicions haue such a priuilege that of yl the good is praysed and the good approueth the yll In a mans lyuynge there is none so great a vyce but by good cōuersation it is couered and hid And contrary wise no crime is secrete but with ylle conuersation at the tyme that it hurteth it is more openly knowen Of two extremities hit is not so greuous to the common welthe a man to be weake and faynt in secretenes of gentyll conuersation abrode as it is of hym that is secrete and is rude of yll conuersation openly Dyuers not being of good order and policie we haue sene cōuersant a gret whyle in Rome only for beinge well condicioned And many mo we haue sene that in a short whyle after they were put in office haue ben soo proude and hasty in theyr condicions that they haue ben depriued from theyr offyces And this we say bicause this good emperour was so ioyous of vysage soo amyable in his customes so louynge in his conuersation that lyghtly he wolde caste his armes aboute the necke and on the shulders of them and take them by the handes that had any thynge to do with hym The porters shoulde not lette them that wolde accompany hym in the palays nor his garde was not so hardy to put abacke such as wold speke with hym in the fieldes In all his ages he applyed to that that euery age gaue hym by nature He was a childe amonge children yonge amonge yonge folkes worldely with them that were worldly good felowe with good felowes a baron amonge barons hardy with hardy men and finally olde with olde menne He was wonte to saye whan any in his presence that were yonge and not welle taught in their language iested at the debilitie of age or olde men at the foly of youth Leaue them sith they leaue you Many tymes of wyse yonge men cometh olde foles And of yonge fooles customably cometh wise olde men Naturalyte at the laste maketh all thynge in kynde As of greatte debilitie we canne drawe but smalle strengthe by our naturalitie we may for a tyme resiste it but not vtterly mayster it I am sore abashed that somme wyll be soo lordely and valiant in vertues and so hygh mynded and yet wyll make vs beleue that they lyuinge in the flesshe and being of fleshe onely fele not the fleshe I can not tel if nature hath made other of an other nature than I am of or me of an other nature thanne other be For I beynge neuer so faste inclosed in the swete conuersation of philosophy yea in the beste tyme this false flesshe wolle calleatte the gate with his noughtye fleshe The more that we reyse and exalte vs with science and gette lyberties the more lower we doo putte the flesshe with her myseries Beleue me one thynge that if a tree beareth not in Prymetyme his flowers we hope not to haue the fruite in harueste type and a yonge man that hathe not passed his youthe with yonge people we haue noo hope that he shulde passe his age with olde men And as we may resyste our naturalitie and not cleane to for do it so those fathers erre that are so extremely affectioned to haue theyr chyldren to begynne as olde men whervpon it foloweth that they ende as yonge This emperour was soo wyse in all thynges that amonge them that were mery he was of great myrthe And in verities he was very veritable In his pastimes he was greattely temperate and a louer of musike specially in good voyce and instrumentes and soore displeased if he harde any discorde therin He passed moste of his youthe in lernynge of sciences Whan he came to mannes state he exercised feates of knyghthode he loued disciplyne and not of adulation He was apt and happye in armes but yet in rydinge of horses he hadde ofte tymes yll happe In his yonge age he delyted to play at the tennys and at the chesse in his aege He loued not these counterfaytyng players of farces and mummeries and yet lesse trewandes that bene natural fooles iuglers and gesters for pleasure The players and gesters suffred great varietie in the empire accordynge to the diuersitie of emperours Iulius Cesar susteyned theym Octauian his neuewe droue theym away Caligula called theym agayne Cruell Nero banyshed them Nerua made theym come agayne Good Traian banyshed them out of al Italy Anthony Pius brought theym in ageyne And by the handes of this good emperour Marcus Aurelius they ended And the occasion was the Romayns dyd celebrate with great ioye the .iiii. day of May the great feaste of the mother Berecynte mother of all the goddis The sacred priestes flamines diales wold haue brought thyther these mynstrelles iugglers and gesters for to reioyce the feaste and contrarye wyse the holy nunnes vestales wolde haue done the same so that variance felle betwene theym some with force and somme with resistence and some ranne thider in fauourynge of bothe parties and not a fewe to departe theym The cruell and greate noyse of slaughter amonge them was suche that it tourned the feaste to wepynges the pleasures into sorowes and theyr songes into waylynges This good emperour laboured to pease this furie of the people and to sette peace among the neybours of Rome Whan all was done he made curious diligence to serche out all the players iuglers and iestours of Rome and in all the circuite of Italy that they might be chastised and Rome delyuered of them And for example of all the worlde he sente theym to the gate of Hostie and commaunded to sette them in Galies and to banyshe them for euer into the yles of Hellispont whiche was accomplyshed as the emperour commaunded And fro that daye was neuer sene at Rome iugler nor iester as longe as the emperour lyued But it passed not two yeres after his deathe but they retourned whan his sonne hadde the rule And excepte the bokes doo lye there was in Rome greatter nombre of fooles than of wyse men ¶ Of the good conuersation of this emperour Marcus Aurelius Cap. xv WE haue sayd of the hatred that this emperour had to trewandes reuelers getters iuglers gesters and suche other
it shalbe said it is by reason of the ignoraunce of hym selfe or by yll counsell of such as be about hym if goodnes succede to hym it shall not be attrybuted by reason of his good gouernaunce but that fortune hath suffered it and not by the circumspecte wysedome that he hath hadde in the meane seasone but that it was of the pitie that the goddis had of hym Than sithe it is thus a vertuous and a worthy prince in his ydell tymes ought secretely to rede is bokes and openly to common and counsell with wyse men And in case yll fortune wyll not permyt hym to take their counselles yet at the least he shal recouer credence among his subiectes I wil say no more to you but I estem the knowlege of a wise persō so moch that if I knewe that there were shops of sciēces as there is of other marchaundise I wold giue al y t I haue only to lerne that a wise mā lerneth in one day Finally I say that I wil not giue that litel that I haue lerned in one houre for al the gold in the worlde And more glory haue I of the bokes that I haue red and of such workes as I haue writtē thā of al the victories that I haue had or of y e realmes that I haue won ¶ What a vilayne sayde to the senatours of Rome in the presence of the emperour Cap. xxxi THis emperour being sicke as it is aforesaid on a day as there were with hym diuers phisitiōs and oratours there was a purpose moued amonge them howe greately Rome was chaunged not all onely in edifices but also in customes and was full of flaterers and vnpepled of mē that durste say the trouthe Than the emperour sayd The fyrste yere that I was consul there came a poore vilayne from the riuer of Danubie to aske iustice of the senate ayenste a censure who dydde dyuers extortions to the people and he hadde a small face and great lyppes and holowe eyes his heare curled bare heeded his shoes of a porkepes skyn his cote of gotis heare his gyldell of bulle rushes and a wyld eglantine in his hand It was a strāge thinge to se him so monstruous and meruayl to here his purpose Certainly whan I saw him com into the senate I wende it had bene some beaste in the figure of a manne And after I had harde hym I iuged hym one of the goddes if there be goddes amonge men And as the custome in the senate was that the complayntes of the poore persons were hard before the requestis of the ryche this villayne had lycence to speake and so beganne his purpose wherin he shewed him selfe as bolde in wordes as extreme and base in his aray and sayd O ye auncient fathers and happy people I Myles dwellynge in a citie on the ryuer of Danubie doo salute you Senatours that are here assembled in the sacred senate The dedes do permytte and the goddis suffre that the capytayns of Rome with theyr great pride haue redused vnder subiection the vnhappy people of Germany Great is the glory of you Romayns for your battayles that ye haue wonne throughout all the worlde But if writers say true more greater shalbe your infamy in time to come for the cruelties that ye haue done to the innocentes My predecessours had people nyghe to the flode of Danubie and bycause they dyd ylle the erthe wared drie and they drewe to the frseshe water than the water was noyful to them and they returned to the main lande What shal I say than your couetise is so great to haue steangers goodes and your pryde soo renoumed to commaunde all strange landes that the see maye not profite vs in the depenes therof nor the erthe to assure vs in the caues therof Therfore I hope in the iust goddes that as ye without reason haue cast vs out of our houses and possessions so other shal com that by reason shal cast you out of Italy and Rome And infallible rule it is that he that taketh wrongfully an other mans good shall lese the right of his owne Regard ye Romains though I be a villain yet I knowe who is iust rightwise in holding his owne and who a tyrant in possessynge others There is a rule that what so euer they that be yl haue gathered in many dayes the goddes taketh fro them in one day and contrarie wise all that euer the good haue loste in manye days the goddis restoreth to them agayne in one day Beleue me in one thynge and haue no doute therin that of the vnlaufull wynning of the fathers there foloweth the iuste losse to theyr chyldren And if the goddes toke from them that be yll euery thyng that they haue wonne as soone as it is wonne it were but reasone but in lettynge them alone therby they assemble by lyttel and lytel diuers thynges and than whan they thynke least theron is taken from them all at ones This is a iuste iugement of the goddis that sithe they haue done yll to dyuerse that some shulde do yll to them Certaynely it is not possible to any vertuous man if he be vertuous that he take any taste in an other mans good And I am sore abashed how a man kepynge an other mans good can lyue one houre Syth he seeth that he hath don iniure to the goddis sclādred his neibours plesed his enmies lost his frendes greued them that he hath robbed and aboue all hath put his owne person in peryll This is a shamefull thynge amonge menne and culpable before the goddis the man that hath the desyre of his harte and the brydelle of his warkes at suche lybertie that the lyttel that he taketh and robbeth fro the poore semeth moche to hym but a great dele of his owne semeth to hym but lyttel O what an vnhappy man is he whether he be Greke or latin that without consideration wyll change his good fame into shame iustice into wrōg ryght into tyranny or trouth into lesynge the certayne into vncertayne hauynge annoyaunce of his owne goodes and dye for other mens He that hath his principall intention to gather goodes for his chyldren and seke not for a good name amonge them that be good it is a iuste cause that he lese all his goodes and so without good name to to be shamefull amonge them that be yl Let all couetous and auaricious people knowe that neuer amonge noble men was gotten good renoume with spredynge abrode of yll gotten goodes It can not endure many dayes nor yet be hydden vnder couert many yeres a man to be holden ryche amonge them that be ryche and an honorable man amonge them that be honorable for he shal be infamed of that he hath gathered his ryches with greate couetyse or kepeth it with extreme auarice O if these couetous people were as couetous of theyr owne honour as they be of other mens goodes I swere to you that the lyttel worme or mothe that eateth
the welth of other and finally lese them selfes And therfore they aduenture them selfe into the gulfes inflame theyr lordes that haue gyuen them suche offices to gyue them to suche as haue deserued them Thou mayst know that the beginning of them is pryde and ambition and theyr middell is enuye and malyce and their ende is death and distruction And if my counsell were taken suche shulde haue no credence with princis or gouernours but as sclaundred men to be seperate not all onely fro the common welthe but fro theyr lyues Surely great is the couetyse of them that be shamelesse which without shame demaunde offices of the senate or princis but it is a more boldenes of malyce for the pryncis to gyue them In this and in the other thinges these are so dampnable that neyther the feare of the goddis doth withdrawe them nor the prince doth not refrayne them nor vengeaunce dothe not lette them nor the common welth dothe not accuse theym and aboue all other reason doth not commaund them nor the lawe subdue them ¶ O my frende Antygonus note this worde that I write in the ende of my letter In the yere of the foundation of Rome .vi. C.xlii. the Romaynes as thanne in the worlde hadde dyuers warres as Gayus Celius ageynst them of Trace and Gneo Cordon his brother agaynst Sardyne Iunius Sylla agaynst the Vmbres Minutius Ruffus ageynst the Macidoniens Seruilio Scipio ageynste the Lusitayns and Marius consull ageinst Iugurtha kyng of the Numidiens It befell so that Boco kynge of Mauritayne fauoured Iugurtha and vppon them triumphed Marius and they laded with chaines were led afore his chariot not without great compassion of them that sawe it After this triumph done incontinent the same daye by counsell of the senate Iugurtha was beheeded in prison and his companion Bocus had pardon of his life and the cause was It was a custome none to be putte to Iustice but firste the auncient bokes shulde be serched to se if any of his predecessours had done before any seruice to Rome wherdy the captiue shulde meryte to haue pardone of his lyfe and than it was found that the grauntfather of Bocus came to Rome and made great orations before the senate by whose wordes and sentences his sayd neuew merited to haue pardon of his lyfe and amonge other of his sayinges he rehersed these verses that sayd what is that realme where is no good amonge the yll nor yll amonge the good what is that realme that hath theyr houses full of good simple persons and banysheth away al wisedom Or what is that realme that suche as be good are cowardes and the yl hardy or what is the realme where al peasible are displeased and the sedycious praysed What is that realme that sleeth them that wolde theyr welth and are angry with them that wolde helpe theyr yl or what is that realme that permytteth the proude poore folkes and the ryche tyrantes or what is that realme where they all know the euyl and none procureth any goodnes or what is that realme where suche vices are openly commytted that other realmes feare to doo secretely or what is that realme where as all that they desyre they procure and al that they do procure they attayne and all that is yll they thinke and al that they thinke they say al that they say they may do and all that they may doo they dare doo and put in operation that they dare do and worst of all there is none so good to resyst it In suche a realme there shulde be none inhabitaunte For within short space the yll men shall be chaunged or elles dispeopled of good men or the goddis wyll confounde them or the tirantis shal take thē Dyuers thinges were said the which I passe ouer at this tyme. Howe thynkest thou Antigone I swere by the immortal goddis that my hart breketh to thinke of the great shame that was laid vpon Rome by such wryting as was lefte to theym by the grauntefather of this kynge Bocus This my letter I wolde thou shuldest rede in secrete to the pretours if they amende not we shall fynde the meanes to chastise them openly And as touchyng thy banishemēt I promyse the to be thy good frende to the senate that we may ioy our auncient amitie to gether And to get the out of that yle certainely I shal do my diligence I haue written to my secretarie Panutius to delyuer the .ii. M. sexters to releue thy pouertie and thus I sende the my letter to comfort thy heuy hart I say no more but the goddis giue the contentacion of that thou woldest haue ioy and rest to thy person And al corporall euyls cruel enmies and fatal destenies be seperate fro me Marke For the behalf of my wife Faustine I salute the and thy wyfe Ruffa She is thyn and I am thyn With visitation of ioy I haue receiued thy letter and thankefully I send the myn I shal not reste to desire to se thy persone in Italy and there in Sicyle to leue my feuer quartayne ¶ A letter sent by Marcus to Lambert gouernour of the yle of Helespont whan he did banishe the vacabundis fro Rome The .xi. letter MArke emperour of Rome lorde of Asie confederate with theym of Europe frende of theym of Affrike ennemye of the Maures To the Lambert gouernour of the ile of Helesponte sendethe of his parte contentation and suretie fro the sacrate senate I am furred with y e furres that thou haste sent me am clothed with thy mātel am right well pleased with thy greyhoundes If I hadde thought that thin absence fro Rome shuld haue procured so moche fruit in that yle longe ago I shulde haue determyned as well for thy profyte as for my seruice I sente to the in demaundynge but small thinges in my sporte and thou hast sent me many thynges in ernest In good sothe thou hast better proporcioned thy seruyce with noblenes than I to commaunde with my couetise For if thou remēbre I sent to the for a doseyne skynnes of furre and thou hast sent me .xii. doseyns and I dyd send but for .vi. greihoundes and thou hast sent me .xii. Truly in this case my pleasure is double For here in Rome thy great largesse is publyshed and my smal couetise there in Helesponte And bycause I am sure thou hast great thankes of me I praie to gōd to sende the salute and helthe And that fortune be not denied the at a good houre I sende the .iii. barkes of mayster foles yet I haue not sent the al. For if I had banyshed all the foles in Rome we shoulde haue peopled vs with a newe people These mayster foles haue ben so wily to teche foly the Romayn youth so apt to lerne thoughe they be but in .iii. barkes theyr disciples wold lade .iii. M. Carrakes I haue great meruayle of one thynge and my hart sclaundreth the goddis for I se wel that erthquakes
that no shyp can sayle out of the east into the weste for the The Pyrate answered and sayd If I kepe the see in daungier why doste thou Alexander kepe all the see and lande as loste O Alexander bycause I fyghte with one shyppe in the see I am callyd a theefe and bycause thou robbest with .ii. C. shyppes on the see and troublest all the worlde with two C. thousande men thou arte called an emperour I sweare to the Alexander yf fortune were as fauourable to me and the goddis as extreme ageinst the they wolde gyue me thyne empire and gyue the my lyttel shyppe and than peraduenture I shuld be a better kynge than thou art and thou a wors thefe than I am ¶ These were high wordes and well receyued of Alexander and of trouth to se if his wordes were correspondent to his promyses he made hym from a pyrate to a great capitayne of an army and he was more vertuous on land than he was cruell on the see ¶ I promyse the Catulus Alexander dyd right well therin and Dionides was to be praysed gretly for that he had sayd Now adays in Italy they that robbe openly are called lordes and they that robbe priuely ar called theues ¶ In the yere bokes of Liuius I haue redde that in the seconde troublous warre punyke betwene the Romaynes and Carthaginens there camme an ambassadoure Lusytayne sent fro Spayne to treate for accorde of peace Whan he came to Rome he proued before the senate that sythe he entred into Italye he had ben .x. tymes robbed of his goodes and whyles he was at Rome he had sene one of them that robbed hym hange vp an other that had defended hym He seinge soo ylle a dede and howe the thefe was saued without Iustyce as a desperate manne toke a cole and wrote on the gybet as foloweth ¶ O gybet thou art made among theues norished amōg theues cut of theues wrought of theues made of theues set among theues and thou arte peopled with innocentis ¶ And there as I red these wordis was in the original of Lyuius and in his histories I swere to the by the immortall goddis that all the Decade was written with blacke ynke and these wordes with redde vermylon I canne not tell what wordes I shulde sende the but that euery thing is so newe and so tender and is ioyned with so yll syment that I feare me all wyll fall sodeynly to the playne erthe I tell the that some are sodaynly rysen within Rome vnto valour to whom I wyll rather assure their fall than their lyfe For all buyldynge hastely made can not be sure The longer a tree is kepte in his kynde the longer it wyll be er it be olde The trees whose fruite we eate in sommer doo warme vs in wynter O howe many haue we seene wherof we haue meruayled of their rysynge and ben abasshed of their falles They haue growen as a hole piece and sodeynly wasted as a scomme Their felicitie hath ben but a short point their infortune as a longe lyfe Finally they haue are died the myll armed it with stones of encreace and after a lyttell grindinge left it in vtyle al the hole yere after Thou knowest wel my frend Catulus that we haue sene Cincius Fuluius in one yere made Consule and his chyldren tribunes and his wyfe a matron for yonge maydens and besyde that made keper of the capitol and after that not in one yere but the same day we saw Cincius beheeded in the place his chylderne drowned in Tybre his wyfe banysshed froo Rome his howse raced downe to the grounde and all his good confysked to the common treasourie This rigorous example we haue not redde in any boke to take a copie of it but we haue sene it with our eies to kepe it in our myndes As the nations of people ar variable so are the condicions of men dyuers and appetites of mortall folke and me thynketh this is true seing that some loue some hate and that that some seke some escheweth And that that some setteth lytel by other make of In such wise that al can not be contēt with one thing nor some with all thinges can not be satisfied Let euery man chuse as hym lyst and enbrace the worlde whan he wylle I had rather mount a softe pace to the fallynge and yf I can not come therto I wyll abyde by the way rather than with sweatte to mount hastily and than to tumble downe heedlyng In this case sith mens hartes vnderstand it we nede not to write further with pennes And of this matter regarde not the lyttell that I do saye but the greate deale that I wyl say And sith I haue begon and art in strange landes I wyll write the al the newes fro hens This yere the .xxv. day of May there came an ambassadour out of Asie sayinge he was of the yle of Cetyn a barone ryghte elegant of body ruddy of aspect and right hardy of courage He considered being at Rome though the sommers dayes were longe yet wynter wolde drawe on and than wolde it be daungerous saylynge into his yle and sawe that his besynes was not dispatched On a daye being at the gate of the senate seinge all the Senatours entre in to the Capitolle without any armour vpon them he as a man of good spirite and zelatour of his countreye in the presence of vs all sayd these wordes ¶ O fathers conscripte O happy people I am come fro a straunge countreye to Rome onely to see Rome and I haue founde Rome without Rome The walles wherewith it is inclosed hath not broughte me hyther but the fame of them that gouerne it I am not come to se the tresourie wherin is the treasure of all realmes but I am come to se the sacred senate out of the whyche issueth the counsell for al men I came not to se you bycause ye vanquishe all other but bycause I thought you more vertuous than all other I dare well say one thinge excepte the goddis make me blynd and trouble myn vnderstanding ye be not Romayns of Rome nor this is not Rome of the Romayns your predecessours We haue harde in our yle that dyuers realmes ben wonne by the valyātnes of one and conserued by the wysedome of all the senate and at this houre ye are more lyke to be distroyed than to wynne as your fathers dydde all their exercise was in goodnes and ye that are their chyldren passe all your tyme in cerymonies I say this ye Romayns bycause ye haue almoste kylde me with laughinge at you to se howe ye doo all as moche your diligence to leaue your armure withoute the gate of the senate as your predecessours dyd to take them to defende the empire What profyte is it to you to leaue your armes for the sureties of your personnes and putte them on wherwith ye slee all the worlde What profiteth it to the thoughtfull suiter that the senatour
dedes All this I haue sayde my frende Polyon to aunswere to that ye haue demaunded of me That is in what sciences I haue wasted and consumed my tyme. Wherfore it pleaseth me to telle it to the. Anio Vero my father suffred me but .viii. yere in my childhode and than tyll I was .x. yere of age I went to schole for to write and rede and fro .x. yere to .xiii I went to studye with Euformion and lerned grammer Fro .xiii. yere to .xvii. I lerned eloquence with Alexander y e greke a famous oratour fro that tyme to .xxii. yere I was with Sexto Calcedon lernynge naturall philosophy Those yeres passed I was at Rhodes and studied humanitie tyll I was .xxxii. yere of age And than I weÌ„t to Naples where as I was thre yere with Fonton a greke lernynge greke letters And I put my good wylle soo moche therto that I spake and wrote greke more easily than latin Than I retorned to Rome where the warre of Dace arose to the whiche Adrian my lorde sente me And bycause that in armes and in tyme of warre I coude carie no bokes of science I determyned me to lerne the science of musike with Hieronyme Comode to thentent that I myght with swetenes of instrumentes restrayne my body fro certayn vices which as than in my house began to take force All the reste of my lyfe thou knowest it hath ben in bearyng of offyces in Rome vnto the tyme that the weight of the monarchye was layde on my shulders Hytherto the emperour spake ¶ Than by this letter writen to his frend it semeth well that without sleuth he passed his tyme. It is reason to beleue it holly in that he hath sayd For so excellent workes that he made and so hygh sentences as he wrote myghte not procede but of a prudent man and a very wise spirite ¶ Howe for the wysedome of Marcus many wise men flourished in his tyme. Cap. iiii AS the lyfe of the prince is but as a whyte for all other to shote at and as a glasse wherin al the worlde doth beholde so we se by experieÌ„ce that whervnto a prynce is inclyned the people trauaylynge to folowe the same haue not the discretion to eschewe the euyl and folowe the good Certaynly they muse no lesse vppon a counterfayte fowle made of fethers thanne though it were of flesshe and yet at the fyrste flyght it leeseth the lybertie and yet his hunger is not therby quenched Whereby all the wynges of lybertie are tourned to peyne of seruage It is a greatte offence and an immortall infamye to a prynce that in the steede of gyuynge his hande of good lyuynge to releue other casteth backewarde his fote of euyll example wherby all other ouerthrowe Than withoute coÌ„parison greatter is the wyckednesse of the people than the neglygence of the prince For if one lyueth ylle and an nother loweth him it is no meruayle and thoughe there be but fewe that folowe hym it is no newe thynge Nor in case that many folowe hym is noo fearefulle thynge but all the hole to folowe hym is a great sclander If the people were such as they ought to be one shuld rather tourne froÌ„ yll to good for many than that many for one shuld torne froÌ„ good to yl Certainly euery man knoweth that though we be bounde to folow the honest coÌ„maundementes of our princes yet we be not bounde to folowe theyr yll lyuynge What shall we say thanne seynge that nowe adayes the delytes of menne are of so greatte pryce and the rygour of theyr empire in so poore estimation that without shame some disprayse their iust commaundementes and folowe their euyll werkes O if the princes had suche nombre of good folke that wolde fulfyll theyr commaundemente as they haue greatte nombre of wretches that folowe theyr doinges I swere that there shulde be no nede of any prison for the mysdoers or carcans for blasphemers chaines for sclaues nor heddynge blockes for traytours nor knyues for aduoutrers nor galowes for theues I wyll gyue you example of all this wherby ye shall se that it is trew that I say If the kynge be inclyned to hunte all wyll be hunters if he be a player all wyll playe yf he vse armes all wyll tourney if he be an aduoutrer other wyll vse the same yf he be fierse other wyll be fierse yf he be vertuous all wyll be vertuous and valyaunt yf he be temperate and moderate all wyll absteyne if he be hardye all wyll be bolde yf he be pitiefull al wyll haue pitie if he be wyse all wyll lerne And to the entente that we blame not all onely the princes of our days lette vs call to memory the princis of tymes paste Who that hath redde Sextus Cheronense in his boke called the dyuers inclynatyons that princis haue had shall fynde that Romulus foundatour of Rome honoured greatly grauers in stone Numa Pompilius his successour honoured priestes Paulus Emilius mariners Caius Cesar goldsmythes Scipio the capitaynes Augustus Octauiê° tennis players Calligula ruffyens Tyberius baudes Cruell Nero swerde players Claudius writters Scilla armorers Marius his compagnion grauers of ymages Vaspasian good paynters Titus his eldest sonne mynstrelles Domitian his myghtye brother crossebowe makers And aboue all other our Marcus Aurelius emperour wyse menne The dyuers inclynations that princis had in dyuers thynges hath made to vary the fauour disfauour of many pryncis with their people And as the common people regardeth more fauour than Iustice suche officers are mooste fauoured to whom princis doth mooste inclyne All this we say to shewe howe that in the tyme of this good emperour wise men were fauoured If the hystorians doo not lye sythe the tyme of Mecena the Romayne whiche was moche more happye to haue wyse menne to his frendes than to inuent newe maner of meates and bankettes vnto this Marcus Aurelius haue passed .xvii. emperours which were Iulius Octauius Tiberius Caligula Claudius Nero Galba Othus Vitellus Vaspasianus Titus Domitianus Nerua Traianus Adrianus Anthonius and Aurelius And of all these we can fynde al onely but two that fauoured wyse men that is to saye Nerua and Traian All the other emperours were not onely dysciples of liers but also were persecutours of the trouthe This semeth to be trewe for Iulius persecuted Cicero Octauius banished Ouide Tyberius enpoysoned Caluitio Caligula caused to cutte the throtes of .iiii. oratours to gether Nero slewe his mayster Senec Claudius sette his vncle Lucan in prison Othus hanged vp Patroclus Domitian banysshed all the oratours of Rome And the more to shewe his cursednes whaÌ„ the wise men y t were banished weÌ„t out at one gate there entred in at an other gate all vnthriftes the whiche by Tytus his brother had ben banysshed and exiled And as I saye of these fewe in nombre I myghte say of many other For certaynely the wyse men were not thus intreated in the tyme of this good emperour Marcus and that this is
a fote to the riuerside and there passe the tyme the space of two houres And as soone as the heate came he wolde goo to the hygh capitoll to the senate That done he wente to the colledge where as all the procurours and ambassadours of al prouinces were and there he wolde be a greatte parte of the daye and here euery nation by hit selfe accordynge to the tyme that was deputed by order And towarde the euennynge he wolde goo to the temple of the vyrgins vestales He eate but ones a day and that was somewhat late and thanne he wolde make a good meale and but of fewe meates He had a custome euerye weke in Rome or other cities where as he was that two dayes late in the euennynge he wolde walke in the stretes without his garde or knyghtes onely with .x. or .xii. pages to se if any persone wolde speake with hym or complayne of any officer of his courte and house and this he caused to be demaunded of other men This good emperour wolde often tymes saye A good prynce that wyll rule and gouerne wel and not to be a tyraunte oughte to do thus That is that he be not couetous of tributes nor proude in his commaundementes nor vnkynde to seruices nor bolde in the temples nor defe to here complayntes In fulfyllynge hereof he shall haue the goddes in his handes and the hartys of menne shalbe his Al the whyle that this Marke was emperour he had neuer porter at his chaumbre doore but if it were the two houres that he was with Faustine his wyfe This good emperour had in his howse a secrete closette locked with a key that he bare hym selfe and neuer trusted none other therwith to the houre of his death And than he cōmaunded to delyuer it to Pompeiano a prudent ancient bacon that was maryed to his doughter In the which closet he had diuers bokes writen in all langages as Greke hebrewe latyne and Caldee and other antike hystories The answere of M. themperour whan Faustine his wife demaunded the key of his study ca. xix AS it is natural to womē to dispise that thyng that is gyuen them vnasked so it is deathe to them to be denayed of that they do demande This emperour had the study or closet of his howse in the mooste secrete place of his palays wherin he neyther suffred his wyfe seruant nor frende to entre On a day it chanced that Faustin thempresse desyred importunatly to se that study sayinge these wordes My lorde let me se your secrete chaumbre Beholde I am greatte with chylde and shall dye if I see it not And ye knowe well that the lawe of the Romayns is that nothynge shall be denyed to womenne with chylde of that they desire And if ye do otherwise ye doo it in dede but not of ryghte For I shall dye with the chylde in my bodye And more ouer I thynke in my mynde that ye haue some other louer within your study Therfore to put away the peryl of my trauaylyng and to assure my harte frome Ielousie hit is no great thyng to lette me entre into your study The emperour seinge that Faustines wordes were of trouth bycause he sawe her wordes washed with wepyng answered her on this wyse It is a thyng certayne whan one is contented he saythe more with his tongue than he thynketh with his harte And contrary wyse whan one is heuy the eyen wepe not soo moche nor the tongue can not declare that is locked in the hart Vayne men with vayne wordis shewe and declare their vayne pleasures And the wyse men with prudent wordes dissemble their cruel passions Amonge wyse men he is wysest that knoweth moche and sheweth to knowe but lyttell And amonge the symple he is mooste symple that knoweth but lyttelle and sheweth hym selfe to knowe moche They that ar prudent though they are demaunded say nothyng but symple folke wyll speake ynough without askynge of any question This I saye Faustine bycause thy wepynge hath soo hurte me and thy vayn speche so turmented me that I can not declare that I fele nor thou canst nat fele y t that I saye Dyuers aduertisementes haue they writen that haue writen of mariage yet haue they not writen how many trauailes that one womanne causeth her housbande to suffre in one daye Of a suretie it is a ioyfull thynge to reioyce in the chyldhode of chyldren but it is a ryght cruel thing to suffre the importunities of theyr mothers The chyldren do nowe and then a thing that tourneth vs to pleasure but ye women do nothynge but gyue vs displeasure I shall agree with all maried men to pardon theyr chyldrens plesures for the annoyance that the mothers gyue to theym One thynge I haue sene the whiche neuer begyled me that the iuste goddes do gyue to the vniuste menne that all the euylles that they doo in this worlde shall be remytted to the furies of the other worlde But if they doo commytte any synne for the pleasure of any woman the goddis commaunde that by the handes of the same womanne we shall receyue peyne in this worlde and not in the other There is not soo fyers or peryllous an ennemie to a manne as is his wyfe And though a manne can not lyue with her as a man I neuer sawe none soo lyght beynge with a vicious woman in doynge vyce but that by the same woman at the last he receyued shame and chastysement Of one thynge I am sure and I saye it not bycause I haue sene it but experimented in my selfe that though the husbande do all that his wyfe wylle yet wyll she do nothynge that her husband wolde haue done Gret crueltie is among the barbariens to holde theyr wiues as sclaues And no lesse madnes is it of Romaynes to kepe them as ladyes Flesshe oughte not to be soo leane that it abhorre nor so fatte that it cloye the stomake but meane and enterlarded to the ende that it be sauourye I saye that a wyse manne canne not gyue so stronge a brydelle to his wyfe that she wylle obeye as an hande mayden nor gyue her so lyttell of the brydell but she wylle exalte her selfe as maystresse and reuler Beholde Faustine howe ye womenne are soo extreme in all heedlonge extremities that with a lyttell fauour ye wylle exalte augemente and growe into great pride and with a lyttell disfauour ye recouer greatte hatred There is no parfite loue where is no egalitie betwene the louers And as ye and other are vnperfite soo is your loue vnperfite I wote well ye vnderstande me not Therfore vnderstande Faustine that I say more than ye wene There is no woman that with her wyll wolde suffre any greatter than her selfe nor to be contente to haue an other egall with her For thoughe she haue a. M.li. rent yet she hathe x. M. folyes in her heed And that worse is though it chaunce her husbande to dye and she lese all her rent yet endeth
deuide theyr ylle amonge theyr neighbours bycause they occupy not theyr forces in good workes nor refraine theyr tongues to clatter of other mens liues who imagineth in these dayes so many malices in Rome the whiche was neuer harde of our fathers nor redde in our bokes but vacabundes that neyther apply nor sette their wittes about nothynge els but thynke howe to endomage other The emperour that coude vanyshe all these ydell persons out of his empire myght well auant him selfe to haue oppressed all the vices of the worlde I wolde it pleased the immortal goddis that of so many triumphis that I haue hadde of straungers occupied in good exercyses that I hadde sene one of the vacaboundes of Rome driuen out of all houses There was an auncient lawe none myghte be taken and receyued for a citisen in Rome but he were first examined by the Censure In the time of Cato Censorius when any wolde be a citiesin of Rome this examination was made of hym He was not demaunded of whens he was nor what he was nor whens he came nor wherfore he came nor of what kinne or auncient stocke he cam but only they toke his handes betwene theyrs and if they felte them softe and smothe forthewith as an ydell vacabunde man they dispatched and sent him away and if they found his handes harde and full of hard knottes by and by they admitted hym a citezen and dweller in Rome Also whan any officers toke any yll doers put them in prison that was called Marmotine in stede of information the firste thynge that they toke hede of was theyr hondes whiche if they had bene as a labourers handes and a worke man though his crime were greuous yet his chastisement was mitigate and more easye and if the vnhappye prysoner chāced to haue ydell handes for a littel faut he shuld haue sharpe punishement It hath ben an old sayeng He that hath good handes muste nedes haue good customes I say I chastised neuer a labouringe man but I was sorye for it nor I neuer caused to whyppe a vacabunde but I was gladde of it I wyll tel you more of this Catho Censorius whiche was greately feared For euen as chyldren in the scholes herynge their maister commynge in renne to their bokes So when Catho went through the stretez of Rome euery body went to theyr worke O right happy baron before whom the people feared more to be idel than to do yl before any other Than beholde ye at this houre what force vertue hath and howe valiaunte a vertuous man is seinge that all the worlde feared Rome onely for her worthynes in armes and all Rome feared Catho onely for his vertues The aduentures of men are so dyuers and the suspect fortune gyueth soo many ouerthwart turnes that after that a great space she hathe gyuen greatte pleasures incontinent we are cyted to her subtyll trauayles of repentaunce O happy Cato Censorine who with suche as haue folowed his wayes are nowe sure fro the abatementes of fortune Than he that wyll haue glorye in this lyfe and attayne glorye after deathe and be beloued of many and feared of all lette hym be vertuous in doynge of good workes and deceyue no manne with vayne wordes I sweare vnto you by the lawe of a man of worshyppe that if the goddes wolde accomplisshe my desyre I had rather to be Cato with the vertuous policies that he vsed in Rome than to be Scipio with the abundance of blode that he shedde in Affrike All we knowe wel that Scipio hadde a great fame in beatynge downe of cities and cuttynge innocentes throtes and Catho hath attayned eternal memorie in reformyng the people pardoning trespassours and teachyng ignorant folke Than ye may all see yf I haue not good reason more to desyre to be Cato to the profyte of many than to be Scipio to the preiudyce of so many Lo my frendes these wordes I haue said bycause ye may see that our predecessours somme in their owne londes other in strange landes some beinge yonge and some olde in their tymes had glorye in their persons for them selfe and for the worlde to come haue left no lesse memory for their successours and ofsprynge And we doo all the contrary I beinge emperour am lothe for to commande any yll and our officers for theyr interest do wors And where as we are set in dyuers pleasures by our vice we fall hourely into dyuers myseries and are noted to our greate infamie By the which occasion the iust goddes for our vniuste workes gyuinge iuste sentence commaunde that we lyue with suspection dye with shame and to be buried with forgettefulnes neuer to be hadde in memory Than you of my courte take good hede and prynte welle my wordes in your myndes for who so seuer I se or fynde ydell from hensforth I discharge hym out of my seruice ye that be lerned may write and rede ye that be men of armes and knyghtes exercyse you in feates of warre ye that be officers occupie you in your offices And take this for certayne that if ye take not this for a warnynge and monition that I haue gyuen you betwene you and me the punyshementes that I shall gyue vnto you shall be openly And to the entente that ye haue it better in your memorie and to be a doctryne to pryncis hereafter to comme this presente practise and remonstrance I haue written in all tongues and set it in the hyghe Capitoll with manye other of my wrytynges The goddis be kepers of you and also they defende and kepe me from yll fortunes and mysaduentures ¶ Of a maruaylous and feareful monster that was seene in Scicile and of his wrytynges cap. xxvi IN the yere of the foundation of Rome vii C.xx and .xli. of the aege of Marcus the emperour and .ii. yeres before he toke possession of the empire the .xx. day of the month Sextilis which now is called August about the tyme of the sonne settynge in the realme of Sycil than called Trinacrie in a citie called Bellyne on the see now named Palerme a port of these there chāced a thing right perillous to them that sawe it and no lesse fearefull to them that shall here it nowe As they of Bellyne or Palerme were then celebratynge a feaste with great ioye for the gladnes that their Pirates had ouercome the army of the Numidiens and had taken .x. of theyr ships and cast xxxii persones into the see bycause at that time they were ennemies eche to other and for the yl workes they dydde were shewed the great passions that passed among them And as it is the customme the thinge that these Pyrates get on the see they departe it amonge them all whan they come home And whan they comme to lande they spende that merily that they gatte with greatte trauayle It is a thynge well to be noted howe all good and ylle hartes are applyed The good men haue greatte desyre to theyr triumphes
that though he scaped the pestylence yet he was vexed with hote feuers Wherfore he was fayn to leue Rome and went into Champayne and fynally in the citie of Naples he made his abode durynge the tyme that the pestilence was in Rome ¶ How Mar. answered his phisitions that wold haue him leaue his studie Cap. xxix THe emperour beinge in the sayde citie of Naples where as other soughte pastyme to conserue their lyues this emperour occupied him selfe in his bokes to augment science A man coude do hym no better seruice than to seke to gette hym a newe boke not suche as was written in his tyme but suche as were forgotten for age This emperour was not onely a louer of olde and antike bookes but also of auncient stories and set very great stoore by theym And he thus beinge in the cytie sycke and very yll at ease there was brought to hym out of a citie of Asia called Helia by certayne Hebrewes a boke writen in Hebrew he toke suche pleasure in that boke that ofte tymes he wolde leaue his meate and goo to study and for all that he was in his hote feuer he wolde not leaue to reede for all that his phisitiens warned him and his frendes prayde hym and they that were about hym counsaylled hym and demanded hym why he lefte to procure the helth of his persone in so moche redynge He aunswered By the goddis that we honour I coniure you and for the frendshyp that is betwene vs I pray you lette me alone Ye knowe well that suche as are of a delycate bloode haue not soo moche solicytude as the rusticall people that haue hard synewes and be of a more harder complexion Lyke maner they of clere vnderstandynge haue nede of other medicynes and to be heled with other syropes thā they of grosse vnderstādyng This is the differēce that I haue of eyther of them The ydeote kepeth dyete from bookes and resteth on his meate and the wyse man abhorreth meate and draweth hym to his bokes If they knewe that knowe not what thynge knowlege is I sweare to you they shuld see what auayleth more the lyttell knowlege that a wyse man hath than the greatte ryches of the ryche man For the myserable ryche persone the more that he encreaseth in rychesse the more he diminisheth in frendes and groweth in ennemyes to his domage And he that is wyttie the wiser that he is the better he is beloued of theym that be good and feared of them that be yll for his profite One of the thinges wherin I holde my selfe moste bounde to the goddis is this that they haue caused me to compas the tyme as I haue done the whiche is no lyttel gift for a man to lyue in this worlde I say it is bycause I haue had great compassion of the poore that be verye poore of wydowes of them that be sorowfull and vnhappy and of Orphelins But without comparison I haue had greattest compassiō of them that lacke knowlege For the goddis making menne ignoraunt by naturalitie myghte haue made them goddis by connynge and knowledge and as the slouthefull men are tamed and made lesse than men by their negligence so certainly blessed he is that is not contente to be a man but if he procure to be more than a man by his vertue And cursed is that man that knoweth not to be a man but maketh hym selfe lesse than a man by his vyce By the iugement of al philosophers there is but one that is the fyrste cause which is one god immortal and if there be dyuers goddis in the heuens it is bycause there are diuers vertues in the erthe And in the worlde that is paste whan the symple men were seruauntes and bonde menne and the good men rulers and gouernours they were then so estemed bycause they were knowen and renowmed for theyr good werkes in theyr lyfe Soo that they were holden and reputed as goddis after theyr deathe This is the ryghte rewarde that commeth of vertue It is a thynge consonaunt to reason that they that be good amonge soo many yll in this lyfe shulde be greattely honoured among the goddis after theyr deathe Ye are not wel content with me bycause I am alwaye redynge ▪ but I am worse content with you bycause I neuer se boke in your handes ye thynke it great trauayle to a sycke man to rede and I repute it a very peryllous thynge for a hole manne to reste and be idell Ye say my redyng is cause of my feuer quartayne in my flesshe and I saye that ydelnes engendreth great pestilence Syth I may profite by my bokes let no man haue compassion of my trauayle For I desire rather to dye as a wise person amonge wise men than to lyue ignorantly amonge men I demaunde one thynge of you A man presuming to be a man and is not lerned what difference is betwene hym and other beastes Certaynly the beastes are more profitable to labour the erthe than symple persons be to serue the common welthe A pore oxe giueth his skynne to make shone his fleshe to be eaten and his strength to labour and a poore symple shepe doth profite his flece and wol to make clothe his mylke to make chese But what profiteth a folishe ideote man Nothing but offendeth the goddis sclaundereth innocentes eateth the breade of other and is chiefe heed of vacabundes Of trouth if it lay in my handes to do I had rather giue lyfe to a simple oxe than to a malycious ideot For the beast liueth for the vtilitie of dyuers without doing domage to any other and the simple ideot man liueth to the domage of all other and without profite to any person Therfore thinke well why I am not pleased with theym that be ignoraunt and loue them that be lerned Harke syrs what I shall shewe you That man semeth good that is meke and gentyll of condition softe in wordes and restefull in his persone and gracious in conuersation And contrary wise that personne soore displeaseth me that is sharpe of wordes soore moued in his warkes riottous in his condicion and double of his promys and harde harted Also I say that if any thing wante in a wise man by nature he supplyeth it by science and he that is ignorant and folyshe if he want discretion he supplyethe it with his malice And trust surely that a worthy vertuous man therby becomethe wise and he is to be trusted and he that is of an other maner beware of hym for he goeth aboute to sell his malice He that wyll begile an other the first thing that he doth is he sheweth hym selfe to be symple and ignoraunt For a man beinge in credence may soone sprede abrode his malyce The mothes and softe wormes freete freate the clothe and the canker worme perseth the bone and flatterynge men begyle all the worlde ¶ Howe science ought to be in princis Cap. xxx THe said emperour folowing his purpose said Frendes
and yet without comparison my greattest grefe is whan my losse may be remedied and he that may wyll not and he that wyll can not remedy it O ye cruell Romaynes if the sorowes all onely shulde be reduced to memory that we suffre my tonge shulde be wery and all my membres faynte and myne eyes shoulde wepe bluddy teares my fleshe wold consume This in my laÌ„de maye be sene with eies harde with eares and felte in propre persone Certaynly my harte departeth and my soule is troubled myn entrayles breake And I beleue yet the goddis wyll haue compassiion I wylle desire you to take my wordes for sclaunder For ye Romaynes if ye be Romayns ye may well see that the trouble that we haue cometh by men and amonge men and with men and by the handes of men Than it is no meruayle though men fele it as men One thynge comforteth me and dyuers tymes amonge other that be vnfortunate it cometh to such purpose the whiche is I thinke the goddis be so ryghtwise that their fierce and cruell chastisementes come not but by our owne cruell shrewdnes our secrete sinnes awaketh vs so that we haue open iustyce But of one thynge I am sore troubled bicause the goddis can not be conteÌ„ted For a good person for a lyttel faut is greatly chastised and he that is yl for many fautes is not punished at al. So thus the goddis forbeare some some haue no mercy Thus it semeth that the goddis wyl turment vs by the handes of suche men as greue vs extremely So that if there were any iustyce in the worlde whan they chastise vs with their handes we shoulde not merite to haue our heedes on the shulders Therfore I say to you ye Romayns and swere by the immortal goddis that in .xv. days that I haue ben in Rome I haue seene suche dedes done in your senate y t if the leest dede of them had ben done at Danubie the galowes gibettes had ben hanged thycker of theues than the vineyard with grapes and reysons And sith y t my desire hath sene that it desireth my harte is at reste in spredynge abrode the poyson that was in it If my tonge hath offended you in any thing I am here redy to make recoÌ„pence with my throte For in good sothe I had rather to wynne honour offerynge my selfe to the deathe thanne ye shuld haue it in takynge my lyfe fro me Thus this vilain ended his purpose Than the emperour sayd How thinke ye my frendes what kernel of a nut What golde of filth what grayne of strawe what rose of thornes What marowe of bones dyd he vncouer what reason so hie what wordes so wel sette what trouth so true and what malice opened he soo He discouered the duetie of a good manne And I swere to you as I may be deliuered from this euill feuer that I haue that I saw this vilayn standing a hole houre on the erth boldly we holdinge downe our hedes abashed coude not answere him a word The next day it was accorded in the senat to send new iuges to Danubie And we coÌ„manded the vilaine to delyuer vs in writing al that he had sayd that it might be regestred in the boke of good sayinges of strangers And the saide vilayne for his wise wordes was made patricien so taried styl at Rome and for euer was susteyned of the common treasure ¶ Howe the emperour desired the welth of his people and the people his welthe ca. xxxiii IN the seconde yere that Mar. was chosen emperour the .xlv. yere of his aege as he retourned fro the warres that he had in conqueryng the Germains and the Aragons whereby he got glory riches for the Romaynes empire he lay at Salon to reste him and to appointe his armye and to the entent that the Romaynes shulde apparell his triumph in Rome right glorious and rychly There was one thynge done that was neuer sene before in Rome For the day of his triumph by al the people and consent of the senate the prince Comodus sonne to Marcê° Au. was chosen after the dethe of his father to be emperour vniuersall of thempire He was not chosen by the petition of his father for he was agaynste hit with all his power sayinge that the empire oughte not to be gyuen for the lawde of them that be deed but he shoulde be chosen for his owne good warkes Often tymes this emperour wolde saye Rome shall be loste whan the election shal be taken frome the Senate and the Emperour to enheryte the empire by Patrimonie ¶ Nowe to returne where as we lefte This emperour beynge at Salon studied sore to entre into Rome in good order and Rome studied soore howe to receyue hym as it appertained triumphantly for suche a warre He was sore desyred of thempire and euer he imagined howe to do plesure to the people and the people were redy to dye in his seruice Dyuers tymes was moued a pleasant purpose in the senate which of these thynges was moste to be loued The emperour to loue the people of the empire or the people of thempire themperour On a daye hit was determyned to sette iuges in that case There were chosen the ambassadours of the Parthes and Roodes and vppon that effecte they hadde writynge It was layde for the emperour the good dedes that he had done in his absence and the tokens of loue that they hadde alwayes shewed in his presence And on an other day the emperour moued an other question before the senate saying that it was a greatter glorie to haue such subiectes than the glorie of the senate to haue suche an emperour Than the Senate sayde nay Affirming that it is a greatter glorie that they had of hym than he coude haue of them And in this maner the emperour gaue the glorie to the people and the people to the emperour Thus in sporte and play they toke iudges agayn It was a merueylous thyng to se the ioy that they al had to proue their intentes And the good emperour for a memorye gaue the laude to the people bycause of theyr great obedience and seruice and extreme loue that he had founde in them And the happy people recounted the gret clemencie and mercy that was in the emperour and his vertue and worthynes in gouernynge his honestie of lyuynge and his force and valiantnes in conqueringe It was a great thing to se the honour that the people gaue to themperour and the good renoume that themperour gaue to the people The writinges were gyuen to the straunge ambassadours to thentent that the people myght lerne to obey theyr princes and princes to loue theyr people To the ende that by such examples as it was reason the good people shuld enforce them selfes and the yl to withdrawe Thus this emperour adressed his entre with his capitaynes and captiues and Rome apparayled theym with all their senatours and people to receyue hym
malady of enuy wyll not suffre theym to scape fro dethe and the medicine that is applyed to them wyll not assure their lyfe I can not determine me whiche is the beste or to saye more properly the worste extreme myserie without the danger of fortune or extreme prosperitie that is always thretened to falle In this case to be so extreme I wyl not determin me sith in the one is a perillous lyfe and in the other renoume is sure ¶ I shall tell the what wise Cicero sayde whan he was pursued with many at Rome Beholde you Romaines I holde you not for so good nor my selfe so ylle to saye the trouth always nor always to make lyes I am certayne that ye bere me none enuie for that I am not as ye be but it is bycause ye can not be as I am In this case I had rather that my ennemies had enuye at my prosperitie than my frendes at my pouertie ¶ This oratour spake after the appetite of them that be in prosperitie leuynge to gyue remedy to them that be sorowfull And after this Cicero had sene the feldes of Farsalye he toke other councell and remedy suche as pleased hym in Rome For if Cesar had granted him his goodes yet y t turned not his credence and renoume Surely frend PyramoÌ„ I know no remedy to gyue the ageinst enuy sith thou seest al the world ful therof we se how we be the sons of enuy and we liue with enuy die with enuy he that leueth most ryches leaueth the greatest enuy The ancient wise men couÌ„sailed rich men that they shuld not haue pore folkes nere them and they admonished the pore that they shuld nat dwell nere to the rych And truly it is good reason For the richesse of riche men is the sede of enuy to the poore And bycause the pore maÌ„ lacketh and the riche hath to moche causeth discorde among the people I swere by y e goddis immortal freÌ„de Pyramon though they that be yl wolde that I shuld swere falsely as moche as riches with thought norisheth couetise so moch the enuious norisheth enuy therby I tell the one thynge and that is that it is no good counsell to flee enuy and to auoyde the vertu coÌ„trarye to the same Homer saithe y t in his tyme there were two Grekes extreme in all extremities The one was extreme in riches therfore he was ê‘secuted by enuy that was Achilles the other was sore noted of malice but no man had enuy at hym and that was Thiestes Certaynly I had leuer be Achilles with his enuy thaÌ„ Thiestes without it Thou knowest well that we Romaynes serche not but for reste in our lyfe and for honour after deathe And sithe it is so it is not possible but the man that euery man enuieth his renoume ought to be exalted in the rest of his lyfe And sithe I see these two thynges in the suche as be thy frendes taketh lyttell thought for that thyn ennemies murmure ageinste the. Thou wrytest to me howe they of Lyons doo well and are mery excepte thy selfe that arte heuy and full of pensyuenesse And sith they shewe not to haue pleasure at thy displeasure shewe not thy selfe dyspleased with their pleasure For it maye chaunce one day they shall be sorowfull whan that thou art merye Than thou shalt be quite with them In an euyll persone there can be no greatter yll nor in a good man a greatter faute than to be displeased with an other mans welthe and to take pleasure at an other mans harme And in case that al do vs domage with enuy yet moche more a frende than the enemy For of myn enmy I wyl beware and for feare he wyll withdrawe but a frende with his amitie may begyle me and I by my fidelitie shal not perceyue Amonge all mortall ennemies there is none wors than a frend that is enuyous of my felicitie Pyramon my frende I wylle conclude if thou wylt withdrawe thy selfe fro ennemies than kepe company with thyn owne familiar frendes I wote not what to write more to the but with all my harte I lamente thy heuynesse Thou knowest howe thy nyece Brusia was slayne with a dagger by her owne husbande I had great compassion for her deth and for the renoume that she lefte behynde her Flauius Priscus thyn vncle is newely made Censure The processe betwene thy brother Fornion and Britio is determyned by the senate and hit pleaseth me ryghte well that they be frendes and euerye man well content The boke intytuled the consolation of heuynes I haue ended and layde it in the capitol I haue writen it in Greke and that is the cause that I sent it not to the. But I do sende the a ryche swerde and a fayre gyrdell Faustine my wyfe dothe salute the and sendethe thy wyfe two sclaues The goddis be my kepers and comfort the in thy present heuynesse Marke the man fortunate to Pyramon sore discomforted ¶ A letter sent by Marcus the emperour to Cornelius of the trauayle of warre and vanitie of triumph ¶ The seconde Letter MArcke emperour of Rome to the Cornelius my faythfulle frende salutation to thy person and good fortune to thy desired lyfe As thou in tyme passed haste bene partener of my trauayles I haue sente to calle the to gyue the pleasure of my tryumphes By the haboundance of rychesse diuersitie of captiues fiersnes of capitayns that we haue brought to Rome thou mayst perceyue what peryls we haue suffred in this warre The parthes are good men of warre as euery man findeth in their own lande defendeth their houses with stronge hart and surely they do lyke good men For without reason we dye of affection to take other mens goodes they with reason do labour to defende that is their owne Lette no man take enuy at the Romayn capitayn for any triumph that is gyuen him by his mother Rome For one day of honour he is a. M. dayes in dispaire of his lyfe I wylle not speake that I myght say of them that be in warre and dwell in Rome ben cruell iuges of their owne fame And sith that the ê“pre renome of a man lyeth in other folkes tonges it is not sayde bycause his persone hath meryted but bycause that they doo shewe theyr enuye But our foolyshenes is so folyshe and the reputation of men soo vayne that for one vayne worde more than for our profytte we put our lyfe in daunger and lay our honour to gauge with trauayle rather than to lyue and to assure our renoume with reste I swere by the goddis immortall that the daye of my tryumph being in the chariot I was as pensiue as I myght be O Rome cursed be thy foly wo be to hym that hath brought vp in the soo moche pride And cursed be he that hath inuented so great pompe in the. What greatter or more vnegall lyghtnes can be than that a Romayne capitayn bicause he hath
teares of wepynge are for thy damage Nowe come to the rest of euyll fortune Thou gyuest me knowledge that the goddis haue taken a doughter fro the And the monstrous erthequake hath throwen downe thy howse and the senate hath gyuen a sentence agaynste the wherby thy goodes are loste and thy persone banyshed The goddis be to me as propyce and meke as they haue ben cruelle to the. I am soore abasshed of that my spirite hath conceyued in this as of the losse that thou thy wyfe haue felt yet am I not abashed of the monster that feareth the people nor of the trymblynge that hathe shaken downe thy howses nor of the fyre that hath brent thy goodes nor of the goddis that haue permitted suche thynges to falle But I am abashed that there is so moche malyce in the and in thy neyghbours For the whiche iustely ye do deserue to haue soo horrible and cruelle chastysementes Beleue me in oone thynge Antigonus and doubte it not yf men lyued lyke men and chaunged not the rule of conditours the goddis wolde then be always as goddis not to cause vs to be borne of oure mothers to gyue vs so cruel chastisemētes by the hande of monstrous beastes Certaynely it is iuste and mooste iuste that brute beastes be chastysed by other brute beastes and the monsterous by other monsterous beastes and such as offend with greatte fautes to be punyshed with great peynes I say to the one thynge the whiche semeth a newe thynge to the and that is this the euyll persons offende more by infamy than the goddis gyue theym peyne for it rather than for the offence that is cōmitted ageynst them As the goddis naturally be pitiefull and alwaye haue the name therof so we are always euyl and our euylnes and shameful werkes deserue to haue sore chastisement The symple folkes call the goddis cruell in that they se theyr chastisement openly and for they see not our secrete ylnesse Than the goddis haue reason to complayn bicause we with our sinnes offend them and they by our cruelnes are infamed An ineffable rule it is that the pitieful goddis do not punysshe extremely with extreme chastysementes sythe that fyrste the vicious men doo extremely with extreme vyces The tyme that Camillus was banyshed Capue and that the frenche men possessed Rome Lucius Clarus consule was sent by the senate to the oracle of Apollo to demande counsell what the Romayne people shuld do to be delyuered out of their great perylle And there this consule was xl dayes within the temple on his knees before Appollo offerynge right straunge sacrifices and shedde many teares with wepynge and yet he coulde haue none answere and so with no smal inconueniences he returned to Rome Than the holy senate sēt out of euery temple two priestis and whan they were prostrate on the erthe Apollo sayde As one beginnynge is correspondent to an nother begynnynge and one place to an nother Meruaylle thou not though by the reason of an extreme demaunde I shewed my selfe extreme to answere Ye Romaynes sythe ye faylle men ye come to seke to the goddis for the occasion wherof we wyll gyue you no good coūsayle whan ye haue nede nor permytte that men shulde fauour you whan ye goo to seke for them Regarde my frendes not for the sacrifyces that ye haue offred to me but for the amitie that I haue had with your fathers in tyme past I wyl discouer to you a secrete the whiche is that ye shall say to the Romaynes fro me .vii. thynges The fyrste is lette neuer man leaue the goddis for an other man for feare that the goddis depart fro the myserable man in his moste greattest necessitie The .ii. is that more auayllethe to holde the parte of one of the goddis immortall that is in heuen than with all the mortall men in the worlde The .iii. is that menne shulde beware to anoye the goddis for the yre of the goddes doth more domage than the iniquitie of all men The iiii is the goddis neuer forgette a man at any tyme but if the goddes be forgotten by men a. M. tymes The .v. is that the goddis do suffre that one shall be persecuted by an other that is ylle or they haue fyrste persecuted one that is good And therfore ye are stryke with the feates of the frenchemen bicause ye haue persecuted and banyshed Camyllus your naturalle neyghbour The .vi. is if the men wyl haue the goddis fauourable in the time of warre they muste serue them fyrste in tyme of peace The .vii. is that the pitiefull goddes sendeth not to any realme some extreme chastisement but if it be for some extreme offences commytttd in the same realme And shewe to the Senate that I wold make none answere to Lucius Clarus bycause they sent so yll a man to theyr god Apollo as ambassadur the whiche they ought not to haue done Ye Romayns take this counsell of me and if ye fynde it yl take no more of me In a straunge message sende alwayes the most eloquent men and in your senate set the wysest men And commytte your hostes to valiant capitayns and to your goddes sende alway the most innocent men The iust goddes neuer appease their ires ageinste vniust men but if the requirers be very innocente and meke For a fowle vessell is not made cleane but with fayre water For with foule handes it is hard to make the vessel clene The goddis be so iust that they wyl not gyue iuste thynges but by hādes of iust mē Finally I say if ye wyl driue the french men your ennemies out of your landes fyrste cast out the passiōs fro your hartes Thynke for trouth that the goddis wyll neuer driue your ennemies out of Italy tyll Camyllus and al the gyltlesse that be banyshed be returned ageyn to Rome Certaynly the cruell warres that the goddis permytte at this tyme presente is but a warnynge of the chastisementes for offences passed For that the yl men haue done to the innocentes in diuers dayes after by the handes of other that be yl the paimēt is made in one daye This answere Apollo made to the priestes flamynes that were sent to hym out of Rome whiche thinge made the senate sore abashed I remēbre that in the boke of the aunswere of the goddis in the annales of the capitol there I founde it the whiche boke the first day of euery monethe was red by a senatour before al the other senatours of the senate Therfore frēd Antigonus as the god Apollo said if thou wylt not beleue me that am thy frende beleue the god Apollo O Antigonus beholde howe the vnderstanding of vayn men are but bestly to the spirites of the goddis whiche are secret and hid and where as they speke al other ought to be stylle For one counsell of the goddis is more worth in mockerie than al the coūsels of mē though they be neuer so ernest
Soo all these thynges tyme acheueth and burieth but onely trouthe the whiche of the tyme and of all thynge that is in the tyme triumpheth Neyther to be fauoured of the good nor to be persecuted of the yll may be but that somtyme trouth may be stopped and hydde but whan it is displeased and wyl displease than at the laste she commeth to a good porte and taketh londe The fruites in the spryngyng tyme haue not the vertue to gyue sustenaunce nor perfyte swetenesse to satisfie the taste of them that eatetth therof but thanne passeth the season of sommer and haruest comethe whiche tyme dothe better rype them and thanne that that we doo eate dothe profyte vs the profe therof is ryghte sauerynesse and gyuethe the more force and vertue and the greatter is the taste I wyll in these fyrste wordes saye that in the fyrste aeges menne were more estemed by theyr meke customes and delycatenes than they were after reproued by their grosse and rude vnderstandynges Certaynely somme of the aunciente philisophers I speake of the mooste aunciente as welle Caldees as Grekes who fyrste lyfted theym selues to regarde the sterres of the heuen and surmounted the hyghe mounte of Olympius there to contemplate and regarde the influences of the planettes in the heuen I dare well saye that they haue rather merited pardon by theyr ignoraunces than praysynge or grace by their wysedome These were the fyrste that wolde serch the trouthe of the elementes of the heuen and yet they were the fyrste that dyd so we errours in thinges natural of the erthe Homere in his Illiade said these wordes in speakynge of philosophers I prayse nothyng the knowlege of myn auncesters but I can them greatte thanke and prayse in that they desyred knowlege This was welle sayde of Homer For if amonge the aunciente men had not rayned suche ignoraunce there had not ben soo many sectes and parcialities in euery schole He that hath redde the auncient antiquities of the philosophers shall not denay me the presumption of the knowledge and ignorance of that they desired to knowe the whiche is chiefe cause that science is not all one There is greatte nombre of parcialities Cynitiens Catoniens Peripaticiens Academyens and Epicuriens who were as contrary in their opinions as dyuers in their naturalities I wil not that my penne be so dismeasured to reproue soo moche the auncient men that the glorie all onely shoulde abyde with them that be present Truely if he merite guardon and prayse that sheweth me the way wherby I thynke to passe yet no lesse meriteth he that sheweth and aduisethe me of the waye wherby I maye fayle The ignoraunce of the auncient men hath ben but as a guyde to aduyse and aduertise all other and bycause they erred we haue foūd sith the waye to their great prayse and to our gret shame I say that if we that be no we present had benne than wo had knowen lesse than they dydde And if they that were than were nowe at this houre they shoulde surmounte vs in knowlege And that this is trewe tt appereth wel For the auncient sages with their diligēce to know the trouth by their close and ferme made the wayes But we by our slouthe folowe not the open wayes Than to the purpose that I wyll saye we that be nowe present canne not complayne of them that haue bene but that the trouthe the which accordynge to Aule Gel. is doughter of the tyme In this tyme of the worlde declarethe to vs the errours that we oughte to flee and the trouthe of the doctrine that we ought to folowe But as nowe the humayne malyce is so experte and the vnderstandynge of mortall menne is so dulle that in tyme of nede in goodnes of wyt we fayle and in all yll we knowe more than we ought to knowe In suche wyse that some with one parte of the more and some with lesse al presume to wyn the game And though this be true yet it is but a smalle thynge to that we abyde fore There is so moche that we oughte to knowe For the moste that we knowe is the least parte of that we be ignorant of as the thynges natural accordyng to the varietie of the tyme lyke maner dothe the operations of the elementes In semblable wise in thynges mortall as the ages hath succeded so are discouered the sciences For certayne all the fruites cometh not together Whan one fayleth an other begynneth to entre in reason I wylle saye that neyther all doctours amonge christen menne nor all the philosophers amonge the gentylles were concurrante in one tyme but after the deathe of one good an other came better The hygh and supreme wysedome the whiche all meane thynges gouerneth by Iustice and departeth it accordynge to his bountie wyll not that at oone tyme the worlde shulde want or be destitute of sage men nor at an other tyme want of symple personnes some desyringe the fruite and some the leaues In such sort that they shulde haue enuy of that other were impeched This auncient world that ranne in Saturnus dayes the whiche other wyse was called the golden worlde the whiche was so estemed of them that sawe it and soo moche praysed of theym that harde the writynge therof and soo moche desired of them that felt no parte therof was not gold by the sages that dyd gylte it but bycause that there was none yll that did vngylt it This our age nowe is of iron yet it is not called of yron for faute of sages but bycause the malycious people surmounte I confesse one thynge and I thynke I shall haue manye wyll fauour me in the same that there was neuer in the worlde so moche people teachynge vertue and soo fewe folowynge the same Aul. Gele sayth in his boke that the ancient sages were holden in reputation bycause there were fewe teachers and many lerners at this houre it is contrary there be but fewe lerners and many teachers The small esteme that the sages be in at this tyme maye be sene by greatte veneration that the philosophers were holden in as than the whiche thynge was trewe Homer among the grekes Salomom amonge the Hebrewes Lygurge amonge the Lacedemonyens Lyuie amonge the Romayns Cicero amonge the Latines Apolonius Thianeus amonge all the barbarike nations I desyre to haue ben in all these ages whan the worlde was so ryche of sage persons and so poore of symple persons whan they assembled out of ferre countreys and of dyuers realmes and strange nations not all onely to haue hard their doctrines but also to haue sene their persones I thynke I am not begyled in the histories for whan Rome in his moste prosperitie was hyghest in tryumphe Titus Liuius dothe write it in his histories and the glorious saynt Ierome affirmethe it in the prologe of the byble that mo people came to Rome to se the eloquences of the bokes more than to ioy any Romayne trumph Whan Olympias was delyuered of her