tender sence and ◅ast obligation of dutie which learning doth endue the minde withall howsoeuer fortune may taxe it and many in the depth of their corrupt principles may despise it yet it will receiue an open allowance and therefore needes the lesse di◅proofe or excusation Another fault incident commonly to learned men which may be more probably defended than truely denyed is that they fayle sometimes in ap◅lying themselus to particular persons which want of exact application ar◅eth from two causes The one because the largenesse of their minde can hardly confine it selfe to dwell in the exquisite obseruation or examination of the nature and customes of one person for it is a speech for a Louer not for a wise man Satis magnum alter alteri Theat◅um sumus◅ Neuerthelesse I shall yeeld that he that cannot contract the sight of his minde aswell as disperse and dilate it wanteth a great sacultie But there is a second cause which is no inabilitie but a rejection vpon choise and iudgement For the honest and iust bounds of obseruation by one person vpon another extend no further but to vnderstand him sufficiently whereby not to giue him offence or wherby to be able to giue him faithfull Counsel or wherby to stand vpon reasonable guard and caution in respect of a mans selfe But to be speculatiue into another man to the end to know how to worke him or winde him or gouerne him proceedeth from a heart that is double and clouen and not entire and ingenuous which as in friendship it is want of integritie so towards Princes or Superiors is want of dutie For the custome of the Leuant which is that subiects doe forbeare to gaze or fixe their eyes vpon Princes is in the outward Ceremonie barbarous but the morall is good For men ought not by cunning and bent obseruations to pierce and penetrate into the hearts of Kings which the scripture hath declared to be inscrutable There is yet another fault with which I will conclude this part which is often noted in learned men that they doe many times fayle to obserue decencie and discretion in their behauiour and carriage and commit errors in small and ordinarie points of action so as the vulgar sort of Capacities doe make a Iudgement of them in greater matters by that which they finde wanting in them in smaller But this consequence doth oft deceiue men for which I doe referre them ouer to that which was sayd by Themistocles arrogantly and vnciuily being applyed to himselfe out of his owne mouth but being applyed to the generall state of this question pertinently and iustly when being inuited to touch a Lute he sayd He could not fiddle but he could make a small Towne a great state So no doubt many may be well seene in the passages of gouernement and policie which are to seeke in little and punctuall occasions I referre them also to that which Plato sayd of his Maister Socrates whom he compared to the Gally-pots of Apothecaries which on the out side had Apes and Owles and Antiques but contained with in soueraigne and precious liquors and confections acknowledging that to an externall report he was not without superficiall leuities and deformities but was inwardly replenished with excellent vertues and powers And so much touching the point of manners of learned men But in the meane time I haue no purpose to giue allowance to some conditions and courses base and vnworthy wherein diuers Professors of learning haue wronged themselues and gone too farre such as were those Trencher Philosophers which in the later age of the Romane State were vsually in the houses of great persons being little better than solemne Parasites of which kinde Lucian maketh a merrie description of the Philosopher that the great Ladie tooke to ride with her in her Coach and would needs haue him carie her little Dogge which he doing officiously and yet vncomely the Page scoffed and sayd That he doubted the Philosopher of a Stoike would turne to be a Cynike But aboue all the rest the grosse and palpable flatterie whereunto many not vnlearned haue abbased abused their wits and pens turning as Du Bartas saith Hecuba into Helena and Faustina into Lucretia hath most diminished the price and estimation of Learning Neither is the morall dedications of Bookes and Writings as to Patrons to bee commended for that Bookes such as are worthy the name of Bookes ought to haue no Patrons but Truth and Reason And the ancient custome was to dedicate them only to priuate and equall friendes or to intitle the Bookes with their Names or if to Kings and great persons it was to some such as the argument of the Booke was fit and proper for but these and the like Courses may deserue rather reprehension than defence Not that I can taxe or condemne the morigeration or application of learned men to men in fortune For the answere was good that Diogenes made to one that asked him in mockerie How it came to passe that Philosophers were the followers of rich men and not rich men of Philosophers He answered soberly and yet sharpely Because the one sort knew what they had need of the other did not And of the like nature was the answere which Aristippus made when hauing a petition to Dionisius and no eare giuen to him he fell downe at his feete wheupon Dionisius stayed and gaue him the hearing and graunted it and afterward some person tender on the behalfe Philosophie reprooued Aristippus that he would offer the Profession of Philosophie such an indignitie as for a priuat Suit to fall at a Tyrants feet But he answered It was not his fault but it was the fault of Dionisius that had his eares in his feete Neither was it accounted weakenesse but discretion in him that would not dispute his best with Adrianus Caesar excusing himselfe That it was reason to yeeld to him that commaunded thirtie Legions These and the like applications and stooping to points of necessitie and conuenience cannot bee disallowed for though they may haue some outward basenesse yet in a Iudgement truely made they are to bee accounted submissions to the occasion and not to the person Now I proceede to those errours and vanities which haue interueyned amongst the studies themselues of the learned which is that which is principall and proper to the present argument wherein my purpose is not to make a iustification of the errors but by a censure and separation of the errors to make a iustificatiō of that which is good sound and to deliuer that from the aspersion of the other For we see that it is the manner of men to scandalize and depraue that which retaineth the state and vertue by taking aduantage vpon that which is corrupt and degenerate as the Heathens in the primitiue Church vsed to blemish and taynt the Christians with the faults and corruptions of Heretiques But neuerthelesse I haue no meaning at this time to make any exact animaduersion of
friends seruants and was asked what he did reserue for himselfe and he answered Hope Weigh I say whether he had not cast vp his account aright because Hope must bee the portion of all that resolue vppon great enterprises For this was Caesars portion when he went first into Gaule his estate being then vtterly ouerthrowne with Largesses And this was likewise the portion of that noble Prince howsoeuer transported with ambition Henry Duke of Guise of whom it was vsually sayd that he was the greatest Vsurer in Fraunce because he had turned all his estate into obligations To conclude therefore as certaine Critiques are vsed to say hyperbolically That if all Sciences were lost they might bee found in Virgill So certainely this may be sayd truely there are the prints and footesteps of learning in those fewe speeches which are reported of this Prince The admiration of whom when I consider him not as Alexander the Great but as Aristotles Scholler hath carryed me too farre As for Iulius Caesar the excellencie of his learning needeth not to be argued from his education or his companie or his speeches but in a further degree doth declare it selfe in his writinges and workes whereofsome are extant and permanent and some vnfortunately perished For first we see there is left vnto vs that excellent Historie of his owne warres which he entituled onely a Commentarie wherin all succeeding times haue admired the solide weight of matter and the reall passages and liuely Images of actions and persons expressed in the greatest proprietie of words and perspicuitie of Narration that euer was which that it was not the effect of a naturall guift but of learning and precept is well witnessed by that worke of his entituled De Analogia being a grammaticall Philosophie wherein hee did labour to make this same Vox ad placitum to become Vox ad licitum and to reduce custome of speech to congruitie of speech and tooke as it were the pictures of wordes from the life of reason So wee receiue from him as a Monument both of his power and learning the then reformed computation of the yeare well expressing that he tooke it to be as great a glorie to himselfe to obserue and know the law of the heauens as to giue law to men vpon the earth So likewise in that booke of his Anticato it may easily appeare that he did aspire as well to victorie of of wit as victory of warre vndertaking therein a conflict against the greatest Champion with the pen that then liued Cicero the Orator So againe in his Booke of Apothegmes which he collected we see that he esteemed it more honour to make himselfe but a paire of Tables to take the wise and pithy words of others than to haue euery word of his owne to be made an Apothegme or an Oracle as vaine Princes by custome of flatterie pretend to doe And yet if I should enumerate diuers of his speeches as I did those of Alexander they are truely such as Salomon noteth when hee sayth Verba sapientum tanquam aculei tanquam claui in altum defixi whereof I will only recite three not so delectable for elegancie but admirable for vigor and efficacie As first it is reason hee bee thought a Master of words that could with one word appease a mutinie in his Armie which was thus The Romanes when their Generals did speake to their Armie did vse the word Milites but when the Magistrates spake to the people they did vse the word Quirites The Souldiers were in tumult and seditiously prayed to bee cassiered not that they so meant but by expostulation thereof to drawe Caesar to other Conditions wherein hee being resolute not to giue way after some silence hee beganne his speech Ego Quirites which did admit them alreadie cassiered wherewith they were so surprised crossed and confused as they would not suffer him to goe on in his speech but relinquished their demaunds and made it their suit to be againe called by the name of Milites The second speech was thus Caesar did extreamly affect the name of King and some were set on as he passed by in popular acclamation to salute him king whereupon finding the crie weake and poore he put it off thus in a kind of Iest as if they had mistaken his surname Non Rex sum sed Caesar a speech that if it be searched the life and fulnesse of it can scarce be expressed For first it was a resusall of the name but yet not serious againe it did signifie an infinite confidence and magnanimitie as if he presumed Caesar was the greater title as by his worthinesse it is come to passe till this day but chiefely it was a speech of great allurement toward his owne purpose as if the State did striue with him but for a name whereof meane families were vested for Rex was a surname with the Romanes aswell as King is with vs. The last speech which I will mention was vsed to Metellus when Caesar after warre declared did possesse himselfe of the Citie of Rome at which time entring into the inner treasurie to take the the monney there accumulate Metellus being Tribune forbad him whereto Caesar sayd That if hee did not desist hee would laye him dead in the place And presently taking himselfe vp hee added Young man it is harder for me to speake it than to doe it Adolescens durius est mihi hoc dicere quà m facere A speech compounded of the greatest terrour and greatest clemencie that could proceede out of the mouth of man But to returne and conclude with him it is euident himselfe knewe well his owne perfection in learning and tooke it vpon him as appeared when vpon occasion that some spake what a strange resolution it was in Lucius Sylla to resigne his Dictature he scoffing at him to his owne aduantage answered That Sylla could not skill of Letters and therefore knew not how to Dictate And here it were fit to leaue this point touching the concurrence of mâ—…litarie vertue and learning for what example should come with any grace after those two of Alexander and Caesar were it not in regard of the rarenesse of circumstance that I finde in one other particular as that which did so sodenly passe from extreame scorne to extreame wonder and it is of Xenophon the Philosopher who went from Socrates Schoole into Asia in the expedition of Cyrus the younger against King Artaxâ—…xes This Xenopâ—…on at that time was verie yong and neuer had seene the Warres before neither had any commaund in the Armie but onely followed the Warre as a voluntarie for the loue and conuersation of Proxenus his friend hee was present when Falinus came in Message from the great King to the Grecians after that Cyrus was slaine in the field and they a handfull of men left to themselues in the middest of the Kings Territories cut off from their Country by many nauigable Riuers and many hundred miles The Message imported that they
negatiue or Priuatiue So that a fewe times hitting or presence counteruayles oft times fayling or absence as was well answered by Diagoras to him that shewed him in Neptunes Temple the great number of pictures of such as had scaped Shippe-wracke and had paide their Vowes to Neptune saying Aduise nowe you that thinke it folly to inuocate Neptune in tempest Yea but sayth Diagoras where are they painted that are drowned Lette vs behould it in another instance namely That the spirite of man beeing of an equall and vnifourme substance doth vsually suppose and faine in Nature a greater equalitie and vniformitie than is in truth Hence it commeth that the Mathematitians cannot satisfie themselues except they reduce the Motions of the Celestiall bodyes to perfect Circles reiecting spirall lynes and laboring to be discharged of Eecentriques Hence it commeth that whereas there are many thinges in Nature as it were Monodica sui Iuris Yet the cogitations of Man doe fayne vnto them Relatiues Parallelles and Coniugates whereas no such thinge is as they haue fayned an Element of Fire to keepe square with Earth Water and Ayre and the like Nay it is not credible till it bee opened what a number of fictions and fantasies the similitude of humane Actions Arts together with the making of Man Communis Mensura haue brought into naturall Philosophie not much better than the Heresie of the Anthropomorphites bredde in the Celles of grosse and solitarie Monkes and the opinion of Epicurus answearable to the same in heathenisme who supposed the Gods to bee of humane Shape And therefore Velleius the Epicurian needed not to haue asked why God should haue adorned the Heauens with Starres as if he had beene an Aedilis One that should haue set foorth some magnificent shewes or playes for if that great Worke master had beene of an Humane disposition hee woulde haue caste the starres into some pleasant and beautifull workes and orders like the frettes in the Roofes of Houses whereas one can scarce finde a Posture in square or triâ—…angle or streight line amongest such an infinite numbers so differing an Harmonie there is betweene the spirite of Man and the spirite of Nature Lette vs consider againe the false appearances imposed vpon vs by euerie Man 's owne indiuiduall Nature and Custome in that fayned supposition that Plato maketh of the Caue for certainely if a childe were continued in a Grotte or Caue vnder the Earth vntill maturitie of age and came suddainely abroade hee would haue strange and absurd Imaginations So in like manner although our persons liue in the view of Heauen yet our spirites are included in the Caues of our owne complexions and Customes which minister vnto vs infinite Errours and vaine opinions if they bee not recalled to examination But heereof wee haue giuen many examples in one of the Errors or peccant humours which wee ranne briefely ouer in our first Booke And lastly lette vs consider the false appearances that are imposed vpon vs by words which are framed and applyed according to the conceit and capacities of the Vulgar sorte And although wee thinke we gouerne our wordes and prescribe it well Loquendum vt Vulgus sentiendum vt sapientes Yet certaine it is that wordes as a â—…artars Bowe doe shoote backe vppon the vnderstanding of the wisest and mightily entangle and pernert the Iudgement So as it is almost necessarie in all controuersies and disputations to imitate the wisedome of the Mathematicianâ—… in setting downe in the verie beginning the definitions of our wordes and termes that others may knowe howe wee accept and vnderstand them and whether they concurre with vs or no. For it commeth to passe for want of this that we are sure to end there where wee ought to haue begun which is in questions differences about words To conclude therefore it must be confessed that it is not possible to diuorce our selues from these fallacies and false appearances because they are inseparable from our Nature and Condition of life So yet neuerthelesse the Caution of them for all Elenches as was saide are but Cautions doth extreamely importe the true conducte of Humane Iudgement The particular Elenches or Cautions against these three false appearances I finde altogether deficient There remayneth one parte of Iudgement of great excellencie which to mine vnderstanding is so sleightly touched as I maye reporte that also deficient which is the application of the differinge kindes of Proofes to the differing kindes of Subiects for there beeing but foure kindes of demonstrations that is by the immediate consent of the Minde or Sence by Induction by Sophisme and by Congruitie which is that which Aristotle calleth Demonstration in Orbe or Circle and not a Notioribus euerie of these hath certaine Subiects in the Matter of Sciences in which respectiuely they haue chiefest vse and certaine other from which respectiuely they ought to be excluded and the rigour and curiositie in requiring the more seuere Proofes in some thinges and chiefely the facilitie in contenting our selues with the more remisse Proofes in others hath beene amongest the greatest causes of detryment and hinderance to Knowledge The distributions and assignations of demonstrations according to the Analogie of Sciences I note as deficient The Custodie or retayning of Knowledge is either in WRITING or MEMORIE whereof WRITINGE hath twoo partes The Nature of the CHARACTER and the order of the ENTRIE for the Art of Characters or other visible notes of Wordes or thinges it hath neerest coniugation with Grammar and therefore I referre it to the due place for the Disposition and Coâ—…ocation of that Knowledge which wee preserue in Writing It consisteth in a good Digest of Common Places wherein I am not ignorant of the preiudice imputed to the vse of Common-Place Bookes as causing a retardation of Reading and some sloth or relaxation of Memorie But because it is but a counterfeit thing in Knowledges to be forward and pregnant except a man bee deepe and full I hould the Entrie of Common places to bee a matter of great vse and essence in studying as that which assureth copie of Inuention and contracteth Iudgment to a strength But this is true that of the Methodes of Common places that I haue seen there is none of any sufficient woorth all of them carying meerely the face of a Schoole and not of a World and referring to vulgar matters and Pedanticall Diuisions without all life or respect to Action For the other Principall Parte of the Custodie of Knowledge which is MEMORIE I finde that facultie in my Iudgement weakely enquired of An Art there is extant of it But it seemeth to me that there are better Precepts than that Art and better practises of that Art than those receiâ—…ed It is certaine the Art as it is may bee raysed to points of ostentation prodigious But in vse as it is nowe mannaged it is barrein not burdensome nor dangerous to Naturall Memorie as is imagined but barren that is not
vp both to be applyed to that which is frequent and most in request The former of these I will call Antitheta the latter Formulae Antitheta are Theses argued pro contra wherin men may be more large laborious but in such as are able to doe it to auoyd prolixity of entry I wish the seedes of the seuerall arguments to be cast vp into some briefe and acute sentences not to bee cyted but to bee as Skaynes or Bottomes of thread to bee vnwinded at large when they come to be vsed supplying authorities and Examples by reference Pro verbis legis Non est interpretatio sed diuinatio quae recedit a littera Cum receditur a littera Index transit in legislatorem Pro sententia Legis Ex omnibus verbis est Elu◅endus sensus qui interpretatur singula Formulae are but decent and apt passages or conueyances of speeche which may serue indifferently for differing subiects as of Preface Conclusion Digression Transition Excusation c. For as in buildings there is great pleasure and vse in the well casting of the staire cases entryes doores windowes and the like so in speeche the conueyances and passages are of speciall ornament and effect A conclusion in a Del◅eratiue So may we redeeme the faults passed preuent the inconue niences future There remayn two Appendices touching the tradition of knowledge The one Criticall The other Pedanticall For all knowledge is eyther deliuered by Teachers or attayned by mens proper endeuors And therefore as the principall part of Tradition of knowledge concerneth chiefly in writing of Books So the Relatiue part thereof concerneth reading of Bookes Wherunto appertayn incidently these consideratiōs The first is cōcerning the true Correction editiō of Authors wherin neuerthelesse rash diligēce hath don gret preiudice For these Critiques haue oftē presumed that that which they vnderstandnot is false set down As the Priest that where he found it written of S. Paul Demissus est per sportam mēded his book and made it Demissus est per portam because Sperta was an hard word and out of his reading and surely their errors though they be not so palpable and ridiculous yet are of the same kind And therefore as it hath beene wisely noted the most corrected copies are cōmonly the least correct The second is concerning the exposition and explication of Authors which resteth in Annotations and Cōmentaryes wherin it is ouer vsual to blaunch the obscure places and discourse vpon the playne The third is concerning the times which in many cases giue great light to true Interpretations The fourth is concerning some briefe Censure and iudgement of the Authors that men therby may make some election vnto themselues what Bookes to reade And the fift is concerning the Syntax and disposition of studies that men may know in what order or pursuite to reade For PEDANTICALL knowledge it contayneth that differēce of Tradition which is proper for youth Whereunto appertaine diuers considerations of greatfruit As first the tyming and seasoning of knowledges as with what to initiate them and from what for a time to refraine them Secondly the consideration where to begin with the easiest and so proceede to the more difficult And in what courses to presse the more difficulte and then to turne them to the more easie for it is one Methode to practise swimming with bladders and another to practise dauncing with heauy shooes A third is the application of learning according vnto the propriety of the wittes for there is no defect in the faculties intellectuall but seemeth to haue a proper Cure contayned in some studies As for example If a Child be Bird-witted that is hath not the facultie of attention the Mathematiques giueth a remedy thereunto for in them if the witte be caught away but a moment one is new to begin And as sciences haue a propriety towards faculties for Cure and helpe So faculties or powers haue a Simpathy towards Sciences for excellency or speedy profiting And therfore it is an enquity of greate wisedom what kinds of wits and Natures are most apt and proper for what sciences Fourthly the ordering of exercises is matter of great consequence to hurt or helpe For as is well ob serued by Cicero men in exercising their faculties if they be not wel aduised doe exercise their faultes get ill habits as well as good so as there is a greate iudgement to be had in the continuance and intermission of Exercises It were to longe to particularize a number of other consideratiōs of this nature things but of meane appearance but of singular efficacy For as the wronging or cherishing of seeds or young plants is that that is most important to their thriuing And as it was noted that the first six kings being in trueth as Tutors of the State of Rome in the infancy thereof was the principal cause of the immense greatnesse of that state which followed So the culture and manurance of Minds in youth hath such a forcible though vnseen operacion as hardly any length of time or contention of labour can counteruaile it afterwards And it is not amisse to obserue also how small and meane faculties gotten by Education yet when they fall into greate men or great matters doe work great and important effects whereof we see a notable example in Tacitus of two Stage-plaiers Percennius and Vibulenus who by their facultie of playing put the Pannonian armies into an extreame tumulte and combustion For there arising a mutinie amongst them vpon the death of Augustus Caesar Bloesus the lieuetenant had committed some of the Mutiners which were suddenly rescued whereupon Vtbulenus got to be heard speake which he did in this manner These poore innocent wretches appointed to cruell death you haue restored to behould the light But who shall restore my brother to me or life vnto my brother that was sent hither in message from the legions of Germany to treat of the common Cause and he hath murdered him this last night by some of his sencers ruffians that he hath about him for his executioners vpon Souldiours Answer Blaesus what is done with his body The mortallest Enem'es doe not deny buriall when I haue performed my last duties to the Corpes with kisses with teares command me to be slaine besides him so that these my fellowes for our good meaning and our true hearts to the Legions may haue leaue to bury vs. With which speeche he put the army into an infinite fury and vprore whereas truth was he had no brother neyther was there any such matter but hee plaide it meerely as if he had beene vpon the stage But to returne we are now come to a period of RATIONALL KNOVVLEDGES wherein if I haue made the diuisions other than those that are receiued yet would I not be thought to disallow all those diuisions which I doe not vse For there is a double necessity imposed vpon me of altering the diuisions The one because it
appetere vt non metuas sunt animi pusilli diffidentis And it seemeth to me that most of the doctrines of the Philosophers are more fearefull and cautionary then the Nature of things requireth So haue they encreased the feare of death in offering to cure it For when they would haue a mans whole life to be but a discipline or preparation to dye they must needes make men thinke that it is a terrible Enemy against whom there is no end of preparing Better saith the Poet Qui sinem vitae extremum inter Munera ponat Naturae So haue they sought to make mens minds to vniforme and harmonicall by not breaking them sufficiently to cōtrary Motions the reason whereof I suppose to be because they themselues were men dedicated to a pri uate free and vnapplied course of life For as we see vpon the lute or like Instrument a Ground though it be sweet and haue shew of many changes yet breaketh not the hand to such strange and hard stoppes and passages as a Set song or Voluntary much after the same Manner was the diuersity betweene a Philosophicall and a ciuile life And therefore men are to Imitate the wisedome of Iewellers who if there be a graine or a cloude or an I se which may be ground forth without taking to much of the stone they help it but if it should lessen and abate the stone to much they will not meddle with it So ought men so to procure Serenity as they destroy not magnanimity Hauing therefore deduced the Good of Man which is priuate particular as far as seemeth fit wee will now returne to that Good of man which respecteth and be beholdeth Society which we may terme Duty bicause the term of duty is more propper to a minde well framed disposed towards others as the terme of vertue is applyed to a mind well formed cōposed in it selfe though neither can a man vnderstand vertue without some relation to Society nor duety without an inwarde disposition This part may seem at first to pertaine to Science Ciuile and Politicke but not if it be wel obserued For it concerneth the Rcgimēt gouernment of euery man over himself not ouer others And as in architectur the directiō of framing the postes beames other parts of building is not the same with the maner of ioyning them and erecting the building And in mechanicalls the direction how to frame an Instrument or Engyne is not the same with the manner of setting it on woorke and imploying it and yet neuerthelesse in expressing of the one you incidently expresse the Aptnesse towardes the other So the doctrine of Coniugation of men in Socyety differereth from that of their conformity therevnto This part of Duty is sudiuided into two parts the common duty of euery man as a Man or member of a State The other the respectiue or speciall duty of euery man in his prosession vocation and place The first of these is extāt wel laboured as hathbeen said The secōd like wise I may report rather dispersed thē dcficiēt which maner of dispersed writing in this kind of Argumēt I acknowledge to be best For who cā take vpō him to write of the proper duty vertue cha and right of euery seuerall vocation profession and place For although sometimes a Looker on may see more then a gamester and there be a Prouerb more arrogant theu sound That the vale best discouereth the hill yet there is small doubt but that men can write best and most really materialy in their owne professions that the writing of speculatiue men of Actiue Matter for the most part doth seeme to men of Experience as Phormioes Argument of the warrs seemed to Hannibal to be but dreames and dotage Onely there is one vice which accompanieth them that write in their own professions that they magnify thē in excesse But generally it were to be wished as that which wold make learning indeed solide fruit ful that Actiue men woold or could become writers In which kind I cannot but mencion Honoris causa your Maiesties exellent book touching the duty of a king a woorke ritchlye compounded of Diuinity Morality and Policy with great aspersion of all other artes being in myne opinion one of the moste sound healthful writings that I haue read not distempered in the heat of inuention nor in the Couldnes of negligence not sick of Dusinesse as those are who leese themselues in their order nor of Convulsions as those which Crampe in matters impertinent not sauoring of perfumes paintings as those doe who seek to please the Reader more then Nature beareth and chiefelye wel disposed in the spirits thereof beeing agreeable to truth and apt for action and farre remooued from that Naturall insirmity whereunto I noted those that write in their own professions to be subiect which is that they exalt it aboue measure For your Maiesty hath truly described not a king of Assyria or Persia in their extern glory but a Moses or a Dauid Pastors of their people Neither can I euer leese out of my remembraunce what I heard your Maiesty in the same sacred spirite of Gouernment deliuer in a great cause of Iudicature which was That Kings ruled by theyr lawes as God did by the lawes of Nature and ought as rarely to put in vse theyr supreme Prerogatiue as God doth his power of working Miracles And yet notwithstandiug in your book of a free Monarchy you do well giue men to vnderstand that you know the plenitude of the power and right of a King as well as the Circle of his office and duty Thus haue I presumed to alledge this excellent writing of your Maiesty as a prime or eminent example of Tractates concerning speciall respectiue dutyes wherin I should haue said as much if it had beene written a thousand yeares since Neither am I mooued with cer tain Courtly decencyes which esteeme it flattery to prayse in presence No it is flattery to prayse in absence that is when eyther the vertue is absent or the occasion is absent and so the prayse is not Naturall but forced either in truth or in time But let Cicerobe read in his Oration pro Marcello which is nothing but an excellent Table of Caesars vertue and made to his face besides the example of many other excellent per sons wiser a great deale then such obseruers and we will neuer doubt vpon a full occasion to giue iust prayses to present or absent But to return there belongeth further to the handling of this partie touching the duties of professions and vocations a Relatiue or opposite touching the fraudes cautels impostures vices of euery profession which hath been likewise handled But howe rather in a Satyre Cinicaly then seriously wisely for men haue rather sought by wit to deride and traduce much of that which is good in professions then with Iudgement to discouer and seuer that which is corrupt For
diuers volumes of Ethiques and neuer handled the affections which is the principall subiect thereof and yet in his Retoricks where they are considered but collaterally in a secōd degree as they may be mooued by speech he findeth place for them and hādleth them well for the quātity but where their true place is he pretermitteth them For it is not his disputations about pleasure and paine that can satisfie this inquiry no more then hee that should generally handle the nature of light can bee said to handle the nature of Colours for pleasure and paine are to the particuler affections as light is to particular collours Better trauailes I suppose had the Stoicks taken in this argument as far as I can gather by that which wee haue at second hand But yet it is like it was after their manner rather in subtiltye of definitions which in a subiect of this nature are but curiosities then in actiue and ample descriptions and obseruations so likewise I finde some particular writings of an elegant nature touching some of the affections as of Auger of Comforte vpon aduerse accidentes of Tendernesse of Countenance and other But the poets and writers of Histories are the best Doctors of this knowledge where we may finde painted fourth with greate life How affections are kindled and incyted and how pacified and refrai ned and how againe Conteyned from Act furder degree how they disclose themselues how they work how they varye how they gather and fortifie how they are inwrapped one within another and howe they doe fighte and encounter one with another and other the like particularityes Amōgst the which this last is of speciall vse in Morall and Ciuile matters howe I say to sett affection againste affection and to Master one by another even as wee vse to hunt beast with beaste and flye byrde with birde which otherwise percase wee coulde not so easily recover vpon which foundation is erected that excellent vse of Praemium and pana whereby Ciuile states Consist imploying the predominante affections of feare and hope for the suppressing and brideling the rest For as in the gouernemente of states it is sometimes necessarye to bridle one faction with another so it is in the gouernmente within Now Come we to those poynts which are within 〈◊〉 our owne cōmand and haue force and operacion vpon the mind to affect the wil Appetite to alter Manners wherin they ought to haue hādled Custome Exercise Habit Educacion example Imitation Emulation Company Frinds praise Reproofe exhortatiō fame lawes Bookes studyes theis as they haue determinate vse in moraliryes from these the mind suffereth and of these are such receipts Regiments compounded described as may seeme to recouer or preserue the health and Good estate of the mind as farre as pertaineth to humane Medycine of which number wee will visit vpon som one or two as an exāple of the rest because it were too long to prosecute all and therefore wee doe resume Custome and habite to speake of The opinion of Aristotle seemeth to mee a negligent opinion That of those thinges which consist by nature nothing can be changed by custome vsing for example That if a stone bee throwne ten thousande tymes vp it wil not learne to assend and 〈◊〉 that by often seeing or hearing wee doe not learne to see or heare the better For thoughe this principle bee true in things wherein nature is Peremptory the reason whereof we cannot nowe stande to discusse yet it is otherwise in things wherein nature admitteth a latitude For he moughtsee that a streight gloue wil come more easily on with vse and that a wand will by vse bend otherwise then it grewe and that by vse of the voice wee speake lowder and stronger and that by vse of enduring heate or coulde we endure it the better and the like which later sort haue a neerer resemblance vnto that subiect of Manners he handleth then those instāces which he alledgeth But allowing his Conclusion that vertues and vices consist in habit he ought so much the more to haue taught the manner of superinducing that habite for there bee many precepts of the wise ordering the exercises of the minde as there is of ordering the exercises of the body wherof we wil recite a fewe The first shal bee that wee beware wee take not at the first either to High a strayne or to weake for if too Highe in a differēt nature you discorage in a confident nature you breede an opinion of facility and so a sloth and in all natures you breede a furder expectation then can hould out and so an insatisfaction on the end if to weake of the ether side you may not looke to performe and ouercome any great taske Another precept is to practise all thinges chiefly at two seuerall times the one when the mind is beste disposed the other when it is worste disposed that by the one you may gaine a great step by the other you may worke out the knots and Stondes of the mind and make the middle times rhe more easily and pleasant Another precept is that which Aristotle mencioneth by the way which is to beare euer towards the Contrary extreame of that wherevnto we are by Nature inclyned like vnto the Rowing against the stream or making a wand straight by bynding him Contrary to his natural Crookednesse Another precept is that the mind is brought to any thing better and with more sweetnesse and happinesse if that wherevnto you pretend be not first in the intention but Tanquā aliud agendo because of the Naturall hatred of the minde against necessity and Constraint Many other Axiomes there are touching the Managing of Exercise and custome which being so Conducted doth prooue indeed another nature but being gouerned by chance doth cōmōly prooue but an ape of nature bringeth forth that which is lame and Counterfette So if wee shoulde handle bookes and studies and what influence and operation they haue vpon manners are there not diuers precepts of greate caution and direction appertaining thereunto did not one of the fathers in greate indignation call Poesy vinum Demonum because it increaseth temptations perturbations and vaine opinions Is not the opinion of Aristotle worthy to be regarded wherein he saith That yoūg men are no fitte auditors of Moral Philosophy because they are not setled from the boyling heate of their affections nor attempered with Time and experience and doth it not hereof come that those excellent books and discourses of the aunciente writers whereby they haue perswaded vnto vertue most effectually by representing her in state and Maiesty and populer opinions against vertue in their Parasites Coates fitt to be scorned and derided are of so little effect towards honesty of life because they are not red reuolued by mē in their mature and setled yeares but confined almost to boyes beginners But is it not true also that much lesse young men are fit auditors of Matters of Policy