farre and how great is the difference betweene the estate of Phylosophers and the state of Captaines betweene the skyll to reade in Schooles and the knowledge to rule an Armey betweene the science that wise men haue in bookes and the experience that the others haue in warre betweene their skill to write with the penne and ours to fight with the Sword betweene one that for his pastime is set round with deskes of bookes and an other in perill of life encompassed with troups of Enemyes For many there are which with great eloquence in blazing deeds don in warres can vse their tongues but fewe are those that at the brunte haue hearts to aduenture their liues This Phylosopher neuer saw man of war in the field neeer saw one Armey of men discomfited by an other neuer heard the terrible Trumpet sound to the horrible cruel slaughter of men neuer saw the Treasons of some nor vnderstood the cowardnes of others neuer saw how few they be that fight nor how many ther are that run away Finally I say as it is seemly for a Phylosopher and a learned man to praise the profite of peace Euen so it is in his mouth a thing vncomely to prate of the perills ' of warre If this Phylosopher hath seene no one thing with his Eyes that hee hath spoken but onely read them in sundry bookes let him recount them to such as haue neyther seene nor read them For warlike feates are better learned in the bloudy fields of Affricke then in the beautifull schooles of Greece Thou knowest right well king Antiochus that for the space of thirty and sixe yeares I had continuall and daungerous warres as well in Italie as in Spayne In which Fortune did not fauour mee as is alwayes her manner to vse those which by great stoutnesse and manhood enterprise things high and of much difficultie a witnesse whereof thou seest mee here who before my beard beganne to growe was serued and now it is hoare I my selfe beginne to serue I sweare vnto thee by the God Mars king Antiochus that if any man did aske mee how hee should vse and behaue himselfe in warre I would not aunswer him one word For they are things which are learned by Experience of deedes and not by prating in words Although Princes beginne warres by justice and followe them with wisedome yet the ende standeth vppon fickle Fortune and not of force nor pollicie Diuerse and sundrie other things Hannibal sayde vnto king Antiochus who so bee desirous to see let him reade in the Apothegmes of Plutarche This example Noble Prince tendeth rather to this end to condemne my boldnesse and not to commend my enterprise saying that the affayres of the common wealth bee as vnknowne to mee as the dangers of the warres were to Phormio Your Maiestie may iustly say vnto me that I being a poor simple man brought vp a great while in a rude Countrey doe greatly presume to describe how so puissant a Prince as your Highnes ought to gouerne himselfe and his Realme For of truth the more ignorant a man is of the troubles and alterations of the world the better he shall be counted in the sight of God The estate of Princes is to haue great traines about them and the estate of religious men is to bee solitary for the seruant of God ought to be alwaies void from vaine thoughts to be euer accompanied with holy meditations The estate of Princes is alwayes vnquiet but the state of the religious is to bee enclosed For otherwise he aboue all others may be called an Apostata That hath his body in the Cell and his heart in the market place To Princes it is necessary to commune and speake with all men but for the religious it is not decent to be cōuersant with the world For solitary men if they do as they ought should occupy their hands in trauel their bodies in fasting their tongue in prayer and their heart in contemplation The estate of Princes for the most part is employed to war but the estate of religious is to desire procure peace For if the Prince would study to passe his bounds and by battell to shed the bloud of his enemies the religious ought to shed teares and pray to God for his sinnes O that it pleased Almighty God as I know what my bounden duty is in my heart so that hee would giue me grace to accomplish the same in my deedes Alas when I ponder with my selfe the weightines of my matter my Pen through slouth and negligence is readie to fall out of my hand and I halfe minded to leaue off mine enterprize My intent is to speake against my selfe in this case For albeit men may know the affaires of Princes by experience yet they shall not know how to speake nor write them but by science Those which ought to counsell princes those which ought to reforme the life of princes and that ought to instruct them ought to haue a cleare iudgement an vpright minde their words aduisedly considered their doctrine wholesome and their life without suspition For who so wil speake of high things hauing no experience of them is like vnto a blinde man that would leade and teach him the way which seeth better then hee himselfe This is the sentence of Xenophon the great which saieth There is nothing harder in this life then to know a wise man And the reason which hee gaue was this That a wise man cannot bee knowne but by another wise man wee may gather by this which Xenophon sayeth That as one wise man cannot be knowne but by another wise man so likewise it is requisite that he should be or haue bin a Prince which should write of the life of a Prince For hee that hath bin a marriner and hath sailed but one yeare on the Sea shall bee able to giue better counsell and aduise then he that hath dwelled ten yeares in the hauen Xenophon wrote a booke touching the institution of princes bringeth in Cambyses the king how hee taught and spake vnto king Cyrus his sonne And he wrote an other book likewise of the Arte of Chiualry and brought in king Philip how he ought to teach his sonne Alexander to fight For the philosophers thought that writing of no authoritie that was not entituled and set foorth vnder the Names of those Princes who had experience of that they wrote Oh if an aged Prince would with his penne if not with word of mouth declare what misfortunes haue happened since the first time hee beganne to raigne how disobedient his subjects haue bin vnto him what griefes his seruants haue wroght against him what vnkindnesse his Friendes haue shewed him what wiles his enemies haue vsed towards him what daunger his person hath escaped what jarres hath bin in his Pallace what faultes they haue layde against him how manie times they haue deceyued straungers Finally what griefes hee hath had by day and what sorrowfull sighs
What is there to see but hath bin seene what to discouer but hath bin discouered what is there to read but hath bin read what to write but hath bin written what is there to knowe but hath bin knowne Now-adayes humaine malice is so experte men so well able and our wittes so subtill that wee want nothing to vnderstand neyther good nor euill And wee vndoe ourselues by seeking that vaine knowledge which is not necessary for our life No man vnder the pretence of ignoraunce can excuse his fault since all men know all men reade and all men learne that which is euident â—n this case as it shall appeare Suppose the Plough-man and the Learned-man do goe to the Law and you shall perceyue the Labourer vnder that simple garment to forge to his Counsellour halfe a dozen of malitious trickes to delude his aduersarie as finely as the other that is learned shall bee able to expound two or three Chapters of this booke If men would employ their knowledge to honesty wisedome patience and mercy it were well but I am sorry they know so much onely for that they subtilly deceiue and by vsury abuse their neighbours and keepe that they haue vniustly gotten and dayly getting more inuenting new trades Finally I say if they haue any knowledge it is not to amend their life but rather to encrease their goods If the deuil could sleep as meÌ„ do he might safely sleepe for whereas he waketh to deceyue vs wee wake to vndo our selues Well suppose that all this heretofore I haue sayde is true Let vs now leaue aside craft and take in hand knowledge The knowledge which we attaine to is small and that which wee should attain to so great that all that wee know is the least part of that wee are ignorant Euen as in things naturall the Elements haue their operations according to the varietie of time so morall Doctrines as the aged haue succeeded and sciences were discouered Truly all fruites come not together but when one fayleth another commeth in season I meane that neyther all the Doctors among the Christians nor all the Philosophers among the Gentiles were concurrant at one time but after the death of one good there came another better The chiefe wisdome which measured all thinges by iustice and dispearseth them according to his bounty will not that at one time they should bee all Wisemen and at another time all simple For it had not beene reason that one should haue had the fruit and the other the leaues The old world that ranne in Saturnes dayes otherwise called the golden world was of a truth much esteemed of them that saw it and greatlie commended of them that wrote of it That is to say it was not guided by the Sages which did guild it but because there was no euill men which did vnguilde it For as the experience of the meane estate and Nobility teacheth vs of one onely person dependeth as well the fame and renowne as the infamy of a whole house and parentage That age was called golden that is to say of gold and this our age is called yron that is to say of iron This difference was not for that gold then was found and now yron nor for that in this our age there is want of them that be sage but because the number of them surmounreth that be at this day malicious I confesse one thing and suppose many will fauour mee in the same Phauorin the Philosopher which was master to Aulus Gelius and his especiall friend saide oft-times that the Phylosophers in olde time were holden in reputation Because there were fewe teachers and many learners We now-adayes see the contrarie For infinite are they which presume to bee Maisters but fewe are they which humble themselues to be Schollers A man may know how little Wise-men are esteemed at this houre by the great veneration that the Phylosophers had in the olde time What a matter is it to see Homer amongst the Grecians Salomon amoÌ„gst the Hebrewes Lycurgus amongst the Lacedemonians Phoromeus also amongst the Greeks Ptolomeus amongst the Egiptians Liuius amongst the Romaines and Cicero likewise amongst the Latines Appolonius amongst the Indyans and Secundus amongst the Assyrians How happie were those Phylosophers to bee as they were in those dayes when the world was so full of simple personnes and so destitute of Sage men that there flocked great numbers out of diuers countreys and straunge Nations not onely to heare their doctrine but also to see theyr persons The glorious Saint Hierome in the prologue to the Byble sayth When Rome was in her prosperitie then wrote Titus Lyuius his deedes yet notwithstanding men came to Rome more to speake with Titus Linius then to see Rome or the high capitol therof Marcus Aurelius writing to his friend Pulio saide these wordes Thou shalt vnderstand my Friende I was not chosen Emperor for the Noble bloud of my predecessors nor for the fauour I had amongst them now present For there were in Rome of greater bloud and Riches then I but the Emperour Adrian my Maister set his eyes vpon mee and the Emperor Anthonie my Father in law chose mee for his Sonne in law for none other cause but for that they saw me a friend of the Sages and an enemie of the ignoraunt Happie was Rome to chuse so wise an Emperour and no lesse happie was he to attaine vnto so great an Empire Not for that hee was heire to his predecessours but for that hee gaue his minde to studie Truely if that Age were then happie to enioy his person no lesse happie shall ours bee now at this present to enjoy his doctrine Salust saith they deserued great glory which did worthie feates and no lesser merited they which wrote them in high stile What had Alexander the great bin if Quintus-Curtius had not written of him what of Vlysses if Homer had not bin borne what had Alcybiades bin if Zenophon had not exalted him what of Cyrus if the phylosopher Chilo had not put his actes in memorie what had been of Pyrrus king of the Epyrotes if Hermicles chronicles were not what had bin of Scipio the great Affricane if it had not bin for the Decades of Titus Liuius what had been of Traian if the renowmed Plutarch had not bin his friend what of Nerua and Anthonius the meeke if Phocion the Greeke had not made mention of them How should wee haue knowne the stoute courage of Caesar and the great prowesse of Pompeius if Lucanus had not written them what of the twelue Caesars if Suetonius Tranquillus had not compyled a booke of their liues And how should we haue knowne the antiquities of the Hebrues if the vpright Ioseph had not beene Who could haue knowne the comming of the Lombardes into Italie if Paulus Dyaconus had not writ it How could we haue knowne the comming in and the going out of the Gothes in Spayne if the curious Roderious had not showed it vnto
and of the Senate best fauoured to whom they committed the charge of the most cruell and dangerous warres For their strife was not to beare rule and to be in office or to get money but to be in the Frontiers to ouercome their enemies In what estimation these foure Frontiers were wee may easily perceyue by that wee see the most noble Romanes haue passed some part of their youth in those places as Captaines vntill such time that for more weighty affaires they were appointed from thence to som other places For at that time there was no word so grieuous and iniurious to a Citizen as to say Goe thou hast neuer beene brought vp in the wars and to proue the same by examples The great Pompey passed the Winter season in Constantinople The aduenturous Scipio in Colonges the couragious Caesar in Gades and the renowmed Marius in Rhodes And these foure were not only in the Frontiers aforesaid in their youth but there they did such valiant acts that the memory of them remaineth euermore after their death These thinges I haue spoken to proue sith wee finde that Marcus Aurelius father was Captain of one of these 4. Frontiers it followeth that he was a man of singular wisdome and prowesse For as Scipio sayd to his friend Masinissa in Affrike It is not possible for a Romane Captaine to want eyther wisdome or courage for thereunto they were predestined at their birth Wee haue no authenticke authorities that sheweth vs frō whence when or how in what countries and with what persons this captaine passed his youth And the cause is for that the Romane Chroniclers were not accustomed to write the things done by their Princes before they were created but onely the acts of yong men which from their youth had their hearts stoutly bent to great aduentures and in my opinion it was well done For it is greater honour to obtaine an Empire by policy and wisdome then to haue it by discent so that there be no tyranny Suetonius Tranquillus in his first booke of Emperours counteth at large the aduenturous enterprises taken in hand by Iulius Caesar in his yong age and how far vnlikely they were from thought that he should euer obtaine the Romane Empire writing this to shew vnto Princes how earnestly Iulius Caesars heart was bent to win the Romane Monarchy and likewise how wisdom fayled him in behauing himselfe therin A Philosopher of Rome wrote to Phalaris the Tirant which was in Cicilia asking him Why hee possessed the realme so long by tyranny Phalaris answered him againe in another Epistle in these few wordes Thou callest mee tyrant because I haue taken this realme and kept it 32. yeares I graunt then quoth hee that I was a tyrant in vsurping it For no man occupyeth another mans right but by reason he is a tyrant But yet I will not agree to be called a Tyrant sith it is now xxxii yeares since I haue possessed it And though I haue atchieued it by tyranny yet I haue gouerned it by wisdome And I let thee to vnderstand that to take another mans goods it is an easie thing to conquere but a hard thing to keepe an easie thing for to keepe them I ensure thee it is very hard The Emperour Marcus Aurelius married the daughter of Antoninus Pius the 16. Emperour of Rome and she was named Faustina who as sole Heyre had the Empire and so through marriage Marcus Aurelius came to be Emperour This Faustine was not so honest and chast as shee was faire and beautifull Shee had by him two sonnes Commodus and Verissimus Marcus Aurelius triumphed twice once when he ouercame the Parthians and another time when hee conquered the Argonants He was a man very well learned and of a deepe vnderstanding Hee was as excellent both in the Greeke and Latine as hee was in his mothers tongue Hee was very temperate in eating and drinking hee wrote many things full of good learning and sweete sentences He dyed in conquering the realme of Pannonia which is now called Hungarie His death was as much bewayled as his life was desired And hee was loued so deare and entirely in the City of Rome that euery Romane had a statue of him in his house to the end the memory of him among them should neuer decay The which was neuer read that they euer did for any other King or Emperour of Rome no not for Augustus Caesar who was best beloued of all other Emperours of Rome Hee gouerned the Empire for the space of eighteene yeere with vpright iustice and died at the age of 63 yeeres with much honor in the yeere Climatericke which is in the 63. years wherein the life of man runneth in great perill For then are accomplished the nine seuens or the seuen nines Aulus Gelius writeth a Chapter of this matter in the booke De noctibus Atticis Marcus Aurelius was a Prince of life most pure of doctrine most profound and of fortune most happy of all other Princes in the world saue only for Faustine his wife and Commodus his sonne And to the end we may see what Marcus Aurelius was from his infancy I haue put here an Epistle of his which is this CHAP. II. Of a letter which Marcus Aurelius sent to his friend Pulio wherein he declareth the order of his whole life and amongst other things he maketh mention of a thing that happened to a Romane Censor with his Host of Campagnia MAreus Aurelius only Emperour of Rome greeteth thee his old friend Pulio wisheth health to thy person peace to the common-wealth As I was in the Temple of the Vestall Virgins a letter of thine was presented vnto me which was written long before and greatly desired of me but the best therof is that thou writing vnto me briefly desirest that I should write vnto thee at large which is vndecent for the authority of him that is chiefe of the Empire in especiall if such one be couetous for to a Prince there is no greater infamy then to be lauish of words and scant of rewards Thou writest to me of the griefe in thy leg and that thy wound is great and truly the paine thereof troubleth me at my heart and I am right sorry that thou wantest that which is necessary for thy health and that good that I do wish thee For in the end all the trauels of this life may be endured so that the body with diseases be not troubled Thou lettest me vnderstand by thy letters that thou art arriued at Rhodes and requirest me to write vnto thee how I liued in that place when I was yong what time I gaue my minde to study and likewise what the discourse of my life was vntill the time of my being Emperor of Rome In this case truly I maruell at thee not a little that thou shouldest aske me such a question and so much the more that thou didst not consider that I cannot with out great trouble and
those that contrary your opinion Be not proud and seuere vnto those you doe commaund neyther doe any thing without good aduisement and consideration For albeit in Princes Courts euery man doth admire and beholde the excellencie and worthines of the person yet are those alwayes that are most in fauour of the Prince more noted regarded and sooner accused then others 10 If you will not erre in the counselles you shall giue nor fayle in those things you shall enterprise Embrace those that tell you the truth and reiect and hate those whom you know to be Flatterers and dissemblers For you should rather desire to bee admonished of the thing present then to be counselled after the dammage receyued Although wee suppose assuredly that all these things aboue-written are not likely to happen nor yet come euen so to passe as I haue spoken yet if it may please you Syr to remember they are not therefore impossible For spitefull Fortune permitteth oftentimes that the Sayles which in stormie weather the Lightnings and boystrous Tempests could not breake and teare in piecâ—â— are afterwardes vpon a sudden euen in the sweete of the mornings sleepe each man taking his rest leauing the Seas before in quiet calme all to shiuered and torne a sunder He that meaneth to giue another a blowe also the more he draweth backe his arme with greater force hee striketh And euen so neyther more nor lesse sayeth Fortune with those on whom for a time shee smyleth For the longer a man remayneth in her loue and fauor the more cruell and bitter she sheweth herselfe to him in the ende And therefore I would aduise euery wise and Sage person that when Fortune seemeth best of all to fauour him and to doe most for him that then hee should stand most in feare of her and least of all to trust her deceits Therefore Syr nake no small account of this my Booke little though it bee For you know that doubtlesse as experience teacheth vs of greater price and value is a little sparke of a Dyamond then a greater ballast It forceth little that the Booke bee of small or great volume sith the excellencie thereof consisteth not in the number of leaues more or lesse but only in the good and graue sentences that are amply written therein For euery Authour that writeth to make his booke of great price and shew ought to be briefe in his words and sweete and pleasaunt in his matter hee treateth of the better to satisfie the minde of the Reader and also not to growe tedious to the hearer And Syr I speake not without cause that you should not a little esteeme this smal treatise of mine since you are most assured that with time all your things shall haue ende your Friendes shall leaue you your goods shall bee diuided your selfe shall dye your fauour and credit shall diminish and those that succeede you shall forget you you not knowing to whome your Goods and Patrimonie shall come and aboue all you shall not knowe what conditions your heyres and children shall be of But for this I wryte in your royall Historic and Chronicle of your laudable vertues and perfections and for that also I serue you as I doe with this my present worke the memorie of you shall remaine eternized to your Successors for euer Chilo the Phylosopher beeing demanded whether there were anything in the world that Fortune had not power to bring to nought aunswered in this sort Two things only there are which neither Time can consume nor Fortune destroy And that is the renowne of man written in bookes and the veritie that is hidden For though truth for a time lye interred yet it resurgeth againe and receiueth life appearing manifestly to all And euen so in like case the vertues we find written of a man doe cause vs at this present to haue him in as great veneration as those had in his time that best knewe him Reade therefore Syr at times I beseech you these writings of mine albeit I feare me you can scant borrow a moment of Time with leysure once to looke vpon it beeing as I knowe you are alwayes occupyed in affayres of great importance wherin me thinketh you should not so surcharge your selfe but that you might for your commodity and recreation of your spirits reserue some priuate houres to your selfe For sage and wise men should so burden themselues with care of others toyle that they shold not spend one houre of the day at the least at their pleasure to looke on their estate and condition As recounteth Suetonius Tranquillus of Iulius Caesar who notwithstanding his quotidian warres he had neuer let slip one day but that he reade or wrote some thing So that being in his Pauillion in the Campe in the one hand hee held his lance to assault his enemie and in the other the penne he wrote withall with which he wrote his worthy CoÌ„mentaries The resonable man therfore calling to mind the straight account that he must render of himselfe and of the time he hath lost shall alwayes be more carefull that hee lose not his time then he shall be to keepe his treasure For the well imployed time is a meane and helpe to his sal saluation and the euill gotten good a cause of his eternall damnation Moreouer yet what toyle and trauell is it to the body of the man and how much more perill to the liuing soule when hee consumeth his whole dayes and life in worldly broyles and yet seely man hee cannot absent himselfe from that vile drudgery til death doth summon him to yeelde vp his account of his life and doings And now to conclude my Prologue I say this booke is diuided into two parts that is to say in the first tenne Chapters is declared how the new-come Courtier shall behaue himselfe in the Princes Court to winne fauour and credit with the Prince and the surplus of the work treateth when hee hath atchieued to his Princes fauour and acquired the credite of a worthy Courtier how he shall then continue the same to his further aduancement And I doubt not but that the Lords and Gentlemen of Court will take pleasure to reade it and namely such as are Princes familiars and beloued of Court shall most of all reape profite thereby putting the good lessons and aduertisements they finde heretofore written in execution For to the young Courtiers it sheweth them what they haue to do and putteth in remembrance also the olde fauoured Courtyer liuing in his princes grace of that he hath to be circumspect of And finally I conclude Syr that of all the Treasures riches gifts fauours prosperities pleasures seruices greatnesse and power that you haue and possesse in this mortall and transitorie life and by the Faith of a true Christian I sweare vnto you also that you shal carrie no more with you then that onely Time which you haue well and vertuously employed during this your Pilgrimage THE ARGVMENT OF THE BOOKE
doth not weigh vs as we are but as wee desire to bee And let no man say I would and cānot be good for as wee haue the audacitie to commit a faulte so if we list wee may enforce our selues to worke amendes All our vndoing proceedeth of this that wee outwardly make a shewe of vertue but inwardly in the deede wee employ our whole power to vice which is an abuse wherewith all the world is corrupted and deceiued For Heauen is not furnished but with good deedes and hell is not replenished but with Euill-desires I graunt that neyther man nor beast desireth to die but all trauell to the ende they may liue But I aske now this question What doth it auayle a man to desire his life to be prolonged if the same be wicked vngodly and defamed The man that is high-minded proude vnconstant cruell disdainfull enuious full of hatred angry malicious full of wrath couetous a Lyer a Gluton a Blasphemer and in all his doings disordred Why will wee suffer him in the world The life of a poor man that for need stealeth a gowne or any other small trifle is forthwith taken away Why then is hee that disturbeth the whole Common-wealth left aliue Oh would to GOD there were no greater theeues in the world thē those which robbe the temporall goods of the Rich and that wee did not winke continually at them which take away the good renowne as well of the Rich as of the Poore But wee chastise the one and dissemble with the other which is euidently seene how the theefe that stealeth my neighbours gown is hanged forthwith but hee that robbeth mee of my good-name walketh still before my doore The diuine Plato in the first booke of laws saide We ordaine and commaund that hee which vseth not himselfe honestly and hath not his house well-reformed his Riches well gouerned his family well instructed and liueth not in peace with his neighbors that vnto him bee assigned Tutours which shall gouerne him as a Foole and as a vacabonde shall he be expulsed from the people to the intent the common-wealth be not through him infected For there neuer riseth contention or strife in a commonwealth but by such men as are alwayes out of order Truely the diuine Plato had great reason in his sayings for the man that is vicious in his person and doth not trauell in things touching his House nor keepeth his Familie in good order nor liueth quietly in the Commonwealth deserueth to be banished and driuen out of the countrey Truely we see in diuers places mad men tyed and bound fast which if they were at libertie would not doe so much harme as those doe that daylie walke the streetes at their owne willes and sensualitie There is not at this day so great or noble a Lord nor Ladie so delicate but had rather suffer a blow on the head with a stone then a blot in their good-Name with an euilltongue For the wound of the head in a month or two may well bee healed but the blemish of their good-name during life will neuer be remoued Laertius sayth in his booke of the liues of Phylosophers that Dyogenes being asked of one of his neighbours what they were that ordayned theyr Lawes Aunswered in this wise Thou shalt vnderstand my friend that the earnest whole desire of our Fore-fathers and all the intentions of the phylosophers was only to instruct them in their Common-wealth how they ought to speake how to be occupyed how to eate how to sleepe how to treat how to apparrel how to trauell and how to rest And in this consisteth all the wealth of worldly wisedome In deede this Phylosopher in his aunswer touched an excellent point For the Law was made to none other end but only to brydle him that liueth without Reason or Law To men that will liue in rest and without trouble in this life it is requisite and necessarie that they chuse to themselues some kinde and manner of Liuing whereby they may maintaine their house in good-order and conforme their liues vnto the same That estate ought not to be as the folly of the person doth desire nor as may bee most pleasant to the delights of the bodie but as reason teacheth them and God commaundeth them for the surer saluation of theyr soules For the Children of vanitie embrace that onely which the sensuall appetite desireth and reiect that which Reason commaundeth Since the time that Trees were created they alwayes remaining in their first nature vntill this present day doe beare the same leafe and fruite which things are plainly seen in this that the Palme beareth Dates the Fig-tree figs the Nut-tree Nuttes the Peare-tree Peares the Apple-tree Apples the Chestnut-tree chest-nuts the Oke Acornes and to conclude I say all things haue kept their first nature saue onely the Sinnefull-Man which hath fallen by malice The Planettes the Starres the Heauens the Water the Earth the Ayre and the Fire the brute beasts and the Fishes all continue in the same estate wherein they were first created not complaining nor enuying the one the other Man complaineth continually hee is neuer satisfyed and alwayes coueteth to chaunge his estate For the shepheard would be a Husbandman the husbandman a Sqiure the Squire a Knight the Knight a King the King an Emperour c. Therefore I say that fewe is the number of them that seeke amendment of life but infinite are they that trauell to better their estate and to increase their goods The decay of the Common-wealth at this present through all the world is that the drye and withered Okes which haue been nourished vpon the sharpe mountains would now seeme to be daintie Date-trees cherished in the pleasant gardains I meane that those which yesterday could haue bin pleasant with drye Acornes in a poore cottage at home at this day will not eate but of delicate Dishes in other mens houses abrode What estate men ought to take vpon them to keepe their conscience pure and to haue more rest in theyr life a man cannot easily describe For ther is no state in the Church of God but men may therin if they will serue God and profite themselues For there is no kinde of life in the world but the wicked if they perseuer and continue therein may slaunder their persons and also lose their soules Plinie in an Epistle that hee wrote to Fabatus his friend saith There is nothing among mortall men more common and daungerous then to giue place to vaine imaginations wherby a man beleeueth the estate of one to bee much better then the estate of another And hereof it proceedeth that the World doeth blinde men so that they will rather seeke that which is an other mans by trauell and daunger then to enioy their owne with quiet and rest I say the state of Princes is good if they abuse it not I say the state of the people is good if they behaue themselues obediently I say
he hath fetched in the night Truely I thinke and in my thought I am nothing deceiued that if a prince would declare vnto vs his whole life and that hee would particularly shewe vs euery thing wee would both wonder at that bodie which had so much suffered and also we would be offended with that heart which had so greatly dissembled It is a troublesome thing a dangerous thing and an insolent and proud enterprise for a man to take vpon him with a penne to gouerne the Common-wealth and with a Prince to reason of his life For in deed men are not perswaded to liue well by faire words but by vertuous deedes And therefore not without cause I say that hee is not wise but very arrogant that dare presume vnasked to giue a Prince counsell For princes in many things haue their mindes occupyed and haughtely bent and som of them also are affectionate and whereas wee peraduenture thinke to haue them mercifull wee finde them more angrie and heauie against vs. For counsell doeth more harme then profite if the giuer thereof be not very wise and hee also which receyueth it very pacient I haue not bin a Prince for to know the trauels of Princes nor am as president to counsell Princes and yet I was so bolde to compile this Booke it was not vpon presumption to counsell a Prince so much as by an humble sort to giue mine aduise For to giue counsell I confesse I haue no credite but to giue them aduise it sufficeth mee to bee a subiect What the order is in that I haue taken in this Booke how profitable it is to all men and how vnpleasaunt to no man how wholsom and profound doctrine in it is contayned and how the Historyes bee heerein applyed I will not that my pen doe write but they themselues shall judge which shall read this worke We see it oft come to passe that diuers Bookes doe loose their estimation not for that they are not very good and excellent but because the Authour hath been too presumptuous and vaine-glorious For in mine opinion for a man to praise his owne wrytings much is nothing else but to giue men occasion to speake euill both of him and of his workes Now let no man thinke that I haue written this which is written without great aduisement and examination I doe confesse before the Redeemer of the whole world that I haue consumed so many yeares to seeke what I should write that these two yeares one day hath scarcely escaped me wherein my Pen hath not done his dutie to write or correct in this worke I confesse that I tooke great paines in writing it for of truth it hath been written twice with mine owne hand and thrice with another mans hand I confesse I haue read and searched in diuers and sundrie partes manie good and straunge books to the end I might finde good and pleasaunt doctrine and besides that I trauelled much to set and apply the Hystories to the purpose For it is an vnseemely thing to applie an hystorie without a purpose I had great respect in that I was not so briefe in my wrytings that a man might note mee to bee obscure nor yet in anie thing so long that any man should slaunder mee with too much talke For all the excellencie of Wryting consisteth where many and goodly Sentences are declared in fewest and aptest words For oft times the long stile is loathsome and tedious both to the Hearers and Readers Nero the Emperour was in loue with a Ladie in Rome named Pompeia the which in beautie to his fantasie exceeded all others In the ende partly with intreatie partly with Money and presents he obtained of her that hee desired For in this case of loue where prayers and importunities bee paciently heard resistance doth lacke The inordinate loue that Nero bare to Pompeia proceeded of the yealow haires she had which were of the colour of Amber and in praise of her he compiled diuers and sundry songs in Heroicall-Meeter and with an instrument sang them himselfe in her presence Nero was a sage Prince wise and excellently well learned in the Latine tongue and also a good Musitian yet Plutarch in his book of the jests of noble women to declare the vanitie and lightnes of Nero reciteth this history and describing Pompeia that her bodie was small her fingers long her mouth proper her eyelids thin her nose somwhat sharpe her teeth small her lips red her necke white her fore-head broad and finally her eyes great and rowling her brest large well proportioned What think you would Nero haue done if hee had so affectionately set his fantasie vpon al other her beautiful properties since that for the loue only of her yellow locks he was depriued both of his wisdom also senses For vaine light men loue commonly not that which reason commandeth but that which their appetite desireth The loue of the Emperour increased with folly so much that not onely he counted seuerally al the haires that his louer Pompeia had on her head but also gaue to euery hayre a proper name and in prayse of euery one of them made a song insomuch that this effeminate Prince spent more time in banqueting and playing with his louer Pompeia then he did to reform and amend the faults of the common wealth yea his folly so much surmoūted all reason that he commaunded a combe of golde to bee made and therewith hee himselfe combed her yellow locks And if it chaunced that any one hayre in combing fell off hee by and by caused it to be set in golde offered it vp in the Temple to the Goddesse Iuno For it was an ancient custome among the Romanes that the thinges which they entirely loued whether it were good or euill should bee offered vp to their gods And when it was once knowne that Nero was so in loue with those haires of Pompeia which were of the color of amber all the Ladies endeauoured themselues not onely to make artificially theyr hayre of that colour but also to weare their garments and other attires of the same colour in somuch that both men and women did vse collers of amber brooches and ringes set with amber and all their other iewels were of amber For alwayes it hath beene seene and euer shall be that those things whereunto the Prince is most addicted the people follow and aboue all other couet the same Before this Emperour Nero plaied this light part in Rome the amber stones was had in little estimation after that hee set so much by it there was no precious stone in Rome so much esteemed Yea and furthermore the Marchant gained nothing so much whether it were in golde or silke as he did in the amber stones nor brought any kind of marchandize to Rome more precious or more vendible then that was I do maruell at this vanitie foras-much as the children of the world do loue desire and labour more to
aunswered him that it was Calistratus the Philosopher a man which in eloquēce was very sweete and pleasant hee determined to stay and heare him to the end hee would know whether it were true or vaine that the people tolde him For oftentimes it hapneth that among the people some get thēselues great fame more by fauor then by good learning The difference betwixt the diuine Philosopher Plato and Calistratus was in that Plato was exceedingly wel learned and the other very eloquent and thus it came to passe that in liuing they followed Plato and in eloquence of speech they did imitate Calistratus For there are diuers men sufficiently well learned which haue profound doctrine but they haue no way nor meanes to teach it vnto others Demosthenes hearing Calistratus but once was so farre in loue with his doctrine that he neuer after heard Plato nor entered into his Schoole for to harken to any of his lectures At which newes diuers of the Sages and Wise men of Grecia maruelled much seeing that the tongue of a man was of such power that it had put all their doctrine vnto silence Although I apply not this example I doubt not but that your Maiesty vnderstandeth to what ende I haue declared it And moreouer I say that although Princes and great Lordes haue in their Chambers Bookes so well corrected and men in their Courts so well learned that they may worthily keepe the estimation which Plato had in his Schoole yet in this case it should not displease me that the difference that was between Plato and Calistratus should bee betweene Princes and this Booke God forbid that by this saying men should thinke I meane to disswade Princes from the company of the sage men or from reading of any other booke but this for in so doing Plato should bee reiected which was diuine and Calistratus embraced which was more worldly But my desire is that sometimes they would vse to reade this booke a little for it may chaunce they shall finde some wholesome counsell therein which at one time or other may profite them in their affayres For the good and vertuous Prince ought to graffe in their memory the wise sayings which they reade and forget the cankred iniuries and wrongs which are done them I do not speake it without a cause that hee that readeth this my writing shall finde in it some profitable counsell For all that which hath bin written in it hath beene euery word and sentence with great diligence so well wayed and corrected as if therein onely consisted the effect of the whole worke The greatest griefe that learned men seele in their writing is to thinke that if there bee many that view their doings to take profite thereby they shall perceyue that there are as many more which occupie their tongues in the slaunder and disprayse thereof In publishing this my worke I haue obserued the manner of them that plant a new garden wherein they set Roses which giue a pleasant sauour to the nose they make faire greene plattes to delight the eyes they graft fruitfull trees to bee gathered with the hands but in the end as I am a man so haue I written it for men and consequently as a man I may haue erred for there is not at this day so perfect a painter but another will presume to amend his worke Those which diligently will endeauour themselues to reade this booke shall finde in it very profitable counsels very liuely lawes good reasons notable sayings sentences very profound worthy examples and histories very ancient For to say the truth I had a respect in that the doctrine was auncient and the Stile new And albeit your Maiesty bee the greatest Prince of all Princes and I the least of all your Subiects you ought not for my base condition to disdaine to cast your eyes vpon this booke nor to thinke scorne to put that thing in proofe which seemeth good For a good letter ought to be nothing the lesse esteemed although it be written with an euill pen. I haue sayde and will say that Princes and great Lords the stouter the richer and the greater of renowme they bee the greater need they haue of all men of good knowledge about them to counsell them in their affayres and of good bookes which they may reade and this they ought to doe as well in prosperity as in aduersity to the end that their affayres in time conuenient may be debated and redressed For otherwise they should haue time to repent but no leasure to amend Plinie Marcus Varro Strabo and Macrobius which were Historiographers no lesse graue then true were at great controuersie improouing what things were most authenticke in a common weale and at what time they were of all men accepted Seneca in an Epistle hee wrote to Lucullus praysed without ceasing the Common wealth of the Rhodians in the which with much ado they bent themselues altogether to keepe one selfe thing and after they had therupon agreede they kept and maintained it inuiolably The diuine Plato in the sixt booke entituled De Legibus ordained and commanded that if any Cittizen did inuent any new thing which neuer before was read nor heard of the inuentour thereof should first practise the same for the space of ten yeares in his own house before it was brought into the Common-wealth and before it should bee published vnto the people to the end if the inuention were good it should be profitable vnto him and if it were nought that then the daunger and hurt thereof should light onely on him Plutarch in his Apothegmes sayeth that Lycurgus vpon grieuous penalties did prohibite that none should bee so hardy in his Common wealth to goe wandring into strange Countries nor that hee should be so hardy to admit any strangers to come into his house and the cause why this law was made was to the end strangers should not bring into their houses things strange and not accustomed in their Common wealth and that they trauelling through strange countries should not learne new Customes The presumption of men now adayes is so great and the consideration of the people so small that what soeuer a man can speake he speaketh what so euer he can inuent he doth inuent what hee would hee doth write and it is no maruell for there is no man that wil speak against them Nor the common people in this case are so light that amongst them you may dayly see new deuises and whether it hurt or profit the Common wealth they force not If there came at this day a vaine man amongst the people which was neuer seene nor heard of before if hee bee any thing subtill I aske you but this question Shall it not bee easie for him to speake and inuent what hee listeth to set forth what he pleaseth to perswade that which to him seemeth good and all his sayings to be beleeued truly it is a wonderfull thing and no lesse slaunderous that one should be sufficient
speake the like of it that they did of Marcus Aurclius Because men are so long in speaking and so briefe in studying that without any let or shame they will auowe no Booke to be in the world this day but that they haue eyther reade or seene it I haue as much profited in this writing which is humane as other Doctours haue done in matters which are diuine It is not translated word for word but sentence for sentence For wee other Enterpreters are not bound to giue wordes by measure but it sufficeth vs to giue Sentences by weight I beganne to studie this worke in the yeare a thousand fiue hundred and eyghteene and vntill the yeare a thousand fiue hundred twentie and soure I could neyther vnderstand nor know wherein I was occupyed and albeit I kept it as secrete as I could for the space of sixe yeares yet it was knowne abroad whervpon the Emperour his Majestie being with the Feauer diseased sent to mee for it to passe the time away And I according to his commaundement shewed him Marcus Aurelius that then was vncorrected and humbly beseeching him sayde That for recompence of all my trauâ—lâ— I desired no other rewarde but that no man in his Chamber might copie the Booke And in the meane time proceeded to accomplish the worke because I did not meane in such manner to publish it for otherwise I saide his Majestie should be euill serued and I also of my purpose preuented but my sinnes caused that the Booke was coppyed and conueyed from one to another and by the hands of Pages sunday times written so that there increased daily in it errours and faultes And since there was but one originall copie they brought it vnto me to correct which if it could haue spoken would haue complained it selfe more of them that did write it then of those that did steale it And thus when I had finished the worke thought to haue published it I perceyued that Marcus Aurelius was now imprinted at Seuill And in this case I take the Readers to be judges between mee and the imprinters because they may see whether it may stand with Law and justice that a Booke which was to his Imperiall Maiestie dedicated the author thereof being but an jnfant and the booke so vnperfite and vncorrected without my consent or knowledge should bee published Notwithstanding they ceased not but printed it againe in Portugall and also in the Kingdome of Nauarre And if the first impression was faulty truely the second and the third were no lesse So that which was written for the wealth and good of all men generally each man did applye to the profite of himselfe particularly There chaunced another thing of this booke called The golden booke of Marcus Aurelius which I am ashamed to speake but greater shame they should haue that so dishonestly haue done That is some made themselus to be authors of the whole worke Others say that parte of it was made and compyled of their owne heads the which appeareth in a booke in priut wherein the authour did like a man voyd of all honesty in another booke one vsed likewise the wordes which Marcus Aurelius spake to Faustine when shee asked him the key of his Studie After these Theeues came to my knowledge iudge you whether it were ynough to prooue my patience For I had rather they had robbed me of my goods then taken away my renowme By this all men may see that Marcus Aurelius was not then corrected nor in any place perfect whereby they might perceyue that it was not my minde to Translate Marcus Aurelius but to make a Dyall for Princes whereby all Christian people may be gouerned and ruled And as the doctrine is shewed for the vse of manie so I would profite my selfe with that which the wise men had spoken and written And in this sort proceedeth the worke wherein I put one or two chapters of mine and after I put some Epistles of Marcus Aurelius and other doctrine of some Auncient men Let not the Reader bee deceyued to thinke hat the one and the other is of the Authour For although the phrase of the Language be mine yet I confesse the greatest part that I knew was of another mans althogh the Historiographers and Doctours with whom I was holpen were manie yet the doctrine which I wrote was but one I will not denye but I haue left out some things which were superfluous in whose steade I haue placed things more sweete and profitable So that it needeth good wittes to make which seemeth in one language to be grosse in another to giue it the apparance of gold I haue deuided into three books this present Dyall of Princes The first treateth that the Prince ought to bee a good Christian The second how hee ought for to gouerne his wife and children The third teacheth how he should gouerne his person and his Common wealth I had begunne another booke wherein was contained how a Prince should behaue himselfe in his Court and Pallace but the importunity of my friendes caused me to withdraw my penne to the end I might bring this worke to light The end of the Argument A COMPENDIOVS TABLE OF ALL THE SEVERALL ARGVMENTS contayned in these distinct Bookes of MARCVS AVRELIVS * ⎠* The first Booke OF the Birth and Linage of the vise Philosopher and Emperor Marcus Aurelius Also of three seuerall Chapters in the beginning of this book concerning a discourse of his life for by his Epistles and doctrine the whole course of the present worke is approued Chap. 1. Fol. 1. Of a Letter sent by Marcus Aurelius to his friend Pulio wherein hee declareth the order of his whole life And among other things hee maketh mention of a thing which happened to a Romane Censor with his Host of Compagnia chap. 2. fol. 5. The Letter concluded by Marcus Aurelius declaring at large what Science hee had learned and all the Masters he had Beside he reciteth fiue notable things in obseruance whereof the Romanes were curious chap. 3. fol. 8. Of the excellency of Christian Religion which manyfesteth the true God and disproueth the vanitie of the Ancients in hauing so many gods And that in the old times when enemies were reconciled in their houses they caused also that their gods should imbrace each other in their Temples chap 4. fol. 13. How the Philosopher Bruxelius was greatly esteemed among the Ancients for his life And of the words which hee spake to the Romanes at the houre of his death chap. 5. fol. 15. chap. 6. fol. 16. How the Gentiles thought that one God could not defend them from their enemies And how the Romanes sent throughout all the Empire to borrow gods when they fought against the Gothes chap. 7. fol. 17 Of a Letter sent from the Senate of Rome to all the Subiects of the Empire chap. 8. fol. 18. Of the true and liuing God And of the maruailes wrought in the old Law to manifest
the beginning so after the victorie had of their enemies they should shew themselues meeke and pittifull This Dictator Camillus for an other thing hee did was much commended aboue the residue That is to say hee did not onely not consent to robbe the Temples nor dishonour the Gods but hee himselfe with great reuerence tooke the sacred vessels of the Temples and the Gods which were therein especially the Goddesse Iuno and brought them all to Rome For amongst the Auncients there was a Law that the Gods of them which were vanquished should not come by lot to the Captaines being Conquerours therfore hee made in the Mount Auentino a sumptuous Temple wherein hee placed all the Gods together with all the holy Reliques which hee wanne For the greater Triumph the Romans had ouer their enemies so much the better they handled the Gods of the people vanquished Also you ought to know that the Romaines after many victories determined to make a crowne of golde very great rich and to offer it to the God Apollo but sith the common Treasure was poor because there was but little siluer and lesse golde to make that crowne The Romane Matrons defaced theyr Iewels and ouches of golde and siluer to make the Crowne there withall For in Rome there neuer wanted money if it were demanded for the seruice of Gods to repayre Temples or to redeeme Captiues The Senate esteemed the well willing hearts of these women in such sort that they graunted them three things that is say To weare on their heades Garlands of flowers to goe in Chariots to the common places and to goe openly to the feasts of the Gods For the auncient Romanes were so honest that they neuer ware gold on theyr heades neyther went they at any time to the feasts vncouered A man ought not to maruell that the Romanes granted such priuiledges vnto the ancient Matrones of Rome For they vsed neuer to bee obliuious of any benefite receyued but rather gentle with thanks and rewards to recompence the same An other notable thing chanced in Rome which was that the Romanes sent two Tribunes the which were called Caulius and Sergius into the Isle of Delphos with greate presents to offer vnto the God Apollo For as Titus Liuius sayeth Rome yeerely sent a present vnto the God Apollo and Apollo gaue vnto the Romanes counsell And as the Tribunes went out of the way they fell into the hands of pirates and rouers on the sea which tooke them with their treasures and brought them to the Cittie of Liparie But the citizens vnderstanding that those presents were consecrated to the God Apollo did not onely deliuer them all their Treasure againe but also gaue them much more guides therewith to conduct them safely both going and comming from all peril and danger The Romaines beeing aduertised of theyr genltenesse by the messengers which were come safe and aliue did so much reioyce that they ordayned in Rome that the Nobles of Liparie should bee made Senatours of Rome and all the others should be confederates and of aliance vnto them And they caused further that two priests of Liparie should alwayes remaine in the Temple of Iupiter which priuiledge was neuer granted to any other strangers but to them onely For the Romanes had so great zeale and loue to their Gods that in the seruices of the temples they trusted none but those which were natiue ancient of Rome and also were both wise and vertuous When Quintus Fabius and Publius Decius were in the warres against the Samnites and Tuscanes and likewise against the Vmbres manie maruellous and terrible signes were seene in Rome which things did not only feare those that sawe them but also those which heard of them Vpon which occasion the Romaines and the Romane Matrones both night and day offered great sacrifices to the gods For they sayd if we can pacifie the wrath of the Gods in Rome we shall neuer need to feare our enemies in the field The thing was this that as the Romane Matrons went visiting the temples to appease the ire of the Gods many senators wiues came to the temple of chastitie to offer sacrifice For in the time of the puissant power of the Romanes the Women did sacrifice in the temples of the Gods At that time Virginea the daughter of Aureus Virgineus the Consul Plebeian the which was forbidden to doe sacrifice for that shee was none of the Senators wiues but a Plebeian as much to say as a Crafts-woman and no Gentlemans-Daughter borne For the Noblewomen were had in so great veneration and so highly esteemed that all the other seemed in respect of them but hand-maydes and slaues The noble Romane Virginea seeing her to be so repulsed and disdained of the other matrones made of her own house a temple to the Goddesse of Chastitie and with much deuotion and reuerence honoured her The which thing being published abroade throughout Rome manie other women came thither to doe Sacrifice likewise For Fortune is so variable that oftentimes those which of pride haue forbidden vs theyr houses come after by humilitie to doe vs seruice at ours For this cause this Virginea the Foundresse was so greatly praysed that the Romaines in her life made her Patrice that is a Noble Romane and after her death caused her Image and statue to be made and set vp in the high Capitoll and about this Image were ingrauen certain Greeke characters the effect whereof was this PATRICE the great this Image doth present That in her life did giue with minde deuout The Gods her house therefore to them went When liuely breath by death was chased out Of all these Hystories aboue-named Titus Liuius maketh mention in his first Decade the second fifth and ninth book and though he declareth them more at large yet this shall suffice for my purpose I haue sought amongst the Gentiles these fewe Examples to reprooue Christian Princes Onely to the ende they might see how studious and seruent our Fathers were in the seruice of their Idols contrariwise how cold and negligent we are to honour and serue our true and liuing God It is a shame to tell how the ancient Romanes with all their hearts did serue the Gods without any vnderstanding and how those which are Christians for the most part serue the true God not in truth but with hypocrisie and dissimulation For the children of this World will take no paines but for to prouoke the pleasures of the body Many wondred for what occasion God did so much for them and they did nothing for God To this may bee answered that if they had known one true God all the sacrifices they had done to their other Gods they would haue done to him onely and as God is iust so hee rewarded them in their temporall prosperities Not for that they did well but for that they desired to doe well For in our diuine Law God doth not regard what wee
noble courages Of Antisthenes the Philosopher ANtisthenes the Philosopher put al his felicity in renowne after his death For sayeth hee there is no losse but of life that flitteth without fame For the Wise man needeth not feare to die so he leaue a memory of his vertuous life behinde him Of Sophocles the Philosopher SOphocles had al his ioy in hauing children which should possesse the inheritance of their Father saying that the graft of him that hath no children surmounteth aboue all other sorrowes for the greatest felicity in this life is to haue honour riches and afterwardes to leaue children which shall inherite them Of Euripides the Philosopher Euripides the Philosopher had all his ioy in keeping a fayre woman saying his tongue with wordes could not expresse the griefe which the hart endureth that is accombred with a foule woman therefore of of truth hee which hapneth of a good vertuous woman ought of right in his life to desire no more pleasure Of Palemon the Philosopher PAlemon put the felicity of men in eloquenee saying and swearing that the man that cannot reason of all things is not so like a reasonable man as he is a brute beast for according to the opinions of many there is no greater felicity in this wretched world then to be a man of a pleasant tongue and of an honest life Of Themistocles the Philosopher THemistocles put all his felicity in discending from a Noble lynage saying that the man which is come of a meane stocke is not bound to make of a renowmed fame for truly the vertues and prowesses of them that are past are not but an example to moue them to take great enterprises which are present Of Aristides the Philosopher ARistides the Philosopher put all his felicity in keeping temporal goods saying that the man which hath not wherwith to eate nor to sustaine his life it were better coūsell for him of his free will to goe into the graue then to do any other thing For he onely shall bee called happy in this world who hath no neede to enter into an other mans house Of Heraclitus the Philosopher HEraclitus put al his felicity in heaping vp treasure saying that the prodigall man the more begetteth the more he spendeth but he hath the respect of a wise man who can keep a secret treasure for the necessitie to come Thou hast now sufficiently vnderstood my friend Pulio that 7. moneths since I haue been taken with the feuer quartaine and I sweare vnto thee by the immortall Gods that at this present instant writing vnto thee my hand shaketh which is an euident token that the colde doth take mee wherefore I am constrained to conclude this matter which thou demaundest mee although not according to my desire For amongst true friendes though the workes doe cease wherewith they serue yet therefore the inward parts ought not to quaile wherwith they loue If thou doest aske mee my friend Pulio what I thinke of all that is aboue spoken and to which of those I doe sticke I answere thee That in this World I doe not graunt any to bee happy and if there be any the gods haue them with them because on the one side chosing the plaine and drye way without clay and on the other side all stony and myerie wee may rather call this life the precipitation of the euill then the safegard of the good I will speake but one word onely but marke well what thereby I meane which is that amongst the mishaps of fortune wee dare say that there is no felicitie in the World And hee onely is happy from whom wisdome hath plucked enuious aduersity and that afterwards is brought by wisedome to the highest felicitie And though I would I cannot endure any longer but that the immortall Gods haue thee in their custody and that they preserue vs from euill fortune Sith thou art retired now vnto Bethinie I know well thou wouldest I should write thee some newes from Rome and at this present there are none but that the Carpentines and Lusitaines are in great strife dissention in Spaine I receiued letters how that the barbarous were quiet though the Host that was in Ilium were in good case yet notwithstanding the Army is somwhat fearefull and timorous For in all the coast and borders there hath beene a great plague Pardon me my friend Pulio for that I am so sickly that yet I am not come to my selfe for the feuer quartane is so cruel a disease that he which hath it contenteth himselfe with nothing neyther taketh pleasure in any thing I send thee two of the best horses that can be found in al Spaine and also I send thee two cups of gold of the richest that can bee found in Alexandria And by the law of a good man I sweare vnto thee that I desire to send thee two or three howers of those which trouble mee in my feuer quartane My wife Faustine saluteth thee and of her part and mine also to Cassia thy olde mother and noble Widdow we haue commended Marcus the Romane Emperour with his own hand writeth this and againe commendeth him vnto his deere friend Pulio CHAP. XLI That Princes and great Lords ought not to esteeme themselues for being fayre and well proportioned IN the time that Ioshua triumphed amongst the Hebrewes and that Dardanus passed from great Greece to Samotratia and when the sons of Egenor were seeking their sister Europe and in the time that Siculus raigned in Scicil in great Asia in the realme of Egypt was builded a great City called Thebes the which K. Busiris built of whom Diodorus Siculus at large mentioneth Plinie in the 36. Chapter of his naturall history and Homer in the second of his Iliades Statius in al the booke of his Thebiade doe declare great maruels of this City of Thebes which thing ought greatly to bee esteemed for a man ought not to thinke that fayned which so excellent authours haue written For a truth they say that Thebes was in circuit forty miles and that the walles were thirty stades hie and in bredth sixe They say also that the City had a hundred gates very sumptuous and strong and in euery gate two hundred Horsemen watched Through the midst of Thebes passed a great riuer the which by milles and fish did greately profite the City When Thebes was in his prosperity they say that there was two hundred thousand fires and besides all this all the Kings of Egypt were buried in that place As Strabo sayeth De situ orbis when Thebes was destroyed with enemies they found therein seuenty seuen Tombes of Kings which had bin buried there And here is to bee noted that all those tombes were of vertuous kings for among the Aegyptians it was a law inuiolable that the King which had beene wicked in his life should not bee buried after his death Before the noble and worthy Numantia
in my life and for the gifts he sends mee now at my death For one friend can doe more to another then to offer him his person to depart with his proper goods Tell the king thy father that I maruell what hee should meane that I now beeing foure score yeares of age and haue walked all my life time naked in this world should now be laden with vestures and money since I must passe so great a gulfe in the Sea to go out of this world The Egyptians haue a custome to lighten the burden of their Camels when they passe the Desartes of Arabia which is much better then to ouercharge them I meane that he onely passeth without trauell the dangers of the life which banisheth frō him that thought of temporall goods of this world Thirdly thou shalt say to the King thy Father that from hence forth when any man will dye he doe not succour nor helpe him with Money Golde nor Riches but with good and ripe counsell For Golde will make him leaue his life with sorrow and good Counsell will moue him to take his death with patience The fifth king of the Macedonians was called Archelaus who they say to be the grandfather of king Philip father of the great Alexander This king boasteth himselfe to descend from Menelaus King of the Grecians and principall Captaine which was at the destruction of Troy This king Archelaus was a great friend to the Sages and amongst others there was a Poet with him called Euripides who at that time had no lesse glory in his kinde of Poetrie then Archelaus in his king dome being king of Macedonia For now a dayes we esteeme more the Sages for the bookes which they wrote then we do exalt kings for the Realms which they ruled or the battels which they ouercame The familiaritie which Euripides had with the king Archelaus was so great that in the Realme of Macedonie nothing was done but first it was examined by the hands of this Philosopher And as the simple and ignorant would not naturally be subiect to the Sage it chanced that one night Euripides was talking a long time with the King declaring vnto him the ancient Histories and when the poore Poet would depart to goe home to his house his enemies espyed him and let the hungrie dogges flie vpon him the which did not onely teare him in peeces but also eate him euery morsell So that the intrayles of the dogges were the wofull graue of the most miserable Poet. The King Archelaus being certified of this wofull case immediately as soone as they told him was so chafed that almost he was bereft of his senses And hereat maruell not at all For gentle hearts doe alter greatly when they are aduertised of any suddaine mishappe As the loue which the King had to Euripides in his life was much so likewise the sorow which he felt at his death was very great for he shed many teares from his eyes he cut the hairs off his head he rounded his beard hee changed his apparrell which he ware and aboue all he made as solemne a funerall to Euripides as if they had buried Vlisses And not contented with al these things he was neuer merry vntill such time he had done cruell execution of the malefactors for truely the iniury or death which is done vnto him whom wee loue is no other but as a bath and token of our owne good wills After iustice was executed of those homicides and that some of the bones all gnawne of the dogs were buried a Grecian Knight said vnto King Archelaus I let the know excellent king that all Macedonta is offended with thee because that for so small a losse thou hast shewed so great sorrow To whom king Archelaus aunswered Among Sages it is a thing sufficiently often tryed that noble hearts ought not to shew themselues sad for mishaps and sodaine chances for the king being sadde his Realme cannot and though it might it ought not shew it selfe merry I haue heard my father say once that Princes should neuer shed teares vnlesse it were for one of these causes 1 The first the Prince should bewaile the losse danger of his common wealth for the good Prince ought to pardon the iniuries done to his person but to reuenge the least act done to the Common-wealth he ought to hazard himselfe 2 The second the good Prince ought to lament if any man haue touched his honour in any wise for the prince which weepeth not drops of bloud for the things touching his honour deserueth to be buried quicke in his graue 3 The third the good Prince ought to bewayle those which can little and suffer much For the Prince which bewayleth not the calamities of the poore in vaine and without profit liueth on the earth 4 The fourth the good Prince ought to bewayle the glory and prosperity wherein the tyrants are For that Prince which with tyranny of the euill is not displeased with the hearts of the good is vnworthy to bee beloued 5 The fift the good Prince ought to bewayle the death of Wise men For to a Prince there can come no greater losse then when a wise man dyeth in his Common wealth These were the words which the King Archelaus answered the Grecian Knight who reproued him because he had wept for the death of Euirpides the Philosopher The ancient Historiographers can say no more of the estimation which the Philosophers and wise men had as well the Greekes as the Latines but I will tell you one thing worthy of noting It is well knowne through all the world that Scipio the Ethnicke was one of the worthiest that euer was in Rome for by his name and by his occasion Rome got such a memory as shall endure And this was not only for that he conquered Affricke but for the great worthinesse of his person Men ought not to esteeme a little these two giftes in one man that is to say to be happy and aduenturous For many of the Auncients in times past wanne glory by their swords and after lost it by their euill liues The Romane Historiographers say that the first that wrote in Heroicall meeter in the Latine tongue was Ennius the Poet the workes of whom was so esteemed of Scipio the Ethnick that when this aduenturous and so luckie Romane dyed he commaunded in his will and testament that they should hang the image of this Ennius the Poet ouer his graue By that the great Scipio did at his death wee may well coniecture how great a friend he was of Sages in his life since he had rather for his honour see the Statue of Ennius on his graue then the banner wherwith he wonne and conquered Affricke In the time of Pirrus which was King of the Epirotes and great enemy of the Romanes flourished a Philosopher named Cinas borne in Thessaly who as they say was the Disciple of Demosthenes The Historiographers at that time did so much
for to reward that which thou hast done to me I doe some seruice vnto thee which shall be to giue vnto thee some good counsell for strangers vse to pay for the feast with money and vaine men with telling lyes babblers by counting vaine tales children by flatteries but vertuous men ought to pay by giuing good Counsels This house hath cost thee much paine great griefes and much money and if it cost thee so much it is but reason that thou enioy the same take therefore these my three counsels and it may be thou wilt find thy selfe better contented with those then with money of strangers for many haue wherewithall to build a house but they haue not vnderstanding to gouerne the same The first counsell is Though that thou loue thy friend very well or thy wife as well yet that thou neuer discouer all the secrets of thy heart neither to thy friend nor to thy wife but that thou alwaies reserue some particular vnto thy selfe for Plato saith to whome a man committeth his secrets to him also hee giueth his libertie The second counsel is That neither in priuate businesse nor in publike affaires thou occupy thy selfe so much but at the least thou dost reserue three houres in the day for thine owne rest The third counsell is That thou haue in thy house some secret place wherof thou alone shalt haue the key and therein thou shalt haue Bookes where thou maist study of thy affaires and also talke with thy friends Finally this place shall be a secretary of thy counsels and a rest for thy trauels These were the words that Lucius Seneca spake to his friend Emilius Varro which words were such as he himselfe was that is to say of a sage and excellent personage and though the Banquet was rich yet the payment of Lucius Seneca was much more worth for the minde feeleth more taste in the good and ripe counsell then the body doeth in sauory and delicate meates I haue told you this example of Lucius Seneca for to tell another that happened to the Emperour Marcus Aurclius with his wife Faustine And to the end that the order of the matter bee not turned without breaking our Historie first we will declare here the order which this Emperour obserued in his life for the Common-wealth shall neuer be well gouerned but where the Prince gouerneth well his life Princes of necessitie ought to bee well ordered in this life because they may profite the affayres of the Empire with the particulars of their house and because they should vse the particulars of their house to the recreation of their Person and all these things ought to bee deuided according to time for a good Prince ought to lacke no time to doe that thing well which he hath to doe nor ought hee to haue any time vacant to employ himselfe to vice The worldly call that time good the which is or was prosperous vnto them they call that time euill which is or hath beene contrary and vnfortunate vnto them The Creator will neuer that this sentence bee approued by my penne but I call that time good which is imployed in vertues and that time euill that is lost in vices for the times are alwayes as one but men do turne from vice to vertue from vertue to vice The good Emperour Marcus Aurelius did deuide the time by time so that though hee had time for himselfe he had time likewise to dispatch his owne and others affayres for the man that is willing in a small time dispatcheth much businesse and the man which is negligent in along time doth little This was the order that the Emperour Marcus Aurelius tooke in spending his time He slept seuen houres in the night and one houre rested himselfe in the day In dining and supping hee consumed onely two houres and it was not for that hee tooke great pleasure to belong in eating but because the Philosophers which disputed before his Presence were occasion to prolong the time for in seuenteene yeeres they neuer sawe him at meate but one or other read vnto him some Booke or else the Philosophers reasoned before him Philosophy As he had many Realmes and Prouinces so he appointed one houre for the affayres of Asia for Affricke one houre and Europe another houre and for the conuersation of his wife children and familie he appointed other two houres of time hee had another houre for extraordinary affayres as to heare the complaints of the grieued the quarrels of the poore the complaints of the widdowes and the robberies done to the orphanes for the mercifull Prince giueth no lesse care vnto the poore which for want can doe little then to the rich which for abundance can do much Hee occupied all the residue of the day and night to read Bookes write works to make meeter and in studying of other Antiquities to practise with the Sage to dispute with the Philosophers and finally he tooke no taste of any thing so much as hee did to talke of Science Vnlesse the cruell warres did let him or such like affayres troubled him ordinarily in Winter he went to bed at nine of the clocke and awaked at foure and because he would not be idle he had alway a Booke vnder his beds head and the residue of the day hee bestowed in reading The Romanes had an ancient custome to beare fire before them that is to say a Torch light in the day and a Lampe burning in the night in their Chambers so that waking they burned Waxe and sleeping they burned Oyle And the cause why the Romanes ordeyned that the Oyle should be made of Oliue and the Waxe made of Bees which was vsed to bee borne before the Princes was to the end they should remember that they ought to bee as gentle and louing as the Oyle of Oliue is sweete and as profitable to the Common-wealth as the Bees are Hee did rise at sixe of the clocke and made himselfe ready openly and with a gentle countenance hee asked them that were about him wherein they had spent all the night and declared vnto them then what hee had dreamed what he had thought and what hee had read When hee was readie he washed his face with odoriferous waters and loued very well sweete sauours for hee had so quicke a sent that hee was much offended when hee passed through any stinking place In the morning he vsed to eate two morsels of a Lectuary made of Sticades and dranke three spoonefulls of Maluesey or else two droppes of Aqua vita because he had a cold stomacke for that hee gaue himselfe so much to studie in times past We see it by experience that the great Students are persecuted more with sicknesse then any others for in the sweetnesse of the Science they know not how their life consumeth If it were in the Summer season hee went in the morning to recreate himselfe to the Riuer of Tiberi and walked there a foote for two houres
great Carthage who being of the yeares of 81 dyed in the first yeere of the wars of Punica they demaunded this Philosopher what it was that he knew he answered He knew nothing but to speake well They demaunded him againe what hee learned He answered Hee did learne nothing but to speake well Another time they demaunded him what hee taught Hee answered He taught nothing but to speake well Me thinketh that this good Philosopher in fourescore yeares and one said that he learned nothing but to speake well hee knew nothing but to speake well and that he taught nothing but to speake well And truely hee had reason for the thing which most adorneth mans life is the sweet pleasant tongue to speake well what is it to see two men in one counsell the one talking to the other the one of them hath an euill grace in propounding and the other excellent in speaking Of such there are some that in hearing them talke three houres wee would neyther be troubled nor wearied and of the contrary part there are others so tedious and rude in their speech that as soone as men perceiue they beginne to speake they auoyde the place And therefore in mine opinion there is no greater trouble then to hearken one quarter of an houre a rude man to speake and to be contrary there is no greater pleasure then to heare a discreete man though it were a whole weeke The diuine Plato in the Booke of Lawes sayde that there is nothing whereby a man is known more then by the words he speaketh for of the wordes which we heare him speake we iudge his intention eyther to bee good or euil Laertius in the life of the Phylosopher saieth that a young childe borne at Athens was brought vnto Socrates the great phylosopher being in Athens to the ende he should receyue him into his companie and teach him in his Schoole The yong childe was strange and shamefast and durste not speake before his Maister wherefore the Phylosopher Socrates sayd vnto him Speake friend if thou wilt that I know thee This sentence of Socrates was very profound I pray him that shall reade this writing to pause a while thereat For Socrates will not that a man be known by the gesture he hath but by the good or euill wordes which he speaketh Though eloquence and speaking well to euery man is a cause of augmenting their honour and no diminisher of their goods yet without comparison it shineth much more is most necessary in the Pallaces of Princesses and great Lords for men which haue common offices ought of necessity hearken to his naturall Countrimen and also to speake with strangers Speaking therefore most plainely I say that the Prince ought not to trauell onely to haue eloquence for the honour of his person but also it behoueth him for the Common-wealth For as the Prince is but one and is serued of all so it is vnpossible that hee haue so much as will satisfie and content them all And therefore it is necessary that hee requite some with money and that hee content others with good words For the Noble heart loueth better a gentle worde then a reward or gift with the tong of a rude man Plato Liuius Herodotus Vulpicius Eutropius Diorus Plinie and many other innumerable ancient Historiographers doe not cease to prayse the eloquence of Greeke princes and Latines in their workes Oh how blessed were those times when there were sage Princes and discreete Lordes truely they haue reason to exalt them For many haue obtayned and wonne the royall crownes and scepters of the Empire not so much for the great battels they haue conquered nor for the high bloud and generation from whence they are discended as for the wisedome and eloquence which they had Marcus Aurelius was naturall of Rome borne in Mount Celio hee was poore in patrimony and of base lynage little in fauour left and forsakē of his parents and besides all this onely for being vertuous in this life profound in doctrine and of so high eloquence the Emperour Antonius called Pius gaue him his daughter Faustine for wife who being reproued of many because he gaue his daughter to so poore a Philosopher answered I had rather haue a poore Philosopher then a rich foole Pulio in his seuenth booke of the Romaine lawes sayth that in Rome there was a law very well kept and obserued of the Consels by a custom brought in that the Dictators Censor and Emperors of Rome entred into the Senate once in the weeke at the least and in this place they should giue and render account in what state the common wealth remayned O would to God that at this present this Law were so kept and obserued for there is none who doth minister so good iustice as he which thinketh to giue account of his doings They say that Caligula the fourth Emperour of Rome was not onelie deformed infamous and cruell in his life but also was an Idiot in eloquēce and of an euill vtterance in his communication so that hee among all the Romane Princes was constrained to haue others to speake for him in the Senate This wicked man was so vnfortunate that after his cruell and infamous death they drew him throughout Rome and set vpon his graue this Epitaph Caligula lyeth here in endlesse sleepe That stretcht his raigne vpon the Empires head Vnfitte for rule that could such folly heape And fitte for death where vertue so was dead I Cannot tell why Princes do praise themselues to be strong and hardie to bee well disposed to bee runners to iust well and doe not esteeme to be eloquent since it is true that those gifts doe profite them onely for their life but the eloquence profiteth them not onely for to honour their life but also to augment their renowne For wee doe reade that by that many Princes did pacifie great seditions in the common wealth and besides that they deserued immortall memory Suetonius Tranquillus in the first book of Caesars sayth that the aduenturous Iulius Caesar being as yet but 16. yeares of age when there dyed in Rome an aunt of his called Cornelia at her buriall hee made an Oration in the which hee beeing so young shewed maruellous great eloquence which was so accepted that day in al people that in the end euery man iudged him to bee a valiant Romane Captaine And as Appianus declareth they say that Silla spake these words That which I perceyue of this young man Caius Caesar is that in the boldnesse of his tongue he declareth how valiant he ought to bee in his person Let therefore Princes and great Lordes see how much it may profite them to know to speake well and eloquently For wee see no other thing dayly but that a man of base lynage by his eloquence commeth to be exalted and the other which of linage is nobly borne for want of speaking well and being eloquent is the first that discendeth most vilest of all other
the time past Wherin thou being a woman shewest thy selfe more then a woman because the nature of women is to cast their eyes onely in that that is present and to forget that is past They tell me that thou doest occupy thy selfe now in writing of our Country And truely in this case I cannot say but that you haue matter enough to write on For the warres and trauels of our times haue beene such and so great that I had rather reade them in bookes then to see them with my eyes And if it bee so as I suppose it is I beseech thee heartily and by the immortall Gods I coniure thee that in writing the affayres of thy Countrey thou doest vse thy penne discreetely I meane that thou doe not in this case blemish thy writing by putting therein any flattery or lesing For oft times Historiographers in blasing more then truth the giftes of their Countrey cause worthily to be suspected their writing Thou knowest very well how that in the battell past the Rhodians were ouercome and that ours remained victorious Mee thinketh thou shouldst not in this case greatly magnifie extoll or exalt ours because in the end they fought to reuenge their iuiury neyther thou oughtest to blame the Rhodians for they did not fight but in the ayde of Rome I speake this my sister because for to defend their owne women shew themselues Lyons and for to defend the things of another man men shew themselus chickens For in the end hee onely may bee counted strong the which defendeth not his owne house but which dyeth defending his and another mans I will not deny the naturall loue of my Country nor I will not deny but that I loue them that write and speake well thereof but mee thinketh it is not reason that they should disprayse the goodnesse and truth of other Countries nor that they should so highly commend the euill and vilenesse of their owne For there is not in the world this day so barren a realme but may bee commended for something therein nor there is so perfect a nation but in somthings may be reproued Thou canst not deny me but that amōgst thy brethren I am the eldest and thou canst not deny but that amongst all thy Disciples I am the youngest and since that for being thy Disciple I ought to obey thee thou likewise for that I am thy eldest brother oughtest to beleeue me By the faith of a people I doe counsell thee my sister that thou do trauell much to be profound in thy words vpright in thy life and honest of thy person and besides all this true in thy writing For I let thee vnderstand that if the body of the man without the soule is little regarded I sweare vnto thee that the mouth of a man without truth is much lesse esteemed CHAP. XXX The Authour followeth his purpose perswading Princesses and other Ladies to endeauour themselues to be wise as the women were in olde time THis therefore was the letter which Pythagoras sent to his sister Theoclea whereby is shewed the great humility of him and the hie eloquence of her Hierchus the Greeke and Plutarch also in the booke of the gouernement of Princes say that Pythagaras had not onely a sister which was called Theoclea of whom he learned so much Philosophy but also he had a daughter the wisedome and knowledge of whom surmounted her Aunt and was equall to her Father I thinke it no lesse incredible which is spoken of the daughter then that which is spoken of the Aunt which is that those of Athens did reioyce more to heare her speake in her house then for to heare Pythagoras reade in the Schoole And it ought to bee beleeued for the saying of the graue Authours on the one part and by that wee daily see on the other part For in the end it is more pleasure to heare a man tell mery tales hauing grace and comelynes in his words then to heare a graue man speake the truth with a rude and rough tongue I haue found in many writings what they haue spoken of Pythagoras and his Daughter but none telleth her name saue only in an Epistle that Phalaris the Tyrant wrote I found this worde written where hee saith Polychrata that was the Daughter of the Phylosopher Pythagoras was young and exceeding wise more faire then rich and was so much honoured for the puritie of her life and so highly esteemed for her pleasaunt Tongue that the word which shee spake spinning at her Distaffe was more esteemed then the Phylosophie that her Father read in the schoole And he saide more It is so great a pittie to see and heare that women at this present are so dishonest and in their tongues so malicious that I haue greater pleasure in the good renowme of one that is dead then in the infamie of all them which are aliue For a good woman is more worth with her distaffe spinning then a hundred euill Queenes with their royall Scepters reigning By the words which Phalaris said in his letter it seemed that this Daughter of Pythagoras was called Polichrate Pythagoras therefore made manie Commentaryes as well of his owne countrey as of strangers In the end he dyed in Mesopotamia where at the houre of his death hee spake vnto his Daughter Polichrate and saide these wordes I see my Daughter that the houre wherein I must ende my life approcheth The Gods gaue it mee and now they will take it from mee Nature gaue me byrth and now shee giueth me death the Earth gaue me the bodie and now it returneth to ashes The woefull Fatall destenyes gaue mee a little goods mingled with many trauells So that Daughter of al things which I enioyed here in this world I carrie none with mee For hauing all as I had it by the way of borrowing now at my death eache man taketh his owne I die ioyfully not for that I leaue thee rich but for that I leaue thee learned And in token of my tender heart I bequeathe vnto thee all my Bookes wherein thou shalt finde the treasure of all my trauells And I tell thee that that I giue thee is the riches gotten with mine owne sweate and not obtained to the preiudice of another For the loue I beare vnto thee Daughter I pray thee and by the immortall Gods I conjure thee that thou bee such and so good that although I die yet at the least thou mayst keepe my memorie For thou knowest well what Homer sayth speaking of Achilles and Pyrrhus That the good life of the Childe that is aliue keepeth the renowne of the Father which is dead These were the wordes which the Phylosopher spake to his daughter lying in his death bed And thogh perhaps hee spake not these wordes yet at the least this was the effect and meaning As the great Poet Mantuan sayth King Euander was father of the grant Pallas and he was a great friend of king Eneas he vaunted himselfe to
your Bookes full of lawes and the common wealth full of vices Wherefore I sweare vnto you that there are more Thebaines which follow the delitiousnesse of Denis the tyrant then there are vertuous men that follow the lawes of Lycurgus If you Thebaines doe desire greatly to know with what lawes the Lacedemonians doe preserue their Common-wealth I will tell you them all by word and if you will reade them I will shew you them in writing but it shall bee vpon condition that you shall sweare al openly that once a day you shall employ your eyes to reade them and your persons to obserue them for the Prince hath greater honour to see one onely law to be obserued in deed then to ordaine a thousand by writing You ought not to esteeme much to be vertuous in heart nor to enquire of the vertue by the mouth nor to seeke it by labour and trauell of the feet but that which you ought greatly to esteeme is to know what a vertuous law meaneth and that knowne immediately to execute it and afterwards to keepe it For the chiefe vertue is not to doe one vertuous worke but in a swet and trauell to continue in it These therfore were the words that this Philosopher Phetonius sayde to the Thebaines the which as Plato sayeth esteemed more his words that hee spake then they did the Lawes which he brought Truly in mine opinion those of Thebes are to bee praysed and commended and the Philosopher for his word is worthy to be honoured For the ende of those was to search lawes to liue well and the end of the Philosopher was to seeke good meanes for to keepe them in vertue And therefore he thoght it good to shew them and put before their eyes the gibbet and the sword with the other Instruments and torments for the euill do refraine from vice more for feare of punishment then for any desire they haue of amendment I was willing to bring in this history to the end that all curious and vertuous men may see and know how little the Ancients did esteeme the beginning the meane and the end of vertuous works in respect of the perseuerance and preseruation of them Comming therefore to my matter which my penne doth tosse and seeke I aske now presently what it profiteth Princesses and great Ladies that God doe giue them great estates that they be fortunate in marriages that they bee all reuerenced and honoured that they haue great treasures for their inheritances and aboue all that they see their wines great with Childe and that afterward in ioy they see them deliuered that they see their mothers giuing their children sucke and finally they see themselues happy in that they haue found them good nurses health full and honest Truly all this auayleth little if to their children when they are young they doe do not giue masters to instruct them in vertues and they also if they doe not recommend them to good guides to exercise them in feates of Chiualry The Fathers which by sighes penetrate the heauen by praiers importune the liuing God onelie for to haue children ought first to thinke why they will haue children for that iustly to a man may be denied which to an euill end is procured In mine opinion the Father ought to desire to haue a child for that in his age he may sustaine his life in honour and that after his death hee may cause his fame to liue And if a Father desireth not a sonne for this cause at the least he ought to desire him to the end in his age hee may honour his hoary head and that after his death hee may enherite his goods but we see few children do these thinges to their fathers in their age if the fathers haue not taught them in their youth For the fruit doth neuer grow in the haruest vnlesse the tree did beare blosoms in the spring I see oftentimes many Fathers complaine of their children saying that they are disobedient and proude vnto them and they do not consider that they themselues are the cause of all those euils For too much abundance and liberty of youth is no other but a prophesie and manifest token of disobedience in age I know not why Princes and great Lords do toyle oppresse so much scratch to leaue their children great estates and on the other side wee see that in teaching them they are and shewe themselues too negligent for Princes and great Lordes ought to make account that all that which they leaue of their substance to a wicked heyre is vtterly lost The wise men and those which in their consciences are vpright and of their honours carefull ought to bee very diligent to bring vppe their children and chiefly that they consider whether they bee meete to inherite their estates And if perchance the fathers see that their children bee more giuen to folly then to noblenes and wisdome then should I bee ashamed to see a father that is wise trauell all the dayes of his life to leaue much substance to an euill brought vp childe after his death It is a griefe to declare and a monstrous thing to see the cates which the Fathers take to gather riches and the diligence that children haue to spend them And in this case I say the sonne is fortunate for that hee doth enherite and the Father a foole for that he doth bequeath In my opinion Fathers are bound to instruct their children well for two causes the one for that they are nearest to them and also because they ought to be their heyres For truly with great griefe and sorrow I suppose hee doth take his death which leaueth to a foole or an vnthrift the toyle of all his life Hyzearchus the Greeke Hystorian in the booke of his Antiquities Sabellicus in his generall hystory sayeth that a father and a sonne came to complain to the famous Philosopher and ancient Solon Solinon the Sonne complained of the father and the father of the sonne First the sonne informed the quarrell to the Philosopher saying these words I complaine of my Father because hee being rich hath disinherited mee and made me poore and in my steade hath adopted another heyre the which thing my father ought not nor cannot doe for since he gaue me so frayle flesh it is reason hee giue me his goods to maintaine my seeblenes To these wordes answered the father I complaine of my sonne because hee hath not beene as a gentle sonne but rather as a cruell enemie for in all things since hee was borne hee hath beene disobedient to my will wherefore I thought it good to disinherite him before my death I would I were quit of all my substance so that the gods had quit him of his life for the earth is very cruell that swalloweth not the child aliue which to his father is disobedient In that he sayeth I haue adopted another child for mine heyre I confesse it is true and for so much
the diligence which the Iudges vsed towards the Senat to the end they might giue them offices the selfe same ought the Senate to haue to seeke vertuous men to commit such charge into their hands For the office of iustice ought to be giuen not to him which procureth it but to him that best deserueth it In the yeare of the foundation of Rome 642. yeares the Romane people had many warres throughout all the world That is to say Caius Celius against those of Thrace Gneus Gardon his brother against the Sardes Iunius Scilla against the Cimbres Minutius Rufus against the Daces Seruilius Scipio against the Macedonians and Marius Consull against Iugurtha King of the Numedians and amongst all these the warre of the Numidians was the most renowmed and also perillous For if Rome had many Armies against Iugurtha to conquer him Iugurtha had in Rome good friends which did fauour him King Boco at that time was king of the Mauritans who was Iugurthas friend in the end hee was afterwards the occasion that Iugurtha was ouerthrowne and that Marius tooke him These two Kings Marius the Consull brought to Rome and triumphed of them leading them before his triumphant chariot their neckes loaden with yrons their eyes full of teares The which vnlucky fortune al the Romaines which behelde lamented and tooke great pitie of the strangers whō they heard The night after the triumph was ended it was decreede in the Senate that Iugurtha should bee beheaded leauing king Boco aliue depriued of his Country And the occasion thereof was this The Romaines had a custom of long time to put no man to execution before that first with great diligēce they had looked the ancient bookes to see if any of their predecessors had done any notable seruice to Rome whereby the poore prisoner might deserue his pardon It was found written in a booke which was in the high Capitoll that the Grandfather of King Boco was very sage and a speciall friend to the Romane people and that once hee came to Rome and made diuers orations to the Senate and amongst other notable sentences there was found in that book that he had spoken these words Woe be to that realme where all are such that neyther the good amongst the euill nor the euil amongst the good are known Woe vpon that realme which is the entertainer of all fooles and a destroyer of all Sages Woe is that Realme where the good are fearefull and the euill too bold Wo on that realme where the patient are despised and the seditious commended Wo on that Realm which destroyeth those which watch for the good and crowneth those that watch to doe euill Woe to that realme where the poore are suffered to bee proud and the rich tirants Wo to that realme where all know the euil and no man doth follow the good woe to that realme where so many euill vices are openly committed which in another countrie dare not secrrtly bee mentioned Wo to that realm where all procure that they desire where all attaine to that they procure where all thinke that this is euill where al speake that they thinke and finally where all may doe that which they will In such and so vnfortunate a realm where the people are too wicked let euery man beware hee bee not inhabitant For in short time they shall see vpon him eyther the yre of the Gods the fury of the men the depoputation of the good or the desolation of the Tirants Diuers other notable thinges were contained in those Orations the which are not at this present touching my letter But forasmuch as we thought it was a very iust thing that they should pardon the folly of the Nephew for the deserts of the wise grandfather Thou shalt reade this my letter openly to the Pretours and Iudges which are resident there and the case shall bee that when thou shalt reade it thou shalt admonish them that if they will not amend secretly wee will punish them openly I wrote vnto thee the last day that as touching thy banishment I would be thy friend and be thou assured that for to enioy thy old friendshipp and to performe my word I will not let to danger my person I write vnto Panutius my Secretary to succour thee with two thousand Sesterses wherewith thou mayest releeue thy pouerty and from hence I send thee my letter wherewith thou mayest comfort thy sorrowfull hear I say no more to thee in this case but that thorough the Gods thou mayest haue contentation of all that thou enioyest health of thy person and comfort of thy friends the bodily euils the cruell enemies the perillous destenies bee farre from me Marke In the behalfe of thy Wife Rufa I haue saluted my wise Faustine shee and I both haue receyued with ioy thy salutations and with thankes wee sent them you againe I desire to see thy person here in Italy and wish my feuer quartens there with thee in Scicilie CHAP. XII An exhortation of the Author to Princes and Noble men to embrace peace and to eschew the occasions of warre OCtauian Augustus second Emperour of Rome is commended of all for that hee was so good of his person and so wel beloued of all the Romane Empire Suetonius Tranquillus sayth that when any man dyed in Rome in his time they gaue great thanks to the Gods for that they tooke their life from them before their Prince knew what death meant And not contented onelie with this but in their Testaments they commaunded their heires and children that yearely they should offer great sacrifices of their proper goods in all the Temples of Rome to the end the Gods shold prolong the dayes of their Prince That time indeed might bee called the golden age and the blessed land where the Prince loued so well his subiects and the subiects so much obeyed their prince for seldome times it hapneth that one will be content with the seruices of all neyther that all will bee satisfied with the gouernement of one The Romans for none other cause wished for the good Prince more then for themselues life out because he kept the commonwealth in peace The vertue of this Prince deserued much prayse and the good will of the people merited no lesse commendation he for deseruing it to them they for giuing it to him for to say the truth there are few in number that so heartily loue others that for theyr sakes will hate themselues There is no man so humble but in things of honour wil be content to goe before saue only in death where he can be content to come behinde And this seemeth to bee very cleare in that that now dyeth the father now the mother now the husband now the wife now the sonne now his neighbour in the end euery man is content with the death of an other so that he with his owne life may escape himselfe A Prince which is gentle patient stout sober honest and
of counsel they themselues imagine and other flattrers telleth that thogh they haue much in respect of other princes yet they can doe little Also they say vnto them that if their substaunce bee great their Fame ought to bee greater Further they tell them that the good Prince ought little to esteeme that hee hath inherited of his predecessors in respect of the great deale more hee ought to leaue to his successours Also they tell them that neuer prince left of him any great memory but inuenting some cruell Warre against his enemie Also they tell them that the houre that one is chosen Emperour of Rome hee may boldely conquer the whole earth These vaine reasons being heard of the princes afterwardes as their Fortune is base and their mindes high immediately they defie their enemies they open their Treasures they assemble great armies and in the end of all the Gods suffer that they thinking to tkae an other mans goods they waste and lose their owne Oh Princes I knowe not who doth deceyue yee that you which by peace may be rich and by war wil be poore Oh Princes I know not who doth deceiue you that you which may be loued doe seeke occasions to be hated Oh princes I knowe not who doth beguyle yee that yee which may enioy a sure life doe aduenture your selues to the mutabilitie of Fortune Oh princes I knowe not who doeth deceyue you that you so little esteeme and weigh your owne aboundance and so greatly set by the wants of others Oh princes I know not who doth deceiue you that all hauing need of you you should haue neede of others I let thee to knowe my Cornelius though a prince bee more quicke and carefull then all other his predecessors haue bin in Rome yet it is vnpossible that all things touching warre should succeede vnto him prosperously For in the greatest neede of warres eyther he wanteth money or his subiects do not succour him or time is contrarie vnto him or he findeth perilous pasges hee lacketh Artillerie or the captaines rebell or else succour commeth to his aduersaryes so that hee seeth himselfe so miserable that thoughtes doe more oppresse his heart then the enemies do harme his land Though a prince had no warre but for to suffer men of warre yet he ought to take vpon him no warre I aske thee now my Cornelius what trauell so great to his person or what greater damage to his Realme can his Enemies do then that which his own men of warre doe c The Enemies to doe the worst they can will but robbe our Frontiers but our men of War do robbe the whole countrey The Enemies we dare and may resist but to ours we cannot nor dare not speake The Enemyes the worst they can do is once in a moneth to robbe and runne their wayes but ours daily do robbe and remaine still The Enemyes feare their enemies only but ours doe feare their enemyes and haue no pitie on their friends The enemies the further they goe on the more they diminish but ours the further they goe the more they encrease I know no greater warre that Princes can haue then to haue men of warre in their realmes For as experience doth shew vs before the Gods they are culpable to Princes importunate and to the people troublesome so that they liue to the damage of all and to the profit of none By the God Mars I swear vnto thee my friend Cornelius as hee may direct my hands in the war that I haue more complaints in the Senate of the thefts which my Captaines did in Illyria then of all the enemies of the Romane people Both for that I say and for that I kept secret I am more afraid to create an Ensigne of two hundred men of warre then to giue a cruell battell to thirty thousand men For that battell fortune good or euill forthwith dispacheth but with these I can bee sure no time of all my life Thou wilt say vnto me Cornelius that since I am Emperour of Rome I should remedy this since I know it For that Prince which dissembleth with the fault of another by reason hee will condemne him as if it were his owne To this I answere that I am not mighty enough to remedy it except by my remedy there should spring a greater inconuenience And since thou hast not beene a Prince thou couldest not fall into that I haue nor yet vnderstand that which I say For Princes by their wisdom know many things the which to remedy they haue no power So it hath beene so it is so it shall be so I found it so I keepe it so will I leaue it them so I haue reade it in bookes so haue I seen it with my eyes so haue I heard it of my predecessors And finally I say our Fathers haue inuented it and so will wee their children sustaine it and for this euill wee will leaue it to our heyres I will tell thee one thing and imagine that I erre not therein which is considering the great dammage and little profite which men of warre do bring to our Common wealth I thinke to doe it and to sustaine it eyther it is the folly of men or a scourge giuen of the Gods For there can be nothing more iust then for the Gods to permit that wee feele that in our owne houses which wee cause others in strange houses to lament All those thinges I haue written vnto thee not for that it skileth greatly that I know them but that my heart is at ease for to vtter them For as Alcibiades sayde the chests and the hearts ought alwayes to be open to their friends Panutius my Secretary goeth in my behalfe to visite that Land and I gaue him this Letter to giue thee with two Horses wherewith I doe thinke thou wilt be contented for they are Genets The Weapons and riches which I tooke of the Parthians I haue now diuided notwithstanding I do send thee two Chariots laden with them My wife Faustine greeteth thee and shee sendeth a rich glasse for thy Daughter and a iewell with stones for thy sister No more but I doe beseech the gods to giue thee a good life and me a good death CHAP. XVII An Admonition of the Author to Princes and great Lordes to the entent that the more they grow in yeares the more they are bound to refrayne from vices AVlus Gelius in his booke De noctibus Atticis sayeth that there was an auncient custome among the Romanes to honour and haue in great reuerence aged men And this was so inuiolate a Law amongst them that there was none so noble of bloud and linage neyther so puissant in riches neyther so fortunate in battels that should go before the aged men which were loden with white hayres so that they honoured them as they did the Gods Amongst other the aged men had these preheminences that is to say that in feasts they sate highest in the
a perpetuall memorie What contempt of world what forgetfulnesse of himselfe what stroke of fortune what whippe for the flesh what little regard of life O what bridle for the vertuous O what confusion for those that loue life O how great example haue they left vs not to feare death Sithens those here haue willingly despised their owne liues it is not to be thought that they dyed to take the goods of others neither yet to thinke that our life should neuer haue end nor our couetousnesse in like manner O glorious people and ten thousand fold happy that the proper sensuality being forsaken haue ouercom the naturall appetite to desire to liue not beleeuing in that they saw and that hauing faith in that they neuer saw they striued with the fatall Destenies By the way they assaulted fortune they changed life for death they offered the body to death and aboue all haue wonne honour with the Gods not for that they shoulde hasten death but because they should take away that which is superfluous of life Archagent a Surgeon of Rome and Anthonius Musus a Physition of the Emperour Augustus and Esculapius father of the Phisicke should get little money in that Countrie Hee that then should haue sent to the barbarous to haue done as the Romanes at that time did that is to say to take sirrops in the mornings pils at night to drinke milke in the morning to annoint themselues with gromeâ—seed to bee let bloud to day and purged to morrow to eate of one thing and to abstaine from many a man ought to thinke that hee which willingly seeketh death will not giue money to lengthen life CHAP. XXII The Emperour concludeth his letter and shewed what perils those olde men liue in which dissolutely like young children passe their dayes and giueth vnto them wholesome counsell for the remedy thereof BVt returning to thee Claude and to thee Claudine me thinketh that these barbarous men beeing fifty yeares of age and you others hauing aboue threescore and tenne it should be iust that sithence you were elder in yeares you were equall in vertue and though as they you wil not accept death patiently yet at the least you ought to amend your euill liues willingly I doe remember that it is many yeares sithens that Fabritius the young sonne of Fabritius the olde had ordayned to haue deceiued mee of the which if you had not told me great inconueniences had happned and sithens that you did me so great a benefite I would now requite you the same with another the like For amongst friends there is no equal benefite then to deceiue the deceyuer I let you know if you do not know it that you are poore aged folks your eyes are sunke into your heads the nostrels are shut the haires are white the hearing is lost the tongue faultereth the teeth fall the face is wrinkled the feete swolne and the stomacke cold Finally I say that if the graue could speake as vnto his Subiects by iustice he might commaund you to inhabite his house It is great pitty of the yong men and of their youthfull ignorance for then vnto such their eies are not opened to know the mishaps of this miserable life when cruell death doth end their dayes and adiorneth them to the graue Plato in his booke of the Common wealth sayde that in vaine wee giue good counsels to fond and light young men for youth is without experience of that it knoweth suspitious of that it heareth incredible of that is tolde him despising the counsell of an other and very poore of his own For so much as this is true that I tell you Claude and Claudine that without comparison the ignorance which the young haue of the good is not so much but the obstination which the olde hath in the euill is more For the mortall Gods many times doe dissemble with a thousand offences commited by ignorance but they neuer forgiue the offence perpetrated by malice O Claude and Claudine I doe not maruell that you doe forget the gods as you doe which created you and your Fathers which begot you and your parents which haue loued you and your friends which haue honoured you but that which I most maruell at is that you forget your selues For you neuer consider what you ought to bee vntill such time as you bee there where you would not bee and that without power to returne backe againe Awake awake since you are drowned in your dreames open your eyes since you sleepe so much accustome your selues to trauels sithence you are vagabonds learne that which behoueth you since now you are olde I meane that in time conuenient you agree with death before he make execution of life Fifty two yeeres haue I knowne the things of the world and yet I neuer saw a Woman so aged thorough yeares nor old man with members so feeble that for want of strength could not if they list doe good nor yet for the same occasion should leaue to bee euill if they list to be euill It is a maruellous thing to see and worthy to note that all the corporall members of Man waxeth old but the inward hart and the outward tongue For the heart is alwayes giuen to inuent euills and the tongue is alwayes able to tell Lyes Mine opinion is that the pleasaunt Summer beeing past you should prepare your selues for the vntemperate winter which is at hand And if you haue but fewe dayes to continue you should make hast to take vp your lodging I meane that sith you haue passed the dayes of your life with trauell you should prepare your selues against the night of death to be in the hauen of rest Let mockeryes passe as mockeries and accept trueth as truth that is to say that it were a very iust thing and also for your honour necessarie that all shose which in times past haue seen you young and foolish should now in your age see you graue and sage For there is nothing that so much forgetteth the lightnesse and follyes of youth as doth grauity and constancie in Age. When the Knight runneth his carriere they blame him not for that the Horses mane is not finely combed but at the end of his race he shold see his horse amended and looked vnto What greater confusion can be to any person or greater slaunder to our mother Rome then to see that which now a dayes therein we see That is to say that the old which can scarcely creepe through the streetes to beholde the playes and games as young men which search for nought else but onely pompe and vanitie It grieueth mee to speake it but I am much more ashamed to see that the olde Romaines do daylie cause the white haires to be plucked out of their heads because they would not seeme old to make their beard small to seem yong wearing their hosen very close their shyrts open before the gowne of the Senatour embrodered the Romane signe richly enamelled the
and iudgeth of his sound It is but reason hee should be so much the more circumspect before hee choose his Friend to examine his life and condition since all the other things wee haue spoken of may bee put in diuers houses and corners but our Friend we lodge and keepe deerely in our proper be wells Those that write of the Emperour Augustus say that he was very strange and scrupulous in accepting Friends but after hee had once receyued them into his friendship hee was very constant and circumspect to keepe them For hee neuer had any friend but first he had some proofe and tryall of him neyther would hee euer after forsake him for any displeasure done to him Therefore it shold alwayes be so that true friends should beare one to an other such loue and affection that the one beeing in prosperitie should not haue occasion to complaine of himselfe in that hee did not relieue his friends necessitie being in aduersitie nor the other being poore and needy should grudge or lament for that his friend being rich and wealthie would not succour him with all that hee might haue done for him For to say the trueth where perfect friendship is there ought no excuse to be made to doe what possible is the one for the other The friendship of young men commeth commonly or for the most part at the least by beeing companions in vice and follie and such of right ought rather to be called vacabonds then once to deserue the name of true friends For that cannot bee called true friendship that is continued to the preiudice or derogation of vertue Seneca writing againe to Lucillus saith these words I would not haue thee thinke nor once mistrust O my Lucillus that in all the Romaine Empire I haue any greater Friende then thuo but with all assure thy selfe that our Friendship is not so straight between vs that I would take vpon mee at any time to doe for thee otherwise then honesty should lead mee For though that loue I beare thee hath made thee Lord of my libertie yet reason also hath left mee vertue free The Authour proceedeth on Applying that wee haue spoken to that wee will now declare I say I will not acknowledge my selfe your seruant for so should I bee compelled to feare you more then loue you much lesse will I vaunt my selfe to bee your Kins-man for so I should importune and displease you and I will not brag that heretofore wee haue beene of familiar acquaintaunce for that I would not make any demonstration I made so little account of you and lesse then I am bound to doe neyther will I boaste my selfe that I am at this present your familiar and welbeloued For indeed I should then shew my selfe to bee too bolde and arrogant but that that I will confesse shall be that I loue you as a Friend and you mee as a Kins-man albeeit this friendship hath succeeded diuersly till now For you being Noble as you are haue bountifully shewed your friendship to mee in large and ample gifts but I poore and of base estate haue onely made you sure of mine in wordes Plutarch in his politikes sayd That it were far better to fell to our friends our workes and good deedes whether they were in prosperitie aduersitie or necessitie then to feede them with vaine Flattering wordes for nothing Yet it is not so generall a rule but that sometimes it happeneth that the loftie and high words on the one side are so profitable and the workes so few and feeble on the other side that one shal be better pleased and delighted with hearing the sweete and curteous wordes of the one then he shall be to be serued with the colde seruice and workes of the other of small profite and value Plutarche also in his booke De animalibus telleth vs that Denis the Tyrant beeing one day at the Table reasoning of diuers and sundrie matters with Chrysippus the Phylosopher it chaunced that as hee was at dinner one brought him a present of certaine Sugar-cakes wherefore Chrysippus ceasing his former discourse fell to perswade Denis to fall to his cakes To whome Denis aunswered on with your matter Chrysippus and leaue not off so For my heart is better contented with thy sweete and sugred wordes then my Tongue is pleased with the delicate taste of these mountain-cakes For as thou knowest these cakes are heauie of digestion and doe greatly annoy the stomack but good workes doe meruellously reioyce and comfort the heart For this cause Alexander the great had the poet Homer in greater veneration beeing dead then all the other that were aliue in his time not for that Homer euer did him seruice or that hee knew him but onely because of his learned Bookes hee wrote and compiled and for the graue sentences he found therein And therefore he bare about him in the day time the booke of the famous deedes of Troy called the Illyades hanged at his neck within his bosome and in the night hee layde it vnder his bolster at his beds-head where hee slept In recompence therefore Syr of the many good turnes I haue receyued at your hands I was also willing to compyle and dedicate this my little Treatise to you the which I present you with all my desires my studyes my watches my sweatte and my troubles holding my selfe fully satisfyed for all the paines I haue taken so that this my simple trauell be gratefull vnto you to whom I offer it and to the publike weale profitable Being well assured if it please you to trust me and credite my wryting you shall manifestly know how freely I spake to you and like a friend and not deceyue you as a flatterer For if the beloued and Fauourites of Princes chaunce to bee cast out of fauour it is because euery man flattereth him and seeketh to please him and no man goeth about to tell him trueth nor that that is for his honour and fittest for him Salust in his booke of the warres of Iugurtha sayth that the high heroycall facts and deedes were of no lesse glorie to the Hystoriographers that wrote them then they were to the captaine that did them For it happeneth many times that the Captaine dying in the battell hee hath wonne liueth afterwardes notwithstanding by the Fame of his noble attempt And this proceedeth not only of the valiant deeds of Arms he was seene doe but also for that wee read of him in worthy Authors which haue written thereof Wee may well say therefore touching this matter that as well may wee take him for a true friend that giueth good counsell as hee which doeth vs great pleasure and seruice For according to the opinion of the good Emperor Marcus Aurelius who who saide to his Secretarie Panutius that a man with one pay may make full satisfaction and recompence of many pleasures and good turns shewed but to requite a good counsell diuers thankes and infinite seruices are requisite If we
bēt to bloudy wars went to see speake with Diogines the Phylosopher offring him great presents discoursing with him of diuers matters So that wee may iustly say This good Prince of himselfe tooke paines to seeke out wise men to accompanie him electing by others choyce and aduise all such as hee made his Captaines to serue him in the warres It is manifest to all that Dyonisius the Syracusan was the greatest Tyrant in the worlde and yet notwithstanding his Tiranny it is a wonder to see what sage and wise men he had continually in his Courte with him And that which makes vs yet more to wonder of him is that hee had them not about him to serue him or to profite one jote by their doctrines and counsell but onely for his honour and their profite which enforceth mee to say concurring with this example that sith Tyrants did glorie to haue about them Sages wise and worthie men Much more should those reioice that their works deeds are noble freeharted And this they ought to do not onely to bee honoured with them openly but also to be holpen with their doctrine and counsells secretly And if to some this should seeme a hard thing to follow we will say that worthy men not being of abilitie and power to maintayne such Wise-men ought yet at least to vse to reade at times good and vertuous books For by reading of vertuous Bookes they may reape infinite profite As for example By reading as I say these Good Authours the desire is satisfied their iudgement is quickned ydlenesse is put away the heart is disburdened the Time is well employed and they lead their liues vertuously not being bound to render account of so manie faults as in that time they might haue committed And to conclude it is so good an exercise as it giueth good example to the Neighbour profite to himselfe and health to the soule We see by experience after a man taketh vppon him once the Studie of holie Scriptures and that hee frameth himselfe to bee a Diuine hee will neuer willingly thenceforth deale in any other studyes and all because he will not forgoe the great comfort and pleasure he receyueth to reade those holy sayings And that causeth that we see so manie learned wise men for the more part subiect to diuers diseases and full of Melancholike humours For so sweete is the delight they take in theyr Bookes that they forget and leaue all other bodily pleasure And therefore Plutarche writeth that certaine phylosophers being one day met at the lodging of Plato to see him demanding what exercise he had at that time Plato answered thē thus Truely my brethren I let you know that euen now my onely exercise was to see what the great Poete Homer said And this he tolde them because that they took him euen then reading of some of Homers bookes and to say truely his aunswere was such as they should all looke for of him For to reade a good booke in effect is nothing else but to heare a wise man speake And if this our iudgement and aduise seeme good vnto you we would yet say more that you should profite more to reade one of these bookes then you should to heare speake or to haue conference with the Author him selfe that made it For it is without doubt that all Writers haue more care and respect in that their penne doth write then they haue in that their tongue doth vtter And to the end you should not thinke we cannot proue that true that we haue spoken I giue you to vnderstand that euerie Author that will write to publish his doing in print to lay it to the shew and iudgement of the world and that desireth thereby to acquire honour fame and to eternize the memory of him turneth many bookes conferreth with other wise and lerned men addicteth himselfe wholy to his book endeauoureth to vnderstand well oft refuseth sleepe meat and drinke quicneth his spirites doing that he putteth in writing exactly with long aduise and consideration which he doth not when hee doth but onely speake and vtter them though oft in deede by reason of his great knowledge in speech vnawares there falleth out of his mouth many godly and wise sentences And therefore God hath giuen him a goodly gift that can reade and him much more that hath a desire to study knowing how to chuse the good bookes from the euill For to say the truth there is not in this world any state or exercise more honourable and profitable then the study of good books And we are much bound to those that read more to those that study and much more to those that write any thing but most doubtlesse to those that make compile goodly books and those of great and high doctrine for there are many vaine and fond bookes that rather deserue to be throwne into the fire then once to be read or looked on for they do not only shew vs the way to mocke them but also the ready meane to offend vs to see them occupie their braines and best wittes they haue to write foolish and vaine things of no good subiect or erudition And that which is worst of all yet they are occasion that diuers others spend as much time in reading their iests and mockeries as they would otherwise haue imploied in doctrine of great profit and edifying the which to excuse and defend their error say they did not write them for men to take profite thereby but only to delight and please the Readers to passe the time away merily whom we may rightly answer thus That the reading of ill and vaine bookes cannot bee called a pastime but aptly a very losse of time And therefore Aulus Gelius in the fifteenth of his booke writeth that after the Romanes vnderstood the Orators and Poets of Rome did giue themselues to write vain voluptuous and dishonest bookes causing Enterludes and Poeticall Comedies to be played they did not only banish them from Rome but also out all the parts of Italy for it beseemed not the Romane grauity neyther was it decent for the Weale publike to suffer such naughty bookes among them and much lesse for to beare with vicious and lasciuious gouernours And if the Romane Panims left vs this for example how much more ought wee that are Christians to continue and follow it since that they had no other Bookes for to reade saue onely Histories and we now a dayes haue both Histories and holy Scriptures to read which were graūted vs by the church to the end that by the one we might take some honest pleasure and recreation and with the other procure the health of oursoules Oh how farre is the Common-wealth nowe-adayes digressed from that wee wryte and counsell since we see plainely that men occupie themselues at this present in reading a nūber of Books the which only to name I am ashamed And therfore said Aulus Gelius in his 14. book That there
was a certain philosopher wrote a book of hie and eloquent stile but the subiect very harde and diffuse to vnderstand which Socrates other philosophers hearing of cōmanded immediatly the Booke to be burned and the Author to be banished by which exāple we may well perceiue that in that so perfit and reformed Vniuersitie they would not onely suffer any Lasciuious or vicious booke but also they would not beare with those that were too hawtie and vainglorious in their stiles and whose matter was not profitable and beneficiall to the Publike-weale That man therfore that walloweth in idlenes lap that vouchsafes not to spēd one houre of the day to read a graue sentence of some good Booke wee may rather deseruedly cal him a brutish beast then a reasonable creature For euery wise man ought to glory more of the knowledge he hath then of the aboundance of goods he possesseth And it cannot be denyed but that those which reade vertuous Bookes are euer had in better fauor and estimation then others For they learne to speake they passe their time without trouble they know many pleasant things which they after tel to others they haue audacitie to reproue others euery man delighteth to heare them in what place or companie soeuer they come they are alwaies reuerenced honored aboue others euery man desireth their knowledge and acquaintance and are glad to aske them counsell And that that is yet of greater credit to them is that they are not few in number that trusteth them with their bodie goods And moreouer I say that the wise and learned man which professeth studie shall know very well how to counsel his friend and to comfort himselfe at all times when neede doeth serue which the foolish ignorant person can not doe For he cannot only tell how to comfort the afflicted in aduersitie but also hee cannot helpe himselfe in his own proper affaires nor take coūsell of himselfe what is best to doe But returning againe to our purpose we say because we would not be reproued of that we rebuke others of wee haue beene very circumspect and aduised and taking great care and paines in our study that all our books and workes wee haue published and compyled should be so exactly done that the Readers might not find any ill doctrine nor also any thing worthy reproofe For the vnhonest bookes made by lasciuious persōs do giue deseruedly euident token to the Readers to suspect the Authours and troubleth the iudgements of those that giue attentiue care vnto them And therefore I counsell and admonish him that will enterprise and take vppon him to bee a wryter and a setter forth of Bookes that hee bee wise in his matter hee sheweth and compendious in the wordes hee writeth and not to bee like to diuers Wryters whose workes are of such a phrase and style as we shall reade many times to the middest of the booke ere wee finde one good and notable sentence so that a man may say that al the fruit those reape for their paine watches and trauell is none other but onely a meere toye and mockery they being derided of euery man that seeth their workes That Authour that vndertaketh to write and afterwardes prostrateth to common iudgement the thing hee wryteth may bee assured that hee setteth his wittes to great trauell and studie and hazardeth his honour to present perill For the iudgement of men being variable and diuers as they are indeede manie times they doe meddle and enter into iudgement of those things whereof they are not only not capable to vnderstand but also lesse skilfull to reade them Now in that booke wee haue set out of The Dyall of Princes and in that other wee haue translated of the Life of the Romaine Emperours and in this wee haue now set forth Of the fauoured Courtiers the Readers may bee assured they shall find in them goodly and graue sentences whereby thy may greatly profit and they shall not read any wordes superfluous to comber or weary them at all For we did not once licence our pen to dare to write any word that was not first weyed in true ballāce measured by iust measure And GOD can testifie with vs that without doubt wee haue had more paine to be briefe in the wordes of our books we haue hitherto made then we haue had to gather out the inuention and graue sentences thereof For to speake good words and to haue good matter and wise purposes is the property of one that naturally is modest and graue in his actions but to write briefely he must haue a deepe vnderstanding When at the Fonte of the Printers Forme we first baptized the Booke of Marcus Aurelius wee intituled it The Dyall of Princes and this therefore that we haue now made and added to it we call it more for briefnes The fauoured Courtyer which portendeth the whet-stone and instruction of a Courtyer For if they will vouchsafe to reade and take the fruitfull counselles they finde written heerein they may assure themselues they shall awaken out of the vanityes they haue long slept in and shall also open their eies to see the better that thing wherin they liue so long deceyued And albeit indeed this present work sheweth to you but a fewe contriued lines yet GOD himselfe doeth knowe the paines we haue taken herein hath bin exceeding great and this for two causes the one for that the matter is very straunge and diuerse from others the other to thinke that assuredly it should be hated of those that want the taste of good discipline And therefore wee haue taken great care it should come out of our hands well reformed and corrected to the ende that Courtyers might finde out many Sentences in it profitable for them and not one word to trouble them Those Noble-men or Gentlemen that will from henceforth haue their children brought vp in the Courtes of Princes shall finde in this Booke all things they shall neede to prouide them of And those also which haue beene long Courtyers shall finde all that they ought to doe in Court And such also as are best fauoured of Noble Princes and carrie greatest reputation of honour with them shall find likewise excellent good counsels by meane whereof they may alwayes maintain and continue themselues in the chiefest greatnesse of their credite and fauour so that it may well be called a Mithridaticall Electuary recuring and healing all malignant opilations Of all the Bookes I haue hitherto compiled I haue Dedicated some of them vnto the Imperiall Maiestie and others to those of best fauor and credite with him where the Readers may see that I rather glorie to bee a Satyr then a Flatterer for that in all my sentences they cannot finde one cloked word to enlarge and embetter my credite and estate But to the contrary they may reade an infinite number of others where I doe exhort them to gouern their person discreetly and honorably and to amend their
and to morrow conueyghed into the priuie from the Eaters by their page or seruant Surely mans Stomacke is nothing else but a gutte or Tripe forced with meate bread and wine a Pauement fild with wine Lees and a vessell of stincking-oyle a receypt of corrrupt ayre a sincke of a Kitchin and a secret place whereinto we cast all our goods and facultie as into the riuer And therefore Esay sayde that all these noble citties of Sodome and Gomorrha by this onely curse did incurre into such execrable sinnes for which afterwards they were destroyed And this was euen through excesse of feeding eating and drinking and too much ydlenesse and it is no maruell For it is an infallible thing that where ydlenesse and gluttony raigneth there must needes come some yll ende vnto that man The Greekes the Romaines the Egiptians and the Scythes although they were derected of many other sins and vices yet were they alwayes sober and temperat in eating and drinking Iustine that wrote of Trogus Pompeyus reciteth that among the Scythes which were the rudest and most barbarous that came into Asia vsed to reproue those that let goe winde and to chastise and punish those that vomited saying that breaking winde vomiting came only of too much eating and drinking Plutarch in his Apothegmes sayde that there was a philosopher in Athens called Hyppomachus that was so great an enemy to gluttonie that he vsed in his Colledge such and so great an abstinence that his Disciples by that were knowne amongst all the other Phylosophers And not for no other thing but to see them buye their cates and prouision to liue withall for they neuer bought meates to fat them and keepe them lusty but onely to susteine nature and that but little The Romanes made diuers lawes in the olde time to expell out of theyr Cities drunkards and Gluttons wherof we will recite some vnto you to the end that those that shall reade our present writings shall both knowe and see what great care our Forefathers tooke to abolish this horrible vice of Gluttony First there was a Law in Rome called Fabian Law so called because Fabian the Consull made it in which it was prohibited that no man should bee so hardy in the greatest Feast hee made to spend aboue a hundred Sexterces which might bee in value a hundred peeces of 6. pence Salets and all other kinds of fruite not comprised within the same And immediately after that came out another law called Messinia which the Consul Messinius made By which they were also inhibited in all feastes to drinke no strange wines which only were permitted to be giuen to those that were diseased After which followed also another law Licinia made by the Consul Licinius forbidding in all feasts all kinds of Sawces because they incite appetite and are cause of great expence An other law Emilia of Emilius the Consul also commanding the Romans should be serued in their banquets but onely with fiue sortes of diuersities of meates because in them there should be sufficient for honest reâ—ection and no superfluitie to fil the belly And then was there the Lawe Ancia made by Ancius the Consull charging all the Romanes for to endeuor to learne all kinde of sciences except cookery For according to their saying In that House where was a Cooke those of that house became poore quickely their bodyes diseased their mindes vitious and al-together giuen to gluttonie After this law there came forth another called Iulia of Iulius Caesar comcommaunding al Romains that none should be so hardy to shut their gates when they were at dinner and it was to this ende that the Censours of the Cittie might haue easie accesse into their houses at mealtime to see if their Ordinary were correspondent to their habilitie And there was also another Lawe made afterwards called Aristimia of Aristmius the Consull by which it was enacted that it should bee lawfull for euery man to inuire his friends to dinner to him at noon as they liked prouided that they supped not together that night And this was established thus to cut off the great charges they were at with their suppers For the Romanes exceeded in superfluity of dainty and fine meats and moreouer they sat too long guzling eating at their suppers Of all these Lawes heretofore recited were authours Aulus Gelius and Macrobius And for this was Caius Gracchus well reputed of by the Romanes who notwithstanding hee had bin Consull in diuers Prouinces and that many times and he was a man of great grauitie and authoritie in Rome his wife was his onely cooke and trauelling his hostesse of his house where he lay dressed his meate Marcus Mantius in times past made a booke of diuers wayes how to dresse meat an other of the tasts sawces and diuers maners of seruing of them in at the bankets a third book how to couer the table set the stools in order order the cupbord and also how seruants should wayte and giue theyr attendance at the Table which three books were no sooner imprinted and published but presently and publikely they were burned by the Senate of Rome and if his author had not quickly voyded Rome fled into Asia he had accompanyed his bookes in the fire The auncient writers neuer ceased to reproue enough Lentulus Caesar Scylla Scaeuola and Aemilius For a banket they made in a garden of Rome where they eate no other meates but Blacke-byrdes Torteyses Mallardes Nettles pigs-brains hares in sauce But if the Romane Writers wrote in these dayes I doe not beleeue they would reproue so simple a banquet made by so noble and famous persons as they were For now a dayes they doe so farre exceede in variety of dishes at noble mens boords that neyther they haue appetite to eate nor yet they can tell the name of the dishes But now returning to our purpose I say the intent why wee haue layde before you these forepassed examples was onely to this end to admonish the fauoured of Princes to looke into themselues that they auoid this filthy sinne of Gluttony Beeing a foule blot in a Courtier to be counted a greedy gut and carmarant at his meate and being one whose manners and behauior euery man marketh for sure it is more fitting for them to bee moderate and sober in eating and drinking then others and good reason why For as they are more Noble then others so haue they many that sue vnto them and they haue also the waightiest matters of gouernement passing vnder their charge by reason wherof if they surcharge themselus with excesse they are then very vnapt to dispatch any matters for much eating causeth sleepe and much drinking depriueth theÌ„ of their iudgement and sences both Is it not to be wondered at yea and to bee reproued also to see a Magistrate or Counsellour sit in his chaire to heare poor mens causes and suites and the suiter opening his cause vnto him he sitteth nodding with
ΑΡΧΟÎΤΟΡΟΛΟΓΙΟΠOR THE DIALL OF PRINCES CONTAINING THE GOLDEN AND FAMOVS BOOKE OF MARCVS AVRELIVS Sometime Emperour of Rome DECLARING What Excellency consisteth in a Prince that is a good Christian And what euils attend on him that is a cruell Tirant WRITTEN By the Reuerend Father in God DON ANTONIO of Gueuara Lord Bishop of Guadix Preacher and Chronicler to the late mighty Emperour CHARLES the fift First translated out of French by THOMAS NORTH Sonne to Sir EDWARD NORTH Lord NORTH of Kirthling And lately reperused and corrected from many grosse imperfections With addition of a Fourth Booke stiled by the Name of The fauoured Courtier LONDON Imprinted by Bernard Alsop dwelling by Saint Annes Church neere Aldersgate 1619. TO THE RIGHT HONOVRABLE SIR HENRY MOVNTAGVE Knight Lord Chiefe Iustice of the Pleas Holden before his most Royall Maiestie c THe Emperour Traiane Right Honourable writing a Letter to the Senate of Rome concerning the weightie and carefull condition of Princes among many other matters vsed these wordes of himselfe I doe freely confesse vnto you that since I tasted the cares and trauels attending on this Imperiall dignitie I haue repented a thousand times that euer I did vndertake it because if it bee accounted Honour to enioy an Empire there consisteth farre greater paine and labour to order and gouerne it as it ought to be But beside what enuie doth hee expose himselfe to multitude of mislikes that hath the charge of gouerning others If hee be iust hee is branded with cruelry if mercifull hee is contemned if beautifull tearmed lauish and prodigall if hee hoorde vp money then basely couetous if inclined to peace then hee is a coward If full of courage proudly anbitious if discreetly graue surly and scornefull if affably courteous silly and simple if affecting solitude a dissembling hypocrite if addicted to mirth and pleasure then wantonly dissolute In the end of all te worthy Emperour thus concluded Although willingly I accepted this high office at the first yet sorrow hath since made mee shrinke vnder so brdensom a charge For the Sea and dignitie are thinges pleasing to looke â—n but very perillous to meddle withall I haue alledged his example worthie Lord because present vnto your gracious acceptance his ancient and famous Booke called The Diall of Princes wherein is at lige and amply set downe what care and respect awayteth on the liues of Prinâ—â—s and great persons for if they canot runne into the smallest errour but redoundeth to the hurt of many nor neglect their duty without other mens userie Then sayde the Philosopher well A Prince should not appropriate the Common-wealth to himselfe but shape himselfe wholy to the Common wealth And so much the rather because he standing accountable to no man in this Life ought to remember a farre stricter account before him that maketh no respect of Princes saue onely in this that they shall finde the Iudge the more seuere against them by how much they haue abused their place of eminencie as also their power and princely authority In the learned Discourses following set downe by that good Emperour Marcus Aurelius the honourable Argument of all this worke are three especiall duties and actions obserued necessarily required in an absolute and perfect Prince as namely In Ruling Iudging and Defending To rule by iust lawes and good Example To Iudge by Wisedome Prouidence and Iustice And Defend by valour care and vigilancy And this is that which the Spirit of God so often intimateth by the Prophet Ieremie â—ap 22. verse 3. To execute Iudgement and righteousnesse To deliuer the oppressed from the handes â—â— the oppressour Not to vexe the Stanger fatherlesse or Widdow Neyther to doe violence or shedde the innocent bloud Into infinite other famous presidents for Princes I could enter and set them downe expressely but that I know they are so frequent to your Honour both in reading and memorie that it were as lost labour as to hold a burning Taper in the bright Sunne at Noone-day and therefore these few shall suffice Nor doe I dedicate this vnto your graue and learned iudgement as a new labour of mine owne or as a worke neuer seene before because it hath already past diuers impressions albeit not in so exact a maner nor with the like paines as hath now bin bestowed vpon it from many absurde and grosse imperfections and yet not so cleanely purged as I could wish it were nor as it shall bee if euer it come to the Presse againe Wherefore I humbly entreate your Honour to accept it as it is and as an oblation of my loue vnfainedly to you which gladly would shew it selfe by any possible meanes as time hereafter may better enable me Til when I remain ready at your Honours seruice to the very vtmost of my best abilitie Your Honors in all duty A. M. A GENER ALL PROLOGVE VPON THE BOOKE ENTITVLED THE DYALL OF PRINCES WITH THE FAmous Booke of MARCVS AVRELIVS Compyled by the Reuerend Father in GOD the Lord ANTONY of GVEVARA Byshop of Guadix Confessor and Chronicler to Charles the fifth Emperour of Rome vnto whom and to all other Princes and Noble-personages this worke was directed APolonius Thianeus disputing with the schollers of Hiareas said that among all the affections of nature nothing is more naturall then the desire that all haue to preserue life Omitting the dispute of these great Phylosophers herein wee our selues hereof haue daily proofe that to liue men do trauell to liue byrds do flie fishes do swimme and to liue beasts do hide themselues for feare of death Finally I say there is no liuing creature so brutish that hath not a naturall desire to liue If many of the auncient Paynims so little regarde life that of their owne free willes they offered themselues death they did it not for that they despised life but because they thought that for their little regarding life wee would more highly esteem their fame For wee see men of hauty courages seeke rather to winne a long-during-Fame then to saue a short lasting-life How loth men are to die is easily seen by the great paines they take to liue For it is a naturall thing to all mortall men to leaue their liues with sorrowe and take their deaths with feare Admit that all doe taste this corporall death and that generally both good and euill doe die yet is there great difference between the death of the one and the death of the other If the good desire to liue it is onely for the greater desire they haue to do more good but if the euill desire to liue it is for that they would abuse the world longer For the children of vanity call no time good but onely that wherein they liue according to their owne desires I let you vnderstand that are at this present and you also that shall come heereafter that I direct my writings vnto those which embrace vertue and not vnto such as are borne away with vice GOD
follow the straunge follie of another then to furnish and supplie their owne proper necessitie Therefore returning againe to my purpose most excellent Prince by this example you may coniecture what I would say that is that if this writing were accepted vnto Princes I am assured it would be refused of no man And if any man would slanderously talke of it hee durst not remeÌ„bring that your Maiesty hath receyued it For those things which Princes take to their custody wee are bound to defend and it is not lawfull for vs to diminish their credite Suppose that this my worke were not so profound as it might be of this matter nor with such eloquence set out as many other bookes are yet I dare bee bolde to say that the Prince shall take more profit by reading of this worke then Nero did by his loue Pompeia For in the end by reading and studying good bookes men turn and become sage and wise and by keeping ill company they are counted fooles and vitious My meaning is not nor I am not so importunate and vnreasonable to perswade Princes that they should so fauour my doctrine that it should be in like estimation now in these parts â—a the amber was there in Rome But that onely which I require and demaund is that the time which Nero spent in singing and telling the hayres of his loue Pompeia should now bee employed to redresse the wrongs faults of the common wealth For the noble and worthy Prince ought to employ the least part of the day in the recreation of his person After hee hath giuen audience to his Counsellours to the Ambassadours to the great Lords and Prelates to the rich and poore to his own countrey men strangers and after that he be com into his Priuy Chamber then my desire is that hee would reade this Treatise or som other better then this for in Princes chambers oftentimes those of the Priuie Chamber and other their familiars lose great time in reciting vaine and trifling matters and of small profit the which might better bee spent in reading some good good booke In all worldly affayres that wee do and in all our bookes which we compile it is a great matter to bee fortunate For to a man that fortune doth not fauour diligence without doubt can little auaile Admit that fortune were against mee in that this my worke should bee acceptable vnto your Maiesty without comparison it should be a great griefe and dishonour vnto mee to tel you what should be good to reade for your pastime if on the other part you would not profite by my counsell and aduise For my mind was not onely to make this booke to the end Princes should reade it for a pastime but to that end in recreating themselues sometimes they might thereby also take profit Aulus Gelius in the 12. Chapter of his third booke entituled De nocte attica sayde that amongst all the Schollers which the diuine Plato had one was named Demostenes a man among the Greekes most highly esteemed of the Romanes greatly desired Because hee was in his liuing seuere and in his tongue and doctrine a very Satyre If Demosthenes had come in the time of Phalaris the tyrant when Grecia was peopled with tirants and that hee had not beene in Platoes time when it was replenished with Philosophers truely Demosthenes had been as cleare a lanterne in Asia as Cicero the great was in Europe Great good hap hath a notable man to bee born in one age more then in another I meane that if a valiant Knight come in the time of a couragious and stout Prince such a one truly shall bee esteemed and set in great authority But if hee come in the time of an other effeminate and couetous Prince bee shall not bee regarded at all For hee will rather esteeme one that wel augment his treasure at home then him that can vanquish his enemies abroad So likewise it chanceth to wise and vertuous men which if they come in the time of vertuous and learned princes are esteemed and honoured but if they come in time of vaine and vicious Princes they make small account of them For it is an auncient custom among vanities children not to honour him which to the Common wealth is most profitable but him which to the Prince is most acceptable The end why this is spoken Most puissant Prince is because the two renowmed Philosophers were in Greece both at one time and because the diuine Philosopher Plato was so much esteemed and made of they did not greatly esteeme the Philosopher Demosthenes For the eminent high renowne of one alone diminisheth the fame and estimation among the people of many Although Demosthenes was such a one indeed as wee haue sayde that is to witte eloquent of tongue ready of memory sharpe and quicke of witte in liuing seuere sure and profitable in giuing of counsell in renowne excellent in yeares very auncient and in Philosophy a man right well learned yet hee refused not to goe to the Schooles of Plato to heare morall Philosophie He that shall reade this thing or heare it ought not to maruel but to follow it and to profit likewise in the same that is to vnderstand that one Philosopher learned of another and one wise man suffred himself to be taught of another For knowledge is of such a quality that the more a man knoweth dayly there encreaseth in him a desire to know more All things of this life after they haue beene tasted and possessed cloyeth a man wearieth and troubleth him true science onely excepted which neuer doth cloy weary nor trouble them And if it happen wee weary any it is but the eyes which are wearied with looking and reading and not the spirite with seeling and tasting Many Lords and my familiar friends doe aske mee how it is possible I should liue with so much study And I also demaund of them how it is possible they should liue in such continuall idlenes For considering the prouocation and assaults of the flesh the daungers of the world the temptations of the deuil the treasons of enemies importunity of friends what hart can suffer so great and continuall trauell but onely in reading and comforting himselfe in bookes Truely a man ought to haue more compassion of a simple ignorant man then of a poore man For thereis no greater pouerty vnto a man then for to lacke wisedom whereby he should know how to gouerne himselfe Therefore following our matter the case was such one day Demosthenes going to the schoole of Plato saw in the market place of Athens a great assembly of people which were hearing a Philosopher newly come vnto that place and hee spake not this without a cause that there was a great company of people assembled For that naturally the common people are desirous to heare new and strange things Demosthenes asked what Philosopher hee was after whom so many people went and when it was
to peruert the senses and iudgements of all and all not able to represse the lightnesse and vanity of one Things that are new and not accustomed neyther Princes ought to allow nor yet the people to vse For a newe thing ought no lesse to bee examined and considered before it be brought into the cōmon wealth then the great doubts which arise in mens mindes Ruffinus in the Prologue of his secōd Booke of his Apologie reprooueth greatly the Egyptians because they were too full of deuises and blamed much the Grecians because they were too curious in speaking fine wordes and aboue all other hee greatly prayseth the Romanes for that they were very hard of beleefe and that they scarcely alwayes credited the sayings of the Greekes and because they were discreete in admitting the inuentions of the Egyptians The Author hath reason to prayse the one and disprayse the other For it proceedeth of a light iudgement to credit all the thinges that a man heareth and to doe all that he seeth Returning therefore now to our matter Marcus Varro sayde that there were fiue things in the Worlde very hard to bring in whereof none after they were commonly accepted were euer lost or forgotten for euen as things vainely begunne are easily left of so thinges with great feare accepted are with much care and diligence to bee kept and obserued The first thing that chiefly throghout all the World was accepted was all men for to liue together that is for to say that they should make places Towns Villages Citties and Common wealthes For according to the saying of Plato the first best inuentors of the common-wealth were the Antes which according to to the experience wee see do liue together trauell together do go together also for the winter they make prouision together and furthermore none of these Antes doe giue themselues to any priuate thing but all theirs is brought into their common wealth It is a maruellous thing to behold the common wealth of the ants how nearely they trim their hils to behold how they sweepe away the graine when it is wette and how they drye it when they feele any moysture to behold how they come from their work and how the one doth not hurt the other and to behold also how they do reioyce the one in the others trauell and that which is to our greatest confusion is that if it comes so to passe 50000. Ants wil liue in a litle hillocke together and two men onely cannot liue in peace and concord in a common wealth Would to God the wisedome of men were so great to keep themselus as the prudence of the ants is to liue When the world came to a certaine age and mens wits waxed more fine then tirants sprang vp which oppressed the poore theeues that robbed the rich rebels that robbed the quiet murderers that slew the patient the idle that eate the swet of other mens browes all the which things considered by them which were vertuous they agreed to assemble and liue together that thereby they might preserue the good and withstand the wicked Macrobius affirmeth this in the second booke of Scipions dreame saying That couetousnes ond auarice was the greatest cause why men inuented the commonwealth Plinie in the seuenth booke 56. Chapter sayth the first that made small assemblies were the Athenians and the first that built great Cities were the Egyptians The second thing that was accepted throughout al the world were the letters which wee read whereby wee take profite in writing According whereunto Marcus Varro sayth the Egyptians prayse themselues and say that they did inuent them and the Assyrians affirme the contrary and sweare that they were shewed first of all amongst them Plinie in the 7. booke sayth that in the first age there was in the alphabet no more then 16. letters that great Palamedes at the siege of Troy ladded other 4. and Aristotle saith that immediatly after the beginning there were found 18. letters And that afterwards Palamedes did add but 2. and so there were 20. and that the Philosopher Epicarmus did adde other 2. which were 22. it is no great matter whether the Egyptians or the Assyrians first foūd the letters But I say and affirme that it was a thing necessary for a common wealth and also for the encrease of mans knowledge For if wee had wanted letters and writings wee could haue had no knowledge of the time past nor yet our posterity could haue bin aduertised what was done in our daies Plutarch in the second booke entituled De viris illustribus and Pliny in the seuenth booke and 56. Chapter doe greatly praise Pirotas because hee first found the fire in a flint stone They greatly commended Protheus because he inuented barneyes and they highly extolled Panthasuea because she inuented the hatchet They praysed Citheus because hee inuented the bowe and the arrowes they greatly praysed Phenisius because hee inuented the Crossebow and the sling They highly praised the Lacedemonians because they inuented the Helmet the Speare and the Sworde and moreouer they commende those of Thessalie because they inuented the combat on hors-back and they commend those of Affrike because they inuented the fight by Sea But I doe praise and continually will magnifie not those which found the Art of fighting and inuented weapons to procure warres for to kill his neighbour but those which found Letters for to learne Science and to make peace betweene two Princes What difference there is to wet the Penne with inke and to paint the Speare with bloud to be enuironed with bookes or to be laden with weapons To studie how euery man ought to liue or else to goe priuily and robbe in the Warres and to kill his Neighbour There is none of so vaine a iudgement but will praise more the Speculation of the Sciences then the practise of the warres Because that in the ende he that learneth sciences learneth nought else but how he and others ought to liue And he that learneth warlike feats learneth none other thing then how to slay his Neighbour and to destroy others The third thing that equally of all was accepted were lawes For admit that all men now liued together in common if they would not be subiect one to another there would contention arise amongst them for that according to the saying of Plato That there is no greater token of the destruction of a Common-weale then when many rulers are chosen therein Plinie in his seuenth booke 56. chap sayth that a Queene called Ceres was the first that taught them to sowe in the fields to grinde in Milles to paste and bake in Ouens and also shee was the first that taught the people to liue according to the Law And by the meanes of these things our Fore-fathers called her a Goddesse Since the time we neuer haue seene heard nor read of any realme or other nation as well strange as barbarous whatsoeuer they were but haue had Lawes
whereby the good were fauoured and also institutions of grieuous paines wherewith the wicked were punished Although truely I had rather and it were better that the good should loue reason then feare the law I speake of those which leaue to doe euill workes for feare onely of falling into the punishments appoynted for euill doers For although men approue that which they do for the present yet God condemaeth that which they desire Seneca in an epistle hee wrote vnto his friende Lucille saide these wordes Thou writest vnto mee Lucille that those of Scicile haue carryed a great quantitie of Corne into Spaine and into Affrike the which was forbidden by a Romaine law and therefore they haue deserued most grieuous punishment Now because thou art vertuous Thou mayest teache mee to doe well and I that am olde will teach thee to say well and this is because that amongst wise and vertuous men it is enough to say that the Law commaundeth appoynteth and suffereth this thing but in as much as it is agreeing with reason For the crowne of the good is reason and the scourge of the wicked is the law The fourth thing that commonly through the worlde amongst all men was accepted was the Barbers And let no man take this thing in mockery For if they doe reade Plinie in the 59. chapter and the seuenth booke there they shall finde for a Trueth that in those former times the Romaines were in Rome 454. yeares without eyther powling or shauing the hâ—ires off the bearde of anie man Marcus Varro said that Publius 〈◊〉 was the first that brought the barbers from Scicilie to Rome But admit it were so or otherwise yet notwithstanding there was a great contention among the Romaines For they sayd they thought it a rash thing for a man to commit his life vnto the curtesie of another Dyonisius the Syracusian neuer trusted his Beard with any barbor but when his Daughters were very little they clipped his beard with sisers but after they became great hee would not put his trust in them to trimme his beard but hee himselfe did burne it with the shales of nuttes This Dyonisius Syracusan was demaunded why hee would not trust any Barbours with his beard He aunswered Because I know that there bee some which will giue more to the Barbor to take away my life then I will giue to trimme my beard Plinie in the seuenth booke sayeth that the great Scipio called Affrican and the Emperour Augustus were the first that caused them in Rome to shaue their beards And I thinke the end why Plinie spake these things was to exalt these two Princes which had as great courage to suffer the rasours to touch their throats as the one for to fight against Hanniball in Affricke and the other against Sextus Pompeius in Scicilie The fifte thing which commonly throgh the world was accepted were the Dyalls and clockes which the Romains wanted a long time For as Plinie and Marcus Varro say the Romaines were without clockes in Rome for the space of 595. yeares The curious Hystoriographers declare three manner of dyalls that were in old time that is to say Dyalls of the houres Dyalls of the Sunne and Dyalls of the Water The dyall of the Sunne Aneximenides Millesius inuented who was great Animandraes scholler The dyall of the water Scipio Nasica inuented the dyall of houres one of the Schollers of Thales the phylosopher inuented Now of all these Antiquities which were brought into Rome none of them were so acceptable to the Romaines as the Dyalls were whereby they measured the day by the houre For before they could not say we will rise at seuen of the clocke wee will dine at ten we will see one the other at twelue at one wee will doe that wee ought to doe But before they sayde after the Sunne is vp wee wil doe such a thing and before it goe downe wee will do that wee ought to doe The occasion of declaring vnto you these fiue antiquities in this preamble was to no other entent but to call my Booke the Diall of Princes The name of the Booke beeing new as it is may make the learning that is therin greatly to be esteemed God forbid that I should bee so bolde to say they haue been so long time in Spaine without dayes of learning as they were in Rome without the Diall of the Sunne the water and of the houres For that in Spaine haue beene alwaies men well learned in Sciences and very expert in the warres By great reason and of greater occasion the Princes ought to bee commended the knights the people their wits and the fertility of their Countrey but yet to all these goodnesse I haue seen many vnlearned bookes in Spaine which as broken Dials deserue to bee cast into the fire to bee forged anew I doe not speake it without a cause that many bookes deserue to bee broken and burnt For there are so many that without shame and honesty doe set forth bookes of loue of the world at this day as boldlie as if they taught them to despise and speake euill of the world It is pitty to see how many dayes and nights be consumed in reading vaine bookes that is to say Orson and Valentine the Court of Venus and the foure sonnes of Amon and diuers other vaine bookes by whose doctrine I dare boldly say they passe not the time but in perdition for they learne not how they ought to flye vice but rather what way they may with more pleasure embrace it This Diall of Princes is not of sand nor of the Sunne nor of the houres nor of the water but it is the Diall of Life For the other Dials serue to know what houre it is in the night and what houre it is of the day but this sheweth and teacheth vs how wee ought to occupie our minds and how to order our life The property of other Dials is to order things publike but the Nature of this dyal of Princes is to teach vs how to occupie our selues euerie houre and how to amend our life euery moment It little auaileth to keepe the dyalls well and to see thy Subiects dissolutely without any order to range in routes and dayly rayse debate and contention among themselues The End of the generall Prologue THE AVTHOVRS PROLOGVE SPEAKETH PARTICVLARLIE of the Booke called MARCVS AVRELIVS which he translated and dedicated to the Emperour CHARLES the fift THe greatest vanity that I finde in the world is that vaine men are not onely content to be vaine in their life but also procure to leaue a memory of their vanity after their death For it is so thought good vnto vaine and light men which serue the world in vain works that at the houre of death when they perceyue they can do no more and that they can no longer preuaile they offer themselues vnto death which now they see approch vpon them Many of the World are so fleshed in the World that
yea and surmount and surpasse many but yet I doe aduise thē not to employ their force but to follow one For often times it chanceth that many which suppose themselues in their life to excell all when they are dead are scarcelie found equall vnto any Though man hath done much and blazed what he can yet in the end he is but one one mind one power one birth one life and one death Then sithence hee is but one let no man presume to know more then one Of all these good Princes which I haue named in the rowle of iustice the last was Marcus Aurelius to the intent that he should weaue his webbe For suppose we reade of many Princes that haue compiled notable things the which are to bee reade and knowne but all that Marcus Aurelius sayde or did is worthy for to be knowne and necessary to bee followed I doe not meane this Prince in his Heathen law but in his vertuous deedes Let vs not stay at his beleefe but let vs embrace the good that hee did For compare many Christians with some of the Heathen and looke how farre we leaue them behind in faith so farre they excell vs in good and vertuous works All the olde Princes in times past had some Philosophers to their familiars as Alexander Aristotle King Darius Herodorus Augustus Pisto Pompeius Plauto Titus Plinie Adrian Secundus Traion Plutarchus Anthonius Apolonius Theodotius Claudinus Seuerus Fabatus Finally I say that Phylosophers then had such aucthoritie in Princes pallaces that children acknowledged them for Fathers and Fathers reuerenced them as masters These Wise and Sage men were aliue in the company of Princes but the good and vertuous Marcus Aurelius whose doctrine is before your Maiesty is not aliue but dead Yet therefore that is no cause why his Doctrine should not bee admitted For it may bee peraduenture that this shall profite vs more which hee wrote with his handes then that which others spake with their tōgus Plutarch sayeth in the time of Alexander the great Aristotle was aliue and Homer was dead But let vs see how hee loued the one and reuerenced the other for of truth he slept alwayes with Homers booke in his hands and waking he read the same with his eyes and alwayes kept the doctrine thereof in his memory and layde when he rested the booke vnder his head The which priuiledge Aristotle had not who at all times could not be heard and much lesse at all seasons be beleeued so that Alexander had Homer for his friend and Aristotle for a master Other of these Philosophers were but simple men but our Marcus Aurelius was both a wise Philosopher and a very valiant Prince and therfore reason would hee should be credited before others For as a prince hee will declare the troubles and as a Philosopher hee will redresse them Take you therefore Puisaunt Prince this wise Philosopher and Noble Emperour for a Teacher in your youth for a Father in your gouernment for a Captaine generall in your Warres for a guide in your iourneyes for a friend in your affayres for an example in your vertues for a Master in your sciences for a pure white in your desires and for equall match in your deedes I will declare vnto you the Life of an other beeing a Heathen and not the life of an other beeing a Christian For looke how much glory this Heathen Prince had in this world beeing good and vertuous so much paines your Maiesty shall haue in the other if you shall bee wicked and vicious Beholde behold most Noble and illustrious Prince the Life of this Emperour and you shal plainly see and perceyue how cleare hee was in his iudgement how vpright hee was in his iustice how circumspect in the course of his life how louing to his friends how patient in his troubles and aduersities how hee dissembled with his enemies how seuere against Tirants how quiet among the quiet how great a friēd vnto the Sage and louer of the simple how aduenturous in his warres and amiable in peace and chiefly and aboue all things how high in wordes and prosound in sentences Many and sundry times I haue beene in doubt with my selfe whether the heauenly and eternall Maiesty which giueth vnto you Princes the Temporall Maiesty for to rule aboue all other in power and authoritie did exempt you that are earthly Princes more from humane fraylety then hee did vs that be but Subiects and at the last I know hee did not For I see euen as you are children of the World so you doe liue according to the World I see euen as you trauell in the Worlde so you can know nothing but things of the world I see because you liue in the Flesh that you are subiect to the miseries of the flesh I see though for a time you doe prolong your life yet at the last you are brought vnto your graue I see your trauel is great and that within your Gates there dwelleth no rest I see you are colde in the winter and hote in the Summer I see that hunger feeleth you and thirst troubleth you I see your friendes forsake you and your enemies assault you I say that you are sadde and do lacke ioy I see that you are sicke and bee not well serued I see you haue much and yet that which you lacke is more What will you see more seeing that Princes dye O noble Princes and great Lords since you must dye and become wormes meate why doe you not in your life time search for good counsell If the Princes and noble men commit an errour no man dare chastice them wherefore they stand in greater need of aduise and counsell For the traueller who is out of his way the more he goeth forward the more hee erreth If the people doe amisse they ought to be punished but if the Prince erre he should be admonished And as the Prince will the people should at his hands haue punishment so it is reason that he at their hands should receyue counsell For as the wealth of the one dependeth on the wealth of the other so truly if the Prince bee vitious the people cannot be vertuous If your Maiesty will punish your people with words commaund them to print this present worke in their hearts And if your people would serue your Highnesse with their aduise let them likewise beseech you to reade ouer this booke For therin the Subiects shall finde how they may amend and you Lords shall see all that you ought to doe whether this present Worke be profitable or no I will not that my pen shall declare but they which do reade it shall iudge For wee Authours take pains to make and translate and others for vs to giue iudgement and sentence From my tender yeares vntill this present time I haue liued in the World occupying my selfe in reading and studying humane and diuine Bookes and although I confesse my debility to bee such that I haue not read so
How Cresus King of Lidia was a great friend and louer of Wise men Of a letter which the same Cresus wrote to the Philosopher Anacharsis and an other letter of the Philosophers answer to him chap. 45 162 Of the wisdome and sentences of Phalaris the tyrant And how hee put an artezan to death for deuising new torments chap. 46 166 The letter of Phalaris the tirant which was sent to Popharco the Philosopher 169 Of seuerall great and powerfull Kinges who were all of them true friends and louers of the Sages chap. 47. 170 The letter of King Philip to Aristotle the Philosopher 172 The second Booke Of what excellency marriage is and whereas common people marry of free-will Princes and noble men ought to marry vpon necessity and vrgencie chap. 1 177 How the Author prosecuting his purpose of marriage declareth that by means thereof many mortall enemies haue been made good and perfect friends c. 2. f. 180 Of diuers and sundry lawes which the Ancients had in contracting matrimony not onely in the choyce of women but also in the manner of celebrating marriage chap. 3 183 How princesses and great Ladies ought to loue their husbands and that loue ought not to be procured by coniurations and enchantments but by wisedom honesty and vertue desired ch 4. 187 Of the reuenge which a woman of Greece tooke on him that had killed her husband as hoping to enioy her in marriage chap. 5. 189 That Princesses and great Ladies ought to be obedient to their husbands and how great shame it is to the husband that his wife should command him ch 6. 194 That women especially princesses great Ladies should be very circumspect in going abroad out of their houses and that they should not deserue to be ill spoken of by such as resort to their houses chap. 4 198 Of the commodities and discommodities which follow princes and great Ladies that go abroad to visite or abide in their houses chap. 8 200 That women great with child especially princesses and great Ladies ought to be circumspect for the danger of creatures wherin is shown many misfortunes happening to women with child in olde time chap. 9 202 Of other inconueniences and vnluckie mischances which haue happened to women with child chap. 10 207 That women great with child especially princesses and great Ladies ought to be gently vsed of their husbands c. 11. 209 What the philosopher Pisto was and of the rules hee gaue concerning women with child chap. 12 212 Of three counsels which Lucius Seneca gaue vnto a Secretary his friend who serued the Emperour Nero And how the Emp. M. Aurelius spent the houres of the day chap. 13 214 The importunity of the Empresse Faustine to the Emperour concerning the keye of his closet chap. 14 219 The answere of the Emperour to Faustine concerning her demaund for the key of his study chap. 15 223 Of great dangers ensuing to men by excessiue haunting the company of women And of certaine rules for married men which if they obserue may cause them to liue in peace with their wiues chap. 16 228 A more particular answer of the Emperour to Faustine concerning the key of his study chap. 17 235 That Princesses and noble women ought not to be ashamed to giue their children sucke with their owne breasts chap. 18 239 A further continued perswasion of the Author that women should giue their owne children sucke chap. 19 242 That Princesses and great Ladies ought to be very circumspect in choice of theyr Nurses and of seuen especiall properties which a good Nurse should haue cha 20 249 Of three other especiall conditions which a good Nurse ought to haue that giueth sucke chap. 21 254 Of the disputations before Alexander the Great concerning the time of the sucking of babes chap. 22 259 Of sundry kinds of Sorceries charmes and witchcrafts which they in old time vsed in giuing their children suck which in Christians ought to be auoided ch 23. fol. 260 Of a letter which Marcus Aurelius sent to his friend Dedalus inueighing against such women as vse to cure children by sorceries charms enchantments ch 24 264 How excellent a thing it is for gentlemē to haue an eloquent tong ch 25 270 Of a letter which the Athenians sent to the Lacedemonians chap. 26 273 That Nurses which giue sucke to the childrē of Princes ought to bee discreete and sage women chap. 27 275 That women may be no lesse wise then men though they be not it is not thorow the defect of nature but rather for want of good bringing vp chap. 28. 279 Of a letter which Pythagoras sent to his sister Theoclea he being in Rhodes and she in Samcthrace both studying Philosophy chap. 29 281 A further perswasion of the Authour to Princesses and other great Ladies to endeauour themselues to be wise like as the women in elder times were c. 30. 282 Of the worthines of the Lady Cornelia and of a notable Epistle which she wrote to her two sons seruing in the warres Tiberius and Caius disswading them from the pleasurs of Rome exhorting them to endure the trauels of war chap. 31. 288 The Letter of Cornelia to her two sons Tiberius and Caius 289 Of the education and doctrine of children while they are young with a declaratiō of many notable histories c. 32. 294 Princes ought to take heede that their children bee not brought vp in pleasures and vaine delights because oftentimes they are so wicked that the fathers would not onely haue them with sharpe discipline corrected but also with bitter teares buried chap. 33 302 How Princes and great Lords ought to be careful in seeking wise men to bring vp their children Of ten conditions which good Schoolmasters ought to haue chap. 34. 309 Of the two children of Marcus Aurelius the best wherof dyed And of the masters he prouided for the other chap. 35. 317 Of the words which Marcus Aurelius spake to 5. of the 14. masters which hee had chosen for the education of his son And how he dismissed them from his pallace because they behaued thēselus lightly at the feast of their god Genius c. 36. 322 That Princes and noble men ought to ouersee the tutors of their children least they should conceale the secrete faultes of their scholler chap. 37. 326 Of the determination of the Emperour when he committed his childe to the tutors chap. 38 331 Tutors of Princes and noble mens children ought to bee very circumspect that their schollers do not accustom themselus in vices while they be yong but especially to be kept frō 4. vices chap. 39 343 Of two other vices perillous in youth which their masters ought to keepe them from chap. 40 348 The third Booke How Princes and great Lords ought to trauell in administring iustice to all men equally chap. 1 353 The way that Princes ought to vse for choyse of Iudges and Officers in theyr Countreyes chap. 2 fol 357 A villaine argueth in an Oration
day of October in the high Capitoll of Rome at the sute of the whole Romane people with the assent of the sacred Senate Marcus Aurelius Antonius was proclaimed Emperour vniuersall of the whole Romane Monarchie This noble Prince was naturally of Rome borne in the mount Celio on the sixt day before the Calends of May which after the Latines account is the 26. day of Aprill His Grandfather was called Annius Verus and was chosen Senatour in the time of the Emperours Titos and Vespasian His great Grandfather was named Annius Verus which was borne in Spaine in the free town of Gububa when the wars were most cruell betweene Caesar and Pompeius at what time many Spaniards fledde to Rome and many Romaines ranne into Spaine By this meanes this Emperour had a great Grandfather a Romane and a great Grandmother a Spaniard His Father was named Annius Verus after his Grandfather and Great Grandfather by reason whereof the ancient Historiographers call him Marcus Antonius Verus And true it is that the Emperour Adrian called him Marcus Verissimus for that hee neuer forged lye nor swarued at any time from the truth These Annti Veri were a kindred in Rome as Iulius Capitolinus reporteth which vaunted themselues to come of Numa Pompelius and Quintus Curtius the famous Romane which to worke the Romane people safety and his owne person euerlasting memory willingly threw himselfe into the Gulfe which afterwards was called Curtius which as then was seene in Rome This Emperours mother was called Domitta Camilla as recounteth Cinna in the bookes that hee wrote of the Romaine pedigrees That stocke of Camilli was in those daies highly honoured in Rome for that they conuayed their discent from that Camillus which was the renowmed and valiant Romane Captaine who deliuered Rome when the Gaules had taken it and besieged the Capitoll The men that sprang of this linage bare the name of Camilli for remembrance of this Camillus And the woman that came of the same stocke kept the name of Camilla in memory of a daughter of the said Camillus This Camilla refused mariage and chose to liue among the vastall virgins and there long space remained enduring a sharpe and hard life And shee was so vertuous a Romane and precise in her life that in the time of Seuerus Emperour of Rome her Tombe was honoured as a Relique whereon was engraued this Epitaph Camillus loe doth here engraued rest That onely was Camillus daughter deere Twice twenty yeares and sixe she hath possest A couert life vntoucht of any feere The King of Trinacry could not her moue To taste the sweet delight of Wedlocks band Nor traine by sute her sacred mind to loue Inclosdâ— in brest so deepe did chastnesse stand But oh great wrong the crawling worms below To gnaw on that vnspotted senselesse corse That rage of youth spent vndefiled so With sober life in spite of Cupids force And this was written in Heroycall verse in the Greeke tongue with a maruellous haughty stile But to our matter yee shall vnderstand that the Romanes kept a certaine Law in the 12. Tables the words whereof were these Wee ordaine and commaund that all the Romanes shall for euer haue speciall priuiledge in euery such place where their ancestors haue done to the Romane people any notable seruice For it is reason that where the Citizen aduentureth his life there the City should doe him some honour after his death By vertue of this law all the family of Camilli euer enioyed the keeping of the high Capitoll for that by his force and policie he chased the French men from the siege Truly it is not vnknowne that this noble Knight and valiant Captaine Camillus did other things as great and greater then this but because it was done within the circuit of Rome it was esteemed aboue all his other acts and prowesse And herein the Romanes swarued not far from reason for that amongst all princely vertues is esteemed to bee the chiefest and worthiest which is employed to the profit of the common-wealth The Romane Chronaclers with tears cease not to lament the ruine of their Country seing that variety of time the multitude of Tyrants the cruelty of ciuill wars were occasion that the ancient state of the Romane gouernement came to vtter destruction and in steade thereof a new and euill trade of life to bee placed And hereof no man ought to maruell for it chanceth throughout all Realmes and Nations by oft changing gouernours that among the people dayly springeth new vices Pulto sayth That for no alteration which befell to the common weale for no calamity that euer Rome suffered that priuiledge was taken away from the linage of Camilli I meane the gouernment of the high Capitoll except it were in the time of Silla the Consull when this family was sore persecuted for none other cause but for that they fauored the Consull Marius This cruell Silla being dead and the pittifull Iulius Caesar preuayling all the banished men from Rome returned home againe to the common-wealth As touching the Auncestors of the Emperour Marcus Aurelius what hath beene their trade of life estate pouerty or riches standing in fauor or displeasure what prosperity or aduersity they haue had or suffered wee finde not in writings though with great diligence they haue beene searched for And the cause hereof was for that the ancient writers of the Romane Histories touched the liues of the Emperors fathers specially when they were made Princes more for the good merites that were in the children then for the great estimation that came from the Fathers Iulius Capitolinus sayth That Annius Verus father of Marcus Aurelius was pretor of the Rhodian Armies and also warden in other Frontiers in the time of Trayan the good Adrian the wise and Anthony the mercifull Which Emperours trusted none with their Armies but discreet valiant men For good Princes chose alwayes such Captaines as can with wisdom guide the Armie and with valiantnes giue the battell Though the Romanes had sundry wars in diuers places yet chiefly they kept great Garrisons alwayes in foure parts of the world That is to say in Bizantium which now is Constantinople to resist the Parthiens in Gades which now is called Galizia to withstand the Portugales in the riuer of Rein to defend themselues from the Germaines and at Colossus which now is called the I le of Rhodes for to subdue the Barbarians In the moneth of Ianuarie when the Senate distributed their offices the Dictator being appointed for sixe monethes and the two Consuls chosen for one yeare incontinently in the third place they chose foure of the most renowmed persons to desend the said foure daungerous Frontiers For the Romanes neyther feared the paines of hell nor trusted for reward in heauen but sought by all occasions possible in their life time to leaue some notable memory of them after their death And the Romaine was counted most valiant
but without comparison the gods whom they worshipped and inuented were greater in multitude then the Realmes and Prouinces which they conquered and possessed For by that folly the auncient Poets durst affirme in their writings that the Gods of one Nation and Country were mortall enemies vnto the Gods of another Prouince So that the Gods of Troy enuied the Gods of Greece more then the Prince of Greece enuied the Prince of Troy What a strange thing was it to see the Assyrians in what reuerence they worshipped the God Belus The Egyptians the God Apis. The Caldeans the God Assas The Babilonians the deuouring Dragon The Pharaones the statue of gold The Palestines Belzebub The Romans honoured the God Iupiter The Affricans the God Mars The Corinthians the God Apollo The Arabians God Astaroth The Arginians the Sun Those of Acaia the Moone The Cidonians Belphegorn The Amonites Balim The Indians Baccus The Lacedemonians Osiges The Macedonians did sacrifice to Mercurie The Ephesians to their goddesse Diana The Greekes to Iuno The Armenians to Liber The Troians to Vesta The Latines to Februa The Tarentines to Ceres The Rhodians as sayth Apolonius Thianeus worshipped the God Ianus and aboue all things wee ought to maruell at this That they striued oftentimes amongst themselues not so much vpon the possessions and seignories of Realmes as vpon a certaine obstinacie they had to maintaine the Gods of the one to bee of greater power then the others for they thought if their gods were not esteemed that the people should be empouerished vnfortunate and persecuted Pulio in his second booke De dissolatione regionum Orientarum declareth that the first Prouince that rebelled against the Emperour Helius Adrianus which was the fifteenth Emperour of Rome was the land of Palestine against which was sent a Captaine named Iulius Seuerus a man of great courage and very fortunate and aduenturous in Armes This Captaine did not onely finish the warres but hee wrought such an outragious destruction in that land that he besieged 52. Cities and razed them to the ground and burned 680. Villages and slew so many in battell skirmish and by Iustice that amounted to the number of 5000. persons For vnto the proud and cruell Captaines victory can neuer bee glorious vnlesse they water the ground with the bloud of their enemies And furthermore in the Cities and Townes besieged the children olde men and women which dyed through hunger and pestilence were more in number then those which were slaine in the wars For in wars the sword of the enemies lighteth not vpon all but pestilence and famine hath no respect to any After this warre of the Palestines was ended immediately after arose a more crueller betwixt the Alleynes and Armenians For there are many that see the beginning of the troubles and miseries which arise in Realmes but there are few that consider the end and seeke to remedie the same The occasion of this warre was as they came to the feast of the Mount Olimpus they fell in disputations whether of their Gods were better and which of them ought to bee preferred before other Whereof there sprang such contradictions and such mortall hatred that on euery part they were furiously moued to warres and so vnder a colour to maintaine the gods which they honoured both the common wealthes were brought into great pouerty and the people also into great misery The Emperour Helius Adrianus seeing such cruell warres to arise vpon so light occasion sent thither the Captaine aboue named Iulius Seuerus to pacifie the Allaines and Armenians and commaunded him that he should persecute those with warres which would not be ruled by his arbitremēt sentence For those iustly deserue the sword which with no reasonable conditions will condiscend vnto peace But Iulius Seuerus vsed such policy that he made thē good friends and neuer touched them nor came neare them Which thing was no lesse acceptable to the Emperour then profitable to the Realmes For the Captaine which subdueth the Country by entreatie deserueth more honor then he which ouercommeth it by battell The agreement of the peace was made vpon such condition that the Allaines should take for their Gods the Armenian Gods and the Armenians on the contrary the Gods of the Allaines And further when the people should embrace and reconcile themselues to the Senate that then the Gods should kisse the one the other and to be reconciled to the temple The vanity of the Ancients was such and the blindnesse of mortall men so great so subiect were they to diuelish deuises that as easily as the eternall wisedome createth a true man now a dayes so easily then a vain man might haue inuented a false God For the Lacedemonians had this opinion that men had no lesse power to inuent gods then the gods had to create men CHAP. V. How the Philosopher Bruxellus was greatly esteemed amongst the Ancients for his life and the words which hee spake vnto the Romanes at the houre of his death PHarasmaco in his 20 booke De libertate Deorum whereof Cicero maketh mētion in his booke De natura Deorum sayth that when the Gothes tooke Rome and besieged the high Capitoll there came amongst them a Philosopher called Bruxellus the which after the Gothes were repulsed out of Italy remained with Camillus at Rome And because at that time Rome wanted Philosophers this Bruxellus was had in great veneration amongst all the Romanes so that hee was the first stranger of whom being aliue a statue was euer made in the Senate the Romanes vsed to make a statue of the Romanes being aliue but not to strangers till after their death The age of this Bruxellus was 113. whereof 65. hee had been an inhabitant of Rome And among other things they recite 7. notable things of his life 1 The first that in 60. yeeres no mā euer saw him issue out of the wals of Rome For in the olde time the Sages were little esteemed if in their behauiours they were not iust and vpright 2 The second that in 60. yeares no man heard him speake an idle word For the words that are superfluous doe greatly deface the authoritie of the person 3 The third that in all his time they neuer saw him lose one houre of time For in a wise man there is no greater folly then to see him spend a moment of an houre idely 4 The fourth that in all his time hee was neuer detected of any vice And let no man thinke this to bee a small matter For few are they of so long life which are not noted of some infamy after their death The fifth that in all the 60. years he neuer made quarrell nor striued with any man and this thing ought to be no lesse esteemed then the other For truly hee that liueth a long time without offering wrong to another may be called a monster in nature 6 The sixt that in 3. or 4. yeares hee neuer issued out of the
amongst the Gardens of Detha and this temple remained till the time of Randagagismus who besieging Rome destroyed the Temples and brake vp their Gardens and buyldings round about Rome They had also an other God called Adeon and his charge was that when the Childe could goe well hee should goe to his mother and make much of her And albeit Cicero in his booke De natura Deorum putteth this God amongst the other Gods yet I do not remember that I haue euer read that this god had any temple in Rome till the time of Mammea mother of the Emperour Antoninus This excellent woman being left a widowe and with two little children desiring that they might be wel and vertuously brought vp and that they should increase their loue towards her she built to the god Adeon a sumptuous temple in the xii region Vaticanus neer to the Gardens of Domicilius and hard adioyning to that also shee erected one other edifice called Sacellum Mammae where she abode solitarilie for a time For the manner and custome at that time was that all widowes which would bring vp their Children in good discipline should immediately seuer themselues farre from the dangerous pleasures of Rome The ancients had also an other God called Mentallis which was in effect god of wit That is to wit he had authoritie and power to giue Children good or euill sence And to this god the ancients did great sacrifices especially the Greekes much more then the Romanes For as much as Seneca saith that he doth maruell nothing at all of that the Greekes knew but that which made him most to maruel was of that they knewe not since they had the temple of the God Mentallis within their schooles All the children whom they sent to learne Philosophy were by the lawes of Athens bound to serue three yeeres in that Temple And to omit that which Seneca spake of the Greekes I dare boldly say and affirme to many which at these dayes are liuing that if it bee true he gaue sence and vnderstanding to men that they would to day rather then to morrow withdraw themselues to goe into those Temples and there offer their vowes For nothing in the World hapneth to men more then the want of witte and vnderstanding how to gouerne themselues and liue in quiet They had also another God Volunus and a Goddesse called Voluna these two had the charge of affiance in Wedlocke and therefore they were two because the one should helpe the man and the other should helpe the woman The manner vvas such that during the time of their marriage each of them vvare the Image of their owne God about theyr necks those were of gold or siluer And after they were married the Bridegroome gaue vnto his Spouse the Goddesse Voluna and the Bride vnto her husband the God Volunus At such times as the Consuls were created at Rome and the Kings banished and before the comming of the Emperours a litle before the Cornelians moued ciuill commotions in Rome there was one Consul amongst all these whose name was Balbus It is sayde he was the first that builded the Temple of Volunus and Voluna It did stand in the ninth Ward of the City neere vnto the gate Corinthia and was called Scripta Balbi And nigh vnto it was another building called Theatrum Balbi All the Consuls Senatours noble and renowned Barons were married in the Temple which Balbus built That night that Pompey the Great married Iulius Caesars daughter there were some that sayd that Pompey refused to marry her in the Temple of the Gods Volunus and Voluna whereupon they diuined straight that the marriage would not endure long betwixt them As writeth Publius Victor in his third booke De nuptiis Antiquorum The auncient Pagans honoured a God called Agrestes as much to say as the God of fields and fruites to him they offered no sacrifice but twice in the yeare that is to say in Seede time and in haruest The Phrygians that is the Troians and Cicilians greatly obserued this God Agrestes and it was for that in those two Countries there was gathered such plenty of corne to make bread that Phrygia was the great garner of Asia and Trinacria that was Cicilia was the Corne house of Europe They had another God called Belus which was Patrone of men of warre For euen as the Christians when they come to the point to giue battell make their prayers vnto God so likewise the Auncients in the same point did kneele downe and recommend themselues to God Belus Liuie declareth that in all other things which were done and wherof the Romane Knights were accused in the battell of Cannas against Hannibal was for that they did not recommend themselues at all to the God Belus when they should giue battell saying the Carthagians remained Conquerours because they a little before honoured the god Mars and the Romaines were vanquished for that they offered no Sacrifice to God Belus When Pirrus King of the Epirotes that is of Albany came into Italy and that the Romanes were aduertised hee brought with him many Engines and subtill inuentions for the war they decreed to build a Tēple for god Belus within the wals Rome in the ninth warde neere the gate Carmentalle and it was named Edes Beloe in the front whereof was a maruellous sumptuous and stately piller wherein was grauen the order of battell The Gentiles had another God called the God of Victory to whome the Romanes more then any other Nation did sacrifices to the end they might obtaine victory of their enemies Of this God Victoria there was many magnificent Temples in Rome but the chiefest and the greatest was adioyning to the gate Venia in the twelfth warde in the place called Della Victoria It was built in the yeare of the foundation of Rome foure hundreth threescore and seuenteene And it was for the occasion of the victory that Appius Claudius and Quintus Fabius had in Sicill the first time the Romane people fought against the Africanes Herones beeing King Of this warre and victory rose the cruell long and perillous warres betweene Rome and Affricke There was another God amongst the Gods whom the Auncients called Honorius which had the charge that the Inne-keepers should honor and gently entertaine Pilgrimes and strangers so that they should bee well handled through the Prouinces and Realmes whereby they passed And there was a custome in Rome that euer when any Romane should goe any voyage his wife immediately should goe to the Temple of God Honorius to doe her sacrifices In the 15. yeare after that Hannibal passed into Italy the Romanes knew by a Prophesie that as soone as they brought the Image of the Goddesse Berecinthia mother of all the Gods into Rome so soone Hannibal should retire out of Italy And to bring this to passe the Romanes sent their Ambassadors into Phrygia which is one part of Asia to the end they should bring the Goddesse Berecinthia
bin too vniust a thing as hee thought to haue spurned it with his feet wherewith we trust from our enemies to bee desended he caused the stone to bee taken vp not thinking any thing to bee there vnder and immediately after they found another wherein likewise was the forme of the Crosse and this beeing taken vp they found an other in like manner and when that was pluckt vp from the bottome there was found a Treasure which contained the summe of two millions of Duckets for the which the good Emperour Tiberius gaue vnto Almighty God most high thankes and whereas before hee was liberall yet afterwards hee was much more bountifull For all those treasures hee distributed amongst the poore needy people Let therefore mightie Princes and great Lords see reade profite by this example and let them thinke themselues assured that for giuing almes to the poore they need not feare to become poore for in the end the vicious man cannot call himselfe rich nor the vertuous man cannot count himselfe poore CHAP. XVI How the Chiefetaine Narsetes ouercame many battailes onely for that his whole confidence was in God And what hapned to him by the Empresse Sophia Augusta wherein may be noted the vnthankefulnesse of Princes towards their seruants IN the yeare of the Incarnation of Christ 528. Iustinian the Great being Emperour who was the sonne of Iustines sister his Predecessor in the Empire the Histories say in especially Paulus Diaconus in the 18. booke De gestis Romanorum that there was a Knight of Greece in Rome who from his tender yeares had bene brought vp in Italie Hee was a man of meane stature of a cholericke complexion and in the law of Christ very deuout which was no small thing For at that time not onely many knights but almost all the Bishops of Italie were Arrians This Knights name was Narsetes and because he was so valiant in arms and so aduenturous in warres he was chosen Chieftaine generall of the Romane Empire For the Romanes had this excellencie that when they had a valiant and stout Captaine although they might haue his weight of golde giuen them they would neuer depart from his person Hee enterprised so great things he ouercame such mightie Realms and had such notable victories ouer his enemyes that the Romanes said he had in him the strength of Hercules the hardinesse of Hector the noblenes of Alexander the pollicie of Pyrrhus and the fortune of Scipio For manie of the vaine Gentiles held opinion that as the bodyes did distribute their goods in the life so did the soules part theyr gifts after the death This Narsetes was a pittifull Captain and very constant in the Faith of Christ liberall to giue almes effectuous to build newe Monasteryes and in repairing Churches a man very carefull And truly it was a rare thing For in great warres vpon smal occasions Captains vse to beat down churches that which was greatest of all was that he feared God deuoutly visited the Hospitals said his deuotions with penitent teares and aboue all be resorted very often to the Churches in the night And this excellencie was no lesse then the other For the Captaines in such an houre are readier to kill men in their Campe then to bewaile their sinnes in the Church Finally hee was a Christian and so deuoure that God gaue him the victories more through the prayers which hee vsed then through the weapons wherewith hee fought For there was neuer man that saw him shed the bloud of his enemies in battell before he had shed the teares of his eyes in the Temple And to the end Christian Princes and Captaines may see how much better it is to pacific God by teares and prayers then to haue their Campe full of souldiers and riches of many of his doings I will declare part as heere followeth Iustinian the Emperour beeing in Alexandrie Totila King of the Gothes did many mischiefes and great dammages throughout all Italy so that the Romaines durst not goe by the way nor could bee in safeguarde in their houses For the Gothes in the day kept the wayes and in the night robbed and spoyled all the people wherefore Iustinian the Emperour not knowing the matter sent the noble Narsetes Captaine Generall against the Gothes who being arriued in Italy immediately confedered with the Lumbardes the which at that time had their mansion in Hungarie and sent his messengers to King Albonius at that time their King for ayde against the Gothes and in so doing hee sayde hee should see how faithfull a friend hee would be to his friends and how cruell an enemie to his enemies Albonius hearing the message of Narsetes was very glad and without delay armed a great and puissant Army which by the Adriatical sea came into Italy so that the aunswere and the offer came both at one time with effect and so together arriued in one day for the succour of Narsetes the two Armies that is to say that of the Romanes and of the Lumbardes the which assembled all in one and marched vnder the banner of their Captaine Narsetes Wherefore Totila King of the Gothes beeing aduertised as one that had not proued the happy fortune of Narsetes nor the force of the Lumbardes sent to offer them the battell which was giuen in the fields of Aquileia and it was of both parts so fierce and cruell that infinite were they that dyed but in the end Totilla King of the Gothes was ouercome and neyther hee nor any of his hoast escaped aliue The good Captaine Narsetes after the battell gaue many and noble gifts to the Lumbardes and so with riches and victory they returned into Hungarie towards their King Albonius And truly this Narsetes did as he was bound to doe For the friend cannot bee recompenced by riches when for his friend he putteth his life in ieopardy When the Lumbards were gone Narsetes caused all the spoile of his Campe to bee deuided amongst his souldiers and that which belonged vnto him he gaue it wholly to the poore Monasteries so that by this victory Narsetes got triple renown that is to say very bountifull in that hee gaue to the Lumbardes charitable in that hee gaue to the poore and valiant in that he vanquished so puissant enemies Dagobert King of France beyond the Alpes being a couragious young Prince and very desirous of honour for no other cause but to leaue of him some memory determined himselfe in person to passe into Italy although hee had no iust title thereunto For the hearts puffed vp with pride little passe though they war of an vniust quarrell His mishap was such that the same day he passed the riuer of Rubico where the Romanes in old time limited the marches of Italy newes came to him that his own country was vp and those which were there one rebelled against the other that which was not without the great permission of God For it is but reason that
that infamed Idoll and violated the sacred Temples For to God this is the most haynous offence to forsake the holy Catholike faith in his life and to despaire in his mercy at the houre of his death Would to God wee had so much grace to acknowledge our offences as God hath reason to punish our sins For if it were so then wee would amend in time to come and God would graunt vs a general pardon for all that is past I see one thing wherin as I thinke I am not deceiued which is this that the fraylties and miseryes which we cōmit wee thinke them naturall and in the satisfaction and amendment of the same wee say they are strange so that we admit the fault and condemne the paine which thereby we doe deserue The secret iudgements of God doe suffer it and our offences do deserue it I doe not denie but that the euill may holde and possesse this life at their pleasure but I sweare vnto them when they shall least thinke of it they shall lose theyr life to their great displeasure for the pleasures of this life are so vnconstant that wee scarce beginne to taste them when they fade out of our sight It is a rule infallible which both of the good and euill hath bin proued that all naturallie desire rather to abound then to want all that which greatly is desired with great diligence is searched and through great trauell is obtained and that thing which by trauell is attained with loue is possessed that which by loue is possessed with much sorrow is lost bewailed lamented For in the end wee cannot deny but that the watry eies do manifestly shew the sorrowfull harts To the fine wits and stout harts this is a continuall torment and endles paine and a worme that alway gnaweth to call to minde that he must lose the ioyfull life which he so entirely loued tast the fearfull death which so greatly he abhorred Therfore to proue this matter which I haue spoken of before it is but reason that Princes knowe if they doe not know that men as the diuine Prouidence exalteth them to high Estates they not deseruing them So likewise his rigorous iustice will bring thē to nought if they bee vnthankfull for his benefits For the ingratitude or benefits receiued maketh that man not worthy to receyue any moe The more a man throgh benefits is bound the more grieuous punishment if he be vnthankfull hee deserueth All wise men should finde if they apply their mindes therevnto that in chastising God calleth those offences first to his minde which are furthest from the thoughts of men For before the Tribunall of God our secret faults are alwayes casting out bloud to the end hee should execute on our person open iustice And further I say that in this case I do not see that the Prince is exempted more though hee liue in great felicitie then the poore labourer who liueth in extreame miserie And also we see it eft-soones by experience that the sudden Lightning Tempests and terrible Thunder forsaketh the small and lowe Cottages and battereth forthwith the great and sumptuous buyldings Gods will and determination is that foras-much as hee hath exalted them aboue all others so much the more they should acknowledge him for Lord aboue all others For GOD did neuer create high Estates because they should worke wickednes but he placed them in that degree to the end they should thereby haue more occasion to doe him seruice Euery Prince that is not a good Christian a seruent louer of the Catholike faith nor wil haue any respect to the Diuine seruice let him be assured that in this world hee shall lose his renowme and in the other he shall hazard his soule For that all euill Christians are the Parishioners of Hell CHAP XXIII The Anthour proueth by twelue examples that Princes are sharpely punished when they vsurpe boldly vpon the Churches and violate their temples Why the children of Aaron were punished IT is now time that wee leaue to perswade with wordes and reasons and to beginne to proue that which we haue sayd by some excellent histories and notable examples For in the end the hearts of men are stirred more through some little examples then with a great multitude of words In the first booke of Leuiticus the 10. Chapter is declared how in the time of Moses the sonne in law of Iethro the Priest that was of Media who was chiefe Prince of all the lynage of Seph with whom the brother of Mary the Leper had charge of the high Priesthood For among all the lawes where God at any time put his hands vnto hee prouided alwayes that some had the gouernement of ciuill affayres and others the administration of the diuine misteries This high Priest then had towe children whose names were Nadab and Abihu which two were yong and beautifull stout and sage and during their infancie serued their Father helped him to doe sacrifice For in the old law they suffered that Priests should not onely haue wiues children but also that their children should succeed them in their Temples and inherite their benefices There came a great mischance for the two children being apparrelled in white their bodies bound with stolles their hands naked in one hād holding a Torch and in the other the Sencer being negligent to light the new fire and contrary to that the law had ordayned and taking coales which were prohibited a maruellous thing was seene in the sight of the people which was that sodenly these two childrē fel flat on the earth dead and all their sacrifice burned Truly the sentence was maruellous but it was iust in ough For they well deserued to loose their liues sithence they durst sacrifice the coales of an other This thing seemed to be true for these young children saued theyr soules and made satisfaction of the fault with their liues but other wicked men God permitteth to liue a short time because they shall loose their soules for euer The cause why the Azotes were punished THe Realme of Palestine being destitute of a King at that time an honorable olde man gouerned the realme which was Father to two Knights named Albino and Phinides for at that time the children of Israel were not gouerned by Kings that did molest them by iniuries but by sage men which did maintaine them by iustice It chaunced that the Azotes made warre against the Palestines and were a kind of the Arabians stout and warlike the which fought so couragiously that the Palestines and Hebrewes were constrained to bring their Arke into the middest of the Battell which was a Relicke as a man should haue put the holie Sacrament to deuide a great multitude of people But Fortune shewed her countenaunce vnto them so frowningly that they were not onely ouer-come but also were spoyled of the Arke which was their chiefe relicke And besides that there were 4000. Palestines slaine The
Azotes carryed away the Arke full of Relickes vnto their temple in the Cittie of Nazote and set it by Dagon theyr cursed Idoll The most High true God which will not suffer any to be coequall with him in comparison or in anie thing that hee representeth caused this Idol to be shaken thrown downe and broken in pieces no man touching it For our God is of such power that to execute his Iustice he needeth not worldly helpe God not contented thus though the Idoll was broken in pieces but caused those to bee punished likewise which worshipped it in such sort that al the people of Azotes Ascalon Geth Acharon and of Gaza which were fiue auncient and renowmed Citties were plagued both man and woman inwardly with the disease of the Emerodes So that they could not eate sitting nor ride by the wayes on horse-backe And to the end that all men might see that their offences were grieuous for the punishment they receyued by the diuine Iustice he replenished their Houses Places Gardens Seedes and Fields full of Rats And as they had erred in honouring the false Idol and forsaken the true God So hee would chastice them with two Plagues sending them the Emerodes to torment their bodyes and the Rats to destroy their goods For to him that willingly giueth his soule to the diuel it is but a small matter that God against his will depriue him of his goods This then being thus I would now gladly knowe whether of them committed most offence Eyther the Azotes which set the Arke in the Temple which as they thought was the most holiest or the false Christians which with a Sacrilegious boldnesse dare attempt without anie feare of GOD to robbe and pill the Church goods to theyr owne priuate commoditie in this world Truely the Law of the Azotes differed as much frō the Christians as the offence of the one differeth from the other For the Azotes erred not beleeuing that this Arke was the Figure of the True God but we beleeue it and confesse it and without shame cōmit against it infinite vices By this so rare and seuere a sudden punishment mee thinks the Princes great Lords should not only therefore acknowledge the True God but also Reuerence and honour those things which vnto him are dedicated For mans lawes speaking of the reuerence of a Prince doe no lesse condemne him to die that robbeth his house then him which violently layeth hands on his person ¶ The cause why Prince Oza was punished IN the booke which the sonne of Helcana wrote that is the second booke of the Kings and the vi Chapter hee saith That the Arke of Israel with his Relikes which was Manna the rodde and two stones stood in the house of Aminadab which was the next neighbour to the citie of Gibeah the sonne of Esay who at that time was King of the Israelites determined to transpose the Relikes into his Cittie and house For that it seemed to him a great infamy that to a mortal Prince a house should abound for his pleasures to the immortall God there should want a Temple for his reliques The day therefore appointed when they should carrie the Relique of Gibeah to Bethlehem there met thirty thousand Israelites with a great number of Noble men which came with the King besides a greater number of strangers For in such a case those are more which come of their owne pleasure then those which are commaunded Besides all the people they say that all the Nobility of the Realme was there to the end the relique should bee more honoured and his person better accompanied It chanced that as the Lords and people went singing and the King in person dancing the wheele of the Chariot began to fall and go out of the way the which prince Oza seeing by chance set to his hand and his shoulder against it because the Arke where the Relique was should not fall nor breake yet notwithstanding that suddenly and before them all hee fell downe dead Therefore let this punishment be noted for truly it was fearefull and ye ought to thinke that since God for putting his hand to the Chariot to holde it vp stroke him with death that a Prince should not hope seeking the destruction and decay of the Church that God will prolong his life O Princes great Lords and Prelates sith Oza with such diligence lost his life what doe yee hope or looke for sith with such negligence yee destroy and suffer the Church to fall Yet once againe I doe returne to exclaime vpon you O Princes and great Lords sith Prince Oza deserued such punishment because without reuerence hee aduanced himselfe to stay the Arke which fell what punishment ought yee to haue which through malice helpe the Church to fall Why King Balthasar was punished DArius King of the Perses and Medes besieged the auncient City of Babylon in Chaldea whereof Balthasar sonne of Nabuchodonozar the great was King and Lord who was so wicked a child that his father being dead hee caused him to be cut in 300. peeces gaue him to 300. hawkes to be eaten because hee should not reuiue againe to take the goods riches from him which he had left him I know not what father is so foolish that letteth his Son liue in pleasures and afterwards the entralles of the Hauke wherewith the sonne hawked should be the wofull graue of the Father which so many men lamented This Balthasar then beeing so besieged determined one night to make a great feast and banquet to the Lords of his Realme that came to ayde him and in this he did like a valiant and stout Prince to the end the Perses and Medes might see that hee little esteemed their power The noble and high hearts do vse when they are enuironed with many trauels to seeke occasions to inuent pleasures because to their men they may giue greater courage and to their enemies greater feare He declareth of Pirrus King of the Epirotes when hee was besieged very straightly in the City of Tharenta of the Romane Captaine Quintus Dentatus that then hee spake vnto his Captaines in this sort Lordes and friendes bee yee nothing at all abashed since I neuer here before saw ye afraid though the Romans haue compassed our bodies yet we haue besiged their harts For I let you to know that I am of such a complection that the straighter they keepe my body the more my heart is at large And further I say though the Romanes beate downe the walles yet our hearts shall remaine inuincible And though there bee no wall betweene vs yet wee will make them know that the hearts of Greekes are harder to ouercome then the stones of Tarentine are to be beaten downe But returning to King Balthasar The banquet then being ended and the greatest part of the night beeing spent Belthasar the King being very well pleased that the banquet was made to his contentation though he
sage men should naturally be Lords ouer others For in the world there is nothing more monsterous then that Fooles should commaund and wise men obey The third reason taketh his ground on beasts For wee see by experience that diuers beasts by the onely knowledge of men are gouerned therefore it is but meete that many men which are more liker Beastes then the beasts themselues do suffer themselues to be gouerned and ruled by wise men For the Commonweale is more profited by a brute beast then it is by witles men The 4. reason proceedeth of women For we see that they being created to the image of GOD God cōmandeth ordaineth that they should be subiect to man presupposing their knowledge not to be so great as the knowledge of men Therefore if this thing bee thus why could not diuers mortasl men who without comparison know lesse then women take themselues for happy that one alone would commaund and gouerne them so that such a one were a sage and vertuous person Sith man is naturally politique which is to bee a friend of company the company engendreth enuie and afterwardes discord nourisheth war and warre bringeth in tyranny and tyranny destroyeth the Common-wealth and the Common-wealth being lost all men thinke their liues in perill Therefore it is very necessary that in the Common-wealth many bee gouerned by one alone For to conclude There is no Common-wealth well gouerned but by one alone The great trauels and inconueniences which the Auncients found in times past were the occasision that it was ordayned in the publike weale that all should obey one Sith that in a Campe one onely Captaine is obeyed and in the Sea one Pilot followed In the Monastery all obey one Prelate and in the Church all obey one Bishoppe and since in a Hiue of Bees one Bee onely leadeth all the rest It were not reason that men should bee without one King nor the Common-wealth without a Gouernour These men that will not haue a King in a Common-wealth are like vnto drones and waspes which without trauell eate the sweate of others And my opinion in this case should be that euery man that will not bee commanded as an abiect of the common weale should bee expulsed and cast out thereof For in a common-wealth there can bee no greater enemie then hee that desireth that many should rule therein In that publike Weale where one alone hath care for all and all obey the commandements of one onely there God shall bee serued the people shall profit the good shal bee esteemed and the euill despised and besides the Tyrantes shall bee suppressed For a gouernance of many is not profitable vnlesse they refer themselues to the iudgement of a few and to the arbitrement of one alone Oh how many people realms because they would not obey their Princes by iustice haue since by cruell tyrants been gouerned with tyranny For it is euen a iust plague that they which desire the scepters of righteous Princes should feele and proue the scourge of cruell tyrants Alwaies it was and shall be that in the world there was one to command another to obey one to gouerne and another to be gouerned In this case let no man say I am excepted for vntill this day there hath no Prince nor Knight bin seene but hath trauelled vnder this yoake I warne and pray and importunately require you all that you be loyall and faithfull seruants to the end you may deserue to haue louing Lords For the Prince that is wicked causeth his subiects to rebel the seditious subiect maketh his Lord becom a tyrant It is a great thing to the people their Princes be good or euill For there are no Princes so stable that alwayes wil disemble the euill nor there is no gouernor so very a tyrant but somtimes will acknowledge the good Oftentimes God suffereth that there be Emperors in the Empire Kings in Realms Lords in Cities and Prelates in Churches not all only as the Common wealth desireth nor as the good gouernment requireth but as the offence of the multitude deserueth For we see many that haue the charge of soules which deserue not to keepe the sheepe That to be true plainly appears For such doe not gouerne but disorder they doe not defend but offend they doe not resist the enemies but engage and fell the innocent they are no Iudges but Tyrants they are not gentle Pastors but cruell Hangmen they are not encreasers of the Common-wealth but destroyers of Iustice they are not ordayners of the Lawes but inuentors of tributes their hearts wake not to good but to inuent and worke all mischiefe And finally God sendeth vs such Prelates and Gouernours not for that they should bee Ministers of his lawes but for that they should bee scourgers of our offences CHAP. XXIX That in a publike weale there is no greater destruction then where Princes dayly consent to new orders and change olde customes IN the first booke of the Kings the 8. Chapter of the holy and sacred scripture is sayde that Samuel when hee was olde in his stead placed his two sonnes to gouerne the people whose names were Iohel and Abiah for that naturally the Fathers are desirous to aduance their childrē to honour The sonnes of Samuel were resident and held the iudgement in the City of Beersheba which was the furthest part of Iudea and the olde Samuel went to dwell in the City Ramah The honourable and most auncient men among the people of Ierusalem assembled together and decreede to send Ambassadours to Samuel which should bee the wisest men of all the Synagogue for the ancients in those dayes were so circumspect that they neuer committed any affayres in the common wealth into the handes of young men The Ancients then being arriued at Ramah spake these words vnto Samuel Samuel thou art now olde and for thy yeares thou canst not gouern the people therefore thou like a pittifull Father hast committed the gouernement of the people into the hands of thy children Wherfore we let thee know in this case that thy children are couetous First they doe receyue bribes of the suters And secondarily they doe great iniurie to the people Therefore wee are come to require thee to giue vnto vs a King that may gouerne vs and that might leade vs in battell for we will no more Iudges to iudge vs but Kings for to gouerne vs. The aged Samuel hearing the ambassage was ashamed of that the Ancients of Iudea had tolde him first seeing his children to bee euill Secondarily because they would take their offices from them And truely herein Samuel had iust occasion both to bee ashamed and also sorry For the enormities vices and wickednesse of the young children are swords that passe through the hearts of the old and auncient Fathers Samuel seeing that the Hebrewes were determined to depriue them of their office and gouernement of the people had none other remedy but euen to make
one is deliuered from the torments of his Auarice and besides that hee recouereth friends for his person For riches tormenteth the Auaricious because hee spendeth them not The twelfth they asked him What the Prince should doe to gouerne others hee answered hee ought first to gouerne himselfe and then afterwards to gouerne others For it is vnpossible the Rod should bee right where the shadow is crooked By the occasion of this last answer I did bring in here all these questions to the ende Princes and Rulers might see how that euery one of them is as the rod of Iustice and that the Common-wealth is none other but a shadow of them which in all and for all ought to be right For immediatly it is perceiued in the shadow of the Comon-wealth if the Iustice or life of him which gouerneth bee out of his order Therfore concluding that all I haue spoken before if a Prince would aske mee why he is a Prince I would tell him in one word onely that hee which is the High Prince hath made you a Prince in this world to the ende you shuld be a destroyer of heretikes a father of orphanes a friend of Sages a hater of malicious a scourge of Tyrants a rewarder of good a defender and protector of Churches a plague of the wicked a onely louer and friend of the Commonwealth and aboue all you ought to bee an vpright minister of Iustice beginning first with your owne person and Pallace For in all things amendment is suffered except in Iustice which ought to bee equall betweene the Prince and Common-wealth CHAP. XXXVI What Plutarch the Philosopher was Of the wise words hee spake to Traian the Emperour And how the good Prince is the head of the Publike-weale IN the time of Traiana the Emperour there flourished in his Court a Philosopher named Plutarch a man very pure and of good life wise in science and well esteemed in Rome For Traian the Emperor desired greatly to haue Wise men in his companie and to make notable and sumptuous Buyldings in euery place where he came It was hee which wrote the liues of many noble Greekes and Romanes and aboue all hee made a Booke entituled The doctrine of Princes which hee offered to the Emperour Traian in the which hee sheweth his vertues the zeale which he had to the Common-wealth the highnes of his eloquēce the profoundnes of his knowledge For he was elegant in writing and pleasant in speaking and among all other things which hee wrote in his booke were these words following most worthie to be noted and written in Golden letters And they are such I let thee to know Lord Traian that thou and the Empire are but one mysticall bodie in manner and forme of a liuely bodie For they should and ought to be so correspondent and agreeable that the Emperor should reioyce to haue such subiects and the Empire ought to be gladde to haue such a Lord. And to the ende wee may describe the mysticall bodie which is the Empyre in the forme and shape of a natural man you shall vnderstand that the head which is aboue all is the Prince which commaundeth all the eyes whereby we see are the good men in the Commonwealth whom we followe the eares that heare what wee say are the Subiects which doe what wee commaund them the tongue wherewith we speake are the Sages of whom we heare the lawes and doctrines the hayres which growe on our heads are those which are vexed and gricued and that demaund iustice of the King The handes and armes are the Knights which resist the enemyes the feet which sustaineth the mēbers are the tyllers of the ground which giueth meate to all Estates the hard Bones that sustaineth the feeble and soft Flesh are the Sage men which endure the burden and trauell of the Common-wealth the Hearts which we see not outwardly are the Priuie Councellours Finally the necke that knitteth the bodie with the Head is the loue of the King combined with the whole Realme which make a Common-wealth All the words abouenamed spake Plutarch the great vnto Traian the Emperour And truly the inuention and grace of him proceeded of an high and deepe vnderstanding For the head hath three properties which are very necessary for the gouernor of the Common-wealth The first is that euen as the head is of all other members of the body the highest so the authority of the Prince exceedeth the estates of all others For the Prince onely hath authoritie to commaund and all others are bound to obey Admit there be many that are stout rich and noble men in the Common-wealth yet all ought to knowe and acknowledge seruice to the Lorde of the same For the noble and worthie Princes doe daily ease many of diuers seruices but they will neuer exempt any man from their loyaltie and allegeance Those which are valiant and mighty in a Realme should content themselues with that wherewith the battlements doe vpon a Castle that is to know that they are hier then the rampers wherein men walke on the Wals and lower then the pinnacles which are on the toppe for the wise man of high estate ought not to regard the Prince which is the high pinnacle but ought to looke on the alleis which are the poore comfortlesse I would speake a word and it greeueth me that is whereas great Lords desire in the commonwealth to commaund is like vnto him that holdeth his armes and hands ouer his heade For all that I haue heard and for all that I haue reade and also for all that hath chanced in my time I counsell admonish and warne all those which shall come after this time that if they will enioy their goods if they will liue in safeguard and if they will bee deliuered from tyranny and liue quiet in the Common-wealth that they doe not agree to haue in one Realme aboue one King and one Lord For it is a generall rule where there are many Rulers in a Common-wealth in the end both it and all must perish Wee see by experience that Nature formed vs with many sinewes many bones with much flesh with many fingers and with many teeth and to all this one only body had but one head wherefore though with many estates the Common-wealth is ordayned yet with one Prince alone it ought to bee ruled If it consisted in mens hands to make a Prince they would then also haue the authority to put him down but being true as it is most true indeede that the Prince is constituted by God none but God alone ought to depriue depose him of his estate but thinges that are measured by the diuine iudgment man hath no power with razour to cut them I know not what ambition the mean can haue neither what enuie the lowest can haue nor what pride the highest can haue to command and not to obey since wee are sure that in this mysticall body of the
him as they doe now a dayes For the most part of princes are deceiued for none other cause but for that they will not be counselled and informed by wise and discreet men For many croutâ—h vnto princes with faire wordes as though they meant him good seruice but theyr intent is contrarie by deceyt to get an Office and secke their owne profite Helius Spartianus saith that Alexander Seuerus the xxv Emperour of Rome was a man very stoute and vertuous and amongst all other things they greatly commeÌ„ded him because in his chamber he had a familiar booke wherein he had written all the Nobles of his Realme and Empire and when any Office was voyde they saide nothing else to him but that it is voyde for the Emperour did not graunt it to him that sought it but by the secrate information of his Booke to him that best deserued it I will and may sweare and all other princes shal wel affirme the same that though they erre in distributing theyr Offices they do not erre for that they would erre Yet they cannot denie but that they erre grieuously for that they will not be enformed and thogh they bee informed yet it were better they were not informed at all For he shall neuer giue the prince good nor perfect counsell which by that counsel intendeth to haue some proper interest The chiefest thing for princes is to knowe how to choose the best in prosperitie and how to auoyde the worst in aduersitie and to know how to reward the good men liberally And truly in this case Noble princes should haue more consideration towards them which haue done them the worthiest and loyalst seruice then to the importunate sutes of his Familiar friendes For hee shall thanke the seruant that procureth it but not the Prince that geueth it All that wee speake is to no other purpose but to perswade that sith the Prince is Lord of all it is reason that hee bee enformed of the state condition of all for otherwise hee shall bee deceyued by a thousand malicious hearts which are in the Common wealth Therefore to conclude I say if the Prince bee not enformed of the life of all the skinne will seeme flesh the brain meate the straw corn the brasse golde the gall honey and the dregs good wine I meane in diuiding his offices thinking to hit the white he shall oft times milâ—e the butte CHAP. XXXVIII Of the great Feast the Romanes celebrated to the God Ianus the first day of Ianuary and of the bounty and liberality of the Emperour Mareus Aurelius the same day AMong the solemne feasts which the ancient Romanes vsed this was one to the god Ianus the which they celebrated the first day of the year which now is the first of Ianuary for the Hebrewes beganne their yeare in March and the Romanes beganne at Ianuarie The Romanes painted this god with two faces signifying thereby the end of the yeare past and the beginning of the yeare present To this god Ianus was dedicated in the city of Rome a sumptuous Temple which they called the Temple of peace and was in great reuerence throughout all the City for the Citizens on this day offered great gifts and sacrifices because hee should defend them from their enemies For there is no Nation nor people to whom warre euer succeeded so prosperously but that they had rather liue in peace then in warre When the Romane Emperours went to the warres or came from the warres first they visited the Temple of Iupiter secondarily the Temple of the Vestall virgins and thirdly they visited the Temple of the god Ianus because there was a Law in Rome that the Emperour should at his going forth to the warres visite the Temple of Iupiter last of all and at his return againe the Temple of Ianus first And let them that be desirous of Antiquities here know that when the Emperour should goe to the warres in the Temple of the Goddesse Vesta they put vppon his shoulders the royall mantell and in the Temple of Iupiter all the Senators kissed his foote and in the Temple of Ianus the Consuls kissed his arme For since the time that the cruell Sylla caused three thousand neighbours to dye which kissed his right hand they neuer after kissed the hands of any Emperour in Rome Therefore sith the Gentiles would not issue out of Rome before that first they had taken the benediction of those vaine Gods how much more ought Christian Princes to doe it which know well that their Temples are consecrated to the true God and ordained for his seruice onely For the man that forgetteth God and committeth his affayres to men shall see how his businesse will thriue at the hands of men Therefore proceeding forth the day wherein the Feast of the god Ianus was celebrated euery man left his worke and reioyced through all the streetes of Rome no more then lesse then in the feasts of Iupiter Mars Venus Berecinthia For the feasts of the other gods sith they were many in number were not celebrated but in certaine places in Rome The Romanes on that day put on their best apparrell for they had a custome in Rome that hee which had not that day change of apparrell to honor the Feast should eyther goe out of Rome or else keepe himselfe locked in his his house That day they set on their houses many lights made great bonefires before their dores and had sundry and many playes and pastimes for the feasts of vain men are more to delight their bodies then to reforme their minds They watched all the night in the Temples and also they deliuered al the prisoners which were imprisoned for debt and with the common treasures payd their debts Furthermore they had a custome in Rome that they should sustaine all the Senators which were fallen into pouerty with the goods of the commoÌ„wealth They had that day Tables set before their dores furnished with all sorts of meates so that that which remayned and was left was more worth then that which was eaten For vaine glorious men auant themselues more of that which in bankets and feastes is left then they doe of that which is eaten They sought all that day for poore men because they should be prouided of all things For it was an auncient law that none should bee so hardy to make any open feast except first hee had prouided for all them of his streete The Romanes thought that if they spent liberally that day the god Ianus would deliuer them from pouerty because he was the god of temporall goods And they sayd further that the god Ianus was a God very thankefull and acknowledged the seruices that were done vnto him and beleeued earnestly that if they spent freely for his sake hee would requite it double In the feast of this god Ianus many processions were made not altogether but the Senate went by themselues the Censors by themselues the people by themselues the Matrones
to bee drunkards or gluttons for whereas the familiars ought principally to serue their Princes with good counsel in mine opinion a man being full surcharged with excesse is more like to bleach and breake wind after his surfet then able to giue any profitable counsell in the Common wealth In the Pallace of Princes ought not to be resiant nor familiar blasphemers for the man which is a servant and openly dare blaspheme his Creator will not spare in secret to speake euill of the Lord. In the palace of Princes ought not to be of counsell nor familiar the negligent and delicate persons for there is nothing next vnto the diuine prouidence that helpeth Princes more to be puissant and mighty then when their seruants are faithfull and diligent In the pallace of Princes defamed men ought not to haue familiarity for the Prince cannot excuse himselfe to bee thought culpable when they doe rebuke him if in his house he maintaine seruants which openly are defamed In the pallace of princes they ought not to suffer Ideots and fooles for the realmes are not lost for that the Princes are young vncircumspect and vitious but for that their Counsellours are simple and malitious Woe woe be to the land where the Lord is vitious the subiect seditious the seruant couetous and the Counsellour simple and malitious for then the common wealth perisheth when ignorance and malice raigneth in the prince and gouernour of the same Those words passed betweene the noble Knight Estilconus and the wise Philosopher Epimundus vpon the bringing vp of those two princes Archadius and Honorius And because that princes and prelates might see which now haue the charge to gouerne people how much the Auncients did desire to haue sage men about them notwithstanding that I haue spoken I will shew you heere some notable and ancient examples CHAP. XLV How Cresus King of Lydea was a great friend and louer of Sages Of a letter the same Cresus wrote to the Philosopher Anacharsis And of an other letter of the Philosophers answere to the King IN the yeare of the Creation of the World 4355. and in the third age Sardanapulus being king of the Assyrians Ozias King of the Hebrewes and Elchias being high Bishop of the holy temple at that time when Rea the mother of Romulus liued in the second yeare of the first Olimpiade the great and renowmed Realme of Lydes had beginning as Plinie in the fift booke of the Naturall History sayth Lidia is in Asia minor and first was called Meonia afterwards was called Lidia and now is called Morea This Realme of Lydes had many worthy Cities that is to say Ephese Colose Aclasomena and Phorea The first King of Lydes was Ardisius a man of great courage and a Grecian borne and raigned 36. yeares The second was Aliaces who raigned 14 yeares The third was Meleus and he raigned 12. yeares The fourth was Candale and raigned 4. yeares The fift was Ginginus and raigned 5. yeares The sixt was Cerdus and raigned 6. yeares The 7. was Sadiates and raigned 15. yeares The eight was Allates and he raigned 49. yeares and the ninth was Cresus and raigned 15. yeares and of this King Cresus Zenophon declareth that hee was more valiant in feates of warre then comely of personage for though he was lame of one foote blemished of one eye lacking one eare and of body not much bigger then a dwarfe yet for all this hee was a iust man very constant stoute mercifull couragious and aboue all hee was a great enemie to the ignorant and a speciall friend to the Sage Of this king Cresus Seneca speaketh in his booke of Clemency and sayeth that the Sages were so entirely beloued of him that the Greekes which had the fountaine of eloquence did not call him a louer but entituled him the loue of Sages for neuer no man did so much to attaine to the loue of his Lady as hee did to draw to him and to his Country sage men This king Cresus therefore beeing Lord of many barbarous nations the which loued better to drinke the bloud of the innocent then to learne the science of the wise like an excellent prince determined for the comfort of his person and remedy of his Common wealth to search out the greatest Sages that were in Greece At that time flourished the famous and renowmed Philosopher Anacharsis who thogh he was born and brought vp amongst the Seythians yet hee was alwayes resident notwithstanding in Athens For the Vniuersity of Athens did not despise those that were Barbarians but those that were vitious The King Cresus sent an Ambassadour in great authority with riches to the Philosopher Anacharsis to perswade and desire him and with those gifts and presents to present him to the end it might please him to come and see his person and to set an order in his Common wealth Cresus not contented to send him gifts which the Ambassadour carried but for to let him vnderstand why he did so wrote him a letter with his owne hand as hereafter followeth The letter of King Cresus to Anacharfis the Phylosopher CResus King of Lydes wisheth Anacharsis great Phylosopher which remainest in Athens health to thy person and increase of vertue Thou shalt know how well I loue thee in that I neuer saw thee nor knew thee to write vnto thee a letter For the things which with the eyes haue neuer bin seen seldomtimes with the heart are truely beloued Thou doest esteeme little as truth is these my small gifts and presents which I send thee yet I pray thee greatly esteeme the will and heart wherewith I do visite thee For noble hearts receiue more thankefully that which a man desireth to giue them then that which they do giue them in deede I desire to correct this my Realme and to see amendement in the common-wealth I desire good order for my person and to take order touching the gouernement of my palace I desire to communicate with Sages somethings of my life and none of these things can bee done without thy presence for there was neuer any good thing made but by the meane of wisedome I am lame I am crooked I am bald I am a counterfeit I am blacke and also I am broken finally amongst all other men I am a monster But all these imperfections are nothing to those that remaine that is to say I am so vnfortunate that I haue not a Phylosopher with me For in the world there is no greater shame then not to haue a wise man about him to be conuersant with all I count my self to be dead though to the simple fooles I seeme to bee a liue And the cause of death is because I haue not with me some wise person For truely he is onely aliue amongst the liuing who is accompanyed with the Sages I desire thee greatly to come and by the immortall gods I coniure thee that thou make no excuse and if thou wilt not
to search for the physition and afterwards to doe nothing of that which by him is ordained I meane that it shall not profit but rather it shall be harme that I come into thy commonwealth and that afterwards thou wilt not do that which I shall ordaine therein for great dangers ensue to alter the humors with siropes vnlesse they take afterwards a purgation to purge away the same For to redresse thy barbarous realme and to satisfie thy good desire I am determined to condiscend vnto thy request and to accomplish thy commandement vpon condition that thou shalt ensure mee of these things following For the laborer ought not to sow his seede before the ground be plowed and tilled The first thou shalt for sake the euill custome which ye barbarous kings dovse that is to say to heape vp treasures and not to spend them For euery Prince which is couetous of treasures is scarcely of capacitie to receiue good counsell The second thou shalt not onely banish out of thy palace but also out of thy court al flatterers for the Prince that is a friend to flatterers of necessitie must be an enemie of the truth The 3. thou shalt end the wars that thou at this present doest maintaine against the people of Corinth for euery Prince that loueth forraine warres must needs hate the peace of his commonwealth The fourth thou shalt banish from thy house all Iuglers comediants and ministrels For the Prince which occupieth himselfe to heare vaine and trifling things in time of necessitie shall not apply himselfe to those which bee of weight and importance Fiftly thou shalt prouide that all loyterers and vacabonds bee expulsed from thy person and banished thy palace for iidlenesse and negligence are cruell enemies of wisedome Sixtly thou shalt banish from thy court and palace and liers all seditious men for when liers are suffered in the Palace of Princes it is a signe that the king and the realme falleth into vtter destruction The seuenth thou shalt promise that in the dayes of thy life thou shalt not presse me to receiue any thing of thee for the day that thou shalt corrupt me with gifts it is necessary that I corrupt thee with euill counsels For there is no counsell that is good but that which proceedeth from the man that is not couetous If on these conditions the king Cresus desireth the Philosopher Anacharsis the Philosopher Anacharsis desireth the king Cresus and if not I had rather bee a disciple of sage philosophers then a king of the barbarous people Vale felix Rex Sith this letter doeth declare it it is needlesse for my pen to write it that is to say what was the humanitie and goodnesse of king Cresus to write vnto a poore Phylosopher and how great the courage of a philosopher was to despise the gold and to say as he did in this behalfe Therefore let princes note heare that such ought the Sages to bee they should chuse and let Sages note here also vpon what conditions they ought to enter into the palace of princes For this is such a bargaine that it seldome times chanceth but that one of the parties are deceiued CHAP XLVI Of the wisedome and sentences of Phalaris the tyrant and how he put an Artisan to death for inuenting new torments IN the last yeare of the Latines and in the first yeare of the Romaines Ezechias being king of the Iewes and Azaria great Bishop of the holy temple Abacucke Prophet in Iewrie and Merodach being king in Babylon and when the Lacedemonians built Byzance which now is Constantinople Phalaris the famous Tyrant was then liuing Of this Phalaris Ouid saith that he was deformed in his face pore blinde of his eyes and exceeding couetous of riches and neuer obserued any thing that he promised He was thankfull to his friends and cruell to his enemies finally he was such a one that tyrannies which seuerally were scattered in others in him alone were altogether assembled Amongst all the iniquities that he inuented and amongst the tyranies that he committed he had one vertue very great which was that euen as he was head of all tyrannies so was he chief louer and friends of all phylosophers and sage men And in all those sixe and thirtie yeares which he gouerned the Realm by tyrannie they neuer found that any man touched his beard nor that any man sate at his table with him spake vnto him or slept in his bed nor that any man saw in his countenance any mirth vnlesse it were some Phylosopher or Sage man with whom and to whom hee liberally put his body in trust The Prince that absenteth himselfe from Sage men and accompanieth with fooles I say vnto him though hee bee a Prince of his commonwealth he is a cruel person For it is a greater paine to liue among fooles then to die amongst Sages Pulio in his first booke Degestis Romanorum sayth that a worthy and excellent painter presented a table to Octauian the Emperour wherein were drawne all the vertuous Princes and for their Chiefetaine Octauian the Emperour was drawne at the foote of this table were all the tyrannous princes painted of the which Phalaris was chiefe and Captaine This table viewed by Octauian the Emperour he commendeth the worke but hee disallowed the intention thereof saying Me thinks not meete that I being a liue should be set chiefe and principall of all the vertuous men that are dead For during the time of this wicked life we reall subiect to the vices of weake feeble flesh Also it seemeth vnto me an vniust doing that they should put Phalaris for principall and Captaine of all the tyrants since he was a scourge and enemie to fooles and ignorant men and so earnest a louer and friend of Sages and wise Phylosophers The fame of this cruell Phalaris being knowne and his extreme cruelties he vsed spred through all Greece A neighbour and Artificer of Athens called Perillus a man very excellent in mettels and a great worker in works of fountaines came to Phalaris the tyrant saying that he would make such a kinde of torment that his heart should remaine reuenged and the offender well punished The matter was that this workeman made a Bull of Brasse wherein there was a gate by the which they put the offender and in putting the fire vnder the Bull it roared and cryed in manner as it had bene aliue which thing was not onely a horrible and cruell torment to the miserable creature that endured it but also it was terrible to him or those that saw it Let vs not maruell neither at the one nor at the orhet for truely the pitifull heart which is not fleshed in in crueltie hath as much pitie to see another man suffer as of the sorow and torment which hee himselfe feeleth Phalaris therefore seeing the inuenuention of this torment whereof the inuentor hoped for great reward prouided that the inuentor of the same should bee put within the
thee I shall not follow my selfe and beeing thine I shall cease to bee mine Thou art come to haue the name of the Great Alexander for conquering the world and I haue attained to come to renowme of a good Phylosopher in flying the world And if thou dost imagine that thou hast gotten and wonne I thinke I haue not erred nor lost And since thou wilt be no lesse in authoritie then a King doe not thinke that I will lose the estimation of a Phylosopher For in the world there is no greater losse vnto a man then when hee looseth his proper libertie When he had spoken these words Alexander saide vnto them that were about him with a lowde voyce By the immortall Gods I sweare and as god Mars rule my hands in Battell if I were not Alexander the Great I would bee Diogenes the Phylosopher And hee saide further In mine opinion there is no other Felicitie vpon the earth then to bee King Alexander who commaundeth all or to bee Diogenes to commaund Great Alexander who commaundeth all As king Alexander was more familiar with some Philosophers then with others so hee esteemed some bookes more then others And they say he read oftentimes in the Iliades of Homer which is a booke where the story of the destruction of Troy is and that when he slept he layd vnder his head vpon a bolster his sword and also his booke When the great King Alexander was borne his father Philip king of Macedonia did two notable things The first was that hee sent many and very rich gifts into the I le of Delphos where the Oracle of Apollo was to the ende to present them with him and to pray him that it would please him for to preserue his sonne The other thing that hee did was that immediately hee wrote a letter to the great Philosopher Aristotle wherin he sayd these words The letter of King Philip to Aristotle the Phylosopher PHilip King of Macedonia wishes health and peace to the philosopher Aristotle which readeth in the Vniuersitie of Greece I let the vnderstand that Olympias my wife is brought to bedde of a goodly man childe whereof both she and I and all Macedonia do reioyce For kings and Realms ought to haue great ioy when that there is borne a sonne sueccssour of the natural prince of the prouince I render thankes vnto the immortall gods and haue sent many great gifts to the Temples and it was not so much for that I haue a son as for that they haue giuenhim vnto me in the time of so great and excellent Philosopher I hope that thou wilt bring him vp teach him in such sort that by heritage hee shall be Lord of my patrimony of Macedonia and by desert he shall be Lord of Asia to that they should call him my sonne and thee his father Vale foelix iterumque vale Ptolomeus father in law who was the eight king of the Aegyptians did greatly loue the Sages as well of Caldea as of Greece and this thing was esteemed for a great vertue in king Ptolome For there was as much enuy betweene the phylosophers of Greece and the Sages of Egypt as betweene the Captaines of Rome and the Captaines of Carthage This Ptolome was very wise and did desire greatly to bee accompanied with Phylosophers and after this hee learned the letters of the Latines Caldes and Hebrues for the which cause though the kings named Ptolomei were eleuen in number and all warrelike men yet they put this for the Chiefe and Captaine of all not for battels which hee wanne but for the sentences which he learned This king Ptolomeus had for his familiar a Philosopher called Estilpho Magarense who was so entirely beloued of this Prince that laying aside gentlenesse and benefits which hee shewed him hee did not onely eate with the king at his table but oftentimes the king made him drink of his owne cup. And as the sauours which Princes shew to their seruants are but as a watch to proue the malitious it chanced that when this king gaue the philosopher to drinke that which remayned in his cuppe an Egyptian knight moued with enuy sayde vnto King Ptolome I thinke Lord how thou art neuer satisfied with drinking to leaue that which remaineth in the cuppe for the Philosopher to drinke after thee To whom the king answered Thou sayst well that the Phylosopher Estilpho is neuer filled with that which I doe giue him For that which remaineth in my cup doth not profite him so much to drinke as the Phylosophy which remaineth in him should profite thee if thou wouldst take it The king Antigonus was one of the most renowmed seruants that king Alexander the great euer had who after his death enherired a great part of his Empire for how much happy the king Alexander was in his life so much hee was vnhappy at the time of his death because he had no children which might enherite his goods and that hee had such seruants as spoyled him of his renowme This king Antigonus was an vnthrist and excessiue in all vices But for all hee loued greatly the phylosophers which thing remained vnto him from king Alexander whose pallace was a schoole of al the good phylosophers of the world Of this ensample they may see what great profite ensueth of bringing vp of them that bee yong for there is none that euer was so wicked or inclined vnto euill but that in long continuance may profite somwehat in his youth This king Antigonus loued two philosophers greatly the which florished in that time that is to say Amenedius and Abio of which two Abio was wel learned and very poore For in that time no phylosopher durst openly reade philosophy as if hee were worth any thing in temporall goods As Laertius sayth and as Pulio declares it better in the book of the rulers and noble men of the Greekes The Schooles of the Vuiuersitie were so correct that the philosopher which knew most had least goods so that they did not glorifie of any thing eise but to haue pouertie and to know much of philosophy The case was such that the phylosopher Abio was sicke and with that sickenes he was so vexed that they might almost see the bones of his weake bodie The king Antigonus sent to visite him by his owne sonne by whom hee sent him much money to helpe him withall For hee liued in extreame pouertie as it behoued the professors of phylosophy Abio was sore sicke being aged and crooked and though he had made himselfe so leane with sicknesse yet notwithstanding he burned alwayes vpon the weeke of good life I meane that he had no lesse courage to despise those gifts then the king Antigonus had nobles to send them This Phylosopher not contented to haue despised those gifts in such sort sayd vnto the sonne of Antigonus who brought them Tell king Antigonus that I giue him great thankes for the good entertainement hee gaue me alwayes
esteeme this Cinas that they sayde he was the Master and measure of mans eloquence for he was very pleasant in words and profound sentences This Cinas serued for three offices in the Palace of king Pirrus 1 First he made pastime at his Table in that hee did declare for he had a good grace in things of laughter 2 Secondarily he wrote the valiant deedes of his history for in his stile hee had great cloquence and to write the truth he was a witnesse of sight 3 Totrdly he went for Ambassadouring at affayres of great importance for he was naturally subtill and witty and in dispatching businesse hee was very fortunate He vsed so many meanes in his businesse and had so great perswasion in his words that hee neuer tooke vpon him to speake of things of warre but eyther he set a long truce or else hee made a perpetuall peace The King Pirrus saide to this Cinas O Cinas for 3. things I thanke to the immortall Gods 1 The first for that they created mee a King and not a seruant for the greatest good that mortall men haue is to haue liberty to commaund many and not bee bound to obey any 2 The second I thanke the immortal gods for that they naturally made mee stout of heart for the man which with euery trifle is abashed it were better for him to leaue his life 3 The third I giue the immortall gods thanks for that in the gouernement of my commonwealth and for the great affaires and busines of my realme as well in wars as in other things they gaue me such a man as thou art in my company For by thy gentle speech I haue conquered and abtained many Cities which by my cruell sword I could neuer winne nor attaine These were the words which Pyrrus sayd vnto his friend Cinas the Poet. Let euery Prince know now how great louers of wise men those were in times past and as vpon a sodaine I haue recited these few examples so with small study I haue heaped infinite Histories The end of the first Booke THE SECOND BOOKE OF THE DYALL OF PRINCES WHEREIN THE AVTHOR TREATETH HOW NOBLE Princes and great Lordes should behaue themselues towardes their Wiues And how they ought to nourish and bring vp their Chyldren CHAP. I ¶ Of what excellencie Marriage is and whereas common people marrie of free will Princes and Noble-men ought to marry of necessitie AMong al the friendships companies of this life there is none so naturall as that betweene the husband the wife liuing in one house For all other companyes are caused by free will onely but this proceedeth both by wil and necessitie There is at this day no Lyon so fierce no Serpent so venemous no Viper so infectiue no Aspicke so mortall neyther any beast so terrible but at the least both male and female do once in the yeare meete and conioyne and although that in brute beasts there lacketh reason yet notwithstanding they haue a natural instinction to assemble themselues for the conseruation of their kinde In this case men deserue no lesse reproch then Beasts merite praise For after that the Females by generation are bigge they neuer agree that the Males should accompanie with them According to the diuersity of Nations so among thēselues they differ the one from the other in Lawes Languages Ceremonies customs but in the ende all agree in one thing for that they enforce themselues to celebrate marriage As the Scripture teacheth vs Since the world was created there hath nothing bene more ancient then the Sacrament of Marriage For that day that Man was formed the selfe same day he celebrated mariage with a Woman in the terrestriall Paradise The ancient Hystoriographers aswell Greekes as Latines wrote many great things in the praise of Mariage but they could not say nor write so much as continuall experience doth shew vs. Therfore leauing the superfluous and taking the most necessary wee say that fiue commodities follow the Sage man who hath taken the yoke of Matrimonie The first is the memorie which remaineth to the children as successors and heyres of their Fathers For as the Phylosopher Pythagoras sayeth When a father passeth out of this present life and leaueth behinde him a Childe being his Heyre they cannot say vnto him that hee dyeth but that he waxeth young in his Childe since the child doth inherite the Flesh the Goods and the memorie of the Father Among the ancients it was a common prouerbe that the taste of all tastes is Bread the sauour of all sauours is Salt and the greatest loue of all Loues is from the Fathers to their children And though perchaunce we see the Father shew some rigor to their children we ought not therefore to say that they hate them and despise them for the tender loue of the Father to the Sonne is such that hee cannot endure him to doe any thing amisse or worthy of rebuke Not only men of reason and brute beasts but also the Hedge and Garden-trees to their possibilitie procure to continue their kinde and it is plainly seene in that before the fruits and hearbs were formed to be eaten the seeds and kirnels were made to be kept Men naturally desire honor in their life and memorie after theyr death Therefore I say that they come to honour by High and Noble and Heroycall facts but the Memorie is left by the good and Legittimate children For the children which are borne in adultrie are begotten in sinne and with great care are nourished The second benefit of Marriage is that they auoyd adulterie and it is no small matter to auoyde this vice For the Adulterers are not onely taken in the Christian religion for offenders but euen amongst the Gentiles also they are counted infamous The sage Solon in the lawes that he gaue vnto the Athenians commaunded vpon streight precepts that they should Marrie to auoyde adulterie vpon paine that the childe borne in adultrie should be made the common slaue of the Cittie The Romanes as men foreseeing all things ordained in the tables of theyr Lawes that the children which were born in adultery should not be heyres of the Goods of theyr Fathers When the Oratour Eschynes was banished out of Athens as he came by the Rhodes he tooke no such pains in any one thing as he did in perswading the Rhodians to marry and not to liue in adulterie For among those barbarous Matrimonie was not common but onely among them which were Officers of the Commonwealth Cicero in a familiar Epistle saith that the great Romaine Marcus Porcio being gouernor in the Common-wealth neuer agreed that an Vnckle of his should bee maister of the Romain chiualry vnlesse he were marryed which office was promised him by the Senate His name was Rufus a stout and valiant man of warre this notwithstanding Marcus Porcio saide that that praise which Rufus deserued for being valiant and hardie he lost againe for liuing
in adulterie And that he would neuer graunt his voyce nor bee in place where they committed any charge in the warres to a man that had not a lawfull wife I say therefore that if the Gentiles and Infidels esteemed Marriage so much and despised the deedes of the adulterers so greatly much more true Christians should be in this case warie and circumspect For the gentiles feared nothing but onely infamy but all true Christians ought to feare both infamie and also paine Since that of necessitie mans seede must increase and that wee see men suffer themselues to bee ouercome with the flesh it were much better that they should maintaine a good Houshold and liue vprightly with a wife then to waste theyr goods and burden theyr conscience with a Concubine For it is oftentimes seene that that which a Gentleman consumeth abrode vpon an Harlot with shame would keepe his Wife and Children at home with honestie The third commoditie of Marryage is the laudable and louing companie the which is or ought to bee betweene them that are Matryed The anciēt Philophers defining what Man was saide That hee was a creature the which by nature was sociable communicable reasonable wherof it followeth that the man beeing solitarie and close in his conditions cannot bee in his stomacke but enuious We that are men loue the good inclination and doe also commend the same in beasts for all that the sedicious man and the resty horse eate wee thinke it euill spent A sad man a sole man a man shut in and solitary what profite can hee doe to the people For if euery man should be locked vp in his house the Common-wealth should forthwith perish My intention is to speake against the Vacabonds which without taking vpon them any craft or facultie passe the age of fortie of fiftie yeares and would not nor will not marrie yet because they would be vicious all the daies of their life It is a great shame and conscience to many men that neuer determine with themselues to take vpon them any estate neyther to bee Marryed chaste secular or Ecclesiasticall but as the corke vpon the water they swimme whether their Sensualitie leadeth them One of the most laudable and holy companyes which is in this life is the companie of the Man and the Woman in especiallie if the woman bee vertuous For the noble and vertuous wife withdraweth all the sorowes from the heart of her Husband and accomplisheth his desires whereby he liueth at rest When the wife is vertuous and the husband wise wee ought to belieue that betweene them two is the true loue For the one not being suspect with the other and hauing childrē in the midst it is vnpossible but that they should liue in concord For all that I haue read seene I would say that if the mā the wife doe liue quietly together a man may not only cal them good maried folks but also holy persons for to speake the truth the yoke of matrimony is so great that it cannot be accomplished without much merite The contrarie ought and may be said of those which are euill marryed whom we will not call a companie of Saintes but rather a companie of diuells For the wise that hath an euill husband may say shee hath a diuell in her house and the Husband that hath an euill Wife let him make account that hee hath a Hell it selfe in his house For the euill wiues are worse then infernall Furies Because in hell there are none tormented but the euill onely but the euill woman tormenteth both the good and the euill Concluding therefore this matter I say also and affirme that betwixt the Husband and the wife which are wel married is the true and very loue and they onely and no others may be called perfit and perpetuall friends The other Parents and Friendes if they do loue and praise vs in our presence they hate and despise vs in our absence If they giue vs faire words they beare vs euill hearts Finallie they loue vs in our prosperitie and forsake vs in our aduersitie but it is not so amongst the Noble and vertuous married persons For they loue both within and without the house in prosperity and in aduersitie in pouertie and in riches in absence and in presence seeing themselues merrie and perceyuing themselues sad and if they doe it not truely they ought to doe it For when the Husband is troubled in his foote the wife ought to be grieued at her heart The fourth commoditie of Marriage is that the men and women marryed haue more authoritie and grauitie then the others The lawes which were made in olde time in the fauour Marriage were manie and diuers For Capharoneus in the lawes that hee gaue to the Egyptians cōmanded and ordained vpon grieuous paines that the man that was not maryed should not haue any office of gouernment in the Common-wealth And he saide further that hee that hath not learned to gouern his house can euil gouerne a common-wealth According to the Lawes that hee gaue to the Athenians hee perswaded all those of the Common-wealth to marry themselues voluntarily but to the heads and Captaines which gouerne the affaires of warre hee commaunded to marrie of necessitie saying That to men which are lecherous God seldome giueth victoryes Lycurgus the renowmed gouernor and giuer of the lawes to the Lacedemonians commaunded that all Captaines of the armyes and the Priestes of the temples should bee marryed saying That the sacrifices of Marryed men were more acceptable to the Gods then those of any other As Plinie saith in an Epistle that hee sent to Falconius his friend rebuking him for that hee was not marryed where he declareth that the Romaines in olde time had a law that the Dictatour and the Pretor the Censour and the Questour and all the Knights should of necessity be marryed For the man that hath not a wife and children Legitimate in his house cannot haue nor hold great authoritie in the Common-wealth Plutarche in the booke that he made of the praise of Marriage saith that the Priests of the Romaines did not agree to them that were vnmarryed to come and sit downe in the temples so that the young-Maydens prayed without at the Church dore and the young men prayed on theyr knees in the Temple onely the marryed men were permitted to sit or stand Plynie in an Epistle that hee wrote to Fabarus his father in law saith that the Emperor Augustus had a custom that he neuer suffered any yong man in his presence to sitte nor permitted any man Marryed to tell his tale on foote Plutarch in the booke that hee made in the praise of women saieth that since the Realme of Corinth was peopled more with Batchelours then with Marryed men they ordayned amongst them that the man or woman that had not bene marryed and also that had not kept Children and House if they liued after a certaine age after theyr
deaths should not be buryed CHAP. II. ¶ The Authour following his purpose declareth that by meanes of Marryage many mortall enemies haue beene made good and perfite Friends BY sundrie examples that we haue declared and by all that which remaineth to declare a man may knowe well enough of what excellencie Matrimonie is not onely for the charge of Conscience but also for the things touching honour for to say the truth the men that in the Common-wealth are married giue small occasion to bee slaundered and haue more cause to be honourd VVe cannot deny but that Matrimony is trouble some and chargeable to them that be marryed for two causes The one is in bringing vp their children and the other in suffering the importunities of their Mothers Yet in fine we cannot deny but that the good and vertuous wife is shee that setteth a stay in the house and keepeth her husband in estimation in the Common-wealth for in the publike affayres they giue more faith and credite vnto those that are charged with children then vnto others that are loaden with yeeres The fifth commoditie that ensueth Matrimony is the peace and reconciliations that are made betweene the enemies by meanes of Marriage Men in this age are so couetous so importune and malicious that there are very few but haue enemies wherby groweth contention and debate for by our weaknesse we fall daily into a thousand occasions of enmities and scarcely wee can finde one to bring vs againe into friendship Considering what men desire what things they procure and whereunto they aspire I maruell not that they haue so few friends but I much muse that they haue no more enemies For in things of weight they marke not who haue beene their friends they consider not they are their neighbours neyther they regard that they are Christians but their conscience laid a part and honestie set a side euery man seeketh for himselfe and his own affayres though it bee to the preiudice of all his neighbours What friendshippe can there bee amongst proud men since the one will goe before and the other disdayneth to come behinde What friendshippe can there bee amongst enuious men since the one purchaseth the other possesseth VVhat loue can there be between two couetous men since the one dare not spend the other is neuer satisfied to hourd heap vp For all that we can read see goe and trauell for all that we may do we shall neuer see nor heare tell of men that haue lacked enemies for either they be vicious or vertuous If they be euil and vicious they are alwaies hated of the good and if they be good vertuous they are continually persecuted of the euill Many of the ancient Philosophers spent a great part of their time and lost much of their goods to search for remedies and meanes to reconcile them that were at debate contention and to make them by gentlenes good friends louers Some said that it was good profitable to forget the enmities for a time for many things are pardoned in time which by reasō could neuer take end Others said that for to appease the enemies it was good to offer mony because mony doth not only breake the feminate tender hearts but also the hard and craggy rocks others said that the best remedy was to set good men to bee mediators between them in especially if they were sage wise men for the honest faces and stout hearts are ashamed whē they are proserred mony the good do humble thēselues by intreaty These means wel considered and the remedies wel sought out to make friends there are none so ready and so true as Marriage for the marriage done Sacramentally is of such and so great excellency that betweene some it causeth perfect friendshippe and betweene others it appeaseth great iniuries During the time that Iulius Caesar kept him elfe as father-in-law to the great Pompeius and that Pompeius held himselfe his sonne in law there was neuer euill will nor quarells betweene them but after that Pompeius was diuorced from the house of Caesar hatred enuy and enmities engendred betweene them in such sort that they contended in such and so cruell warres that Pompeius against his will lost his head and also Iulius Caesar shortned his life When those that dwelled in Rome rauished and robbed the daughters of the Sabines i◠after they had not changed their counsell and of theeues to become husbands without doubt the Romans bad beene all destroyed for the Sabines had made an oath to aduenture both their goods and their liues for to reuenge the iniuries done vnto them their daughters and wiues but by the meanes of Marriage they were conferred in great amitie and loue For the Romanes receiued in marriage the daughters of the Sabines whome before they had rauished Greater enmitie there cannot be then that of God towards men through the sin of Adam notwithstanding there neuer was nor neuer shall be greater friendship then that which was made by the godly marriage and for greater authoritie to confirme marriage the Sonne of God would that his Mother should be marryed and afterward hee himselfe was present at a Mariage where hee turned the Water into Wine though now adayes the euill maried men doe turne the wine into water He doth not speake here of Religious persons nor men of the Church neither of those which are closed in deuout places for those fleeing the occasions of the world and choosing the wayes lesse dangerous haue offered their soules to GOD and with their bodies haue done him acceptable Sacrifices for there is difference betweene the Religion of Christ and the sinfull Sinagogue of the Iewes for they offered Kidds and Muttons but heere are not offered but teares and sighs Leauing therefore all those secrets apart which men ought to leaue to God I say and affirme that it is a holy and commendable counsell to vse his profite with the Sacrament of Marriage the which though it bee taken of all voluntarily yet Princes and great Lords ought to take it necessarily For that Prince that hath no wife nor children shall haue in his Realme much grudging and displeasure Plutarch in the Booke hee made of Marriage sayth that amongst the Lidians there was a law well obserued and kept that of necessitie their Kings and Gouernours should be marryed and they had such respect to this thing and were so circumspect in this matter that if a Prince dyed and left his Heyre an infant they would not suffer him to gouerne the Realme vntill he were married And they greatly lamented the day of the departing of their Queene out of this life for with her death the gouernment ceased the Royall authoritie remayned voyde and the Common-wealth without gouernment so long time as the King deferred to take another wife and so they were sometimes without King or gouernment For Princes are or ought to be the mirrour and example of all to
liue honest and temperate the which cannot well bee done vnlesse they bee marryed or that they see themselues to bee conquerors of the flesh and being so they are satisfyed but if they be not marryed and the flesh doth assault them then they liue immediately conuered Wherefore of necessitie they must goe by their Neighbours houses or else by some other dishonest places scattered abroad to the reproach and dishonor of them and their kindred and oftentimes to the great perill and danger of their Persons CHAP. III. Of sundry and diuers Lawes which the Ancients had in Contracting Matrimony not onely in the choyse of Women but also in the manner of celebrating Marriage IN all Nations and in all the Realmes of the World Marriage hath alwayes beene accepted and marueilously commended for otherwise the world had not beene peopled nor yet the number of men multiplyed The ancients neuer disagreed one from another in the approbation and acception of Marriage but there was amongst them great difference and strife vpon the contracts ceremonies and vsages of the same For they vsed as much difference in contracting Matrimony and choosing their wiues as these Epicures do desire the varietie of sundry delicate meates The diuine Plato in his Booke hee made of the Common-wealth did counsell that all thinges should be common and that not onely in bruit beasts in moueables and heritages but also that womē should be common for he sayd that if these two words thine and mine were abolished and out of vse there should not bee debates nor quarels in this world They cal Plato Diuine for many good things which he spake but now they may call him Worldly for the counsel profane which he gaue I cannot tell what beastlinesse it may be called nor what greater rudenes may be thought that the apparrell should be proper and the wiues common The bruite beast doth not know that which came out of her belly longer then it sucketh of her brests And in this sort it would chance to men yea and worse too if women were common in the Common-wealth for though one should know the Mother which hath borne him hee should not know the Father which hath begotten him The Tharentines which were wel renowmed amongst the ancients and not a little feared of the Romanes had in their Citie of Tharente a law and custome to marry themselues with a legitimate wife to beget children but besides her a man might yet chuse two others for his secret pleasures Spartianus sayd that the Emperour Hellus Verus as touching women was very dissolute and since his wife was young and faire and that she did complaine of him because he led no honest life with her hee spake these words vnto her My wife thou hast no cause to complayne of me since I remaine with thee vntill such time as thou art quicke with childe for the residue of the time we husbands haue licence and priuiledge to seek our pastimes with other women For this name of a wife containeth in it honour but for the residue it is a grieuous burden and painefull office The like matter came to Ptolomeus King of Egipt of whom the Queene his wife did greatly complaine Admit that all the Greekes haue beene esteemed to bee very wise amongst all those the Athenians were esteemed of most excellent vertue for the Sages that gouerned the Common-wealth remained in Athens with the Philosophers which taught the Sciences The Sages of Athens ordeyned that all the neighbours and inhabitants might keepe two lawfull wiues and furthermore vpon paine of grieuous punishments did commaund that none should presume nor be so hardy to maintain any concubine for they sayd when men haunt the companie of light women comonly they misuse their lawfull Wiues As Plutarch saith in his Politiques the cause why the Greekes made this lawe was considering that man could not nor ought not to liue without the companie of a woman and therefore they would that a man should marrie with two wines For if the one were diseased and lay in yet the other might serue in bed waite at the Table and doe other businesses in the house Those of Athens had another great respect and cōsideration to make this law which was this that if it chanced the one to be barren the other should bring forth children in the Common-wealth and in such case shee that brought forth Children should be esteemed for Mistresse and the other that was barren should be taken for a seruant When this law was made Socrates was marryed to Xantippa and to accomplish the law hee tooke another called Mirra which was the daughter of the Phylosopher Aristides and sith those two women had great quarrells and debates together and that thereby they slaundered their Neighbours Socrates saide vnto them My wiues yee see right well that my eyes are hollow my legges are withered my hāds are wrinckled my head is balde my bodie is little and the haires are white Why doe yee then that are so faire stand in contention and strife for mee that am so deformed Though Socrates saide these wordes as it were in ieast yet such words were occasion that the quarrells and strifes betweene them ceased The Lacedemonians than in the time of peace and warre were always contrary to the Athenians obserued it for an inuiolable lawe not that one man should marry with two wiues but that one woman should marrie with two husbands and the reason was that when one Husband should goe to the warre the other shold tarry at home For they saide that a man in no wise should agree to leaue his Wife alone in the common-wealth Plinie writing an Epistle vnto his friend Locratius and Saint Hierome writing to a Frier called Rusticus saith That the Atbenians did vse to marry Bretheren with the Sisters but they did not permitte the Auntes to marrie with their Nephewes neither the Vnckles with their Nieces For they sayd that brothers and sisters to marrie together was to marry with their semblables but for vnckles to marry Nieces Aunts with Nephews was as of fathers to daughters and of mothers to sonnes Melciades which was a man of great renowme amongst the Grecians had a sonne called Cimonius who was marryed to his owne sister called Pinicea and being demaunded of one why hee tooke his sister in marriage hee answered My sister is faire sage rich and made to my appetite and her Father and mine did recommend her vnto mee and since by the commaundement of the Gods a man ought to accomplish the behests and requests of Fathers I haue determined since Nature hath giuen mee her for my sister willingly to take her for my lawfull Wife Dyodorus Siculus saith that before the Egiptians receyued any Lawes euery man had as manie Wiues as hee would and this was at the libertie of both partyes for as much as if she would goe shee went liberally and forsooke the man and likewise hee left her when
shee displeased him For they sayde that it was vnpossible for Men and Women to liue long together without much trouble contentions and brawles Dyodorus Siculus sayde one thing where hee speaketh of this matter which as yet I neuer read in any book nor heard of the ancients past which was that amongst the Egiptians there was no difference in Children For they accounted them as legitimate though they were children of slaues For they said that the principall doer of the generation was the Father and not the mother and that therfore the Children which were borne among them tooke only the flesh of the mother but they did inherite their honour and dignitie of the part of the Father Iulius Caesar in his Commentaries saith that in Great Brittaine now called England the Brittons had an vse that one Woman was marryed vnto fiue men the which beastlinesse is not read to haue beene in any Nation of times past For if it bee slaunder for one man to haue diuers Wiues why should it not also bee a slaunderous and shamefull thing for one woman to haue many Husbands The noble and vertuous Women ought to bee marryed for two causes The first is to the end God should giue them children and benediction to whom they may leaue their goods and their memorie The second to the end they should liue euery one in their owne house accompanyed and honoured with their husbands For otherwise I say for a truth that the woman that is not contented and satisfied with her own proper husband will not bee contented nor satisfied with all men in the world Plutarch in his Apothegmes saith that the Cymbres did vse to marrie with their proper and natural daughters the which custome was taken from them by the Consull Marius after that hee did ouercome them in Germanie and that of them he had triumphed at Rome For the Childe which was borne of such Marriage was Sonne of the Daughter of one sole Father and was Sonne and Brother of one onely Mother and they were also Cousins Nephews Brothers of one only Father and mother Truely such custome proceedeth rather of wilde beasts then of reasonable creatures For manie or the more part of brute Beasts after the females haue brought forth males within one yeare after they doo accompany with their dammes which brought them forth Strabo in the situation of the world and Seneca in an Epistle say That the Lydes and the Armenians hadde a custome to send their Daughters to the Riuers and Hauens of the Sea to get their Marriages selling their bodyes to straungers so that those which would Marrie were first forced to sell heyr virginitie The Romaines which in all their affaires and businesses were more Sage and modest then other Nations vsed much circumspection in all their mariages For they kept it as an ancient lawe and vse accustomed that euery Romaine should marrie with one woman and no moe For euen as to keepe two wiues among the Christians is a great charge of conscience so was it deemed amongst the Romaines much infamie Amongst the auncient and renowmed Orators of Rome one was called Metellus Numidicus the which one day making his Oration to the Senate sayd these words Worthie Senatours I let you vnderstand that I haue greatly fludyed what the counsels shuld be that I ought to giue yee touching marriage For the counsel rashand sudden oftentimes is not profitable I doe not perswade you at all to marrie neyther yet doe say that yee shall not marrie but it is true that if ye can liue without a woman yee shall bee free from manie troubles But what shall wee doe O yea Romains since that Nature hath made vs such that to keepe women it is a great trouble and to liue without them it is more danger I dare say if in this case my opinion might bee accepted that it should not bee euill done to resist the lust since it commeth by fits and not to take Wiues which are continuall troubles These were the wordes which Metellus Numidicus spake the which were not very acceptable nor pleasant to the Fathers beeing in the Senate for they would not that hee should haue spoken such wordes against Mariage For there is no estate in this life wherein Fortune sheweth her force more then in this state of Matrimonie A man may proue them in this sort that if the fashions and vsages of the ancients were diuers as concerning ordinance truely there was no lesse contrarietie in theyr contracts and ceremonies Boccace the Florentine in a Booke that he made of the Marriages of the auncients reciteth manie and sundrie customs that they vsed in making the Marriages whereof hee telleth some not for to follow or maintaine them but to reproue and condemne them For the writers did neuer write the vices of some but onely to make the vertues of others more cleerely to be knowne The Cymbres had a custome that when they would Marrie after the marriage was agreed vpon hee that was made sure should pare his nayles and send them to his wife that should bee and she in like sort sent hers vnto him And then when she of him and hee of her had receyued the nayles the one of the other they betooke themselues Marryed for euer and did afterwardes liue together as man and wife The Theutonians had a ceremony that the man that was sure rounded the hayre of her to whome hee was made sure and shee did the like vnto him and when the one suffered the other to doe so immediately they celebrated Marriage The Armenians had a law that the Bridegroom shuld pinch the right eare of the Bride and the Bride should likewise pinche the left eare of the Bride-groome and then they tooke themselues marryed for euer The Elamites had a custome that both parties which were made sure pricked one the others little finger vntill they bledde the which bloud they did sucke naturally this done they were marryed The Numidians vsed that the Bryde-groome and the Bryde should gather together a piece of Earth and with theyr spittle they tempered it and therewith the one annointed the forehead of the other so that the Marriage betweene them was to annoynt the one and the other with a little clay When those of Dace would be marryed the Bride-groome and the Bryde each one of themselues were brought in Charryots the one meeting the other and when they came together the Bryde-groome gaue a newe name to the Bride and shee likewise to him and from that time forwardes they liued as in lawfull Matrimonie When they of Hungarie would marrie the one sent vnto the other a familiar god made of siluer whom they called Lares and when they had receyued the God of each other the marriage was finished and they liued as man and wife The Siconians had a custome and lawe that when they should marrie the one sent to the other a shooe and that receyued of both they agreed
to the marriage The Tharentines had a custome that when they did marrie they set themselues at the table to eate and the one did feed the other so that if by mishappe the one should chance to feed himselfe that marriage was not esteemed for constant nor good The Scythians had a custome and they kept it as a law that when men and women should Marrie as nowe they touch the hands the one of the other so did they touch with their feete afterwardes they set together their knees then they touched with their hands and then they set theyr buttocks together and so their heads and in the ende they embraced the one the other All these ceremonies done the Marriages were assured and sufficiently confirmed and so we might say of manie others but to auoyde tediousnes wee will follow our matter CHAP. IIII. How Princesses and great Ladyes ought to loue theyr Husbands and that loue ought not by Coniurations and Enchauntments to be procured but by wisedome honestie and vertue desired ALl men that desire to atchieue and obtayne anie worthie thing in this life inuent and search manie meanes to come thervnto for men by good prouision and circumspection compasse sundrie things which otherwise they should lose vnlesse they would by force take them As in the marriages of our Christian Religion wherein wee doe not suffer that the man and the wife be parents and nigh of bloud leauing apart that the one is a man and the other a woman that the one is strong and the other weake oft times it chaunceth that there is betweene the man and the wife more contrariety in conditions then diuersitie in Linage I would say therefore for healthfull counsell and necessarie aduise to the great Dames and Princesses and to all other wiues since they must needs eate and drinke with their husbands that they must sleepe treate bee conuersant and talke and finally liue and dye with theyr Husbands that they vse much diligēce to beare with their conditions For to say the troth the wife ought in all things to follow the conditions of her husband and the husband in some things to beare with the conditions of his wife So that shee by her patience ought to suffer the imperfections of him and he likewise by his wisdome ought to dissemble the importunities of her and in such sort they ought to agree loue together that all those of the Common-wealth should reioyce at theyr behauiors For marryed men which are quarrellers and seditious persons the Neighbours in stead of weeping and wayling for the depriuation of their life demaund gifts the one of the other for bringing newes of their death Admit that the Husband be couetous and vnthrifty that he be deformed in his bodie that hee be rude in condition base of linage rash in his speech in aduersities fearefull in prosperities carelesse in the ende being as he is Husband we cannot denie but in the house he ought to bee chiefe maister For the which it is also necessarie that wee giue now vnto rhe Wiues some healthfull counsell whereby they may beare and suffer quietly such great troubles For at this day there is no Husband so louing nor so vertuous in whome the wife shall not finde some euill conditions First of all wiues ought to endeuor themselues to loue their husbands vnfamedly if they desire their husbands should loue them without dissimulation for as we see by experience Mariage is seldome broken through pouertie nor yet continued with riches For the euill marryed folkes through debate and strife be separated in one week wheras by good tru loue they are preserued al the daies of their life To eate drie and vnsauory meates they vse to take salt for to amend it I meane that the burdens of matrimonie are many and troublesome the which all with loue onely may be endured For as Plato the diuine Phylosopher sayeth One thing ought not to bee called more painefull then another for the labour we therevnto employbut for the great or smal loue that therevnto wee haue Though some sundrie things bee troublesome and tedious yet when with loue it is begunne it is easily followed and ioyfully atchieued For that trauell is nothing noysome where loue is the mediator I know right well and doe confesse that the counsell which I giue to women is sharpe that is for an honest woman to loue a dissolute man for a sage wife to loue a foolish husbād for a vertuous wife to loue a vitious husband For as daily experience sheweth there are some men of so foolish conditions and other women of so noble conuersation that by reason apparent they ought to take them for Mistresses rather then they should accept them for Husbands Although this in some particular cases is true I say and affirme that generally all women are bound to loue their Husbands since that willingly and not by compulsion they were not enforced to take them For in like manner if the Marryage pleased not the Woman shee hath not so much cause to complaine of her Husband for asking her as she hath reason to complaine of her owne selfe that accepted him For the misfortunes that by our owne follie doe chaunce although we haue cause to lament them wee ought also to haue reason to dissemble them Bee the man neuer so wilde and euil brought vp it is impossible if the wife loue him but he must needs loue her againe And though perchaunce hee cannot force his euill conditions to loue her yet at the least he shall haue no occasion to hate her The which ought not to bee little esteemed For there are many wiues not onely of the Plebeians but also of the noble Dames that could be content to forgiue their Husbands all the pleasures they should doe them and also all the loue that they ought to shewe if they would refraine theyr Tongues from speaking iniurious wordes and keepe their hands from dealing lothsome stripes We haue many notable examples in hystories of mane Noble and stoute Ladyes as well Greekes as Romaines which after they were marryed had so great faithfulnes and bare such loyaltie to their husbands that they not onely followed them in their trauells but also deliuered them in their dangers Plutarch in the booke of the noble women declareth that the Lacedemonians keeping many Nobles of the Athenians prisoners which at that time were their cruell mortall enemies and being iudged to die their wiues concluded to goe to the prison where they lay and in the end they obtained of the Gayler therof that they might goe in and talke with their husbands for indeed the teares were manie that were shed and the gifts were not few which vnto them were offered The Wiues therfore entring into the prison did not onely change their apparell with their Husbands but also the liberty of their persons for they went out as women the women in their steads remained there as men And
dyed Truely this case was no lesse to be lamented then the other for so much as Gaius lost his Sister the Husband lost his Wife and his Childe and the wife and the childe lost their liues and for that that Rome lost so Noble and excellent a Romane and aboue all for that it chaunced in such a time of so great ioy and pleasure For there can come no vnluckier newes then in the time of much myrth to heare tell of any great mischance Of this matter mention is made in Blandus in the book of the declinatioÌ„ of the Empire The second warre of Affrike which was betweene Rome and Carthage was in the 540. yeares after the Foundation of Rome wherein were Captaines Paulus Emilius and Publius Varro the which two Consulls fought the great and famous bloudy Battell of Cannas in the Prouince of Apulia I say famous because Rome neuer lost such Nobilitie and Romaine youth as shee lost in that day Of these two Consulles Paulus Emilius in the Battell was slayne and Publius Varro was ouercome and the most couragious Hanniball remained conquerour of the Field wherein dyed xxx Senatours and 300. officers of the Senate and aboue xl thousand footmen and three thousand horsemen Finally the end of all the Roman people had been that day if Hannibal had had the witte to haue followed so noble a victory as he had the courage to giue so cruell a Battell A litle before that Publius Varro departed to goe to the warres hee was married to a faire and young Romaine called Sophia and within seuen moneths shee was quicke and as newes was brought her that Paulus Aemilius was dead and her husband ouercome she died suddenly the creature remaining aliue in her bodie This case aboue all was very pittifull in that that after he himselfe was vanquished and and that he had seene his companion the Consull Emilius slaine with so great a number of the Romane people Fortune would that with his own eyes he should behold the entrailes of his wife cut to take out the Childe and likeewise to see the Earth opened to burie his wife Titus Liuius saith that Publius Varro remained so sorrowfull in his heart to see himselfe ouercome of his enemyes and to see his wife so suddenly and so vnluckely stricken with death that all the time that his life endured he neyther combed his beard slept in bed nor dined at the Table and hereat we ought not to maruel for a man in his hart may be so wounded in one houre that hee shall neuer reioyce all the dayes of his life If wee put no doubts in Titus Liuius the Romaines had long and tedious warres against the Samnites which endured for the space of lxiii yeares contiually vntill such time as the Consull Ancus Rutilius who was a vertuous man did set a good appointment of peace between the Samnites and the Romanes For the noble stout harts ought alwaies by vertue to bring their enemies to peace These warres therfore being so cruell and obstinate Titus Venurius and Spurius Posthuminus which were Romaine Captains were ouercome by Pontius the valiant Captaine of the Samnites who after the victorie did a thing neuer seene nor heard of before That is to say that all the Romaine prisoners whom hee tooke hee put about theyr necks a yoke wherein was written In spight of Rome the Romaines shall be subtects to the yoke of the Samnites Wherewith indeed the Romains were greatly iniuried wherefore they sought stoutto be reueÌ„ged of the Samnites for the harts that are haughty proud caÌ„not suffer that others haue theyr mindes lofty and high The Romaines therefore created to bee Captaine of the Warre one named Lucius Papirius who had Commission to goe against the Samnites This Lucius was more Fortunate in his doings then comely of his person for he was deformed of his face notwithstanding hee did so good seruice in the warre and Fortune fauoured him so well that he did not onely ouercome and vanquish but also destroyed them and though the iniurie which the Samnites did to the Romaines was great yet truely the iniurie which the Romaines did to the Samnites was much greater For Fortune is so variable that those which yesterday we saw in most prosperitie too day wee see in greatest aduersitie This Lucius Papirius therfore did not only vanquish the Samnites kept them prisoners and made yokes for theyr neckes but also he bound them with cords together in such sort that they made them plough the ground drawing two and two a plough And yet not herewith conteÌ„ted but with gads they pricked and tormented them If the Samnites had had pitie of the Romaines beeing ouercome the Romaines likewise would haue taken compassion of them when they were Conquerours And therefore the prosperous haue as much neede of good counsell as the miserable haue neede of remedie For the man which is not merciful in his prosperitie hee ought not to maruel though he finde no friendes in his necessitie This Lucius Papirius had a Daughter maried to a Senator of Rome who was called Torquatus and she was called Ypolita And about that time that she should haue bene deliuered shee went forth to receiue her Father the which she ought not to haue don for the throng of the people in receiuing him being great and she herselfe being great with child by a most heauie chaunce as she would haue passed in at a narrow gate shee was so prest in the throng that she chaunged her life for death and her Father turned his mâ—th and ioy into sorrow and sadnes For he tooke the death of his daughter very heauilie and so much the more because it was so suddenly I say hee tooke it heauily since he was so stoute a man and so Sage withall that all Rome thought much that any such sudden chaunce should haue dismayed so worthie a man that of his wisedome he could take no benefite but heereat let no man maruell For ther are many that haue harts to shed the bloud of their enemies and yet caÌ„not withholde the teares of their eyes Annius Seuerus in the third booke De infelieitate Fortuna saith that the day that this wofull mishap chaunced to Lucius Papirius hee lift vp his eyes to the Heauens and weeping saide Oh Fortune deceiuer of all mortall men thou madest mee to conquere in warre to the intent to ouercome me in peace My mind was to declare vnto you all these ancients hystories to the end that al may know how tender women with childe are and how diligent their Husbands ought to bee to preserue them since there is nothing so tender to be kept nor any glasse so easie to be broken For there is much glasse that thogh it fall to the ground yet it doeth not breake but a woman with Childe onely for treading her foote awry we see with daunger to be deliuered CHAP. XI That Women great with childe and especially Princesses great
the proofe of this it needeth not books to read but onely our eyes to see how the brute Beasts for the most part when their females are bigge do not touch them nor yet the Females suffer them to be touched I meane that the Noble and high Estates ought to absent thēselues from their wiues carnally being great with childe and hee that in this case shall shewe himselfe most temperate shall of all men be deemed most vertuous I doe not speake this to the ende it should binde a man or that it were an offence then to vse the companie of his wife but vnto men that are vertuous I giue it as a counsell For some things ought to bee done of necessitie and others ought to be eschued for honestie Dyodorus Siculus saieth that in the Realme of Mauritania there were so few men and so many women that euery man had fiue wiues where there was a law among them that no man should marrie vnder three wiues furthermore they had a wonderfull and foolish custome that when any Husband died one of those women shuld cast herselfe quicke into the graue and be buried with him And if that within a moneth she did it not or that she dyed not by iustice shee was openly put to death saying that it is more honestie to bee in companie with her Husband in the graue then it is to be alone in her house In the Isles of Baleares the contrary is seene for there increase so many men and so few women that for one woman there was seuen men and so they had a custome especially amongst the poore that one woman should bee marryed with fiue men For the rich men sent to seeke for women in other strange Realmes wherfore then Merchants came heauie loaden with women as now they doe with marchandize to sell Vpon which occasion there was a custome in those Isles that for as much as there were so few women when any woman with childe drew neere the seuen monethes they were seperated from their husbands and shutte and locked vp in the Temples where they gaue them such things as were necessary for them of the common treasure For the ancients had their Gods in such veneration that they would not permit any person to eate that which he brought but of that which vnto the Gods of the Temple was offered At that time the Barbarous kept theit wiues locked in the Church because the Gods hauing them in their Temples should bee more mercifull vnto them in their deliuerie and also to cause them to auoyde the dangers at that time and besides that because they tooke it for a great villany that the women during that time should remaine with their husbands The famous and renowmed Philosopher Pulio in the fift Booke De moribus antiquorum said That in the Realme of Pannonia which now is Hungarie the women that were great with childe were so highly esteemed that when any went out of her house all those which mette with her were bound to returne backe with her and in such sort as wee at this present doe reuerence the holy Communion so did these Barbarous then the women with childe The women of Carthage being with childe when Carthage was Carthage had as great priuileges as now our Sanctuaries haue for the safegard of misdoers for in times past all such offenders as could enter into the house where a woman lay in child-bed should haue beene free from correction of Iustice As Fronto saith in his Booke of the Veneration of the Gods the Gallois Transalpins did not only honor reuerence the women with childe but also with much care and diligence watched her deliuery for it little auaileth the Shippe to haue passed safe the dangerous Seas if at the Shore she be cast away The case was in this sort that al the ancient Gentiles honored some gods in their Temples and kept other in their houses the which were called Lares and Penates and when any woman began to labour each neighbour brought his familiar god vnto her to present her with all because they thought that the more gods there were of so much more power they were to keepe her from perills Speaking like a Christian Truely those gods were of small value since they could not helpe the woman safely to be deliuered that was in trauaile CHAP. XII What the Philosopher Pisto was and of the Rules hee gaue concerning women with childe IN the time of Octauian the Emperour was a Philosopher called Pisto which was of the sect of Pithagoras and when Rome flourished he was very familiar with the Emperour Octauian and well beloued of all the people which ought not to be a little esteemed for he which of the Prince is most fauored commonly of the people is much hated This Emperour Octauian was a Prince very desirous of all vertuous things so that when he dined with his Captaines he spake of Warre when he supped with the Sages hee reasoned of the Sciences and he that vttered any dishonest or idle word in his presence hee alwaies afterward tooke him as his enemie This Pisto was very graue in waightie affaires very pleasant in slents and jests and oft times he was demanded many questions of the Emperour whereof the answeres of some according to the demands and questions here followeth The Emperour sayd to Pisto Of all these that liueth whom takest thou to be most Foole To whom the Philosopher answered In my opinion I take him to be most foole of whose word there commeth no profite for truely he is not so very a foole that flingeth stones into the winde as he that vttereth vaine words Tell me Pisto Whom ought wee of right to desire to speake whom of right to command to be silent He answered It is good when speech doth profite and good to keepe silence when speech is hurtfull for the one desiring to maintaine the good and the other to defend the euill warres begin throughout all the world Tell mee Pisto from what thing ought the fathers most to keepe their children He sayd In my opinion parents ought in nothing to watch so much as to keepe them from being vicious for the father ought rather to haue his sonne dye well then to liue euill Tell me Pisto What shall man do if hee be brought to this extremitie That if he speake truth hee condemneth himselfe and if hee make a lye he saueth himselfe The vertuous man said he ought rather to choose to be ouercome by truth then to ouercome by lyes for it is vnpossible that a man which is a lyer should continue long in prosperity Tell me Pisto What shall men do to obtaine rest He answered As I thinke the man cannot haue rest vnlesse he forsake worldly affayres for the men that are occupied with weightie affaires cannot be without great cares or alwaies accompanied of great troubles Tell me Pisto wherein a man sheweth himselfe to be most wise He answered
There is no greater proofe to know a wise man then if he be patient to suffer the ignorant for in suffering an iniurie the heart is more holpen by wisedome then by knowledge Tell mee Pisto What is that thing that the vertuous man may lawfully desire He answered All that is good so that it be not to the preiudice of any other may honestly be desired but in my opinion that onely ought to bee desired which openly without shame may bee demanded Tell me Pisto What shall men do with their wiues when they are great with childe to cause that the child in safetie may be deliuered He answered In the world there is nothing more perillous iben to haue the charge of a woman with childe for if the husband serue her hee hath paine and trauaile and if perchance hee doe not content her she is in danger In this case the wiues of Rome and their husbands also ought to be very diligent and to the things following more carefull the which I shew them more for counsell then for commandement for good counsell ought to haue as much authoritie in the vertuous as the commandement hath in the vicious Thou Octauian as thou art a mercifull and a pittifull Emperour and that thou keepest thy Neece Collucia great with childe I know thou desirest that shee had presently good and lucky deliuery and that shee were deliuered of her paine all the which thou shalt see if thou dost marke these things that I will shew thee heere following First the woman ought to beware of dancing leaping and running for leaping oftentimes maketh man to lose his speach and women with childe to lose their life wherefore it is not reason that the folly of the mother should bee permitted to put in hazzard the life of the child The second the woman being with childe ought to beware that shee be not so hardy to enter into Gardens where there is much fruit and that for eating too many shee bee not ill deliuered for it is no reason that the lycorousnes of the mother be punished with the death of the childe The third the woman with childe ought to beware of ouer hard lacing her selfe about the middle for many Romane Dames for to seeme proper doe weare their Gownes so straite that it is an occasion to kill their creatures which is a heynous matter that the young babe should lose his life because his mother should seeme pretty The fourth the women with childe ought to beware of eating in a great Banquet for oft times there commeth a suddaine deliuerance onely through eating without measure and it is not meete that for tasting a thing of little value the mother and the childe should both lose their liues The fift the woman being with child ought to beware that she giueth no eare to any sudden newes for shee is in more danger for hearing a thing that grieueth her then for suffering long sicknesse that payneth her and it were vniust that for knowing of a trifling matter the mother that is to be deliuered and the child that is to be borne should both in one moment perish The sixt the woman with childe ought to beware that she goe not by any meanes to any Feasts where there shall bee any great assembly of people for oft times the woman with childe seeing her to bee much thrust and prest being not able to say I am here may immediately dye in the place and it is not reason but an vniust thing that the woman for the desire to see the children of others should make of her owne Orphanes The seuenth the husband ought to beware that she being with childe bee not deneyd any honest thing that shee doth minde for ingranting her it cannot cost him much but in denying her hee may lose much and it would not bee iust that since in her bringing foorth she honoreth and increaseth the Common-wealth of Rome that Rome should condiscend that any woman with child should receiue any hurt or dishonour These bee the answeres that Pisto made the Emperour Octauian the which hee gaue as Rules to women with childe which being so kept I do assure you that the great Ladyes should deliuer themselues from many perils the husbands also should escape from many sorrowes Concluding therefore that which aboue all is spoken I say that Princesses and great Ladies when they are with childe ought to bee more warie and circumspect then other meane women for where man hopeth to haue most profit there ought he most to be carefull The Authour of this is Pulio in his third Booke De moribus antiquorū Sextus Cheronsnsis in his fift booke De legibus domesticis CHAP. XIII Of three Counsels which Lucius Seneca gaue vnto a Secretarie his friend who serued the Emperour Nero and how the Emperour Marcus Aurelius disposed all the houres of the day THe Emperour Nero had a Secretary called Emilius Varro the which being in Rome builded a sumptuous house ioyning vnto the Gate of Salaria whereunto hee inuited one day Lucius Seneca to a banquet to the end the house might bee more fortunate for the Romanes had a prophecie That according to the good or ill lucke of him that first entred into a new house so should it continually be luckie or vnluckie Lucius Seneca graunted to the request of his friend Emilius Varro and when they had well eaten they went both to see this new building shewing vnto Lucius Seneca all things at the last the Secretary sayd thus vnto Seneca Those betweene both are for Guests those Halles are for Merchants Suitors these Secrets are for Women those Chambers are for Knights those Galleries which are couered are to auoide the Sunne this lowest part here is for Horses the Sellers are for the Buttry in the end he shewed him the whole house for the furnishing whereof they lacked not one jot After the Secretarie Emilius Varro had shewed him all his house hee looked when his Guest Seneca would greatly praise and commend it but he as though hee knew nothing sayd vnto Emilius Varro as he went out of the dores Whose house is this Wherevnto Emilius answered How now Seneca canst thou not tell I haue employed all my goods in building this house and haue led thee all about to see it and I haue told thee that it is mine and yet dost thou aske me againe whose it is Lucius Seneca answered Thou hast shewed vs the house for strangers the house for sleues the house for women the house for horses and in all this house thou hast not shewed me one little part for thy selfe but that another man doth enter into it for if thou hast any interest therein they haue the best thereof which is the possession I account thee a wise man I doe account thee a man of vnderstanding and allso I know that with all thy heart thou art my friend and since I haue beene bidden to day by the it is but reason that
proper pappes and when thou diddest cast mee from thee out of thy sight shee receiued mee and nourished mee in her proper armes Fifthly Women ought to enforce themselues to nourish their children to the end they may keepe them the better and that in their cradles they be not changed for others Aristotle sayth that the Cuckow commêth to the nest of another bird when she hath laid her eggs and sucketh them and layeth in the same place her owne egges so that the other birde thinking that they are her owne hatcheth and nourisheth them vp as her owne vntill such time as they are able to flye then the Cuckow killeth and eateth the silly bird that hath nourished her through the which occasiō the males of those birds are at so great contention that they haue beene so deceiued that the one of them killeth the other the which they might let if euery bird did nourish her owne In the same time that Philip raigned in Macedonia which was the father of Alexander the great Arthebanus was King of the Epirotes who in his age had a child borne the which was stolne out of the Cradle and another put in his stead The Nurse which did nourish it through couetousnes of mony consented to that treason for the heart that is with couerousnes ouercome will not feare to commit any treason It chanced not long after that King Arthebanus dyed and left as hee thought his owne sonne for his heire but within few dayes after the Nurse her selfe which had consented vnto the robberie discouered the theft and sayd that shee could tell where the lawfull childe of the good King Arthebanus was and that that child which now was Heire was but the sonne of a meane Knight but indeed it had beene better for those of the miserable Realme that the woman had neuer discouered the secret for it chanceth oft times that a man maketh such haste off his horse that he hurteth his leg and through that occasion afterwards falleth and breaketh his necke But what shall we say to the Plebeicall women of base and meane estate I doe not meane the Noble Gentle and vertuous Ladies whereof they are many that though in great secret their chiefest friend telleth them any thing yet before they drinke they will vtter it to another Thus when the treason was discouered cruell warres betweene these two Princes beganne so that in the end in a great battaile they were both slayne the one in defending and the other in assaulting At that time Olimpias raigned who was the fayre and worthy wife of Philip and mother of Alexander Shee had a Brother named Alexander who was both pollitike hardy and hearing the Epirotes were in conrouersie and that two Kings were slaine in the field he placed himself in the Realme more of wil then of right And let no man maruell that this King occupyed the Realme for in the old time all the tyrrannous Princes thought that all that which they could obtaine without resistance did vnto them belong by Iustice This King Alexander was he which came into Italy in the fauour of the Tarentines when they rebelled against the Romanes who afterward was slaine in battel at Capua where his body was vnburied And truly it was a iust sentence that the tirant which beteaueth many of their liues should himselfe taste some shamefull death I haue declared this Historie to this end that Princesses and great Ladies should see that if the wife of King Arthehanus had nourished his sonne they could not haue robbed it in the Cradle nor these two Princes had not beene slayne in battaile nor the Common-wealth had not beene destroyed nor Alexander had not entred into the Land of another nor had not come to conquer the Country of Italy nor the dead corps had not wanted his graue for oft times it chanceth for not quenching a little coale of fire a whole Forrest and house is burned The diuine Plato among the Greeks and Licurgus among the Lacedemonians commanded and ordayned in all their lawes That all the Plebeica women and those of mean estate should nourish all their children and that those which were Princesses great Ladyes should at the least nourish their eldest and first begotten Plutarch in the booke of The raigne of Princes saith That the sixth King of the Lacedemonians was Thomistes the which when hee dyed left two children of which the second inherited the Realme because the Queene her selfe had brought it vp and the first did not inherite becaue a strange Nurse had giuen it sucke and brought it vp And hereof remained a custome in the most part of the Realmes of Asia that the childe which was not nourished with the papps of his mother should inherite none of his mothers goods There was neuer nor neuer shall be a mother that had such a Sonne as the Mother of God which had Iesus Christ nor there was neuer nor neuer shall be a sonne which had such a mother in the world But the Infant would neuer sucke other milke because hee would not bee bound to call any other mother nor the mother did giue him to nourish to any other mother because that no other woman should call him sonne I do not maruell at all that Princesses and great Ladies doe giue their children foorth to nourish but that which most I maruell at is that shee which hath conceiued and brought foorth a childe is ashamed to giue it sucke and to nourish it I suppose that the Ladies do think that they deserue to conceiue them in their wombs that they sinne in nourishing them in their armes I cannot tell how to write and much lesse how to vtter that which I would say which is that women are now adayes come into such folly that they thinke esteeme it a state to haue in their armes some little dogs and they are ashamed to nourish and giue their children sucke with their owne brests O cruell mothers I cannot thinke that your harts can bee so stony to endure to see and keepe fantastic all Birds in cages vnhappy Monkeys in the windowes fisting Spaniels betweene your armes and so neglect and despise the sweete Babes casting them out of your houses where they were borne and to put them into a strange place where they are vnknowne It is a thing which cannot be in nature neither that honestie can endure conscience permit nor yet consonant either to diuine or humane lawes that those which GOD hath made Mothers of children should make themselues Nurses of dogges Iunius Rusticus in the third booke of the sayings of the Ancients saith that Marcus Porcio whose life and doctrine was a lanthorne and example to the Romane people as a man much offended said on a day to the Senate O Fathers conscript O cursed Rome I cannot tel what now I should say sith I haue seene in Rome such monstrous things that is to say to see women carry Parrots on their fists to see
she seeth him who after her death ought to haue the charge of her affayres and businesse Concluding therefore that which aboue is spoken I say that which the great Plutarch saide from whom I haue drawn the most part of this chapter that the mother to bee a good Mother ought to haue and keepe her Childe in her armes to nourish him and afterwards when he shal be great she ought to haue him in her hart to helpe him For we see oft times great euills ensue to the Mother and to the Childe because she did not bring him vp her selfe and to put him to nourish to a straunge breast there commeth neither honour nor profite CHAP. XX. ¶ That Princesses great Ladyes ought to bee very circumspect in choosing of their Nurses Of seuen propertyes which a good Nurse should haue THose which ordayned Lawes for the people to liue were these Promotheans which gaue lawes to the Egyptians Solon Solinon to the Greekes Moyses to the Iewes Lycurgus to the Lacedemonians and Numa Pompilius to the Romains for before these Princes came their people were not gouerned by written lawes but by good auncient customes The intention of these Excellent Princes was not to giue lawes to their predecessors for they were now dead neyther they gaue theÌ„ onely for those which liued in their time being wicked but also for those which were to come whome they did prestippose would not be good For the more the World increaseth in yeares so much the more it is loaden with vices By this that I haue spoken I meane that if the Princesses and great Ladies euery one of them would Nourish their owne childe I neede not to giue them counsell But since I haue supposed that the women which shall be deliuered hereafter will be as proude and vaine-glorious as those which were in times past We will not let to declare here some Lawes and aduises how the Ladie ought to behaue her selfe with her Nurce and how the Nurce ought to content her selfe with the creature For it is but iust that if the mother be cruell and hardie to forsake the creature that she be sage pitifull and aduised to chose her Nurce If a man finde great treasure and afterwards care not how to keepe it but doeth commit into the hands of suspected persons truly we would call him a foole For that which naturally is beloued is alwayes of all best kept The Woman ought more wisely to keepe the treasure of her own bodie then the treasure of all the Earth if she had it And the Mother which doth the contrarie and that committeth her Childe to the custodie of a straunge Nurce not to her whome shee thinketh best but whom she findeth best cheape we will not call her a foolish beast for that name is too vnseemly out we will call her a sotte which is somewhat more honester One of the things that doth make vs most belieue that the ende of the world is at hand is to see the little loue which the mother doth beare to the childe being young and to see the want of loue which the Childe hath beare to his Mother being aged That which the childe doeth to the Father and Mother is the iust iudgement of God that euen as the Father would not nourish the child in his house being young so likewise that the sonne should not suffer the Father in his house he being olde Returning therefore to the matter that sith the woman doth determine to drie and shut vp the fountaines of milke which Nature hath giuen her shee ought to bee very diligent to search out a good nurse the which ought not only to content herselfe to haue her milke whole but also that shee be good of life For otherwise the childe shal not haue so much profite by the which hee sucketh as the nurse shall doe it harme if shee bee a woman of an euill life I doe aduise Princesses and great Dames that they watch diligently to knowe what their Nurses are before they commit their children to them for if such Nurses be euill and slaundered they are as Serpents which doe byte the Mother with their mouth and do sting the childe with her taile In my opinion it were lesse euill the Mother should suffer that her Childe should perish in deliuering it then for to keepe in her house an euill woman For the sorrow of the death of the Childe is forgotten and brought to nought in time but the slaunder of her house shall endure as long as shee liueth Sextus Cheronensis sayeth that the Emperor Marcus Aurelius commanded his Sonne to be brought vp of a woman the which was more faire theÌ„ vertuous And when the good Emperour was aduertised thereof he did not onely send her from his Pallace but also hee banished and exiled her from Rome swearing that if she had not nourished his Sonne with her pappes he would haue commaunded her to haue been torne in pieces with Beasts For the woman of an euill renowme may iustly bee condemned and put to death Princesses and great Ladyes ought not greatly to passe whether the nurses be faire or fowle For if the milke be sweete white and tender it little skilleth though the face of the Nurse be white or blacke Sextus Cheronensis saith in the booke of the nurture of children that euen as the black Earth is more fertile then is the white earth So likewise the Woman which is browne in countenance hath alwayes the most substantiall milke Paulus Dyaconus in his greatest Hystorie saieth that the Emperour Adocerus did Marrie himselfe with the daughter of another Emperour his predecessor called Zeno and the Empresse was called Arielna The which in bringing forth a Sonne had a woman of Hungarie maruellous faire to nourish it and the case succeeded in such sort that the Nurse for beeing faire had by the Emperor iij. children the one after the other and his wofull Wife neuer had any but the first alone A man ought to belieue that the Empresse Arielna did not only repent her selfe for taking into her house so faire a Nurse but also was sorry that euer shee had any at all sith the Ribalde thereby was Mistresse in the house and she remained without husband all her life I doe not say it for that there are not many foule women vicious nor yet because there are not many faire women vertuous but that Princesses and great Ladyes according to the qualities of their Husbands ought to bee profitable and tender Nurses to bring vp their Children For in this case there are some men of so weake a complexion that in seeing a little cleane water immediately they die to drinke thereof Let therefore this be the first counsell in choosing Nurses that the Nurse before shee enter into the house be examined if shee be honest and vertuous For it is a trysâ—e whether the Nurse be faire or foule but that she be of a good life and of an honest behauiour
our time and that wee hadde deserued to haue beene in their time although our time for being Christians is better they had saued vs from this trauell For they were so temperate in eating meates and so abstinent in drinking wines that they did not only refraine the drinking thereof but also they would not abide to smell it For it was counted a greater shame vnto a Romane Woman to drinke wine then to be diuorced from her Husband Dyonisius Alicarnaseus in his booke of the lawes of the Romaines said that Romulus was the first founder of Rome and that hee occupyed himselfe more in buylding faire Houses to amplifye Rome then in constituting Lawes for the gouernement of the Common-wealth But amongst fifteene Lawes which hee made the seuenth thereof was that no Romaine woman on paine of death should be so hardie to drinke wine within the walls of Rome The same Hystorian sayth that by the occasion of this Law the custome was in Rome that when any Romane Ladie would drinke wine or make any solemne feast she must needs goe out of Rome where euery one had theyr Gardens and dwelling place because the smel also of Wine was prohibited and forbidden women within the circuit of Rome If Plinie do not deceiue vs in his 24. booke of his natural historie it was an ancient custom in Rome that at each time that Parents met both men and women they did kisse the one the other in the face in token of peace and this ceremonie beganne first for that they would smell whether the woman had drunke any wine And if perchance she sauored of wine the Censor might haue bannished her from Rome And if her kinsman found her without Rome hee might freely without any daunger of law put her to death because within the Circuit and walles of Rome no priuate man by Iustice could put any Romaine to death as aboue is rehearsed Romulus was he which ordained the paine for Drunkardes and Ruptilius was hee which ordained the penaltie for Adulterers And betweene Romulus and Ruptilius there was xxxii yeares So that they ordyaned this streight Law for Drunkardes a long time before they did the law for adulterers For if a woman be a drunkard or Harlot truely they are both great faultes and I cannot tell whether of them is worst For being a harlot the woman loseth her name and for being a drunkarde shee loseth her fame and the Husband his goods Then if women for the honestie of their pesons onely are bound to bee temperate in eating and drinking the woman which nourisheth and giueth the Childe sucke ought to bee much more corrected and sober in this case For in her is concurrant not only the grauity of their own persons but the health and life also of the Creature which she nourisheth Therefore it is meete that the Nurse bee kept from wine since the honor of the one and the life of the other is in perill Sixtly the Princesses and great Ladyes ought to take heede that theyr Nurses be not gotten with child And the reason hereof is that in that time when the woman is with Childe her naturall course is stopped and that corruption is mingled with the pure bloud So that shee thinking to giue the childe milke to nourish it giueth it poyson to destroy it And nothing can bee more vniust then to put the childe which is alreadie borne and aliue in danger for that which is as yet vnborne and dead It is a wonderfull thing for a man that will curiously note and mark things to see the brute beasts that all the time they bring vp theyr little ones they will not consent to accompanie with the Males nor the males will follow the females And that which is most to hee noted it is to see what passeth betweene the Byrds for the she Sparrow will not suffer the Male in any wise to touch nor to come neere her vntill her little ones be great able to flie and much lesse to sit vpon any Egges to hatche them till the other be fled and gone Plutarch in the seuenth of his Regiment of Princes saith that Gneus Fuluius Couzin germaine of Pompeyus beeing Consull in Rome fell in loue with a young maidē of Capua being an orphā whether he fled for the plague This Mayden was called Sabina and when she was great with child by this Consull shee brought forth a daughter whom they called faire Drusia truely she was more commended for her beautie then shee was for her honestie For oft times it happeneth that the fayre and dishonest women leaue their Children so euill taught that of their Mothers they inherite little goods and much dishonour This Sabina therefore beeing deliuered as it was the custome of Rome she did with her own breasts nourish her daughter Drusia During the which time shee was gotten with childe by one of the Knights of this Consul to whome as to his Seruant hee had giuen her to keepe Wherefore when the Consull was heereof aduertised and that notwithstanding she gaue her daughter suck he commanded that the knight shold be immediatly beheaded his louer Sabina forthwith to be cast into a wel The day of Execution came that both these parties should suffer wherfore the wofull Sabina sent to beseech the Consull that it would please him before her death to giue her audience of one sole worde that shee would speake vnto him the which beeing come in the presence of them all shee said vnto him O Gneus Fuluius know thou that I did not call thee to the ende thou shouldest graunt me life but because I would not die before I had seene thy face though thou of thy selfe shouldest remember that as I am a frayle Woman and fell into sinne with thee in Capua so I might fall now as I haue done with another here in Rome For wee Women are so fraile in this case during the time of this our miserable life that none can keepe herselfe sure from the assaultes of the weake Flesh The Consull Gneus Fuluius to these words answered The Gods immortall know Sabina what griefe it is to my wofull hart that I of my secret offence should be an open scourge For greater honestie it is for men to hyde your frailnesse then openly to punish your offences But what wilt thou I should doe in this case considering the offence thou hast committed By the immortall Gods I sweare vnto thee and again I sweare that I had rather thou shouldest secretly haue procured the death of some man thē that openly in this wise thou shouldst haue slaunderd my house For thou knowest the true meaning of the common prouerbe in Rome It is better to die in honour then to liue in infamie And think not Sabina that I do condemne thee to die because thou forgotest thy Faith vnto my person and that thou gauest thy selfe vnto him which kept thee For since thou wert not my wife the liberty thou haddest
be aduertised that since in not nourishing their children they shew themselues cruel yet at the least in prouiding for thē good Nurses they shold shew themselues pittifull for the children oft times follow more the condition of the milke which they sucke then the condition of their mothers which brought them forth or of their fathers which begot them Therefore they ought to vse much circumspection herein for in them consisteth the fame of the wiues the honour of the husband and the wealth of their children CHAP. XXII Of the Disputations before Alexander the great concerning the time of the sucking of Babes OVintus Curtins saith that after the great Alexander which which was the last King of the Macedonians and first Emperour of the Greekes had ouercome King Darius and that he saw himselfe onely Lord of all Asia he went to rest in Babylon for among men of warre there was a custome that after they had beene long in the warres euery one should retire to his owne house King Philip which was father of King Alexander alwayes counselled his sonne that he should leade with him to the warres valiant Captaines to conquere the World and that out of his Realmes and Dominions hee should take and chuse the wisest men and best experimented to gouerne the Empire Hee had reason in such wise to counsell his sonne for by the counsell of Sages that is kept and maintained which by the strength of valiant men is gotten and wonne Alexander the great therefore being in Babylon after hee had conquered all the Countrey since all the Citie was vicious and his Armie so long without warres some of his owne men began to robbe one another others to play their own some to force women and others to make banquets and feasts when some wee drunk others raysed quarrels strifes and discentions so that a man could not tell whether was greater the rust in their Armours or the corruptions in their customes For the propertie of mans malice is that when the gate is open to idlenesse infinite vices enter into the house Alexander the great seeing the dissolution which was in his Armie and the losse which might ensue heereof vnto his great Empire commanded straightly that they should make a shew and iust thorow Babylon to the end that the men of warre should exercise their forces thereby And as Aristotle saith in the book of the Questions of Babylon the Turney was so much vsed amongst them that sometimes they carryed away more dead and wounded men then of a bloudie battaile of the enemie Speaking according to the lawe of the Gentiles which looked not glory for their vertues nor feared hell to dye at the Turney the commandement of Alexander was very iust for that doing as he did to the Armie he defaced the vice which did waste it and for himselfe he got perpetuall memory and also it was cause of much suertie in the Common-weale This good Prince not contented to exercise his army so but ordayned that daily in his presence the Philosophers should dispute and the question wherein they should dispute Alexander himselfe would propound whereof followed that the great Alexander was made certaine of that wherein hee doubted and so by his wisedome all men exercised their crafts and wits For in this time of idlenesse the bookes were no lesse marred with dust because they were not opened then the weapons were with rust which were not occupyed There is a booke of Aristotle intituled The Questions of Babilon where he sayd that Alexander propounded the Philosophers disputed the Principalles of Persia replyed and Aristotle determined and so continued in disputations as long as Alexander did eate for at the Table of Alexan der one day the Captaines reasoned of matters of warre and another day the Philosophers disputed of their Philosophie Blundus saieth in the booke intituled Italia Illustrata that among the Princes of Persia there was a custome that none could sit downe at the Table vnlesse hee were a King that had ouercome another King in battaile and none could speake at their table but a Philosopher And truely the custome was very notable and worthy to be noted for there is no greater folly then for any man to desire that a Prince should reward him vnlesse hee know that by his works hee had deserued the same King Alexander did eate but one meale in the day and therefore the first question that he propounded vnto them was That the man which did not eate but once in the day at what houre it was best to eate for the health of his person and whether it should be in the morning noone dayes or night This question was debated among the Philosophers whereof euery one to defend his opinion alleadged many foundations For no lesse care haue the Sages in their mindes to issue out of them disputations victorious then the valiant Captaines haue in aduenturing their persons to vanquish their enemies It was determined as Aristotle maketh mention in his Probleames that the man which eateth but once in the day should eate a little before night for it auayleth greatly to the health of the body that when the digestion beginneth in the stomacke a man taketh his first sleepe The second question that Alexander propounded was What age the childe should haue when hee should be weyned from the dugge And the occasion of this question was for that he had begotten a young daughter of a Queene of the Amazous the which at that time did sucke and for to know whether it were time or not to weyne her there was great dispurations for the childe was now great to sucke and weake to weyne I haue declared this History for no other purpose but to shew how in Babylon this question was disputed before King Alexander that is to say how many yeeres the childe ought to haue before it were weyned from the teate for at that time they are so ignorant that they cannot demand that that is good nor complaine of that that is naught In that case a man ought to know as the times are variable and the regions and prouince diuers so likewise haue they sundry wayes of bringing vp and nourishing their children for there is as much difference betweene the Countreys of one from the Countries of others in dying and burying the dead bodies as there hath beene varieties in the world by way of nourishing bringing vp of children CHAP. XXIII Of sundry kindes of Sorceries Charmes and Witchcrafts which they in olde time vsed in giuing their children sucke the which Christians ought to eschew IT is not much from our purpose if I declare here some old examples of those which are past Strabo in his booke De situ Orbis saith that after the Assirians which were the first that raigned in the world the Siconians had signorie which long time after were called Arcades which were great and famous wrastlers and Schoolemasters at the Fence from whom came the
first and best Masters of Fence the which the Romanes kept alwaies for their Playes for as Trogus Pompeius sayth the Romanes found it by experience that there were no better men in waightie affayres then those of Spaine nor no people apter to playes and pastimes then those of Arcadia As those Siconians were ancient so they were maruellously addicted to follies and superstitious in their vsages and customes for among other they honoured for their God the Moone and during the time that shee was seene they gaue their children sucke imagining that the Moone shined vpon the brests of the mother it would doe much good vnto the childe The Authous hereof is Sinna Catullus in the booke De edicandis pueris and as the same Historian sayth the Aegyptians were great enemies to the Siconians so that all that which the one did allow the others did repoue as it appeareth for as much as the Siconians loued Oliues and Akorns they were cloathed with linnen and worshipped the Moone for their God The Aegyptians for the contrary had no Oliues neyther nourished they any Okes they did weare no linnen they worshipped the Sunne for their God and aboue all as the Siconians did giue their children sucke whiles the Moone did shine so the Aegyptians gaue their children sucke whiles the Sunne did shine Among other follies of the Caldeans this was one that they honoured the Fier for their God so that hee that was not marryed could not light Fier in his house because they sayd the custodie of Gods should be committed to none but to married and ancient men They had in Mariages such order that the day when any children did marry the Priests came into his house to light new Fire the which neuer ought to bee put out vntill the houre of his death and if perchance during the life of the husband and of the wife they should finde the fire dead and put out the marriage betweene them was dead and vndone yea though they had beene fortie yeeres together before in such sort and of this occasion came the prouerbe which of many is read and of few vnderstood that is to say Pronoke me not so much that I throwe water into the fire The Caldeans vsed such wordes when they would diuorce and separate the marriage for if the woman were ill contented with her husband in casting a little water on the fire immedately she might marry with an others and if the husband in like manner did put out the fire hee might with another woman contract marriage I haue not beene marryed as yet but I suppose there are many Christians which wish to haue at this present the libertie of the Caldes for I am well assured there are many men which would cast water on the fire to escape from their wiues also I sweare that there would be a number of women which would not onely put out their fire but also the ashes imbers and coales to make themselues free and to bee dispatched of their husbands and in especially from those which are iealous Therefore returning to our matter The Caldeans made before the fire all notable things in their lawe as before their God for they did eate before the fire they slept before the fire they did contract before the fire and the mothers did neuer giue the children sucke but before the fire for the milke as they imagined did profite the childe when it sucked before the fire which was their God The Author of this that is spoken is Cinna Catuilus The Mauritanians which at this present are called the realms of 〈◊〉 were in times past warlike men of whom the Romans had great victories and the more valiant the men were in the warres so much the more superstitious their wiues were in soceries charmes and enchantments 〈◊〉 the husband that is long abâ—â—nt from his wife ought not to maruell though in her bee founde some 〈◊〉 Cicero in the booke De Natura Deorum and much more at large Boccâ—s sayeth That as many men and women as were in that Realme 〈◊〉 many gods there were among the people for euery one had one particular God to himselfe so that the god of the one was not the god of the other And this was to bee vnderstood in the weeke dayes for in the holy and festiuall dayes they had no other gods the which altogether they did honour The manner that they had in choosing gods when a woman was with child was this Shee went to the Sacrificer of the Idoll and tolde him that shee was great with childe and besought him to giue her a God for her child And the sacrificer gaue her a little idoll of stone gold siluer or of wood the which the mother hanged at the necke of the child And as often as the childe did sucke the dugge so oft the mother putteth the Idoll on his face for otherwise shee had not giuen him a droppe of milke to sucke vnlesse first shee had consecrated to the god the milke of her brest That which I haue spoken is little in respect of that I will speake which is that if perchance the child dyed before the time or that any young man by some perilous mishap dyed before hee was somewhat ages the Fathers and kinsmen of the dead did assemble and came to the Idoll of him and eyther stoned it â—â—ng it drew it burnt it or else they cast it into the deepe well saying that sith the gods did kill man without reason that they might lawfully kill them by iustice The same Bocchas in the second booke De Natura Deorum sayth that the Allobroges had a custome that those which were Priests of the gods should from the wombe of their mothers bee chosen vnto that dignitie And as soone as the childe was born before he tasted the milke of the brest they earned it into a Priestes house for they had a custome that the man which had tasted the thinges of the world merited not to serue the Gods in the Temples One of the lawes that they sayde Priests had was that not onely they could not by violence shedde any bloud nor yet see it neyther touch it so that immediately as the Priest should by chance touch mansbloud euen so soone he lost his Priesthood This law afterwards was so narrowly looked vnto that the Priests of the Allobroges did not onely not shedde drinke nor touch mans bloud when they were now men but also when they were little infants those that should bee Priests they gaue them no milke of the brest at all And this was their reason That to sucke milke was no other but to drinke white bloud for white milke is but sodden bloud and redde bloud is but raw milke Pulio in the booke de educandis pueris sayeth That the Auncients had a certaine kinde of reedes that breaking it in sunder there issued white milke wherewith they accustomed to nourish their children but let it bee as it is that this law
The intention whereupon I wrote these things was for no other but to admonish perswade and pray all princes and great Lords that whiles their children are young they should put them to wise and learned men to the end they should teach them not onely how they ought to liue but also how they ought to speake For to persons of estate it is a great infamy to doe or to inuent to doe a thing afterward not to know how to giue a reason thereof Polidorus in the third booke of his Commentaries sayth that when the Lacedemonians were put to flight by the Athenians In rota milina it is called Milina because the battell was in the riuer of Miline the Lacedemonians sent a Philosopher called Heuainus to treate of peace with the Athenians who made such an eloquent Oration to the Senate of Athens that he did nor onely obtaine the Peace which hee desired for his Countrey but for himselfe also hee wan perpetuall renowne At the Philosophers returne the Athenians gaue him a letter which sayd in this sort CHAP. XXVI Of a Letter which the Athenians sent to the Lacedemonians THe Senate people Sages of Athens wisheth health to the persons and peace to the Common wealth of you of the Senate and people of the Lacedemonians Wee take the immortall Gods to recorde that in the last battell we had no lesse displeasure to see you ouercome then on the contrary wee had pleasure to see vs remaine victorious for in the end the daungers and inconueniences of the cruell warres are so great that the euill and danger is certain to them that are vanquished and the profite is doubtfull to them that haue ouercommed We would gladly that that which now yee will yee would haue willed sooner and that which now yee require and demaund that before yee had required and demanded But what shall we doe since it was ordayned to your and our wofull destinies that hee should lose the battell and that wee of your losse can take no profite For it is a rule vnfallible that all that which the Gods haue ordayned no worldly wight can auoyde nor humane power resist Yee demaund that warre may leaue and cease off and that wee take truce for three monethes and that duriyg this time peace and concord may be concluded To this wee make answere That the Senate of Athens hath not accustomed to grant peace afterward for to returne to warre for amongst vs Athenians wee haue an ancient Law that freely wee doe accept the cruell warre and liberally we doe graunt perpetuall peace In our Schooles and Vniuersities we trauell to haue Sages in time of peace for to help vs with their counsels in the time of warre And they doe counsell vs that wee neuer take vpon vs truce vpon suspect condition And indeed they counsell vs well for the fayned and dissembled peace is much more perillous then is the manifest warre The Philosopher Heuxinus your Ambassadour hath spoken to vs so highly and eloquently in this Senate that it seemed to vs very vniust if wee should deny him and gaine-say that hee requireth vs. For it is much more honesty to grant him peace which by sweet and pleasant words doth demaund it then him which by force and sharpe sword doth require it Let the case therefore be that the Senate people and Sages of Athens haue ordained that warre doe cease with the Lacedemonians and that all discordes contentions dissentions and debates doe end and that perpetual peace bee granted vnto them And this thing is done to the end all the world should know that Athens is of such courage with the hardie and so very a friend to the Sages that she knoweth how to punish the foolish Captaines and suffereth to bee commanded and gouerned by sage Phylosophers Yee know right well that all our warre hath not been but onely for the possession of Cities and limits of the riuer Milina Wherefore by this letter wee declare vnto you and by the immortall Gods wee sweare that wee doe renounce vnto you al our right on such condition that you do leaue vs Heuxinus your Ambassadour and Philosopher The great Athens desireth rather a Philosopher for her Schooles then a whole Prouince of your Realmes And do not you other Lacedemonians thinke that that which wee of Athens doe is light or foolish that is to say that wee desire rather one man to rule then to haue a whole Prouince whereby wee may commaund many For this Philosopher shall teach vs to liue well and that land gaue vs occasion to dye euill and sith wee now of your old enemies do become your true friendes we will not onely giue you perpetuall peace but also counsell for to keepe it For the medicine which preserueth health is of greater excellency then is the purgation which healeth the disease Let the counsell therefore bee such that as yee will the young men doe exercise themselues in weapons that so yee doe watch and see that your children in time doe learne good letters For euen as the warre by the cruell sword is followed so likewise by pleasant words peace is obtained Thinke not yee Lacedemonians that without a cause we do perswade you that you put your children to learne when as yet they are but young and tender and that yee doe not suffer them to runne to vices for on the one part wise men shall want to counsell and on the other fooles shall abound to make debate We Atbenians in like manner will not that yee Lacedemonians doe thinke that wee bee friends to bablers For our Father Socrates ordained that the first lesson which should be giuen to the Scholler of the Vniuersity should be that by no meanes hee should speake any word for the space of two yeares for it is vnpossible that any man should be wise in speaking vnlesse he haue patience to be silent Wee thinke if you thinke it good that the Philosopher Heuxinus shall remaine in our Senate and thinke you if wee profite by his presence that yee may bee assuted that others shall not receyue any damage by the counsels hee shall giue vs For in Athens it is an ancient Law that the Senate cannot take vpon them wars but by the Philosophers first it must bee examined whether it be iust or not We write none other thing but that wee beseech the immortall gods that they bee with you and that it please them to continue vs in this perpetuall peace for that onely is perpetuall which by the Gods is confirmed CHAP. XXVII That Nurses which giue sucke to the children of Princes ought to be discreete and sage women THe Pilgrims which trauell through vnknowne Countries and strange mountaines wth great desire to goe forward and not to erre doe not onely aske the way which they haue to goe but also do importune those whom they meete to point them the way with their finger For it is a grieuous thing to trauell doubtfully in feare
often times it chanceth that the wisedome of the good child doth remedy the folly of the wicked Father The Historians say that this Lelya Sabina had not onely a great grace in reading but also shee had much excellency in writing for she wrote many letters and orations with her own hand which her Father Lucius Sylla afterwards learned by hart and as he was indeed quicke of spirite so he vsed to recite them to the Senate alwayes for his purpose And let no man maruaile hereat for there are some of so grosse vnderstanding that that which they write and studie they can scarcely vtter others againe are of such liuely wits that of that onely which they haue heard it seemeth maruellous to heare with what eloquence they will talke Because Sylla had such and so excellent a daughter in his house hee was esteemed for a sage and wise councellour throughout all the Common wealth He was counted very absolute in executing strong in maintaining for right eloquent in speaking Finally of this came this ancient prouerbe which sayth Lucius Sylla gouerneth his own countrey with the eloquence of his tongue and is Lord of strange nations by the force of his sword What the great Plato hath beene and what great authority he hath had amongst his countrey men and amongst the strangers it is apparant for so much as the Greekes do acknowledge him of all other Phylosophers to be the Prince and likewise the Latines by one consent call him diuine And me thinketh that in doing this they doe no Phylosopher iniurie for as Plato in his life time had great modestie so truely in his writing hee exceeded mans capacitie An Historian called Hyzearchus declareth that Lasterna and Axiothea were two Greekes very well Iearned and amongst the Schollers of Plato chiefly renowmed The one was of so perfect a memory and the other of so high an vnderstanding that Plato oft times beeing in the chayre and these two not readie hee would not beginne to reade And being demaunded wherefore hee reade not his Lecture hee answered I will not reade for that there wanteth here vnderstanding to conceyue and also memory to retaine Meaning that Lasterna was absent that Axiothe was not yet come The wisedome of these two women ought to bee much since Plato without them would not vtter one word vnlesse they were present in his Schoole For Plato esteemed more the vnderstanding and memory of those two women alone then hee did the phylosophy of his other Schollers together Aristippus the phylosopher was Scholler to Socrates and of the most renowmed of Athens Hee had a daughter called Aretha the which was so well learned in Greeke and Latine letters that the common renowme sayd the soule of Socrates was entred into Aretha and the cause that mooued them to say this was because shee read and declared the doctrine of Socrates in such wise that it seemed to most men shee had rather write by hand then learne by studie Bocchas in the second booke of the prayse of women sayeth that this Aretha was so excellent a woman that shee did not only learne for her selfe but also to teach others and did not onely teach in diuers Schooles but also shee wrote many and sundrie bookes one especially in the prayse of Socrates an other of the manner of bringing vp children an other of the Warres of Athens an other of the tyrannicall force an other of the Common Wealth of Socrates an other of the infelicity of Women an other of the tillage of the Auncients an other of the Wonders of the Mount Olimpus an other of the vaine care of the Sepulchre an other of the care of the Antes an other of the Workemanshippe of the Bees in honey and shee wrote two others the one of the vanities of youth and the other of the miseries of age This woman did reade openly naturall and morall Phylosophy in the Schooles of Athens for the space of fiue and twenty yeares she made fortie bookes she had a hundred and ten Phylosophers to her Schollers shee dyed being at the age of seuentie and seuen yeares and the Athenians after her death engraued on her graue these words THe slysed stones within their bowels keepe Wise Aretha the great and onely wight That forceth enuie gentle teares to weepe For Greekes decay on whom the losse doth light The eye of Fame the heart of vertues life The head of Greece lyes here engraued loe More heauenly forme then had that heauenlie wife Which vnderminde the Phrigies toyes with woe Within the chest of her vnspotted mind Lay Thyrmas truth and eke her honest faith Within her hand as by the gods assignde Stoode Aristippus penne that vertue wayeth Within the dungeon of her body eke Imprisoned was wise Socrates his soule That liued so well and did so wisely speake That follies brest he could to wisodome toule Within her head so ouer heapt with wit Lay Homers tongue to staine the Poets arte Erst was the golden age not halfe so fit For Vertues Impes as when her life did part As Marcus Varro sayth the sects of the Philosophers were more then seuenty but in the end they were reduced into seuen and in the end they were brought into three sects chiefly That is to say Stoickes Peripatetickes and Pythagoriques Of these Pythagoriques Pythagoras was the Prince Hizearcus Annius Rusticus and Laertius with Eusebius and Boccas all affirme one thing whereunto I did not greatly giue credite which is that this Phylosopher Pithagoras had a sister not onely learned but if it bee lawfull to speake it excellently learned And they say that not she of Pythagoras but Pythagoras of her learned phylosophy And of a truth it is a matter whereof I was so greatly abashed that I cannot tell who could bee maister of such a woman since shee had Pythagoras the great phylosopher to her Scholler The name of the woman was Thecclea to whom Pythagoras her brother wrot and sent her a letter when hee read phylosophy at Rhodes and she at Samothracia doing the like The Epistle was thus CHAP. XXIX Of a Letter which Pythagoras sent to his sister Theoclea hee beeing in Rhodes and shee in Sam othracia reading both Philosophie PYthagoras thy brother and Disciple to thee Theoclea his sister health encrease of wisedome wisheth I haue read the book which thou diddest send mee of fortune and misfortune from the beginning to the end and now I know that thou art no lesse graue in making then gracious in teaching The which doth not chance very oft vnto vs which are men and much lesse as wee haue seene to you women For the Philosopher Aristippus was rude in speaking but profound in writing and Amenides was briefe in writing and eloquent in speaking Thou hast studyed and written in such sort that in learning that thou shewest thou seemest to haue read all the Philosophers and in the antiquities that thou doest declare it seemeth that thou hast seene all
this coate The poore Poet answered him I let thee know my friend that I cannot tell which is greater thy euill lucke or my greate felicitie The Romane Calphurnius replyed Tell me Cornificius How canst thou call thy selfe happy since thou hast not a loafe of bread to eate nor a gowne to put on thy backe and why sayest thou that I am vnhappy since thou and thy family may be fed with that alone which at my table remayneth To this the poet answered I will that thou know my friend and neighbour that my felicitie is not for that I haue little but for that I desire lesse then I haue And thy euill lucke is not for that thou bast much but for that thou desirest more and doest little esteem that that thou hast And if thou be rich it is for that thou neuer spakest truth and if I he poore it is because I neuer tolde lye For the house that is stuffed with riches is commonly voyd of the truth And I tell thee further that I call my selfe happie because I haue a sister which is the best esteemed in all Italie and thou hast a Wife the most dishonest in all Rome And sith it is so betweene thee and mee I referre it to no mans iudgement but to thine which is better eyther to be poore as I am with honour or else to bee rich as thou art and liue with infamte These wordes passed betweene the Romane Calphurnius and the Poet Cornificius I desire to declare the excellencie of those few auncient women as well Greekes as Latines and Romanes to the intent that Princesses and great Ladyes may knowe that the auncient women were more esteemed for their sciences then for their beauties Therefore the Princesses and great Ladies ought to thinke that if they be womē the other were also in like māner and if they bee fraile the others were also weake If they be marryed the others also had Husbands if they haue theyr willes the others had also what they wanted If they be tender the others were not strong Finally they ought not to excuse themselues saying that women are vnmeete for to learne For a woman hath more abilitie to learne Sciences in the scholes then the Parate hath to speake words in the cage In my opinion Princesses and great Ladyes ought not to esteeme themselues more then another for that they haue fairer hayres then others or for that they are better Apparrelled then another or that they haue more riches then another But they ought therfore to esteeme themselues not for that they can doe more then others To say the trueth the faire and yeallow hayres the rich and braue Apparel the great treasurs the sumptuous Pallaces and strong Buildings these and other like pleasures are not guydes and leaders vnto vertues but rather Spyes and Scowtewatches to vices Oh what an excellent thing were it that the noble Ladyes would esteeme themselues not for that they can doe but for that they knowe For it is more commendations to know how to teach two Philosophers then to haue authority to commaund a hundred knightes It is a shame to write it but it is more pittie to see it that is to say to reade that wee read of the wisedome and worthinesse of the auncient Matrons past and to see as we do see the frailenes of these yong ladies present For they coueted to haue Disciples both learned and experimented and those of this present desire nothing but to haue seruants not only ignorant but deceitfull and wicked And I doe not maruell seeing that which I see that at this present in Court she is of little value least esteemed amōg Ladies which hath fairest Seruants is least entertained of Gentlemen What shall I say more in this matter but that they in times past striued who shold write better and compile the best books and these at this present doe not striue but who shall haue the richest and most sumptuous Apparrell For the Ladyes thinke it a jolyer matter to weare a Gowne of a new fashion then the ancients did to read a lesson of Phylosophie The ancient Ladyes striued which of them was wisest but these of our dayes contend who shal be fairest For at this day the Ladyes would choose rather to haue the face adorned with beautie then the heart endued with wisedome The Auncient Ladyes contended which should bee best able to teach others but these Ladyes now a dayes contend how they may most finely apparrell themselues For in these dayes they giue more honour to a Woman richly Apparrelled then they giue to another with honesty beautified Finally with this word I doe conclude and let him marke that shall reade it that in the olde time women were such that their vertues caused all men to keepe silence and now their vices bee such that they compell all men to speake I will not by this worde any man should be so bold in general to speake euill of all the Ladyes for in this case I sweare that there are not at this day so many good vertuous women in the world but that I haue more enuie at the life they lead in secrete then at all the sciences which the auncient women read in publike Wherefore my pen doth not shew it selfe extreame but to those which onely in sumptuous Apparrell and vaine words doe consume their whole life and to those which in reading a good Booke would not spend one onely houre To proue my intention of that I haue spoken the aboue written sufficeth But to the ende Princesses and great Ladyes may see at the least how much beter it shal be for them to know little then to haue and possesse much and to be able to do more I wil remēber them of that which a Romain woman wrote to her children wherby they shal perceiue how eloquent a woman she was in her sayings and how true a mother in her coūsel For in the end of her letter she perswadeth her children to the trauels of the warre not for any other cause but to auoyde the pleasures of Rome CHAP. XXXI Of the worthinesse of the Lady Cornelia and of a notable Epistle shee wrote to her two sonnes which serued in the warres Tiberius and Caius disswading them from the pleasures of Rome and exhorting them to endure the trauels of warre ANNius Rusticus in the booke of the Antiquities of the Romanes sayeth that in Rome there were fiue principall Iynages that is to say Fabritii Torquatii Brutii Fabit and Cornelii though there were in Rome other new lynages whereof there were many excellent personages yet alwayes these which came of the fiue lynages were kept placed and preferred to the first Offices of the common wealth For Rome honoured those that were present in such sort that it was without the preiudice of those that are gone Amongst those v. linages the Romaines alwayes counted the Cornelii most fortunate that which were so hardy and couragious in fight
and so modest in life that of their family there was neuer found any cowardly man in the field nor any defamed woman in the twone They say of this linage of the Cornenelii among many other there were 4. singular and notable women among the which the chiefe was the mother of Graccht whose name was Cornelia and liued with more honor for the sciences shee read in Rome then for the conquests that her children had in Affrike Before her children were brought into the Empire they talked of none other thing but of their strength and hardinesse throughout the world and therefore a Romain one day asked this woman Cornelia wherof she tooke most vain glory to see her selfe mistresse of so many Disciples or mother of so valiant children The Lady Cornelia answered I doe esteeme the science more which I haue learned then the children which I haue brought forth For in the end the children keepe in honour the life but the Disciples continue the renowme after death And she sayd further I am assured that the Disciples daily wil waxe better and better and it may be that my children will waxe worse and worse The desires of young men are so variable that they dayly haue new inuentions With one accord all the writers doe greatly commend this woman Cornelia in especiall for being wise and honest and furthermore because she read Phylosophy in Rome openly And therefore after her death they set vp in Rome a statue ouer the gate Salaria whereupon there was grauen this Epigram This heape of earth Cornelle doth enclose Of wretched Gracches that loe the mother was Twise happy in the schollers that shee chose Vnhappy thrise in the of spring that shee has AMong the Latines Cicero was the Prince of al the Romane Rethorike and the chiefest with his pen enditing Epistles yet they say that he did not onely see the writings of this Cornelia but read them and did not onely reade them but also with the sentences thereof profited himselfe And hereof a man ought not to maruell for there is no man in the world so wise of himselfe but may further his doings with the aduise of an other Cicero so highly exalted these writings that he sayde in his Rethorike these or such other like words If the name of a woman had not not blemished Cornelia truly she deserued to be head of al Philosophers For I neuer saw so graue sentences proceede from so fraile flesh Since Cicero spake these words of Cornelia it cannot be but that the writings of such a woman in her time were verie liuelesse and of great reputation yet notwithstanding there is no memory of her but that an author for his purpose declareth an Epistle of this maner Sextus Cheronensis in his booke of the prayse of women reciteth the letter which shee sent to her children Shee remaining in Rome and they being at the wars in Affricke The Letter of Cornelia to her two sons Tiberius and Caius otherwise called Gracchi Cornelia the Romane that by the fathers side am of the Cornelii on the mother side of the Fabii to you my two sonnes Gracchii which are in the warres of Affricke such health to you I doe wish as a mother to her children ought to desire You haue vnderstoode right well my children how my father dyed I being but three yeares of age and that this 22. yeares I haue remained widdow and that this 20. yeares I haue read Rethorike in Rome It is 7. yeeres since I saw you and 12. yeares since your brethren my children dyed in the great plague You know 8. yeeres are past since I left my study and came to see you in Cicilia because you should not forsake the wars to come to see me in Rome for to mee could come no greater pain then to see you absent from the seruice of the Common wealth I desire my children to shew you how I haue passed my life in labour and trauell to the entent you should not desire to spende yours in rest and idlenes For to me that am in Rome there can want no troubles be yee assured that vnto you which are in the wars shall want no perils For in warres renowne is neuer solde but by weight or changed with losse of life The young Fabius sonne of my aunt the aged Fabia at the third Calends of March brought mee a letter the which you sent and truly it was more briefe then I would haue wished it for betweene so deere children and so louing a mother it is not suffered that the absence of your persons should be so farre and the letters which you write so briefe By those that goe from hence thither I alwaies doe send you commendations and of those that come from thence hither I doe enquire of newes Some say they haue seene you others tell mee they haue spoken with you so that with this my heart is somwhat quieted for between them that loue greatly it may bee endured that the fight be seldom so that the health be certaine I am sole I am a widdow I am aged and now all my kindred are dead I haue endured many trauels in Rome and the greatest of all is my children of your absence for the paine is greater to be voyd of assured friends then assault is dangerous of cruell enemies Since you are young and not very rich since you are hardie and brought vp in the trauels of Affricke I do not doubt but that you do desire to come to Rome to see know that now you are men which you haue seen when you were children for men doe not loue their Country so much for that it is good as they doeloue it for that it is naturall Beleeue me children there is no man liuing that hath seene or heard speake of Rome in times past but hath great griefe sorrow and pitty to see it at this present for as their hearts are pittifull and their eyes tender so they cannot behold that without great sorrow which in times past they haue seene in great glory O my children you shall know that Rome is greatly changed from that it was wont to be To reade that wee doe reade of it in times past and to see that which wee see of it now present wee must needs esteeme that which the Ancients haue written as a iest or else beleeue it but as a dreame There is no other thing now at Rome but to see iustice corrupted the common-weale oppressed lies blown abroad the truth kept vnder the Satyres silent the flatterers open mouthed the inflamed persons to bee Lords and the patient to be seruants and aboue all and worse then all to see the euill liue in rest and contented and the good troubled and displeased Forsake forsake my Children that City where the good haue occasion to weepe and the euill haue liberty to laugh I cannot tell what to say in this matter as I would say truly the Common weale is at this day such and
as hee sayeth that I haue disinherited him and abiected him from my heritage hee beeing begotten of my body hereunto I answere That I haue not disinherited my sonne but I haue disinherited his pleasure to the entent hee shall not enioy my trauell for there can bee nothing more vniust then that the young and vicious sonne should take his pleasure of the swet and droppes of the aged father The sonne replyed to his Father and sayde I confesse I haue offended my Father and also I confesse that I haue liued in pleasures yet if I may speake the truth though I were disobedient and euill my Father ought to beare the blame and if for this cause hee doeth dishenherite mee I thinke hee doth me great iniurie for the father that instructeth not his son in vertue in his youth wrongfully disinheriteth him though he be disobedient in his age The Father againe replyeth and sayeth It is true my sonne that I brought thee vp too wantonly in thy youth but thou knowest well that I haue taught thee sundry times and besides that I did correct thee when thou camest to some discretion And if in thy youth I did not instruct thee in learning it was for that thou in thy tender age diddest want vnderstanding but after that thou hadst age to vnderstand discretion to receyue and strength to exercise it I beganne to punish thee to teache thee and to instruct thee For where no vnderstanding is in the child there in vaine they teach doctrine Since thou art old quoth the sonne and I young since thou art my Father and I thy sonne for that thou hast white hayres on thy beard and I none at all it is but reason that thou be belieued and I condemned For in this world wee see oft times that the small authoritie of the person maketh him to loose his great iustice I graunt thee my Father that when I was a childe thou diddest cause mee to learne to reade but thou wilt not denie that if I did commit any faulte thou wouldst neuer agree I should be punished And hereof it came that thou suffering me to do what I would in my Youth haue bin disobedient to thee euer since in my age And I say vnto thee further that if in this case I haue offended truely mee thinketh thou canst not bee excused for the fathers in the youth of their children ought not onely to teach them to dispute of vertues what vertue is but they ought to inforce thē to be vertuous in deed For it is a good token when Youth before they knowe vices haue been accustomed to practise vertues Both partyes then diligently heard the good Phylosopher Solon Solinon speake these words I giue iudgement that the Father of this childe be not buryed after his death and I commaund that the Sonne because in his youth hee hath not obeyed his Father who is olde should be disinherited whilest the Father liueth from all his substance on such condition that after his death his sonnes should inherite the Heritage and so returne to the heyres of the Sonne and liue of the Father For it were vniust that the innocencie of the Sonne should be condemned for the offence of the Father I do commaund also that all the goods be committed vnto some faithfull person to the end they may giue the Father meat and drinke during his life and to make a graue for the Sonne after his death I haue not without a cause giuen such iudgement the which comprehendeth life and death For the Gods will not that for one pleasure the punishment bee double but that wee chastise and punish the one in the life taking from him his honour and goods and that wee punish others after their death taking from them memorie and buryall Truely the sentence which the Philosopher gaue was very graue and would to GOD wee had him for a iudge of this world presently For I sweare that hee should finde manie Children now a dayes for to disinherite and moe Fathers to punish For I cannot tell which is greater The shame of the children to disobey their Fathers or the negligence of the Fathers in bringing vp their children Sextus Cheronens in the second book of the sayings of the Philosophers declareth that a Citizen of Athens saide vnto Dyogenes the Phylosopher these wordes Tell mee Dyogenes What shall I doe to be in the fauour of the Gods and not in the hatred of men For oft times amongst you Phylosophers I haue hearde say that there is a great difference between that that the gods will and that which men loue Dyogenes answered Thou speakest more then thou oughtest to speake that the Gods will one thing and men another for the Gods are but as a center of mercy and men are but as a denne of malice if thou wilt enioy rest in thy dayes and keepe thy life pure and cleane thou must obserue these three things The first honour thy Gods deuoutely for the man which doeth not serue and honour the Gods in all his enterprises hee shall be vnfortunate The second bee very diligent to bring vp thy children well for the man hath no enemie so troublesome as his owne sonne if hee bee not well brought vp The third thing bee thankefull to thy good benefactors and friends for the Oracle of Apollo sayth that the man who is vnthankefull of all the world shall be abhorred And I tell thee further my friend that of these three things the most profitable though it be more troublesome is for a man to teach and bring vp his children well This therefore was the answere that the Philosopher Diogenes made to the demaund of the Citizen It is great pitty and griefe to see a young childe how the bloud doth stirre him to see how the flesh doth prouoke him to accomplish his desire to see sensuality goe before and he himselfe to come behind to see the malitious World to watch him to see how the Diuell doth tempte him to see how vices binde him and in all that which is spoken to see how the Father is negligent as if hee had no children whereas in deede the olde man by the fewe vertues he hath had in his Youth may easily knowe the infirmityes and vices wherewith his Sonne is incompassed If the expert had neuer beene ignorant if the Fathers had neuer beene children if the vertuous had neuer been vicious if the fine wittes had neuer been deceiued it were no maruell if the Fathers were negligent in teaching their children For the little experience excuseth men of great offences but since thou art my Father and that first thou wert a Sonne since thou art old and hast bin young and besides all this since that pride hath inflamed thee lechery hath burned thee wrath hath wounded thee Negligence hath hindred thee Couetousnes hath blinded thee Glotonie surfetted thee Tell mee cruell Father since so many vices haue reigned in thee why hast thou not an
the high wayes And after that he was forty yeares of age he became King of the Lusitaines and not by force but by election for when the people saw themselues enuironed and assaulted on euery side with enemies they chose rather stout strong and hardy men for their Captaines then noble men for their guides If the ancient Historiographers deceyue me not when Viriatus was a thiefe hee ledde with him alwayes at the least a hundred theeues the which were shod with leaden shooes so that when they were enforced to runne they put off their shooes And thus although all the day they went with leaden shooes yet in the night they ranne like swift buckes for it is a generall rule that the looser the ioynts are the more swifter shall the legges be to runne In the booke of the iests of the Lumbardes Paulus Diaconus sayeth that in the olde time those of Capua had a Law that vntill the children were married the fathers should giue them no bed to sleepe on nor permit them to sit at the table to eate but that they should eate their meate in their hands and take their rest on the ground And truly it was a commendable law for rest was neuer inuēted for the yong man which hath no beard but for the aged being lame impotent and crooked Quintus Cincinatus was second Dictator of Rome and indeed for his deserts was the first Emperour of the earth This excellent man was brought vp in so great trauell that his handes were found full of knots the plough was in his armes and the swette in his face when hee was sought for to bee Dictator of Rome For the Ancients desired rather to bee ruled of them that knew not but how to plough the ground then of them that delighted in nothing else but to liue in pleasures among the people Caligula which was the fourth Emperour of Rome as they say was brought vp with such cost and delicatenesse in his his youth that they were in doubt in Rome whether Drusius Germanicus his father employed more for the Armies then Caligula his sonne spent in the cradle for his pleasures This rehearsed againe I would now know of Princes and great lords what part they would take that is to say whether with Cincinatus which by his stootenes wan so many strange Countries or with Caligula that in his filthy lusts spared not his proper sister In mine opinion there needeth no great deliberation to aunswere this question that is to say the goodnesse of the one and the wickednesse of the other for there was no battell but Cincinatus did ouercome nor there was any vice but Caligula did inuent Suetonius Tranquillus in the second Booke of Caesars sayeth That when the children of the Emperour Augustus Caesar entred into the high Capitoll where all the Senate were assembled the Senatours rose out of their places and made a reuerence to the children the which when the Emperour Augustus saw hee was much displeased and called them backe againe And on a day beeing demaunded why bee loued his childrē no better he answered in this wise If my children will bee good they shal sit hereafter where I sit now but if they bee euill I will not their vices should bee reuerenced of the Senators For the authoritie and grauitie of the good ought not to bee employed in the seruice of those that be wicked The 26 Emperour of Rome was Alexander the which though he was young was as much esteemed for his vertues amongst the Romanes as euer Alexander the great was for his valiantnes amongst the Greekes Wee cannot say that long experience caused him to come to the Gouernment of the common-wealth for as Herodian saieth in his sixth booke The day that the Senatours proclaymed him Emperour hee was so little that his owne men bare him in theyr armes That fortunate Emperour had a Mother called Manea the which brought him vp fowel and diligently that she kept alwayes a great guard of men to take heed that no vicious man came vnto him And let not the diligence of the Mother to the childe be little esteemed For Princes oft times of their owne nature are good and by euill conuersation only they are made euill This worthie woman keeping alwayes such a faithfull guarde of her childe that no Flatterers should enter in to flatter him nor malicious to tell him lyes By chaunce on a day a Romane saide vnto her these wordes I thinke it not meete most excellent princesse that thou shouldest be so diligent about thy Sonne to forget the affaires of the commonwealth for Princes ought not to be kept so close that it is more easie to obtaine a suite at the Gods then to speake one word with the Prince To this the Empresse Manea answered and saide They which haue charge to gouerne those which do gouern without comparison ought to feare more the vices of the King then the enemyes of the realme For the enemyes are destroyed in a Battell but vices remaine during the life and in the end enemies doe not destroy but the possessions of the Land but the vicious prince destroieth the good māners of the commonwealth These words were spoken of this worthy Romane By the Hystories which I haue declared and by those which I omitte to recite all vertuous men may knowe how much it profiteth them to bring vppe their children in trauels or to bring them vp in pleasures But now I imagine that those which shall reade this will prayse that which is well written and also I trust they will not giue their childrē so much their owne wils for men that reade much and worke little are as belles which doe found to call others and they themselues neuer enter into the church If the fathers did not esteeme the seruice they doe vnto God their owne honour nor the profite of their owne children yet to preserue them from diseases they ought to bring them vp in vertue withdraw them from vices for truly the children which haue beene brought vp daintily shall alwayes be diseased and sickly What a thing is it to see the sonne of a Labourer the coate without points the shirt tattered and torne the feet bare his head without a cap his body without a girdle in summer without a hat in winter without a cloke in the day plowing in the night driuing his heard eating bread of Rye or Otes lying on the earth or else on the straw and in this trauell to see this yong man so holy and vertuous that euery man desireth and wisheth that hee had such a sonne The contrary commeth of Noble mens sonnes the which wee see are nourished and brought vp betweene two fine Holland sheetes layed in a costly cradell made after the new fashion they giue the Nurse what she will desire if perchance the child be sicke they change his Nurse or else they appoint him a dyet The father and the mother sleepe neyther night nor day all
the warres were between Carthage and Rome the Common wealth of Carthage was very well gouerned and as it beseemed such a noble City but it is an ancient priuiledge of the warre that it killeth the persons consumeth the goods and aboue all engendreth a new passion and misery and in the end destroyeth all good ancient customes The Carthagenians therefore had a custome that the children and especially those which were of honest men should be put in the Temples from three yeeres till twelue and so from twelue till twenty they learned crafts sciences and occupations and from 20. til 25. they instructed thē in the feates of war and at the end of 30. yeares they gaue themselues to marriage for amongst them it was a Law inuiolable that no man should marrie vntill he were thirty yeares of age and the woman 25. And after that they were married the moneth following they ought to present themselues before the Senate and there to choose what kinde of estate they would take vpon them to liue in and what their mindes most desired that is to say if they would serue in the Temples follow the warre or trauell the seas or get their liuing by land or follow their occupation which they had learned And looke what estate or office that day they chose the same they kept and occupyed during their life and truely the law was very good because such change of estates and Offices in the World are occasion that presently so many come to destruction All the excellent and ancient Princes had many great Philosophers for their Masters and this seemeth to be true by this that king Darius had Lichanins the philosopher for his master the great Alexander had Aristotle the Philosopher for his Master King Artaxerces had Pindarus the philosopher for his Master The aduenturous and hardy captaine of the Athenians Palemo had Xenocrates the philosopher for his master Xemaides onely king of the Corinthians had Chilo the philosopher for his Master and tutour to his Children Epamynundus Prince of the Thebanes had for his master and councellour Maruchus the Philosopher Vlysses the Greeke as Homer sayeth had for his master and companion in his trauels Catinus the philosopher Pirrus which was King of the Epirotes and a great defendor of the Tharentines had for his Master and Chronicler Arthemius the philosopher of whom Cicero speaketh ad Atticum that his sword was sharper to fight then his penne ready for to write The great King Ptholomeus Philodelphus was not onely Scholer of the most singular Philosophers of Greece but also after he was King he sent for 72. Philosophers which were Hebrewes Cirus King of the Persians that destroyed the great Babylon had for his Master Pristicus the Philosopher Traian the Emperour had Plutarch for his Master who did not onely teach him in his youth but also wrote him a booke how he ought to gouerne himselfe and his commōwealth By these few examples which I haue expressed and by many other which I omit Princes at this present may see how carefull princes were in times past to giue their children wise and learned men O princes great Lords since you at this present do presume and take vpon you that which your Forefathers did I would that now you would consider who brought them to so high estate who leaueth them eternall memorie for without doubt noble men neuer wan renown for the pleasurs they had in vices but for the trauels they had in vertues Againe I say that Princes in times past were not famous for their stoutnes apt disposition of their bodies nor for discent of noble lynage nor for the possessiō of many Realmes or heaping vp of great treasures but they wanne and obtained immortall renowne for that their Fathers in their youth put them vnder the tuition of wise and learned tutours which taught them good doctrine and when they were of age gaue them good counsellours to gouerne the common-wealth Laertius in the life of the Phylosophers and Bocchas in the Booke of the linage of Gods say thus That among the Phylosophers of Athens there was a custome that no straunge Phylosopher should reade in their Schooles before hee were first examined in naturall and morall Phylosophie For among the Greekes it was an auncient Prouerbe That in the schoole of Athens no vicious man could enter nor idle word be spoken neyther they did consent that any ignorant Phylosopher should come in to reade there Now as by chaunce many phylosophers were come from the Mount Olympus amongst the refidue there was one came to see the philosophers of Athens who was natiue of Thebes a man as afterwardes hee declared himselfe in Morall and naturall phylosophie very well learned And since he desired to remaine in Athens hee was examined and of many and diuers things demanded And amongst the others these following were some of them First they asked him what causeth women to bee so froward since it is true that nature made them shamefaste and created them simple The Phylosopher answered A woman is not froward but because shee hath too much her will and wanteth shame Secondarily they asked him why young men are vndone hee answered because Time aboundeth them for to doe euill and Maisters wanteth to enforce them to doe good Thirdly they asked him why are Wise men deceyued as well as the simple he answered The wise man is neuer deceyued but by him that vseth faire wordes and hath euill conditions Fourthly they asked him of whom men ought most to beware he aunswered That there is to a man no greater enemie then hee which seeth that thing in thee which hee desireth to haue in himselfe Fifthly they asked him why manie princes begunne well and ended euill hee aunswered Princes begin well because their nature is good and they ende euill because no man doth gaine-say them Sixtly they asked him why do princes commit such follyes hee answered Because Flattterers aboundeth that deceyue them and true men are wanting which should serue them Seuenthly they asked him why the Auncients were so sage and men at this present were so simple hee aunswered Because the Auncients did not procure but to knowe and these present doe not trauell but for to haue Eightly they asked him why so manie vices were nourished in the pallaces of princes hee aunswered Because pleasures abound and counsell wanteth The ninth they asked him why the most parte of men liued without rest and fewe without paine he aunswered No man is more without and suffereth more paine then hee that dyeth for the goods of another and little esteemeth his owne The tenth they asked him whereby they might knowe the Common-wealth to bee vndone hee aunswered There is no Common-wealth vndone but onely where the young are light and the old vicious The 11. they asked him wherwith the Common-wealth is maintained he answered The common wealth cānot decay where iustice remaineth for the poore punishment for the tyrants
and vertuous workes are now ful of babling Orators and none issue out from thence at this present but the euill and vitious So that if the sacred Romane lawes are exalted once in a weeke with their tongs they are broken ten times in the day in their works What will you I say more since I cannot tell you any thing without hurting my mother Rome but that at this present all the pleasures of vaine men is to see their children ouercome others by disputing but I let you vnderstand that all my glory shall bee when my sonne shall surmount others not in words but in silence not to be troublesome but to bee patient not in speaking subtill words but in doing vertuous works For the glory of good men is in working much and speaking little Consider my friends and doe not forget it that this day I commit my honor vnto you I put into your hands the estate of Comodus my sonne the glory of Rome the rest of the people which are my subiects the gouernement of Italie which is our Country and aboue all I referre vnto your discretion the peace and tranquility of the whole common wealth Therefore hee that hath such a charge by reason ought not to sleep for as the wise men say To great trust is required much diligence I will say no more but that I would my sonne Comodus should be so wel taught that he should haue the feare of God the science of Philosophers the vertues of the ancient Romanes the approued counsell of the aged the courage of the Romane youth the constancy of you which are his Masters Finally I would that of all the good he should take the good as of me hee ought to take the heritage succession of the Empire For hee is the true prince and worthy of the Empire that with his eyes doth behold the great Signiories he ought to inherite and doth employ his heart how to gouerne it whereby hee shall liue to the great profite of the Common wealth And I protest to the immortall Gods with whom I hope to goe and to the goodnesse of my predecessors whose faith I am bound to keepe I protest to the Romane lawes the which I did sweare to obserue in the conquest of Asia wherein I am bound my selfe to continue and to the friendshippe of the Rhodians the which I haue offered my selfe for to keepe to the enmitie of the Affricanes the which not for me but for the oath of my predecessors I bound my selfe to maintaine And I protest vnto the vessell of the high Capitoll where my bones ought to bee burnt that Rome doe not complaine of mee beeing aliue nor that in the world to come shee curse mee after my death If perchance the prince Comodus my sonne by his wicked life should bee occasion of the losse or hinderance of the Common-Wealth And though you which are his Masters vndoe it for not giuing him due punishment and hee thorow his wicked gouernement destroy it yet I discharge my selfe by all these protestations that I haue made which shall bee witnesses of my will For the Father is bound no more towardes his Childe but to banish him from his pleasures and to giue him vertuous Masters And if hee bee good hee shall bee the glory of the Father the honour of himselfe the wealth of you and the profite and commodity of the whole Common wealth CHAP. XXXIX The Tutors of Princes and Noble mens children ought to be very circumspect that their Schollers doe not accustome themselues in vices whiles they are young and specially they must keepe them from foure vices THe good and expert Surgeons vnto great daungerous wounds doe not onely apply medicins and ointments which do resolue and stoppe but also minister other good playsters for to restraine and heale them And verily they shew themselues in the one no lesse sage then in the other expert for as great diligence ought to bee had to preserue the weake flesh to purge the rotten wound to the end it may be healed so likewise the wise Trauellers learne diligently the way before they take vpon them any iourney that is to say if there bee any dangers in the way eyther of robbing or slaying wherein there is any by-path that goeth out of the high-way Truly hee that in this point is circumspect is worthy to bee counted a Sage mam for according to the multitude of the perilles of the world none can be assured vnlesse hee know first where the daunger is wherein hee may fall To shew therfore that which by these parables I meane I say that the Tutours and Master of Princes and great Lordes ought not to bee contented onely to know what science what doctrine and what vertue they ought to shew and teach their Schollers but also with greater care and diligence they ought to know from what euilles or wicked customes they ought to withdraw them For when the trees are tender and young it is more necessary to bow them and cut off the superfluous branches with kniues then to gather their fruits with baskets Those which take vpon them to gouerne Moyles of great price and value and those that tame breake horses of a good race take great paines that such beasts be light that they leape well and be well made to the spurre and bridle but they take much more paines that they be gentle familiar and faithfull and aboue all that they haue no euill qualities Then sith it is so Masters ought diligently to watch if they bee good that in young Princes there be no apparance of any notable vices for the vertues which the young doe learn doth not them so much profite as one onely vice doth them hurt if they doe thereunto consent knowing that thereby they may bee hereafter blamed or despised For if any man knew a beast that is wilde and stubborne and not gentle and will buye him at a great price such a one hath his head more full of follies then of wisedome Albeit that Masters ought to withdraw their Schollers from many euill customes amongst all there are foure principals in any of the which if the Prince bee defamed the master which hath taught him should deserue great punishment For according to the humane Lawes and Customes all the damage and harme that the beasts doe to the vineyarde the keeper that hath charge thereof shall as he is bound recompence First the Master ought to reform in such sort the tongus of their schollers that neyther in sport nor in earnest they permit them to tell lyes for the greatest fault that is in a good and vertuous man is to bee briefe in the truth and the greatest villany that is in a vicious man is to bee long in lyes Merula in that 5. booke of Caesars sayeth that the first warre that Vlpius Traianus made was against the Romanes and with no small victory ouercame the Emperour Domitian in a battell which they
remaine diseased and their vnderstanding blinded their memory dulled their sense corrupted their will hurted their reason subuerted and their good fame lost and worst of all the flesh remaineth alwayes flesh O how many young men are deceyued thinking that for to satisfie and by once engaging themselues to vices that from that time forwarde they shall cease to bee vicious the which thing not onely doth not profite them but also is very hurtfull vnto them For fire is not quenched with drye wood but with cold water But O God what shall wee doe since that now a dayes the Fathers doe as much esteeme their children for being fine and bolde minions among women as if they were verie profound in science or hardie in feates of Armes and that which is worst they oft times make more of their bastards gotten in adulterie then of their legitimate childe conceiued in matrimony What shall wee say then of mothers Truely I am ashamed for to speake it but they should bee more ashamed to doe it which is because they would not displease their husbands they hide the wickednesse of their children they put the children of their harlots to the Nurse they redeeme their gages they giue them money to play at dice they reconcile them to their fathers when they haue offended they borrow them money to redeeme them when they are indebted Finally they are makers of their bodies and vndoers of their soules I speake this insidently for that the masters would correct the children but the Fathers and mothers forbid them For it little auayleth for one to pricke the horse with the spurre when hee that sitteth vpon him holdeth him back with the bridle Therfore to our matter what shall we do to remedy this ill in the young man which in his flesh is vicious Truely I see no other remedie but with the moist earth to quench the flaming fire and to keepe him from the occasions of vice For in the warre honour by tarrying is obtained but in the vice of the flesh the victory by flying is obtayned The end of the second Booke THE THIRD BOOKE OF THE DIALL OF PRINCES WITH THE FAMOVS BOOKE OF MARCVS AVRELIVS WHERE HEE entreateth of the vertues which Princes ought to haue as Iustice Peace and Magnificence CHAP. I. How Princes and great Lordes ought to trauell to administer to all equall iustice EGidius Frigulus one of the most famous and renowmed Philosophers of Rome sayde that that betweene two of the Zodaicall signes Leo and Libra is a Virgine named Iustice the which in times past dwelled among men in earth and after that shee was of them neglected shee ascended vp to Heauen This Philosopher would let vs vnderstand that Iustice is so excellent a vertue that she passeth al mens capacitie since shee made heauen her mansion place and could finde no man in the whole earth that wold entertaine her in his house During the time they were chaste gentle pittifull patient embracers of vertue honest and true Iustice remayning in the earth with them but since they are conuerted vnto adulterers tyrants giuen to be proud vnpatient lyers and blasphemers shee determined to forsake them and to ascend vp into heauen So that this Philosopher concluded that for the wickednesse that men commit on earth Iustice hath leapt from them into Heauen Though this seeme to bee a Poeticall fiction yet it comprehendeth in it high and profound doctrine the which seemeth to be very cleare for where wee see iustice there are few theeues few murderers few tirants and few blasphemers Finally I say that in the house or Common wealth where Iustice remaineth a man can not committe vice and much lesse dissemble with the vicious Homer desirous to exalt justice could not tell what to say more but to call Kings the children of the great God Iupiter and that not for that naturalty they haue but for the office of iustice which they minister So that Homer concludeth that a man ought not to call iust Princes other but the children of God The diuiue Plato in the fourth booke of his common-wealth saieth that the chiefest gift God gaue to men is that they being as they be of such vile clay should bee gouerned by justice I would to GOD all those which reade this wryting vnderstoode right well that which Plato said For if men were not indued with reason and gouerned by iustice amongst all beasts none were so vnprofitable Let reason be taken from man wherwith he is indued and iustice whereby he is gouerned then shall men easily perceyue in what sort he will leade his life He cannot fight as the Elephant nor defend himselfe as the Tygre nor he can hunte as the Lyon neither labour as the Oxe and that wherby he should profite as I thinke is that he should eate Beares and Lyons in his life as now he shall be eaten of worms after his death All the Poets that inuented fictions all the Oratours which made Orations all the Philosophers which wrote books all the Sages which left vs their doctrines and all the Princes which instituted Lawes meant nothing else but to perswade vs to think how briefe and vnprofitable this life is and how necessary a thing iustice is therin For the filth and corruption which the bodie hath without the soule the selfe same hath the common-wealth without iustice Wee cannot denye but that the Romaines haue been prowde enuious adulterers shamelesse and ambicious but yet with all these faultes they haue beene great obseruers of iustice So that if God gaue them so manie Triumphs beeing loaden and enuironed with so many vices it was not for the vertues they had but for the great iustice which they did administer Plinie in his second booke saith that Democrites affirmed there were two gods which gouerned the vniuersall world that is to say Reward and Punishment Whereby wee may gather that nothing is more necessarie then true and right iustice For the one rewardeth the good and the other leaueth not vnpunished the euill Saint Austine in the first Booke De Ciuitate Dei saieth these words Iustice taken away what are Realmes but dennes of Theeues Truely hee had great reason For if there were no whips for vagabonds gags for blasphemers fines for periurie fires for heretiques sword for murderers galowes for theeues nor prisons for Rebells we may boldly say there would not bee so many Beasts on the mountains as there would be thieues in the Common-wealth In many things or in the greatest parte of the commonwealth wee see that Bread Wine Corn Fish Wool and other things necessary for the life of the people wanteth but we neuer saw but malicious men in euery place did abound Therefore I sweare vnto you that it were a good bargaine to chaunge all the wicked men in the commonwealth for one onely poore sheepe in the fielde In the Common-wealth wee see nought else but whipping daylie beheading slaying drowning hanging but notwithstanding this
one as al may say that in him there is nothing worthy of reprehension but adding therunto It displeaseth me much more that he should haue so euill Iudges that all should say in them were nothing worthy of commendation For the faults of Princes very well may be excused but the offences of the officers can by no meanes bee endured Many princes and great Lords deceiue themselus in thinking that they do their duety in that they be vertuous in their persons but it is not so for it sufficeth not a prince to draw vnto him all vertues but also hee is bound to root all vices out of the cōmon wealth Admit that princes will not or of themselues cannot govern the common-wealth yet let vs desire and admonish them to seeke good Officers to doe it for them For the poore Plebeian hath no account to render but of his good or euil life but the prince shall render account of his vitious life which he hath led and of the little care that he hath had of his common wealth Seneca in an Epistle he wrote to Lucilla sayth My deare friend Lucilla I would gladly thou wouldest come and see me heere in Rome but I pray thee recommend to good Iudges the Isle of Scicile for I would not desire to enioy thy sight if through my occasion thou shouldest leaue the Common-wealth out of order And to the entent thou mayest know what conditions they ought to haue whom thou shouldest choose for Gouernors or Iudges I will let thee vnderstand that they ought to be graue in their sentences iust in their wordes honest in their workes mercifull in their iustice and aboue all not corrupted with bribes And if I do aduertise thee of this it is because if thou diddest take care to gouerne thy Common-wealth well thou shouldest now bee circumspect to examine them vnto whom presently thou must recommend the gouernement thereof I would say afterwardes that all that which the ancient philosophers haue written in many books and haue left by diuers sentences Seneca did rehearse in these few wordes the which are so graue and necessarie that if Princes retayned them in their memory to put them in execution and Iudges had them before their eyes for to accomplish them they would excuse the common wealth of diuers slaunders and they should also deliuer themselues from a great burthen of their conscience It is not a thing voluntary but necessary that the ministers of iustice be vertuous well established and very honest For to Iudges nothing can bee more slaunderous and hurtfull then when they should reproue young men of their youth others may iustly reprehend them of theyr lightnesse He which hath a publike Office in the Common wealth and sitteth openly to iudge therein ought to obserue a good order in his person lest hee bee noted dissolute in his doing For the Iudge which is without honesty and consideration ought to consider with himselfe that if hee alone haue authoritie to iudge of other mens goods that there are a thousand which will iudge of his life It is not onely a burden of Conscience to princes to committe the charge of gouernance of the people to dissolute persons but also it is a great contempt and disprayse of Iustice For the sentence giuen of him who deserueth to bee iudged is among the people little esteemed Plutarch in his Apothegmes sayeth that Philip King of Macedonie Father of the Great Alexander created for Iudge of a prouince a friend of his who after hee saw himselfe in such office occupyed himselfe more in kemming his head then in working or studying his bookes King Philip being enformed of the vanitie and insolency of this Iudge reuoked the power which he had giuen him and when hee complayned to all of the wrong and griefe which was done vnto him taking his office from him K. Philip sayde vnto him If I had giuen the office to thee for none other cause but being my friend beleeue mee that nothing in the world could haue sufficed to haue taken it from thee because I louing thee so entirely as I did reason would not I should haue depriued thee of this office wherewith I honoured thee I gaue thee this office thinking that thou werte vertuous sage honest and also a man well occupied and me thinketh thou rather occupiest thy selfe in beholding thy person thē in gouerning well my Common-wealth which thou oughtest not to consent vnto and much lesse doe in deed for the Iudge ought to bee so occupied in the administration of the Common wealth that hee should haue no leasure at any time for to combe his heade These wordes the good Philip spake vnto the Iudge whom hee displaced of his office for beeing too fine diligent in combing his head and trimming his person It is not onely decent for ministers of Iustice to bee graue and honest but also it behoueth them to bee true and faithfull For to Iudge whose office is to iudge the truth there can bee no greater infamie then to be counted a lyer When two Plebeyans bee at variance together for one thing they come before the iudge for naught els but that hee should iudge who hath right and iustice therevnto Therefore if such a Iustice bee not counted true but a lyer all take his iudgement for false so that if the plaintife hath no more power hee will obey iustice yet at the least he will blaspheme him that gaue sentence There are some Iudges that presently to get more money to drawe vnto them more friends and to continue also in their Offices vse such shamefull shifts with the poore plaintifes and take such large bribes of the defendant that both partyes are by himselfe assured of the Sentence in their fauour before hee come vnto the Barre Many goe to the houses of Iudges some to demaund others to giue instructions others to worke deceyte others to win them others to importune thē but few to go to visite them so that for those and such semblables I doe aduise and admonish Officers that they be iust in their sentences vpright in their wordes The ministers of Iustice ought to be such and so good that in their life nothing be worthie of rebuke neyther in their words any thing worthy of reproche For if heerein they be not very circumspect oftentimes that shall happen which the Gods vvould not which is that to the preiudice of the iustice of another hee shall denie the words of himselfe It sufficeth not Iudges to be true in their words but it is very necessarie that they bee vpright in their sentences That is to say that for loue they bee not too large neyther for couetousnes they should be corrupted nor for feare drawne backe nor with prayers to bee flattered nor with promises blinded For otherwise it were a great shame and inconuenience that the Yarde which they carrie in theyr hands should bee streight and the life which they lead should be very
continueth still his letter speaking against cruell Iudges and reciteth two examples the one of a pitifull king of Cypres and the other of a cruell iudge of Rome BY the saith of a good man I sweare vnto thee friend Antigonus that I being yong knew a Iudg in Rome whose name was Licaronicus a man of high stature his flesh neither too fat nor too leane his eyes were somewhat bloudy and red he was of the linage of the Senators and on his face hee had but a little bearde and on his head he had many white hayres This Lycaronicus of long time was Iudge in Rome in the Romane Lawes hee was very well learned and in Customes and policies very skilfull and expert of his owne Nature hee spake little and in the aunsweres hee gaue hee was very resolute Amongst all those which were in Rome in his time he had this excellencie which was That to all hee ministred equall iustice and to suters with great speede hee gaue briefe expedition and dispatched them immediatly They could neuer withdrawe him by requests neuer corrupt him with gifts nor beguile him with words nor feare him with threatnings neither would hee receyue a bribe of any man that would offer it him And besides this he was very seuere in condition churlish in wordes vnflectible in requests cruell in punishments suspitious in affaires and aboue all hee was hated of manie and feared of all How much this Lycaronicus was hated it cannot bee reported and of how manie hee was feared no man can thinke For in Rome when any man was iniuried hee saide I pray God that Lycaronicus may liue long When the children did crie the mothers said vnto them Take heede of Lycaronicus and streight way they helde theyr peace so that with the only name of Lycarcnicus people were astonyed and children kept silence Thou oughtest also to knowe Antigonus that when any commotion did arise in a Cittie or in anie other Prouince or that any sclaunder arose and increased therein they were assured and they saide that none other should goe thither but onely Lycaronicus And to say the truth when he was arriued at that Citie or prouince the rebells were not onely fledde but also diuers innocents were for feare of his crueltie hidde For Lycaronicus was so resolute a person that some for euill factes others for consenting Some for that they fauoured not the good right others for that they kept them secrete none escaped to be tormented of his person or punished in goods Thinkest thou Antigonus that they haue bin fewe whome this Iudge hath caused to bee whipt and carted cast into deepe wells beheaded taken banished and put in the stockes during the time that the Romaines had him with them By the immortall Gods I sweare vnto thee and as god Genius the God of nature may helpe me that the Gallowes and Gibbettes were so furnished with feete handes and heads of men as the shambles were with Oxen Sheepe and Kyddes This Lycaronicus was so fleshly to shead humaine bloud that he was neuer so conuersant nor hee neuer had so merrie a countenance as the same day when he should cause any man to be drowned in the riuer of Tyber hanged in Mount Celio beheadded in the streete Salario tormented or cast into the prison Marmortina Oh cruell Oh fierce and vnspeakeable condition that this Iudge Lycaronicus had For it was not possible that hee should be brought vppe betweene the delicate armes of the Romanes but in the vile entrails of you venemous Serpents I returne once more to say that it is vnpossible he should be nourished with the delicate milke of women but with the cruell bloud of Tygres If this Lycaronicus were cruell why did they giue him such aucthoritie I curse such aucthoritie If hee did for that hee had great zeale to Iustice I curse such zeale of iustice If he did it to winne more honour I curse that honour For that man shall be cursed of the Gods and hated of men which taketh life from others although it bee by iustice onely to increase his renowme The Gods are much offended and the people greatly damaged where the Senate of Rome called the Iudge gentle which is corrupted and him that is cruell iust So that nowe amongst the Romaine people those which heale with oyle are not credited but those onely which cure with fire If any mā think it at the least I doe not thinke it that when Licaronicus dyed all the cruell Iudges did end with him For through all the Romane Empire there was no more but one Lycaronicus and at this present there is aboue three or foure in euery Common wealth Not without teares I speake that which I will speake which is that in those dayes as all the Iudges that ministred were pittifull so was this Licaronicus renowmed for cruell But now since all are cruell wee hope in a Iudge which is pittifull In the 12. yeare of the foundation of our mother Rome the first king thereof was Romulus who sent a commaundement to all the neighbours and inhabitants therabouts to the end that all banished men al those which were afflicted all those which were persecuted and all those which were in necessity should come to Rome for they should bee defended from their enemies and succoured in their necessities The fame being spredde throughout Italy of the pitty and clemency which Romulus shewed in Rome if the Annalles of the Auncients do not deceiue vs Rome was more peopled with inhabitants in ten yeers then Babylon or Carthage in a hundred O noble heart of Romulus which such things inuented blessed bee that tongue which commaundeth that the famous Rome with clemency and pitty should bee founded In the originall bookes which were in the high Capitoll once I found diuers letters written to the sacred Senate and Romane people in the beginning of the letters the words sayd thus Wee the King of Parthes in Asia to the Fathers conscript of Rome and to the happy Romane people of Italy and to all those which with the Romane Senate are confederate which haue the name of Romanes and the renowne of clemency health and tranquility to your persons wee doe send you and desire the same of the gods for our selues Behold therefore Antigonus what titles of clemency had our first Romanes and what example of clemency did the Emperour leaue for them to come so that since the barbarous strangers called them pittifull it is not to be beleeued that to their subiects or naturall countreymen they were cruell And as the Auncients haue trauelled of all to be well beloued so they at this present through their cruelties seeke nothing but to bee feared If the gods perhappes should reuiue the dead and should compare the liuing before them in iudgement I suppose they would say these are not their children but their enemies not encreasers of the Common-wealth but destroyers of the people I beeing thirty seuen yeares of
doth not enrich or empouerish his Common-wealth yet wee cannot deny but that it doth much for the reputation of his person For the vanity and curiosity of garments dooth shew great lightnes of mind According to the variety of ages so ought the diuersity of apparrell to bee which seemeth to be very cleare in that the young maides are attired in one sort the married women of an other sort the widdowes of an other And likewise I would say that the apparrell of children ought to be of one sort those of young men of an other and those of olde men of an other which ought to be more honester then all For men of hoary heades ought not to be adorned with precious garments but with vertuous workes To goe cleanely to bee well apparrelled and to bee well accompanied wee doe not forbidde the olde especially those which are noble and valiant men but to goe fine to go with great traines and to go very curious wee doe not allow Let the old men pardon mee for it is not the office but of yong fooles for the one sheweth honesty and the other lightnesse It is a confusion to tell it but it is greater shame to do it that is to say that many olde men of our time take no smal felicity to put caules on their heads euery man to weare iewels on their necks to lay their caps with agglets of gold to seeke out diuers inuētions of mettall to loade their fingers with rich rings to go perfumed with odoriferous sauors to weare new fashioned apparrell and finally I say that thogh their face be ful of wrinckles they cannot suffer one wrinckle to be in their gowne All the ancient histories accuse Quint. Hortensius the Romane for that euery time when he made himselfe ready hee had a glasse before him and as much space and time had hee to streighten the pleytes of his gowne as a Woman hadde to trimme the haires of her head This Quintus Hortensius being Consull going by chance one day through Rome in a narrow streete met with the other Consull where thorough the streightnes of the passage the pleights of his Gowne were vndone vppon which occasion hee complained vnto the Senate of the other Consull that he had deserued to loose his life The Author of all this is Macrobius in the third book of the Saturnales I can not tell if I be deceyued but we may say that all the curiositie that olde men haue to goe fine well apparrelled and cleane is for no other thing but to shake off Age and to pretende right to youth What a griefe is it to see diuers auncient men the which as ripe Figges do fall and on the other side it is a wonder to see how in theyr age they make themselues young In this case I say would to God wee might see them hate vices and not to complaine of their yeares which they haue I pray and exhort all Princes and great Lordes whome our soueraigne Lord hath permitted to come to age that they doe not despise to bee aged For speaking the truth the man which hath enuie to seeme olde doth delight to liue in the lightnes of youth Also men of honor ought to be very circumspect for so much as after they are become aged they bee not suspected of their friends but that both vnto their friends and foes they be counted faithfull For a Lye in a young mans mouth is esteemed but a lye but in the mouth of an auncient or aged old man it is counted as a haynous blasphemie Noble Princes and great Lordes after they are become aged of one sort they ought to vse themselues to giue and of the other to speake For good Princes ought to sell theyr wordes by weight and giue rewardes without measure The Auncient do oftentimes complaine saying That the young will not bee conuersant with them and truely if there be any faulte therein it is of themselues And the reason is that if sometimes they doe assemble together to passe away the time if the old man set a talking he neuer maketh an ende So that a discrete man had rather goe a dozen miles on foot then to heare an olde man talke three houres If with such efficacie we perswade olde men that they be honest in theyr apparrell for a truth we will not giue them licence to bee dissolute in theyr words since there is a great difference to note some man in his Apparrell or to accuse him to bee malitious or a babler For to weare rich and costly Apparell iniurieth fewe but iniurious words hurt manie Macrobius in his first booke of the dreames of Scipio declareth of a Phylosopher named Crito who liued an hundred and fiue yeares and till fiftie yeares hee was farre out of course But after hee came to be aged he was so well measured in his eating and drinking and so warie in his speeche that they neuer saw him do any thing worthy reprehension nor heard him speake word but was worthie of noting On this condition wee would giue licence to manie that till fiftie yeares they should bee young So that from thenceforth they would be clothed as old men speake as old men and they should esteeme themselues to be olde But I am sorrie that all the Spring time doth passe in flower and afterwardes they fall into the graue as rotten before they finde any time to pull them out The olde doe complaine that the young doe not take their aduise and their excuse herein is that in their words they are too long For if a man doe demaund an olde man his opinion in a case immediately hee will beginne to say that in the life of such and such Kings and Lords of good memory this was done this was prouided so that when a young man asketh them counsel how hee shall be haue himselfe with the liuing the olde man beginneth to declare vnto him the life of those which be dead The reason why the olde men desire to speake so long is that since for their age they cannot see nor go nor eate nor sleepe they would that all the time their members were occupied to doe their duties all that time their tongue should bee occupied to declare of their times past All this being spoken what more is to say I know not but that wee should content our selues that the olde men should haue their flesh as much punished as they haue their tong with talke martyred Though it bee very vile for a young man to speake and slaunder to a young man not to say the truth yet this vice is much more to be abhorred in old Princes and other noble and worshipfull men which ought not onely to thinke it their duty to speake truth but also to punish the enemies thereof For otherwise the noble and valiant Knights should not lose a litle of their authority if a man saw on their heads but white haires and in their mouthes found
be so many couetous men in the common wealth for nothing can bee more vniust then one rich man heape vp that which wold suffice 10000. to liue with all we cannot deny but that cursed auarice to al sorts of men is as preiudicial as the moth which eateth all garments Therefore speaking the truth there is no house that it doth not defile for it is more perillous to haue a clod of earth fall into a mans eye then a beame vpon his foote Agesilaus the renowmed king of the Lacedemonians beeing asked of a man of Thebes what word was most odible to be spoken to a King and what word was that that could honor him most hee aunswered The Prince with nothing so much ought to bee annoyed as to say vnto him that hee is rich and of nothing hee ought so much to reioyce as to be called poore For the glory of the good Prince consisteth not in that hee hath great treasures but in that hee hath giuen great recompences This word without doubt of all the world was one of the most royallest and worthyest to be committed vnto me morie Alexander Pyrrhus Nicanor Ptholomeius Pompeius Iulius Caesar Scipto Hanniball Marcus Porlius Augustus Cato Traian Theodose Marcus Aurelius c. All these Princes haue bin very valiaunt and vertuous but adding hereunto also the Writers which had written the deeds that they did in their liues haue mentioned also the pouertie which they had at their death So that they are no lesse exalted for the riches they haue spent then for the prowesses they haue done Admit that men of meane estate be auaritious and Princes great Lords also couetous the fault of the one is not equall with the vice of the other though in the ende all are culpable For if the poore man keepe it is for that hee would not want but if the knight hoord it is because he hath too much And in this case I would say that cursed bee the Knight which trauelleth to the end that goods abound and doth not care that betweene two bowes his renowm fall to the ground Sithens Princes and great Lordes will that men doe count them Noble vertuous and valiaunt I would fayne know what occasion they haue to be niggards and hard If they say that that which they keepe is to eate herein there is no reason for in the end where the rich eateth least at his table there are many that had rather haue that which remaineth then that which they prouide to eate in their houses If they say that that which they keepe is to apparrell them herein also they haue as little reason for the greatnes of Lordes consisteth not in that they should bee sumptuously apparrelled but that they prouide that their seruants goe not rent not torne If they say it is to haue in their chambers precious iewels in their hals rich Tapestry as little would I admit this answere for all those which enter into Princes Pallaces doe behold more if those that haunt their chambers bee vertuous then that the Tapestries be rich If they say it is to compasse their Cities with walles or to make fortresses on their frontiers so likewise is this answere among the others very cold For good Princes ought not to trauell but to be well willed and if in their realms they be welbeloued in the world they can haue no walles so strong as in the hearts of their Subiects If they tell vs that that they keepe is to marry their children as little reason is that for sithence Princes and great Lords haue great inheritances they need not heape much For if their children bee good they shall encrease that shall be left them and if by mishappe they be euill they shall as well lose that which shall bee giuen them If they say vnto vs that which they heape is for the wartes in like manner that is no iust excuse For if such warre bee not iust the Prince ought not to take it in hand nor the people thereunto to condiscend but if it be iust the common-wealth then and not the Prince shall beare the charges thereof For in iust warres it is not sufficient that they giue vnto the Prince all their goods but also they must themselues in person hazzard theyr liues If they tell vs that they keepe it to giue and dispose for theyr soules at their dying day I say it is not onely for want of wisedome but extreame sollie For at the houre of death princes ought more to reioyce for that they haue giuen then for that at that time they giue Oh how Princes and great Lordes are euill counselled since they suffer themselues to be slaundered for being couetous onely to heape a little cursed treasure For experience teacheth vs no man can be couetous of goods but needs he must be prodigall of honour and abandon libertie Plutarche in the Booke which hee made of the fortunes of Alexander saith That Alexander the great had a priuate seruant called Perdicas the which seeing that Alexander liberally gaue all that which by great trauell hee attained on a day he said vnto him Tell mee most Noble Prince sithens thou giuest all that thou hast vnto others what wilt thou haue for thy selfe Alexander answered The glorie remaineth vnto mee of that I haue wonne and gotten and the hope of that which I will giue and winne And further he said vnto him I will tell thee Perdicas If I knew that men thought that all that which I take were for couetousnes I sweare vnto thee by the God Mars that I would not beate downe one corner in a Towne and to winne all the world I would not go one dayes iourney My intention is to take the glorie vnto my selfe and to diuide the goods amongst others These words so high were worthy of a valiant and vertuous Prince as of Alexander which spake them If that which I haue read in books doe not beguile mee and that which with these eyes I haue seen to become rich it is necessarie that a man giue For that Princes and great lords who naturally are giuen to bee liberall are alwayes fortunate to haue It chaunceth oft times that some man giuing a little is counted liberal and another giuing much is counted a niggard the which proceedeth of this that they know not that liberalitie and niggardnesse consisteth not in giuing much or little but to knowe well how to giue For the rewardes and recompences which out of time are distributed doe neyther profite them which receyue them neyther agree to him which giueth them A couetous man giueth more at one time then a noble and free heart doeth in twentie thus saith the prouerbe It is good comming to a niggardes feast The difference betweene the liberality of the one and the misery of the other is that the noble and vertuous doth giue that he giueth to many but the niggard giueth that hee giueth to one onely Of the which vnaduisement
barbarous people shedding their owne proper bloud And in the hindermost parte of Spaine when those of Seuill had warre with the Gaditanes it chanced that euen in the middest of the time those of Seuill wanted money and two Parasites offered themselues for 2 years to sustaine the warres with their own proper goods so that with the riches of two fooles many wise men were ouercome When the Amazones were Ladies of Asia then they built the great temple of the goddesse Diana And as the histories account only with that they tooke away from a player was builte this noble Temple If the histories of the Egyptians do not deceyue me King Caâ—mus who with a 1000. gates built the great City of Thebes for such a building so high and monstrous a City all his subiects together gaue him not so much as two Parasites did alone When the good Emperour Augustus renued the walles of Rome made them of hard stone which before that time were onely of earth and bricke towards such a costly Worke he had more of two Parasites which were drowned then of all the City beside I beeing in the City of Corinthe saw an auncient Tombe wherein the Corinthians say their first King was buried And the Historiographers say that this King was a great wrastler other say hee was a Parasite others say hee was a Iugler but howsoeuer it was he was first a Iester and obtained a Realme in earnest Behold Lambert how they are neglected of the gods and fauoured of fortune and in how little estimation the goods of this life ought to bee esteemed since som by counterfaiting the fooles leaue of them as great memory of their folly as the others doe by their wisedome There is one thing onely of these loyterers that pleaseth me that is to say that in his presence they make euery man laugh with the follyes they speake and after that they are gone all remaine sadde for the money they carrie away Truly it is a iust sentence of the gods that those which haue taken vain pleasures together do weepe afterwards for their losse seuerally At this present I will write no more vnto thee but that I send thee this letter written in Greeke to the end thou maiest reade it to al those of that Isle And thou shalt immediatelie dispatch the ships to the end they carry the prouisions to the men of warre in Illyria Peace bee with thee Lambert health and good fortune to mee Marke The Senate saluteth thee and do send thee the propagation of the gouernement for the next yeare In the Calends of Ianuary thou shalt say Gaude foelix My wife Faustine commendeth her to thee and sendeth thee for thy daughter a rich girdle In payment of thy seruices I do send thee two rich Iewels two light horses and one laden with 4000. Sexterces Marcus of Mount Celio with his owne hand writeth vnto thee CHAP. XLVIII That Princes and Noble men ought to remember that they are mortall and must dye wherein are sundry notable consolations against the feare of death CLeobolus and Biton were the sonnes of a renowmed woman the which was Nunne to the goddesse Iuno when the day of that solemne feast was celebrated her children prepared a Chariot wherein their mother should goe to the Temple For the Greekes had this custome the day that the Priestes went to offer any sacrifice eyther they were carried on mens armes or in Chariots They adorned their temples so well they esteemed their Sacrifices so much and did so much honour their Priests that if any Priest did set his foot on the ground that day they did not permit him to offer any sacrifices to the Gods It chanced as this Nunne went in her Chariot and her children Cleobolus Biton with her the beasts which drew the Chariot suddenly fell down dead ten miles from the Temple of the goddesse Iuno The children seeing the beasts dead and that their mother could not goe a foot and that the Chariot was all ready and that there was no beasts to draw it they as louing children determined to yoake themselues and draw the chariot as if they had been dumb beasts And as the mother carried them nine moneths in her wombe so did they draw her in the chariot x. miles Now for that they passed through infinite numbers of men to the feast of the goddesse Iuno euery man seing Cleobolus and Biton yoked in the Chariot like beasts were greatly amazed saying that these two children deserued with great rewards to be recompenced And truly they sayde iustly and so they deserued it For they deserued as much to be praysed for the example which they shewed to all children to reuerence their parents as for carrying their mother in the Chariot to the Temple So after that the Feast was ended the mother not knowing how to require the benefite of her children with many teares besought the goddesse Iuno that she with the other gods would be contented to giue her two children the best thing that the gods could giue to their friends The Goddesse Iuno answered her that shee was contented to require the other Gods and that they would doe it And the reward was that for this noble fact the gods ordained that Cleobolus and Biton should sleepe one day well and in the morning when they should wake they should dye The mother pittifully bewayling the death of her children and complaining of the gods the Goddesse Iuno sayde vnto her Thou hast no cause why to complaine since wee haue giuen thee that thou hast demaunded hast demaunded that which wee haue giuen thee I am a goddesse and thou art my seruant and therefore the gods haue giuen to thy children the thing which they count most dear which is death For the greatest reuenge which among the gods wee can take of our enemies is to let them liue long and the best thing that we keep for our friends is to make them to die quickely The author of this historie is called Hisearchus in his politikes and Cicero in his first booke of his Tusculanes In the Isle of Delphos where the oracle of the god Apollo was there was a sumptuous Temple the which for want of reparation fell downe to the ground as oftentimes it chanceth to high and sumptuous buildings which from time to time are not repaired For if the walles dungeons Castels and strong houses could speak as well would they complaine for that they doe not renue them as the olde men doe for that wee doe not cherish them Triphon and Agamendo were two noble Personages of Greece and counted for sage and rich men the which went vnto the Temple of Apollo and built it new againe as well with the labour of their persons as with the great expences of their goods When the building was atchieued the god Apollo sayde vnto them that hee remembred well their good seruice wherefore he would they should demaund him any thing in rewarde of
say they are faithfull for oftentimes greater are the theeues which are receiuers and treasurers then are they that doe rob among the people I leaue thee my sonne expert and ancient men of whom thou maiest take counsell and with whom thou maiest communicat thy troubles for there can bee fourmed no honest thing in a Prince vnlesse hee hath in his company auncient men for such giue grauitie to his person and authoritie to his pallace To inuent Theaters to sish ponds to chase wilde beasts in the forrests to runne in the fields to let thy haukes flye and to exercise weapons al these things we can denie thee as to a yong man and thou being yong mayest reioice thy selfe in all these Thou oughtest also to haue respect that to ordaine armes inuent warres follow victories accept truces confirm peace raise bruites to make lawes to promote the one and put down the others to punish the euill and first to reward the good the counsell of all these things ought to bee taken of cleare iudgements of persons of experience and of white heads Thinkest thou not that it is possible to passe the time with the yong and to counsell with the old The wife and discreet Princes for all things haue time enough if they know well how to measure it Beware my sonne that they note thee not to vse great extremities for the end and occasion why I speake it is because thou shouldst know if thou knowest not that it is as vndecent a thing for a Prince vnder the colour of granitie to bee ruled and gouerned wholie by olde men as vnder semblance of pastime alwaies to accompanie himselfe with the yong It is no generall rule that all young men are light nor all old men sage And thou must according to my aduise in such case vse it thus if any old man lose the grauity of his age expulse him from thee if thou finde any young men sage despise not their counsell For the Bees doe drawe more honey out of the tender flowers then of the hard leaues I do not condemne the aged nor I doe commend the young but it shall bee well done that alwayes thou choose of both the most vertuous For of truth there is no company in the Worlde so euill ordered but that there is mean to liue with it without any suspition so that if the young are euill with solly the olde are worse through couetousnesse Once againe I returne to aduertise thee my sonne that in no wise thou vse extremitie for if thou beleeue none but young they will corrupt thy manners with lightnesse and if thou beleeue none but the old they will depraue thy iustice through couetousnesse What thing can bee more monstrous then that the prince which commaundeth all should suffer him to be commaunded of one alone Beleeue me sonne in this case that the gouernements of many are seldome times gouerned well by the head of one alone The Prince which hath to rule and gouerne many ought to take the aduise and counsell of many It is a great inconuenience that thou beeing Lord of many Realmes shouldst haue but one gate wherein all doe enter into to doe their businesse with thee For if perchance he which shall be thy familiar be of his owne nature good and be not mine enemy yet I would be afraid of him because hee is a friend of mine enemies And though for hate they doe me no euill yet I am afraide that for the loue of another he will cease to do me good I remember that in the Annalles of Pompeius I found a little booke of memories which the great Pompeius bare about him wherein were many things that he had reade and other good counsels which in diuers parts of the world he had lerned and among other wordes there were these The Gouernour of the Common-wealth which committeth all the gouernment to old men deserueth very little and hee that trusteth all young is light Hee that gouerneth it by himselfe alone is beyond himselfe and he which by himselfe and others doth gouerne it is a wise Prince I know not whether these sentences are of the same Pompeius or that hee gathered them out of some book or that any Philosopher had told him them or some friend of his had giuen him them I meane that I had them written with his hands and truly they deserued to bee written in letters of gold When thy affayres shall bee waighty see thou dispatch them alwayes by counsell For when the affaires be determined by the counsell of many the fault shall be diuided among them all Thou shalt finde it for a truth my sonne that if thou take counsell of many the one will tel the inconuenience the other the perill other the feare the other the damage the other the profite and the other the remedy finally they will so debate thy affayrs that plainly thou shalt know the good and see the danger thereof I aduertise thee my son that when thou takest counsel thou behold with thy eyes the inconuenience as well as the remedies which they shall offer vnto thee for the true counsell consisteth not to tell what they ought to doe but to declare what thereof is like to succeede When thou shalt enterprise my son great and weighty affayres as much oughtest thou to regard the little dammages for to cutte them off in time as the great mishaps to remedy them For oftenttmes it chanceth that for the negligence of taking vp a gutter the whole house falleth to the ground Notwithstanding I tell thee thou take counsell I meane not that thou oughtest to be so curious as for euery trifle to cal thy counsell for there are many thinges of such quality that they would bee immediately put in execution and they doe endammage themselues attending for counsell That which by thine own authority thou mayest dispatch without the dammage of the Common-wealth referre it to no other person and herein thou shalt be iust and shalt doe iustice conformable for considering that thy seruice dependeth onely of them the reward which they ought to haue ought to depend onely on thee I remember that when Marius the Consull came from the warres of Numedia he diuided all the treasure hee brought among his souldiers not putting one jewell into the common Treasurie And when hereof hee was accused for that he had not demaunded licence of the Senat he answered them It is not iust I take counsell with others for to giue recompence to those which haue not taken the opinions of others to serue me Thou shalt find my sonne a kind of men which are very hard of money and exceeding prodigal of counsell There are also diuers lenders which without demaunding them doe offer to giue it With such like men thou shalt haue this counsell neuer looke thou for good counsell at that man whose counsell tendeth to the preiudice of another for he offereth words to thy seruice and trauelleth thy businesse
the world wil do For all that the world hath giuen me hath beene but mockery and deceite but that which the gods haue giuen mee I haue gouerned and possessed without snspition For this last houre my sonne I haue kept the best the most noble and richest iewell that I haue possessed in my life time and I doe protest vnto the immortall gods that if as they doe commaund mee to die they would giue me lieence to reade in the graue I would command it to be buried with me Thou shalt know my sonne that in in the tenth yeare of my Empire a great warre arose against the vnrulie people of Persia where by euill lucke it was appointed for mee in person to giue the battell the which wonne and all their Countrey destroyed I returned by the olde City of Thebes in Egypt to see if I could finde any antiquitie of those in times past In the house of an Egyptian Priest I found a little table which they hanged at the gate of the Kinges pallace the day of his Coronation And this poore Priest tolde mee that that which was in his table was written by a king of Egypt named Ptholomeus Arasides I beseech the immortall god my sonne that such bee thy works as the words of this table require As Emperour I leaue thee heyre of many Realmes and as a father I giue thee this Table of Counsels The words which the Fathers do teach vnto the children at the last houre the children ought to keepe continually in their memory Let this therefore be my last word with the Empire thou shalt be feared through out all the World and with the counsels of this Table thou shalt bee loued of all Nations This talke being ended and the table giuen the Emperour turned his eyes lost his sences and for the space of a quarter of an houre lay languishing in extreame paine and within a while after yeelded vp the Ghost In this table were certaine Greeke Letters which weere in meeter and in our tongue signifie thus A Table left by the Emperour Marcus Aurelius to his Soune Commodus ONn Honours stall I doe no Tirant heaue Nor yet the poore suppresse if hee were tust For riches rule I nould to pardon cleaue For want of wealth nor follow rigors lust For naked loue I neuer spent reward Nor would correct for onely enuies heate Of vertues impes I alwayes had regard And mischiefes mates haue plagude with torment great To others doome I neuer would commit Of open right the quarrell to decide Ne yet of doubtfull strifes in trust of wit The finall end alone I would diuide To them that sought for iustice equall sway Her golden rule I neuer would deny Ne yet to such for whom desert would lay Their slender faults might well be slipped by To feele the griefe that waued in my mind With others smart I neuer could sustaine Nor yet rewards my princely words would binde When sweet delight had chiefest ioy to raine In high estate when most blinde for tune smilde A recklesse life I restlesse ranne not on Nor yet when change these happy dayes beguilde To colde despaire my quiet mind was gone By boyling heate of malice endlesse fire To vices traine I cast no eagre eye Ne yet for lust of pining wealths desire Vnlawfull facts I rechlesse would applye The trayterous brest I neuer could embrace Nor lend mine eares to swallow flattering talke Of vices slaues I wayed not the grace Nor left vnsought good will in vertues walke Poore Irus band for that I did relieue Whose needy state doth stoppe in Croesus swaye The greatest gods whose heauenly wracke doth grieue The prowdest crownes was aye my present state The end of the thirde Booke THE FOVRTH BOOKE OF THE DIALL OF PRINCES COMPILED By the Right Reuerend Father in God ANTONIE of Gueuara Bishop of Mondogueto Preacher Chronicler and Councellor to CHARLES the fift Emperour of ROME Containing many Instructions and Rules for the fauoured of the Court being once in fauour easily to keepe and continue themselues in fauour still Very necessary and profitable for all Princes and Noble men and Gentlemen Courtiers that seeke to continue themselues in honour and estimation LONDON Imprinted by Bernard Alsop 1619. THE EPISTLE TO THE READER WHat detracting tongues report of mee and my first trauell in the translation of this Dyall enlarging them at pleasure to work my defame disabling my doing herein by brute it was no worke of mine but the fruit of others labour I need not much force since by dayly proofe wee see that ill disposed minds can neuer frame an honest tongue of head For my obiect and reproof of this their slaunderous and malignant speech I can alleadge courteous Reader two principall causes which thou reading iudging with indifferency mayest easilie aproue if I should seem to glose with thee First the basenesse of my Stile the plain humble words couched in the same the meane rude and ill contriued sentences layde before thee together with the simple handling of the whole plainely sheweth to thee whence they are and easily acquainteth thee with the curious Translator Who protesteth to God and confesseth to the world that hee more rashly then wisely plunged himself into so graue and deepe a matter and whose young yeeres and vnskilfull head might both then and now haue excused his fond enterprises herein For the second and last I must needs appeale to all the worshipfull and my bebeloued companions and fellow students of our house of Lincolnes Inne at that time from whence my poore English Diall tooke his light To whose iust and true reports for thy vndoubted satisfaction and discharge of my poore honesty I refer thee and wholy yeeld me These recited causes for purgation of my suspected fame as also for established assurance of the like and thy further doubt of mee hereafter I thought good Gentle Reader to denounce vnto thee I might well haue spared this second and last labour of mine taken in the rformation and correction of this Diall enlarging my selfe further once againe with the translation of the late and new come fauoured Courtier and which I found annexed to the Diall for the 4. and last booke If my proceeding trauell taken in the setting forth of the first three bookes and the respect of mine honesty in accomplishing of the same had not incited mee vnwillingly to continue my first begunne attempt to bring the same to his perfect and desired end which whole worke is now compleat by this last booke intituled the fauored Courtier which first last volume wholly as it lyeth I prostrate to the iudgemēt of the graue and wise Reader subiecting my self and it to the reformation and correction of his learned head whom I beseech to iudge of mee with fauour and equity and not with malice to persecute my fame and honest intent hauing for thy benefite to my little skill and knowledge imployed my simple talent crauing no other guerdon of thee
ENTITVLED THE FAuoured Courtyer wherein the Authour sheweth the intent of his worke exhorting all men to studie good and vertuous Books vtterly reiecting all Fables vaine trifling storyes of small doctrine erudition AVlus Gellius in his Booke De noctibus Atticis saith That after the death of the great Poet Homer 7-famous cities of Grece were in great controuersie one with the other each one of them affirming that by reason the bones of the saide Poet was theirs and only appertained to them all 7. taking their oaths that he was not only borne but also nourished broght vp in euery one of thē And this they did Supposing that they neuer had so great honor in any thing but that this was far greater to haue educated so Excellent and rare a Man as hee was Euripides also the phylosopher born and broght vp in Athens trauelling in the realm of Macedonia was suddēly strucken with death which woful newes no soner came to the Athenians eares declared for a truth but with all expedition they dispatched an honorable Embasie only to intreat the Lacedemoniās to be contented to deliuer them the bones of the said phylosopher protesting to them that if they wold frankly grant them they would regratifie that pleasure done them and if they would denie them they should assure themselues they would come and fetch them with the sword in hand K Demetrius helde Rhodes besieged long time which at length he won by force of arms the Rhodiās being so stubborn that they wold not yeeld by composition nor trust to his princely clemencie hee cōmanded to strike off al the Rhodians heads to rase the city to the hard foundations But when he was let vnderstand that there was euen then in the Cittie Prothogenes a Phylosopher and Paynter and doubting least in executing others hee also vnknowne might bee put to the sword reuoked his cruell sentence gaue straight commandement forthwith they should cease to spoile and deface the towne further and also to stay the slaughter of the rest of the Rhodians The diuine Plato beeing in Athens aduertised that in the city of Damasco in the realme of Palestine were certaine bookes of great antiquity which a Philosopher borne of that Country left behind him there when he vnderstood it to be true went thither immediately led with the great desire he had to see them purposely if they did like him afterwards to buy them And when hee saw that neyther at his suit nor at the requests of others he could obtaine them but that he must buy thē at a great price Plato went and solde all his patrimony to recouer them and his owne not being sufficient hee was faine to borrow vpon interest of the commō Treasury to helpe him so that notwithstanding he was so profound and rare a Philosopher as indeed he was yet he would sell all that small substāce hee had onely to see as hee thought some prety new thing more of Philosophy As Ptolomeus Philadelphus king of Egypt not contened to bee so wise in al sciences as he was nor to haue in his Library 8000. bookes as hee had nor to study at the least 4. houres in the day nor ordinarily to dispute at his meales with Philosophers sent neuerthelesse an Ambassage of Noble men to the Hebrewes to desire them they would be contented to send him some of the best learned and wisest men amongst them to teach him the Hebrew tongue and to reade to him the books of their Laws When Alexander the Great was borne his father King Philip wrote a notable letter immediately to Aristotle among other matters hee wrote there were these I let thee to vnderstand O greatest Philosopher Aristotle if thou knowest it not that Olimpius my wife is brought to bedde of a sonne for which incessantly I giue the Gods immortall thankes not so much that I haue a sonne as for that they haue giuen him mee in thy time For I am asassured hee shall profite more with the doctrine thou shalt teach him then he shall preuayle with the Kingdomes I shall leaue him after me Now by the examples aboue recited and by many more wee could alledge wee may easily consider with what reuerence and honour the auncient Kings vsed the learned and vertuous men in their time And wee may also more plainely see it sith then they helde in greater price and estimation the bones of a dead Philosopher then they doe now the doctrine of the best learned of our time And not without iust occasion did these famous and heroycall Princes ioy to haue at home in their houses and abroad with them in the field such wise and learned men whilest they liued and after they were dead to honour their bones and carcases and in doing this they erred not a a iot For whosoeuer accompanieth continuallly with graue and wise men enioyeth this benefit and priuiledge before others that he shall neuer bee counted ignorant of any therfore continuing stil our first purpose let vs say that whosoeuer will professe the company of sober wise men it cannot otherwise be but he must maruellously profit by their cōpany for being in their company they wil put al vain and dishonest thoughts from him they will teach him to subdue resist al sudden passions motions moued of choler by thē they shal win good friends and learn also neuer to be troublesom or enemy to any they will make him forsake all sinne vice declaring to him what good works he shall follow and what hee shall most flye and eschew they will let him vnderstand how hee shall humble and behaue himselfe in prosperity and they will also comfort him in his aduersity to keep him from all sorrow and despaire For though a man be neuer so carefull and circumspect yet hath he hath always need of the councell of another in his affaires if therefore such a person haue not about him good vertuous sage men how can it otherwise bee but that he must stūble oft and fall down right on his face hauing no man to aid or help him Paulus Dyaconus sayth that albeit the Affricanes were wilde and brutish people yet had they notwithstanding a law amongst them that the senators amongst them could chuse no other Senator if at the Election there were not present a philosopher So it hapned on a day amongst the rest that of manie phylosophers they had in Carthage amongst them there was one named Apolonius who ruled for the space of 62. yeares all their Senat with great quyet and to the contentation of all the Senators which to shew themselues thankfull to him erected in the market place so many images of him as hee had gouerned their Common-weale yeares to the ende the fame and memorie of him should bee immortall and yet they did dedicate to their famous Hannibal but one only image and to this Phylosopher they set vp aboue 60. Alexander the great whē he was most
is also a great trouble and daungerous for a man to practise with new Iudges and to put their matters into their hands who onely were called to the place of a Iudge being thought learned and fitte for it and so brought to rule as a Magistrate For many times these young Iudges and new Physitians although they want not possible knowledge yet they may lacke a great deale of practise experience which is cause that one sort maketh many lose their liues before they doe come to rise in fame the other vndoe many a man in making him spēd all that euer he hath There is yet besides an other apparant daunger to haue to doe with these new and yong experienced iudges for when they come to sit newly in iudgement with their other brethren the Iudges hauing the lawe in their mouth to serue all turnes they doe but onely desire and study to winne fame and reputation amongst men and thereby to bee the better reputed of his brethren And for this cause only when they are assembled together in place of Iustice to giue iudgement of the pleas layde before them they doe not only inlarge themselues in alleadging many and diuers opinions of great learned men and booke cases So that the Hearers of them may rather thinke they haue studyed to shew their eloquence and learning then for to open the decision and iudgement of the cases they haue before them And for finall resolution I say that touching Pleas and Sutes I am of opinion that they should neyther truste the experience of the olde Iudge nor the learning and knowledge of the young But rather I reckon that man wise that seeketh by little and little to grow to an agreement with his aduersarie and that tarieth not many yeares to haue a lingring yea and possibly an vncertaine ende Also I would in some sort exhort the poore Plaintise not to bee ouer-curious to vnderstand the qualities of the iudge as a man would say If he be olde or young if he be learned or priuiledged if he be well studyed or but little if hee be a man of few or manie words if hee be afflicted or passionate tractable or selfe willed For possiblie beeing too inquisitiue to demaund of any of these things it might happen though hee did it vnawares yet hee should finde them afterwards all heaped togethers in the person of the Iudge to his hinderance and dammage in decyding his cause The wise Suter should not onely not seek to be inquisitiue of the iudge or his conditions but also if any man would seeme to tell him of him hee should giue no eare to him at all For if it come to the Iudges eares hee enquireth after his manner of liuing and condition hee will not onely be angry with him in his minde but will be also vnwilling to giue iudgement in his fauour The poore Siuter shall also meete with Terrible Iudges seuere intractable chollericke incommunicable and inexorable and yet for all this he may not looke vpon his nature nor condition but onely to regarde his good conscience For what neede hee care if the Iudge be of seuere and sharpe condition as long as he may be assured that hee is of good conscience It is as needefull for the vpright and good Iudge to haue a good and pure Conscience as it is to haue a skilfull head and iudgement in the Lawes For if he haue the one without the other hee may offend in malice and if hee haue that without the other hee may offend also in ignorance And if the suter come to speake with the Iudge and hee by chaunce finde him a sleepe hee must tarry till hee awake and if then hee will not or he cannot giue eare vnto him hee must bee contented And if he caused his man to say he were not within notwithstanding the suter saw him hee must dissemble it yea if the seruants giue him an ill answere he must take it in good worth For the wary and politike suter must not bee offended at any thing that is done or sayde to him till he see the definitiue sentence giuen with him or against him It is a maruellous trouble also to the suter to chuse his Counsellour for many times hee shall chuse one that shall want both law and conscience And some others shall chuse one that though on the one side hee lacke not Law yet on the other hee shall bee without both soule and conscience And this is apparantly seen that somtime for the gaine of twenty Nobles hee shall as willingly deny the truth and goe against his owne consciedce as at another time he will seeke for to maintaine Iustice It is true there are many other Counsellours also that are both wise and learned and yet notwithstanding they know the Law they can by no meanes frame it to his Clients case wanting deuice and conuayance to ioyne them together And so it happeneth many times that to compare it to his Clyants case hee conuaieth him so vnfitlie as of a plaine case it was before It is now made altogether a folde of infinite doubts I graunt that it is a great furtherance vnto the Clyants to haue a good and wise Counsellor but it is a great deale more for their profite if they can giue a sound and profound iudgement of his case For it is not ynough for the Counseller to bee able to expound the Law but it is behouefull for him to applie it to his purpose and to fit it to Time and Place according to the necessitie of his cause I haue knowne Counsellours my selfe that in their Chayres and Readings in their Halls haue seemed Eagles they haue flowne so high in their doctrine and interpretations but afterwards at the barre where they plead and in the face of their Court where they should best shewe themselues there they haue prooued themselues very capons And the onely cause of this is because they haue gotten by force of long trauell and continuall studie a knowledge to moote and read ordinarily their Book-cases in their chaires by common-practise and putting of them each to other But when they are taken out of common-trade and high beaten way and brought to a little path-way straighted to a Counsellers-room at the barre to pleade his Clyents strange and vnknowne case much contrarie to theyr Booke-cases before recited then stript of their common-knowledge and easie seate in chayre they stand now naked on their feete before the iudgement-seate like sense-lesse creatures voyde of reason and experience But now to supplye these imperfections of our rawe Counsellers and to further also our Clyents cause the better wee will that the Clyent be liberall and bountifull to his Counseller thereby the better to whette his wit and to make him also take paines to studie his ease throughly beeing true That the Counseller giueth Lawe as hee hath rewarde And that the Counseller also be carefull of his clyents cause and to goe through with that hee
to leaue their heyres and successors And therfore I haue appointed euery thing in common among subiects because that during their liues they might haue honestly to maintaine themselues withall and that they should not leauy any thing to dispose by will after their deathes Herodotus sayth also that it was decreede by the Inhabitants of the Isles Baleares that they should suffer none to come into their Country to bring them any golde siluer Iewels or precious stones And this serued them to great profite For by means of this Law for the space of foure hundred yeares that they had great warres with the Romanes the Carthagenians the French and the Spaniards neuer any of these Nations once stirred to goe about to conquere their land being assured that they had neyther golde nor siluer to robbe or conuey from them Promotheus that was the first that gaue Lawes to the Egyptians did not prohibite golde nor siluer in Egypt as those of the Isles Baleares did in theyr territories neyther did he also commaund that all things should be common as Licurgus but also commanded that none in all his Kingdome should be so hardy once to gather any masse or quantitie of golde or siluer together and to hoord it vp And this he did vpon great penalties for as hee sayde Auarice is not shewed in building of fayre houses neyther in hauing rich moueables but in assembling and gathring together great treasure and laying it vp in their coffers And Plutarch in his booke De Consolatione sayth also That if a rich man dyed among the Rhodians leauing behind him one onely sonne and no more suruiuing him they wold not suffer that he should bee sole heyre of all that his Father left but they left him an honest heritage liuing to his state and calling and to marry him well withall and the rest of all his Fathers goods they dissipated among the poore and Orphans The Lydians that neyther were Greekes nor Romanes but right barbarous people had a law in their common weale that euery man should be bound to bring vp his children but not to be at charges in bestowing thē in marriage So that the sonne or daughter that was now of age to marry they gaue them nothing to theyr marriage more then they had gotten with their labour And those that will exactly consider this laudable custome shall finde that it is rather a Law of true Philosophers then a custome of barbarous people Since thereby the children were enforced to labour for their liuing and the parents also were exemted from all manner of couetousnesse or auarice to heape vp gold and siluer and to enrich themselues Numa Pompilius second King of the Romanes and establisher of their Lawes and decrees in the law of the seuen Tables which he made hee left them order onely which way the Romanes might rule their Common-weale in tranquilitie and put in no clause nor chapter that they should make their willes whereby their childrē might inherit their fathers goods And therefore being asked why hee permitted in his lawes euery man to get as much goods as he could and not to dispose them by will nor leaue them to their heyres He aunswered because wee see that albeit there are some children that are vnhappy vicious and abominable yet are there few fathers notwithstanding this that wil depriue and disinherite them of theyr goods at their death onely to leaue them to any other heere and therefore for this cause I haue commanded that all the goods that remaine after the death of the owner of them shold be giuen to the Common-weale as sole heyre and successor of them to the end that if their children should become honest and vertuous they should then bee distributed to them if they were wicked and vnhappy that they should neuer bee owners of them to hurt and offende the good Macrobius in his booke De somno Scipionis sayth that there was in the olde time an old and ancient Law amongst the Tuscans duely obserued and kept and afterwards taken vp of the Romanes that in euerie place where soeuer it were in towne or village within their territories on new-yeares day euerie man should present himselfe before the Iudge or Magistrate of the place hee was in for to giue him account of his manner of life and how hee maintained himselfe and in these examinations they did accustome to punish him that liued idely and with knauery and deceipt maintayned themselues as Minstrels Ruffians Dicers Carders Iuglers Coggers Foyster Coseners of men and filching knaues with other loytering vagabonds and rogues that liue of others swet and toyle without any paine or labour they take vpon them to deserue that they eate I would to God if it were his will that this Tuscan Law were obserued of Christians then we should see how few they be in number that giue them selues to any faculty or science or other trade to liue by their owne trauell and industry and how many infinite a number they bee that liue in idle sort The diuine Plato in his Timee sayeth that although an idle man bee more occasion of many troubles and inconueniences in a Common-weale then a couetous man yet is it not alwayes greater for the idle man and that gladly taketh his ease doth but desire to haue to eate but the couetous man doth not only desire to eate but to bee rich and haue money enough All the eloquence and pleasaunt speech that the Orators studied in their Orations the Lawyers in theyr Law and the famous Philosophers in their doctrine and teaching was for no other cause but to admonish and perswade those of the Common-weale to take very good heed in chusing of their gouernours that they were not couetous and ambitious in the administration of their publike affayres Laertius reciteth also that a Rhodian iesting with Eschines the Philosopher sayde vnto him By the immortall Gods I sweare to thee O Eschines that I pitty thee to see thee so poore to whom he aunswered By the same immortall Gods I sweare to thee againe I haue compassion on thee to see thee so rich Sith riches bring but paine and trouble to get them great care to keepe them displeasur to spend them perill to hoorde them and occasion of great daungers and inconueniences to defend them and that that grieueth me most is that where thou keepest thy treasure fast lockt vp there also thy heart is buried Surely Eschines words seemed rather spoken of a Christian then of a Philosopher In saying that where a mans treasure is there is also his hart For there is no couetous man but dayly hee thinkes vpon his hidde treasure but he neuer calleth to mind his sinnes he hath committed Comparing therefore those things wee haue spoken with those thinges wee will speake I say that it becommeth the fauoured of Princes to know that it is lesse seemely for them to bee couetous then others For the greatnesse of their fauour ought not to bee
vice and sinne But the further we seeke to flye from it the more daunger we finde to fall into it And albeit to auoyd other vices and sinnes it shall suffice vs to bee admonished yet against that alone of the flesh it behoueth vs to bee armed For there is no sinne in the world but there are meanes for men to auoyd it This only excepted of the flesh wherewith all wee are ouercome and taken Prisonners And to proue this true it is apparant thus Where raigneth Pride but amongst the Potentates where Enuie but amongst equalls Anger but amongst the impacient Gluttony but amongst gourmands auarice but amongst the Rich slouth but amongst the ydle And yet for all these the sinne of the Flesh generally reigneth in all men And therefore for not resisting this abhominable vice we haue seen kings lose their kingdoms Noblemen their Lands and possessions the marryed wiues their auowd faith the religious nunnes their professed virginitie So that wee may compare this sinne to the nature and condition of the venemous serpent which being aliue stings vs and after hee is dead offendeth vs with his noysome stinke Examples by Dauid who for all his wisedome could not preuaile against this sinne nor Salomon for al his great knowledge nor Absolon for all his diuine beautie nor Sampson with his mighty force which notwithstāding the great Fame they had for their renowmed vertues yet through this only defect they lost all accompanying with harlots licentious women Into which shameful felowship fell also Holofernes Haniball Ptholomeus Pyr-Pirrhus Inlius Caesar Augustus Marcus Antonius Seuerus and Theodorius and many other great Princes with these aboue recited the most part of the which we haue seene depriued of their Crownes and afterwards themselues haue come to their vtter shame and dishonour on their knces to yeelde themselues to the mercy of these their infamed louers crauing pardon and forgiuenesse Many graue Writers of the Grecians say that the Ambassadours of Lidia comming one day into the chamber of Hercules vpon a suddaine to speake with him they found him lying in his Curtesans lappe she pulling his rings off on his fingers hee dressed on his head with her womanly attire and she in exchnnge on hers bedect with his royall crowne They write also of Denis the Syracusian that albeit of nature hee was more cruell then the wild beast yet he became in the end so tractable and pleasant by meanes of a Curtezan his friend called Mirta that she only did confirme all the prouisions and depeches of the affayres of the Weale publike and he onely did but ordaine and appoint them And if the Histories written of the Gothes deceyne vs not wee finde that Antenaricus the famous king of the Gothes after he had triumphed of Italy and that hee had made himselfe Lord of all Europe hee became so farre in loue with a Louer of his called Pincia the whilest shee combed his head hee made cleane her slippers Also Themistocles the most famous Captaine of the Greekes was so enamoured of a woman hee had taken in the Warres of Epirns that shee beeing afterwardes very sicke when shee purged her selfe hee would also bee purged with her If shee were let bloud hee would also bee let bloud and yet that that is worst to bee liked is that hee washed his face with the bloud that came out of her Arme so that they might truly say though shee were his prisoner yet hee was also her slaue and subiect When King Demetrius had taken Rhodes there was broght to him a faire gentlewomen of the Cittie which he made his friend in loue and this loue betwixt them in time grewe so great that she shewing her selfe vpon a time to be angry with Demetrius and refusing to sit neare him at the Table and also to lye with him Demetrius vtterly forgetting himselfe and his royall estate did not onely on his knees pray her to pardon him but also imbracing her conueighed her in his armes into his chamber Myronides the Grecian albeit hee had made subiect to him the kingdom of Boetia yet hee was notwithstanding made subiect with the beautie of Numidia his louer Hee enflamed thus with loue of her she likewise strucken with couetous desire of his goods in fine they agreed that he shold giue her all the spoyle he had wonne in the warres of Boetia and that she should let him lye with her in hir house onely one night Hanniball made warres xvii yeares with the Romaines and in all that time he was neuer vanquished till hee was ouercome with the Loue of a young mayden in the cittie of Capua which proued a most bitter loue to him sith thereby it happened that whereas hee had so many yeares kept in subiection all Italie hee now was made a subiect at home in his owne countrey Plutarch in his booke De Republica writeth That Phalaris the Tyraunt would neuer graunt a man any thing that he desired neyther euer denyed any thing that a dissolute Woman requested No small but great disorder happened to the Common-weale of Rome by the occasion of the Emperour Caligula who gaue but 6000. Sexterces onely to repayre the Walls of Rome and gaue otherwise for furring one one gowne alone of his Lemmans a 10000. sexterces By all these examples aboue recited wee may easily vnderstand how daungerous a thing it is for the Courtier to haue friendshippe and acquaintance with women of so vile a facultie For the woman is of like quality that a knot tyed of corde is which is easily tyed of sundry knots and very hardly afterwards to bee vndone againe Heretofore wee haue besought Courtiers and the fauoured of Princes that they should not bee so liberall in commaunding and now once againe wee pray them to beware of fornication and adultery for albeeit this sinne of the flesh be not the greatest in fault yet it is the most daungerous in fame There is no King Prelate nor knight in this World so vicious and dishonest of life but would be glad to haue honest vertuous and well conditioned seruants so that it is impossible therefore for the fauoured Courtier liuing dishonestlie to continue any long time in fauour with his Prince For wee haue seene many in Princes Courts and Common Weales also that haue lost their honour fauour riches not for any pride they shewed in themselues nor for enuy that they had nor for any treasure nor riches that they robbed nor for any euil words that they should speake neither for any treason that they committed but onely through the euill fame that went of them for haunting the company of naughty women for women be of the right nature of Hedge-hogs which without seeing or knowing what they haue in their heart do notwithstanding drawe bloude of vs with their prickes And let not any man deceyue himselfe hoping that if hee did commit a fault through the flesh that it shal be kept from the Princes cares or
the diuersity of meates is but a continuall and importunate awaking of dishonest thoughts Doe we not reade of S. Hierome that albeit hee remained in the wildernesse burned of the Sunne his face dryed vp and wrinkled bare footed and also bare headed clothed with sackcloth his body scourged with bitter stripes watching in the night and fasting and hungering in the day continually exercising his pen and his heart in contemplation and yet for all this grieuous penance him selfe confessed that in his sleepe hee dreamed and thought he was among the Curtezans of Rome and S. Paul the Apostle who was a man of rare exquisite knowledge and deserued to see the very secretes of Paradise neuer here to fore seene trauelling in his vocation more then any other of the Apostles did not he get his liuing with his owne hands and also went a foote preaching through all the world bringing infinite barbarous people to the faith of Christ being beaten in the day time by others for that hee was a Christian and in the night time hee beat himselfe for that he was a sinner punishing the flesh to make it subiect to the spirit And yet neuerthelesse he layth of himselfe that he coulde not defend himselfe from dishonest thoughts which did euer let him to preach and pray with a quiet minde Saint Austen reciteth of himselfe in his booke De consessionibus that all the while he inhabited in the deserts hee eate little wrote much prayed oft sharpely chastised his body with continuall fasts and grieuous disciplines But yet perceyuing that notwithstanding all this his dishonest thoughtes suppressed his holy desires he began to crye with a lowde voyce thorough the deserts and rocky hils saying O Lord my God thou commaundest me to be chast but this fraile and accursed flesh can neuer keepe it And therefore I humbly beseech thee first to indue mee with thy grace to doe that thou wilt haue me and then commaund me what shall please thee otherwise I shall neuer doe it If therefore these glorious Saints with their continual fasts and contemplations and extreame punishing of their bodies could not defend themselues from the burning motion of the flesh how shal we beleeue that a company of drunkards and gluttons can doe it which neuer linne bibbing and eating Wee may bee assured that the lesse we pamper and feede our bodies with delicacy and idlenes the morewe shall haue them obedient and subiect to our willes For though wee see the fire neuer so great and flaming yet it quickely wasteth and is brought to ashes if wee leaue for to put more wood vnto it Excesse is not onely vnlawfull for the body but it is also an occasion of a thousand diseases both to the body soule For to say the truth wee haue seene more rich men die through excesse then poore men of necessity And in mine opinion mee thinkes the sinne of Gluttonie need not to be otherwise punished by diuine iustice seeing that of it selfe it bringeth pennaunce ynough And to proue this true Let vs but require these gluttons to tell vs vpon their Oathes how they finde themselues in temper being full paunched and they will confesse vnto vs that they are worse at ease then if they had fasted That their mouth is drye their bodie heauie and yll-disposed that their head aketh their stomack is colde and that Eyes are sleepie and their bellye 's full but that yet they desire to drinke still And therefore Dyogenes Cinicus deryding the Rhodians sayde these words Oh you drunken and gluttonous Rhodians Tell mee I beseech you What occasion mooues you to go to the Church to pray to the Gods to giue you health when at al times keeping sober diet you may keepe it with you And moreouer hee sayde vnto them also and if you wil be ruled by my counsell I will tell yee you neede not goe to the Churches to beseech the gods to graunt you health but only to pray vnto them to pardon you your sinnes and iniquities you daylie commit Also Socrates the Phylosopher was wont to say to his disciples of the vniuersitie of Athens Remember Oh you Athenians that in the well-gouerned pollicies men liue not to eat to glut the bodie but doe onely eate to liue and sustaine the bodie O graue saying of the good philosopher and I would to GOD that euery good Christian would carry this lesson in minde For if we would but let Nature alone and giue her libertie and disposition of her selfe she is so honest and of such temperance that she wil not leaue to eate that that shal suffice her neyther will also trouble vs with that that is superfluous Yet an other foule offence bringeth this vice of Gluttonie and that is That many put thēselues in seruice to waite on others not so much for the Ordinary fare that is commonly vsed in their house as for the desire they haue to fill their bellies with dainty and superfluous meates And in especiall when they knowe they make any marriages or feasts for their Friends then giue double attendance not contented alone with that themselues haue eaten but further in remembrance of the worthie feast committeth to the custody of his trusty Cater his great Hose perhappes a two or three dayes store of those rare and daintie dyshes which I am ashamed to write and much more ought they to be ashamed to do it For that man that professeth to be a man ought to inforce himselfe neuer to engage his libertie for that his sensuall appetite inciteth him to but only for that reason binds him to Aristippus the Philosopher washing lettice one day with his owne handes for his supper by chance Plautus passing by that way and seeing him said If thou wouldest haue serued king Dionisius wee should not haue seene thee haue eaten Lettises as thou dost now Aristippus answered him againe O Plautus if thou wert content to eate of these Lettises that I eate thou shouldest not serue so great a Tyrant as thou dost The excesse of meates is greater in these dayes both in quantity and in dressing of them then in times past For in that golden age which the philosophers neuer cease to bewayle men had none other houses but naturall caues in the ground and apparrelled onely with the leaues of trees the bare ground for their shooes their handes seruing them in the stead of Cuppes to drinke in they dranke Water for Wine eate rootes for bread and fruites for flesh and finally for their bed they made the earth and for their couering the skie beeing lodged alwayes at the signe of the Starre When the diuine Plato returned out of Cicill into Greece hee sayde one day in his Colledge I doe aduertise you my Disciples that I am returned out of Cicil maruellously troubled and this is by reason of a Monster I sawe there And being asked what monster it was he tolde them it was Dionisius the tyrant who is not contented with
greatest troubles or to tearme it better one of the greatest daungers I see the fauoured Courtier in is this that all the Courtiers and in a manner all the Citizens desire to see them out of fauour or dead by some meanes For euery man is of this minde that with the chaunge of things by his fall or death hee hopeth hee shall rise to some better state or happily to catch some part of his offices or liuing An other mischiefe and inconuenience yet happeneth to this fauoured Courtier by haunting other Tables and that is that many times it chanceth vnseemely and vnhonest wordes are let fall at the Table and perhapps quarrell arise vpon it which though hee bee present yet he can neyther remedy nor appease it And because these thinges were done spoken in the presence of the esteemed of the Prince he that spake them hath credit and those that heard it descryed it Yet there is an other disorder that commeth by these feasts that is that he which maketh the feast and biddeth guestes dooth it not for that they are of his acquaintance his kinsfolkes or his faithfull friends nor for that hee is bound and beholding to them but onely to obtaine his desire in his suites that he hath in hand for they are few that seeke to pleasure men but in hope to be greatly recompenced Therefore those that are in fauor and authority about the prince and that accept others bidding sure one of these two things must happen to them Eyther that hee must dispatch his businesse that inuiteth him yea although it be vnreasonable so vniust and damnable that obtayning it both he and the fauoured Courtier goe to the Deuill together for company for the wrong and iniury they haue done to another or on the other side refusing to doe it the Bidder is strucken dead and repenteth his cost bestowed on him Aboue all things I chiefly admonish the Courtiers and Officers of Princes not to sell chaunge nor engage their liberties as they doe the same day they beginne to follow such feasts or to receiue gifts or presents or to linke themselues in straight friendshippe with any or to deale parcially in any cause For by these foresayde occasions they shall oft binde themselues to doe that that shall not bee fit for them besides the losse of their liberty they had before to doe that was most honest and commendable CHAP. XIX That the fauoured of Princes ought not to be dishonest of their tongues nor enuious of their words ANaxagoras the Philosopher disputing one day of the cause why Nature had placed the members of mans body in such order as they are and of the propertie and complexion of euery one of them and to what ende they had beene so orderly placed by Nature each member in his place falling in the end to treat of the tong sayde thus of it You must vnderstand my good Disciples that not without art and great mystery Nature gaue vs two feete two hands two eares and two eyes and yet for all this but one tongue whereby shee shewed vs that in our going feeling smelling hearing and seeing we may bee as long as we will but in speaking wee should be as sparing and scant as could bee Alleadging further That Nature suffered vs to goe open and bare-faced the Eyes the eares the hands the feete and other partes of the bodie bare also excepting the Tongue which shee hath enuironned with jawes and empaled with Teeth and also shut vp with lips which shee did to giue vs to vnderstand that ther is nothing in this present life that hath more neede of Guarde and defence then hath this our vnbrydeled Tongue And therefore sayde Pythachus the phylosopher that a mans Tongue is made like the yron poynt of a Lance but yet that it was more daungerous then that For the poynt of the lance can but hurte the flesh but the Tongue pierceth the heart And surely it was a true saying of this philosopher For I know not that man how vertuous or pacient so euer he be but thinks it lesse hurt the bloudie sword should pierce his flesh then that he should be touched in honour with the venemous poynt of the Serpentine-Tongue For how cruell soeuer the wound be Time doth heale it and maketh it wel againe but defame or infamie neyther late nor neuer can be amended We see men refuse to goe by water for feare of drowning not to come too neer the fire for feare of burning nor to goe to the warres for feare of killing to eate no ill meates for beeing sicke to climbe vp on high for feare of falling to goe in the darke for feare of stumbling to auoyde the yll ayre and raine for feare of rewmes yet I see very few or none that can beware of detractors and ill tongues And that this is true I tell you I doe not thinke that in any thing a man is in such perill and daunger as when he liueth accompanyed with men dishonest in theyr dooings and vile and naught in their tongues I haue also read touching this matter that Aformius the phylosopher being asked what he meant to spend the most part of his time amongst the desart mountaines and in hazard euery houre to be deuoured of wilde beasts Answered thus Wild beasts haue no other weapons to hurt mee but theyr hornes and nayles and theyr Teeth to deuoure mee but men neuer cease to hurte and offend mee with all their whole members And that this is true behold I pray you how they looke at mee with their Eyes spurne mee with their feete torment mee with their hands hate mee with their hearts and defame me with their tongues So that we haue great reason to say That a man liueth with more securitie amongst wilde beasts then amongst malignant and enuious people Plutarch in his booke De exilio sayth That the Lidians had a Law that as they sent the condemned murtherers to rowe in the Galleyes so they confined those that were Detractors and euill tongued men into a secret place farre off from all company the space of halfe a yeare In so much that many times these lewde mates chose rather to rewe in the Galley three yeers then to bee exempt from company and speaking with any but sixe monethes Much like vnto this Law did Tiberius the Emperour make another and condemned a great talker and railer of his tongue and commaunded straightly that he should neuer speake word the space of a whole yeare And as the historic sayth hee remayned dumbe and neuer spake during the whole terme but yet that hee did with his dumbnesse more hurt with nods and signes with his fingers then many other would haue done with their ill tongues By these two examples wee may see that sith these naughty tongues are not to be repressed by silence in secret nor to entreate them as friends nor by doing them good nor by sending them to Galleyes nor to make them holde
and that is without procuring or offering my selfe he Senate of their own Will hath commaunded mee In the eight Table of our auncient laws by these Wordes Wee commaund that in our sacred Senate Charge of iustice bee neuer giuen to him that willinglie offereth him selfe to it but to such as by great deliberation are chosen This is certainely a iust Law for men be now not so vertuous not so louing to the Common wealth that they will forget their own quietnes and rest doing damage to themselues to procure another mans profite There is none so foolish that will leaue his wife children and his owne sweet Countrey to gee into straunge Countries but if hee see himselfe among strange people thinking vnder the colour of iustice to seeke for his owne vtility I say not this without weeping that the Princes with their small study and thought and the Iudges with their couetousnesse haue vndermined and shaken downe the high wals of the policie of Rome O my friend Catullus what wilt thou that I shall say but that our credence so diminisheth our couetousnesse so largely stretcheth our hardinesse so boldneth our shamefastnesse so shamelesse that wee prouide for Iudges to go and rob our neighbours as Captaines against our enemies I let thee to know where as Rome was beloued for chastising the euill now it is as much hated for spoiling the good I doe remember that I reade in the time of Dennis Siracusan that ruleth all Scicill there came an Ambassadour from Rhodes to Rome being of a good age wel learned and valiaunt in armes and right curious to note all things He came to Rome to see the Maiesty of the sacred Senate the height of the high Capitoll enuironed with the Colliset the multitude of Senators the wisedome of the Counsellors the glory of triumphes the correction of the euill the peace of the inhabitants the diuersity of Nations the aboundance of the mantenance the order of the offices And finally seeing that Rome was Rome hee was demaunded how hee thought thereby He answered and sayde O Rome at this present world thou art ful of vertuous and wise men hereafter thou shalt bee furnished with fooles Loe what high and very high words were these Rome was seuen hundred yeares without any house of fooles and now it hath beene three hundred yeares without any wise or vertuous man Looke what I say it is no mockery but of truth if the pittifull Gods now a dayes did raise our predecessors from death to life eyther they would not know vs for their children or else they would attach vs for fooles These be things vsed in Rome but thou sendest no word of that is vsed in Agripine I will write nothing vnto thee to put thee to paine write to me some thing to reioyce me if thy wiâ—e Dimisila chanced well of the flote that came out of Cetin with salt oyle and honey I haue well prouided for her Wilt thou know that Flodius our vncle was cast downe by the rage of his horse and is deceased Laercia and Colliodorus are friendes together by occasion of a marriage I doe sende thee a Gunne I doe pray to the gods to send thee ioy thereof My wife Faustine saluteth thee Recommend mee to Iamiro thy sonne The Gods haue thee in keeping and and sinister fortune bee from me Marcus thy friend to thee Catullus his own CHAP. VII Marcus Aurelius writeth to the amorous Ladies of Rome MArk Orator reading in Rhodes the art of humanity to you amorous Ladies of Rome wisheth health to your persons and amendmeÌ„t of your desired liues It was written to mee that at the Feast of the mother Berecinthia all you being present together made a play of mee in which you layed my life for an example and slaundred my Renowne It is tolde mee that Auilina composed it Lucia Fuluia wrote it and thou Toringua did sing it and you altogether into the Theater did present it You brought mee forth painted in sundry formes with a booke in my hand turned contrary as a fained Philosopher with a long tongue as a bold speaker without measure with a horn in my head as a common Cuckolde with a nettle in my hand as a trembling louer with a banner fallen down as a coward Captaine with my beard halfe shauen as a feminate man with a cloth before my eyes as a condemned foole and yet not content with this another day yee brought mee foorth portracted with another new deuise Yee made a figure of mine with feete of straw the legges of amber the knees of wood the thighes of brasse the belly of horne the armes of pitch the hands of mace the head of yron the eares of an Asse the eyes of a Serpent the heares of rootes â—agged the teeth of a catte the tongue of a Scorpion and the forehead of lead in which was writteÌ„ in two lines these letters M. N. S. N. I. S. V. S. which in my opinion signifieth thus This picture hath not so many mettals as his life hath changes This done yee went to the riuer and tyed it with the head downwarde a whole day and if it had not beene for the good Lady Messelyne I thinke it had beene tyed there till now And now yee amorous Ladies haue written mee a Letter by Fuluius Fabritius which grieued me nothing but as an amorous man from the handes of Ladies I accept it as a mockery And to the end I should haue no leysure to thinke thereon yee sent to demaund a question of me that is if I haue found in my bookes of what for what from whence when for whom and how women were first made Because my condition is for to take mockes for mockes and sith you doe desire it I will shew it vnto you Your friendes and mine haue written to mee but especially your Ambassador Fuluius hath instantly required mee so to doe I am agrieued with nothing and will hold my peace sauing to your letter onely I will make aunswere And sith there hath been none to aske the question I protest to none but to you amorous Ladies of Rome I send my aunswere And if an honest Lady will take the demaund of you it is a token that shee doth enuie the office that yee bee of For of a truth that Lady which sheweth her selfe annoyed with your paine openly from henceforth I condemne her that shee hath some fault in secrete They that bee on the Stage feare not the roaring of the Bull they that bee in the Dungeon feare not the shot of the Canon I will say the woman of good life feareth no mans slaunderous tongue The good Matrons may keepe mee for their perpetuall seruant and the euill for their chiefe enemie I aunswere It is expedient you know of what the first women were made I say that according to the diuersities of Nations that are in the world I find diuers opinions in this case The Egyptians say that when the tiuer Nilus brake and ouerranne the
the state of the rich is good if they will Godly vse it I say the estate of the Religious is good if they be able to profite others I say the estate of the communaltie is good if they will content themselues I say the estate of the poore is good if they haue pacience For it is no merite to suffer troubles if wee haue not pacience therein During the time of this our miserable life we cannot denie but in euery estate there is both trouble danger For then onely our estate shall be perfite when we shall come gloriously in soule and bodie without the feare of death and also when we shall reioyce without daungers in life Returning againe to our purpose Mightie Prince although wee all be of value little wee all haue little we all can attaine little wee all know little we all are able to doe little we all loue but little yet in all this little the state of Princes seemeth some great and high thing For that worldly men say There is no such felicitie in this life as to haue authoritie to cōmaund many and to be bound to obey none But if eyther subiects knew how deere Princes by their power to command or if princes knew how sweet a thing it is to liue in quiet doubtles the subjects would pittie their rulers and the rulers would not enuie their subiects For full fewe are the pleasures which Princes enjoy in respect of the troubles that they endure Since then the estates of Princes is greater then all that hee may do more then all is of more value then all vpholdeth more then all And finally that from thence proceedeth the gouernement of all it is more needefull that the House the Person and the life of a Prince be better gouerned and ordered then all the rest For euen as by the meate-yard the Marchaunt measureth all his wares So by the life whole of the Prince is measured the whole common-weale Many sorrowes endureth the woman in nourishing a way-ward child great trauell taketh a Schoolmaster in teaching an vntoward scholler much paines taketh an Officer in gouerning a multitude ouer-great How great then is the paine and perill wherevnto I offer my selfe in taking vpon mee to order the life of such an one vpon whose life dependeth all the good estate of a Common-weale For Noble Princes and great Lords ought of vs to bee serued and not offended wee ought to exhort them not to vexe them wee ought to encreate them not to rebuke them wee ought to aduise them and not to defame them Finally I say the right simple reckon I that Surgion which with the same plaisters hee layed to a harde heele seeketh to cure the tender Eyes I meane by this comparison that my purpose is not to tell Princes and Noble-men in this booke what they be but to warne them what they ought to bee not to tell them what they do but to aduise them what they ought to doe For that Noble-man which will not amende his life for remorse of his owne conscience Iidoe thinke hee will doe it for the writing of my pen. Paulus Dyaconus the first Hystoriographer in the second booke of his Commentaryes sheweth an antiquitie right worthie to remember and also pleasaunt to read Although indeed to the hinderaunce of my selfe I shall rehearse it It is as of the Henne who by long scraping on the Dung-hill discouereth the knife that shall cut her owne throate Thus was the case Hanniball the most renowmed Prince and captain of Carthage after hee was vanquished by the aduenturous Scipio fled into Asia to king Antiochus a prince then liuing of great vertue who receyued him into his realme tooke him into his protection and right honourably intertayned him in his house And truly king Antiochus did heerein as a pittyfull prince For what can more beautifie the honour of a Prince then to succour Nobilitie in their needefull estate These two Noble Princes vsed diuers exercises to spende the time honourablie and thus they diuided their time Sometime to hunt in the mountains otherwhiles to disporre them in the fields oft to view their Armeys But chiefly they resorted to the Schooles to heare the Phylosophers And truely they did like wise and skilfull men For there is no houre in a day otherwise so well employed as in hearing a wise pleasant tongued man There was at a time in Ephesus a famous Philosopher called Phormio which openly and publikely read and taught the people of the realme And one day as these two Princes came into the Schoole the Philosopher Phormio chaunged the matter whereupon he read and of a sudden began to talke of the meanes and wayes that Princes ought to vse in warre and of the order to bee kept in giuing battell Such so strange and high phrased was the matter which hee talked of that not onely they maruelled which neuer before saw him but euen those also that of long time had daily heard him For herein curious and flourishing wits shew their excellency in that they neuer want fresh matter to entreate vpon Greatly gloried the King Antiochus that this Philosopher in presēce of this strange Prince had so excellently spoken so that strangers might vnderstand he had his realme stored with wise men For couragious and noble Princes esteem nothing so precious as to haue men valiāt to defend their Frontiers and also wise to gouerne their common-weales The Lecture read King Antiochus demaunded of the Prince Hannibal how he liked the talke of the Philosopher Formio to whom Hanibal stoutly answered and in his answer shewed himselfe to bee of that stoutnesse he was the same day when he wan the great battell at Cannas for although noble hearted and couragious Princes lose all their estates and realmes yet they will neuer confesse their harts to be ouerthrowne nor vanquished And these were the words that at that time Hannibal sayde Thou shalt vnderstand K. Antiochus that I haue seene diuers doting old men yet I neuer saw a more dotard foole thē Phormio whom thou callest such a great Philosopher For the greatest kinde of folly is when a man that hath but a little vaine science presumeth to teach not those which haue onely science also such as haue most certaine experience Tell me King Antiochus what hart can brooke with patience or what tongue can suffer with silence to see a silly man as this Philosopher is nourished all his life time in a corner of Greece studying Philosophie to presume as hee hath done to talke before the prince Hannibal of the affayres of warre as though hee had beene eyther Lord of Affrique or Captaine of Rome Certes hee eyther full little knoweth himselfe or else but little esteemeth vs For it appeareth by his vaine wordes hee would seeme to know more in matters of warre by that hee hath read in bookes then doth Hanniball by the sundry great battels which he hath fought in the fields Oh King Antiothus how
ladyes ought to be gently vsed of theyr Husbands IF wee vnderstand the Chapter before wee shall finde that women with childe haue bin in great dāgers some through leaping some by dauncing others by eaung others by banquetting others throgh gadding others by straight lacing and all this proceedeth throgh their own follies that seeke to bee destroyers of theyr owne bodyes Truly herein Princesses and great Ladyes are worthie of much rebuke when throgh their own follies they are not safely deliuered of their creatures And I would gladly they toke example not only of reasonable men but also of brute beasts for there is no beast so brute in the wilde mountains but escheweth that which to his life and death will be hurtfull The Beares the Lyonnesse and the Wolfes neuer issue out of their caues and dennes so long as they be bigge and this they doe to auoyde the dangers of the Hunters because at that time they would not be coursed Then seeing these things are done by the brute beastes whose younglings are alwayes hurtfull vnto men to the intent theyr rauening greedie Whealpes might safely bee brought foorth to deuoure our innocent Cattell How much more then ought the Woman to be carefull for her fruite which is the increase of christian congregation If Women brought not forth and Children were not borne though there be earth yet there should bee none to people it For GOD created all things to serue the creature and created the creatures to serue their Creator Let VVomen that are with childe take example by the Chesse-nuts and Wal-nuts how and in what sort they defend their fruite after that of theyr blossoms they are depriued for the chessenuttree defendeth his fruit with a rough and hard huske the wall-nut keepeth her fruite with a thicke shale in like maner so that the water cannot wet them nor the winde shake them Now since that the Trees which haue but a vegetatiue life and the Beasts but a Sensitiue life take such heede to themselues when they feele them ready to bring forth their fruite much more women with child ought to take heede to themselues since they haue reason and vnderstanding lest through theyr negligence the creature should perish Let euery man iudge how little he loseth when he loseth nuttes and chessenuts and for the contrarie let euery men iudge what the Church looseth when the women with child do not bring forth their fruit into the light of baptisme For our mother the holy Church bewaileth not for that the vines are frozen but for the soules that are lost To the ende that the man may see fruitfull blessing which hee desireth that the woman with child may see her selfe well deliuered the Husband ought to beware that hee enforceth her not much to labour and the woman likewise ought to be circumspect that shee take not too much idlenes For in women with child this is a generall rule that too much trauell causeth them before theyr time to deliuer and too much idlenesse putteth them in daunger The man is cruell that will haue his Wife trauell and take as much paines when shee is big as he would at another time when she is not with childe for the man which is clothed can not runne so swifte as hee that is naked Aristotle in the sixt booke de Animalibus saith When the Lyonnesse is bigge with whelp the Lyon doth not only hunt for her himselfe but also both night day he wandreth cōtinually to watch her I meane that Princesses and great Ladyes when they be with Childe should bee of theyr Husbands both tended and serued For the man cannot do the woman so great a pleasure before her lying down as she doth to him when she bringeth forth a sonne Considering the daunger that the woman abideth in her deliueraunce and beholding the paines that the Husband taketh in her seruice without comparison that is greater which she suffereth then that which hee endureth For when the woman deliuereth she doth more then her power and the Husband though hee serueth her well doeth lesse then his duetie The gentle and louing Husband ought not one moment to forsake his wife specially when hee seeth shee is great For in the law of a good Husband it is written that hee should set his eyes to beholde her his handes to serue her he shold spend his goods to cherish her and should giue his heart to content her Let not men thinke it paines to serue their wiues when they are with childe for their labour consisteth in their strength but the trauell of their wiues is in their entrails And that which is most pitiful is that when the sorrowfull women will discharge their burden on the earth they often times bring thēselues vnto the graue The meane women of the Plebians ought no lesse to be reproued for that when they are with child they would be exempted from all businesse of the house the which neyther they themselues ought to desire nor yet their husbands to suffer for idlenesse is not onely an occasion not to deserue heauen but also it is a cause whereby women oft times haue ill successe in their trauaile for considering both the daintie Lady with childe that hath her pleasure and doth little and on the other side the poore mans wife which moderately laboureth you shall see that the great Ladyes for all their pleasures abideth more danger then the other doth with all her labour The husband ought to keepe his wife from taking too much paynes for so ought he to doe and the wife likewise ought to flee too much pleasure for it behoueth her For the meane trauell is no other but occasion of a safe deliuerie The women with childe also ought to take heede to themselues and in especially noble great ladies that they be not too greedy hasty in eating For the woman being with child ought to be sober and the woman which is a great eater with great pains shal liue chaste Women with child oft times doe disorder themselues in eating licorous meats and vnder the colour of feeding themselues their infant they take too excessiuely which is not onely vnholsome for the Childe but also dishonour for their mothers For truely by the excesse of the Mother being with child commeth many diseases to the infant whē it liueth The Husbands also ought neyther to displease nor grieue their Wiues especially when they see them great with childe for of truth oftentimes she deliuereth with more daunger by reason of the offences that men doe vnto them then by the aboundance of meates which they doe eate Though the Woman when shee is with Childe in some things doth offend her Husband yet hee like a wise man ought to forbeare her hauing respect to the childe wherewith she is great and not to the iniuries that she hath committed For in the end the Mother cannot bee so great an offender but the child is much more innocent For