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ID	Title	Author	Corrected Date of Publication (TCP Date of Publication)	STC	Words	Pages
A42291	Spanish letters: historical, satyrical, and moral; of the famous Don Antonio de Guevara Bishop of Mondonedo, chief minister of state, and historiographer royal to the Emperor Charles V. Written by way of essay on different subjects, and every where intermixt with both raillerie and gallantry. Recommended by Sir Roger L'Estrange, and made English from the best original by Mr. Savage.	Guevara, Antonio de, Bp., d. 1545?; Savage, John, 1673-1747.; L'Estrange, Roger, Sir, 1616-1704.	1697 (1697)	Wing G2182A; ESTC R216443	91,517	200

order'd nothing but Still'd Water for our Patients Althô this was spoke out of Raillery yet I am apt to believe it in some measure true for I well reber you told me once in Madrid you never took Purge or knew what belong'd to Still'd Waters in all your Life Of all Arts the Practice of Physicians surprises me most since they always seem desirous of Curing others yet care not to be Cur'd themselves But since you desire it of me generous Doctor I will give you my thoughts of Physick in general as also what I have read concerning its first Inventors and Origin and herein I shall endeavour to comply with your Inclinations without any regard to many others for I know Blockheads will be offended where I doubt not the Ingenious will be pleased Of the first Inventors of Physick If we may believe Pliny none of the Seven Liberal Arts were ever so variable and Falacious as this for he tells you there was scarce any noted Kingdom or Nation in the World where it was not almost thrown out as soon as received As Physick is a Foreigner many are the troubles it will tell you it has undergone and more the Kingdoms and Provinces it has travell'd thro' but the cause was not that People had then no mind to be Cured but rather because they always found that Science very uncertain The 1st among the Greciansthat happen'd upon this Art was the Philosopher Apollo and his Son Esculapius both which grew so exceeding Famous that they were Flock'd to from all parts like an Oracle But at length Esculapius being left young and therefore not having yet communicated his Secrets to any Successor a Thunderbolt at once depriv'd him of Life and the Art of an Instructer Four Hundred and Forty Years remain'd this Science interrupted for all that time there was no known Person in the World who bore the Title of Physician or Cur'd publickly and this was to be computed from the Death of Esculapius to the Birth of Antaxerxes the Second in whose Reign the Famous Hypocrates was Born Strabo Diodorus and Pliny mention a certain Grecian Woman that flourish'd in this Art in those times of whom they relate many wonderful and improbable things but which in my opinion are either Feign'd or Preternatural for being true it must rather have been her business to raise the Dead than cure the Living Also in those times another Woman arose in the Province of Achaia who cured by Charms and Spels without any outward or inward Means but she was soon silenced by the Senate of Athens who order'd her to be Ston'd and Burnt Saying The Gods and Nature had not plac'd the remedies of Diseases in Words but in Herbs and Minerals only While as there were no Physicians in the World the Grecians when they made any Experiment with success obliged themselves to specifie it in a Table and hang it up in the Temple of Diana at Ephesus to the end that any might have recourse to and make use of it upon occasion Trogus Pompeius Laertius and Lactantius say the reason how the Grecians maintain'd their healths so long without Physicians was by gathering sweet Herbs in May and keeping 'em hang'd up and dry'd in their Houses Also by Bleeding once a Year and Bathing once a Month And moreover by Eating but one Meal in a day Conformable to which Plutarch tells us that Plato being once asked by the Athenian Philosophers what he had seen worthy remark in the Island Trinacria Sicily Answered Vidi Monstrum in Natura Hominem bis saturum in die Which imports He saw a Monster in Nature twice cram'd in a day meaning Dyonisius the Tyrant who was the first that introduc'd Eating twice in Four and twenty Hours for in Ancient times they were only wont to Sup without any other Repast This we have made curious search into and read all the Treatises upon and find the Iews did only Eat at Noon whilst all the rest at Night But to pursue our design you must know the Temple of Diana at Ephesus was the most famous of all Antiquity yet not so much for the Magnificence of its Structure or great number of Priests as the Physick-Tables hung up in it to relieve the Sick Strabo de situ Orbis tells us that eleven Years after the Peloponesian War the great Hypocrates was born in a small Isle call'd Coe in which also two Famous Men Licurgus and Bias had their Births Of this Hypocrates ti● observ'd he was small of Body a little Pur-blind had a great Head spoke Sparingly was very laborious in Study and above all had an excellent and refin'd Judgment From Fourteen to Thirty five Years he employed himself in Athens in Contemplation Philosophizing and Reading and althô many Learned Men flourish'd in his time yet he was justly Esteem'd and Prefer'd before ●em all Afterwards leaving Athens he made a Progress thro' many Provinces and Kingdoms enquiring and searching into ●heProperties and Vertues of Herbs and Plants all which he took Notes of and diligently confirm'd in his Memory He also made strict enquiry whether any Books had been Written by the Ancients on that Subject and Reports he met with some whose Authors did not lay down any general Scheme of Physick but only mention'd some particular Cases they had known to succeed What Kingdoms and Provinces Physick wander'd through Twelve Years successively Hippocrates spent in this Progress and after returning to the Temple of Diana he there Translated all the Physick-Tables he found hung up from many Ages all which he reduc'd to a Method and moreover added some Observations and Experiments of his own This Famous Physician was the greatest that ever was known in the World as well in regard he was the first that Writ and put that Art in Order as also that it is reported of him he never was deceived in Prognostick he attempted or Disease he undertook He was wont to advise Physicians not to meddle with disorderly Persons and Counsel Patients not to have to do with unfortunate Men affirming a Cure could never fail where a Patient was regular and Physician Fortunate This great Philosopher coming to Die his Disciples began to cure or rather kill many People in Greece the Art being then New and consequently their Experience but Little whereupon the Senate of Athens not only fo●bad any farther Practice but also commanded 'em forthwith to leave the Country They being thus excluded Greece this Art was not only Banished but forgot 160 Years none daring either to Teach or Learn it the Grecians having that profound regard to their Physician Hippocrates that they affirmd with him it came into the World and with him went out of it But these 160 Years being once past another Philosopher and Physician arose called Chrysippus who soon became as Famous among the Argians as the former had been with the Athenians This Philosopher altho' he was both Learned and Fortunate yet fail'd not to be very Opinionated and Fancyful in

the greater part will be sure to wait upon Fortune All Acquaintance are not proper for Friends for tho they may be honest enough yet they are generally indiscreet and where we may be allow'd to have a respect for their Persons it will not be prudence to trust 'em with our Secrets These and many other Qualities are to be requir'd in a true Friend all which tho you may find in my Mouth yet I would not advise you to expect ' ●m in my Heart and therefore you would do wisely neither to think of me for your Lord nor choose me for a Friend for as to one I am not powerful enough and the other not good enough No more but God Preserve you and give me Grace to serve and obey Him Logronio May 3. 1526. LETTER V. To the Abbot of Monserrat in which he Treats of the Oratories of the Ancients together with some few Reflections on the Court. Most Reverend and Holy Abbot THe Eleventh of May a Monk of yours Father Roderigo gave me your Reverences Letter which I not only receiv'd with Joy but also Read with Pleasure and that because sent from so Noble a Friend and brought by so good a Brother Of the Emperor Aurelian 't is reported that the Consul Domicius his Dispatches were so very troublesome to him he would run 'em over slightly indeed but never take any farther notice of 'em when on the contrary those of the Censor Annius Turinus he not only Read deliberately but speedily Answered with his own Hand In truth Sir there are some Men so very troublesome in Conversation and impertinent in Writing that one would sooner chuse to endure a Calenture than either hear them Talk or Read their Letters But this is not to be wondered at since the various Constitutions and Conditions of Men often occasion the Heart to desire what it should hate and be indifferent in what it should Love I mean I am always too negligent to hear from Monserrat and yet am still pleas'd at Court You desire to know Reverend Father if the Ancients had Oratories like us and where they were to be found in which I will satisfie you as to what I have Read or can at present Remember The Oracle of the Sicilians was Bacchus Of the Rhodians Ceres of the Ephesians their great Diana of the Philistines Belus of the Greci●ns Delphos of the Numidians Iuno of the Romans Berecinthia of the Thebans Venus and lastly of the Spaniards Proserpine whose Temple was in Cantabria now Navarre What we Christians call an Hermitage they then nam'd an Oracle which was always plac'd in some Remote part or City of great Veneration There one Priest always attended close lock'd up for they that went on Pilgrimage thither were to kiss the Walls and pay their Devotion without entring except the Priests only and Foreign Ambassadors Near this Oracle were Trees planted within it Lamps continually burning and the Roof of it was all of Lead At the Door stood a great Image to receive Devotion near which was an Altar placed for Sacrifice and a House built to lodge Pilgrims Plutarch exceedingly commends Alexander the Great because where-ever he Conquer'd he order'd Temples to pray in and Oracles to Visit. King Antigonus once Page to Alexander and Father of Demetrius thô he was blam'd by Historians for being Arbitrary and Dissolute yet they greatly magnifi'd him for his Devotion in going once a Week to the Temple and once a Month to the Oracle The Senate of Athens honour'd Plato much more after his Death than when he was Alive and their Reason was because he at length retir'd from Study and Books to the Oracle of Delphos where he Liv'd Dy'd was Buried and afterwards ador'd for a God Archidamas the Grecian Son of Agesilaus having govern'd the Common-wealth of Athens 22 Years and moreover obtain'd many Signal Victories both by Land and Sea at length caus'd a Famous Oracle to be Built upon the steep Mountains of Argos where he ended his Life as also chose a Sepulchre Of all the Oratories of the Ancients that in the Isle of Delphos was the most Famous for thither all Nations had recourse brought most Offerings and there made most Vows and received most Answers from their Gods When Camillus had overcome the Samnites the Romans vow'd to make an Image of Gold and send it to theirOracle Whereupon the Ladies tore off the Chains from their Necks Bracelets from their Arms and the very Rings from their Fingers to promote so Pious a design whereby they receiv'd great Honour as also some Privileges I thought fit to give you these Examples Reverend Father that you might know 't is no new thing to have Oratories and Oracles The difference betwixt ours and theirs being the one was appointed by Men and the other chosen by God I never pass by your thick Woods daring Mountains frightful Precipices and gaping Gulphs but I immediately dispose my self to Devotion and would to God I could continue the same here But woe is me Wo is me Father Abbot that the older I grow the worse I am for in Wishes I am only a Saint where in Works I still continue a Sinner I know not whether it be because Friends advise me Parents importune me Enemies misguide me Business hinders me Caesar imploys me or the Devil tempts me that the more I resolve to retire from this bad World the more I find my self engag'd in it But is there any sincere Pleasure in the Court No certainly For here we suffer Hunger Cold Thirst Weariness Poverty Sadness Trouble Disgrace and Persecution and this because we have no body to deprive us of our Liberty or take account of our Ease Believe me Father Abbot Your Country is much safer to live in both for Soul and Body than ours here for at Court 't is better to Hear than Act See than Reflect and Suffer than Resent At Court he that is Poor is soon forgot and hethat is Rich is quickly Persecuted At Court the Poor Man has nothing to Eat and the Rich rarely any Vertues to boast of At Court there are few Live satisfi'd yet all are Ambitious of it At Court every body is for displacing and no body for obeying At Court none care for dying there yet all are for keeping there At Court most do what they should not but few what they ought At Court all rail at it yet none care to leave it and lastly I affirm what I have oftentimes Preach'd that the Court is only fit for Laicks that may get by it and Youth that can abide by it If on these conditions Reverend Father you have a mind to come hither I am ready to change with you for Monserrat when you please But nevertheless as my Friend must tell you at the same time you 'l sooner repent being a Courtier than I an Abbot From the Hands of Father Roderigo I receiv'd the Spoons you sent and return you a Book in Exchange So that as I shall

Letter you write that though you have cast off your Love and discarded your Mistress yet the Pain still remains with you and therefore desire I would prescribe a Remedy or at least send you some Comfort for tho you have already turn'd it out of your House yet it ceases not often to knock at your Door In this case I must refer you to Hermogenes Ctesiphon Dorcacius Plutarch and Ovid who have all spent much time and writ many Books of Instructions how to Love or avoid that Plague But let Ovid Dorcacius and the rest say what they please in my Opinion the surest Remedy against Love were never to begin it it being a Beast so very untoward that it will be taken with a Thread where it can never be frighted away with a Sword Let every Man be cautious what he goes about consider what he does be careful in what he Undertakes mind whom he Visits and observe where he settles his Affection for tho it was in his choice to enter it will hardly be in his power to return safe He that ventures upon Love will meet with Precipicies Bogs Briers and Whirlpools in the way where many are cast down stuck torn and drown'd so that even the Man who escapes the best for the most part comes off but very scurvily How often did Hercules wish he were well quit of his Mistress Mitrida Menelaus of Dortha Paris of Hellen Alcibiades of Dorbeta Demophoon of Phillis Hannibal of Sabina and Marc Antony of Cleopatra from whom nevertheless they could never be parted but at length were all jointly lost together In Love let no Man trust another or rely upon himself for it is so very natural to both Sexes and the desire of being belov'd so agreeable that whenever it joints it is a cement that seldom gives way Love is such a hidden Cancer it fixes not on the Face where it may be seen nor pulse where it may be felt but on the poor Heart where tho it be very pungent yet none dares discover it After all the best Remedy I can think of against Love is that it be not permitted to take root in the Mind that the Eyes be kept from gazing the Ears be stopt against Procurers no Familiarity be entertain'd with Women that if any come the Doors be shut against 'em and that a Man be not abroad after day shut in for thus if Love be not totaly Cur'd at least I 'm sure it will be considerably Eas'd Sir if you will weigh well all has been said and make your advantage accordingly you will infallibly prevent much trouble and save a great deal of Expence it being much more proper for your Age and my Gravity to know where are the best Taverns than the finest Ladies Sir let your acquaintance the Licentiate Burgos be a Warning and Check to you for the future who being old as you are and in Love likewise died last Saturday in so strange a manner it was both a terror to all in general and an exceeding Grief to his Relations besides I will say no more at present but pray God to Preserve you and give me Grace always to Serve him Amen Burgos Febr. 24. 1523. LETTER XXI To Don Alonso Espinel Corregidor of Oviedo a very Neat and Pleasant Old Gentleman wherein the Author hints how much the Ancients always Honoured Age Together with several Priviledges peculiar to Old People exceeding Pleasant and no less Reforming Very Illustrious SIR and Honest Old Gentleman SOlon Prometheus Licurgus and Numa Pompilius chief Lawyers of the World tho they differ'd in many things yet all agreed in these That Men should worship the Gods be Merciful to the Poor and Honour Old Age. There has no Nation been hitherto heard of so Barbarous or People so Inhuman where the Worship of a Deity Relief of the Poor and Respect to Age was forbid for these Three things are in themselves so very Essential and Natural that they require no Law to authorise nor Prince to enforce ' em Eschines the Philosopher in a Speech to the Rhodians says there were but Seven Laws in the Islands Baleares which were That they should Worship the Gods Take Pity on the Poor Honour Ancient People Obey their Princes Oppose Tyrants Kill Thieves and None of them Travel in Strange Countreys Aulus Gellius lib. 2. cap. 25. writes that among the Romans those who had acquir'd great Riches or attain'd to high Places were not so much honour'd and respected as such who had liv'd to a great Age and behav'd themselves always with a stayed Gravity In those times ancient Men were held in so high esteem they reverenc'd them almost as Gods and honour'd them as Loving Fathers It is certain the Romans took the Custom of paying such Deference to Age from the Lacedemonians among whom it was an establish'd Law that only ancient grave Men could be constituted Judges to punish and Censors to direct The Philosopher Pantheon who was Master to Empedocles being ask'd by a King of Thebes called Circidacus How he should do to govern his Dominions answer'd if you will have your Kingdom well Manag'd and People live quiet cause the old Men to govern young to go to the Wars and Women to Spin and Bake at home for if on the contrary you permit Women to take up the business of Men young People to live idle and old to to be laid quiet aside you will soon suffer much trouble in your Person and the Commonwealth be likewise in great danger of destruction The Veteran Romans enjoy'd five singular Priveledges in Rome which were That if they came to Poverty they should be maintain'd by the Publick That only they could sit down in the Temples wear Rings on their Fingers Eat in private and have a Robe down to their Feet all which were Religiously observ'd from Numa Pompilius down even to the Dictator Quintus Cincinnatus After the Romans were defeated by Hannibal at the three famous Battles of Trebia Thrasimen and Cannae there being but few left to maintain the Commonwealth and fewer fit to endure the hardships of War the Senate order'd none should remain in the City but such as were Married and had Wife or Children to maintain so that no Person then could continue in Rome without keeping either a Wife or a Mistress Also that Men might the better be encourag'd to Marry it was then ordain'd that for the future all Honours and Dignities in the Commonwealth should be conferr'd only on such as maintain'd a Family so that it thereby came to pass they were most esteem'd who had most Children and not those who were eldest This was call'd Lex Cimica which also Enacted That in case there were several Competitors who had got some more some fewer Children and lost some in the Wars that then regard should not be had to him that had got but him that had lost most because the Romans held all that died in defence of their Country in the same Veneration we