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
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
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
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
although it forsaketh them in deedes yet they will not forsake it in their desires And I durst sweare that if the World could grant them perpetuall life they would promise it alwayes to remaine in their customable folly O what a number of vaine men are aliue which haue neyther remembrance of God to serue him nor of his glorie to obey him nor of their conscience to make it cleane but like bruit beasts fellow and runne after their voluptuous pleasures The bruit beast is angry if a man keepe him too much in awe if he bee weary hee taketh his rest hee sleepeth when hee lifteth he eateth and drinketh when hee commeth vnto it and vnlesse hee be compelled hee doth nothing hee taketh no care for the common-wealth for he neither knoweth how to follow reason nor yet how to resist sensuality Therefore if a man at all times should eate when hee desireth reuenge himselfe when he is moued commit adulterie when hee is tempted drinke when he is thirsty sleep when he is drousie wee might more properly call such a one a beast nourished in the mountaines then a man brought vp in the common-wealth For him properly wee may call a mā that gouerneth himselfe like a man that is to say conformable vnto such things as reason willeth not where sensuality leadeth Let vs leaue these vaine men which are aliue and talke of them that bee dead against whom wee dare say that whiles they were in the world they followed the world and liued according to the same It is not to be maruelled at that since they were liuing in the world they were noted of some world point But seeing their vnhappy and wicked life is ended why will they then smell of the vanities of the World in their graues It is a great shame and dishonour for men of noble and stout hearts to see in one moment the end of our life and neuer to see the end of our solly Wee neyther reade heare nor see any thing more common then such men as bee most vnprofitable in the Common wealth and of life most reprobate to take vpon them most honour whiles they liue and to leaue behind them the greatest memory at their death What vanity can bee greater in the world then to esteeme the world which esteemeth no man to make no account of God who so greatly regardeth all men What greater folly can there bee in man then by much trauell to encrease his goods with vaine pleasures to loose his soule It is an olde plague in mans nature that many or the most part of men leaue the amendement of their life farre behind to set their honour the more before Suetonius Tranquillus in the first booke of the Emperours sayth that Iulius Caesar no further then in Spaine in the City of Cales now called Calis saw in the Temple the triumphes of Alexāder the great painted the which when hee had well viewed he sighed maruellous sore and being asked why hee did so hee answered What a wofull case am I in that am now of the age of thirty yeares and Alexander at the same yeeres had subdued the whole world and rested him in Babylon And I being as I am a Romane neuer did yet thing worthy of prayse in my life nor shall leaue any renowne of mee after my death Dion the Grecian in the second booke De audacia sayeth that the noble Drusius the Almaine vsed to visite the graues and tombes of the famous and renowmed which were buryed in Italie and did this alwayes especially at his going to warfare And it was asked why hee did so Hee answered I visit the sepulchers of Scipio and of diuers others which are dead before whom all the Earth trembled when they were aliue For in beholding their prosperous successe I did recouer both strength and stoutnesse He saith furthermore that it encourageth a man to fight against his enemyes remembring hee shall leaue of him a memory in time to come Cicero saith in his Rhethorike and also Plynie maketh mention of the same in an Epistle that there came from Thebes in Egipt a knight to Rome for no other purpose but only to see whether it were true or no that was reported of the notable things of Rome Whom Moecenas demanded what he perceyued of the Romaines and what he thought of Rome He answered The memory of the absent doth more content me then the glory of the present doth satisfie me And the reason of this is The desire which men haue to extoll the liuing to be equall vnto the dead maketh things so straunge in their life that they deserue immortal fame after their death The Romaines reioyced not a little to heare such wordes of a straungers mouth wherby he praised them which were departed and exalted them which yet liued Oh what a thing it is to consider the auncient heathens which neyther feared Hell nor hoped for Heauen and yet by remembrance of weaknes they tooke vnto them strength by cowardnes they were boldened throgh feare they became hardy of dangers they tooke encouragement of enemyes they made friends of pouertie they tooke patience of malice they learned experience Finally I say they denyed their owne willes and followed the'opinions of others only to leaue behind them a memorie with the dead and to haue a little honour with the dead Oh how many are they that trust the vnconstantnesse of Fortune onely to leaue some notable memorie behinde them Let vs call to minde some worthie examples whereby they may see that to be true which I haue spokē What made king Ninus to inuent such warres Queene Semiramis to make such buildings Vlisses the Grecian to sulke so many Seas king Alexander to conquere so many Lands Hercules the Thebane to set vp his Pillars where hee did Caius Casar the Romaine to giue 52. battells at his pleasure Cyrus King of Persia to ouercome both the Asiaes Hanniball the Carthaginian to make so cruell warres against the Romaines Pyrrhus king of the Epirotes to come down into Italie Attila King of the Hunnes to defie all Europe Truely they would not haue taken vpon them such daungerous enterprises onely vpon the wordes of them which were in those dayes present but because we should so esteem them that should come after Seeing then that wee bee men and the children of men it is not a little to bee maruelled at to see the diuersitie betweene the one and the other and what cowardnes there is in the hearts of some and contrarywise what courage in the stomackes of others For we see commonly now-adayes that if there bee tenne of stoute courages which are desirous with honour to dye there are ten thousands cowards which through shamefull pleasures seeke to prolong their life The man that is ambitious thinking him most happie who with much estimation can keepe his renowm and with little care regard his life And on the other side hee that will set by his life
vs By these things we haue spoken of before the Readers may perceyue what is due vnto the Hystoriographers who in my opinion haue left as great memorie of them for that they wrote with their pennes as the Princes haue done for that they did with their swords I confesse I deserue nor to be named amongst the Sages neyther for that I haue written and Translated nor yet for that I haue composed Therefore the Sacred and diuine letters set aside there is nothing in the world so curiously written but needeth correction and as I say of the one so will I say of the other and that is as I with my will doe renounce the glory which the good for my learning would giue mee so in like manner euill men shall not want that against my will seeke to defame it Wee other writers smally esteeme that labour and paines wee haue to write although indeede wee are not ignorant of a thousaund enuious tongues that will backbite it Many now adayes are so euil taught or to say better so enuious that when the Author laboreth in his study they play in the streetes when he awaketh they sleepe when he fasteth they eate when hee sitteth turning the leaues of the booke they goe hunting after vices abroade yet for all that they will presume to iudge depraue and condemne an other mans doctrine as if they had the authoritie that Plato had in Greece or the eloquence that Cicero had in Rome When I finde a man in the Latine tongue well seene his vulgar tongue well pâ—lished in hystories well grounded in Greeke-letters very expert and desirous to spend his time with good bookes this so Heroicall and noble a personage I would desire him to put my doctrine vnder his feete For it is no shame for a vertuous and wise man to be corrected of an other wise man Yet I would gladly know what patieÌ„ce can suffer or heart can dissemble when two or three bee assembled together at meate and after at the table or otherwise one of them taketh a booke at aduenture in his handes against that which another will say it is too long and another will say it speaketh not to the purpose another it is very obscure another the words are not well couched another will say all that is spoken is fayned One will say hee speaketh nothing of profite another hee is too curious and the other hee is too malicious So that in speaking thus the doctrine remaineth suspitious and the Authour scapeth not scot-free Suppose them to be therefore such that speake it as I haue spoken of that at the Table do finde such faults sure they deserue pardon for they speake not according to the Bookes which they haue read but according to the cups of wine which they haue drunke For that Hee that taketh not in iest which is spoken at the Table knoweth not what iesting meaneth It is an olde custom to murmure at vertuous deedes and into this rule entreth not onely those that make them but also those which writethem afterwards Which thing seemeth to be true for that Socrates was reproued of Plato Plato of Aristotle Aristotle of Auerois Sicilius of Vulpitius Lelius of Varro Marinus of Ptolomeus Ennius of Horace Seneca of Aulus Gelius Crastonestes of Strabo Thessale of Gellian Hermagoras of Cicero Cicero of Salust Origines of Saint Hierome Hierome of Rufinus Rufinus of Donatus Donatus of Prosper and Prosper of Lupus Then sith that in these men and in their workes hath beene such need of correction which were men of great knowledge and Lanternes of the World It is no maruell at all that I haue such fortune since I know so little as I doe Hee may worthily bee counted vaine and light which at the first sight as for onely once reading will rashly iudge that which a wise man with much diligence study hath written The Authors and Writers are oft times reproued not of them which can translate and compile workes but of those which cannot reade and yet lesse vnderstand them to the entent simple folkes should count them wise and take their parts in condemning this worke and esteeme him for a great wise man I take God to witnesse who can iudge whether my intention were good or ill to compile this worke and also I lay this my doctrine at the feet of wise and vertuous men to the end they may be protectors and defendours of the same For I trust in God though som would come to blame as diuers do the simple words which I spake yet others would not fayle to relate the good intention that I meant And to declare further I say that diuers have written of the time of the sayde Marcus Aurelius as Herodian wrote little Eutropius lesse Lampridius not so much and Iulius Capitolinus somewhat more Likewise yee ought to know that the Masters which taught Marcus Aurelius sciences were Iunius Rusticus Cinna Catullus Sextus Cheronensis which was nephew to the great Plutarke These three were those that principally as witnesses of sight wrote the most part of his life and doctrine Many may maruel to heare tell of the doctrine of Marcus Aurelius saying it hath beene kept hidde and secret a great while and that of mine owne head I haue inuented it And that there neuer was any Marcus Aurelius in the world I know not what to say now vnto them for it is euident to all those which haue read any thing that Marcus Aurelius was husband to Faustine father to Comodus brother to Anntus Verus and sonne in Law to Antoninus Pius the seuenth of Rome Emperour Those which say I only haue made this doctrine truly I thanke them for so saying but not for their so meaning For truly the Romanes would haue set my Image in Rome for perpetuall renowne if so graue sentences should haue proceeded froÌ„ my head Wee see that in our time which was neuer seene before and heare that we neuer heard before VVe practise not in a new world and yet wee maruell that there is at this present a newe booke Not for that I was curious to discouer Marcus Aurelius or studious to translate him For truely it is worthy he bee noted of wise persons and not accused of enuious tongues For it chaunceth oftentimes in Hunting that the most simplest man killeth the Deare The last thing which the Romaines conquered in Spayne was Cantabria which was a citie in Nauarre ouer against La-grogne and scituated in a high Countrey where there is now a vaine of Vines And the Emperour Augustus which destroyed it made tenne bookes De Bello Cantabrico wherein are many thinges worthie of noting and no lesse pleasaunt in reading which happened vnto him in the same conquest As Marcus Aurelius was brought mee from Florence so was this other booke Of the warres of Cantabria brought mee from Colleyne If perhaps I tooke paines to Translate this booke as few haue done which haue seene it they would
resisted if it be not by wise men and graue counsells The sixt was What thing that is wherein men are praised to be negligent and that is in choosing of Friendes Hee answered In one thing onely men haue licence to be negligent Slowly ought thy Friends to bee chosen and they neuer after for any thing ought to be forsaken The seuenth was What is that which the afflicted man doth most desire Byas answered It is the chaunce of Fortune and the thing which the prosperous man doth most abhorre is to thinke that Fortune is somutable For the vnfortunate man hopeth for euery chaunge of Fortune to be made better and the wealthy man feareth through euery change to be depriued of his bouse These were the Questions which the Philosophers demaunded of Byas in the Playes of the Mount Olympus in the 60. Olympiade The Phylosopher Byas liued about 95. yeares and as he drewe neere his death the Prienenses shewing themselues to be maruellous sorrowfull for the losse of such a famous man desired him earnestly to ordayne some lawes whereby they might know how to choose Captaines or some Prince which after him might guide and gouerne the Realme The Phylosopher Byas vnderstanding their honest and iust requests he with his best counsell and aduisement gaue them certaine wholsome Lawes in fewe wordes which followe And of these Lawes the diuine Plato maketh mention in his Booke De Legibus and likewise Aristotle in the booke of Oecenomices The Lawes which BIAS gvue to the Prienenses WEe ordayne and command that no man bee chosen to bee Prince among the people vnlesse hee bee at least forty yeares of age For gouernours ought to be of such age that neyther youth nor small experience should cause them to erre in their affayres nor weakenesse thorow ouermuch age should hinder them from taking paines Wee ordayne and commaund that none bee chosen amongst the Prienenses Gouernour if hee bee not well learned in the Greeke Letters For there is no greater plague in the publike weale then for him to lacke wisedome which gouerneth the same Wee ordayne and commaund that there bee none amongst the Prienenses chosen Gouernour vnlesse hee hath beene brought vp in the warres ten yeares at the least for hee alone doth know how precious a thing peace is which by experience hath felt the extreame miseries of warre Wee ordayne and commaund that if any haue beene noted to bee cruell that hee bee not chosen for Gouernour of the people for that man which is cruell is likely to be a Tyrant Wee ordaine and commaund that if the Gouernor of the Prienenses bee so hardy or dare presume to breake the auncient lawes of the people that in such case hee be depriued from the office of the Gouernour and likewise exiled from the people For there is nothing that destroyeth sooner a publike-Weale then to ordaine new and fond lawes to breake the good auncient Customes Wee ordaine and commaund that the Gouernour of the Prienenses doe worship and honour the Gods and that hee bee a louer of the sacred Temples For otherwise hee that honoureth not God will neuer minister equall iustice vnto men Wee ordaine and command that the Prince of Prienenses bee contented with the warres which his Auncesters left him and that he doe not forget newe matters to inuade any other strange Countries and if perchance he would that no man in this case bee bound neyther with money nor in person to follow or serue him For the God Apollo told mee that that man which wil take another mans goods from him by force shall loose his owne Iustice Wee ordaine and command that the Gouernour of the Prienenses go to pray and worship the Gods twice in the weeke and likewise to visite them in the Temples and if hee doe the contrary he shall not onely bee depriued of the gouernement but also after his death he shall not bee buried For the Prince that honoreth not God in time of his life deserueth not his bones should bee honoured with sepnlture after his death CHAP XXII How God from the beginning punished men by his iustice and especially those Princes that despise his Church and how all wicked Christians are Parishioners of Hell WHen the Eternall Creatour who measureth all the things by his Omnipotency and weigheth them by his effectuall wisedome created all things aswell celestiall as terrestriall visible as inuisible corporate as incorporate not onely promised to the good which serued him but also threatned the euil with plagues which offended him For the iustice and mercy of GOD goe alwayes together to the intent the one should encourage the good and the other threaten the euill This thing seemeth to bee true for that wee haue but one GOD which hath created but one World wherein hee made but one Garden in the which Garden there was but one Fountaine and neere to that Fountaine he appointed onely one man one woman and one Serpent neere vnto which was also one tree only forbidden which is a thing maruellous to speake and no lesse fearefull to see how God did put into the terrestriall Paradise the same day that the creation of the World was finished both a sword and a gybet The gybet was the tree forbidden whereof they did eate Wherefore our Fathers were condemned And the sword was the penishment wherwith wee all as miserable children at this day are beheaded for truely they did eate the bitternesse of theyr fault and we doe feele the griefe of their paine I meane to shew how our God by his power doth rayse vp that which is beaten downe how with his wisedome he guideth those which are blind how by his will hee dissembleth with the euill doers neyther wil I tell how hee through his clemency pardoneth the offences and through his light lightneth the darkenesse nor how through his righteousnesse hee amendeth that which is broken and through his liberality payeth more then wee deserue But I will here declare at large how our omnipotent God through his iustice chastiseth those which walke not in his pathes O Lord God how sure may thy faithfull seruants be for their small seruices to receyue great rewards and contrary the euill ought alwayes to liue in as great feare lest for their hainous offences thou shouldest giue them cruell punishments for though God of his bounty will not leaue any seruice vnrewarded nor of his iustice will omit any euill vnpunished yet for all that wee ought to know that aboue all and more then all hee will rigorously chastice those which maliciously despise the Catholike faith For Christ thinketh himselfe as much iniured of those which persecute his Church as of those that layd handes on his person to put him to death We reade that in times past God shewed sundry grieuous and cruell punishments to diuers high Lords and Princes besides other famous renowned men But rigour had neuer such power in his hand as it had against those which honored
and had memorie fresh being meanely learned in Philosophy but he was of much eloquēce and for to encourage and counsell the Athenians he was sent to the warres For when the Ancients tooke vpon them any warres they chose first Sages to giue counseil then Captains to leade the souldiers And amongst the Prisoners the Philosopher Epicurus was taken to whom the tyrant Lysander gaue good entertainement and honoured him aboue all other and after hee was taken hee neuer went from him but read Philosophy vnto him and declared vnto him histories of times past and of the strength and vertues of many Greekes and Troians The tyrant Lysander reioyced greatly at these things For truly tyrants take great pleasure to heare the prowesse and vertues of Ancients past and to follow the wickednesse and vices of them that are present Lysander therefore taking the triumph and hauing a Nauie by sea and a great Army by land vpon the riuer of Aegeon he and his Captaines forgot the danger of the wars and gaue the bridle to the flothfull flesh so that to the great preiudice of the Common wealth they led a dissolute and idle life For the manner of tyrannous Princes is to leaue off their ownt trauell and to enioy that of other mens The Philosopher Epicurus was alwayes brought vp in the excellent Vniuersity of Athens whereas the Philosophers liued in so great pouerty that naked they slept on the ground their drinke was colde water none amongst them had any house proper they despised riches as pestilence and labored to make peace where discord was they were onely defenders of the Common wealth they neuer spake any idle word and it was a sacriledge amongst them to heare a lye and finally it was a Law inuiolable amongst them that the Philosopher that should bee idle should bee banished and he that was vicious should be put to death The wicked Epicurius forgetting the doctrine of his Master and not esteeming grauity whereunto the Sages are bound gaue himselfe wholly both in words and deedes vnto a voluptuous beastly kind of life wherin he put his whole felicity For hee sayde There was no other felicity for slothfull men then to sleepe in soft beds for delicate persons to feele neyther hote nor cold for fleshly men to haue at their pleasure amorus Dames for drunkards not to want any pleasant wines and gluttons to haue their fils of al delicate meats for herein hee affirmed to consist all worldly felicity I doe not maruell at the multitude of his Schollers which hee had hath and shall haue in the world For at this day there are very few in Rome that suffer not themselues to be mastered with vices and the multitude of those which liue at their owne wils and sensuality are infinite And to tell the truth my friend Pulio I do not maruell that there hath been vertuous neither doe I muse that there hath beene vitious for the vertuous hopeth to rest himselfe with the Gods in an other World by his well doing and if the vitious bee vitious I doe not maruell though he will goe and engage himselfe to the vices of this world since he doth not hope neyther to haue pleasure in this not yet to enioy rest with the gods in the other For truly the vnstedfast beleefe of an other life after this wherein the wicked shall bee punished and the good rewarded causeth that now a dayes the victous and vices raigne so as they doe Of the Philosopher Eschilus ARtabanus beeing the sixt king of Persians and Quintus Concinatus the husbandman beeing onely Dictator of the Romanes in the Prouince of Tharse there was a Philosopher named Aeschilus who was euill fauoured of countenance deformed of body fierce in his lookes and of a very grosse vnderstanding but hee was fortunate of credite for he had no lesse credite amongst the Tharses then Homer had among the Greekes They say that though this Philosopher was of a rude knowledge yet otherwise he had a very good naturall wit and was very diligent in harde things and very patient with these that did him wrong hee was exceeding couragious in aduersity and moderate in prosperities And the thing that I most of all delighted in him was that hee was courteous and gentle in his conuersation and both pithie and eloquent in his communication For that man onely is happy where all men prayse his life and no man reproueth his tongue The auncient Greekes declare in their Histories that this Philosopher Aeschilus was the first that inuented Tragedies and that got money to represent them and sith the inuention was new and pleasant many did not onely follow him but they gaue him much of their goods And maruel not thereat my friend Pulio for the lightnesse of the Common people is such that to see vaine things all will runne and to heare the excellency of vertues there is not one will goe After this Philosopher Aeschylus had written many bookes specially of Tragedies and that he had afterward trauelled through many Countries Realmes at the last hee ended the residue of his life neare the Isles which are adioyning vnto the Lake of Meatts For as the diuine Plato saveth when the auncient Philosophers were young they studied when they came to be men they trauelled and then when they were old they retyred home In mine opinion this Philosopher was wise to do as he did and no lesse shall men now a dayes bee that will imitate him For the Fathers of wisdome are Science and Experience and in this consisteth true knowledge when the man at the last returneth home from the troubles of the World Tell me my friend Pulio I pray thee what dooth it profite him that hath learned much that hath heatd much that hath knowne much that hath seene much that hath beene farre that hath bought much that hath suffered much and hath proued much that had much if after great trauell he doth not retire to repose himselfe a little truly hee cannot be counted wise but a foole that willingly offereth himselfe to trauell hath not the wit to procure himselfe rest for in mine opinion the life without rest is a long death By chance as this ancient Philosopher was sleeping by the lake Meatis a Hunter had a Hare with him in a Cage of woode to take other Hares by whereon the Eagle seazed which tooke the Cage with the Hare on high and seeing hee could not eate it hee cast it downe againe which fell on the heade of this Philosopher and killed him This Philosopher Aeschylus was demaunded in his life time wherein the felicity of this life consisted hee answered that in this opinion it consisted in sleeping and his reason was this that when wee sleepe the entisements of the flesh do not prouoke vs nor the enemy persecute vs neyther the friends do importune vs nor the colde winter oppresse vs nor the heate of long Sommer doth annoy vs nor yet wee
shee represented her selfe before me remembring that she liued I was sorry to remember her death Life was so grieuous vnto me that I would haue reioyced to haue beene put in the graue with her For truly hee feeleth assuredly the death of another which alway is sorrowfull and lamenting his owne life Remembring therefore the great loue which my sister Milena bare vnto me in her life and thinking wherein I might requite the same after her death I imagined that I could not by any meanes doe any thing that was more acceptable for her then to bring thee vp thou which art her childe and left an Orphane so yong For of all trauells to a woman this is the chiefest to leaue behinde her children to bring vp My sister being dead the first thing I did was that I came to Rome and then sent thee to Capua to be brought vp there in the which place hard at my nose they gaue thee sucke two yeares For thou knowest right well that the mony which by reading Rethorike I gate scarcely satisfied for thy dayly feeding but that in the night I reade some extraordinare lecture and with that I payed for the milke which thou suckedst on the dugge so that thy bringing vp depended vpon the labour of my life After that thou wert weined and and brought from the teate I sent thee to Bietro to a friend and kinsman of mine named Lucius Valerius with whom thou remainedst vntill fiue yeares were fully accomplished where I found both him and thee all things necessary For he was in great pouertie and a great blabber of his tongue in such sort that he troubled all men and angred me much For truely a man should as willingly giue mony to cause him to be silent which is talkatiue as to giue a wise man to heare him to speake The fiue yeares accomplished I sent thee to Toringue a citie of Campaignia to a Maister which taught children there called Emilius Torquates of whom to the end hee should teach thee to reade and to write three yeares I tooke a sonne of his whom hee gaue mee to reade to him Greeke foure yeares so that thou couldest not haue any profite in thee without the increase of great trauell and augmenting paine to my heart And after thou wert seuen yeares old that thou couldest reade and write wel I sent thee to study in the famous city of Tareth where I kept thee foure yeares paying to the masters a great summe of money Because now a dayes through our euill fortunes there is none that will teach without great stipend Without lamenting I doe not tell thee that in the time that Cincinos which were after the death of Quintus Cincinatus vntill Cyna and Catulus the phylosopher and maisters were by the sacred Senate payde and none ceased to study for lacke of money For in those dayes they which would apply themselues to vertue and sciences were by the common treasure maintained As our fathers were well ordered in their things so they did not deuide offices by order onely but also by order they payed their money in such sort that they paide first with the common treasure the priests of the Temples Secondly the maisters of schooles and studies Thirdly the poore widowes and Orphanes Fourthly the strange knights which of their owne free wills voluntarily were made citizens of Rome Fiftly all the old souldiesr which had serued 35. yeares continually in the warres For those which were retired home to their owne houses were honourably found of the common-wealth The twelue yeares past I my selfe was in Tarenthe and carryed thee to Rome where I read vnto thee Rhetorike Logike and phylosophy and also the Mathematicall sciences keeping thee in my house in my company at my table and in my bed and further more I had the in my heart and in my minde The which thing thou shouldest esteeme more then if I gaue thee my house and al my goods For the true benefites is that onely which is done without any respect of profite or interest I kept thee with meanes in this sort in Laurence in Rhodes in Naples and in Capua vntill such time as the gods created me Emperor of Rome And then I determined to send thee to Greece because thou shouldest learne the Greeke tongue and also to the end thou shouldest accustome thy selfe to worke that which true phylosophy requireth For the true and vertuous phylosophers ought to conforme their workes to that they say and publish their words with their deeds There is nothing more infamous then to presume to be sage and to be desirous to be counted vertuous principally for him that speaketh much and worketh little For the man of a pleasant tongue and euill life is hee which with impostumes vndoeth the commonwealth When I sent thee to Greece and withdrew thee from Rome it was not to exile thee out of my company so that thou hauing tasted of my pouertie shouldest not reioyce at my prosperitie but it was that considering thy youthfull disposition and lightnesse I was afrayde to vndoe thee in the pallace chiefely least thou wouldest haue presumed to haue bin too bold and familiar because thou wert my nephew For truely Princes which take pleasure that their children be familiar with them they giue occasion that men shall not count them wise and cause also the young men to bee esteemed for light I haue tolde thee that I did for thee in Italie I will now let thee know what thou hast done and doest in Greece so that I will shew thee to bee notorious that is to know that thou taking and esteeming thy selfe to bee well disposed in thy youth thou hast forsaken thy study and despised my counsayles thou art accompanyed with vaine and light men and hast most viciously employed the money which I had sent thee to buy books All the which things to thee being hurtfull are to me no lesse dishonor shame For it is a generall rule when the childe is foolish and ill taught and the blame and fault is layd on the masters necke who hath taught him and brought him vp It greeueth me not for that he brought thee vp neither for that I haue taught thee to reade and cause thee to study neither likewise to haue kept thee in my house to haue set thee at my table nor also to haue suffered thee to lie with me in my bed neither it greeueth mee to haue consumed so much on thee but with all my heart it greeueth me that thou hast not giuen me occasion to do thee good For there is nothing that greeueth a noble Prince more then not to find persons able of capacity to do them any good They tell me that thou art well made of thy body and faire in countenance and that thou presumest also in those things wherefore to enioy the pleasures of thy person thou hast forsaken Phylosophy wherewith I am not contentented For in the end the corporall beautie carely or
complaint Therefore I desire thee now to haue as much patience to heare my aunswere as I haue had paine to heare thy demaund And prepare thy eares to heare my words as I haue listned mine to heare thy Follie. For in like matter when the tong doth apply it selfe to speake any word the eares ought immediately to prepare them to heare it for to make aunswere For this is most sure that he that speaketh what hee would shall heare what hee would not Before I tell thee what thou art and what thou oughtest to bee I will first tell thee what I am and what I ought to be For I will thou vnderstand Faustine that I am so euill that that the which mine enemyes doe report of me is but a trifle in respect of that which my Familiars and Friends would say if they knew me To the end the Prince be good hee ought not to be couetous of Tributes neyther proude in commaundements nor vnthankfull of seruices nor to be forgetfull of the Temples hee ought not to be deafe to heare griefes complaintes and quarrells nor cruell to Orphanes nor yet negligent in affaires And the man that shall want these vices shal be both beloued of men and fauoured of the Gods I confesse first of all that I haue bin couetous For indeed those which with many troubles annoy Princes least and with Money serue them most are of all other men best beloued Secondarily I confesse that I am proud For there is no Prince at this day in the world so brought vnder but when Fortune is most lowest he hath his heart very hanghtie Thirdly I confesse that I am vnthankfull for amongst vs that are Princes the seruices that they doe vnto vs are great and the rewardes that we giue vnto them are small Fourthly I doe confesse that I am an euill founder of Temples for amongst vs that are Princes wee doe not Sacrifice vnto the Gods very often vnlesse it be when we see our selues to be enuironned with enemyes Fiftly I confesse that I am negligent to heare the plaintes of the oppressed for the Flatterers haue towards theys Princes more easie audience by their Flattery then the poore pleading to declare theyr complaintes by truth Sixtly I confesse that I am carelesse for the Orphanes For in the Courtes and Pallaces of Princes the Rich and mightie are most familiar but the miserable and poore Orphanes are scarcely heard Seuenthly I confesse that I am negligent in dispatching Poore mens causes For the Princes oft times not prouiding in time for their affaires many great perills ensue to theyr Realmes Now marke here Faustine how I haue tolde thee what according to reason I ought to bee and what according to the sensualitie I am and maruell not although I confesse mine error For the man that acknowledgeth his fault giueth hope of amendment And let vs come to talke of thee and by that I haue spoken of me thou mayest iudge of thy selfe For we men are so euill conditioned that we behold the vttermost the offences of an another but wee will not heare the faultes of our selues It is a true thing my wife Faustine that when a woman is merry she alwaies speaketh more with her tong then shee knoweth in her heart For women light of tongue speak many things in companie the which they doe lament after when they are alone All the contrarie commeth to wofull men for they do not speak the halfe of their griefes because their heauy and wofull hearts commaundeth their eyes to weepe and tongs to be silent Vaine and foolish men by vaine and foolish words doe publish their vaine and light pleasures and the wise men by wise wordes doe dissemble their grieuous sorrowes For though they feale the troubles of this life they dissemble them as men Amongst the Sages hee is most wisest that presumeth to know least and amongst the simple he is most ignorant that thinketh to knowe most For if there be found one that knoweth much yet alwayes there is found another that knoweth more This is one difference whereby the wise men are knowne from those that be simple that is to say That the wise man to one that asketh him a Question answereth slowly and grauely and the simple man though he be not asked aunswereth quicke and lightly For in the house where Noblenes and wisedome are they giue riches without measure but they giue wordes by ounces I haue told thee all this Faustine because thy wordes haue wounded me in such sort thy teares in such wise haue compelled mee and thy vaine iudgements haue wearyed mee so much that I cannot say what I would nor I thinke thou canst perceiue what I say Those which wrote of Marriage wrote many things but they wrote not so many troubles in al their bookes as one woman causeth her Husband to feele in one day The auncients spake well when they reasoned of Marriages for at all times when they talked of Marriage at the beginning they put these words Onus Matrimonij That is to say the yoake of Marriage For truely if the man be not well maryed all the troubles that may happen vnto him in all the time of his life are but small in respect to be matched one day with an euill wife Doest thou thinke Faustine that it is a small trouble for the Husband to suffer ths brawlings of his wife to indure her vaine words to beare with her fond words to giue her what she requireth to seeke that she desireth and to dissemble with all her vanities Truely it is so vnpatient a trouble that I would not desire any greater reuengement of my enemy then to see him marryed with a brawling wife If the Husband be proud you doe humble him For there is no proude man whatsoeuer hee be but a fierce woman will make him stoupe If the Husband be foolish you restore him to his senses againe For there is no greater wisedome in the World then to knowe how to endure a brawling woman If the Husband be wilde you make him tame For the time is so much that you occupy in brawling that hee can haue no time to speake If the husband be slow you make him runne for he desireth so much your contentation in heart that the wofull man cannot eate in quiet nor sleepe in rest If the Husband be a talker you make him dumbe for the flouts and mockes that you giue him at euery word are so many in number that he hath none other remedie but to refraine his tongue If the Husband bee suspitious you make him change his minde For the Trifles that you aske at euery houre are such and so many and you therewith so selfe-willed that hee dare not tell what hee seeth in his owne house If the husband be a wanderer abroad you make him forthwith a bider at home for you looke so ill vnto the house and goods that hee findeth no other remedie but to bee alwayes at home If the
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
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
thinke thou wilt do so For by the faith of a good man I sweare vnto thee that my heart neither suspected iâ— nor yet the aucthority of so graue a Romane doth demand it for to thee onely the fault should remaine and to me the wonder Heartily I commend vnto thee thy honesty which to thy selfe thou oughtest and the care which behooueth so worthy and notable a widow For if thou art tormented with the absence of the dead thou oughtest to comfort thee with the reputation of the liuing At this present I will say no more to thee but that thy renowne among the present be such and that they speake of thee so in absence that to the euill thou giue the bridell to be silent and to the good spurres to come and sefue thee For the widow of euill renowne ought to be buried quicke Other things to write to thee I haue none Secret matters are dangerous to trust considering that thy heart is not presently disposed to heare newes It is reason thou know that I with thy parents and friends haue spoken to the Senate which haue giuen the office that thy husband had in Constantinople to thy sonne And truly thou oughtest no lesse to reioyce of that which they haue said of thee then for that they haue giuen him For they say though thy husband had neuer beene Citizen of Rome yet they ought to haue giuen more than this onely for thy honest behauiour My wife Faustine saluteth thee and I will say I neuer saw her weepe for any thing in the world so much as shee hath wept for thy mishap For shee felt thy losse which was very great and my sorrow which was not little I send thee foure thousand sexterces in money supposing that thou hast wherewith to occupy them as well for thy necessaries as to discharge thy debts For the complaints demaunds and processes which they minister to the Romane Matrons are greater then are the goods that their husbands doe leaue them The gods which haue giuen rest to thy husband O Claudine giue also comfort to thee his wife Lauinia Marcus of mount Celio with his owne hand CHAP. XXXIX That Princes and Noble men ought to despise the world for that there is nothing in the world but plaine deceit PLato Aristotle Pythagoras Empedocles Democrates Seleucus Epicurus Diogenes Thales and Methrodorus had among them so great contention to describe the world his beginning and propertie that in maintaining euery one his opinion they made greater wars with their pens then their enemies haue done with their lances Pythagoras sayde that that which wee call the World is one thing and that which wee call the vniuersall is an other the Philosopher Thales said that there was no more but one World and to the contrarie Methrodorus the Astronomer affirmed there were infinit worlds Diogenes sayd that the world was euerlasting Seleucus sayd that it was not true but that it had an ende Aristotle seemed to say that the world was eternall But Plato sayde clearely that the world hath had beginning and shall also haue ending Epicurus sayd that it was round as a ball Empedocles saide that it was not as a bowle but as an egge Chilo the Philosopher in the high Mount Olimpus disputed that the world was as men are that is to say that hee had an intellectable and sensible soule Socrates in his Schoole sayeth and in his doctrine wrote that after 37 thousand yeares all things should returne as they had beene before That is to say that he himselfe should bee borne anew and should be nourished and should reade in Athens And Dennis the Tytant should returne to play the Tyrant in Syracuse Iulius Caesar to rule Rome Hannibal to conquer Italy and Scipio to make warre against Carthage Alexander to fight against King Darius and so foorth in all others past In such and other vaine questions and speculstions the auncient Philosophers consumed many yeares They in writing many bookes haue troubled their spirites consumed long time trauelled many Countryes and suffered innumerable dangers and in the end they haue set forth few truthes and many lyes For the least part of that they knew not was much greater then all that which they euer knew When I tooke my penne in my hand to write the vanity of the world my intention was not to reproue this material world the which of the four Elements is compounded that is to say of the earth that is cold and drie of the water that is moist and cold of the ayre that is hote and moist of fire that is drie and hote so that taking the world in this sort there is no reason why we should complaine and lament of it since that without him we cannot liue corporally When the Painter of the world came into the world it is not to be beleeued that he reproued the water which bare him when hee went vpon it nor the ayre that ceased to blow in the sea nor the earth that trembled at his death nor the light which ceased to light nor the stones which brake in sunder nor the fish which suffered themselues to bee taken not the trees which suffered themselues to be drie nor the monuments that suffered themselues to bee opened For the creature acknowledged in his Creator omnipotency and the Creator founded in the creature due obedience Oftentimes and of many persons wee heare say O woefull world O miserable world O subtill world O world vnstable and vnconstant And therefore it is reason wee know what the world is whereof the world is from whence this world is whereof this world is made and who is lord of this world since in it all things are vnstable all things are miserable all things deceitfull all things are malicious which cannot be vnderstood of this materiall worlde For in the fire in the aire in the earth and in the water in the light in the Planets in the stones and in the Trees there are no sorrowes there are no miseryes there are no deceytes nor yet any malice The world wherein wee are borne where we liue and where we die differeth much from the world whereof we doe complaine for the world against whom wee fight suffereth vs not to be in quyet one howre in the day To declare therefore my intention this wicked World is no other thing but the euill life of the Worldlings the Earth is the desire the fire the couetise the water the inconstancie the ayre the folly the stones are the pride the flowers of the Trees the thoughts the deepe Sea the heart Finally I say that the Sunne of this world is the prosperity and the moon is the continuall change The Prince of this so euill a world is the diuell of whom IESVS CHRIST laid The prince of this world shall now be cast out and this the Redeemer of the World sayeth For he called the worldlings and their worldly liues the world For since they be seruants of sinne of
necessity they must be subiects to the diuell The pride the auarice the enuie the blasphemie the pleasures the leachery the negligēce the gluttony the ire the malice the vanity the follie This is the worlde against which wee fight all our life and there the good are princes of vices and the vices are Lordes of the vicious Let vs compare the trauels which we suffer of the Elements with those which wee endure of the vices and wee shall see that little is the perill wee haue on the sea and the land in respect of that which encreaseth our euill life Is not he in more danger that falleth throgh malice into pride then hee which by chaunce falleth from a high rocke Is not hee who with enuie is persecuted in more danger then he that with a stone is wounded Are not they in more perill that liue among vitious men then others that liue among brute and cruell beasts Doe not those which are tormented with the fire of couetousnes suffer greater danger thē those which liue vnder the mount Ethna Finally I say that they be in greater perils which with high imaginations are blinded thē the trees which with the importunate winds are shaken And afterwards this world is our cruell enemy it is a deceitfull friend it is that which alwayes keepeth vs in trauell it is that which taketh from vs our rest it is that that robbeth vs of our treasure it is that which maketh himselfe to bee feared of the good and that which is greatly beloued of the euill It is that which of the goods of other is prodigall and of his own very miserable Hee is the inuentor of all vices the scourge of all vertues It is hee which entertaineth all his in flatterie and sayre speech This is hee which bringeth men to dissention that robbeth the renowme of those that bee dead and putteth to sacke the good name of those that bee aliue Finally I say that this cursed World is hee which to all ought to render account and of whom none dare aske account Oh vanitie of vanities where all walke in vanitie where all thinke vanitie where all cleaue to vanitie where all seemeth vanity and yet this is little to seeme vanitie but that indeede it is vanitie For as false witnesse should he beare that would say That in this Worlde there is any thing Assured Healthfull and True as hee that would say that in Heauen there is any vnconstant variable or false thing Let therefore vaine Princes see how vaine their thoughts bee and let vs desire a vaine Prince to tell vs how he hath gouerned with him the vanityes of the world For if hee belieue not that which my pen writeth let him be leeue that which his person proueth The words written in the booke of Ecclesiastes are such I Dauids Sonne that swayes the Kingly seate With hungrie thyrst haue throwne amid my brest A vaine desire to proue what pleasures great In fleeting Lise haue stable foote to rest To taste the sweete that might suffise my will With rayned course to shunne the deeper way Whose streames of high delight should so distill As might content my restlesse thoughts to stay For loe Queene Follyes Impes through vaine beleefe So proudly shape their search of tickle reatch That though desert auayles the waue of griefe To Science toppe their clymbing will doth stretch And so to drawe some nice delighting ende Of Fancyes toyle that feasted thus my thought I largely waighed my wasted boundes to bende To swelling Realmes as Wisedomes Dyall wrought I Royall Courtes haue reached from the soyle To serue to lodge my huge attending traine Each pleasaunt house that might be heapt with toyle I reared vp to weelde my wanton rayne I causde to plante the long vnused vines To smooth my taste with treasure of the Grape I sipped haue the sweete inflaming Wines Olde rust of care by hidde delight to scape Fresh Arbours I had closed to the skyes A shrowded space to vse my fickle Feete Rich Gardeins I had dazling still mine Eyes A pleasaunt plot when dayntie Foode was meete High shaking-trees by Arte I stroue to sette To fraight desire with Fruits of liking taste When boyling flame of Summers-Sunne did heate The blossom'de Boughes his shooting beames did waste From Rocky hilles I forced to be brought Colde siluer Springs to bayne my fruitfull grounde Large throwne-out Ponds I laboured to be wrought Where numbers huge of swimming Fish were found Great compast Parkes I gloryed long to plant And wylde Forrests where swarmed Heards of Deere Thousands of Sheepe ne Cattell could not want With new encrease to store the wasted yeere Whole rowtes I kept of seruile wights to serue Defaultes of Princely Courtes with yrke some toyle Whose skilfull hand from cunning could not swarue Their sway was most to decke my dayntie soyle The learned weights of Musickes curious art I trayned vp to please mee with their play Whose sugred tunes so sayled to my heart As flowing griefe agreed to eble away The tender Maydes whose stalke of growing yeares Yet reached not to age his second rayne Whose royall am s were swallowed in no cares But burnt by loue as Beautyes lotte doth gaine Loe I enioyde to feede my dulled spirite With strained voyce of sweete alluring song But yet to mount the Stage of more delight I ioyed to see theyr comely Daunces long The hilles of massie Golde that I vp heapt So hugie were by hoord of long excesse That clottered clay with prouder price was kept In sundry Realmes when ruthfull neede did presse In some I say my bodyes rowling guyde Did gaze for nought but subiect lay to sight My iudge of sounds wisht nothing to abyde But was instild to kindle more delight The clother of my corps yet neuer felt That pleasde him ought but aye it toucht againe My sicher of sauours if ought be smelt That might content his would was neuer vaine The greedy sighes of my deuoured brest Trauelled in thought to conquere no delight But yeelded streight as wyer to the wrest To office such as wanton will be hight But when the doore of by abused eyen Where hoysed vp with lookes and lookes againe And that my eager hands did aye encline To touch the sweete that season still their paine When wanton tast was fed with each conceyt That strange deuise brought forth from flowing wit When restlesse will was ballast with the weight Of princely reach that did my compasse fit I saw by search the sory vnstable bloome The blasted fruit the flitting still delight The fickle ioy the oft abused doome The slipper stay the short contented sight Of such as set their heauen of singing life In pleasures lappe that laugh at their abuse Whose froward wheele with frowning turne is ryse To drowne their blisse that blindely slept with vse For loe the course of my delighting yeares That was embraste in armes of Fancies past When wisedomes Sunne through follies clowds appeares Doth
render thankes for the benefits receiued but we haue not the power to requite the gentlenesse shewed For the man which dare receiue of another any gift doth bind himselfe to be his slaue I cannot bee thy slaue for I am thy friend and thereof thou oughtest to reioyce more then another For being a seruant I should serue thee with feare but being a friend I will profite thee with friendship Therefore to declare the chiefe occasion wherefore I write vnto thee at this present I say I send thee three ships loden with Iesters and Iuglers Loyterers Vacabondsand fooles and yet I do not send vnto thee all the vacabonds which are in Rome for then thy Ile should be peopled with strangers The office that they had was that some of them iested and rayled at the table some sang sundry malicious songs at mariages others told lies and newes for their dinners at the gates others played common playes in the streetes other entertained the Romaine matrons with follish nouels and tales others set forth vaine and light bookes of rymes and ballets yet I sweare vnto thee by the God Hercules these Loyterers wanted no fooles to heare them I let thee know my friend Lambert that these Loiterers are such and their Schollers in number so many that though the Masters may be in 3. ships carried yet the Schollers could not be in an hundred transported Of one thing I maruell much and also I affirm that the Gods be offended since the earthquakes ouerthrew the houses the great waters carry away the bridges the frost freese the vines the corrupt ayre infecteth the Wise men and yet there is no plague that consumeth the fooles O how vnhappy art thou Rome vnto him that shall well behold thee and diligently search thee For in thee wanteth valiant Captaines honest Senators iust Censors faithfull officers and vertuous Princes and onely there aboundeth fooles Iesters Players Dicers Loyterers and vagabonds O what seruice thou shouldst do to the Gods and profite to our mother Rome if for three ships of fools thou didst send vs one barke onely of wise men I would not say but I will not cease to say that I haue seene fooles that I haue heard many follies but I neuer saw so great fooles nor heard such extreme folly as that of some noble Romanes and Italians who thinke it a great act to keepe a foole in their house I iudge him to be a greater foole that desireth to keepe a foole then the foole himselfe for a foole hath a sēblance of the sage after hee accompanieth with a Sage but the Sage sheweth himselfe a foole after hee accompanieth with a foole Why doe men seeke things of mockerie since all that is in the World is mockerie Why seeke wee fooles since all that we say is nothing but folly Why doe wee reioyce with those that flatter vs since there are none that say one onely truth Why doe we seeke fained fooles since that all or the most part of vs all are very fooles I see diuers in Rome the which though they company with honest men are dissolute companying with Sages they are simple treating with wise men they are without consideration and being conuersant with fooles they thinke to be sage if we keepe company with pittifull wee shall be pittifull If wee be conuersant with the cruell wee shall bee cruell If wee communicate with lyers we shall be lyers If wee haunt the true we shall be true and if wee desire the foolish we shall be fooles for according to the masters and doctrines we haue such shal be the sciences which we shall learne and the works which wee shall follow The famous tyrant Dionysius the Syracusane which was in Scicill sayde vnto the Philosopher Diogenes Tell mee Diogenes what kinde of men ought we to haue in our houses and with what persons ought wee to diuide our goods Diogenes answered him The wise man which will liue in peace with the Common wealth and that will not see his goods euill employed ought not to giue to eate nor to accompany with any but with the aged persons which should counsell them with the young which should serue them with friends which should fauour them and with the poore to the end they should prayse them Dennis the tirant greatly commended that which Diogenes the Philosopher told him but hee could neuer profit with that counsell for as he shewed himself a tyrant in robbing so he shewed himselfe also vndiscreet in spending Presuppose that which Diogenes the Philosopher spake were true that is to say that we ought to feede the aged seruants friends and poore Wee see by this answere it is not iust to giue to eate eyther to Iesters Parasites Flatterers Loyterers or fooles First mee seemeth that a man ought not to thinke that fooles are capable to giue counsell since they haue it not for themselues for it should bee great folly to vse men as Sages which of their owne will haue made themselues fooles The second mee seemeth that it is a vaine thing to thinke that the Iesters should serue as seruants For these vnhappy people to flye trauel onely haue taken vpon them this office so slaunderous Thirdly it seemeth to bee a shamefast thing and of great inconuenience that any Noble and sage man should determine to haue any Flatterer or Iester for his familiar friend for such ought not nor cannot be counted among the true friends since they loue vs not for the vertue we possesse but for the goods which we haue Fourthly me thinketh it a vaine thing to thinke that vnder the colour of pouerty it should be iust to giue meate to Iesters or Loyterers for we cannot say that such are poore for that they want riches but that folly aboundeth in them Since therfore a man is defamed to haue such Iesters Flatterers for friends and that for beeing seruants they are vnable and without witte to aske them counsell mee thinketh it a great folly to spend his goods on such loyterers For as their intentions to the Gods onely are manifest and to men secret so there is nothing wherein the good do approue and manifest their intentions to bee good or euil more then in the words which they speake and in the Companies which they keepe CHAP. XLVI Marcus Aurelius goeth forward with his letter and declareth how he found the sepulchres of many learned Philosophers in Helespont whereunto hee sent all these Loyterers I Will thou know Lambert that thy Isle is consecrated with the bones of many excellent men the which were banished by sundry tyrannous Princes of Rome The Ancients greatly commend that Isle because there are therein stones called Amatists tame Deere faire women familiar wolues swift dogs of feet pleasant fountaines Yet notwithstanding I will not cease to commend these things which reioyce those that bee present and also comfort those that bee to come For I esteeme more the bones which the earth do
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
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