Chap. xviii The auctour stil perswadeth women to gyue their owne children sucke Chap. xix That princesses and great ladyes ought to be verye circumspecte in chosinge their nurces of seuen properties whyche a good nource should haue Chap. xx The auctor addeth .3 other condicions to a good nource that giueth sucke Chap. xxi Of the disputacion before Alexander the great concernyng the sucking of babes Chap. xxii Of wytchcraftes and sorceries which the nources vsed in old time in geuinge their chyldren sucke Chap xxiii Marcus Aurelius wryteth to his frende Dedalus inueighenge againste witches which cure children by sorceries and charmes Chap. xxiiii How excellent a thing it is for a gentleman to haue an eloquent tongue cap. xxv Of a letter which the Athenians sent to the Lacedemonians Chap. xxvi That nources which giue sucke to the children of prynces ought to be discret and sage women Chap. xxvii That women may be no lesse wyse then men though they be not it is not through default of nature but for want of good bringyng vp Chap. xxviii Of a letter which Pithagoras sent to his sister Theoclea she readinge at that time philosophy in Samothracia Chap. xxix The auctor followeth his purpose perswading princesses and great ladies to endeuour them selues to be wise as the women wer in old time Chap xxx Of the worthynes of the lady Cornelia and of a notable epistle she wrote to her .ii. sonnes Tyberius and Caius which serued in the warres Chap. xxxi Of the educacion and doctrine of children whyles they are yong Chap. xxxii Princes oughte to take héede that their children be not broughte vp in vaine pleasures and delights chap. xxxiii That princes and great lords ought to be careful in sekynge men to brynge vp their children Of x. condicions that good schoole maisters ought to haue Chap. xxxiiii Of the ii sonnes of Marcus Aurelius of the whych the eldest and best beloued dyed And of the maisters he reproued for the other named Comodus Chap. xxxv Howe Marcus Aurelius rebuked fiue of the xiiii maisters he had chosen for the educacion of his sonne Comodus And how he bannished the rest from his pallace for their light behauior at the feast of the god Genius Chap. xxxvi That princes other noble men ought to ouersée the tutours of their children lest they conceale the secrete faultes of their scholers Chap. xxxvii Of the Emperours determinacioÌ„ when he commytted his sonne to the tutoures which he had prouyded for his educacion Chap. xxxviii That tutours of princes and noble mens sonnes ought to be very circumspect that their scholars do not accustome them selues in vyces whyles they are yonge and speciallye to kepe them from foure vyces Chap xxxix Of .ii. other vyces perilous in youthe whych the maysters ought to kepe theym from Chap. xl The ende of the Table of the seconde Booke The table of the third Booke HOw Princes and great Lordes ought to trauaile to administer to all equall Iustice Chap. i. The waye that Princes ought to vse in choosing their Iudges Officers in their contreyes Chap. ii Of an oration which a vilian of Danuby made before the senatours of Rome concernyng the tyrannie and oppressions whyche their offycers vse in his contrey Chap. iii. The villayne argueth againste the Romaynes whyche without cause or reason concquered their contreye and proued manifestely that they throughe offendyng of their gods were vancquished of the Romaines Chap. iiii The villayne concludeth his oration against the Iudges which minister not Iustice and declareth howe preiudicial such wycked men are to the common weale Chap. v. That Princes and noble men should be very circumspect in choosyng Iudges and Offycers for therin consisteth the profyt of the publyke weale Chap. vi Of a letter whych Marcus Aurelius wrot to Antigonus his frende wherein he speaketh agaynste the crueltye of Iudges and Officiers Chap. vii The Emperour Marcus continueth his letter agaynst cruel Iudges and reciteth ii examples the one of a pitiefull kyng of Cipres and the other of a cruell Iudge of Rome and in this Chapter is mencioned the erbe Ilabia growing in Cipres on the mounte Arcladye whych beyng cut droppeth bloud c. Chap. viii Of the wordes whych Nero spake concernynge iustyce and of the instruction whych the Emperoure Augustus gaue to a iudge which he sent into Dacia Cap. ix The Emperour foloweth his purpose agaynst cruel iudges declareth a notable imbassage whych came from Iudea to the Senate of Rome to complayne of the iudges that gouerned that Realme Chap. x. The Emperour concludeth his letter agaynst the cruel iudges declareth what the grand father of king Boco spake in the Senate Chap. xi An exhortacion of the auctor to princes noble men to embrace peace and to eschew the occasions of warre Chapter xii The commodities which come of peace Chap. xiii A letter of Marcus Aurelius to him freÌ„d Cornelius wherin he describeth the discommodities of warre and the vanitie of the triumphe Chap. xiiii The Emperour Marcus Aurelius declareth the order that the Romaynes vsed in setting forth men of warre and of the ouâ—tragious vilanies whyche captaynes and souldiours vse in the warres Chap. 15. Marcus Aurelius lamenteth with teares the follye of the Romaynes for that they made warre wyth Asia And declarethe what great domage commeth vnto the people wher the prince doth begin warres in a straung countrey Chap. xvi That prynces and great lords the more they grow in yeres should be the more discrete and vertuous to refraine from vices Chap. xvij That princes when they are aged shold be temperate in eating sober in drynking modest in apparel aboue al true in their communication Chap. xviii .. Of a letter of the Emperour Marcus Aurelius to Claudius and Claudinus wherein he reproueth those that haue many yeres and litle discrecion Chap. xix The emperour foloweth his letter and perswadeth those that are olde to giue no more credit to the world nor to any of hys flatteries Chap. xx The emperour procedith in his letter proueth by good reasons that sith the aged persons wil be serued and honoured of the yong they ought to be more vertuous and honest then the yong Chap. xxi The emperour concludeth his letter sheweth what perilles those old men lyue in which dissolutly like yong children passe their dayes and geueth vnto them holsom counsel for the remedy therof Chap. xxii Princes ought to take hede that they be not noted of Auarice for that the couetous man is both of god man hated Cap xxiii The auctor foloweth his matter wyth great reasons discoÌ„mendeth the vices of couetous men Chap. xxiiii Of a letter whyche the emperour M. Aurelius wrot to his freÌ„d Cincinatus wherin he toucheth those gentlemen which wil take vpon them the trade of marchaundise againste their vocations deuided into 4. chapters Chap xxv The Emperour procedeth his letter declareth what vertues men ought to vse and the vices which
And I saye that they doe not suffer them to be to light or vnconstant for of younge men inconstant and light commeth oftētimes an olde man fonde and vnthriftie I saie that they doe not suffer them to be to rashe for of to hardy young men commeth rebellious and seditious persones I say that they doe not consent they be shamelesse for of the vnshamefastnes commeth sclaunderous persones Princes and great lordes ought to haue much circumspection that their children be brought vp in shamefastnes with honestie For the crowne doth not geue so much glory to a kyng nor the head doth more set forth the man nor the iewell more adourne the breast nor yet the scepter more become the hande then shamefastnes with honestie beutifieth a younge man For a man of what estate so euer he be the honestie which he sheweth outwardly doth hide many secret vices wherewith he is endued inwardly In the time of the reigne of the emperour Helius Pertinax the nyntenthe Emperour of Rome two consulles gouerned the commō welth the one named Verus and the other Mamillus one daye they came to the Emperour and were humble suiters to his highnes besechinge him that it would please hym to receiue their two children into his seruice the eldest of the whiche passed not as yet twelue yeares of age the whiche request after the Emperour had graunted the fathers were not negligent to bryng them vnto hym and being come before his presence each of them made an oration the one in Latine and the other in Greke Wherewith the Emperour was greatly pleased and all the residue amased for at that time none serued the Romaine princes but that he were either very apte to cheualry or els toward in sciences As these two children in the presence of the Emperour made their orations the one of thē behelde the Emperour in suche sorte that his eies neuer went of him neither once moued his head to loke down to the earth and the other contrary behelde the earth alwayes neuer lift vp his head during his oration Wherewith the Emperour being a graue man was so highly pleased with the demeanours of this child that he did not onely admitte him to serue him at his table but also he suffred him to enter into his chambre and this was a preferment of great estimation For princes did not vse to be serued at their tables nor in their chambers with any vnlesse they were of his owne kynred or auncient seruauntes And concerning the other childe whiche was his compaignion the Emperoure retourned againe to his father saiynge that when hereafter he shoulde bee more shamefast he woulde receiue hym into his seruice And certainly the Emperoure had reason for good and graue princes ought not to be serued with light and shameles children I woulde nowe demaunde fathers whiche loue their children very well and woulde they shoulde be worthy what it auaileth their children to be faire of countenaunce well disposed of body liuely of sprighte whyte of skinne to haue yellowe heere 's to be eloquent in speache profounde in science if with all these graces that nature geueth them they be to bolde in that they doe and shamelesse in that they saye the authour hereof is Patritius Senesis in the firste booke De rege regno One of the moste fortunate princes was the great Theodosius the whiche amongest all other vertues had one moste singuler which was that he was neuer serued in his pallace with any young man that was vnshamefast or seditious nor with an olde man which was dishonest For he said oftetimes that princes shall neuer be well beloued if they haue about thē liers or sclaūderers This good emperour spake as a man of experience and very sage for if the counsellers and familiars of princes be euil taught and vnpacient they offende many and if they be liers they deceiue all and if they be dishonest they sclaunder the people And these offences be not so great vnto them that committe them as they be vnto the prince whiche suffreth them The emperour Theodose had in his pallace two knightes the one called Ruffinus and the other Stelliconus by whose prudence and wisdome the cōmon wealth was ruled and gouerned And as Ignacius Baptista saieth they twoo were the tutors gouernours of the children of Theodose whose names were Archadius and Honorius For as Seneca saieth when good princes do die they ought to be more carefull to procure maisters and tutors whiche shall teache their children then to procure realmes or kingdomes for to enriche them These twoo maisters Stelliconus and Ruffinus had in the pallace of Theodose eche of them a sonne the which were maruellous wel taught and very shamefast and for the contrary the two princes Honorius and Archadius were euill manered and not very honest And therfore the good emperour Theodose tooke these children oftetimes and set them at his table and contrary he woulde not once beholde his owne Let no man marueile though a prince of suche a grauitie did a thing of so smal importaunce for to say the truthe the shamefast children and wel taughte are but robbers of the hartes of other men Fourthly the tutors and maisters of princes oughte to take good heade that when the younge princes their schollers waxe great that they geue not them selues ouer to the wicked vice of the fleshe so that the sensualitie and euill inclination of the wanton childe ought to be remedied by the wisedom of the chaste maister For this cursed fleshe is of suche condition that if once by wantonnes the wicket be opened death shall soner approche then the gate shal be shut agayne The trees which budde and caste leaues before the time our hope is neuer to eate of their fruite in season I meane that when chyldren haunte the vice of the fleshe whyles they be young there is small hope of goodnes to be loked in them when they be olde And the elder we see them waxe the more we may be assured of their vices And where we see that vice encreaseth there we may affirme that vertue diminisheth Plato in his seconde booke of lawes ordeyneth and commaundeth that younge men shoulde not marye before they were .xxv. yeares of age and the younge maydens at .xx. because at that age their fathers abide lesse daungers in begetting them and geuing of them lyfe and the children also which are borne haue more strength against the assaultes of death Therefore if it be true as it is true in dede I aske nowe if to be maried and get children whiche is the ende of mariage the Philosophers doe not suffer vntill suche time as they be men then I say that maisters ought not to suffer their schollers to haunte the vices of the fleshe when they be chyldren In this case the good fathers oughte not alone to committe this matter to their tutors but also thereunto to haue an eye them selues For oftetimes they wyll saye they haue bene at their
the tiraunt which was in Cicilia asking him why he possessed the Realme so longe by tirannye Phalaris aunswered hym agayne in another Epystle in these fewe wordes Thou callest me tyraunt bicause I haue taken this realme kept it this .32 yeres I graunt the quod he that I was a tiraunte in vsurpyng it For no manne occupyeth another mannes ryght but by reason he is a tyraunte But yet I will not agree to be called a tyraunte sithe it is nowe .xxxii. yeares sins I haue possessed it And though I haue atcheued it by tyrannie yet I haue gouerned it by wisedome And I let thee to vnderstande that to take an other mans goods it is an easie thing to conquer but a hard thing to kepe an easy thing but to kepe them I ensure the it is very hard The Emperour Marcus Aurelius maried the doughter of Antonius Pius the 16. Emperour of Rome and she was named Faustina who as sole heire had the Empire so through mariage Marcus Aurelius came to be Emperour this Faustine was not so honest and chast as she was faire and beautifull She had by him two sonnes Commodus and Verissimus Marcus Aurelius triumphed twise once when he ouercame the Perthians and an other time when he conquered the Argonantes He was a man very wel learned and of a deepe vnderstanding He was as excellent both in the Greke and latin as he was in his mother tongue He was very temperate in eating and drinking he wrote many thinges ful of good learning swete sentences He dyed in conquering the realme of Pannonia whiche is now called Hongarie His death was asmuch bewayled as his lyfe was desired And he was loued so intierlye in the citye of Rome that euery Romane had a statue of him in his house to th ende the memorie of him among them should neuer decay The which was neuer red that they euer did for any other king or Emperoure of Rome no not for Augustus Cesar who was beste beloued of all other Emperours of Rome He gouerned the empire for the space of 18. yeres with vprighte iustice and dyed at the age of 63 yeres with much honour in the yere clymatericke which is in the 60. and 3. yeres wherein the lyfe of man ronneth in great peril For then are accomplyshed the nine seuens or the seuen nynes Aulus Gelius writeth a chapiter of this matter in the boke De noctibus Atticis Marcus Aurelius was a prince of lyfe most pure of doctrine most profound of fortune most happie of all other princes in the world saue only for Faustine his wife and Commodus his sonne And to the ende we maye see what Marcus Aurelius was from his infancie I haue put here an epistle of his which is this ¶ Of a letter whych Marcus Aurelius sent to his frend Pulio wherein hee declareth the order of hys whole lyfe and amongest other thinges he maketh mencion of a thyng that happened to a Romaine Censor with hys host of Campagna Cap. ii MArcus Aurelius only Emperour of Rome greteth the his old frend Pulio wisheth health to thy parson and peace to the commen wealth As I was in the temple of the vestall virgens a letter of thine was presented vnto me which was writen long before and greatly desired of me but the best therof is that thou wryting vnto me briefly desirest that I should writ vnto the at large Which is vndecent for the authoritie of him that is chiefe of the empire in especial if such one be couetous for to a prince there is no greater infamy then to be lauishe of words and scant of rewards Thou wrytest to me of thy griefe in thy legge and that thy wounde is great and truly the payne thereof troubleth me at my hart and I am righte sory that thou wantest that which is necessarie for thy health and that good that I do wishe the. For in the ende all the trauailes of the life may be endured so that the body with diseases be not troubled Thou lettest me vnderstande by thy letters that thou art arriued at Rhodes and requireste me to write vnto the howe I lyued in that place when I was younge what time I gaue my minde to studie likewise what the discourse of my life was vntil the time of my being Emperoure of Rome In this case trulye I meruell at the not a lytle that thou shouldest aske me such a question and so muche the more that thou diddest not consider that I cannot without great trouble and paine answere thy demaunde For the doinges of youthe in a younge man were neuer so vpright and honest but it were more honesty to amend them then to declare them Annius Verus my father shewing vnto me his fatherly loue not accomplishing yet fully 13 yeres drew me from the vices of Rome and sent me to Rhodes to learne science howbeit better acccompanyed with bookes then loden with money where I vsed suche dilygence and fortune so fauoured me that at the age of 26. yeres I red openly natutall and moral philosophy and also Rethoricke and ther was nothing gaue me such occasion to study and read bookes as the want of moneye for pouertie causeth good mens children to bee vertuous so that they attaine to that by vertue which others come vnto by riches Trulye frende Pulio I found great want of the pleasures of Rome specially at my first comminge into the I le but after I had redde philosophie 10 yeares at Rhodes I toke my selfe as one borne in the countrey And I thinke my couersacion among them caused it to seme no lesse For it is a rule that neuer faileth that vertue maketh a straunger grow natural in a straunge country and vyce maketh the natural a straūger in his owne country Thou knowest wel how my father Annius Verus was 15. yeres a captaine in the frontiers against the Barbarous by the commaundement of Adrian my lorde and maister and Antonius Pius my father in law both of theym prynces of famous memorie which recōmended me ther to his old frendes who with fatherly counsel exhorted me to forget the vyces of Rome and to accustome me to the vertues of Rhodes And trulye it was but nedeful for me for the naturall loue of the countrye oft tymes bringeth domage to him that is borne therein leadinge his desier stil to retourne home Thou shalt vnderstand that the Rhodians are men of much curtesy requyting beneuolence whych chaunseth in few Iles because that naturally they are personnes deceitful subtile vnthankeful and ful of suspiciō I speake this bycause my fathers frends alwaies succoured me wyth counsayle and money which two thinges were so necessarie that I could not tell which of them I had most nede of For the straunger maketh his profit with moneye to withstand disdainfull pouertie and profitteth him selfe with counsell to forget the swete loue of his country I desired then to reade philosophy in Rhodes so long as my father continued
an auncient malediction on riches hydde and treasours buried which Epimenides casteth out sayinge these words All the treasours hurded vp by the couetous shal be wasted by the prodigall You say through that I wast in few dayes you shall haue neither to giue to wast nor yet to eate at the yeres ende To this I aunswere most gracious princesse that if you had bene as ready to releue the poore as you Iustinian were dilygent to robbe the riche then you should iustly haue complayned and I worthely might haue repented Tyll now we haue not sene but that of the riche you haue made poore notwithstanding this yet you haue not gotten enoughe to buyld an Hospital for the poore You say the Princes to resist their enemyes haue neede of greate treasours To this I aunswere if Princes be proud gready and of straunge realmes ambicious it is most certaine that they nede great treasours to accomplishe their disordinate appetites For the end of a tyraÌ„nous prince is by hooke or by crooke to make him selfe riche in his lyfe But if the Prince be or wil be a man reposed quyte vertuous paciente peaceable and not couetous of the good of an other man what nede hath he of great treasours For to speake truly in princes houses ther is more offence in that that auaunceth then in that that wanteth I wil not wast many words in aunsweringe sithe I am muche more liberal of dedes then of wordes but I conclude that ther is no Prince which in vertuous dedes wasteth so much but if he wil he may spend much more For in the end princes become not poore spending their goodes vpon necessaries but for wasting it vpon things superfluous And take this word for al that for this he shal not be the porer but rather the richer For it is a general rule in Christian reglion the god wil giue more to his seruaunts in one houre theÌ„ they wil wast in 20. yeres Iustinian was Emperour .11 yeres who being a foole and obstinate in the heresye of Pellagien died to the great offence of the Romaine people whose death was asmuch desired as his life abhorred For the tirannous prince that maketh many wepinge eyes in his life shall cause many reioysing harts at his death Iustinian being dead Tiberius was elected Emperour who gouerned the empire through so great wisedom and iustice that no maÌ„ was able to reproue him if the histories in his time did not deceiue vs. For it seldoÌ„ hapeneth to a prince to be as he was vpright in iustice pure in life clene in conscience For few are those princes which of some vices are not noted Paulus Diaconus in his 18 boke of the Romain gestes declare a thing merueilous which be fell to this emperour at that time and very worthy to know at this present And it is that in the Citie of Constantinople the Romaine Emperours had a palace very sumptuous and besemyng the auctoritie of the imperiall maiesty which was begonne in the time of Constantine the greate and afterwardes as the succession of good or euyll Emperours was so were the buildings decayed or repayred For it is the deede of a vertuous Prince to abolyshe vices of the common wealth and to make greate and sumptuous buildinges in his country This Emperour Tiberius hadde spent treasours to redeme poore captiues to build hospitalles to erect monasteries to marie and prouide for the Orphanes and widowes in this he was so prodigall that it came almost to passe that he had nothing to eate in his palaice And truly this was a blessed necessitie For catholike Princes ought to thinke that well employed which in the seruice of Christ is bestowed And hereof the Emperoure was not ashamed but thought it a great glory and that which onely greued him was to see the Empresse reioyce so much at his miserye For the high and noble hartes which feele them selues wounded do not so much esteme their owne paine as they do to see their enemyes reioyce at their griefe God neuer forsoke theym that for his sake became poore as it appeareth by this It chaunced one day that euen as the Emperour Tiberius walked in the middest of his palace he saw at his feete a marble stone whiche was in fourme of the crosse of the reademer of the world And because it had bene to vniuste a thing as he thoughte to haue spurned that with his feete wherwith we trust from our enemyes to be defended he caused the stone to be taken vp not thinking any thing to be ther vnder and immediatly after they found an other wherin likewise was the forme of the crosse and this beyng taken vp they founde an other in lyke maner and when that was pluct vp from he bottome there was found a treasor which conteyned the some of 2. millions of Duckettes for the which the good Emperour Tiberius gaue vnto all mighty god most high thankes and wheras before he was lyberal yet afterwardes he was much more bountiful For all those treasours he distrybuted amongest the poore and needye people Let therfore mighty princes and great lords see reade and profit by this example and let them thinke them selues assured that for geuing almes to the poore they nede not feare to become poore for in the end the vycious man caÌ„not cal him self rich nor the vertuous man can counte him selfe poore ¶ How the Chefetaine Naâ—setes ouercame manye battailes only for that his whole confidence was in god And what happened to him by the Empresse Sophia Augusta wherin may be noted the vnthankefulnes of Princes towardes their seruauntes Cap. xvi IN the yere of the incarnacion of Christ 528 Iustinian the great being Emperour who was the sonne of Iustines sister his predecessour in the Empyre the histories say in especially Paulus Diaconus in the 18. booke Degestis Romanorum that ther was a knighte of Greece in Rome who from hys tender yeres hadde bene broughte vppe in Italye He was a man of meane stature of a colericke complexcion and in the Lawe of Christe verye deuoute whyche was no small thinge For at that tyme not onelye manye knightes but almoste all the Bishoppes of Italye were Arrians This knightes name was Narsetes and because he was so valliant in armes and so aduenturous in warres he was chosen Chefeteyne generall of the Romane Empire For the Romaines had this excellency that when they had a valiaunt and stoute captaine although they might haue his weighte of gold giuen them they would neuer depart from his person He enterprised so great thinges he ouercame such mighty realmes and had suche notable victories ouer his enemyes that the Romaines said he had in him the strength of Hercules the hardinesse of Hector the noblenes of Alexander the policye of Pirrus and the fortune of Scipio For many of the vaine gentils held opinion that as the bodyes dyd distribute their goodes in the lyfe so did the soules parte their giftes after the deathe This
ende of her lyfe Therfore why should I bewayle her death synce the gods haue lent her life but vntyll this daye The greate estimation that we haue of this life causeth that death semeth vnto vs sodayne and that the lyfe vnwares with death is ouertaken but these are wordes of the children of vanitie for that by the wyl of the gods death visiteth vs and against the wylles of men lyfe forsaketh vs. Also my chyldren be vertuous philosphers and albeit they be nowe in the handes of tyrauntes we oughte not therefore to call them captiues for a man may not call him a captiue whiche is laden with irons but him whiche is ouerwhelmed with vices And although the fire haue burnt my house yet I knowe not why I ought to be sad for of truthe it was now olde and the wynde did blowe downe the tyles the wormes did waste the woode and the waters that ran downe perished the walles and it was old and lyke to fall and perchaunce would haue done greater displeasure For most commonly enuy malice and olde houses sodainely without any warning or knocking at the doore assaulteth menne finally there came the fire whiche quited me of many troubles First of the trouble that I should haue had in repairing it secondarely it saued me money in pluckinge it downe thirdly it preserued me and myne heires from muche coste and many daungers For oftentimes that whiche a man consumeth in repayring an olde house would with auauntage by hym a newe Also those whiche saye that for the taking away of my goodes I lacke the goodes of fortune such haue no reason so to thinke or saye For fortune neuer geueth temporall goodes for a proper thing but to those whome she list and when she will dispose them therfore when fortune seeth that those men whome she hath appointed as her distributers doe hourde vp the same to them and to their heires then she taketh it from them to geue it to an other Therefore by reason I should not cōplayne that I haue lost any thing for fortune recommendeth vnto an other the temporall goodes but I cary pacience and Philosophie with me so that they haue discharged me from all other and haue no more charge but for my selfe alone Laertius declareth in his fift boke of the sayings of the Gretians That this Bias determined to goe to the playes of Mounte Olimpus whereunto resorted people of all nations and he shewed hym selfe in this place of so highe an vnderstanding that he was counted supreame and chiefe of all other philosophers and wonne the name of a true philosopher Other philosophers then beinge in the same playes Olimpicalles asked him many questions of sondry matters whereof I wyll make mention here of the chiefest ¶ The questions demaunded of the Philosopher Bias. THe first question was this Tell me who is the vnhappiest man in the worlde Bias aunswered He is moste vnhappy that is not paciente in aduersities For men are not killed with the aduersities they haue but with the impacience whiche they suffer The second was what is most hardest troublesome to iudge he answered There is nothing more difficulte then to iudge a contention betwixte two friendes For to iudge betwene two enemies th one remaineth a frend but to be iudge betwene two friendes the one is made an enemy The third was what is moste hardest to measure whereunto Bias aunswered Ther is nothing that needeth more circumspection then the measuring of time for the time shold be measured so iustly that by reason no time should want to do wel nor any time should abound to do euill The fourth was what thing is that that nedeth no excuse in the accomplishment therof Bias answered the thing that is promised must of necessity be parformed for otherwise he that doth lose the creadite of his word shoulde lose more then he that should lose the promise to him made The 5 was what thinge that is wherin the men aswell good as euill should take care Bias aunswered men ought not in any thinge to take so greate care as in sekinge counsayle and counselours for the prosperous times cannot be maintayned nor the multitude of enemyes resisted if it be not by wise men and graue counsayles The sixte was what thing that is wherin men are praised to be negligent he aunswered in one thinge only men haue lycence to be neglygente and that is in chosing of frendes Slowly ought thy frendes to be chosen and they neuer after for any thing ought to be forsaken The seuenth what is that which the afflyeted man doth most desire Bias aunswered It is the chaunge of fortune and the thing which the prosperous man doth most abhorre is to thinke that fortune is mutable For the vnfortunate man hopeth for euery chaunge of fortune to be made better and the wealthye man feareth through euery chaunge to be depriued of hys house These wer the questions which the philosophers demaunded of Bias in the playes of the mount Olimpus in the 60 Olimpiad The philosopher Bias liued 95. yeres and as hee drew nere his death the Prienenses shewing them selues to be maruelous sorofull for the losse of suche a famous man desired him earnestly to ordeine some lawes wherby they myght know howe to chose captaynes or some Prince whiche after hym mighte gouerne the Realme The phylosopher Bias vnderstandinge their honeste requestes gaue theym certaine lawes in fewe woordes whiche folowe Of the whyche the deuine Plato maketh mencion in his booke De legibus and lykewise Aristotle in the booke of Occonomices ¶ The Lawes whych Bias gaue to the Prienenses WE ordeine and commaunde that no man be chosen to be prince amonge the people vnlesse he be at least 40 yeres of age For gouernours ought to be of such age that nether youth nor small experience should cause theym to erre in their affaires nor weakenes through ouermuch age should hinder them from taking paines We ordeine and commaund that none be chosen amongest the Prienenses gouernour if he be not wel learned in the greke letters For there is no greater plague in the publik weale then for him to lack wisedome whych gouerneth the same We ordeine and commaunde that ther be none amongest the Prienenses chosen gouernour vnlesse he hath bene brought vp in the warres 10. yeres at the leaste For he alone dothe knowe how precious a thing peace is whych by experience hath felte the extreme miseryes of warre We ordeine and commaund that if any haue bene noted to be cruel that he be not chosen for gouernour of the people For that man that is cruel is likely to be a tyrant We ordeine comaund that if the gouernor of the Prienenses be so hardy or dare presume to breake the aunciēt lawes of the people that in such case he be depriued from thoffice of the gouernour and lykewise exiled from the people For there is nothing that destroyeth soner a publike weale then to ordeine new and fond lawes and
hath wrought it he shall haue a thousand euyl tongues against his honest doynges to speake I would all those which rede this my writyng would call to memorye this word whiche is that among euyl men the chefest euil is that after they haue forgotten them selues to be men and exiled both trouth reason then with al their might they go against trouth and vertue with their woordes and againste good deedes with their tongues for though it be euyl to be an euyll man yet it is muche worse not to suffer an other to be good which aboue al thinges is to be abhorred and not to be suffered I let you wete and assure you you princes noble men that you in working vertuous dedes shal not want slaunderous tongues and though you be stout yet you must be pacyente to breake their malyce For the noble hart fealeth more the enuye of an other then he doothe the labour of his owne body Princes should not be dismayde neither ought they to meruayle though they be told of the murmuring at their good workes For in the end they are men they liue with men and cannot escape the miseryes of men For ther was neuer prince in the world yet so high but he hath bene subiect to malycious tongues Trulye aman ought to take great pytie of Princes whether they be good or euyll for if they be euil the good hate them if they be good the euyl immediatly murmureth against them The Emperoure Octauian was very vertuous yet greatly persecuted with enuyous tongues whoe on a tyme was demaunded since he dyd good to al men why he suffered a few to murmour against him he aunswered you se my frends he that hath made Rome free from enemyes hath also set at lybertie the tongues of malycious men For it is not reason that the harde stones should be at libertie and the tender stones tyed Truly this Empepour Octauian by his wordes declared himselfe to be a wise man and of a noble heart and lightly to waye both the murmuringes of the people and also the vanities of their words which thing truly a wise vertuous mā ought to do For it is a general rule that vices continually seke defendours and vertues alwayes getteth Enemyes In the booke of lawes the deuine Plato saith wel that the euil were alwayes double euyl ▪ because they weare weapons defensiue to defende their malicious purpose and also cary weapons offensiue to bleamyshe the good workes of others Vertuous men ought with much study to folow the good and with more dilygence to flye from the euil For a good man maye commaund al other vertuous men with a becke of his finger but to kepe himselfe only from one euyl man he had nede both hands feete and frends Themistocles the Thebaine sayd that he felt no greater torment in the world then this that his proper honour should depend vpon the Imaginacion of an other for it is a cruell thinge that the life and honour of one that is good should be measured by the tongue of an other that is euyl For as in the forge the coles can not be kindled withoute sparkes nor as corruption can not be in the synckes without ordure so he that hath his hart fre from malyce his tongue is occupied alwaies in swete and pleasaunt communication And contrary wise out of his mouth whose stomacke is infected with malyce proceadeth always wordes bitter full of poyson For if out of a rotten fornayse the fyre burneth it is impossible that the smoke should be cleare It is but a smal time that in prophane loue he that is enamored is able to refraine his loue and muche lesse time is the wrathfull man able to hyde his wrath For the heuy sighes are tokens of the sorowful hart and the words are those that disclose the malycious man Pulio sayth in the first booke of Cesars that the Emperoure Marcus Aurelius was very vertuous in all his workes sage in knowledge iuste in Iudgement mercifull in punishment but aboue all thinges he was wise in dissemblyng herein he was very discrete for ther was neuer pacyent man but prospered wel in all his affayres We se that throughe pacience and wisedome many euyl thinges become reasonable and from reasonable are brought to good from good to excellent The contrary happeneth to them the are moued more then they nede for the man which is not paciēt loketh not yet for any good successe in his affayres though they are iust The Emperour Marcus ofttimes was wont to say that Iulius Cesar wanne the empire by the sweard Augustus was Emperour by Inheritaunce Caligula came to it because his father conquered Germany Nero gouerned it with tyranny Titus was Emperour for that he subdued Iuery the good Traian came to the empire by his clemency vertue but I sayth he obtained the empire through pacience only For it is a greater pacience to suffer the Iniuries of the malicious then to dispute with the sage in the vniuersity And this Emperour saide further in the gouernement of the empire I haue profited more throughe pacience then by science for science only profiteth for the quyetnes of the parson but pacyence profiteth the parson the common wealthe Iulius Capitolinus sayth that the Emperour Antonius Pius was a prince very pacyent in such sort that oftentymes being in the Senate he saw both those which loued him also those that were against him with the people when they did rebel yet his pacience was so great that neyther his frends for the vnthankfulnes of them selues remayned sad neither his enemyes for any displeasure by him done did at any time cōplaine Meaning therfore in this chapter to ioyne the end with the beginning ▪ I say that as the Emperor Marcus Aurelius put himselfe amongest that captyues that this dede in Rome of al men was commended the Senatour Fuluius could not refraine from speaking for that he had not the wit to endure it wherfore as it were scoffing he spake these wordes to the Emperour Lord I meruayle why thou yeldest thy selfe to al which thing for the reputacion of the Empyre cannot be suffered for that it is not decent for thy maiestie The Emperour Marcus Aurelius seing and hearing that in the present of them all the senatour Fuluius spake vnto him these wordes he toke it paciently and with pleasaunt countenaunce sayd The questions the Senatour Euluius proponeth let it be for to morow because my aunswere may be the ryper and his coller the quieter Therfore the next day folowing the Emperour Marcus came into the hyghe capitoll as Pulio declareth in the life of Marcus Aurelius and spake these words ¶ Of the aunswere the Emperour Marcus Aurelius made to the Senatour Fuluius before al the Senate being reproued of him for his familiaritie he vsed to al contrary to the maiestye and authoritie of the Romayne Emperour wherin he paynteth enuious men Cap. xxxix FAthers conscript and sacred Senat
were more hardy stout then the Romaynes but the Romaynes were more honest pleasaunt and gracious then the Grekes And if this be true I do counsayle princesses and great Ladyes that they haue no more enuye at the honesty of the Matrones of Rome then at the boldnesse of the ladyes of Grecia For women were not borne to sley men in the warre but to spinne sow and liue wel like good housewiues in the house ¶ That women may be no lesse wise then men though they be not it is not through default of nature but for want of good bringing vp Cap. xxviii CEasing to speake ingenerally it is but reason we speake particulerly and that we reduce to memorye some aunciente histories of wise and discrete women aswel Grekes as Romaines and for that these Ladyes seing what others were in tymes past may know what theyr duty is at this present In mine opinion the duty that the meÌ„ of this present haue to folow the corage that the auncients had in fighting the selfe same desire ought womeÌ„ of this present to haue to folow the auncient women in deuout liuing For ther is no good thinge in the world at this present daye but the like hath bene sene of our auncients heretofore When any sodaine new vnacustomed thing doth happen men that neuer saw the like vse to say that there was neuer the lyke in the world yet in dede they say not true For though the thinge be vnto them new it is through their ignoraunce and simplenes whiche neyther haue reade it by them selues nor heard it of others For this excellencye hath the man that is learned that for what so euer he heareth or sayth he is nothing abashed at Since women now a dayes are so ignoraunt that scarcely any of them can reade wel he that shal reade this wil maruaile why I do perswade them to learne But the truth knowen what the auncients were and what they did know from this time forwarde I beleue they woulde greatly reproue the women of this present For the time which the auncient women spent in vertues and studies these of this present consume in pleasures and vyces Boccace in the boke of the praise of women sayth that Lucyus Sylla was a great compagnion of Marius the Consul in the time of the warre of Iugurtha and was no lesse a frend of Caius Cesar in the time of the first ciuill warres My penne neadeth not to be ocupied to write any thing of the life of Sylla For al the historiographers do not only reproue the cruelties which he vsed to his enemyes but also condempne him for the lytle fayth he obserued his frends This Consul Sylla had thre doughters the one of them was named Lelia Sabyna the which of al the Sisters was leste fayre but amongest al the Romaines she was most sagest For she red openly in Rome in a chayre both Greeke and Latyn After the warres of Mithridates Lucius Sylla came to Rome wher he beheaded thre thousand Romaynes which came to salute him although before by his word he had assured them al. And in deade also iustely Lucius Sylla had bene vtterly vndone for his fact if his doughter had not made to the Senate a wise oration For oft times it chaunceth that the wisedome of the good child doth remedy the follye of the wicked-Father The historians say that this Lelya Sabyna had not only a great grace in readyng but also she had much excellency in writing For she wrote many letters and Orations with her owne hand which her Father Lucius Sylla afterwardes learned by hart and as he was in dede quycke of sprite so he vsed to recyte them to the Senate alwaies for his purpose And let no man maruaile hereat for ther are some of so grose vnderstaÌ„ding that that which they write and study they can scarsely vtter and others againe are of such lyuely wyttes that of that onely which they haue heard it seameth meruailous to heare with what eloquence they wil talke Bycause Sylla had such and so excellent a doughter in his house he was esteamed for a sage and wise Councellour throughout al the common wealth He was counted verye absolute in executing strong in mayntaynynge and for right eloquent in speakinge Finally of this came thys auncyente prouerbe which sayth Lucius Sylla gouerneth his owne countreye wyth the eloquence of hys Tongue and is Lorde of straunge nacions by the force of his sworde What the great Plato hath bene and what great aucthoritie he hath had amongest his countrie men and amongest the straungers it is apparent for so much as the Greekes do acknowledge him of al other Philosophers to be the Prince and likewise the Latynes by one consent cal him deuine And me thinketh that in doing this they do no philosopher iniurie for as Plato in his lyfe time had great modestie so truly in his writing he exceaded mans capacitie And Historian called Hyzearchus declareth that Lasterna and Axâ—othea were two Grekes very well learned and amongest the scollers of Plato chiefely renowmed The one was of so parfect a memorie the other of so high an vnderstanding that Plato oft times beinge in the chayre and these two not ready he would not beginne to read And being asked wherfore he read not his lecture he aunswered I wil not read for that ther wanteth here vnderstanding to conceiue and also memorie to retaine Meaning that Lasterna was absent that Axiothe was not yet come The wisedome of those two women ought to be much synce Plato without them woulde not vtter one word vnlesse they were present in his schole For Plato esteamed more the vnderstandyng and memorye of those two women alone then he did the Phylosophy of his other Scollers together Aristippus the philosopher was Scholler to Socrates and of the moste renowmed of Athens He had a doughter called Aretha the which was so wel learned in Greke and Latyn letters that the common renowne said the soule of Socrates was entred into Aretha and the cause that moued them to say this was because she redde and declared the doctrine of Socrates in such wise that it seamed to most men she had rather write by hand then learne by study Boccace in the second boke of the praise of women sayth that this Aretha was so excellent a woman that she did not only learne for her selfe but also to teache others did not only teache in diuers Scholes but also she wrote many and sundry bookes one inespecially in the prayse of Socrates an other of the maner of bringing vppe children an other of the warres of Athens an other of the tyrannical force an other of the common wealth of Socrates an other of the infelicities of womeÌ„ an other of the Tyllage of the auncientes an other of the woÌ„ders of mount Olympus an other of the vaine care of the Sepulcre an other of the prouisioÌ„ of the Antes an other of the workmanshippe of the Bees in
Emperour of Rome saieth that an Embassadour of Britayne being one daye in Rome as by chaunce they gaue hym a froward aunswere in the Senate spake stoutely before them all and said these wordes I am sory you will not accepte peace nor graunte truce the whiche thing shal be for the greater iustification of our warres For afterwardes none can take but that whiche fortune shall geue For in the ende the delicate fleshe of Rome shal fele if the bloudy swordes of Britayne wil cut The Englishe historie saieth and it is true that though the countrey be very colde and that the water freseth ofte yet the women had a custome to cary their children where the water was frosen breaking the Ise with a stone with the same Ise they vsed to rubbe the body of the infante to the ende to harden their fleshe and to make them more apt er to endure trauailes And without doubt they had reason for I wyshe no greater penitence to delicate men then in the wynter to see them without fire and in the Sommer to wante freshe shadow Sith this was the custome of the Britayns it is but reason we credit Iulius Caesar in that he saieth in his comentaries that is to wete that he passed many daungers before he could ouercome them for thei with as litle feare did hyde them selues and dyued vnder the cold water as a very man would haue rested him selfe in a pleasaunt shadowe As Lucanus and Appianus Alexandrinus saie amongest other nations whiche came to succour the great Pompei in Pharsalia were the Messagetes the which as they say in their youth did sucke no other but the milke of Camels and eate bread of Acornes These barbarous did these thinges to the ende to harden their bodies to be able to endure trauail and to haue their legges lighter for to rōne In this case we can not cal them barbarous but we ought to cal them men of good vnderstanding for it is vnpossible for the man that eateth muche to runne fast Viriatus a Spanyarde was king of the Lusytaines and a great enemy of the Romains who was so aduenterous in the warre so valiaunt in his persone that the Romains by the experience of his dedes found him vnuincible For in the space of .xiii. yeres they could neuer haue any victory of him the whiche when they sawe they determined to poyson him did so in dede At whose death they more reioysed then if they had wonne the signorie of all Lusitanie For if Viriatus had not died they had neuer brought the Lusitaines vnder their subiection Iunius Rusticus in his epitomie saith that this Viriatus in his youth was a herde man kept cattel by the ryuer of Guadiana after that he waxed older vsed to robbe assault men by the highe wayes And after that he was .xl. yeares of age he became king of the Lusitaines and not by force but by election For when the people sawe theym selues enuirouned and assaulted on euery side with enemies they chose rather stout strong and hardy men for their captaines then noble men for their guydes If the auncient hystoriographers deceiue me not whē Viriatus was a thefe he led with him alwayes at the leaste a hundred theues the whiche were shodde with leaden shoes so that when they were enforced to ronne they put of their shoes And thus although all the daye they wente with leaden shoes yet in the night they ranne lyke swyfte buckes for it is a generall rule that the loser the ioyntes are the more swifter shall the legges be to ronne In the booke of the iestes of the Lumbardes Paulus Diaconus sayeth that in the olde tyme those of Capua had a lawe that vntyl the chyldren were maryed the fathers shold geue them no bedde to sleape on nor permit them to sitte at the table to eate but that they should eate their meates in their handes and take their reste on the grounde And truely it was a commendable lawe for reste was neuer inuented for the younge man whiche hath no bearde but for the aged beinge lame impotent and crooked Quintus Cincinatus was seconde Dictator of Rome and in dede for his desertes was the first emperour of the earth This excellente man was broughte vp in so great trauaile that his hands were found full of knottes the ploughe was in his armes and the swette in his face when he was sought to be Dictator of Rome For the auncientes desired rather to be ruled of them that knewe not but how to plow the ground then of them that delyted in nothing els but to liue in pleasurs among the people Caligula which was the fourth emperour of Rome as they say was brought vp with such cost and delicatnes in his youth that they were in doubt in Rome whether Drusius Germanicus hys father employed more for the Armyes then Calligula hys sonne spent in the cradel for his pleasurs This rehersed agayne I would now knowe of princes great lordes what part they would take that is to wete whether with Cincinatus whych by his stoutnes wanne so many straunge countreys or with Caligula that in hys fylthy lustes spared not his proper sister In myne opinyon ther nedeth no great deliberacion to aunswere this questyon that is to wete the goodnes of the one and the wickednes of the other for there was no battayle but Cincinatus did ouercome nor there was any vyce but Caligula dyd inuent Suetonius Tranquillus in the second booke of Cesars sayth that when the chyldren of the Emperour Augustus Cesar entred into the hygh capitol wher al the senate were assembled the Senatours rose out of their places and made a reuerence to the children the whych when the Emperoure Augustus saw he was much displeased and called them backe agane And on a day being demaunded why he loued his children no better he aunswered in this wise If my chyldren wil be good they shal syt hereafter wher I sit now but if they be euil I will not their vices shold be reuerenced of the Senatours For the aucthoritie grauity of the good ought not to be employed in the seruice of those that be wicked The 26. Emperour of Rome was Alexander the which though he was yong was asmuch esteamed for hys vertues amongest the Romaynes as euer Alexander the great was for hys valiauntnes amongest the Grekes We can not say that long experience caused him to come to the gouernment of the common wealth for as Herodian saith in his syxt booke the day that the Senatours proclamed him emperour he was so lytle that his owne men bare him in their armes That fortunate Emperour had a mother called Mamea the which brought him vp so wel dilygently that she kept alwayes a great gard of men to take hede that no vicious mā came vnto him And let not the diligence of the mother to that child be litle estemed For princes oft times of their owne nature are good by euyl conuersacion
the Senatours thoughe in dede they wer verye vnlucky in the bryngyng vp of the Prince Comodus For this cursed prynce had nyne masters whych instructed him but he hadde aboue nyne thousand vyces whych vndyd him The emperour Marcus Aurelius made fyue bokes of declamations and in the third booke the syxte Chapter vnder the title ad Sapientes pedagogos he brought in these nyne maysters and perswaded them greatly that they should be diligent and attentyue to teach hys sonne Comodus And in this matter he spake vnto them manye and graue sentences the wordes whereof doe folow The matter is manifest in Rome and no lesse publyshed thorough out all Italy what paynes I toke to searche oute to manye Sages to enstructe my sonne Comodus the whiche all beyng examined I kept onely the wysest and the best and though in verye dede I haue done muche yet I haue not done so muche as I am bounde For Prynces in doubtefull matters ought not only to demaunde councel of all the good that be alyue but also to take payne to talke with those which are dead That is to reade the dedes of the good in their writynges You were fouretene maysters chosen whereof I haue put out fyue so that presently you ar but nyne and if in dede you be wyse men you shall not be offended with that I haue done For the greefe of euill thynges procedeth of wisdome but the admiration of good thynges commeth of small experience I do not denay but that wyse men do fele in them passions as men but in the end there is no arte nor science that doth excuse vs from the miseries of men But that wher at I maruaile is how it is possible that a wyse man shoulde meruaile at any thyng in this world For if the wise man shuld be astonied at euery thing of the world it appeareth that ther is litle constancy or vertue in him at all Returnyng therfore to our particular talke I haue taken you to be masters of my son and you se of many I chose a few to the end that with few my son shold be taught For as it is the fathers dutie to search out good masters so it is the masters dutie to be diligent about his scoller The nource of my sonne Comodus gaue hym sucke two yeres with her teates at the gate of Hostia And hys mother Faustine other two yeares brought him vp wantonly in Capua How be it thys was a sufficient excuse I woulde as a pitiefull father yf I coulde geue hym correction at the leaste thys twentye yeares For I sweare by the immortall Goddes that to a Prynce that shal be an enheritour one yeares punyshement is more worthe then twenty yeares of pleasure Synce the nources whyche geueth the chyldren sucke knoweth lytell and synce the mothers whyche bare them doe loue them muche and synce the chylde peraduenture as yet is but of a weake vnder standynge they are occupyed about the thinges that are presente considerynge that chastysemente in muche more betters for him then pleasure But the wise man whyche hath vnderstandyng oughte to thyncke of that that is past and by much wysedome to prouyde for that that is to come For he can not be counted wise that onely in one thing is carefull My sonne Comodus was borne the laste daye of Auguste in a citie by Danubio I shall not forget the day that the gods gaue him vnto me nor yet this day in the whiche I commit hym vnto you Of greater reason I should remember that daye wherin I put him to be taught then the day whych I saw him to be borne For the gods gaue hym me as I gaue hym to you mortall since he is a man but you shall restore him againe vnto me and I lykewyse him to the Godds as immortall if he be wyse What will you I saye more vnto you but if you regarde that any thinge at all whyche I saye you will regarde much more thys whych I wyll saye When the Gods determined that I should haue a child of my wyfe and that my wofull destenies deserued that I should haue such a child truly the Gods made me a man in the sprite and I begot him a beast amongest the beastes in the fleshe But if you will you may make hym a god amongest the gods by science For princes winne infamye for beynge fearse and selfe willed but they get good renowme for beyng wise and pacient I would you should apply this busines well and therfore it is necessarye that you examine him ofte For it is a general rule that the precious iewel is litle regarded when he whyche hath it knoweth not the value thereof I require that you aunswere me in this one thynge What dyd I geue vnto my sonne Comodus when the gods gaue him me but frayle and mortall flesh by the corruption wherof hys life shal ende but you shal geue hym highe doctrine whereby he shall alwayes deserue perpetuall memore For the good renowme is not gotten by that the weake fleshe doth but by that whyche the highe vnderstandyng immagyneth and by that the curious harte executeth O if his tender age knew what I gaue to his weake flesh and if his dul vnderstanding could com to the wisedom which you may geue him he wold call you his right fathers me but his stepfather For he is the true father that geueth vs doctrine to liue and he is but an vniust stepfather that geueth vs fleshe to dye Certainely the naturall Fathers of children are but their open enemyes and cruell stepfathers synce we geue them such dul vnderstanding so weake a memory a wyll so frowarde lyfe so shorte fleshe so frayle honour so costly health so vncertaine ryches so troublesome prosperitie so scarse and death so fearefull Finally we geue them a nature subiecte to infinite alterations and great misfortunes Reason woulde not you shoulde lytle regarde that whiche I committe vnto your iudgement that is to wete that you haue the charge of Comodus my sonne For the thynge that Prynces chefely ought to foresee is to whome they oughte to recommende the gouernement of theyr children To be a mayster and Tutor of a Prince in the yearth is to haue an office of the Gods whyche are in heauen bycause he gouerneth him that ought to gouerne vs he teacheth him that ought to teache vs he chastneth him that ought to chasten vs. Finally he commaundeth one that oughte to commaunde all What wyll you that I saye more vnto you Truly he that hath the charge to teache the children of Prynces and great Lordes is as the gouernour of the shyppe a standarde of a battaylle a defence of the people a guyde of the wayes a father of the Orphanes the hope of pupylles and a treasourer of all For ther is no other true treasore in the common wealthe but the prince whyche doth mainteine and kepe it in good peace and iuste iustice I will tell you furthermore to the ende you
dent of his blade at his harte In this case I sweare vnto the by the immortall gods that I do that whyche I would not do and I take that from him whyche I woulde not take For Anthonius my lorde and father in lawe gaue me the empire for no other cause but bycause he neuer found in me any lye and for this occasion I doe depriue my sonne from it for that I neuer found in him any trueth For it is not mete that the Empire being geuen vnto me for that I was true should be left inheritage to him that is a lier For in the ende it is better that the sonne do lose the heritage then the father shoulde lose his renowme By these two examples those whiche are the tutors and maisters of princes and great lordes may see how to be diligent to kepe them from lyes whilest they are yong and it ought to be in such sorte that neither in pastime neither in earnest aunswering they should be suffered once to tell a lye For those that for their pleasure were accustomed to lye in their youth will not fayle for their profite to lye in their age Secondarely the tutors and maysters ought to keepe their disciples that they be no gamesters and that they doe not accustome them selues in theyr youth to be vnthriftes for it is a great token of the decay of the Empire when the Prince in his youth is affectionated to play Experience sheweth vs that playe is a vice as Seneca sayeth whiche hath the propertie of a raging dogge with whome if a man be once bitten vnlesse he hath present remedie forthe with he runneth madde and the disease also continueth with him vncurable vntill the houre of his death Players not without a cause are compared to madde dogges for al those that vse it hurt theyr conscience lose their honour and consume theyr substance It chaunseth oft that in that wherin maysters should be most circonspecte they for the most parte are most negligent that is to wete that vnder the coullet of som honest recreation they agree to their scollers to vse some pastyme which if therin be conteyned no commendable exercise the children ought not to vse it nor yet the tutors to suffer it For vice is of such a propertie that if a chylde in hys youth dare playe apointe it is to be feared when he commeth to yeares he will playe hys cote Wayinge the matter more depely and aggrauating this vice I saye further and affirme that when the children of Princes and great Lordes playe a man ought not to make account of that which they may winne or loose for that of all miseryes were most misery if therefore my penne shoulde forbidde them play For play ought not to be forbidden to yong children for the money that they lose but for the vyces whiche they winne thereby and for the corrupte maners which therin they learne Octauian who was the second Emperour of Rome and one of the fortunatest Emperours that euer was among all his vertues was noted of one thing onely which is that from his youth he was to much geuen to play at tennis Of the which vice he was not onely admonished secreatly but also was forbidden it openly For as Cicero sayth in hys booke of lawes when the Emperour was noted of any open vice they might boldely reproue him in the open Senate When Octauian was for this vice reproued by the Senate they sayde he spake these wordes You haue reason O fathers conscript in takyng from me my pastime for it is necessary that the vertues of princes should be so many that all men might prayse them and their vices so fewe that no man might reproue them These wordes were notable and worthy of suche an excellent prince For in the ende consideringe their delicate and wanton brynging vp together with the libertie that they haue we ought to thanke and commende them for the good woorkes whiche they doe and moste of all to reioyce for the vices whiche they wante To our matter therfore amongest the other wicked vices that children get in their youth when they are players this is one that they learne to be theues and lyers For the money that they playe-to demaunde it their fathers they are afrayde and ashamed and of their owne proper goodes as yet they haue none in their handes Wherefore a man may easely conclude that if children playe of necessitie they must steale The sixe and thirty Emperour of Rome was Claudius Luganus a man verye temperate in eating moderate in apparell vprighte in iustice and very fortunate in chiualrie for he did not onelye repulse the Gothes from Illiria but also vanquished in a battayle the Germaines wherein were slayne aboue a hundred thousande This battayle was nere vnto the lake Veracus in a place called Luganus and for a memory of that great battayle and victory they called him Claudius Luganus For it was a custome among the Romaines that according to the good or euyll workes that princes did so they were iudged and knowen by suche surnames whether it were good or euyll This Emperour had but one onely sonne the whiche was a prince comely of personage and liuely of vnderstanding but aboue all thynges geuen to playe so that these good giftes whiche nature gaue him to woorke in vertue he misused alwayes in playe And amongest younge men he desyreth rather to haunte vyce then among the philosophers to learne vertue And hereat a man ought not to marueyle for all men of great courage vnlesse they be compelled to doe vertuous actes doe exercise of themselues many detestable vices It chaunced when this young prince had no more to playe nor gage he robbed out of his fathers chamber a ryche iewell of golde whereof also his maister was preuy And when the knowledge thereof came to the princes eares he immediatly disherited his sonne of the Empire and caused the head of the maister to be cut of his body all those likewyse that plaide with him to be banished the countrey This acte made euery man afrayde for correction executed after a good sorte hath this propertie that it encourageth the good to be good and feareth the wycked from their wickednes Merula in the tenth booke of Caesars where as at large he mentioneth this matter saieth that the Romaines estemed more the banishemente of those players from Rome then to haue drouen out the Gothes from Illiria and to saye the trouthe they had reason For a prince deserueth a greater crowne of glorie to banishe the vitious from his pallace then he doeth for chasing the enemies out of his dominion ¶ Of two other vices perillous in youthe whiche the maisters ought to kepe them from and that is to be shameles in countenaunce and addicted to the luste of the fleshe Cap. xl THirdly tutors ought to trauayle that the children whiche they haue in charge be not light and worldly nor that they doe consent that they be to bolde or shameles
deuotions in the temples when in dede they haue offered veneriall sacrifice to the Courtisan The vyce of the fleashe is of suche condition that a man can not geue hym selfe to it without grudge of conscience withoute hurte of his renowme without losse of his goodes without shortenynge of his lyfe and also without offence to the common wealth for oftetymes men enclyned to suche vyce doe rebell trouble and sclaunder the people Seneca satisfied me greatly in that whiche he wryteth in the seconde booke De Clementia to Nero where he sayeth these wordes If I knewe the Gods would pardon me and also that men woulde not hate me yet I ensure thee for the vylenes thereof I would not synne in the fleashe And truly Seneca had reason for Aristotle sayeth that all beastes after the acte of venery are sory but the Cocke alone O gouernours and maisters of great princes and lordes by that immortall God whiche created vs I coniure you and for that you owe to the nobilite I desyre you that you wyll brydle with a sharpe snaffle your charge and geue them not the rayne to followe vyces for if these younge chyldren lyue they wyll haue tyme enough to searche to followe to attayne and also to caste of those yokes For through our frayletie this wicked vyce of the fleashe in euery place in al ages in euery estate and at all tymes be it by reason or not is neuer out of ceason What shall I saye to you in this case if the chyldren passe the furiousnes of their youthe without the brydle then they be voyde of the loue of God they followe the trompet of sensualitie after the sounde whereof they runne headlong into the yoke and lose that whiche profiteth to wynne that whiche hurteth For in the carnall vices he that hath the least of that that sensualitie desireth hath muche more thereof then reason wylleth Considering that the maisters are negligent the children bolde their vnderstandynges blynded and seing that their appetites doe accomplyshe beastly motions I aske nowe what remayneth to the chylde and what contentation hath he of suche filthe and naughtines Truly since the fleashly and vicious man is ouercome with his appetite of those that escape beste I see none other fruite but that their bodies remayne diseased and their vnderstanding blynded their memory dulled their sence corrupted their wil hurted their reason subuerted and their good fame lost and worste of all the fleashe remaineth always fleshe O how many yoūg men are deceiued thinking that for to satisfie by once engaging them selues to vices that from that time forward they shal cease to be vicious the which thing not only doth not profite them but also is very hurtefull vnto them For fier is not quenched with dry woode but with cold water But O god what shal we do since that now a daies the fathers do as much esteme their childrē for being fine bold miniōs amōg womē as if thei wer very profond in sciēce or hardy in feles of arms that which is worst thei ofttimes make more of their bastards gottē in adultry thē of their legitimate child cōceiued in matrimony what shal we say thē of mothers truly I am ashamed to speake it but thei shold be more ashamed to do it which is because they would not displease their husbāds thei hide the wickednes of their children they put the children of their harlottes to the norse they redeme their gages they geue them money to playe at dyce they reconcile them to their fathers when they haue offended they borowe them money to redeme them when they are indebted finally they are makers of ther bodies and vndoers of their soules I speake this incidently for that the maisters would correcte the children but the fathers and mothers forbydde them For it litle auayleth for one to pricke the horse with the spurre when he that sitteth vpon him holdeth hym backe with the brydle Therefore to our matter what shal we do to remedie this il in the young man which in his fleshe is vitious Truly I see no other remedye but with moiste earth to quenche the flaming fier and to keape him from the occasions of vice For in the warre honour by tarrying is obteyned but in the vice of the fleshe the victorie by flying is wonne The ende of the seconde booke The thirde booke of the Diall of princes with the famous Booke of Marcus Aurelius wherein he entreateth of the vertues whiche Princes ought to haue as Iustice peace and magnificence ¶ How Princes and great Lordes ought to trauaile to administer to all equall Iustice Cap. i. EGidius Figulus one of the most famous renowmed Philosophers of Rome saide that betwene .2 of the zodaicall sygnes Leo Libra is a virgin named Iustice the which in tymes passe dwelled amonge men in earth and after she was of them neclected she ascended vp to heauen This Philosopher would set vs vnderstand that iustice is so excellent a vertue that she passeth all mens capacitie synce she made heauen her mansion place could fynde no man in the whole earth that would entertayne her in hys house During the tyme that menne were chaste gentle pitiefull pacient embracers of vertue honest and true Iustice remained in the earthe with them but since they are conuerted vnto adulterers tyraunts geuen to be proud vnpacient lyers and blasphemers she determined to forsake them and to ascend vp into heauen So that thys Philosopher concluded that for the wickednes that men commit on earthe Iustice hath lept from them into heauen Though this seme to be a poeticall fiction yet it comprehendeth in it hygh and profound doctrine the which seemeth to be very clere for where we se iustice there are fewe theues few murderers fewe tyrants few blasphemours Finally I say that in that house or common wealth where iustice remaineth a man cannot cōmit vice much lesse dessemble with the vicious Homer desyrous to exalt iustice could not tell what to say more but to call kinges the children of the great god Iupiter and that not for the naturalitie they haue but for the offyce of iustice whyche they minister So that Homer concludeth that a man ought not to call iust princes other but the children of god The deuine Plato in the fourth booke of his cōmon wealth saieth that the chiefest gift god gaue to men is that they beyng as they be of such vyle cley should be gouerned by iustice I would to God all those which reade thys writyng vnderstood right well that which Plato said For if men were not indued wyth reason and gouerned by iustice amongest all beastes none were so vnprofytable Let reason be taken from man wherwyth he is indued and iustice whereby he is gouerned then shall men easely perceiue in what sort he wyll lead his lyfe He cannot fyght as the Elephant nor defend hym selfe as the Tygre nor he can hunte as the Lyon neyther labour as the Oxe
and that whereby he should profyte as I thynke is that he should eate Beares Lyons in his lyfe as now he shal be eatē of wormes after his death All the Poets that inuented fictions all the Oratours which made Orations al the Philosophers which wrote bookes al the sages which left vs their doctrynes and all the Princes which instituted lawes ment nothing els but to perswade vs to think how briefe vnprofitable this lyfe ys howe necessary a thing iustice is therein For the filth corrupcion which the body hath without the soule the selfe same hath the common welth wythout iustice We cannot deny but that the Romaynes haue bene proude enuyous aduouterers shamelesse ambicious but yet with all these faultes they haue bene great obseruers of iustice So that if god gaue the so many tryumphes beyng loden and enuironned with so manye vices it was not for the vertues they had but for the great iustice which they did administer Plinie in hys second booke saieth that Democritus affirmed there were two gods which gouerned the vniuersall worlde that is to wete Rewarde and Punishement Whereby we may gather that nothing is more necessary then true and right iustice For the one rewardeth the good the other leaueth not vnpunished the euill Saint Austyne in the fyrst booke De ciuitare dei sayeth these words Iustyce taken awaye what are realmes but dennes of theues truely he had great reason For if there were no whips for vacabondes gags for blasphemers fynes for periury fyre for heretiques sworde for murderers galouse for theues nor prison for rebelles we may boldly affirme that there woulde not be so manye beastes on the mountaines as there woulde be theues in the cōmon wealth In many thinges or in the greatest parte of the common welth we see that bread wyne corne fyshe woll and other thinges necessary for the lyfe of the people wanteth but we neuer sawe but malicious menne in euerye place dyd abounde Therefore I sweare vnto you that it were a good bargayne to chaunge all the wycked menne in the common wealth for one onlye poore sheepe in the sylde In the comon wealth we see naught els but whippyng dayly beheddyng slayinge drownyng and hanginge but notwithstandyng this the wicked whiche remayne styll are so many in nomber that if all those shoulde be hanged that deserue it by iustyce a man could not fynd hangmen sufficient nor gallowses to hange them vppon Admitte according to the varietie of realmes prouinces that dyuers lawes and customes haue bene instituted therein Yet for a truth there was neuer nor neuer shal be found any nation or common wealthe in the worlde so barbarous but hath bene founded of iustice For to affirme that menne can bee preserued wythout iustice is as muche as to saye the fishe can liue wythout water Howe is it possible that a common wealth may liue without iustice sith without her cannot bee ruled one onelye personae Plinie in an epistle saieth that he him selfe hauinge the charge of a prouince in Affrike demaunded an olde man and in gouernement experte what he myght doe to administer iustice well the aged manne aunswered Doe iustice of thy selfe yf thou wilt be a minister thereof For the good iudge wyth the ryght yarde of hys owne lyfe ought to measure the whole state of the common wealth And he sayde further if thou wylt be right wyth menne and clean before god beware of presumpcion in thyne offyce For the proude and presumptuous iudges often tymes doe contrary in their wordes and also exceade in theire deedes Plinie also saieth that he profited more with the counsayle thys olde man gaue hym then wyth all that euer he had reade in his bookes O to howe muche is he bounde that hath taken vppon him to administer iustice For if such one be an vpright man hee accomplisheth that whereunto he is bounde but if suche one of hym selfe bee vniuste iustlye of god he ought to bee punished and lykewyse of menne to bee accused When prynces commaund their seruaunts or subiectes any thing that they cannot accomplish them in such sorte as they had charge to do then he ought to haue them excused those excepted whiche gouerne realmes prouinces For no man leaueth to administer iustice but for want of knowledge or experience or els through aboundaunce of affection or malice If a captaine lose a battaile he may excuse hym self saying his men were fled when they shoulde haue assaulted their enemies A poast may excuse hi self for that the waters we◠so high A hunter may say the beast is escaped another way others such like but a gouernour of a common wealth what excuse can he haue that he dothe not iustice Conscience ought to burden hym also he ought to be ashamed to take vpon him the charge of any thing if he doute to bring it to effecte for the shamefast faces haute courages either ought to put that in execution which they take vpon them or els they ought to shew a lawful cause why it tooke no effect Let vs know first what iustice is then we shall knowe what is mete for the administracion therof The office of a good iudge is to defend the common welth to help the innocent to ayde the simple to correcte the offender to honour the vertuous to help the orphanes to do forthe poore to bridel the ambicious finallye by iustice he ought to geue eche one his owne to dispossesse those which hold any thing wrongfully of others When a prince commaundeth any man to take the charge of iustice such one doth not seeke it of him selfe if perchaunce afterwardes he did not in all points vprightly in the administracion therof he might haue some excuse saying that though he hath accepted it it was not with minde because he woulde erre but because with good will he would obey What shall we saye of manye which without shame without knowlege without experience without conscience do procure the office of iustice O if princes knew what they geue whē they geue the charge to any to gouerne the common wealth I sweare vnto you that they were better to giue them goods to fynd them for .20 yeres then for to trust them wyth the charge of iustice .20 daies What a thing is it to see some men shamelesse dishonest great talkers gluttons ambitious couetous the whiche wythout anye reasonable cause aucthority or knowledge demaunde of prynces an office of iustice as if by iustice they dyd demaund their own Would to god the geuer would haue an eye to those whych in this wyse do demaunde But what shal we say of those that doe sollicite thē procure thē importune them beseche them more then that euen as wythout shame they do demaund it so wythout conscience lykewyse they buy it There remayneth in this case more as yet that is that if those cursed men do not attayne to that whych they demaunde
euylles and inuentoures of all vyces Wherein appeareth your lytle care and muche tyrannye For all sayde openlye in Asia that the theues of Rome doe hang the theues of Iewrye What will ye I shall saye more Romaynes but that wee lyttle esteame the theeues whiche keepe the wooddes in comparison of the Iudges whyche robbe vs in oure owne houses O howe wofull were oure fatall destenyes the daye that we became subiecte to the Romaynes Wee feare no theues whiche shoulde robbe vs in the highe waye wee feare no fyre whiche should burne oure goods nor we feare no tyrauntes whyche shoulde make warre againste vs neyther anye Assirians whiche shoulde spoyle oure countrey we feare not the corrupte ayre that shoulde infect vs neyther the plague that shoulde take oure lyues from vs but wee feare youre cruell iudges whyche oppesse vs in the common welthe and robbeth vs of oure good name I saye not without a cause they trouble the common wealthe For that layde a parte whiche they saye that layde a parte whiche they meane and that layde aparte whiche they robbe immediatelye they write to the Senate to consent vnto them not of the good whyche they fynde in the auncientes but of the lightnes whiche they see in the yonge And as the Senatoures doe heare them here and doe not see them there so ye geeue more credite to one that hathe beene but three monethes in the prouince then to those whiche haue gouerned the common wealth .30 yeares Consyder Senatoures that ye haue beene made and appointed Senatours in this place for that ye were the wysest the honestest the beste experimented and the most moderate and vertuous Therefore in this aboue all shal bee seene if ye bee vertuous in that you do not beleue all For if those bee manye and of dyuers nations whiche haue to doe with you muche more dyuers and variable are theire intencions and endes for the whiche they entreate I lye if youre Iudges haue not done so manye wronges in iustice forsaken theire disciplyne that they haue taught the youth of Iudea inuencions of vyces whiche neither hathe bene hearde of oure fathers neyther reade in oure bookes ne yet seene in oure tyme. Ye others Romaines since ye are noble and myghtye ye disdaine to take counsayle of menne that bee poore the whiche ye ought not to doe neither counsail youre frendes to doe it For to knowe and to haue lytle seldome times goeth together As manye counsayles as Iudea hath taken of Rome so manye lett nowe Rome take of Iudea You ought to knowe thoughe your Captaynes haue wonne manye realmes by sheddynge bloude yet notwithstandyng your iudges ought to keepe them not with rygorous sheddynge of bloud but with clemencye and winnynge theire hartes O Romaynes admonishe commaunde praye and aduertyse youre Iudges whome ye sende to gouerne straunge prouynces that they imploye them selues more to the common wealthe of the realme then they re handes to nomber theire fynes and forfettes For otherwise they shall sclaunder those whiche sende them and shall hurte those whome they gouerne You re Iudges in iuste thinges are not obeyed for anye other cause but forasmuche as firste they haue commaunded manye vniuste thinges The iuste commaundementes make the humble hartes and the vniuste commaundementes doe turne and conuerte the meeke and humble menne to seuere and cruell personnes Humayne malyce is so geeuen to commaunde and is so troublesome to be commaunded that though they commaunde vs to doe good wee doe obey euylle the more they commmaund vs euyll the woorse they bee obeyed in the good Beleue me Romaines one thinge and doubte nothinge therin that of the great lightnes of the iudges is sprong the little feare and greate shame of the people Eche Prince whiche shal geue to anye iudge the charge of iustice whō he knoweth not to bee able doth it not so much for that he knoweth wel how to minister iustice but because he is verye craftye to augment his goodes Let hym be well assured that when he least thinketh on it his honour shal bee in moste infamye his credite lost hys goodes diminished and some notable punyshement lyght vppon his house And because I haue other things to speke in secreate I will here conclude that is open and fynallye I saye that if ye will preserue vs and our realme for the whiche you haue haserded youre selues in manye periles keape vs in iustice and wee wil haue you in reuerence Commaunde as Romaynes and wee will obey as Hebrues geue a pytefull president and ye shall haue all the realme in safegarde What will ye I saye more but that if you be not cruell to punishe our weaknesse we will be verye obedient to your ordinaunces Before ye prouyde for to commaunde vs thinke it well to entreate vs for by prayeng with al mekenes and not commaundinge with presumpcion ye shall fynde in vs the loue whyche the fathers are wonte to fynde in theire children and not the treason whiche the lordes haue accustomed to fynde in their seruauntes ¶ The Emperour concludeth hys letter againste the cruell iudges and declareth what the graundfather of king Boco spake in the Senate Cap. xi ALl that whiche aboue I haue spoke the Hebrue saide and not without greate admiracion he was hearde of all the Senate O Rome without rome whiche nowe haste nought but the walles and arte made a common stewes of vyces What diddest thou tell mee when a straunger dyd rebuke and taunte thee in the myddest of thy Senate it is a generall rule where there is corruption of custome lyberties are alwaies loste which seemeth moste true here in Rome For the Romaines which in tymes past went to reuenge theire iniuries into straunge countreys nowe others come out of straunge countreyes to assaulte them in theire owne houses Therefore since the iustice of Rome is condemned what thinkest thou that I beleeue of that I le of Cicil tell mee I praye thee Antigonus from whence commeth thinkest thou so greate offence to the people and suche corruption to iustice in the common wealth Yf peraduenture thou knowest it not harken and I will tell the. It is an order whereby all goeth without order Thou oughtest to know that the counsayloures of princes beinge importunate and the Prince not resistinge them but suffringe them they deceyue hym some wyth couetousnes other with ignoraunce geeue from whome they ought to take and take from whome they ought to geeue they honour them who do dyshonour them they witholde the iuste and delyuer the couetous they dyspyse the wyse and trust the lyghte fynallye they prouyde not for the offyces of personnes but for the persons of offyces Harke Antigonus I wyl tell the more These myserable iudges after thei are prouided inuested in the auctority of their offices wherof they wer vnworthy seing thēselues of power to cōmaūd that the dygnitie of their offices is muche more then the desert of theire personnes immediatelye they make them selues to
as if it were his owne To thys I aunswere that I am not myghtye ynough to remedy it except by my remedye there shoulde spring a greater inconuenience And since thou hast not bene a Prince thou couldest not fall into that I haue nor yet vnderstand that whych I saie For princes by theire wisedome knowe manye thinges the whych to remedy they haue no power So it hath beene so it is so it shal be so I founde it so I keepe it so wil I leaue it them so I haue read it in bookes so haue I seene it with my eyes so I heard it of my predecessours and finallye I saye so our fathers haue inuented it and so wyll wee theire children sustaine it and for this euyll wee will leaue it to our heires I wyll tell thee one thinge and imagine that I erre not therein whych is consideringe the great dommage and lytle profyte which the men of warre doe bringe to our common wealth I thynk to doe it and to sustaine it either it is the folly of menne or a scourge geuen of the gods For there can be nothinge more iust then for the goddes to permit that we feele that in our owne houses whiche we cause others in straunge houses to lament All those thinges I haue written vnto thee not for that it skilleth greatly that thou knowe them but that my harte is at ease to vtter them For as Alcibiades saide the chestes and the hartes ought alwaies to bee open to theire frendes Panutius my secretary goeth in my behalfe to visite that land and I gaue him this letter to geue the with two horses wherewith I think thou wilt be contented for they are gennettes The weapons and ryches whyche I tooke of the Parthes I haue nowe deuyded notwtstanding I doe sende thee .2 Chariottes of them My wyfe Faustine greeteth thee and I sende a riche glasse for thy doughter and a Iewell with stones for thy sister No more but I beseche the Gods to geeue thee a good lyfe and mee a good death ¶ The admonition of the Aucthour to Princes and greate Lordes to thintent that the more they growe in yeares the more they are bounde to refraine from vyces Cap. xvii AVlus Gelius in hys booke De noctibus Atticis sayeth that there was an auncient custome amongest the romaynes to honour and haue in great reuerence aged men And this was so inuiolate a law amongest them that there was none so noble of bloode and lynage neyther so puissaunt in ryches neither so fortunate in battayles that should goe before the aged men which were loden with whit heares so that they honoured them as the gods and reuerenced them as theire fathers Amongest other the aged menne had these preheminences that is to wete that in feastes they sate highest in the triumphes they went before in the temples they did sitte downe they spake to the Senate before all others they had their garments surred they might eat alone in secrat and by theire onlye woorde they were credited as witnesses Fynally I saye that in all thinges they serued them and in nothinge they annoyed them After the people of Rome began warre wyth Asia they forsooke all theire good Romayne customes immediatlye And the occasyon hereof was that since they had no menne to sustaine the common wealth by reason of the great multytude of people which dyed in the warre they ordeyned that al the yong menne should mary the yong maides the wydowes the free and the bonde and that the honour whyche hadde bene done vntyll that tyme vnto the olde menne from henceforthe shoulde be done vnto the maried menne though they were yong So that the moste honoured in Rome was hee not of moste yeares but he that had most children This lawe was made a little before the firste battaile of Catthage And the custome that the maried menne were more honoured then the old menne endured vntill the tyme of the Emperour Augustus whiche was such a frende of antiquyties that hee renewed all the walles of Rome with newe stones and renewed all the auncient customes of the common wealth Licurgus in the lawes whiche hee gaue to the Lacedemonians ordayned that the young menne passinge by the olde shoulde doe them greate reuerence whē the olde dyd speake then the younger shoulde bee sylent And he ordained also that if any olde man by casualtye dyd lose hys goods and came into extreame pouertie that he shoulde bee sustained of the comon wealth and that in suche sustentacion they shoulde haue respecte not onely to succour him for to sustaine hym but further to geue him to lyue competently Plutarche in hys Apothegmes declareth that Cato the Censoure visitinge the corners of Rome founde an olde manne sittinge at his doore weepinge and sheddinge manye teares from hys eyes And Cato the Censoure demaundynge hym why hee was so euyll handeled and wherefore he wepte so bitterlye the good olde manne aunswered hym O Cato the Gods beinge the onelye comfortours comforte thee in all thy tribulations since thou arte readye to comforte mee at this wofull hower As well as thou knowest that the consolations of the harte are more necessarye then the phisike of the bodye the whiche beeynge applyed sometymes doeth heale and an other tyme they doe harme Beholde my scabbed handes my swollen legges my mouth without teethe my peeled face my white beard and my balde heade for thou beinge as thou arte descreete shouldest be excused to aske mee why I weepe For menne of my age thoughe they weepe not for the lyttle they feele yet they ought to weepe for the ouermuche they lyue The manne which is loden with yeares tormented with diseases pursued with enemyes forgotten of his frendes visited with mishappes and with euill wyll and pouertie I knowe not why hee demaundeth long life For there can be no sharper reuengemēt of vyces whych we commit then to geue vs long lyfe Though now I am aged I was yong and if any yong manne should doe me anye iniurye truelye I would not desire the gods to take his lyfe but that they woulde rather prolonge his lyfe For it is a great pitie to heare the man whyche hath lyued longe account the troubles whiche he hath endured Knowe thou Cato if thou doest not knowe it that I haue lyued .77 yeares And in thys tyme I haue buried my father my graundefather twoe Auntes and .5 vncles After that I had buried .9 systers and .11 Brethren I haue buried afterwardes twoe lawfull wyfes and fyue bonde women whyche I haue hadde as my lemmans I haue buryed also .14 chyldren and .7 maryed doughters and therewith not contented I haue buryed .37 Nephues and .15 Nieces and that whyche greaueth me moste of all is that I haue buryed two frendes of myne one which remained in Capua the other which was residente here at Rome The death of whom hath greued me more then all those of my aliaunce and parentage For in the worlde there is no
so much the more were the philosophers deuided amongest them selues When they were so assembled truely they did not eate nor drinke out of measure but some pleasaunt matter was moued betwene the masters and the scollers betwene the yong and the olde that is to wete which of them coulde declare any secrete of phylosophye or anye profound sentence O happy were such feastes and no lesse happy were they that thether were bidden But I am sory that those whiche nowe byd and those that are bidden for a trouth are not as those auncients were For there are noe feastes now adays of phylosophers but of gluttons not to dispute but to murmour not to open doubtfull things but to talke of the vices of others not to confirme aunciente amities but to begynne newe dissensions not to learne any doctrines but to approue some nouelty And that whiche worste of all is that the olde striue at the table with the yonge not on hym whiche hathe spoken the moste grauest sentence but of hym whyche hathe dronke moste wyne and hathe rinsed most cuppes Paulus Diaconus in the historye of the Lumbardes declarethe that foure olde Lumbardes made a banket in the whiche the one dranke to the others yeres and it was in this manner Theye made defyaunce to drinke two to twoe and after eche man had declared howe many yeres olde he was the one drāke as manye times as the other was yeares olde and likewise his companion pledged him And one of these foure companions had at the leaste 58. yeares the second .63 the thyrde .87 the fourthe .812 so that a man knowethe not what they did eate in this banket eyther litle or muche but we knowe that hee that dranke least dranke 58. cuppes of wine Of this so euill custome came the Gothes to make this lawe which of manye is reade and of fewe vnderstanded where it sayeth We ordeyn and commaūd on payne of deathe that no olde man drinke to the others yeres being at the table That was made because they were so muche geuen to wyne that they dranke more ofte thenne they did eate morselles The Prynces and greate Lordes whyche are nowe olde oughte to bee verye sober in drinkynge synce theye oughte greatlye to be regarded and honoured of the yonge For speakinge the truthe and withe libertie whan the olde man shall bee ouercome with wine he hath more necessitie that the yong man leade him by the arme to his house then that hee shoulde take of his cappe vnto hym or speake vnto hym with reuerence Also prynces and greate lordes oughte to be verye circumspecte that whenne theye become aged theye bee not noted for yonge in the apparayle whiche theye weare For althoughe that for wearinge a fyne and riche garmente the prynce dothe not enriche or enpouerishe his common wealthe yet we cannot denye but that it dothe much for the reputacion of his persone For the vanytie and curiositie of garments dothe shewe great lightnes of minde According to the varietye of ages so ought the diuersitie of apparaile to bee whiche semethe to bee verye cleare in that the yonge maydes are attyred in one sorte the maried women of an other sorte the widdowes of an other And lykewise I woulde saye that the apparayle of children oughte to be of one sorte those of yonge men of an other and those of olde men of an other whyche oughte to bee more honester then all For men of hoarye heades oughte not to be adourned withe precious garmētes but withe verteous workes To goe cleanlye to be well apparayled and to be well accompanied we doe not forbydde the olde especiallye those whych are noble and valyaunt men but to goe to fine to go with great traynes and to goe verye curious wee doe not allowe Let the olde men pardon mee for it is not the office but of yonge fooles For the one sheweth honestye and the other lightnes It is a confusion to tell it but it is greater shame to doe it that is to weete that manye olde men of oure time take noe small felicitye to put caules on theire heades euerye manne to weare iewels on theire neckes to laye theire cappes withe agglettes of golde to seeke oute dyuers inuencions of mettall to loade theire fingers wythe riche ringes to goe perfumed wythe odiferous fauoures to weare newe fashioned apparayle and fynallye I saye that thoughe theire face bee full of wrincles they can not suffer one wrincle to be in theire gowne All the auncient historiens accuse Quintus Hottensius the Romayne for that euerye tyme when hee made hym selfe readye he hadde a glasse beefore hym and as muche space and tyme had hee to streyghten the plaites of his gowne as a woman hadde to trymme the heares of her heade This Quintus Hortensius beinge Consul goynge by chaunce one day through Rome in a narrowe streat met wythe the other Consul where throughe the streightnes of the passage the plaightes of his gowne weare vndone vppon whych occasion hee complayned to the senate of the other Consull that he had done hym a greate iniurye sayinge that he deserued to lose hys lyfe The authoure of all this is Macrobius in the thyrde booke of the Saturnales I can not tell if I be deceiued but we maye saye that al the curiositye that olde men haue to goe fine wel appareled and cleane is for no other thinge but to shake of age and to pretende righte to youthe What a griefe is it to see dyuers auncient men the whiche as ripe figges do fal and on the other side it is a wonder to see howe in theire age they make them selues yonge In this case I saye woulde to god we might see them hate vices and not to complaine of the yeares which theye haue I praye and exhorte princes and greate lordes whom oure soueraigne lorde hathe permitted to come to age that theye doe not despise to be aged For speaking the truthe the man whiche hathe enuye to seeme olde doth delight to liue in the lightnes of youthe Also man of honour oughte to be verye circumspecte for so muche as after theye are beecome aged theye bee not suspected of theire friends but that both vnto their friends foes they be counted faythfull For a lye in a yonge mannes mouthe is but a lye but in the mouthe of an olde manne it is a heynous blasphemye Prynces and great lordes after they are become aged of one sorte they oughte to vse them selues to geue and of thother to speake For good prynces oughte to sell woordes by weighte and geeue rewardes withoute measure The auncient oftentymes complayne sayinge that the yonge will bee not conuersaunt with them and truely if there be anye faulte therin it is of them selues And the reason is that if sometimes theye doe assemble togethers to passe awaye the tyme if the olde man set a talkinge he neuer maketh an ende So that a discrete man had rather go .xii. miles on foote then to heare an olde man
if thou be euill lyfe shal bee euyl imployd on thee and if thou bee good thou oughtest to die imediatly and because I am woors thē all I liue lōger then all These woordes which Adrian my lord sayed doe plainely declare and expresse that in short space the pale and cruel death doth assaulte the good and lēgthneth life a great while to the euil The opinion of a philosopher was that the gods are so profound in their secrets high in their misteryes and so iust in their woorks that to men which least profit the common wealth they lengthen lyfe longest and though he had not sayd it we others see it by experience For the man which is good and that beareth great zeale and frendship to the common wealth either the gods take him from vs or the enemies do sley him or the daungers doe cast him away or the the trauailes do finish him When great Pompeius Iulius Cesar became enemyes from that enmite came to cruel warres the cronicles of that time declare that the kings and people of the occidental part became in the fauour of Iulius Cesar and the mightiest most puisaunte of al the oriental parts came in the ayd of great Pompeius beecause these two Princes were loued of few and serued and feared of al. Amongst the diuersity and sundry nations of people which came out of the oriental part into the host of the great Pompeius one nation came maruelous cruel barbarous which sayd they dwelled in the other side of the mountayns Riphees which go vnto India And these barbarous had a custome not to liue no longer then fifty years therfore when thei came to that age they made a greater fier and were burned therin aliue and of their owne willes they sacrificed them selues to the gods Let no man bee astoined at that wee haue spoken but rather let them maruel of that wee wyl speak that is to say that the same day that any man had accomplished fifty years immediatly hee cast him self quick in to the fier and the parents children and his freends made a great feast And the feast was that they did eat the fleash of the dead half burned and drank in wyne and water the asshes of his bones so that the stomak of the children beeing aliue was the graue of the fathers beeing dead All this that I haue spoken with my toung Pompeius hath seen with his eies for that some beeing in the camp did accomplish fifty years bycause the case was straunge hee declared it oft times in the Senate Let euery man iudge in this case what hee will and condemne the barbarous at his pleasure yet I wyll not cease too say what I think O golden world which had such men O blessed people of whom in the world to come shal bee a perpetuall memory What contēpt of world what forgetfulnes of him self what stroke of fortune what whip for the flesh what litell regard of lyfe O what bridell for the veruous O what confusion for those that loue lyfe O how great example haue they left vs not to feare death Sithens those heeare haue wyllingly dispised their own liues it is not to bee thought that they died to take the goods of others neither to think that our life shoold neuer haue end nor our couetousnes in like maner O glorious people and .10 thousand sold happy that the proper sensuallyty beeing forsaken hath ouercome the natural appetyte to desire to liue not beeleeuing in that they saw and that hauing faith in that they neuer saw they striued with the fatall destines By the way they assalted fortune they chaunged life for death they offred the body to death and aboue al haue woon honor with the gods not for that they should hasten death but because they should take away that which is superfluus of life Archagent a surgiō of Rome and Anthonius Musus a phisition of the Emperor Augustus and Esculapius father of the phisick shoold get litel mony in that country Hee that thē shoold haue sēt to the barbarous to haue doone as the Romaynes at that tyme did that is to wete to take siroppes in the mornings pylls at night to drynk mylk in the morning to noynt them selues with gromelsede to bee let bloud to day and purged to morrow to eat of one thing and to abstein from many a man ought to think that hee which willingly seeketh death wil not geue mony to lengthen lyfe ¶ The Emperor concludeth his letter and sheweth what perilles those old men lyue in which dissolutely like yong children passe their days and geeueth vnto them holsome counsell for the remedy therof Cap. xxii BVt returning now to thee Claude to thee Claudine mee thinketh that these barbarous beeing fifty years of age and you others hauing aboue thre score and 10. it should bee iust that sithens you were elder in years you were equal in vertue and though as they you wyl not accept death paciently yet at the least you ought to amend your euel liues willingly I do remember that it is many years sithens that Fabritius the yong sonne of Fabritius the old had ordeyned to haue deceiued mee of the which if you had not told mee great inconueniences had hapned and sithens that you did mee so great a benefit I woold now requite you the same with an other like For amongst frends there is no equal benifit then to deceyue the deceyuer I let you know if you doo not know it that you are poore aged folks your eyes are soonk into your heads the nostrels are shutt the hears are white the hearing is lost the tonge faltreth the teeth fall the face is wrincled the feete swoln the stomak cold Finally I say that if the graue could speak as vnto his subiects by iustice hee myght commaund you to inhabit his house It is great pity of the yong men and of their youthfull ignorante for then vnto such their eyes are not opened to know the mishaps of this miserable life when cruell death doth end their dayes and adiorneth thē to the graue Plato in his book of the common wealth sayd that in vaine wee geeue good counsels to fond light yongmen For youth is without experiēce of that it knoweth suspicious of that it heareth incredible of that is told him despising the counsayl of an other and very poore of his own Forsomuch as this is true that I tell you Claude and Claudine that without comparison the ignorance which the yong haue of the good is not so much but the obstinacion which the old hath in the euel is more For the mortal gods many times do dissemble with a .1000 offeces committed by ignorance but they neuer forgeeue the offence perpetrated by malice O Claude and Claudine I doo not meruel that you doo forget the gods as you doo which created you and your fathers which beegot you and your parēts which haue loued you and your frends which haue
first ought to abhorre couetousnes before hee beginne to occupie hym selfe to locke vp goods For the man which setteth no bond to his desire shall alwayes haue litle thoughe he see himselfe lord of the worlde Truly this sentence was worthilye spoken of such a man The sentēce of the Stoyckes doth satisfy my mind much wherof Aristotel in his pollitikes maketh mēcion where he sayth that vnto great affayres are alwaies required great riches there is no extreame pouerty but where there hathe beene greate aboundaunce Therof ensueth that to princes and great lordes which haue much they wāt much bicause to men which haue had litel they can not wāt but litel Yf we admonishe wordlings not to be vitious they wil alwayes haue excuses to excuse theim selues declaring why they haue bene vitious the vice of auarice excepted to whom and with whom they haue no excuse For if one vaine reason be readye to excuse then there are .2000 to condemne them Let vs put example in all the principall vices and we shall se how this onely of auarice remaineth condemned and not excused If we reason why a prince or great lord is haulty and proude he wil aunswere that he hath great occasion For the natural disposition of men is rather to desire to commaūd with trauaile then to serue with rest Yf we reproue any man that is furious and geuen to anger he will aunswere vs that we maruaile not since we maruaile not of the proude For the enemy hath no more auctority to trouble any man then the other to take reuēge of him Yf we blame him for that he is fleshly and vitious he will aunswer vs that he can not absteyne from that sinne for if any man can eschew the acts he fighteth continually with vncleane thoughtes Yf we say that any man is negligent he will aunswere vs that he deserueth not to be blamed for the vilenes of our nature is suche that if we do trauaile it immediatly it is weary and if we rest it immediatly it reioyceth Yf we rebuke any man that is a glutton he wil aunswer vs that without eatinge and drinkinge we can not lyue in the worlde for the deuine worde hath not forbidden man to eate with the mouthe but the vncleane thoughtes which come from the hart As of these fewe vices we haue declared so maye we excuse al the reasidue but to the vice of couetousnes none can geue a reasonable excuse For with money put into the cofer the soule cānot profite nor the bodye reioyce Boetius in his booke of consolation sayd that money is good not when we haue it in possessiō but when we want it in very dede the sentence of Boetius is very profound for when man spendeth mony he attayneth to that he wil but hauinge it with him it profiteth him nothinge We may say of riche and couetous men that if they heape and kepe they say it is but for deare and drye yeres and to releue their parents frendes We may aunswere them that they do not heape vp to remedye the poore in suche like necessities but rather to bringe the commonwealth to greter pouertye For then they sel al thinges deare and put out theyr money to great vsury so that this couetous man dooth more harme with that he dooth lend them then the dry yere dooth with that it hath taken from theim The noble and vertuous men ought not to cease to do wel for feare of dry yeres for in the ende if one deare yeare come it maketh all dere and at such a time and in such a case he onely may be called happy which for being free and liberal in almes shall reioyce that his table should be costlye Let couetous mē beware that for keaping of much goodes they giue not to the deuel their soules for it may be that before the deare yere cometh to sel their corne their bodies shal be layd in the graue O what good dooth god to the noble men geuing them liberal hartes and what ill luck haue couetous men hauing as thei haue their hartes so hard laced For if couetous men did tast how sweete and necessary a thing it is to giue they could kepe litle for them selues Nowe sithens the miserable and couetous men haue not the hart to giue to their frendes too depart to theire parentes to succour the poore to lend to their neighboures nor to susteyne the orphanes it is to be thought that they wil spend it on them selues Truly I saye no more for there are men so miserable and so hard of that they haue that they thinke that as euyll spent whiche amonge theim selues they spende as that which one robbeth from them of their goods Howe will the couetous and miserable wretche geue a garmēte to a naked man which dare not make him selfe a cote How wil he geue to eate to the poore famylyar which as a poore slaue eateth the bread of branne and sellethe the floure of meale How shal the pilgrimes lodge in his house who for pure miserye dare not enter and howe doth he visite the hospitall and reliue the sicke that oft times hasardeth his owne helth and life for that he wil not geue one penye to the phisition how shall he succour secretly the poore and neady which maketh his owne children go barefoote and naked how can he helpe to marye the poore maydes being orphanes when he suffereth his owne daughters to waxe old in his house how wil he geue of his goodes to the poore captiues which will not paye his owne men their wages how wil he geue to eate to the children of poore gentelmen which alwayes grudgeth at that his owne spende howe should we beleue that he wil apparel a widowe hwich wil not giue his owne wife a hoode howe doth he dayly giue almes which goeth not to the churche on the Sonday because he wil not offer one peny how shal the couetous mā reioice the hart sith for spending of one peny oft times hee goeth supperles to bed And finally I saye that he wil neuer giue vs of his owne proper goodes which weapeth alwayes for the goodes of an other ¶ The auctor foloweth his matter and with great reasons discommendeth the vices of couetous men Cap. xxiiii ONe of the thinges wherin the deuine prouidence sheweth that we do not vnderstand the maner of her gouerment is to see that she geueth vnderstandinge too a man too knowe the riches she geueth him force too seeke theim subtiltye too gather them vertue too susteyne them courage too defend them and also longe life to possesse them And with al this she gyueth him not licence to enioye them but rather suffereth him that as withoute reason he hath made him selfe lorde of an nother mans of righte he shoulde bee made sclaue of his owne thereby a man may knowe of howe greater excellencye vertuous pouertye is then the outragious couetousnes for so much as to the poore god doth giue contentation of
sorrow Thou demaundest to bee his hee hath geeuen thee his hand Thou demaūdest life hee hath geeuen thee death Therefore if it bee true that the world hath handled thee in this wise why doost thou weepe to return again to hys wicked house O fylthy world how farre art thou frō iust how farre ought they to bee from thee which desire to bee iust For naturally thou art a frend of nouelties enemy of vertues One of the lessons which the world readeth to his children is this that to bee true worldlings they shoold not bee very true The which experience plainly sheweth vs for the man which medleth much wyth the world leaueth always suspicion of hym that hee is not trew The world is an imbassadour of the euill a scourge of the good cheefest of vyces a tyraunt of the verteous a breaker of peace a frend of warre a sweete water of vices the gawle of the vertuous a defender of lyes an inuenter of nouelties a trauailer of the ignoraunt a hammer for the malicious a table of gluttons and a furnace of concupyscence fynally it is the peryll of Charibde where the harts doo perish and the daunger of Scilla where the thoughts doo wast Presuppose that these bee the condicions of the world The trouth is that if there bee any worldlyng who complaineth to bee euil content with the world shall hee therefore chaunge his stile Truely no and the reason is that if perchaunce one worldling shoold goe out of the house of the world there are ten thousand vanities at his gate I know not what wyse man will lyue in the world with such condicions since the vices wherewith wee doo reioyce our selues are very few in respect of the torments which wee suffer I say not that wee doo heare it by heare say and read them in bookes but wee see with our own eyes the one to consume and wast the goods others by mysfortune to fall and lose their credyt others to fall and lose their honor and others to lose their lyfe and all these myseries seene yet neuerthelesse euery man thynketh to bee free by priuiledge where there is none priuileged O my frend Torquatus of one thing I assure thee which is that the men whych are borne of women are so euill a generacion and so cruel is the world where in wee liue and fortune so empoysoned with whom wee frequent that wee cannot escape without beeing spurned with his feete bytten with his teeth torne wyth his nayles or impoysoned with hys venym Peraduenture thou mayst say vnto mee that thow hast seene some in Rome whych haue lyued long tyme fortune neuer beeyng against hym To this I aunswer thee that thow oughtst rather to haue pyty vppon hym then enuy for it is not for his profyt but for his great hynderaunce For the world is so malycious that when it seemeth to bee most our frend then it woorketh vs most dyspleasure The healthfull men dye rather of a short disease in few dayes then the dry and feeble men doo with a disease of many yeares By this comparison I mean that since man cannot escape nor liue without trauaile it is much better that by litle and lytle hee tasteth them then they enter all at one time into his house O how much ought the man to bee hated of the immortall gods who knoweth not what trauaile meaneth in this world For hee onely ought to feare fortune who knoweth not fortunes force Since the gods woold permyt and thy myshap hath beene such that thow hast found more daunger where thow thoughtst most surety as a man euill fortuned it is reason that wee apply vnto thee some new ware to the end thow lose not thy good renowme synce thow hast lost thy euill goods Tell mee I praye thee Torquatus why doost thow complayn as a man sick why cryest thow as a foole why syghest thow as a man in dyspayre and why doost thow weepe as a chyld Thow art come out of the way And thow complainest to haue lost thy way Thou sailest by the broiling seas thou wonderest that the waues doo assault thee Thou hast ascended the steepe and craggy mountayns and thow complaynest that thow art weary Thow walkest by the thornes and wylt not that thy gown bee torne Dydst thow thynk in the top of the hygh mountayn to lyue most sure By that I haue spoken I wyll ask what dyligent seruice thow hast doone to the world that thow wooldst the gods of heauen shoold recompence thee Wooldest thow of fortune a safe conduct shee beeing as shee is enemy of many nature beeyng not able to geeue it the which is mother of all O my frend Torquatus that whych the pytyfull nature cannot promyse thee dydst thow thynk that fortune which is the iust stepmother should geeue It is vnpossyble that the Sea should always promise vs suerty and the heauen clerenesse the sommer dews and the wynter frosts Mark well mark my frend Torquatus that all naturall thyngs are subiect to chaunge euery yeare but all the worldlyngs ought to endure to eclypse euery moment Synce the naturall goods cannot always bee in one mans custody beeing necessary it is iust that the goods of fortune perysh since they are superfluous Vniust shoold the Gods bee if that whych is to the domage of so many they had made perpetuall and that which is to the profyt of all they had made mortall I will no more reduce to thy memory the prosperyty which thow hast had in times past beefore that wee treat how fortune handleth thee at thys present The deceytfull fortune when at thy gate shee sold her marchaundyse knowyng that shee sold vnto thee and thow beeyng ignoraunt of that thow boughtst shee gaue thee frutefull ground and afterward made it vnto thee paynfull Shee hath geeuen thee sower for sweete and the sweete shee hath returned to the sower Shee hath geeuen thee the euill for the good and where that thow hast sold her good shee retourned vnto thee euyl Fynally shee hath beeguyled thee in the iust pryse thow not supposyng that thow hadst receiued any domage Wee can doo no lesse in this case but to haue compassyon vppon thee yet though they condempne malicyous fortune for sellyng they wyll note thee symple in buying For in the shop of fortune all marchaundyse are suspycious O vnhappy that wee are I say those whych meddle with the world for in his market they see nought but lyes and wee doo not trust but in the ouerthrows of our renowne whych are not payd but with the cost of our lyfe And the factours of that faire geeue vs nothyng by weight or measure for they are a sort of vacabounds and the woorst of all is knowyng that they ought to lose wyth fortune all seeke to buy at her shop Geeue thy self to the world loue the world much serue the world well follow the world well and feele the world well for in the end of the iourney the world
I would not dye For life is so troublesome that it weareth vs death is so doubtfull that it feareth vs. If the gods deferred my death I doubt whyther I should reforme my life And if I doo not amend my lyfe nor serue the Gods better nor profit the common wealth more if that euery tyme I am sick it should greeue me to die I say it is much better for mee now to accept death then to wysh the lengthning of my life I say the life is so troublesome so fyckle so suspicious so vncertayne so importunat finally I say it is a life whithout lyfe that hee is an obstinat foole which so much desireth it Come that that may come for finally not withstanding that I haue spoken I willingly commit my selfe into the hands of the Gods since of necessity I am thereunto constreined For it proceedeth not of a lytle wisedom to receiue that willingly which to doo wee are constrayned of necessity I will not recommend my self to the priests nor cause the oracles to bee visited nor promise any thing to the temples nor offer sacrifices to the gods to the end they should warrant mee from death and restore mee to lyfe but I will demaund and require them that if they haue created mee for any good thing I may not loose it for my euyll lyfe So wise and sage are the gods in that they say so iust true in that they promise that if they geeue vs not that which wee others would it is not for that they wil not but beecause wee deserue it not For wee are so euyl and woorth so litel and wee may doo so lytel that for many good woorks wee deserue no meryt and yet with an euil worke wee bee made vnworthy of al. Since therfore I haue put my selfe in to the hands of the Gods let them doo with mee what they wil for their seruice for in the ende the woorst that they will doo is much better then the world wil doo For all that the world hath geeuen mee hath beene but mockry and deceyte but that which the gods haue geeuen mee I haue gouerned and possessed without suspicion For this last houre my sonne I haue kept the best the most noble and riches iewell that I haue possessed in my life tyme. And I doo protest vnto the immortal gods that if as they doo commaūd mee to dye they would geeue mee lycence to rede in the graue I would commaund it to bee buryed with mee Thou shalt know my sonn that in the .x. yeare of my Empire a great warr arose agaynst the vnruly people of Persia where by euyll luck it was appoynted for mee in person to geeue the battayle the which wonne and al their country destroyed I returned by the old city of Thebes in Aegipte to see if I could finde any antiquity of those in times past In the house of an Egiptian pryest I found a litel table which they hāged at the gate of the kynges pallace the day of his coronatiō And this poore pristes told mee that that which was in this table was writen by a king of Egypt named Ptholomeus Arsasides I beeseech the immortal Gods my sonne that such bee thy woorks as the woords of this table require As emperor I leaue thee heire of many realmes and as a father I geeue thee this table of counsayles The woords which the fathers doo teach vnto the chyldren at the last houre the children ought to keepe continually in their memorye Let this therefore bee my last woord with the Empire thou shalt bee feared through out all the world and with the counsayles of this table thou shalt bee loued of al nations This talk beeing ended and the table geeuen the Emperor turned his eyes lost his senses and for the space of a quarter of an houre lay languishing in extreame payne within a while after yelded vp the ghost In this table weare certain greeke letters which were in meeter and in our tonge signify thus ON honours stall I doo no tirant heaue nor yet the poore suppresse if hee weare iust For riches rule I nould to pardon cleaue For want of wealth nor folow rigours lust For naked loue I neuer spent reward nor would correct for onely enuies heate Of vertues imps I always had regard mischifs mates haue plagd with torment great To others doome I neuer would commit of open right the quarell to decide ne yet of doubtfull strifes in trust of witt The finall end alone I would deuide To them that sought for iustice equall sway her golden rule I neuer did deny ne yet to such for whom desert would lay Their sclender fautes might wel bee slipped by To feele the grife that waued in my minde With others smart I neuer could susteyne nor yet rewardes my princely woordes would binde VVhen sweete delight had chifest ioy to rayne In high estate when most blind fortune smild A reckles lyfe I restles ran not on nor yet when chaunge those happy dayes beegyld to cold despaier my quiet minde was gon By boiling heat of malice endeles fier to vices trayne I cast no egre eye ne yet for lust of pining welthes desire Vnlefull facts I rechles would apply The traitours brest I neuer could embrace nor lend mine eares to swalow flattring talke of vices slaues I wayed not the grace nor left vnsought good will in vertues walke Poore Irus band for that I did reliue VVhos 's needy state dooth stoope in Cresus swaie the greatest gods whose heauenly warck doth griue the proudest crownes was aymy present state FINIS ¶ The fourth booke of the Dyall of Princes Compyled by the right reuerend father in god Antony of Gueuara Byshop of Mondogueto preacher Chronicler and counceller to Charles the fift Emperor of Rome Contayning many instructions and rules for the fauored of the Court beyng once in fauor easely to keepe and continue them selues in fauor still Right necessary profitable for all princes and noble men gentlemen courtiers that seeke to continue them selues in honor and estimacion The Epistle to the Reader WHat detracting tongues report of mee and my first trauell in the translation of this Dyall enlarging them at pleasure to woork my defame disabling my dooing heerein by brute yt was no woork of myne but the fruit of others labor I neede not much force since by dayly proof wee see that yll disposed mynds can neuer frame an honest tongue in head For my obiect and reproofe of this their sclaunderous malignant speeche I can allege curteous reader two principall causes which thou reading and iudging with indifferency mayst easely approoue yf I shoold seeme to glose with thee First the basenes of my style the playn and humble woords couched in the same the mean rude and yll contryued sentences layd beefore thee togeether with the simple handelyng of the whole playnly sheweth to thee whence they are and easely acquainteth thee with the curious translator Who protesteth
yron age alas there is no such kynd of amity as that wee haue spoken of More then this that there is no frend will part with any thing of his to releeue his frend much lesse that taketh care to fauor him in his trobles but if there bee any such that will help hys frend yt is euen then when tyme serueth rather to pity and lament him then to ayd or succor him It is a thing woorth the knowledge that to make a true and perpetuall frendship wee may not offer to many persons but according to Seneca his saying who saith My frend Lucillus I councell thee that thou bee a true frend to one alone and enemy to none for nombers of frends brings great incumbrance which seemeth somewhat to diminish frendship For who that considereth the liberty of the hart it is impossible that one shoold frame and agree wyth the condicions of many and much lesse that many shoold content them with the desiers and affections of one Tully and Salust were two famous orators amongst the Romayns and great enemies beetwene them selues and duryng thys emulation beetweene them Tully had purchased all the Senators frendship and Salust only had no other frend in all Rome but Mark Anthony alone And so these two great Orators beeing one day at woords togeethers Tully in great anger sayd to Salust what force or power art thou of or what canst thou doo or attempt against mee sith thou knowst that in all Rome thou hast but one only frend Mark Antony and I no enemy but one and that is hee To whom Salust answered Thou gloriest O Tully that thou hast no mo but one only enemy and afterwards iests at mee that I haue no more frends but only one but I hope in the immortall Gods that this only enemy thou hast shal bee able enough vtterly to vndoo thee and this my sole frend that I haue shal bee sufficient to protect and defend mee in al my causes And shortly after these woords passed beetween them Mark Antony shewed the frendship hee bare to the one and the enimity hee had to the other for hee caused Tully to bee put to death and raysed Salust to great honor A frend may well impart to the other all his own as bread wyne money tyme conuersation and such lyke but hee cannot notwithstandyng geeue him part of his hart for that suffereth it not to bee parted nor deuyded beecause it can bee geeuen but to one alone This graunted to bee true as needs it must doubtles that the hart can not bee deuyded but only geeuen to one then is it of necessity that hee that will seeke to haue many frends must needs repair to the shambels to prouyde him of many harts Many vaunt them selues and think it a glory to haue nombers of frends but let such well consider to what vse that legendary of frends do serue them they shall then easely fynd they stand them in no other steed but to eat to drink to walk to babble and to murmure togeethers and not one to help the other with their goods fauor and credit at their neede nor frendly to reprooue them of their faults and vyces whych doubtles ought not to bee so For where true and perfect frendship raygneth neither I wish my frend nor hee with mee shoold dissemble any fault or vyce Ouide sayth in his booke de arte amandi that the law of true vnfayned loue is so streight that no frendship but myne in thy hart shoold herber and in myne shoold lodge none others loue but thine for loue is none other thing but one hart lyuing in two bodies two bodies obeying one hart In this world there is no treasure cōparable to a true sure frend syth to a faith full frend a man may safely discouer the secrets of hys hart beewray vnto him hys gryping greeues trusting him with his honor comitting to his guyd custody all his goods hee shall succor him in his misery counsell him in peril reioyce at his prosperity and mourn at his aduersity and in fyne I conclude such a frend neuer werieth to serue him in his lyfe nor to lament him after his death I graunt that gold and siluer is good kynsfolks are good and money is good but true frends exceede them all without comparison For all these things cannot warrant vs from necessitie if synister fortune plunge vs into it but rather encrease our torment and extremitie Also they doo not reioyce vs but rather heap further greefes vppon vs neither doo they succor vs but rather ech hour geeue vs cause to complayn much lesse doo they remember and aduise vs of that that is good but still doo deceiue vs not dyrectyng vs the right way but still bringing vs out of our way and when they haue lead vs awry out of the high way they bring vs into desert woods and hygh and daungerous mountayns whereof necessity wee must fal down hedlong A true frend is no partaker of these conditions but rather hee ys sory for the lest trouble that happeneth to hys frend hee feareth not neither spareth hys goods nor the daunger of his person hee careth not to take vppon hym any painfull iorney quarels or sutes nor yet to put his lyfe in euery hasard of death And yet that that is most of all to bee esteemed is that lyke as the hart and bowels euer burn with pure and sincere loue so dooth hee wish and desire wyth gladsome mynd to bere the burthen of all hys frends mishaps yea more then yet spoken of Alexander the great offered great presents to the Philosopher Zenocrates who woold not vouchsafe to receiue them much lesse to beehold them And beeing demaunded of Alexander why hee woold not receyue them hauyng poore kinsfolks and parents to beestow them on hee aunswered him thus Truely I haue both brothers and sisters O Alexander yet I haue no kinsman but him that is my frend and one only frend I haue who hath no neede of any gyfts to bee geeuen him For the only cause why I choose him to bee my sole and only frend was for that I euer saw him despise these worldly things Truely the sentence of this good philosopher Zenocrates is of no small efficacy for him that will aduysedly consider of it sith that not seeldom but many times it happeneth that the great troubles the sundry daungers and the continuall necessities and miseries wee suffer in this vale of misery haue for the most part proceeded from our parents and afterwards by our frends haue been mediated and redressed Therefore since wee haue thought it good and necessary to choose a frend and that hee bee but one only ech man must bee wise lest in such choise hee bee deceiued For oft tymes it happeneth that those that take litle regard herein graunt their frendship to such one as is to couetous impacient a great babbler seditious and presumptuous and of such condicions that sometyme it
court to chaunge that seruile trade of lyfe for quiet rest at home Thinking assuredly that enioying rest at home in his own house hee myght easely bee damned and abyding the payns and seruyce of court hee beleeued vndoubtedly hee shoold bee saued Surely wee may aptly say that thys old courtier was more then a dotard and that hee had mard the call of his conscyens since hee beleeued it was a charge of conscience to depart the court The ābition to doo much the couetousnes to haue much maketh the miserable courtiers beleeue that they haue yet tyme enough to lyue to repent them when they will So that in the court thinking to lyue two yeres only in their age good men they lyue fifty and three score yeres wicked naughty persons Plutarch in his Apothegmes saith that Eudonius that was Captain of the Greekes seeing Xenocrates reading one day in the vniuersity of Athens hee being not of thage of eyghty fyue yeres asked what that old mā was it was aunswered him that it was one of the philosophers of Greece who followed vertue and serched to know wherein true philosophy consisted Whereuppon hee aunswered If Xenocrates the philosopher tell mee that hee being now eyghty fyue yeres old goeth to seeke vertue in this age I woold thou shooldest also tell mee what tyme hee shoold haue left him to bee vertuous And hee said more ouer in those yeres that this philosopher ys of it were more reason wee shoold see him doo vertuous things thā at this age to goe and seeke it Truely wee may say the very lyke of our new courtier that Eudonius said of Xenocrates the philosopher the which if hee did look for other three score yeres or three score yeres and tenne to bee good what time shoold remain for him to prooue and shew that goodnes It is no maruel at al that the old courtiers forget their natiue countrey and bringing vp their fathers that begat them their frends that shewed thē fauor the seruants that serued them but at that that I doo not only woonder at thē but also it geeueth mee cause to suspect them is that I see they forget them selues So that they neuer know nor consider that they haue to doo till they come afterwards to bee that they woold not bee If the courtiers which in princes courts haue been rich noble in auctority woold counsel with mee or at least beleeue my writing they shoold depart from thence in time to haue a long tyme to consider before of death least death vnwares sodeinly came to take executiō of their liues O happy thrise happy may wee call the esteemed courtier whom god hath geeuen so much wit knowledge to that of him self hee doo depart frō the court before fortune hath once touched him which dishonor or layd her cruell hands vpon him For I neuer saw courtier but in the end did complain of the court of their yll lyfe that they lead in court And yet did I neuer know any person that woold leaue it for any scruple of conscience hee had to remain there but peraduenture if any did depart from the court it was for some of these respects or altogether that is to say Either that his fauor credit diminished or that his money failed him or that some hath doon him displeasure in the court or that hee was driuen from the court or that hee was denyed fauor or that his syde faction hee held with had a fal or for that hee was sick to get his health hee went into the countrey So that they may say hee rather went angry displeased with him self then hee dyd to lament his sinnes If you ask pryuatly euery courtier you shal find none but will say hee is discontented with the court either because hee is poore or afflicted enuyed or yll willed or out of fauor hee wil swere reswere again that hee desyreth nothing more in the world then to bee dismissed of this courtiers trauel painfull life But if afterwards perchaunce a lytle wynd of fauor bee put stirring in the entry of his chāberdore it wilsodeinly blow away al the good former thoughts frō his mynd And yet that that makes mee wonder more at these vnconstant courtiers vnstable brains is that I see many buyld goodly stately houses in their countrey yet they neither dwel in them nor keep hospitality there They graffe set trees plant fruits make good gardeins and ortchyards and yet neuer go to enioy them they puchase great lands and possessiōs and neuer goe to see them And they haue offices and dignities geeuen them in their countreys but they neuer goe to exercise them There they haue their frends and parents and yet they neuer goe to talk with them So that they had rather bee slaues and drudges in the court then lords and rulers in their own countrey Wee may iustly say that many courtiers are poore in riches straungers in their own houses and pilgrimes in their own countrey and banyshed from all their kinreds So that if wee see the most part of these courtiers bakbyte murmure complayn and abhorre these vyces they see dayly committed in court I dare assure you that this discontentation dyslyking proceeds not only of these vyces and errors they see committed as of the spight and enuy they haue dayly to see their enemies grow in fauor and credit with the prince For they passe lytle of the vyces of court so they may bee in fauor as others are Plutarch in his booke de exilio sheweth that there was a law amongst the Thebans that after a man was fyfty yeres of age if hee fell sick hee shoold not bee holpen with phisitians For they say that after a man is once aryued to that age hee shoold desire to lyue no lenger but rather to hast to his iorneys end By these exāples wee may know that infancy is till vii yeres Childhood to .xiiii. yeres youth to xxv yeres manhod till .xl. and age to three score yeres But once passed three score mee think it is rather tyme to make clean the nets and to content themselues with the fish they haue til now then to goe about to put their nettes in order again to fish any more I graunt that in the court of princes all may bee saued and yet no mā can deny mee but that in princes courts there are mo occasions to bee damned then saued For as Cato the Censor saith the apt occasions bring men a desire to doo yll though they bee good of them selues And although some do take vppon them and determyne to lead a godly and holy lyfe or that they shew themselues great hipocrits yet am I assured notwithstanding that they cannot keepe their tongue from murmuring nor their hart from enuying And the cause heereof proceedeth for that there are very few that follow the court long but only to enter into credit and afterwards to waxe rich