of men and loue of God. THe great Philosopher Eschinus in a famous inuectiue against his mortal enemie Demosthenes vseth these wordes it belongeth to the Demosthenes according to the estimation which thou makest of thy wisedome to be resolute in thy enterprises true in thy promises wel aduised in thy counsels and righteous in all that thou doest all which fall out contrarie in thy behauiour and actions for that oftentimes thou art séene to do thinges which thou oughtest not and no lesse often art heard to speake that which thou thinkest not These wordes spoken by the Philosopher to the reproch of his enemie deserue to be applied to all men for that there are none that can worthely challenge the true merit and imputation of wisemen if they expresse not as great modestie in their spéech as equitie in their workes it is a iust thing that euery one take héede to that he doth and be well aduised in what he sayth since amongest noble mindes more easely is satisfied an actuall wrong done against their persons then an iniurious word vttered to the preiudice of their honour alwayes esteming that the blowe of a sword hurtes but the flesh but a word suggested to infamie offendeth the reputation This I say sir vppon the occasion of your letter charging me eftsones to repeat my late discourse vttered in the presence of the Emperour vppon this theame that it is very hurtfull to haue Christ to our enemie and a thing no lesse daungerous to haue man our friend If in your opinion I speake any thing which was not well studied and considered vppon you do wrong to the grauetie of my profession since it is my custome neuer to pronounce wordes of such deuine and high subiect but euen with the same attention and deuocion wherewith I would confesse my selfe to God accompting it withall to too great a fault to publish any thing which might bréede scrupull in your Lordship or murmure in so excellent an auditorie But now to our purpose wherein I confirme eftsones that if it be euill to haue the creator to our enemie it can not be lesse daungerous to haue to our friend the creature And if there be no necessitie to employ the Phisition and our friend but in times daungerous and doutfull it can not but be to men a most assured counsell rather to eschew perils then to entreate friendes since friends being of the world their friendship hath also his corruption of the world in whom is more confusion then continuance of thinges I do not say it is euill to haue friends but that it is daungerous and painefull for that the mightie thy friend is of estate by so much is thy daunger the greater to proue him and thy care no lesse to obserue and kéepe him séeing specially great friendship is not knowne but in extreme necessitie Many and many are there now a dayes who would abstaine from many haynous and hurtfull faultes if they had not confidence in the fauour and reskew of their friends which being a braunch of impunitie can not but bring perill to a common weale where the due course sinceritie of iustice is stopped by the corruption of perticuler fauour This is one maner of election of friendes amongest men that méeting by chaunce or cōmoning together or eating at one table they suppose from the instant a perpetuall friendship to be established betwene them which in good certaintie truth can not be so for that in times of necessitie and trial there is no more proofe or effect of such friends thē betwene the Crowe and the Kyte of whom when it hapneth to the one to be bare of fethers the other aunswereth that to him is no more then sufficeth him to flie That which one friend doth for an other in these times is eyther to excuse or conseale himselfe when there is néede of him being more ready to lend him his conscience then his money that is eyther to go with him to the reuenge of an enemie or to perfourme some exployt of vice or at least to serue his turne with some false testimonie Which sort of friendes as they are most common and least rare so let all men esteme it no small felicitie to be deuided from them séeing they are more prodigall of their conscience then liberall of their goods Who waigheth with the number of friends that are professed to hint how many haue ministred the true office and qualitie of frendes to giue succours to his necessities for one that he hath founde faythfull I doubt not but he shall be hable to disclose an hundreth dessemblers In which respect I sayd not without great reason that it was great perill to a man not to be consociate with a frende honest firme and vertuous since for no greaten cause then the action of a common reuerence and ciuilytie they are readie to require our goodds to loane commaunde the vse and seruice of our house and not sticke to bring our conscience in doubt occasions that many times mooue men to disclaime neighbourhoodes and frendships which they had begone in great good wil and deuotion But right blessed and holy is the frendshippe of Iesus Christ wherein can be no scrupull nor daunger For that in recompence of the affection he beares vs he neyther demaundes our goodes nor trobleth our conscience his frendship is alwayes assured for that it is wel established it is certeine since he neuer forgets vs it is not fayned since it correctes our conscience it is iust for that it suffereth nothing vnreasonable it is righteous since in it hée doth communicate to vs his grace and it is most riche and plentiful as by whose meane he geues vs his glory So that he onely may and ought to be called a frende holy a frende iust faythfull profitable and perpetual For that the frends that he takes he lookes not if they riche and much lesse estéemes it to dishonor if they be pore he chuseth for his frend whom he lyketh and after he haue once called him he neuer forbeareth to loue and lyke him He looketh not whether he be mightie or impotent faire or deformed or whether his condition be frée or bonde No he makes not so great reckoning of the seruices we doe him as of the loue which we beare to him Jn charitate perpetua delexite The loue saith Iesus Christ by his Prophete where with Christ loueth vs is not feyned nor transitorie but reteyneth always one perpetuall setled stability as appeareth most truely in this that by the meane of his grace we are made agréeable to him afore we are able to doe any thing to deserue to be his frends Such is the perpetuall perfection of his charitie that the loue that he bears vs being his owne the profit that comes of it apperteyns to vs pretending no other thing in the loue which he beares to all Creatures then to make séene his souereigne bountie employed on our behalfes in most highe
frendes may we say with this good théefe that they are out of the feare of God that they wander in their proper destruction that they are replenished with vices and doe not obserue one of Gods commaundements But by so much more wretched is our condition by how much one frende dare not warne an other for that all frendship now a dayes standes vpon these limits and tearmes not to correct one an other but rather to couer and dissemble and suffer communitie of euill It is a wonderful confusion to sée one sinner admonishe an other and a théefe to reproue a théefe and yet one Christian dare not rebuke an other no rather they will endure their vices then deuide themselues from their frendship Not to aduertise a frend of his honour or not to aduise him of his wealth may happen and is suffered but not to admonish him of that which concerneth his conscience is hatefull and ought not to be borne withall for that in thinges touching the honor of God we are bounde not to dissemble with our Father nor to yéelde consent to our dearest frende Nathan reproued Dauid Samuell rebuked Saule Micheas admonished Achab Helias reproued Jezabell S. John rebuked Herod and S. Paule reproued S. Peter not so much for hauing erred and fayled as for offending God the better to admonishe vs that him we ought to holde as enemie whom we know doth not loue God Nonne qui oderunt te inimici facti sunt mihi Oh great God of Jsraell sayth Dauid the greatest seruice that I haue done thée is that all my lyfe time I haue hated those that loued not thée eschewed such as folowed not thy lawes was a straunger to such as searched not thy precepts and will and none haue bene worse welcome to my companye then such as boare to thee no seruice I woulde the example of Dauid might be embraced now a dayes or that to christian frends were ioyned such propertie of affection so should there be no vice in mens frendship nor toleracion of wickednes for that if euill men were not supported by their frends iustice discipline woulde either spedely determine their liues or shame instruction leade them to amendment of manners great then was the charitie of this théefe to his companion the pitie not little which he had of Iesus Christ whereof as he defended the one and perswaded the other so his vertue concludes in good Authoritie that it is a true effect of our Christian pietye to yéelde compassion to such as are troubled and reduce him that is out of the Way After this good théefe was commited to God and confessed his sinnes to Iesus Christ and aunswered for him he began then to lift vp his voyce and say vnto him Domine memento mei dum veneris in regnum tuum wherein with iust reason he calles him Lorde for that it is resolute with God not to take pitie or mercie vpon vs if first we accknowledge not in him his diuinitie and therefore in the olde times whē God spake with the Hebrues he vsed commonly this phrase haec dicit Dominus c. The better to aduertise the nations and people of the earth that all kinges and Princes of this world are in all thinges no other thing but gouernours and deputies and to God alone belonges all souereigne and Supreame Potentacie In which respect it behoueth vs afore all thinges to confesse God to be Father and souereigne Lorde and to honour his blessed sonne by the name of Lorde and redéemer for that it is directly to repugne his ordinarie power to Pardon sinne in any man which doth not accknowledge in God predomination and Lordship Let vs therefore with the humilitie fayth and conformetie of this théefe say Domine memento mei For th s ought to be an office in our beléefe that if we confesse god to be sole ceator serue him as soueraigne Lorde he will not misknow vs as straungers specially if we acknowledge vs to apperteine vnto him The seconde worde of this théefes petition was Memento mei agréeing with the inuocation of Salomon Da mihi sedium tuarum aslis tricem sapientiam vt sciam quid acceptum sit coram te omni tēpore giue me O Lord partin thy wisedome to the end I may doe the thinges agréeable to thee and tending to my saluation notwithstanding that Salomon amongest all the kings of Jerusalem was most Peasible most Riche Renoumed and most Wise yet with all these Qualities he durst not demaunde of God but Wisedome and that not without great reason For albeit a man knoweth that which he wold haue yet he is ignorant in that which is necessary for him And as we liue in God more then in our selues that God loues vs aboue our proper affections so it is he that knoweth better thē our selues what we wold haue of him what we want is néedfull for vs for which cause this well aduised good christian théefe would aske no other thing but that the Lord would haue remembrance of him instructing vs by that that God bearing to vs such plentifull will affection ther is no great nede to trouble him with importunities but onely with a feruent hart put him in remembrance of those thinges we desire to haue saying Domine memento mei Lord that hast created me haue remembrance of me Lorde that hast Redéemed me forget me not and thou Lord in whom I beléeue be mindfull of me Vouchsafe Oh Lord to draw me to thy selfe Oh loue of my soule haue remembrance of me since thou hast formed me of earth and since thou hast breathed into me a soule made me man hast employed thy lyfe for me vouchsafe to be mindefull of me to the ende there be no spoyle made of my Soule yea since thou hast suffered thy Passon for me resisted so many Temptations and spilt so much of thy innocent bloud as satisfyed the Price of my vyle and wretched Sinnes I beséeche thée be myndefull of me Here is to be noted that this théefe in these humilities to God sayd not Lorde haue remembrance of my children my wyfe my frendes or my labors and trauels but sayde onely Lorde remember me aduising vs that in this worlde there is nothing which we ought to holde so deare as the reckoning of our conscience according to the expresse text of our sauiour to the mother and children of Zebeda Nescitis quid petatis because that afore they asked pardon for their sinnes they demaunded realmes and kingdomes and before they sought to purge the transgression of their soules they aspired to be set one of the right and the other of the left hande of Iesus Christ But the wise Chananite woman afore she sayde Filia mea male a demonio vexatur cryed Miserere mei sewing first for pardon for her selfe afore she sought the recouery of her daughter for that so good is the Lorde our God that if he loue not him that
deserue to be chastised and matters that ought to be dissembled So it can not but happen to the furious man that in place to appease and couer iniuries he will of himselfe thunder reproches agaynst the parties But now after the daungers and domages that come by Anger it apperteynes to reason and congruencie to exhibite a fewe remedies to Cure or qualifie those moodes In all our affayres and actions it is good to fore sée both what may happen to vs and what may be sayde of vs For so shall we be Armed that albeit men geue vs cause to be Angrye yet they shall haue no power to make our passion furious And therfore the same néede that the poore man hath of Riches and the Foole of Wisedome the same necessitie hath the harte of patience For béeing Subiect to many Afflictions and the troubles no lesse that assayle him together wyth the daungers that depende on them wthout comparison many mo be the thinges which he ought to suffer in patience then that are Lawfull for him to reuenge wyth his Tongue And if of euery wronge that is done to vs and of euery aduersitie that is naturall to our condition we should reteyne special accompt and reckoning our hands would neuer cease to reuenge our Tongue weary with complayning and our hart wasted and broken with sighing For what man béeing a member of this miserable lyfe to whom is not one equall desire that his dayes and troubles might dissolue together Men béeing so ouergrowne wyth vices and so deuoured wyth affayres and businesses it is maruell that since they are so slow to cutte of their cares and troubles that the waues of their proper aduersities doe not rise and swallowe them vp And if the Phisitions ordeined to cure infirmities of the body would binde themselues to heale the sorows of the hart they should in particuler haue more patients mustering afore their gates then in times past were inhabitantes in Rome when it was best replenished For so naturall is the sickenesse of trouble and vexation that though many eschew it yet few haue power to liue long exempt frō it What is he either past present or to come who in his body hath not felt some paine and in his hart some passion hath not suffered some losse or spoile of his goodes or infamye to his person or at least who can walke so vpryghtlye to whome is not done some Iniurye or some Scorne or Reproache spoken But he that is Vexed wyth all these Aduersities and wyll make Headde agaynste them and Remedye them Let hym bée assured that euen then shall he laye the plotte of the ende and dispatch of his life when he begins to put order to these incurable harmes For as there is no Sea without working no Warre without daunger nor Iourney without trauell Euen so that there is no worldly lyfe voyde of troubles nor any estate without stombling blockes it is most apparant in this that there liues no man so happie which hath not wherin to be greued and wherupon to complaine For how many doe we sée whom Pryde makes fal Enuie consumes Anger torments Pouertie wasteth and Ambicion endeth their dayes so that for the most part such is the miscontentment of our mindes that our aduersities traueling our spirites in Martirdome driue vs to wishe rather an honest death then to languishe in so troblesome a lyfe And so if we will accomplishe this commaundement To be angrie and sinne not let vs in accidentes which the world fortune and nature bring vpon vs dissemble some suffer some conceale some and remedie the rest and in all thinges let vs follow reason and flée opinion For such as enter into Religion SVch as be Religious or aspire to the office and ministerie of the Church ought to haue alwaies afore their eyes the wordes which God spake to Abraham saying Depart out of thy Countrey and from amongest thy frendes and goe into the lande which I shall shewe thée and abyde where I commaunde thée For vnder these wordes shall they finde comprehended all that God doth for them and lykewise that which they are bounde to doe for the seruice of god Abraham being in the house of Tara his father and Aran and Achor his Bretherne Chaldees and Idolators God appeared vnto him and bad him leaue his Countrey and Parentes and goe where he would guide him and rest where he would commaund him and in recompence of this obedience sayth God I will make thée Lord ouer great nombers of people and will so geue thée my blessing as thou shalt for euer remaine blessed Out of these wordes may be gathered foure things which God commaunded Abraham and other foure things which God promised him So that as a Lorde he teacheth him in what he ought to serue him and withall tels him what rewarde he will geue him for his seruice Afore God called Abraham it was not founde that there was any vertue in him and much lesse that he had done any seruice to God only the scriptures make mencion that he was of the generation of Saruth and sonne af Tara and had to his Brother Aran which all were Gentils and Idolators Cassianus sayth that of thrée sorts be called those that come to the perfection of Religion One sort God calles by holy inspirations an other sort is chozen of men by good councels The thirde sort is constreyned to enter into Religion by some necessitie or misaduenture happened to them So that albeit the perfection of Religion be alwayes one yet the meanes to come thereunto are many The first function or estate is called deuine and consistes as is sayd in this when the great goodnes of God so toucheth the hart of a man that he leaueth that which he doth and doth that which he ought estraunging his minde from worldly thinges and raysing it to deuine and heauenly contemplations The seconde is called humaine or worldly as when any wicked liuer is tourned to God by the councell of some good man as Hippolito was conuerted to the Fayth by the instructions of S. Laurence The thirde vocation may be called constrayned or by necessitie as when a man of dissolute conuersation and falling into aduersitie is conuerted to God And as these be the thrée manners of calling and meanes to enter into Religion so if they be wel considered I sée not how the first oftentimes eyther doth much profite nor the last much hinder for more or lesse to serue God in religion For there haue bene many of those which God hath called to Religion condemned and many others which came to serue him by force haue ben saued Christ called and chused to the Colleadge of his Disciples the cursed Judas and the Apostle S. Paule being reuersed and falne from his Horse necessitie compelled him to know Iesus Christ So that Judas being exalted fell and S. Paule being falne was exalted This I bring in this place to the ende that none estéeme much or
occasiōs to sin giue him grace to serue him When the son of god would reueil any secret mistery to any of his dear disciples he vsed to lead thē into solitary places separate frō the brute of the world therby to signifie to al posterities that by how much more god loueth a man by so much more doth he estraung deuide him from the felowship of the world Ducam illum in solitudinem et loquar ad cor eius The soule that is beloued of me saith god by his prophet Osee and which I haue predestinated I wil draw out of the troubles of the worlde and leade him into solitarie places and pryuately reueale vnto his harte my secretes Right happie is that soule whom the Lorde calleth to the desert of Religion there to serue him with greater deuotion follow him with more constancie of hart God hath spoken to many by signes and hath communicated with many by writinges wordes yea to some he hath whispered in their eare But he spekes onely to the hartes of those whom he loueth with his harte And little serues it that God spake to vs in the eare to heare him to our eyes to beholde him and to our tongue to exalt him if with all he spake not to the hart to loue him For it is impossible that he should loue God with his harte who hath him not imprinted in his hart And then doth GOD speake to the hart of a Christian when he drawes him out of the stormes of this worlde and leades him into the solitarinesse of a Monasterie where he may his body in puritie and his minde in contemplation For the trée that standes by the high waye geues more shaddow to the passenger then fruite to the owner that prunes it God doth not onely say J will draw him from the worlde and leade him into the desert But he sayde he would speake to his hart meaning that little doth it auayle to be led into the desert of Religion if with a good harte we doe not abandon the thinges of the worlde For more doth it hurt then good if our Surgion draw from vs a grosse tooth and leaue behinde some corrupt rote to infect the gumes And therefore who forsakes the world with good hart and entreth into Religion with holy intention it is he with whose harte God doth communicate and loues him with his harte God hath promised that wheresoeuer two be gathered together in his name he would be the third therefore it is good Religion to beléeue that he is in all houses well corrected and in euery vertuous congregation compounded vpon religious persones magnifying and seruing him both daye and night So that such as are admitted to a vertuous assemblie can not haue in this Worlde a more great felicitie And therefore not without great misterie God commaunded Abraham to abandon the house which he had builded and the inheritance which he had established thereby to instruct all professors of religion that in all temporall thinges are impediments to be good Christians and hinder the science of perfection in religion Declina a malo et fac bonum thou oughtest to flee darkenesse if thou wilt enioy the light thou must folow the right way if thou wilt not erre auoyd the mire and durt if thou wilt be with out spot and cleane yea thou must first forbeare to be euill if thou wilt begin to be good so shalt thou which the councell of Dauid eschew the vice and follow vertue This discourse was vttered in the presence of a Noble Lady at her Churching SInt lumbi vestri praecincti et lucernae ardentes in manibus vestris Oh thou that commest or meanest to come to the house of the Lorde sayth Christ it behoueth thée to be straightly girt afore the Candle the Candlesticke be giuen thée in thy hande For amongest the Seruantes of God if we sée any goe heauely sadly and discomforted it is a good argument to say that he is negligent not well girt The Scripture beares witnesse that Elias in the Desert S. Iohn in the Wildernesse S. Peter in Prison S. Paule in Ephesus and Christ vppon the Pinacle although they were thinly cloathed yet were they well girt By which is gathered this instruction that notwithstanding the troubles and persecutions happening to perfect men they ought not for all that to giue ouer that they haue begon nor be colde or negligent in that they haue taken in hande The gowne that is well girt kéepes the body warme and gathereth lesse wynd Euenso the man that professeth a religiō to serue God being girt with puretie and holy intentions is the better armed against the winde of vanities of this world and no lesse prepared for the heate of deuotion and seruice of god So that then wée may say a man is well girt when we sée him in the way to be holy and iust For so abstinent and continent ought we to be in religion that both the worlde may behold our vertue and many made better by our example And therefore where the LORDE saith it behoueth vs to haue our gownes girt afore wée take the candels in our handes it is to aduise vs that in such sorte should wée leaue bound trodden out and naked the vanities and ryches of this world that they haue no power to followe vs and wée lesse desier too goe séeke them The lighted candelles which wée should haue in our handes be the good and holy works we ought to doe and as he is one that holdes the candell and he an other that pertakes in the vse and light of it so the good worke of the holy man is not onely profitable to himselfe alone but it also serueth to edifie an other that séeth him do it with all like as he is not exempt from sinne who to an other giues occasion to sinne in like sorte that man can not be without meritte whose vertue is the cause that an other doth any good action the same agreeing with the interpretation of this text of the Prophet Particeps sum omnium timentium te when we are the cause that other men serue God wée do communicate and pertake saith he with the merit of such good thinges as they do in his seruice It sufficeth not saith Iesus Christ to holde one onely candell in our handes but it is requisite to the office and pietie of Christians to haue many For as the true christian and man of perfect deuotion to GOD receiues of the plentifull hand of the Lorde many graces and benefites So it is necessary that he do him many seruices and kéepe his spirit in continuall exercise of thankesgiuing For as this is common in the office and frendshippe of men that by how much lesse we are raised to benefites aboue our merit so much more are bounde to owe al those due respectes of recompence and ciuility as may hold vs acquited and leaue our frend satisfied Euen so with God this
hatred contentment and displeasure prosperitie and aduersitie consent and deniall and hope and dispaire So that we trust our selues to much baing of our selues deceiued We are made gréeuous to our selues since aswell daye as night we are vnresolute what we ought to chuze or refuze what we should loue or hate what we are bounde to flee or folow what belonges to vs to giue or to kepe wherein we ought to speake or to holde our peace and whether we should suffer or reuenge wherein in the ende we finde our selues vnhappie in all thinges sauing that euen in our infelicities we are happie We are gréeuous to our selues since all the delights of this lyfe displease vs wearye vs and tourne to our discontentment and yet being wearie to liue we would in no wise die Yea though we absteine somtine from sinne it is not for want of will but because we cannot as men that are tyred haue no facultie to goe further We are made gréeuous against our selues for that if we be sicke it coms thorow our owne surfeit disorder If we be pore it is because we liue idly And if we be punished by the maiestrate it is for that we haue offended the lawes So that in none is so iust cause of complaint against any as in man against himselfe for that al the trauels perplexities infirmities that trauellour fraile bodies our selues doe bréede them and for the most part we goe out and search them For in geuing libertie to our eyes to beholde thinges vaine in suffering our tongue to tell vntruthes in yéelding our eares to heare flatteryes and our hart to loue thinges that we ought not I saye if there be in vs any member that absteines from sinne it is not through any resistance that we make but for feare of some punishement Then if it be true that we rayse war against our selues wyth whom shall we haue true peace If we worke our owne afflictions in whom shall we finde comfort to whom shall we not be hurtfull if we be enemies to our selues And against whom may we make complaint seing of our selues we receiue the iniuries There is in vs no hope or expectation of profite to others when we are hurtful instruments against our selues Oh wretched infelicitie of man to whom there are none so furious and raging enemies as his proper desires who on the one side holde him in feare and on the other giue him courage and hart Sure we ought to be gréeuous against our selues when wée remember the great welth we haue and the little good we doe with it when we conferre our time lost with the euill example we haue expressed Yea when we measure the benefites we haue receiued with our ingratitude our readinesse to sinne with our slownesse to amende the ill that we haue done with the good we might haue done we ought I say in true conference and consideratien of these thinges to be ashamed to liue and haue great feare to die PLVTARKE writeth to the Emperour TRAIAN being lately his Disciple and now raysed to the Empire A Letter tending to instruct Princes newly raysed to principalities RIght excellent Prince Albeit the long experience I haue had of the moderation of your will together with what disposition you haue alwayes affected estates and dignities Yet I haue neuer knowne you subiect to those desires which for the most part gouerne most mē that is to aspire to kingdoms and principallities A man to forbeare to winne and purchase honor is out of the limittes of wisedome but not to giue libertie to the hart to desire it is sure a vertue more diuine then huntaine For that man doth enough who restraineth the action that his handes haue power to execute and maketh his desires equall with thinges honest indifferent and reasonable Wherein with iust cause may I say thy Empire is happie since thou hast done Actes to deserue it and vsed no corrupt industrie to purchase it For dignities apperteining properlie to vertue vertue of her selfe transferreth them to those men to whom her selfe is conioyned There haue bene many Emperours who haue not bene so much honored for the estates they haue had as for the merite of their vertues by the which they haue bene raysed vnto them For the honor of a man consistes not so much in the present office he hath as in the vertues and merittes which followed his lyfe afore So that it is to offices that men geue new honor where to the personage belonges nothing but paine and charge And therefore remembring for mine owne part that I haue gouerned thy youth and instructed thy witte with good learning I cannot but reioyce as much in thy excellent vertues as in thy supreame Fortune alluding to my selfe no small happinesse that in my time Rome hath a Lorde euen he that hath bene my Disciple Principalities of tiranie are got by force susteyned by Arms which as I haue always knowne to be far from thy nature cōdition so hast thou now to remēber that thou oughtest to doe nothing to bring thée into the opinion suspition of men For as the Empire is discended vnto thée with the voyce and consent of all men so it belonges to thée to enterteyne it with due iustice towardes all sortes Wherein if thou béest thankefull to the great God patient in chaunces and fortunes carefull in daungers mylde to thy People and affable to straungers not gréedie of riches nor a louer of thy proper desires the burden of thy place will be easie thy renoume perpetuall and all common weales and Posterities made happie by thy example I aduize thée with great reason not to be a follower of thy proper desires for that there can be no worse gouernement then that which is managed by Opinion onely Since he that Administreth in a Common Weale ought to liue in Feare of all but much more of himselfe for that much more is he Subiect to fayle and Erre following his will and fancie then if hée Followed the Direction of his well aduized Councell assuring thée that too auoyde Infamie too thy selfe and preiudice to thy People thou oughtest first to applie Correction to thy selfe afore thou Minister Discipline to others Therefore it were good that now that thou commaundest thou shouldest expresse thy selfe such one as when thou wast commaunded For other wayes little would it serue thée by thy vertues to haue deserued the Empire if afterwardes thy want of gouernement made thée vnworthie to vse it since it is more worthy to deserue honor thē to possesse it To atteine to honor is a worke humaine but to preserue it is a grace diuine And therefore thou hast to take héede that though thou art a Souereigne Prince yet thou hast no priueleadge to be in all thinges an absolute Lorde For amongst men there is no authoritie so supreame which hath not God to be iudge ouer them and men to be beholders of what they doe In which respect now
when it is violent If we prayse the earth for her fruite we murmure against her when she is barraine If we haue commoditie by riuers for the stay of our thirst and to bréede fishes for our noriture they are intollerable on the other side when they ouerflow their channels and drowne our fieldes and cattell Too much meate bréedes indigestion and too little makes the stomak weake wāt of exercise brings sicknes too much labour is hurtfull solitarinesse makes vs encline to melancholy and too much conuersation is importunate Riches are accompanied with care and pouertie subiect to sorwe But let vs exchange these customes with the actions of auncient noble men in times past in whom if there were causes of many merites they boare also matter no lesse worthy of blame For the Gretians praised Hercules for his force but they accuse him of tirannies The Lacedemonians attribute much to Licurgus for the zeale he bare to his common weale but they note him for a most seuere and rigorous iudge With the Egyptians Isis is famous for his patience but they stayne him for his vnchastetie The Athenians extoll Plato for his doctrine but they accuse his great couetousnes The Romanes make Caesar to be mercifull and withall reapport him to be hautie and proud So that if in men of so great accompt haue bene found imputation of vice and fault you and I sir may well conclude that there is no bread without branne no Nut without shell no trée without barke no corne without chaffe nor any man without fault All my life long I haue heard men complaine of women and women murmure against men in both which I thinke is one equall and common reason For since there resteth betwene man and woman such difference in their creation they must of congruent necessitie be contrarie in condicion And therefore except in Iesus Christ it is Blasphemie to thinke that any person is dispensed with all from erring or acquited from falling This discourse sir haue I vsed the better to bring into your remembraunce the mariage betwene you and my néece which was accomplished rather by ioynt will and consent then by necessitie eyther of you being in state well hable and sufficient to preferre you And seeing you cannot denie that when you made choyse of her you promised to serue her and with great importunities disauowed your self from all others to cleaue vnto her It is neyther reasonable nor iust that you now bequeath your selfe to the seruice of an other séeing by no equitie you can be due to none other but to her only If there be infirmities in her I hope they are not so desperate but the office of a good husband may either reforme or suffer them and for imperfections I sée not how she can be charged with any hauing beautie riches linage and vertue Oh how many wiues be there now a dayes who if they be riche they lacke beautie if they be faire they want linage if they haue high birth they are voyd of vertue If they be vertuous they are not young And being young they may perhappes want discretion and gouernement by meanes whereof as their husbandes haue wherevppon to repent and their parents no small cause of sorrowe So let all men esteme it no small felicitie to receiue in mariage a wife well borne young fayre riche and vertuous to whom he is bound as the soule to the bodie and if he exchange deuide himselfe to straungers he stands guiltie of no small offence and is subiect to no little daunger I heare sir that you vse the seruice of other houses then your owne in the night that you delite to walke the stréetes and behold the starres that you visite Curtisanes and haue familiaritie with bawdes exercises truly to decay your substance and bring daunger to your person And I cannot maruaile a little that hauing alreadie trauelled most regions in Christendome which ought to suffice to establish the race of your youth that now you will not séeke to put your mind in rest the oportunitie so seruing together wyth the commoditie of so good a wife and large liuing The vanities or follies which follow young men are for the most part referred to the gréennes of their youth but if wee haūt lightnes after we be maried much lesse that we can be excused séeing all the world standes vp to condemne vs And therefore to make pilgrimage to such saintes as you worship or visit shaded houses wherein dwell no bodie but curtisanes with paynted faces or to bee a straunger to your owne house wherein you find nothing but vertue and vertuous delites it can not but bring preiudice to your honour hazard to your soule slaunder to your posteritie and spoyle to your patrimonie For that being so possest by straunge women where they haue no possibilitie to marie with you they will labour to plumbe vppon you till they haue left you neither fether nor flesh If you haue no regard to your soule at least looke back to the safetie of your goods séeing that from the day you enter mariage and haue children as touching your goods you are no more Lord but only a tutor and kéeper of them And therefore no lesse guiltie is he that loaseth his own goods then he that robbeth an other But if you haue no respect to your goods at least beare care to your honour to the end you may more easely aspire to publike charge in the common weale which being not distributed to young men full of libertie but to men of setled stay and grauetie It behoueth you to remayne no longer as you are but to be such one as you esteme your selfe to be If you beare no respect to your honour at least vse consideration of your soule For so delicate is the lawe of Iesus Christ and so straite the cōmaundements of God that they do not onely forbid men conuersation with straunge women but also condemne all desires that waye It behoueth you also to haue care ouer the securitie of your person and health since it commonly hapneth to the man that emboldneth himselfe to drinke of all Waters and carieth a key to open other mennnes Lockes that in séeking to dishonor his neighbour he shall suggest perill to his owne lyfe Your Wyfe will endure harde Fare many frownings restraint of libertie all reproches yea though they be thundred with stripes with all other perplexities vpon condition onely that you loue her alone and séeke no knowlege with others For there is no greater dispaire to a Maried woman then when her Husband dischargeth vpon her backe all his Iars Quarrels and passions and reserueth his pleasures ioyes and companie for an other Yea it is harde in whether of the two resteth the greater harte eyther as touching the Husbande to doe so or in respect of the Wyfe to endure it Oh it is intollerable to the Wyfe to heare her husband merie abroade and finde him frowarde at home
passe him into the land of promise he promised to make his name great and raise his renoume aboue men on the earth For my condicion sayth God is not to haue friends if they be not honored Wherein we may note that in recompence that Abraham abandoned his countrey his friendes his goods and all other his long experienced felicities yea béeing readie liberally to sacrifice his only sonne Yet God promised him not patience restitution of riches nor long life but onely to giue him honour A grace not small comming from the hand of God and a blissing great to bée bestowed on men For to whom the Lord giues honour for his person and glory for his soule there resteth no more to make that man happy in the world and much lesse to trouble God with further desires since riches being to be got by industrie and fortune to be gouerned by prouidence and pollicie and since sicknes and health are subiect to naturall causes and short or long life limited by the will and resolution of God what can be more required for the worldly glory of man then to haue honour and credite which is a treasure better resolued then riches and cares not what pollicie can do against it it triumphes aboue fortune is not tied to the destinie of sicknes nor subiect to the power of death but as a thing not transitorie it carieth men to immortalitie and dieth not til heauen earth come to their accompt Spoliauit me gloria mea abstulit coronam meam de capite meo I knowe not sayth the holy man Iob why the Lord hath set mée vppon the dunghill replenished with this deformitie of botches the same making straungers to abhorre mée and mine owne people to misknow mée But the thing that I féele wyth most bitternes is that hée hath taken my Crowne from my head that is my credite and defaced my glory which is mine honour and renowme Job in his affliction lost seuen thousand shéepe thrée thousand Camels fiue hundreth yoke of oxen and fiue hundreth she Asses yet all these temporall spoyles brought not such griefe vnto him as the losse of his renoume and credit for that in this miserable life there is nothing can be called losse but when we lease good renoume What hath that man that hath not honour What do we leaue behind vs if we die not with renoume Yea we liue in vaine if our life be infamous since a man of naughtie reputation being slaunderous to himselfe can not but bée also hurtfull to others For that to such one the good sort will geue no fayth nor the wicked any obedience no man will suffer him as his neighbour nor any chuse him for his friend Séeing of that qualitie are infamie and leprosie that with their onely conuersation they infect a man The man infamous and dishonored standes so defaced in confidence and credite that no man wyll trust him and much lesse to bée taken for a publique witnesse wherein sure the Lawe hath great conformitie with reason séeing it is not conuenient in wisedome equitie and nature to referre our goods and causes to the trust and direction of him who can not kéepe his proper honour reputation Libera me Domine ab homine malo à viro iniquo c. If I haue any part in thée oh great GOD of Israel sayth Dauid I beséech thée defend mée from him that is not a christian and from a christian euil renoumed since most commonly ill renoume is accompanied wyth ill conscience Wherein if any wyll say it is no generall rule that infamie and a corrupt conscience are coupled together for that many are vniustly sclaundered it may bée confessed but wyth this addicion that where the condicions of the ill man are instruments to detect him the vertues of the good man kéepe him alwayes from sclaunder For vertue is of that force that forth with shée disclaymeth and proueth the fault not to bée in the abuse of the good man but in the enuie that is borne him Jn die illa attenuabitur gloriae Jacob marcescet pinguedo carnis eius Esay speaking of the Sinagoge crieth out oh sorrowfull Sinagoge and vnhappie house of Jacob know thou that when hée shall come into the worlde that is so much desired of men thy fatte flesh shall growe leane and all thy glory shall bée consumed because thou hast bene a Rebell agaynst thy Kyng peruerted the Lawe By the fat flesh of Israell was ment the Patriarches and Prophetes and the glory of Jacob was the renoume they had by reason of the Scepter and Priesthode And yet in place of this fatnes came féeblenes and leanes to this renoume succéeded infamie For after the Passion of Christ they had no more Prophets and much lesse gathered honour or renoume the wordes of Esay being truly and fully accomplished for that after the death of Christ the Citie was destroyed the temple reuersed the priesthood finished the Scepter confounded the lawe expired and the whole people so dispersed that euen till this day they haue not recouered their honour nor restored their common weale Here it is not without misterie that the Prophet sayd that altogether their fatnesse should not bée consumed but that their glory should decline and their fatnesse become leane Geuing to vnderstand that for their greater punishment God would not altogether destroye that people but so appoynted that thorowe out the world and to the end of the world they might wander in sorowe feare captiuitie pouertie desolation dishonour and infamie neither obseruing Law nor acknowledging any Kyng By all these let vs bée taught how much wée are bound to estéeme honour and with what griefe wée ought to féele the losse of it séeing that as GOD doth geue it of his speciall grace so also hée takes it away oftentimes for our offences The Author modestly reprehendeth his friend for not yéelding to his request I Vnderstand Sir that you make no lesse vaunt for denying my request then I was shamefast to desire you which hath giuen mée some occasion of debate eftsones betwéene your authoritie and my iudgement and your frowardnes and my condicion The man that doth ill is but simply wicked but hée that glorieth in his ill is not wythout a Sipirite of the Deuill For as the Condition of the Deuill is inclyned to deceaue so the nature of the vayne and Frowarde is hardlye Corrected and therefore to the Glorious and Obstynate manne it is in vayne to géeue Councell and muche lesse to minister Correction since where reason yéeldes to selfe wyll and Sensualitie suffereth no Councell there the mynde is tourned into Partialytie and all the Senses resolued into Faction I saye thus muche vppon the occasion of my Requeste to you to beare fauour to my Friende to whom much lesse you Ministred any friendeshippe séeing you would not once vouchesafe to bestowe an Aunswere to my Letter an iniurie which I haue felt