world how know you that why looke into their course of life if any vaine opportunitie be offred wil they not follow it if the wicked call to goe will they not run will they not dice carde sweare swagger and be drunke are they not vsurers extortioners proud persons and so cold in charitie that no Christian dutie can heat their loue so it is an easie thing to see their hypocrisie if a man but cast his sight vpon their conuersation And in like manner many at the end of the yeare as a charitable worke will keepe open house and set opē their gates for al the rake-bels loose vagabounds in a countrey and fill idle bellies with their flesh-pots when the poore blind lame and sicke are faine to lye in the depth of miserie without comfort helpe or succour and to what ende is this great superfluitie forsoothe to reioyce for the blessed feast of Christmas Indeede this feaste dooth bring great cause of ioy The false vse of true ioy for that beeing all lost in Adam and heires of damnation are neuerthelesse by the comming of the Messias the sonne of God who tooke on him our flesh at this time of the yeare to vndergoe the wrath of his father due to vs redeemed vs from hell and made vs inheritors of heauen here is cause of ioy what a happie memorie is this how ought this feast to be celebrated in magnifying the Almightie and lauding his name for so great a benefite but what a commemoration is here when they turne true ioy into carnall iollitie doth this true ioy stand in eating drinking rioting feasting mumming masking dauncing dicing carding and such like that taste wholly of Heathens superstition is God honoured by this nay rather is hee not more dishonoured at that time of the yeare then all the yeare beside So that a counterfeit ioy is set vp in stead thereof meditation and mercifull workes are pulled downe and Epicurisme set vp which doth vsurpe and imperiously beare rule ouer all holy desires for in this is theyr deuotion in vnlawfull and sinfull pleasures to gurmandize and waste in excesse the good blessings of GOD and these men will not sticke to lash out a whole masse of money in dedicating feastes to diuell Bacchus and maintaine Playes in theyr houses as filthy as the Lupercalia in Rome spend whole nights and dayes in reuelling and toaste themselues by theyr great fires Virg. and as the Poet sayeth Regifico luxu paratae epulae haue their Tables furnished at exceeding and princely charges to stuffe the guts and feede the belley and wish with Polmixe that they had throates as long as Cranes so that they might taste their sweets with more leisure In so much that by this vnreasonable excesse and gluttony in a fewe daies wast out that riotously that would relieue many poore people if measurably bestowed Thus I saye like Epicures they consecrate the memorie of this blessed feast with such a ioy as sauours altogether of the drosse and slime of the earth and this is liberalitie for sooth charitie and Christian loue when it is but prodigallitie vain-glory and hypocrisie Moreouer although they be too too slacke in honest duties yet will they scotch at no charge may bring pleasure or holde vp some vaine-glorious memorie as in building great houses to be christned by their names when many of them are but as Absolons pillar a monument of folly a spectacle of vanitie and a prey of time many chimnies little smoake large roomes wherein a man may walke and chawe his melancholy for want of other repast and neuer be put to the charges to buye a tooth-picker And to what ende is this great building and cunning Architect but to stand in the gaze of the world and make the passenger cry out with admiration O domus antiqua heu quam dispari dominari Domino Ennius O gallant house full well do I see How vnlike a Lord hath lordship on thee Indeed here is the two-folde benefit it yeelds not only in setting many poore labouring men a worke but also a Princely edifise and stately building is a great honour to a kingdome But such are worthie blame that ouerthrowe their state by building not being able to vse one roome well of those many they build for if a man of reasonable wealth fall into this humour of building gay houses if he did small good before is now vtterly vnable to do any at al his new foundation hath eaten vp all his olde meanes this is the simple pollicie of some men that loue to begger themselues to please the eye Againe how prouident men are to graft their childrē into great stocks that may not easily be striken with the thunder-claps of aduersitie though the stocke be neuer so rotten infected blasted with Vice yet if rich and mightie it is inough and surely this Ethicall pollicie were highly to be aduanced if so be that our continuing Citie were here but seeing all things are fraile momentaine short and transitorie that we cannot certainly number to morrow among the dayes of our life what a meere madnesse is this to be so in loue with the flattering smiles of this life and so myred in the dunghill of pleasures as to doate so much vpon it for verily men seeke their owne danger whē they make the thing that is indifferent to be vnlawfull do they not with Orpheus catch the ayre seeke the shadow loose the substance win earth and loose heauen Yet these aboriginies earth-bred wormes with high lookes and insolent bragges will stand vpō termes of gentilitie and deriue their pedigree euen from Cadwallader the last king of the Britons whē in sadnes they are not so much as sprinkled with one true drop of gentle bloud neither one propertie of a Gentleman vnlesse it should only stand in wealth great possessions which is contrary to our former assertion for if true gentrie be a mind excellently deckt with rare vertues not only by propagation of nature but by integritie of qualities not in beautie but in Vertue not in riches but in honor not in pride but in comelinesse not in costly and curious diet but feeding the hungry and cloathing the naked not in sumptuous building ioyning house to land kin to kin with respectiue marriages but onely in the true possession of Vertue then albeit a man wallow in wealth liue in pleasure fare daintie goe princely hung with pearle sweetly perfumed hawkes horses hounds and in a word haue whatsoeuer pomp glorie his hart can wish or the world affoord yet if he be not noble in Vertues but ignoble in vices and haue not those good parts that carry a vnion of good mens praises he is but pirat latro a theefe and a robber and all his rich paintings goodly buildings are but monuments of shame and basenesse Vertue more honourable then riches Is not Vertue then more honorable then riches doth it not raise a man to
she is deuidable and albeit many sprigges growe out of these foure braunches yet is shee called Vertue in the singular number Prudence Prudence is a certaine brightnesse shining in the minde by which the light of truth is descried foreseeing what is fit to be done a true affection labouring by reason to finde out the quallitie and to iudge what is iust fit honest profitable equall and good not onely aduisedly looking to the first motiue cause but also to the consequent and finall endes by this the present felicitie and infelicitie of this life is sweetly tempered and all things ordered in comelinesse Whosoeuer rashly setteth vpon his businesse without her rusheth vpon the rockes of errour and by his owne headie opinion commeth soone to ruine because it is impossible to effect any thing well vnlesse he be guided by her light neither can hee be able to discerne good from euill things profitable from thinges preiudiciall but as a blinde man doth venterously trauaile without a guide and at euery step readie to stumble so hee that is ignorant in plotting his affaires wadeth in darkenesse wherein euery storme of triall doth ouerturne his pollicie A prudent man is so cautelous and vigillant as wel in the consideration of fore-passed daungers as in preiudicating perills to come that he meeteth with euerie mischiefe and is not ouertaken with non putaui had I wist for hauing set his rest on a firme ground doth not doubt but expect not repēt in the end but reioice in the whole action so that she regardeth things past present and to come and bendeth her force to that part that is needfull to defend the weakenesse of reason and when she hath drawne out the plot which honestie doth require committeth it to Sapience whch as a hand-maide is readie to execute that in the outward worke which before was determined The main difference betweene these two is the former is a generall comprehending and knowledge of things the other an experience of that in action For as by reasoning reading and conuersing with wise men a man may vnderstand much yet without practise all is nothing Before a Phisition doth minister to his Patient he searcheth into the nature of the disease and acquaints himselfe with the state of the body which hauing once found out it is to no end if he apply not himselfe in outward meanes to benefite the sicke person with his potion So if there be but a defused knowledge of things Scire tuum nihil est nisi te scire hoc sciat alter and as it were such a collection as by it the vnderstanding is bettered and no outward demonstration it is as treasure hid in the earth and serues for no vse for there be markes to knowe a prudent man by if hee be vniustly vexed troubled Ennius or in pouertie sicknesse and tossed too and fro in miserie if he reioyce in these afflictions Notes of a wise man and patiently beare the crosse the same is a prudent man and his suffring maketh it a meane to him but when a man is chastised either in body or goods and will not suffer without griefe and muttering the same is a vitious and imprudent man To be briefe she is the right disposer of all things an enemie to ignorance the key of knowledge which openeth the rich treasure of diuine and humane things doing nothing but that which is right iust and praise-worthy Iustice Iustice is a vertue that giueth to euery man his owne the first and principall part whereof is and euer was to doo God that honour which is due to his diuine maiestie consisting in feare loue reuerence for as Iustice will equally render to euery man his owne bring discording things to an equalitie by considering the difference betweene them so much more and most of all it is most iust to loue God of whom wee haue all that we haue and being perished by originall corruption were eftsoones recouered by the sufferings of his son this part of Iustice ought to be imbraced with other affectiō than the Heathen who wandring in the darknes of ignorance know not God as he is A iust man coueteth not that that is an others but rather neglecteth his owne for the good of the Common-wealth nor with a greedie humor doth incroach vpon his neighbors possession Without Iustice no estate can subsist for all vertues are comprehended vnder the name of Iustice of which a man is said to be a good man for all the other vertues cannot make a man good if Iustice be absent Tully calleth her the Lady Queen of all other vertues by her is the societie of man preserued the most excellēt blessing that euer God gaue to man was to be gouerned by Iustice which bridleth the hot fury of the wicked comforteth the innocent equally decideth between Meum Tuū And he that is exercised herein his mind is lifted vp to the apprehension of greater wisdome For howsoeuer the world is troubled with hurly burly yet the quietnesse of his minde is no whit distracted but resting in securitie smileth at the worlds turbulent state Finally it is a bloud in the vain giuing life to the whole body the head of all vertues for of her selfe she may do many things but without her the rest can doo nothing rightly Fortitude Fortitude is a greatnesse of mind which without furious or rash resolution feareth not to hazard it selfe in the greatest perils and with eager pursuite to hunt after honourable actions thirsting after glory not respecting the tedious difficultie of the passages therevnto to encounter wiih dangers wade through the mystie clouds of darknes willingly endure all bitternes of fortune for the safegard of the country such were Scipiones Fabij Alcibiades Hannibal c. who by their valour great prowes reached to the top of honour Neither is true Fortitude measured by the compasse of a great body nor by dooing great enterprises in respect of the huge stature but by a fierce and couragious spirit striuing in a good cause the cause is all The cause maketh a Martyr it is not the torment that maketh a Martyr but the cause for which he suffereth So that to speake properly Fortitude is that which is granted vpon good cause possible to be atchieued such true valour was in Dauid who could not abide to heare the name of God blasphemed by such a monster as Goliah therefore knowing God would aide his enterprise he relyed not vpon his owne strength but cast off all vaine glory for when matters are rightly attempted many straunge aduentures proceed euen as it were by myracle a iust honest cause maketh a man bolde hardie and venterous to striue against one of greater force as King Alexander being of small body sought hand to hand with Porrus which was a more mightie man it is not then any great person or huge Collosse that can triumph ouer a good cause The
Romaine Scipio was wont to say no man ought to leuie war or fight with his enemie without iust cause offred but if hee were prouoked by an iniust intrusion it booteth not to tarry til they come but intercept thē in comming for such cause giueth encouragement to set vpon them freely As when our common enemies in 88. with their Spanish braues meant to haue inuaded our Territories The Spanish brauadoes and came armed with instruments of tirannie to insult ouer our natiō and to bring our necks into a Spanish yoake it pleased God to abate their pride and turne their cruelties into their owne bosomes Heere was cause to make a coward valiant and the fearefull forward to fight because he was compelled to take vp weapons for his owne safetie and he that will not defend himselfe is not worthy to liue in peace especially when his wife children father mother brothers sisters yea the whole Countrey is in daunger ro be torne and rent in peeces by sauage and mercilesse tyrants When it is for a common defence is not he a wretch that will sit still and see his mothers throate cut What if he dye in the conflict were he not better to dye honourably like a Martyr and souldier of Christ then liue to see the ruine and desolation of his whole Countrey wherefore no man ought to stagger or faint at a good cause but bee the more imboldened because it giueth good encouragement We may call to mind and we cannot remember it too often the ouerthrowe they then had not simply in respect of our owne prowesse but by the assistance of a higher power we being but a poore handfull to their great multitude they came like Briarius threatning the heauens and casting mountaines at Iupiter yet theyr glorious tytle of inuincible was confounded to theyr shame God gaue the victorie and our glory this we may thinke vpon with reuerence but ascribe the honour of the victorie to him by whose meanes it was wrought If warre be leuied without cause or if one man shall be so foole-hardie to attempt things impossible and presume on his strength to assaile a great many beyond hope to vanquish it is no maruaile if the successe fall out against his desire for Ne Herculus contra duos First Hercules himselfe held it oddes to deale with two but when for the common good of the Countrey as I said before any man shall vndertake some hard aduenture to free it of some imminent perill if sent though by imperiall commaund he loose his life in the action yet for that hee is indued with true Fortitude doth winne immortalitie as the three Romans called Decij who for the safegard of their Countrey auowed to dye and with resolute and vndaunted courages pierced the host of their enemies and though they lost their liues yet by their stout example gaue such audacitie and courage to the rest of the Romaines by prouoking them forward as they easily obtained the victorie which was thought to be vnconquerable I might speake the like of Codrus Marcarius Curtius Marcus and Regulus which dyed most willingly for their Countrey I might recite here also a Catalogue of those valorous English Knights that haue honourably yeelded vp their liues in the field of Mars for their Prince and Countrey but that I intend not now to make an Apologie of this Vertue but referre it to a Treatise of Iustice which I suppose shall succeed this worke especially vpon the improuement of this God giuing mee time and quietnesse of minde to performe that This manlinesse is a Vertue that fighteth in defence of equitie and iust dealing but we neuer finde that any man got true praise and honour by rash furie for nothing is honest that is voyd of Iustice He that is hastie to surprise a man soone moued to impatiencie without iust cause cause doth rather merit the name of leaud boldnesse then manly courage because this Vertue standeth in honest deeds and not in vaine glory and being truly carried serueth as a hammer to beate downe those Vices that oppose themselues to the beautie of Vertue which chiefly doth appeare when preferment doth lift a man aloft by imbracing humilitie and ouercomming pride which soone creepes vpon the aduanced or if tossed in aduersitie he be vigorous and beare an inuincible courage to combat against the passion of the minde which is ready basely to decline for whatsoeuer falleth out crookedly is turned to the better part she inableth to vndergoe damage to beare iniurie to be patient and not to stirre but for a common good or his priuate defence when a violent intrusion is made vnto his person Many hide themselues vnder the wings of this Vertue that neuer seeke to apprehend her aright and would seeme valorous and magnanimous True valour standeth not in vaine quarelling when they are but white liuerd cowards and miscreants as many of these brawlers and swashbucklers whose hot bloud once stirred cannot be cooled without reuenge and field-meetings which for euery light cause they vndertake and so violently swaid with fury that they rush forward into all desperation without reuerence of the lawes of God the law of nature loue charitie which is aboue all care of their owne saluation do arrogant to themselues glory by defacing and spoyling the Image of their Creator The sonnes of Cain thus maistred with wrathful furie murder and dismember their bretheren and as catiues and slaues bend the will to such inhumane crueltie and so become branded to euerlasting destruction Now if all Vertue doth consist in obeying God keeping his lawes maistring wicked anger and holding concord how can that be praised which is against such a blessed assembly of vertues or how thinke they that that offence can be remitted which is abhorred detested so expresly prohibited in the sixt Commaundement men ought to liue in Christian amitie and leaue all reuenge to him who saith Vengeance is mine and I will repay it The poore Cinick when one had hit him on the eare The patience of the Heathens memorable I thought quoth he I had left one place vncouered Socrates being tolde one spake many railing and euil words of him was no whit moued thereat and being asked why he would beare so great indignitie answered if he spake truth I haue no cause to be grieued being iustly blamed if false I haue lesse cause to be angry because that which hee spake pertained not to mee O that men would learne patience and not so often fight and murder one an other for verball and idle quarells for now if one amongst a hundred be patient quiet will carrie coales and meekely suffer rebuke he is noted of cowardize and deuoyd of manly parts Now lastly followeth Temperance Temperance as a sad and sober Matron a prouident guide and wise Nurse awaiting that voluptuousnesse haue no preheminence in the soule of man the most glorious Vertue in any kinde of estate she ordereth the affections
the eyes of man by reason of formall carriage in humanitie but also high pleasing to God by the intellectuall goodnesse Vertue is the spurre of Honour It is not the aboundance of wealth and great dignitie that maketh a man truly noble but the possession of Vertue which is true honour and auncient riches and is not gotten by loytering Idlenesse but with industrie and much labour for Ardua virtutis via est labours force that carrieth a man to Vertue a hard entrance a continuall perseuerance because he must encounter against his passions and stop the flouds of intemperance for such high and admirable things cannot be had without effectuall indeuour and by how much the more straighter the passage is therevnto by so much the more carefull must hee be least it slip away through arrogance or vaine-glory for in Vertue pride begins to swell or some Vice or other to creep in which if not beatē back at the first wil hazard the whole frame of Vertue or beeing maistred by some ouer-weening thought or singularly carried away with selfe-loue a passion of the minde disquieting reason doth wholly estraunge himselfe from her Beatitude loosing those complements which formerly he was possest of Maior nobilitas The reward of Vertue is true generositie and where it is ioyned with great possessions and hath long continued in the house of a Gentleman without corruption of bloud that nobilitie is most to be honoured forasmuch as long continuance hath giuen it the badge of glorie Plato diuideth Nobilitie foure waies the first saith he are those that rise from good and iust parents the second those whose parents were Princes or great men the third famouzed for martiall exployts Quadri faria nobilitas the fourth which excell in any kinde of learning and for Vertues sake onely are seated in the place of honour these latter verè nobiles truly noble Vera nobilitas made noble by Vertue Yet if one shall stand vpon his riches parentage office place dignitie and by these onely suppose to win the place of true honour he climeth a rotten ladder for what is all this worlds pompe or titulary preferments if not atchieued by Vertue or what doth great birth auaile if hee debase it by his ill life or a vertuous memorie of his auncestors if hee follow not their example are they not like smoake and vapours which vanish with the Sunne can a man without offence brag of the Vertues of his auncients if his owne life be vitious For hath he not broken off the succession of Vertue by wilfull detraction wherefore what worldly glory soeuer is otherwise had is filched and her chastitie at no hand will bee defiled with such bastardly plants Prayses and commendations waite euer on Vertue And therefore Tully in his Tuscul questions defineth honour to be a vnion of praises of good men which iudge of Vertue without partialitie and not by the opinion of the multitude which looke more to a veluet Iacket the outward brauerie then to the minde how it is qualified so that the noblenesse of man is his vertue and they ought to be called noble honorable which are most honest and vertuous If I should enter into the wonderful account which the Heathen made of Vertue I might shewe how Numa Pompilius was taken from the plough and chosen the second King of the Romanes what was the cause think yee but his Vertue and wisedome for which they thought him worthy of so high a calling this they reckened true nobilitie likewise Quintius a poore Husbandman was made Dictator which was a great office and for three moneths had a Regall power and when he had ended his office went againe to his olde labour without indignitie to his person or derogating ought from his worthinesse of this high estimation was Vertue among them He that is nobly borne and descended of an auntient house should beare in his mind the remembrance of his birth and frame himselfe to imitate his parents in Vertue as well as hee looketh to possesse their inheritance and ioyning these two in one is truly noble for if his auntients were more noble then he whose dignitie he enioyeth his praise is diminished and becommeth a bye-word and a reproach among them that haue heard of the former Vertue or if they were vicious and of euill life then to auoyd the scandal in himselfe to abhorre the like and couet to liue in Vertue so shall he purchase true honour to his riches and worthily be deemed to enioy the inheritance And there is great reason to induce him therevnto for of such a one there is a generall expectation of some notable Vertue the eyes of all men are bent vpon him as on a Commet or blazing starre prying narrowly into him how hee liueth what he doth to what science he bēdeth his mind and what good hee doth in the Common-wealth for which he is borne and as if his priuate actions should be openly done no one word or deed of his can escape the common censure It is the more behouefull then to apply the mind to laudable actions to do good in the place where he is for so much as he may appropriate to himselfe a good report for well doing by that means participate the heartie prayers and many good wishes of the common people gaine their loue and induce thē with more facilitie by his good example to trace in the wholsome path that leadeth to the house of honour Likewise the vnknowne the issue of a base stocke obscurely brought vp if he wil be aduanced to the type of honour must addict himselfe to Vertue which will be so much the more glorious at the last by how much more obuious his estate was at first And this I suppose should be a spurre or goade to push them forward because they shall not onely bee admired by the praises of the good which are the badges and simballes of Vertue but also acquire perpetuall fame and renowme as the surname thereof What should I say The commoditie of Vertues is vnspeakeable Vertue is a pearelesse and precious Iewell so rare and excellent that it can neither bee sufficiently commended nor worthily esteemed all humane things doo faint faile sinke downe and decay when that onely will abide for euer an honour for youth a crowne to age a comfort in prosperitie a succour in aduersitie delightfull at home not burthensome abroad a pleasant walking-mate to accompany a man wheresoeuer hee goeth What a diuine glory is heere that striketh the beholder in admiration dazeleth his sight and forceth the very abiect to reuerence him in whom it dooth appeare for shee is so beautifull a Lady as shee maketh many gaze at her a farre off that haue no power to come nigh her but striketh into wonderment at her incomparable maiestie are metamorphosed as it were by Medusa And howsoeuer it is that many are so blockish and sencelesse that they wander vp and downe like
vagabounds and base peasants and make no account of Vertue and honestie yet are they forced will they nill they to flye to her for succour in time of want and hide their misdeeds vnder her golden wings And verily no pretence or vaine shewe can preuaile against her but that she will haue the iust victory and triumph ouer those that haue despised her and when they are on the toppe of their hatefull enuye they shall wish her company and desire to imbrace her though it bee but with dull affection which the Poet well noteth Virtutem incolumen odimus Hor. lib. 1. sublatam ex occulis querimus inuidi When Vertue doth offer her selfe we denie her but afterward seeke her greedily If thou therefore whatsoeuer thou art doest neglect to follow her in time thou shalt bee taught by experience when it is too late what it is to cast off thy profered happinesse a faithfull teacher but a seuere and sharpe corrector seeke her then while shee may bee founde and bee as readie to entertaine her into seruice as shee is willing to serue possesse thy selfe of her and shee will Register thy fame in her golden Booke of neuer dying honour It is not the riches of Cressus the tryumphes of Caesar Worldly honor is no true happinesse the conquests of Alexander the great or any worldly pompe can make a man truly happie or crowne him with true honour but onely Vertue For if wee value men by outwarde prosperitie wee deceiue our iudgement and swarue from equitie Touching wealth it is like poyson in a golden cuppe and commonly where it aboundeth most there Vertue is set by least a laborinth wherein many are lost not onely subiect to chance and infract fortune but also to misgouernment pride ambition and many other vices for good manners oftentimes is corrupted by ouer-regarding riches and moderate dispositions turned into greedie desires graunt it lifts vp a mans estate to make his delight subiect to his will indeed hee is somewhat the wealthier but no whit the honester vnlesse as gotten by Iustice so vsed in Temperance and distributed in charitie and if the rich man bee also a good man let him take heed least they bee a sting to his conscience and drawe him to sinfull pleasures So that the verdict must passe vpon honestie and the qualitie of Vertue more precious then the quantitie of mony for as a rich man couetous gripple and earthly minded is not to bee respected so a poore man simple honest and well qualified is to be regarded sith the one is as a craggie flint stone the other a pretious and princely Diamond and this was the cause a Prince of Troy chose rather to marrie his daughter to a poore man honest then a rich man vicious For it is better quoth he to haue a man without money then money without a man for Vertue is great riches when Vice is like a sheepe with a golden fleece and as the wise schoole maister Isocrates counselled his Pupill Demon to make more account of a poore good man than of a not so honest rich man Pauper enim non non est cui rerum suppetit vsus Hora. ad iccium Hee is rich inough that is content with his state We must not measure men by those things as are subiect to the tottering wheele of Fortune which as Meteors in the aire vanish assoone as they seeme but for that which is permanent Vertue abideth to eternitie durable constant and firme which is Vertue onely Vertue and nothing but Vertue and therefore least worldly regard should striue against reason the immoderate care of this life must be sprinkled with the water of prouident respect in considering those inconueniences that rise out of the roote of aboundance Mans felicitie is not in riches they are gotten with paine and lost with griefe pleasures ende in sorrowe vaine-glorie vanisheth if we thinke it is in witte that is perfect follie for a wise man euer esteemeth an other wiser then himselfe Quoad Deum touching God and in this standeth the greatest poynt of wisedome when a man doth neither exalt himselfe aboue a stronger iudgement nor insult ouer those that be weake but readie to submit his opinion to a better information and hath such a slender care of his owne woorthinesse that if he happe to possesse some worldly honour doth blushingly receiue it as a thing not deserued so that we cannot find the perfect good we looke for but onely and altogether in the exercise of Vertue A foolish opinion Yet now men hunt after Riches as though there were no true honour without it and that to be onely rich were to be onely happie and so set their felicitie on a slipperie foundation but how false this opinion is doth appeare alreadie For be it that honour be not giuen as our auncients did onely to the vertuous and good yet shall the vertuous man be praised be he neuer so poore euen of his most vtter enemie as Metellus Macidonicus praised Scipio for his Vertues and wept for his death though he were his mortall foe for no man be he neuer so enuious can take that from him which Vertue hath merited but must and will maugre his head applaud and commend him for an honest man euen behinde his backe and be forced to admire those good parts that are in him when an other man being rich and nothing within but all without shall be clawde and flattered before his face but cursed and bande behinde his backe and this preheminence it hath maugre the worldes malignitie that where this Christian veritie doth shine shee forceth the gazer to breake out into wonderment and spread that glorious report which it iustly meriteth yet there be some so sottish and madde that though they know themselues but flattered suppose they be by by praised when he neither speaketh it with his heart but for some carnall reason and they themselues know it to be false which hee speaketh Beleeue no man therfore of your owne goodnesse better then your selfe if there bee ought in you worthie of it if you deserue it not thinke assuredly they doo but mock and deceiue you and with their tongues seeme to bee with you when their hearts be against you This is a sure token for a man to see into his owne Vertue first hee sueth not for honour but honour followeth him and secondly is not greeued though he be vnregarded nor beareth indignation at others happines and this same thing is it that we call honor now seeing this worldly honor is of so small price A true vertuous ma. it is the part of a base and vile mind to beleeue glozing and faire words and grosse ignorance it is indeed to build honour vpon the brainsicke and rude opinion Now what are all the goods of this worlde but a troublesome carriage greeuance because they bring no assured comfort but doo rather with their waight plucke downe those minds that
when nothing is more wretched the nurse of pride the schoole of abuse and the guide that leades into many temptations it is much better rather to shine in Vertue then in riches And therefore our Sauiour Christ in the Gospell compareth the felicitie of a rich man to an impossibilitie saying that it is as hard for him to climbe to heauen being loaden with drosse as for a Cammell to creepe through the eye of a Needle and this made the Philosophers in their humane wisedome so much despise worldly honour and vndergoe pouertie with so great patience Examples of contemners of money Annacreon hauing a huge masse of money sent him by Policrates could neuer rest till he was rid of it againe his minde troubled his sleepe broken returned it againe to him that sent it saying he neuer liued in so great feare and dread all his life long as hee had done those two dayes while the mony was in his house Phocion in like manner when the king had sent him a great beneuolence hee asked him that brought it what mooued his maister to send him so much mony seeing the king did not know him answered it was in respect of the great fame he heard of his vertues If that be the cause quoth he carry it backe to him againe and let him leaue me as I am and not by increase of wealth to diminish my vertues Diogines refused all and craued nothing but the common benefit of the Sunne which Alexander had taken from him by standing betweene him and it Plutarch reporteth that when Alexander vpon a time came into a poore barren Countrey thinking to haue made some great conquest found the inhabitants gathering rootes grasse to eate neither vsing force to repell and keep him backe nor any meanes to disswade him from his warlike attempt but as poore snakes were altogether busied for their bellies The King considering their pouertie and vnfruitfulnesse of their countrey had pittie and compassion on their miserie and bad them aske what they would and it should incontinently be graunted Quoth they with one consent giue vs euerlasting life Why how can I giue that quoth he that am but a mortall man Then why seeke you to win the whole world as though you were immortall and should neuer dye Zenon Crates infinite were the examples of those that were rauished with the formossitie and excellent hue of Vertue that they contemned money riches pompe choosing pouertie for the pure life of perfection bearing the bitternesse of fortune with an vnconquerable courage The auntient victorious Romaines sought after Vertue and by their noble deedes and heroicall spirits got the palme of true honour not sparing body or goods to aduance the Cōmon-wealth The shadow of vertue was more esteemed among the Heathen then the true body is now among the Christians in so much as many of them had not wherewith to endowe theyr daughters nor which was lesse to defraye Funerall charges but what they had out of the commō store which by their conquests they had so greatly enriched as Scipio Sylla and the great Pompey for then Vertue was their chiefest riches An example we finde of a noble captaine who beeing offered a great reward by his Generall for his knighthood and valour done in seruice with this gratulation thou shalt bee paide in riches for thy valour and not in honour for Vertue hee refused the one and tooke the other counting riches not worthy to bee matched wirh the dignitie of Vertue The Martyrs in all ages are much to bee admired that being indued with true fortitude did most willingly embrace their deathes and suffer their bodies to bee rent torne and cruelly burned by the persecutors for the profession of a good conscience and by theyr meeke sufferings gained perpetuall honour And although it falleth out as for the most part it doth that men indued with rare and singular vertues are vtterly forgotten and scarce noted while they liue yet beeing dead theyr fame mounts vp to heauen and is divulged and spread in the earth for the want of a good thing is then most precious when it is remooued farthest off Cato was scarce knowne while he liued but after his death was of great price and all those famous Philosophers Orators schoole-men that liued in darknesse and were so basely esteemed yet wee see by the memorie of their goodly vertues they now liue againe by being recommended from one age to an other And herehence sprung the multiplicitie of Heathen goddes I meane from the notable vertues of singular men for the foolish antiquitie honoured men as gods after their deathes Cicero de nat deor which eyther were of high dignitie while they liued of great birth or had done some notable benefite for their Countrie for honour and reuerence is rehibited for some certaine cause rising of externall things framed by Vertue for honour is compounded of honestie Honor ex virtute oritur Hermes or Mercurius was of such fame among the Aegiptians as hee was deified and made a god calling him the Messenger of Iupiter Mars a great warriour Bacchus the inuenter of wine Esculapius a Phisition Pytho was so reuerently thought of amongst the Barbarians for that by his singular wisedome hee had withdrawne the inhabitants from their vices that they made of his Cottage a Temple giuing him diuine honour What contumelies and strife was about the bodie of Homer when seuen Cities were at variance to possesse his corpes when he was dead Septem vrbes certant de stirpe insignis Homeri Aulus bell Smyrna Rhodes Colophon Salamin Ios Argos Athenae Diogenes liued beggerly in contempt but after his death was honorably interred in a monument of fame so that the memorie of these sprung from the roote of Vertue and from some notable exployt which got the peoples loue who thought the applause of this worlde was no sufficient recompence for theyr vertues The flourishing state of the Romaines Athenians Lacedemonians and other dominions Vertues hold vp a common-wealth were all vpheld by Vertue for where Vertue is established there Vice is detested for as light and darknesse fire and water cannot be put together but one will confound the others nature so these two contraries cannot ioyntly hold possession but one will vtterly extinct the other and where Vertue is wanting in a generall gouernment that Common-wealth is wholly ouerthrowne Oderunt peccare boni virtutis amore Hora. Oderunt peccare mali formidine paene The good hate to sinne because of Vertue the bad for lawe but he is onely good that of his owne wil and honest mind eschueth euil more for cōscience sake thē for dread of mans punishment the euill and vicious contrariwise are with-held by the rigour of Iustice and for feare of penaltie the rebellion within is kept from outwardly working so that nothing but the sword of the magistrate doth the hot rage of his furie when the conscience lyes vast and open to all
hope of a poore man and for sorrow here haue ioy there and for a hellish life now a heauenly life then when those that haue their heauen here and wallow in solace ioy and carnall pleasures in this world must with Diues be tormented in endlesse flames in the world to come To what end then should a man be grieued at misery and murmur as though hee were an abiect an outcast and forlorne when there shall be a supply of his wants in aboundant measure and be crowned a king of that heauenly Ierusalem Vpon a time Solon found a poore man sitting by the sea side bewayling his miserie in great dispaire whom he comforted in this manner Brother why weep you what haue you lost is it want and pennury that nippeth you Alas for that you haue small cause for say you were in the middest of yonder great sea loaden with treasure in daunger of drowning would you not willingly lose your goods to saue your life Why thinke then you were once in like perill and haue escaped and lost but your onely goods then now pacifie yourselfe be content with your state Thus we see what daunger a rich man is in by the opinion of this wise Heathen Vice Vertue two waies Two waies are proposed and laide open to all the one inuiting to Vertue the other alluring to vice the first is combersome intricate vntraded ouergrowne and many obstacles to dismay a passenger the other plaine euen beaten ouershadowed with boughes tapistred with flowers and many obiects to feed the eye now a man that lookes but only to the outward shewe will easily tread the broadest pathe but if hee perceiue that this smooth and euen way leads to a neast of Scorpions or a litter of Beares he will rather take the other though it be rugged and vnpleasant then hazard himselfe in so great a daunger The high-way that leades to pleasure is verie spatious it lyeth open like the sea many tempting motions to inuoke the mind Lamea sitting by the way gorgiously deckt the Syrens with sweete melody to intrappe the passenger if with Vlisses he bind not himselfe to the mast of prouident respect and many Lyōs Beares Wolues lie in waite for their pray But the pathe leading to Vertue though it be toylesome laborious difficult a way vneasie to be trackt hard to finde craggie stonie thorny and a sweating turmoyle as the Poet describeth Nam via virtutis dextrum petit ardua callem Dificilem que additum primum spectantibus offert Sed requiem praebet fessis in vertice summo For Vertues rugged pathe requires a stout and painfull minde And daungers new are multiplied to such as will her finde But in the ende great ioy she brings c. Yet seeing hee goeth streight to his iournies ende shall arriue at the house of Fame be crowned with honor who will not vndergoe a poore labour to gaine so rich a Iewell for though the rootes of Vertue be bitter yet the fruites be sweete Againe if in things dangerous and full of perilles Dulcia non meruit a man will not sticke to hazard his life run through fire and water abide hunger colde and willingly beare a thousand miseries incident to long and tedious iournies to diue into the bowelles of the earth for golde traffique to Orinoque the Indians and farre remote places to feede the long desire of this short life as the Poet saith Impiger extremos currit marcator ad Indos Per mare pauperiem fugiens per saxa per igneis How ought they thē to hunt after Vertue the bright sonne of prosperitie which can raise them vp tamquam ê puluere luto out of dust and claie to the high pitch of euerlasting honour Many waies leading to shame But as many waies crosse the Queenes high-way so Vertue is wanted and thwarted with many smoothe paths if by exact care they be not auoyded and though there be a spatious opposition an Antithesis yet no such difference at the first seemeth for long pacing breedeth content by reason the mine is nummed and brought a sleepe with such varietie of obiects as dazle the sences and fixe the opinion so firme in an ill course that he findeth himselfe enexorable to turne head and set footing in the way of Vertue Neuerthelesse though Vertue is so noble glorious honourable immortall c. that neither my dull wit rudenesse of speech or this little volume is able to expresse her infinit praises but had rather need of prompt eloquence and cunning most excellent and much leisure therevnto yet Vice is painted out with such goodly colours and so gorgiously set out with pompe that iumping with the naturall impediment a man is soone lulde a sleepe in pleasures and deluded by phantasma a dreame a shadow as it was with Calippus that dreamd he was a King and whēawooke he was a begger or the foole of Syracusa who being opprest with melancholy thought all the ships that arriued in the hauen were laden with his marchandize so doth it mocke the imagination with flattering allurements and drawe a man by litle litle to his owne destruction O t is an amiable diuel a sweet sinne a lycorous poyson a smiling cut-throate a weeping Crokidile so that by this the minde is drawne from all celestiall contemplation and from that heauenly regard which the singularitie of that diuine sweetnesse doth require and by that meanes become carelesse negligent in the pursuit of Vertue and haue no desire to be partaker of her vtilitie and profite but are wholy circumuented and carried away by Iniustice luxurie pride couetousnesse selfe-loue and such like for this fleeting ioy is a sweet delight but as the Poets faine that drinking the water Lethae breedeth forgetfulnesse so vice and pleasure makes the mind obtuse and carelesse of all holy vertues wherby the whole man is transported into all licentiousnesse And for this cause are pleasures compared to the Syrins that appeare louely in sight with golden locks chirry lippes rosie checks c. and all that part aboue the water goodly beautifull and pleasant to beholde but the tayle hid belowe is sharpe crooked venomous that she no sooner draweth a man vnto her by a wantō countenance but presently stings him to death for paine pleasure are two twins for he no sooner letteth his minde slip to one but the other is readie to cast him into a miserable estate And therefore to shun pleasures it is good to behold her behind and not before to cōsider what trouble torments dishonour and ignominie waits vpon her for after her ghests are surfeited with dainties she makes the ende as fatall and ominous as the Centaurs feasts a suttle Synon that telles a pleasing tale to breede securitie dropping hony from her lippes but hath the poyson of Aspes vnder her tongue a standing ponde cleare aboue but all filth and mudde below and therfore the wise schoole-maister warneth his scholler to shunne pleasures for feare
their glory if smoothly and pithily they can trick vp a tale of some beastly prapus of lawlesse lust and rip vp the genealogie of the Heathen gods to carrie the minde into wonderment ô how they will diue into the bottome of their braine for fluant termes and imbossed words to varnish theyr lyes and fables to make them glib and as we vse to say to goe downe without chewing which as poyson doth by litle and litle disperse it selfe into euery part of the body From hence riseth so much foolish idle prattle the Seruing-man the Image of sloath the bagge-pipe of vanitie like a windie Instrument soundeth nothing but prophanenesse and some are so charmed as they spend their whole life in vaine reading because they see in theÌ„ as in a glasse their owne conditions now such vaine fragments as fit their humors they sucke in and squeese out againe in euery assembly It is too true that one such wanton to ye dooth more breed Vice then twentie godly treatises can induce to Vertue nor twentie Sermons preached by the best Diuine in EnglaÌ„d doth not so much good to moue to true doctrine as one of these bookes do harme to intice to ill liuing they corrupt good learning subuert all sanctimony and by a tedious pratling ouer-sway the memory from that good purpose whervnto it ought to be imployed not informing the iudgement in matters worthy to be learned From whence then creepeth in this pestilence but out of these vaine bookes for euery mischiefe by litle litle crawleth vpon the good manners of men which vnder some shewe of goodnes is suddenly receiued which by a voluntary admittance at the first becoÌ„meth habituall especially when the spirituall faculties are defiled with much conuersatioÌ„ in so much that many that hold places in sacred assemblies become affected to their phrases Metaphors Allegories and such figuratiue and suparlatiue termes and so much vaine eloquence as they yeeld no fruite at all to their auditors but driue them into amazement with a multitude of Inkehorne-termes scummed from the Latin and defused phrases as they flye aboue the commoÌ„ reach when the most profitable and best affected speech is that that is most congruable and fitly applied to the intendment vnderstanding of the hearers by familiar and ordinarie termes not sophisticall darke and obscure nor too base and barbarous but such as are animated by their present abilitie to speake more then other men and be addicted to affectation haue commonly a dearth of iudgement sildome edifie but gallop ouer prophane writers to shewe theyr vaine reading Demosthenes beeing called to declaime against the rude multitude that had assembled themselues in the Forum of Athens answered he was not yet readie if he that had Facaecia ingenij the very soule of wit durst not speak in a serious matter without preparing himselfe before how caÌ„ such that come far short of him in promptnes of naturall wisdome presume to handle holy things so rashly with humane learning for it is an impudent boldnesse for a man to take vpon him to teach others that which he before hath not bene taught but I may speake as Tully spake of the Orators of Rome Sed tamen videmus quibus extinctus Oratoribus quam in paucis spes quanto in paucioribus facultas quam in multis sit audacia We see saith he what noble Orators are put out of the way and how in fewe a hope remaineth in fewer a skill but in many a boldnesse that dare set vpon any thing To returne doo not these idle pernicious bookes poyson the well disposed manners of youth and macerate and kill the seedes of Vertue that begin to bloome for doo they not vse more vaine eloquence then confidence in matters of wisedome So that all that which they do is but to make a mutinie Men need not sowe for weedes for they growe fast inough so we are polluted inough by kinde though we be not more defiled by custome thus do they proceed like cankers to eate off the tender buddes Neither do they want some Mecenas to Patronize their witlesse workes and to haue some applause bend the scope of theyr argument to fit their dispositions Vaine workes wel rewarded yea and many times thrust their dedications vpon men of graue and sober carriage who will not sticke to recompence their idle labours Now if the principall scope of all our actions and counsels ought to be to some good ende and that it must needs passe as a Maxime that nothing can be good but that whâ—ch moueth to Vertue theÌ„ it must coÌ„sequeÌ„tly follow that all prophane and lasciuious Poems are as an infectious aire that brings a generall plague because they striue against honestie And if Plato sawe so great cause to shut them out of his common-wealth as noysome to the peace and tranquillitie thereof what ought our Platonists to do sith they more abound heere then euer they did there or if we had but the zealous affections of the Ephesians we would loathe the price of so great iniquitie and sacrifice them at a stake though they were of neuer so great value But happily it will be demaunded how Ladies Gentlewomen c. should spend the time and busie their heads as though idlenesse were not a vice badde inough of it self without fire to be added and as though there were not a Bible and many good bookes wherein they might be vertuously exercised Of good wits well imployed what good would ensue by setting out the praises of the immortall maiestie that giueth hands to write and wittes to inuent what matter might they not finde both honest and necessary in which they might first want words to vtter then matter worthie to be vttered especially those that are not only by their outward felicitie freed from troubles and perturbation of minde imbracing content in the bosome of peace the nurse of Sciences but are also inabled and sufficiently gifted to publish any thing of worth ô how willing is Vertue to crowne them with honour But this contagion ought seriously to be considered by men of riper iudgement and by such as haue authoritie to suppresse the abuses for is it not lamentable that a Pamphlet discoursing nought but Paganisme should be so vendible and vertuous bookes want sale the one bought vp thicke and three fold the other lye dead for there commeth forth no sooner a foolish toye a leaud and bawdy ballad but if sung in the market by the diuels quirristers they flocke to it as crowes to a dead carkasse buying them vp as Iewels of price be they neuer so ribauld filthie or dorbellicall but bookes of Christianitie of modest argument that tend to rectifie the iudgment lieth stil in the Stationers hand as waste paper not so much as looked after so that by this we may plainly see what a froward generation we are fallen into where in such bookes as are most hurtfull and daungerous are most deuoutly coueted But if they would obserue