occasions to be angry not with intention to offend others but for the defence of a mans selfe and of those to whom he is tyed and specially of his reputation lest by being too dull and carelesse in regarding iniuries done vnto him he become apt to be ridden and depressed by euery ruffling companion so to be either too sudden or outragious in anger and thereby to be incited to do any act contrary to reason cannot in any sort agree with vertue or become a gentleman For to speak of that bearing which is vndertaken for Christian humilitie or feare of offending God appertaineth not to this place This vertue then of Mansuetude is she that holdeth the reines in her hand to bridle the vehemency of anger shewing when where with whom for what cause how farre foorth and how long it is fit and conuenient to be angry and likewise to let them loose and to spurre forward the mind that is restie or slow in apprehending the iust causes of wrath with regard of like circumstances directing the particular actions of the vertuous man in such cases according to reason to whom she as all other the vertues is to haue a continuall eye and regard in euery thing Desire of Honor succeedeth next and is a vertue that is busied about the same subiect with Magnanimitie For as the magnanimous man respecteth onely great and excessiue honors so doth this vertue teach the meane in purchasing of smaller honours or dignities such as ciuill men of all sorts are to be employed in For as there are some that seeke by all meanes possible to catch at euery shew of honor at euery office or degree that is to be gotten and spare not to vndergo any indignity or to try any base or vnlawfull meanes to compasse the same heauing and shouing like men in a throng to come to be formost though they deserue to be far behind so are there others so scrupulous and so addicted to their ease and quiet that they cannot endure to take vpon them any paines or any place that may bring them either trouble or hazard absolutely refusing in that respect and despising al dignities and offices together with the honor they might purchase by the same The first sort of men are called ambitious the other insensible and carelesse of their reputation Betweene which two extremes this vertue hath her place to keepe the first from seeking not by vertue but by corruptiō deceit or other vnfit meanes to compasse honors dignities or authoritie as many do slandering and backbiting such as are competitors with them or else most basely flattering and with cappe and knee crouching to those that they thinke may yeeld them helpe or fauour them in their purchase which they seeke and beg to supply their owne vnworthinesse and to quicken the other whose mindes haue no care of their credit reputation but liue in base companies and estrange themselues from all ciuill conuersation like brute and sauage beasts And in this respect is she worthy high estimation and necessary for all them that esteeme true honour as they ought to be the most excellent good among exteriour things who neuerthelesse temper themselues from ambition so as they are not drawne to commit any vile or base act for the atchieuing of the same but striue euermore by vertue to purchase their honor reputation Neither is this vertue all one with Magnanimitie because it requireth not so excellent an habit as doth Magnanimitie though they both be busied about the same subiect for between them is the like difference as is betweene Magnificence and Liberalitie whereof we haue already spoken Veritie is the vertue which followeth in order by which a man in all his conuersation in all his actions and in al his words sheweth himselfe sincere and ful of truth making his words and his deeds alwayes to agree so as he neuer sayeth one thing for another but still affirmeth those things that are and denieth those that are not The two extremes of this vertue are on the one side dissimulation or iesting called in Greeke Ironia and on the other side boasting For some there are that seeke by this vice to purchase reputation and credit or profit or else euen for foolish delight giue themselues to vanting and telling such strange things of themselues as though they be incredible yet wil they needs haue men forsooth to beleeue them Others for the same respects dissemble the good parts that haply are in them seeme willing to make mē beleeue that their good qualities are not so great as they are with a counterfeit modestie faining alwayes to abase themselues in such sort as men may easily discouer them to be plaine hypocrites and that vnder pretence of humilitie they labour to set pride on horsebacke yea some euen of meriment or by long custome of lying thinke it sport sufficient neuer to tell any thing but exorbitant and strange lies insomuch as in fine though they wittingly speak no truth yet themselues fal to beleeuing what they say to be most true Betweene these two vices sitteth this bright-shining vertue of Truth as she is a morall vertue by which men vse the benefit of their speech to that true vse for which it is bestowed vpon them by God and purchase to themselues not onely honour and praise but also trust and credit with all men so as their words are obserued as oracles whereas of the others no man maketh more account then of the sound of bels or of old wiues tales This is that excellent vertue that is of all others the best fitting a Gentleman and maketh him respected and welcom in all companies which made Pythagoras to say that next vnto God truth in man was most to be reuerenced whose contrary likewise is of all other things the most vnfitting the very destroier of humane conuersatiō the mother of scandals and the deadly enemy of friendship the odiousnesse whereof may be discerned by this that albeit we stick not sometimes to confesse our faults though they be very great to our friends yet we are ashamed to let them know that we haue told a lie The vertue of Affabilitie which succeedeth is a certaine meane by which men seeke to liue and conuerse with others so as they may purchase the fauor and good liking of all men not forgetting their owne grauitie and reputation And because there are some that thinke with pleasing speeches and pleasant conceits to be welcom into all companies they giue themselues to flatter to commend and extoll euery man to sooth all that they heare spoken and still to smile or laugh in euery mans face purchasing thereby in the end to be esteemed but as ridiculous sycophants or base flatterers and others holding a contrary course neuer speake word that may be gratefull or pleasing to any man supposing thereby to be held for graue and wise men euermore opposing themselues to what others say dispraising al mens doings and finally with
complaint of him and others of his disposition that looke to their owne priuate interest and consider onely what they may misse by not hauing a friend in such a place who might stand them in stead and regard no whit the contentment or discontentment of their friend which they are not able to measure as wanting the generall rule by which it ought to be measured according to reason and so consequently frame the measure according to their owne minds vsing their owne iudgements euen as the auncient Greekes were wont to say of the Lesbian rule which being made of lead the work-men would bend and fit to their worke and not frame their worke by a right rule But hauing added to his obiection your owne censure of me whose iudgement and prudence is so wel knowne and so much by me to be respected I can no lesse do then make some further Apologie for my selfe touching that point and open so much of my counsell and purpose in that behalf as I shall thinke needfull to giue you and others that will prefer reason before their opinions sufficient satisfaction And first where you say that my seruice in the place was acceptable vnto you all I cannot but therein acknowledge my good hap rather then impute it to any sufficiencie in my selfe Neither would I in regard of that great courtesie and fauour which I receiued therein haue willingly done any thing whereby I might haue seemed vnthankfull or to haue made so small estimation of so worthy a fauour But my not hauing bin brought vp or vsed to much writing and long standing which of ordinary that office doth require besides the extraordinary occasions which the seruice bringeth forth to trauell to sit vp late and disorder the body had bred such an increase of rheume in me and of infirmities caused therby as I could not without manifest and certaine perill of shortning my dayes haue continued the exercise of that place Whereupon hauing in dutifull sort made knowne the cause of my desire to resigne the office to the Lord Deputy who was in like sort priuy to some other iust occasion I had to further that my resolution it pleased him with his accustomed prudence and fauour towards me to consider and to allow of my request and to grant me his honorable consent to the accomplishmēt of the same Neither can this be rightly termed in me a retiring my selfe from the State or a withdrawing from action to hide my talent For leauing aside the vncertaintie and vaine issue for the most part of those hopes that commonly draw men on into ambitious heauing shouing for dignities and places of credit and commoditie from which to be freed little do men know or beleeue what gaine it is as of things that when they obtaine them not vexe and torment their minds and when they obtaine them do soone glut and weary them What comparison can a man of reason iudgement make betweene them and that contentednes which a well tempered and a moderate mind doth feele in a priuate life employed to the bettering and amending of the principall part which distinguisheth him from brute beasts Surely for my part I confesse frankly vnto you and protest I speake truly I haue found more quietnes and satisfaction in this small time that I haue liued to my selfe and enioyed the conuersation of my bookes when the care of my little building and husbandry hath giuen me that ordinary intermission which it must haue then I did before in all the time that I spent in seruice about the State the toile whereof was farre too high a price for the profit I might make of my place and the expectation which was left me of rising to any better Which neuerthelesse suppose it had bin much greater then euer I conceiued or then you haue seemed to make the same so free am I from ambition or couetise howsoeuer M. Smith would haue me to frame my mind thereto as I am not only content not to flatter my selfe with the shew of good which the best hopes might haue presented vnto me but resolued also to put from me and tread vnder foot whatsoeuer desire or inclination that either nature ill custome or daily example might vrge me vnto or stirre vp within me It is a perillous thing for men of weake braines to stand in high places their heads will so soone be giddie and all cilmbing is subiect to falling Let men of great spirits of high birth and of excellent vertues possesse in Gods name those dignities and preferments which the fauour of the Prince and their sufficiencie may purchase vnto them for it is they that as the Poet sayth Posuêre in montibus vrbem and of whom you might iustly say Grauior est culpa c. For as for me I am one of those of whom the same Poet sayd Habitabant vallibus imis And so I had rather to do still then to forsake my studies which I haue now begunne to renew againe hauing applied my endeuour to lay hold vpon the foretop which Lady Occasion hath offered me to that effect for to any other intent she neuer yet did so much as once shew her selfe to me a farre off much lesse present her selfe to me so neare as I might reach to catch her or fasten my hand in her golden locke I wish my friends therefore rather to allow and giue their consents to this my resolution grounded as I thinke vpon a reasonable consideration and an exact weighing of mine owne abilitie and disposition then to concurre with M. Smith in opinion or with any others that would lay to my charge folly or lacke of iudgement for the same And that generally all men would beleeue the Italian prouerbe which sayth that the foole knoweth better what is good and meet for himselfe then doth the wise man what is fit for another man Not that I would thereby reiect good counsell and friendly aduice which I know well enough how beneficiall a thing it is to all men in matters of doubt and difficultie but my meaning is onely to reserue to a mans owne vnderstāding the iudgement of such particular and priuate determinations as concerne the contentment or discontentment of his mind the circumstances of which perhaps are not meete to be communicated to others The example whereof Paulus Aemilius hath giuen vs with that graue and wise answer he made vnto his friends that wold needs reprehend him for repudiating his wife alledging her many good qualities as her beautie her modestie her nobilitie and other such like when putting forth his leg he shewed them his buskin and sayd You see this buskin is wel and handsomly made of good leather and to your seeming fit enough for my foote and leg yet none of you knoweth I am sure where it doth wring me Euen so my selfe may haply say to any whom my former answer may not fully satisfie that although to their seeming my state and condition was better by holding
the which can be no vertue Neither he that by rage and furie suffered himselfe to be transported to attempt any danger since there can be no vertue where reason guideth not the mind And for this cause wilde beasts though they be terrible and fierce by nature cannot be termed valiant because they being stirred onely by naturall fiercenesse wanting reason do but follow their instinct as do the Lions Tygers Beares and such other like Neuertheles he denied not but that anger might accōpany fortitude for that it is rather a help vnto it then any let or impediment so long as reason did temper them and that it serued but for a spurre to pricke men forward in the defence of iust and honest causes Moreouer he declared vnto his scholer that there is a kind of fortitude that hath no need of any such spurre of anger which kind concerned the bearing of grieuous and displeasing accidents and the moderating of a mans selfe in happie and prosperous successes And this is that blessed vertue which neuer suffereth a man to fall from the height of his minde being called by some men patience who will not onely haue her to be a vertue separate from the foure principall vertues but also that she should be aboue them But this opinion of theirs is not well grounded since in truth she is but a branch of fortitude through which as Virgil sayth men beare stoutly all iniuries whether they proceed from wicked persons or from the inconstancie and changeablenesse of fortune but remaineth alwayes inuincible and constant against all the crosses thwarts and despites of fortune This vertue is fitly described by Cicero where he saith that it is a voluntary and constant bearing of things grieuous and difficult for honesties sake And in the Scriptures it is said that it is better for a man to beare with inuincible courage such things then to be otherwise valiant or to hazard himself how where when it is fit For who so beareth stoutly aduersities deserueth greater commendation and praise then they which ouercome their enemies or by force win cities or countries or otherwise defend their owne because he ouercometh him selfe and mastereth his owne affects and passions Hauing respect to these things this wise schoole-master shewed his disciple that the valiant man was like a square solid body as is the die whereunto Aristotle also agreeth which in what sort soeuer it be throwne euer standeth vpright so he being still the same man which way soeuer the world frame with him or the malice and enuie of wicked men or the freakes of fortune tosse him which fortune some call the Queene of worldly accidents though as a blind cause she alwayes accompanieth her selfe with ignorance Moreouer he added that hope of gaine or profit ought not to moue a man to put his life in apparant danger for if it chanced as often it doth that the hope began to quaile forthwith courage failed withall and the enterprise was abandoned because vaine conceiued hope and not free choice of vertue had guided him A thing which neuer happeneth to them that in honest causes hazard their liues For though any vnexpected terror chance vnto them so as on the sudden they cannot deliberate what were best to do yet euen by habite which they haue made in the vertue of fortitude they loose not their courage but the more difficult and fearefull the accident appeareth the more stoutly will they resist and oppose themselues against the same Likewise he declared to him that it was not true fortitude when men not knowing what the danger was which they entred into did vndertake any perillous enterprise for it must be iudgement and not ignorance that shall stirre men to valorous attempts Neither yet that they were to be esteemed properly valiant who like wilde sauage beasts moued by rage and fury sought reuenge and to hurt them that had prouoked them to wrath for such were transported by passion and not guided by reason Last of all he concluded that he was iustly to be accounted a man of valour who feared not euerie thing that was perillous yet of some things would be afraid So as true fortitude should be a conuenient mean betweene rashnesse and fearefulnesse the effect whereof was to be ready and hardie to vndertake dangerous actions in such time place and maner as befitted a man of vertue and for such causes as reason commanded him so to do and because the doing thereof was honest and commendable and the contrary was dishonest and shamefull All these points did this worthy schoolmaster seeke to imprint in the yong Princes mind that he might become stout and haughtie of courage to the end that he who was borne to rule and commaund might not through any sudden or vnlooked for accidents be daunted with feare or become base and cowardly minded nor yet by ouermuch rashnesse or furie waxe fierce and cruell but with mild yet awfull behauiour gouerne and commaund the people subject vnto him These were the seeds of vertue which these wise and worthy masters did cast into the tender mindes of those yong Princes from whence as out of a fertile soile they hoped to reape in their riper yeares fruite answerable to their labour and trauell And this is all said I that this author hath discoursed vpon this matter and as much I suppose as is needfull for the education of children till they come to yeares of more perfection wherein they may begin to guide themselues And then sir Robert Dillon who as well as the rest had giuen a very attentine eare to the whole discourse sayd Truly these were right good and worthy documents and meete to traine a Prince vp vertuously neither could any other then a glorious issue be expected of so vertuous principles and education And though this diligence and care were fitting for so high an estate as the son of a mightie monarke yet hath the declaration therof bin both pleasing and profitable to this companie and may well serue for a patterne to be followed by priuate gentlemen though not with like circumstances since the same vertues serue as well for the one as for the other to guide them the way to that ciuill felicitie whereof our first occasion of this dayes discourse began But euening now hasting on and the time summoning vs to draw homeward we will for this present take our leaues of you hauing first giuen you harty thanks for our friendly entertainment especially for this part thereof whereby with your commendable trauell in translating so good and so necessary a worke you haue yeelded vs no small delight but much more profite which I am bold to say as well for all the companie as for my selfe whereunto they all accorded But said the Lord Primate we must not forget one point of your speech which was that you tied vs to a condition of three dayes assembly that as the author had deuided his work into three dialogues so we should giue
Suppose here be two vessels the one greater then the other and that you fill them both with wine or other liquor the lesser shall neuertheles be as well full as the greater and if they both had speech and vnderstanding neither could the one complaine for hauing too much nor the other too little both being full according to their capacitie and so receiuing his due In this sort doth Iustice distribute to euery one that which is his due She produceth lawes by which vertue is rewarded and vice punished She correcteth faults and errours according to their qualitie She setteth vs in the direct way that leadeth to felicitie She teacheth rulers and magistrates to commaund and subiects to obey and therefore she is the true rule which sheweth the inferiour powers and faculties of the soule how to obey Reason as their Queene and mistris Which commaund of Reason Plotinus esteemed to be so important to be exercised ouer the passions as he esteemed them only to be worthily called wise men who subiected their passions in such sort to reason that they should neuer arise to oppose themselues against her She instructeth man to rule not onely himselfe but his wife his children and his family also She preserueth and maintaineth States and Common-weales by setting an euen course of cariage betweene Princes and their subiects She maketh men vnderstand how the doing of iniury is contrary to the nature of maÌ„ who is borne to be mild benigne gentle and not to be as wild beasts are furious fierce and cruel for such they are that hurt others wittingly And when iniuries happen to be done she distinguisheth them she seeketh to make them equall or to diminish them or to take them cleane away euermore teaching vs this lesson that it is better to receiue an iniury then to do it It is she that maketh those things that are seuerally produced for the good of sundry nations common to all by the meane of commutation of buying and selling and hauing inuented coine hath set it to be a law or rather a iudge in cases of inequalitie to see that euery man haue his due and no more Finally she tempereth with equitie which may be termed a kind of clemency ioyned to iustice things seuerely established by law to the end that exact iustice may not pâ—oue to be exact wrong And where as lawes not tempered by discreet Iudges are like tyrants ouer men this equitie was held by Plato to be of such importance that when the Arcadians sent vnto him desiring him to set them downe lawes to be ruled by he vnderstanding that they were a people not capable of equitie refused flatly to make them any lawes at all Agesilaus said that to be too iust was not onely farre from humanitie but eueÌ„ crueltie it self And Traian the Emperor wished Princes to link equitie iustice together saying that dominions were otherwise inhumanely gouerned The Aegyptians also to shew that lawes are to be administred with equitie expressed iustice in their Hieroglifikes by a left hand opeÌ„ meaning that as the left hand is slower and weaker then the right so that iustice ought to be aduisedly administred and not with force or fury And the opinion of some was that the axes and rods which were accustomably borne before the Romane Consuls were bound about with bands to declare that as there must be a time to vnbind the axes before they could be vsed to the death of any man so ought there to be a time to deliberate for them that execute the law wherein they may consider whether that which the rigor of law commaundeth may not without impeachment of Iustice be tempered and reduced to benignitie and equitie To conclude Iustice is she that maintaineth common vtilitie that giueth the rule the order the measure and manner of all things both publike and priuate the band of humane conuersation and friendship She it is that maketh man resemble God and so farre extendeth her power in the coniunction of mens minds that she not onely knitteth honest men together in ciuill societie but euen wicked men and theeues whose companies could not continue if among their iniustices Iustice had not some place She is of so rare goodnesse and sinceritie that she maketh man not onely to abstaine from taking anothers goods but also from coueting the same Indeed said M. Dormer if Iustice be such a vertue as you haue described me thinke that we haue smal need of other vertues for she comprehendeth them all within herselfe So doth she answered I if she be generally considered as before hath bin said But if we call her to the company of the other vertues as here we place her she hath as much need of them as they of her if she shall produce those effects which we haue spoken of For as one vice draweth another after it as do the linkes of a chaine the one the other euen so are the vertues much more happily linked together in such sort as they cannot be seuered But though a man be endued with them all yet is he called a iust man a valiant a prudent or a temperate man according as he inclineth more to this then to that or in his actions maketh more shew of the one then of the other for our naturall imperfection wil not suffer any one man to excel in them all which made me say a while sithens that it is so hard a thing to be magnanimous since the vertue of Magnanimity must be grounded vpon all the rest But to excell in iustice is a thing most glorious for it is said of her that neither the morning starre nor the euening star shineth as she doth And Hesiodus called her the daughter of Iupiter Wherupon Plato supposing that who so embraced Iustice contracted parentage with Iupiter the King of Gods and men accounted the iust man had gotten a place very neere vnto God Verily said M. Dormer and not without cause For it behoueth him that will be iust to be voide of all vice and furnished with all other vertues And therefore me thinketh he that said Iustice might wel be without PrudeÌ„ce considered ill what belonged to Iustice For Prudence is most necessary to discerne what is iust froÌ„ what is vniust and a good iudgment therin can no man haue that wanteth Prudence without which iudgment Iustice can neuer rule wel those things that are vnder her gouernment And as Agesilaus said of Fortitude so thinke I of Iustice that if she be not guided by Prudence which is aptly called the eie of the mind she works more harme theÌ„ good You thinke truly said I and of this vertue the course of our author draweth me to treate to declare of what importance she is to humane things and how beneficial But let me first put you in mind that hitherto hath bin spoken but of those vertues which haue their foundatioÌ„ in the vnreasonable parts of the mind of which mind they are the habits consisting in the