that minde neither is it so needfully required Christian sorrow for worldly losses is sufferable riches and wealth to a good man are comfortable by reason he hath greater means to do good for the daunger lyeth in the abuse and not simply in the vse for to a bad man they are indeede the cause of more euill because they minister more matter to his wicked and sinfull desire A man may warme him by a fire though hee burne not himselfe in it so a rich man may moderately vse his riches though with them hee stoppe not vp the gappe to happinesse but the deadly hatred they bore to externall things shewed theyr loue to Vertue and the desire they had to diue into the depth of wisedome ô how they stroue about the contemplatiue and actiue life some choosing one some the other strugling who should come nearest vnder the wings of Vertue and yet for all this they laboured but in darkenesse and blinde ignorance and neuer attained to that true ioy by which the heart is exalted to immortalitie for the true and absolute Vertue is the true knowledge of GOD the way to worship him aright and true comfort in aduersitie for nothing can bee good without the soueraigne good if men bee ignorant of that all is false and theyr intentions goe awrie but the Philosophicall summum bonum rested in this namely in the quiet apprehending of reason and fashioning the outward man to ciuill obedience and could neuer possesse themselues of that heauenly felicitie vnder which all Vertue is comprehended Pouertie ought not to moue the minde with restlesse passions Pouertie ought not to disquiet the minde but to allaie the heate with contentation and pacifie the vnstaied affections which will more easily be done if a man considerately call to mind how many persons in the world are in as wretched or more wofull estate then he himselfe is yet the deare children of God too but in aduersitie many lose themselues in discontentment not patiently wayting but greedily snatching not content with that they haue be it neuer so much but adding goods to goods and multiplying more to enough with neuer satisfied desire tormenting the minde with vnquiet motions and by that meanes make the freedome of life a sharpe and bitter bondage for if their life were six times so long as it may be by the inuitable course of nature yet the tenth part of that they haue were sufficient to maintain them well and honestly and declare whereto they were borne and inrich their posteritie after why should they then be so greedy and earthly minded to consume their dayes in such vnreasonable cares whereby they are neuer at rest but in continuall slauery so greatly do they feare least they should be poore and so in the midst of plentie liue in want and thus become incaple of reason and most miserable of all men for no externall thing can in themselues make a mā vnhappie if immoderate desire creep not in to breed rebellion so that still our former assertion must hold In medio concistit virtus Vertue stands betweene two extreames in cooling the heate of desire with Temperance not in feeding the belly so much as it will hold cloathing the backe so farre as the purse will stretch and giuing scope to pleasure as though much wealth gaue much libertie for that is prodigalitie nor in pinching hoording it vp from necessary duties nor that is illiberalitie ouerturneth the whole fellowship of mankind neither must a man neglect his priuat state but labour in his calling to supply his wants the meane therefore is the safest path to walke in in which whosoeuer goeth is safe from stumbling vpon extremities If Ycoras had held his medium tutissimum he had not so vntimely fallen In medio concistit virtus or Phaeton obserued the good counsell of his father he had not bin striken with thunder but presumption arrogance casteth men healong into woe and misery So that if Temperance do not order the life and dispose our humane affaires we fall into an insatiable desire of hauing or into an vtter neglect of our own wants spending too much that vainly or sparing too much that too nigardly But as the higher we clime the lesse appearance those things seeme to haue that are vnder vs our sight being remoued from the obiect and species of things so the nearer we approch to God and frame our obedience vnto him the lesse we value these base transitory things Now if by this compendious course our mindes are abstracted drawen backward immediatly our cogitations ascend vp to heauē as vnto the country to which we are trauelling we must not the incumber our mindes with so heauy a load as the cares of this life least they hinder vs in the pursuit to perfect blessednesse O what a burden of torments doth the couetous desire bring with it a disease like the Dropsie the more it hath the more it would thirsty as the serpent Dipsas neuer satisfied till it burst wanting that it hath and hath that it wanteth because the good vse of those things present are euer absent ô whither would the greedinesse of man run if Mydas golden Wish were to be had the couetous Lawier would haue the diuell and all the secular Priest be sick of the golden dropsie the Artificer Alcumize his Instruments into gold the plow-man weary of his labour so that here would be Aurea aetas a golden world Thus would extreame couetousnes bring a misery vpon the owners and though with Mydas they might turne any thing into gold with a touch yet should they be starued with hunger famish the bodie and robbe the soule of all true comfort For these waight alwaies on a couetous man Impietie periurie thefts rapines treasons fraud deceits and all kind of vnconscionable and mercilesse dealings Let a man then be content with his portion and not seeke to aspire vnto terrestiall honour by tearing out the bowelles of his brethren with vsurie extortion and vnconscionable brokerie For it is better to be contentedly poore then miserably rich and to surpasse in rare Vertues then in earthly treasure for albeit a man be downe in misery yet if honest and vertuous hee is raised vp to immortall glory for the excellency of Vertue makes him shine with such a grace as he may soone be eleuated to the top of true honour and cannot goe vnrewarded for his honourable seruice Post funera virtus for hauing valiantly fought vnder the banner of so noble a matron his paie is fame in despite of death and eternall felicitie in the world to come for Vertue inableth a man to enioy the fruition of perfect happinesse and eternall life Then let a poore man reioyce in affliction and patiently beare aduersitie and comforte him selfe with the hope of a better life which assuredly hee shall enioy if so be he hold out to the ende in a holy and vertuous course The comfortable
wicked desires he is not to bee numbred amongst vertuous and good men To conclude where the Common-wealth is guided by godly lawes of Princes the lampe of Vertue shining in the hearts of subiects laudable sciences imbraced Iustice without partialitie administred the good protected the bad punished peace maintained there is a happpie and blessed gouernment a sweete harmonie of nature and an earthly Paradize for he that shall goe about to counite and couple Vice Vertue in one putteth a man and a beast together honestie admits no such knot for the end of good which ought to be after one sort must not be mingled with any thing disagreeable in an other sort for Vertue is no longer Vertue if mixed with contrarie qualities we may then safely conclude that there is no goodlyer possession then Vertue and that it is perfect folly to couet to be rich mightie and creepe vp to worldly honour and make so small reckening to be stored with Vertue which is so certaine the tytle so glorious and permanent wherevpon one calleth it Dimidium animae meae which is not vnproperly spoken for take away vertue from a man which is the plain path to sanctimony he must be numbred among those creatures that haue onely essence and want vnderstanding sith hee aymeth not at the purpose of his creation The audacitie and stout courage of the Heathen was such that for morrall vertues would cast themselues into daungers many times deadly abandon riches endure pouertie abide tortures desiring rather a poore quiet life to follow Vertue then by a prosperous state to draw the mind into a troublesome stirre for pouertie performes that indeed that all Philosophy goeth about to perswade But this dooth much shake the feeble conscience when wee behold diuers good men endued with rare vertues and stored with good parts Vertue dismayed by pouertie notwithstanding oppressed discarred and as it were made the scorne and May-game of the world finding no place of safetie to rest vpon and the bad and vicious to sit in Fortunes lap Now whē we mark these vnproportionable accidents onely with the eye of common reason ô how it distracteth the minde accusing through ignorance the iust and diuine prouidence because he permitteth the good to be punished with miserie and the bad to swim in prosperitie but if we bend our wits to find out a deeper reason we shal see that the good are not afflicted for their hurt but fatherly chastised for their better triall the wicked not fauored but seuerely punished for God worketh al things for the good of those that are his yet who can denie but that the burthen of pouertie is importable hunger imprisonment exile intollerable persecution and death insufferable all which is inough to driue a man to dispaire of his owne happinesse supposing God had vtterly forsakē him but the waight hereof is lightned made easie to them that steadfastly beleeue Gods promises and cast their care on him as Peter willeth Cast thy care on him for hee hath care on thee Moreouer though a man be poore sicke diseased and wayed downe with a clogge of miserie An honest mā is not poore for in aduersitie Vertue sheweth her chiefest operation yet can he not say hee is so bare and naked as vtterly vnable to help himselfe or an other for admit he hath no temporall goods to helpe that way yet can hee harbour and shewe the rights of hospitalitie if hee hath neither of both yet can hee visit the sicke and cheare vp his mind with good counsell if he be poore sicke lame harborlesse and comfortlesse himselfe yet can he helpe with his prayers and communicate his loue by his orysons and deuout supplications so that euery one hath a rich fountaine within which vpon euery occasion may be powred out and therefore no man can pleade disabilitie and want of meanes to relieue And what though a man haue some casuall deformitie in his body or bee vnhappily fallen into a wretched estate yet so long as his vertue and honestie may bee iustified hee neede not bee ashamed of brusing the flesh or feeling penurie but rather boast and glorie in them for it cannot bee any shame or dishonour to carrie about him the visible tokens of such scarres neither dooth it any whit impaire his credit with the wise and vertuous nor make him of lesse esteeme with good men much lesse with God who putteth no difference between a king and a begger but onely in obedience to his will but here is the ignominie to bee branded with the hotte iron of wicked conuersation as when a man shall haue his eares cut from his head The simbolls of vanitie or marked in the hand for some villainie and the spots of vice so pregnant on his body or going vnder a hard censure for a bad opinion iustly conceiued in this case hee hath small cause to glory or boast but rather blush be ashamed and exile himselfe from common societie and striue with humilitie to reforme those rebellious passions that haue so strongly lead him into such dishonestie But where Vertue doth rule the affaires and actions of this life are mannaged with wisedome and those swelling thoughts kept backe which as a raging floud carrie away all that is not ground-fast that any outward griefe is quietly suffered and patiently endured for what aduerse fortune soeuer happens is borne with contentment in so much as neither pouertie sicknesse crosses afflictions or what calamitie soeuer come cannot moue or distemper a stayed minde for beeing inflamed with a constant resolution doth fit himselfe to beare the troubles of this life with a valiant and immutable courage Stilpo a Greeke Philosopher when the citie where hee dwelt was burnt to sinders his wife and children consumed in the flame and all that hee had turned to ashes himselfe hardly escaping with his life was asked what he lost in the fire quoth he I lost nothing Omnia mea mecū perto for Omnia mea mecum porto all that is mine I carrie about me meaning his vertues the onely proper goods of a wise man which no force of fire can cōsume nor the furie of no enemy take away In like maner an other being told his own son was dead was no whit moued at the message and being told againe again he was dead why quoth he what of that I knew I begat a mortall creature and being mortall he must needs die who could beare such great cause of griefe without some shew of sorrow but such smal reckning did the wise Heathē make of worldly losses for it is the nature of mā to relent deplore and be subiect to lamentations yet their wisedome kept it vnder the yoake of reason or who in these daies would refuse such preferment as Diogenes Riches rightly vsed are great blessings or his loade of gold as Fabritius or cast his treasure into the sea as Antippus I verily suppose fewe or none would bee of
with continencie an enemie to lust and a mediocritie in the pleasures of the body whose office is to couet nothing that may bee repented of afterwarde nor to exceede the boundes of modestie but to keepe desire vnder the yoake of reason Of the lyneaments of her perfection the whole world doth subsist and abide euen from the lowest to the highest without whom our lusts would ouerthrowe our vnderstanding and the body rebell against all good order and the habit of reason wholy suppressed for shee tempereth and keepeth in frame the whole body of man without whose aide many enemies would creepe in This little imcrocosmie is vpheld by Temperance and infect our best parts and vtterly ruinate and cast downe the bulwarke of reason and walles of vnderstanding but hee that doth sacrifice his endeuours to so diuine an essence swimmeth safe betweene two Riuers deuoyd of daunger Extreames are euer hurtfull for if a man eate too much or too little doth it not hurt the body so is it of too immoderate labour or too much idlenesse of too much boldnesse and too much cowardnesse these extremities are vicious and euill but the meane doth temper them both No man is wise happy or any thing worth if Temperance square not out the course of his life And herein the benefite of olde age is to bee honoured for that it hath this preheminence ouer youth time hath weakened theyr affections abated their courage and stayed the intemperate blastes of vnbrideled libertie and by long experience haue gottē a more large portiō then they whose affections being strong and discretion weake set themselues against this Vertue eclipse her brightnesse with the fogges of ignorance And for this cause haue wise men so ioyfully embraced olde age which Tully so highly applaudes in his booke De Senectate This is guided by Prudence which doth gouerne the life of man with such reason as shee is euer carefull for the welfare of the body by curbing those passions of the mind which are vehement and vnruly by her the mind is made capable of honest actions and beautifull demeanours and like a prouident gouernesse ruleth ouer concupiscence flouds of lusts which would else surround the puritie of the minde A potion to purge the soule an Antidote against pride and a valiant tryumpher ouer flaming desires not like Aetna too hotte or Caucassus too colde but is content betweene both and reioyceth in it If the bodie be not dieted with moderation it will proue a stubborne seruant to the soule vnfruitfull fit for nothing but thorny cogitations the greatest enemies to the spirituall powers that can be for the flesh pampered in delicates or kept short of her naturall needments is effeminated corrupted and weakened and many diseases be gotten which are all staid by a meane and temperate dyet and the boyling lusts of the bodie asswaged Thus farre of these Vertues more might be added if I meant to intreat of them at large but this briefe recapitulation may serue as an introduction to our following discourse Omnis virtus vna virtus absoluta All Vertues are but one simple Vertue Plato being chained and linked so neer together as one cannot be sundred from the other without disparagement of the whole Fortitude is a noble Vertue but if destitute of Iustice shee is hurtfull to the good if Temporance keepe not her vnder she will turne into rage and if Prudence be absent they all fall into error There is a mutuall league a proximitie and neare acquaintance which doth conglutinate and ioyne them all in one one must haue relation to an other and follow by degrees Pietie Truth and Temperance must march before Fortitude In a word Vertue is no other but Vitium fugere hating Vice and loathing euil and we better knowe her by her contrary then by her selfe which doth make the imagination gesse at Vertue a farre off so that knowing Vice is a good grounde of Vertue whereby the inwarde powers are helde in with vnspotted simplicitie farre more better then such as cunningly seeke to knowe what Vertue is then willingly betake themselues to follow it in theyr life so that knowledge is not enough alone vnlesse it be practised by outward action for it is better to doo wisely then wisely to deuise So that in generall Vertue rightly carried comprehendeth whatsoeuer is conducing and leading to a good and holy life and hee that once hath tasted the sweetnesse of one is drawne with much desire to an other one good thing begetteth an other and taking once a deepe impression his estate is thereby preserued incorruptible without chaunge whereas if a man taketh holde on externall goods and leane to the mutabilitie of Fortune doth often stumble vpon many daungerous Rockes and fall into wretchednesse when Vertue will firmely vpholde a man in the midst of all calamitie Horatius Villius argentum est auro virtutibus aurum Siluer is cheaper then Gold and Gold of lesse price then Vertue She is of great moment and most inestimable value although a carnall and grosse minde cannot equally deeme the price of so rare a Iewell for where ignorance doth couer the minde she is reiected and held of base esteeme as a simple peasant trampleth many wholsome hearbes vnderfoote which a skilfull herbalist would carefully gather vp extract some rare quintessence out of theyr hidden secrets Wilt thou build thy safetie vpon a sure foundation then here is the rocke that no tempest can shake here is a shelter to defend thee from perils a safegard to preserue the puritie of the soule from beeing polluted by the concupiscence of the body and though neuer so many stormes of aduersitie and shewers of persecution beate vpon thee being in this world as in a wildernesse of woes yet shrowding thy selfe vnder the Cannapie of Vertue thou ioyest in the middest of all sorrow and though the whole world be of an vprore yet what is that to thee thou art no whit moued thereat for Animo caelestia tangit thy affections are mounted vp to heauen thy mind aduanced aboue all earthly weaknesse It is not onely hard but very difficill to finde out which of the Vertues are most predominant that the victory may be imputed to her because they are all knit in one single vnion for the good of the soule For as one linke of a chaine draweth an other and an other after til it come to the last the Antecedent the Relatiue so one Vertue is an Adamant that draweth an other Vertue vnto it And though shee take vp her lodging in a crooked and deformed body as she is euer readie to dwel where shee findeth the heart yeeldable to honestie yet penetrating with inward desire and bringing the stragling powers of the minde to a vniformitie doth make vp the want of nature with a supply of grace causing him shine like Christall for when the life is laudably lead there appeareth so great a glory that it is not onely admirable to
of it selfe is not so short by nature but it is more shortned by sinne and the length of time hastened on by iniquitie The soule is of too fine a mettall and so pure a temper as to loue to do nothing but wil be imployed in labour yet because she is imprisoned in the walles of flesh followeth her sluggish inclination the body by too much ease is like a pampered Iade vnseruiceable and her dexteritie and faculties being made blunt and dull with sloth becommeth wholy vnfit for honest labour for if he remit and giue his minde to idlenesse ill corrupting motions creepe into the soule which polluting the purer parts do by little and little carry him to all impietie vntill the whole man become nothing but the sonne of Belial by it a wide gap is opened for adultery to enter in at and therefore Diogenes was wont to say by doing nothing we learne to do euil and lust quoth he is the trade and occupation of loyterers and as that grand-maister of wantonnesse Ouid in his booke De remedio aemors saith Osia si tollas periere Cupidinis arcus And it being asked how the Emperour Aegistus became an adulterer it is answered Ouid. In promptu causa est desidiosus erat It is a plaine case he was idle For if the bodie be not set on worke the minde goeth astray whereby this litle world is soone ouerthrowne by the inuasion made against it by concupiscence as whē a man doth fast long and abstaine from bodily foode The cause of the plague or pestilence the emptinesse of the stomacke and passages draweth into the bodie windie humours and infectious vapours because according to Philosophie there is no vacuum but a present supply of ayre so that often eyther by the disposition of the elements or by reason of some accidentall cause the ayre is so infected and poysoned as it pierceth into the vitall powers and either bringeth a vniuersall mortalitie or some lingring disease and sicknesse so in like manner when the body is kept from corporall labour and the minde from studious exercise a fit mansion for don Sathan is prepared euery roome emptied and the whole poores and faculties of soule and body really possest with wicked impietie wherein this grand-traitor to mans happinesse as in a worke-house forge or common shoppe dooth stampe and coine a multitude of euils and suggest abhominable vices into the heart for verily none are such fit instruments for him to worke by then such as liue idlely and do nothing for where there is no defence to keepe him backe there dooth hee rule so strongly ouer the affections that there is no other fruites but a sinfull life and a shamefull ende for such as occupie themselues in no commendable exercise but mispend the time no maruell though the minde bee vpon vnhallowed actions Idlenesse is a capitall plague a sore vexing the body with extreame torment and loading the bones till they cracke with weakenesse pouertie impotencie and in the ende leaueth olde age naked and vnprouided for In a word nothing is more vnseemely in a Christian nor more contrarie to the lawe of God which commaundeth euery one to get his liuing with the sweate of his browes preiudiciall to humane societie and iniurious to nature and therefore Themistocles tearmeth idlenesse the graue and tombe of such men as are aliue An idle man is a dead carkasse for that there is no difference betweene an idle man and one that is dead for that neither one nor the other doth any good Euery one is commaunded to be industrious in that calling wherein hee is set and earnestly seeke to applie himselfe therevnto for he that worketh not is not worthie to eate but hee that followeth his trade with diligence be it neuer so base or mechanicall is alwayes sure of competencie and saturitie when as the luskish and idle notwithstanding their great aboundance are in short time consumed and come to nothing as the wise man saieth Prou. 14.30 I passed by the field of the slouthfull and loe it was ouergrowne with bryars and nettles had couered the face thereof and the stone wall was broken downe c. Yet a little sleepe a little slumber a little fowlding the handes together so thy pouertie commeth vppon thee like an armed man and as it is in an other place hee that putteth his hand into his bosome is like to fall into pouertie Some lur-daines that haue wealth left by their ancestors holde it a poynt of wisedome to rest theyr idle limmes and spare theyr bodies and liue in the hyue vppon the hunney of others labour and as vultures kill nothing themselues but preye vppon that which is killed by other so like Catter-pillers do they liue by the fruites of other mens labours and sore trauaile This kinde of life was so much hated among the Aethenians that who so was seene idle was seuerely punished And for this vse was there Sophronistes and graue Fathers that had the ouersight and surueighing of the Common-wealth and most chiefly looked to the manners of youth Tully reports that none durst walke the streetes of Rome without bearing about him some signe of his profession least hee should bee impeacht of idlenesse and in his oration Pro Archita poeta hee saith of himselfe What time other men spent in sports playes bankets dice cardes tennice c. that saith he I bestowed in poring on my booke which is vndoubtedly true for surely had he bene idle and giuen to pastime as many students are in these dayes hee could neuer haue bene that notable and excellent summus Orator There is nothing so precious as time which being wilfully or willingly ouerslipt The picture of time is impossible to be recalled for that she is deafe and cannot heare and therefore she is painted with lockes before but bauld behind because holde may be taken in the comming but her back once past is irrecouerable and the lowder she is called Mora trahit periculum the faster she flyeth It were a world to note the idlenesse of many in these times and what multitudes liue with doing nothing or at leastwise in doing things vnprofitable and dishonest yea what numbers there be both in Citie and Towne that liue like Drones idle Grashoppers as a right wise and honourable Counsellor reported in the Starre-chamber that in the citie as hee verily was perswaded there were at least a thousand families that could giue no honest reckening of their life Some like Aesops labber sit beating their heeles against a stall some friske from house to house as busie-bodies others in curious obseruations and fault-finding with the gate apparell speech and defects of other and fat themselues with busie apprehensions This peeuish nature is deriued from that olde Witch Lamea Lamea hath many childrē who as the Poets faine had broade prospectiue eyes to pull out and in at pleasure and at her going abroad would put on and be very curious and
other and a kinde communication as when a man saith Syr I drinke to you with all my heart this cup of wine being as much as if he should say all the strength and good this wine shall minister to my body I am readie to spend it in your seruice which being gratefully requited by the other is full of humanitie Many noysome detracting euils lye hid in the bosome of a drunkard The often bibbing at feasts breakes the bonds of modestie Some are neuer well but when theyr nose is in the pot and so are made drunke by accident which breaketh out vpon euery occasion in so much as he can neuer be at peace but one torment succeedeth an other which as eating vulcers or sores byte and gnawe continually neuer suffering body or mind to haue one houres respite for intollerable anguish The body I say is subiect to so much pestilence and rottennesse as cannot in fewe words be expressed the face blowte puft vp and stuft with the flockes of strong beere the nose so set out with pearles diamonds that by the reflecting beames which they cast frō so glorious antiquitie the bye-standers may see to walk as by a lighted tapor Thus doth God pursue them with his iudgements some the gallows knits vp the sword deuours the pox marbles c and the whole body so impaired and shaken with goutes sciaticaes panges palsies appolexies c. that for the most part lye vnder the Phisitions hand who though they liue yet such life is a liuing death for Medice viuere est miserè viuere And being thus surfetted liue disconsolate and hasten their owne destruction by casting themselues headlong into the bottome of endlesse wretchednesse For the excellencie of reason being thrust forth of her cabbin by wine-washing excesse they incidently fall into woe and miserie Lot being drunke committed incest with his daughters Noah was mocked of his sonnes Holofernes had his head cut off by a poore woman for it is an easie thing for the diuel to accomplish his will if the mind be bent to surfetting For this is that poysoned fountaine out of which floweth so many maladies greeuous long diseases impostumations inflamations obstructions ventosities and what not whereby the mildnesse of nature is disturbed And therefore one of the Sages being asked why he refused a cup of wine when it was offered him because quoth hee I take it to be poyson for this other day when I was inuited to a Feast I sawe that euerie one that drunke of it soone after decayed both in minde and bodie hauing lost both reason and vse of theyr limbes and as the Poet saith Vino forma perit vino corrumpitur aetas But these straunge euents happen not simply in respect of the wine it selfe being in it owne nature good for if it be moderately taken it comforteth the bodie and cherisheth the minde strengtheneth the sinewes and helpeth the eyes and that was the cause Saint Paul counselled Tymothie to drinke a little Wine but only and altogether in the intemperate and immeasurable vsage So is it likewise in meates when one doth gurmandize and feede vpon diuersitie and disguised dishes of manifolde operations Many accidences arise and diseases growe and this is by reason of the contrarietie and different natures of those meates and in the superfluitie and aboundance as the prouerbe saith much meate much maladie whereas in simple and vniforme kindes delight neuer exceedes the appetite and he that feedeth but of one dish liueth longer and is more healthfull then those accidentall dieters queasie stomackes that glutte themselues with euerie kinde artificially compounded sometime of easie digestion then of harde digestion that many times before one can be concocted the other putrifieth in the stomacke and this is verie familiar in common knowledge that the ploughman that liues by curdes bread and cheese and such homely fare workes harde all the day and lyeth vneasie at night is more sounder healthfuller and more free of malladies then those fine nice and curious dyeters Now when the bodie is thus misdieted by surfetting and drunkennesse it is not only subiect to diseases and afflicted with torments and incurable laments whereby it becommeth vnweildie vnfit for any vertuous exercise but also draweth the horror and iudgements of God vppon both bodie and soule How ought men therefore to liue soberly and chastely and stoppe the abuse of such abhominable Epicurisme and as wise Cato saieth Eate to liue and not liue to eate like the Epicure that putteth all his felicitie in Bacchus his belly-cheare By this the quicke conceit of the spirit is dulled and made impregnable the glorious sun-shine of Vertue eclipsed and all good motions quite extinguished that a man cannot be saide to be a man but the trunke or carkasse of a man wherein an infernall spirit in stead of a soule doth inhabite Heereby hee becommeth rash-headed and vnaduised dooing that in haste whereof he repenteth at leisure As Alexander who in his drunkennesse would sley his dearest friends and being sober would be readie to kill himselfe for anger and all those noble vertues and princely qualities wherewith he was endued were all defaced by the intollerable delight he had in drinking The famous Citie Persepolis in a drunken humour was burned to ashes which was no sooner deuised by Thayis the harlot but was executed with great celeritie but recouering his wits repented his folly for with this spirit is a drunken man alwaies possest to attempt things rashly to despise good counsel to vndertake great exployts but neuer with mature deliberatiō vnruly disobedient and violating the lawes both of God and man and lastly with the foolish Troians sero sapiunt phriges be wise when it is too late If this Hidra infuse her venome into the tendernes of youth and not crushed downe when it begins to peepe by killing the serpent in the egge but suffered to growe ripe ô how it distilleth into the soule and pulles downe the whole frame of Vertue whereby he is cast downe headlong from a high promentarie into a deepe vgly dungeon it weakeneth the nature and maketh them fooles and meacockes not fit for any imployment To giue wine to youth is olium igni addere And therefore the Spartans and Lacedemonians at their great festiuals would shewe vnto their children drunkē men that by seeing their beastlines they might shun the like practise Vinum est quasi remedium aduersus duritiem senectutis largitus est It was a great shame among the Athenians for a young man to haunt tauernes or common tap-houses in so much as on a time when a youth beeing in a tauerne and seeing Diogenes come towards him shifted into an other roome for feare he should see him Nay quoth he stay young man the more you goe in that way the further you goe into the Tauerne If Diogenes or Polemon liued in these daies they should haue worke inough to sweepe youth out of Tauernes