a sodaine auoiding all superfluous speech their answers were verie witty and wel contriued their words very significant and short hauing in them both grace and grauitie ioined together As when Philip king of Macedonia wrote vnto them that if he entred within Laconia he would ouerthrowe them topsy turuy they wrote backe vnto him onely this word If. And another time as Demetrius one of his successors being angry with the ambassadour which they sent vnto him asked if he came alone from the Lacedemonians to him the ambassadour made this onely answere One to one Pittacus vsed to say that a dry and thirstie eare must be washed with a sentence that is good to drinke that speech grounded vpon reason onely is able to content and satisfie the hearing Notwithstanding that we may the rather and the more profite others we are not to neglect if it may be the ioining of graue doctrine with sweet gratious and eloquent speech mingled with some pleasure grace and delight but voide of all dissolutenes For as Euripides saith that is the goodliest assembly in the world where the graces and muses meete togither Right and reason are inuincible being well vttred bicause the soule is therby induced easily to beleeue the good reasons she heareth through the delight that is ioined with them Examples also being vttred fitly and with a good grace profit no lesse than the other bicause with the force of perswading which is in the nature of the example there is ioined the vertue of delighting But we must carefully auoide all subtiltie of speech all proude superfluous and vnprofitable talke least that be iustly obiected vnto vs which Phocion replied to Leosthenes who laboured to perswade the Athenians to warre by an eloquent and verie loftie oration Thy words quoth he to him yoong man and my friend may fitly be compared to Cypres trees For they are great and tall but beare no fruite woorth any thing Or else that may be obiected vnto vs which Aristotle answered to a great pleader of causes who at euerie sentence he rehearsed asked him if that were not a strange thing Not that replied he but this is a greater maruaile that any man hauing two legs can abide thy babling And to another who after a long discourse said vnto him I haue troubled thy head philosopher not a whit answered he for I thought not vpon it Such bablers whom Plato verie aptly calleth theeues of time are cōpared by Plutark to emptie vessels which giue a greater sound than they that are ful So he that is poore in respect of the goods of the soule hath alwaies some fond speech in his mouth But we must aboue all things shunne this vice of intemperancie of the toong which Bias called the best and woorst thing that was It serueth vs to profit and instruct others and by the same also we hurt and corrupt others And as a little fire consumeth a great wood so this little member which is a fire yea a world of iniquitie defileth all the bodie and setteth on a flaming fire the whole world if it be not extinguished and repressed It seemeth that nature would teach vs this by fortifiing the toong better than any other part of the body and by setting before it the bulworke of the teeth that if it wil not obey reason which being within ought to serue in steade of a bridle to stay it from preuenting the thought we might restraine and chastice the impudencie thereof with blouddy biting And because we haue two eares and two eies it ought to serue vs for instruction that we must heare and see much more than we speake Do we not also see that sight and hearing go before speaking and that of necessitie an infant must first vnderstand before he can be able to speake Isocrates appointed onely two times to speake in the one when the matter is necessarie and the other when a man speaketh that which he knoweth And this we may put in practice without blame in this maner As touching the first point it is lawfull and seemly for vs to speake when we stand in need of any thing secondly when our speech shall profit any also to delight and recreate one another with pleasant deuices void of dissolutenes to mollifie and to ease the trauell of our affaires or else to relish our rest the better and to induce vs thereby to giue glorie to God All speech not grounded vpon one of these three causes were better restrained than vttred Moreouer we ought to obserue inuiolably the second point of not speaking that which we know not except it be in seeking and asking after instruction remembring that which Apelles once spake to Megabyses a great Persian Lord who comming into his shop to see him intermingled some talke of the art of painting So long quoth Apelles to him as thou wert silent thou seemedst to be some man of great account by reason of thy chains carquenets of gold and purple gowne but now there is not the least of these boyes that grinde oker who doth not mocke thee hearing thee speak that which thou knowest not By which saying we may note that great men ought to weigh well and to consider of that which they speake in publike places and to vse graue and sententious words of another phrase than that of the vulgar sort or else to hold their peace if they haue not this gift of speaking Or at the least they are to speake but little seeing the verie words gesture and countenance of a prince are oftentimes taken for lawes oracles and decrees Tiberius also brought vp this custome of speaking to the prince by writing and of his answere by the same to the ende that nothing should escape his mouth that was not well considered of before But to continue our matter as the aboue named painter had set foorth a table of his owne for all men to behold and had hid himselfe behinde it that he might heare what could be reprehended a shooemaker espied a fault in the fashion of the latchet which Apelles afterward corrected And hauing the next morning hung it out again to be viewed this shooemaker passing by and seeing that his opinion was followed entred further to speake against other lineaments But the painter not able to beare his boldnes came from behinde his table and stopped his mouth with this saying That a shoomaker ought not to iudge of greater matters than of the shoo This is the meaning of that common prouerbe to go about to teach Minerua which is so intollerable a thing in men of honor and so pernitious in the simpler sort that are light of beliefe that for this cause Alexander the great gaue money to Cherillus an ignorant poet to holde his peace and to leaue writing And seeing we are entred into this matter we must know that we ought to be much more staied and aduised in writing any thing than in bare
generally so manie wonderfull works vnder the cope of heauen I cannot maruell enough at the excellencie of Man for whom all these things were created are maintained and preserued in their being and moouing by one and the same diuine prouidence alwaies like vnto it selfe AMANA There is nothing more certaine than this that all things whatsoeuer either the eie can behold or the eare heare were created for the benefit profit and vse of man and that he was made excellent aboue all things to rule ouer them yea the very Angels are sent to minister for their sakes which shall receiue the inheritance of saluation ARAM. Oh vnspeakable and heauenlie goodnesse which hast created man little lower than thy selfe and crowned him with glorie and worship But tell vs I pray thee ACHITOB more particularly what this great and principall worke of nature Man is to what end his being was giuen him and how he hath shewed foorth the fruits thereof For it â—â—st needes be that there is something in him greatly to be woondered at seeing all things were created to serue and obey him ACHITOB. Truely yee haue reason companions to begin our happie assembly with that knowledge which we ought to haue of our selues as being the storehouse of all wisdome and beginning of saluation wherof we may haue an assured testimonie from that father of Philosophie Socrates who beholding the first precept written at Delphos in that temple of Apollo which was so renowmed throughout Graecia namely Know thy selfe was foorthwith driuen into a very deepe cogitation and being rapt with contemplation of spirit he began from that time forward to doubt and to inquire of himselfe Wherupon contemning that way which all the Philosophers of his time who busied themselues about nothing but onely in finding out the causes of naturall things and in disputing curiously of them he gaue himselfe wholie to the knowledge of himselfe I meane of his soule which he maintained to be in deed man and by disputuation to intreat of the soueraigne good thereof and of vertue By which meanes the gate of wisedome was opened vnto him wherein he profited in such sort that according to the oracle at Delphos he was called of all men the wise the iust the prince of Philosophers and father of Philosophie And surely out of his sayings which being more diuine than humane were written by his disciples all other Philosophers haue drawne their knowledge Heraclitus another excellent man minding to giue out in speech that he had done some notable act woorthy of himselfe said I haue sought my selfe Which beginning truely is verie necassarie for man as being a guide to leade him to the true knowledge of God which is a heauenly gifte of God and peculiar to his And this is learnedly taught vs by the same Socrates where he saith that the dutie of a wise man is to seeke out the reasons of things that in the ende he may finde that diuine reason wherby they were made and hauing found it may worship and serue it that afterward he may enioy it and reape profite thereby Moreouer he addeth that the perfect knowledge of ones selfe which consisteth in the soule is in such sort ioined with the knowledge of God that the one without the other cannot be sincere and perfect And for the same reason Plato his disciple who for the excellencie of his writings was surnamed the Diuins saith that the perfect dutie of man is first to know his owne nature then to contemplate the diuine nature and last of all to bestow his labour in those things which may be most beneficiall to all men Ignorance of a mans selfe saith Lactantius and the want of knowledge wherefore and to what end he is borne is the cause of error of euill of leauing the right way to follow the crooked of wandring out of the plaine way to walke in the ragged and vneeuen way or vpon a dangerous and slipperie mountaine and lastly of forsaking the light to walke in darknes Now if we account it a shamefull thing to be ignorant of those things which belong to the life of man surely the not knowing of our selues is much more dishonest Let vs then consider what man is according to that meane knowledge which by the grace of God we are endued withal not staying in those curious definitions which the Philosophers haue made Man is a creature made of God after his owne image iust holy good and right by nature and compounded of soule and body I say of soule which was inspired of God with spirite and life and of a perfect naturall bodie framed of the earth by the same power of God In this sort man had his beeing of the eternal workmaster of the whole world of whom he was created by his incomprehensible goodnes to be made partaker of his immortalitie and permanent felicitie for this onely ende to set foorth the glorie of his Creator and to speake and do those things that are agreeable vnto him through the acknowledgement of his benefits From which ende man being fallen of his own free wil through ingratitude and disobedience was bereaued of all those ornaments which he had receiued before of God and in steede of righteousnes and holines all iniquitie filthines and vncleannes entred into him wherby he was made the slaue of sinne and of death from whence all those miseries had their beginning wherewith the life of man is ouerwhelmed His soule also was wrapped with infinite hurtfull passions and perturbations which worke in it a continuall disquietnes and his body became subiect to innumerable trauailes and violent vntowardnes Of which corruption the ancient Philosophers had great and assured knowledge but the first and true cause therof which was sinne and the voluntarie fall of man with his restoring vnto grace by the vnspeakeable goodnes and mercie of his Creator from whence he was fallen were alwaies hidden from them as we shall see anon as also from an infinite number of men who liuing holily according to the world neuer had the perfect knowledge of God in his eternall sonne As for any good thing whatsoeuer they vttered or found out it came through earnestnes of studie by discoursing and considering in the reasonable part of their soule of those things which offred themselues to their minde But forasmuch as they were not wholy ouerwhelmed in euery part of reason and yet had no knowledge of the heauenly word Iesus Christ they vttered many things contrarie one to another and in the midst of their great and woonderfull skill according to that saying of the Scripture who hideth his secrets from the prudent and reueleth them to babes they had a continuall troubled spirit wandring here and there aswell in the seeking out of themselues and of the causes of naturall things as of those things which are aboue nature And truely the reason of man naturally ingraffed in his hart which so farre foorth
beyond measure in prosperitie she keepeth him vpright and constant both in the one and in the other Thus doth vertue generally teach a man by following the reason of true prudence to rule all his inclinations and actions as well for his owne priuate good as for the profit and vtilitie of humane societie Whereby it appeereth sufficiently vnto vs that the foundation of all vertue is that diuine reason which floweth into our soules from the free goodnes of our God and which taketh liuely roote by care studie and diligence when the selfe-same grace blesseth our labour For without this we can do nothing so that all our meditations and purposes to liue vprightly continently and temperately become vaine and friuolous before his maiestie In this maner of that excellent reason and wisedome wherewith the eternall wisedome enricheth vs that we might know good and euill prudence is ingendred which is most necessarie for the gouernment of earthlie things whereof we will intreat heerafter and whereby man is enriched with morall vertue as with an infallible rule of all his works and actions to the end that fully enioying humane felicitie which consisteth in good maners qualities and conditions of the soule he may bring foorth the fruits and effects thereof to the profit of many We say then that all vertue consisteth in mediocritie as vice doth in excesse or in defect in regard wherof she is in the midst albeit in respect of hir selfe I meane of hir perfect and absolute excellencie she is extreme and standeth not in need of any increase or diminution Now as all the imperfections of the soule are called vices and passions so all their contraries which serue for remedies vnto them are named vertues And although vertue be alwaies one so that he which hartily imbraceth one part of it is desirous of them all yet may she be called by diuers names euen by so many as there is alwaies in euery good action some particular vertue that maketh it eminent and to be seene aboue others Moreouer according to the diuers subiects wherein she is she bringeth foorth diuers effects conforming hir selfe in some sort to the maners conditions and naturall inclinations of those which possesse hir Heereof it commeth that some are more apt and constant in some one vertue than others are for all can not do all things and that one practiseth it after one fashion and an other otherwise Now it followeth that I handle heereafter distinctly and in order the pluralitie of vertues with their seuerall properties But in the meane while to speake generally of this pretious and inestimable riches I meane of vertue and of the great worthie and wonderfull effects which she bringeth forth in men first she is the onely proper and true good of the soule that can not by any accident be violently taken and caried away She alone maketh hir possessor happie causing him to finde euery kinde of life that is sweet pleasant and acceptable contained in hir Vertue alone is the onely matter of rest and tranquillitie in the mind being by reason purged of feare of trouble of worldly desire and ioy Of this liuely fountaine spake Democritus when he said that ioy was ingendered in mens harts of the mediocritie of pleasure and of a moderate and temperate harmonie of life Vertue said Thales is the profitablest thing in the world bicause it maketh all other things profitable by causing men to vse them well Yea we may say further that all other gifts and riches remaine vnprofitable and hurtfull without the ornament of vertue Cicero prooueth by many goodlie reasons that onely vertue is of it selfe sufficient to cause men to liue well and happily And surely euery good and vertuous man of what calling soeuer he be is so happie if he haue grace to know it that he need not to wish for any thing with passion or trauell in this life but rather is content of himselfe in regard of men and contemneth the care of worldly things not iudging any thing euil which necessitie of nature or rather the ordinance of God bringeth vpon him And where miseries are doubled there vertue sheweth hir effects most wonderfully giuing vs therby to vnderstand that she consisteth in such things as are most rare and difficult For which cause hir strength is compared to the date tree which the more it is pulled downe the more it returneth vpward so when vertue is most oppressed of hir enimies she shineth most gloriously Onely vertue appeareth woonderfull to the minde that is cloathed therewith and keepeth it from coueting that which others commonly worship namely great callings riches pleasures and glory She despiseth the praise flatterie of men wherunto so many others make themselues slaues remaineth alwais free in hir selfe free to euery one without any other hope of reward then to be accepted of God to effect things meete tobe rewarded eternally in the next life by the liberalitie of God If we compare worldly goods with vertue calling that good which vsurpeth that name is subiect to corruptiō first as touching those which the philosophers cal the goods of fortune namely nobility wherin at this men stay so much what is it but a good of our ancestors Riches are easily lost yea causeth the possessor of them to be sooner lost as for the glorie of the greatest yea of al principalitie it is no lesse vncertaine Concerning the goods of the bodie beauty comelines is but a flower of small continuance helth which is so precious soon changeth strength is lost by infinit inconueniences Al bodily pleasure is vnperfect followed of perturbations But vertue is that onely diuine immortall qualitie in vs which as Hesiodus saith is a stable sure possession both to the liuing and to the dead ouer which neither fortune slander sicknes old-age nor aduersitie haue any power and as for length of time which diminisheth all things it alwaies addeth somewhat to vertue encreaseth it All the other goods aboue rehearsed are from without a man working oftentimes destructiō to their possessors commonly coming to those that are least woorthy of them Onely vertue is the proper inheritance of the soule worketh the hapines therof and maketh a man alwaies worthy of true glory praise causing him to be honored esteemed euen of his enimies In a word it cannot as Cicero saith be vttered how much vertue surmounteth all other things in glorie excellencie And if all other goods of men saith Socrates were laid by thēselues they would amount in value but to one mote in respect of the price of vertue Plato his disciple saith that the difference of vertue compared with other goods is so great that if they were put into one skale of the balance vertue into the other this would ascend vp to heauen and the other would touch the earth Moreouer he wrote foure fiftie books or dialogues
proper end expecting our renewing in that life which is immortall and euerlasting Of Good and Ill hap Chap. 31. ARAM. THere hath beene alwayes men of great humaine learning but voyd of the sincere knowledge of the truth that haue maintained one of these two opinions some That all things were gouerned by nature others that they were ruled by fortune They that acknowledge nature for the first cause of all things did attribute vnto hir a constellation which through the strength and efficacie of the starres gouerned the counsaile and reason of men The other sort acknowledging fortune maintained that all things were done at aduenture and by chance Now albeit there are too many at this day that follow this error yet is it so absurd a thing that in the writings of Ethnicks and Pagans a thousand inuincible reasons are found of sufficient force to conuince such opinions of meere lying and ouer-great sottishnes and to constraine those that are most impudent and shameles to acknowledge an infinite almightie power to be the creator of nature and of all things moouing therein and to dispose and order them with an eternall and euerlasting prouidence True it is that I would not absolutely deny the maruellous effects which many haue noted in heauenlie bodies throughout nature neuertheles I hold this for certaine that as all their vertue dependeth of one onely God so he withdraweth from them his power when and as soone as it pleaseth him Of this I inferre that they greatly deceiue themselues who thinke that the seeking out of the starres and of their secret vertues diminisheth any thing from the greatnes and power of God seeing that contrariwise his maiestie is much more famous and woonderful in doing such great things by his creatures as if he did them himselfe without any meane Nowe that which I haue touched heere my companions is not to offer any occasion to discourse of the Mathematicks or of any part thereof which would be to depart out of those bounds which we appointed to our Academy But seeing nothing is so common amongst vs as to vse or rather to abuse these wordes of Good and Ill hap by attributing vnto them some power and vertue ouer our doings insomuch that we commonly say there is nothing but good or ill lucke in this world I thinke it wil not be without fruite to consider narowly what we ought to thinke of these words and wherein we are to seeke and desire good hap and wherein to feare and flie ill lucke Now therefore let vs be instructed of you touching this matter ACHITOB. Good hap consisteth in that contentation which proceedeth from the perfection of the subiect therof being adorned with a perfect habit and intire possession of all kind of Goods in the priuation whereof all ill hap consisteth This cannot be verified of the passions and affections of men nor of their worldly affaires which are alwaies intermingled with diuers sundry accidents turning one while on this manner by and by after an other and carying the soule continually vp and downe with these two perturbations Desire and Griefe Therefore if there be a happie man in this world said Socrates it is he that hath a pure and cleane soule and a conscience defiled with nothing For the mysteries of God may be seene and beheld of him onely ASER. A temperate and constant man that knoweth how to moderate feare anger excessiue ioy and vnbrideled desire is very happie but he that placeth other vading Goods in his felicitie shall neuer haue a quiet mind Let vs then heare of AMANA wherein we ought to iudge that happines or vnhappines consisteth AMANA The continuall alteration sudden chang of one estate into another cleane contrary which might alwaies be noted in the nature disposition and euents of mens actions counsels desires gaue occasion to some of the ancient Philosophers to thinke the sicke more happie than the sound bicause said they sicke folks looke for health whereas the healthie expect sicknes For this very consideration it seemeth that Amasis almost the last of those kings that raigned peaceably in Egypt shoke off the alliance and league with Policrates king of Samos who was so happie in worldlie respects that do what he could yet could he not know what sorow meant but all things fel out vnto him better than he desired For proofe wherof may serue that which happened vnto him after he had cast into the sea a ring of great value which he loued exceedingly Now although he did so of purpose to the end he might taste of some sorow and griefe yet he found it quickly againe in the bellie of a fish taken by Fishermen and bought for his kitchen Whereupon this wise Egyptian iudged it a thing altogether impossible but that some great miserie was to follow hard at the heeles of so great happines and therefore he would not be partaker therof as of necessitie he should haue beene if he had continued still that league which before was betwixt them Neither was Amasis any thing deceiued in his opinion For within a while after Policrates was depriued of his kingdome and shamefully hanged seruing for a common and notable example of the instabilitie and variablenes of mans estate as also to shew that it is a very absurd thing to place happines in so vncertain felicity And yet among infinit imperfections borne with man this is common in him to loose quickly the remembrance of a benefit receiued but to retaine a long time the memorie of a calamitie fallen vpon him Which is the cause that he alwaies supposeth his mishaps to be without comparison greater than all the good hap that he can haue so that he complaineth continually of his miseries and calamities not remembring the innumerable benefits which are daily offred presented vnto him from the grace and bountifulnes of God Notwithstanding if all men as Socrates said aswell rich as poore brought their mishaps and laid them in common together and if they were in such sort diuided that euery one might haue an equall portion then should it be seene that many who thinke themselues ouercharged oppressed would with all their hartes take againe vnto them their fortune and be contented withall Wouldest thou said Democritus auoid the griefe of thy miserie Behold the life of the afflicted and by the comparison thereof with thine thou shalt see that thou hast cause to thinke thy selfe very happie He that will measure his burthen saith Martial may well beare it Now with this common complaint in men of their estate and condition this custome also is ioined to lay the cause of that which they suffer vpon cruell and intollerable destinie accusing that to excuse their owne fault Wherefore we cannot more aptly compare them than to blind folks who are angrie and oftentimes call them blind that vnawares do meete and iustle them But if we desire to cure our soules of so many
that fall into it through negligence or misgouernment of those goods which God hath put into their hands that they should be faithfull keepers and disposers thereof in charitable workes This is that which Thucidides saith that it is no shame for a man to confesse his pouertie but very great to fal into it by his owne default Therefore to reape profite by that which hath beene heere discoursed let vs put off that old error which hath continued so long in mens braines that pouertie is such a great and troublesome euill whereas it is rather the cause of infinite benefits and let vs say with Pythagoras that it is a great deale better to haue a quiet and setled minde lying vpon the ground than to haue much trouble in a golden bed Moreouer let vs knowe that to possesse small store of earthlie goods ought not to be called pouertie bicause all fulnes of wealth aboundeth in the knowledge and assurance of the fatherlie grace and goodnes of the Author and Creator of all things which he offereth liberally to all without accepting either of pompe or greatnes And further when as continuing the care which it pleaseth him to take of vs he giueth vs although in trauell and sweate wherewith to feede and to cloth vs in all simplicitie and modestie and that according to our necessitie we should be vnthankfull and altogither vnwoorthie the assistance of his helpe and fauour and of his eternall promises if not contented nor glorifieng him for our estate we complained or wondred at desired the calling of other men offering thereby in will and affection our birthrights through a gluttonous desire whereas we ought to preserue to our selues the possession of that heauenlie inheritance wherein consisteth the perfection of all glorie rest and contentation Of Idlenes Sloth and Gaming Chap. 35. ARAM. TWo things being the cause of all passions in men namely Griefe and Pleasure they alwayes desire the one but flie from and feare the other But the occasion of the greatest euil that befalleth them is bicause these desires and affections being borne with them from the beginning do also grow encrease a long time before they can haue any iudgement framed in them through the right vnderstandyng of things Whereupon as well by nature which of it selfe is more inclined to euill than to good as through a long continuing in vice they are easily drawen to follow the appetite and lust of their sensualitie wherein they falsly iudge that pleasure consisteth and thinke it painfull not to please it Being thus guided by ignorance and walking like blindmen they haue experience for the most part of such an end as is cleane contrary to their purposes As we may see in those men who purposing with themselues to liue at their ease in ioy rest and pleasure giue ouer all intermedling in serious matters and such as beseeme the excellencie of vertue that they may liue in idlenes wherwith being bewitched they are partakers of many false pleasures which procure them a greater number of griefs and miseries all which they thought to auoyd very well And this we may the better vnderstand if we discourse of Idlenes the enemie of all vertue and cleane contrary to Perseuerance which is a branch of Fortitude Therefore I propound the handling of this matter to you my Companions ACHITOB. Although we haue not a singular excellencie of spirite yet we must not suffer it to be idle but constantly follow after that which we haue wisely hoped to obtaine For as Erasmus saith that which is often done reiterated and continually in hand is finished at last ASER. They that do nothing saith Cicero learne to do ill through idlenesse the body minds of men languish away but by labour great things are obtained yea trauail is a worke that continueth after death Let vs then giue eare to AMANA who will handle more at large for our instruction that which is here propounded vnto vs. AMANA As we admire and honour them with very great commendation in whom we may note as we think some excellent and singular vertues so we contemn them whom we iudge to haue neither vertue courage nor fortitude in them and whom we see to be profitable neither to themselues nor to others bicause they are not laborious industrious nor carefull but remain idle and slouthfull And to say truth the maners conditions and natural disposition of such men are wholy corrupted their conuersation is odious vnprofitable and to be auoided seeing that Idlenes is the mother and nurse of vice which destroieth and marreth all Therefore it was very well ordained in the primitiue Church that euery one should liue of his owne labor that the idle and slothfull might not consume vnprofitably the goods of the earth Which reason brought in that ancient Romane edict mentioned by Cicero in his booke of Lawes that no Romane should goe through the streets of the city vnles he caried about him the badge of that trade whereby he liued Insomuch that Marcus Aurelius speaking of the diligence of the ancient Romanes writeth that all of them followed their labor and trauell so earnestly that hauing necessarie occasion one daye to send a letter two or three daies iournie from the towne he could not find one idle bodie in all the citie to carie it That great Orator and Philosopher Cicero minding to teach vs how we ought to hate Idlenes as being against nature sheweth that men are in deede borne to good works whereof our soule may serue for a sufficient and inuincible proofe seeing it is neuer still but in continuall motion action And for the same cause he greatly commendeth Scipio who vsed to say that he was neuer lesse quiet than when he was quiet Whereby he giueth vs to vnderstand that when he was not busied with waightie affaires of the Common-wealth yet his owne priuate matters and the searching after knowledge were no lesse troublesome vnto him so that euen then in his solitarines he tooke counsell with himselfe It seemeth saith this father of eloquence that nature doth more require of a man such actions as tend to the profit of men than she doth the perfect knowledge of all things seeing this knowledge and contemplation of the workes of nature should seeme to be maimed vnperfect if no action followed it whereas vertuous deedes are profitable to all men for which end nature hath brought vs foorth which sheweth sufficiently that they are better and more excellent So that vnles the knowledge of things be ioined with that vertue which preserueth humane societie it will seeme to be dead and vnprofitable Therefore Chrysippus the Philosopher said that the life of those men that giue themselues to idle studies differed nothing from that of voluptuous men So that we must not studie Philosophie by way of sport but to the end we may profit both our selues and others Now if action must of necessitie be ioined to
great Iudge and conuince vs of taking some thing of his and then the Iudge being vpright and iust deliuer vs into his hands to throw vs into darknes where there shall be weeping and gnashing of teeth for euermore Of Enuie Hatred and Backbiting Chap. 43. ARAM. THe mind of man which of it owne nature is created sociable gratious and ready to helpe euery one yea which by the force of charitie working togither with it feeleth it selfe as it were constrained to mourne with those that weepe and to reioice with them that laugh is able to shew nothing more vnwoorthy it selfe than to be ouercome of enuie which is a wild plant in the soule bringing foorth cleane contrary effects to that good wil which we owe to our neighbor comprehending in it all iniustice generally all wickednes of men as we may see if you think good my companiōs to search more narowly into the nature of this vice ACHITOB. Enuie proceedeth of a naughtie disposition and prouoketh light braines as Pindarus saith to reioice in beholding the aduersitie of some and to be vexed at the happie successe of others causing men also to delight in backbiting honest men especially such as are praised But take heede saith Pittacus least seeking to auoid enuie thou becommest miserable ASER. Glorye and vertue saith Virgil are alwaies enuied which vice is commonlye accompanied with Hatred and Ill-will whereby men are driuen forward to detract and slander others But hee that keepeth his mouth sayth the wise man keepeth his soule Let vs then heare AMANA who will instruct vs more at large in this which is heere propounded vnto vs. AMANA That wicked and suttle enimie of mankind not being able to abide the glorie whereunto God had called men of which he depriued himselfe through his pride was driuen with enuie to tempt our first parents whose ingratitude conceiuing sinne in the soule of man the first fruite brought foorth by this cursed plant seemeth likewise to haue beene enuie with which Adams eldest sonne being mooued slew his onely brother Oh cursed and furious enuie oh fruitfull branch of execrable euils seeing by thee man was first beguiled and induced afterward to admit murder into his hart and to water the earth being yet virgine-like with his brothers blood whereby he began his chiefe worke vpon innocencie to the end that wicked men might from father to son haue this prerogatiue to oppresse the good Is there any vice then amongst vs which we ought to hate and flie from more than from enuie which hauing nothing of hir first euill nature diminished leadeth men to most vniust and detestable actions Neuertheles to what passion are we more inclined or do we nourish more willingly than this Let euery one enter into himselfe and vndoubtedly he shall find there a thousand enuies which are neuer without hatred and rancor grafted in the secretest place of his soule True it is that enuy according to the subiects which it meeteth withall bringeth foorth more pernitious effects in some and lesse hurtfull in others But how soeuer it be this passion is alwaies blame-woorthie and ought to be eschewed of euery good and vertuous man whose desire is not to wander out of the path of dutie and honestie We say therefore that Enuie is a griefe arising of another mans prosperitie and that malignitie is commonly ioined with it whether it be the fountaine therof as some say or one part thereof as others will haue it This malignitie is a delight pleasure takē in another mans harme although we receiue no profit thereby and it seemeth to be accidentall that is procured by hatred or ill will arising of some euill affection that one man beareth to another For this cause Plutark distinguisheth hatred from enuie saying that hatred is bred in our harts through an imagination and conceit which we haue that he whome we hate behaueth himselfe wickedly either towards all men generally or particularly towards vs but that men enuie onely those whome they know to be in prosperitie And so it seemeth that enuie is indefinite and not limited much like to sore eies that are offēded at euery cleernes and light but that hatred is limited being alwaies grounded and staied vpon some certaine obiects in regard of it selfe Moreouer no man hath iust cause to enuie another mans prosperitie For he doth no man wrong bicause he is happie whereas on the contrarie side many are iustly hated for their vices and impieties and ought to be shunned of good men which hatred of the wicked is a propertie that belongeth to good men But the hatred that is borne towards good men is a passion not much separated from enuie And thus may these two passions resembling two plants be said to be nourished preserued increased by the selfe same meanes albeit they succeed one another The same Plutark being desirous to teach vs how we ought to abhorre enuie calleth it sorcerie bicause through the poison thereof it doth not onely fill the enuious bodie with a naughtie and hurtfull disposition but the infection disperseth it selfe also through the eies euen vpon them that behold it so that they are touched therewith as it were by some poisonfull influence Likewise he compareth it to the flies called Cantharides For as they alight especially vpon the fairest wheate and most blowne roses so enuie commonly setteth it selfe against the honestest men and such as haue most glorie vertue Power honor strength riches are but brands to kindle the fire thereof Therefore Thucidides saith that a wise man desireth to be enuied to the ende he may doe great things Bias said that enuie and an old house oftentimes light vpon a man and neuer knocke at his gates But if enuie be hurtful to others it is much more noisome to him that possesseth it tormenting him within continually with a thousand turbulent passions which shorten his daies diminisheth powers of his bodie and are a great deale more pernitious to his soule For it will not suffer him to taste or conceiue any good speech or sound instruction from whomsoeuer it commeth but causeth him to reiect and speake against it as if he were iealous and enuious of his owne good The occasion whereof is the ill will which naturally he beareth against all them that deserue more than himselfe whereupon he striueth rather to blame or to wrest in ill part whatsoeuer was well meant than to reape any profite thereby And if he heare a man commend other mens deuices or any of his owne doings contrary to his mind he thinketh that he hath so many blowes giuen him with a cudgell Thus we see that enuie wishing well to none doth no lesse torment and hurt his soule that is infected therewith And to speake in a word it comprehendeth the generall iniustice which is all kind of wickednes and destroieth all duties of humanitie causing men to hurt those whom they ought
be heard He that honoureth his father shall haue a long life and he that is obedient to the Lord shall comfort his mother He that feareth the Lord honoreth his parents and doth seruice vnto his parents as vnto Lordes Honor thy father and mother in deeds and in word and in all patience that thou mayest haue the blessing of God and that his blessing may abide with thee in the ende For the blessing of the father establisheth the houses of the children the mothers curse rooteth out the foundations Helpe thy father in his age and grieue him not as long as he liueth And if his vnderstanding faile haue patience with him and despise him not when thou art in thy full strength For the good intreatie of thy father shall not be forgotten but it shall be a fortresse for thee against sinnes In the day of trouble thou shalt he remembred thy sinnes also shall melt away as the ice in faire weather He that for saketh his father shall come to shame and he that angreth his mother is cursed of God By these holy speeches we see how we ought to loue honor reuerence and feare our parents This is comprehended vnder the first commandement of the second table and this only of all the ten articles of the Decalogue beareth his reward with him albeit no recompence is due to him that is bound to do any thing namely by so strȧight a bond as this wherof all lawes both diuine and humane are full and the law of nature also doth plentifully instruct vs therein as it hath been diligently obserued of very Infidels Ethnikes and Pagans Amongst the Lacedemonians this custome tooke place that the younger sort rose vp from their seates before the aged Whereof when one asked the cause of Teleucrus It is quoth hee to the ende that in dooing this honour to whom it belongeth not they should learne to yeeld greater honour to their parents The arrogancie of a childe was the cause that one of the Ephories published the law of Testaments whereby it was permitted to euery one from that time forward to appoint whom he would his heire This lawe serued well to make children obedient and seruiceable to their parents and to cause them to be afraid of displeasing them Among the Romanes the child was not admitted to plead his fathers will after his death by way of action but onely by way of request vsing very humble honourable and reuerent speech of his dead father and leauing the whole matter to the discretion and religion of the Iudges Contend not with thy father said Pittacus the wise although thou hast iust cause of complaint And therefore Teleucrus aunswered aptly to one who complained vnto him that his father alwayes spake ill of him If quoth he there were no cause to speake ill of thee he would not do it So that it belongeth to the duetie of a childe to beleeue that his father hath alwayes right and that age and experience hath indued him with greater knowledge of that which is good than they haue that are of yoonger yeeres Philelphus said that although we could not possibly render the like good turnes to our parents nor satisfie those obligations by which we stand bound vnto them yet we must doe the best we can vnto them we must intreate them curteously and louingly and not go farre from them we must harken vnto their instructions and be obedient to their commaundementes wee must not gaine-say their deliberations and wils no more than the will of God whether it be that we are to depart from them or to tary still or to enter into some calling agreeable to the will of God we must not stand in contention with them wheÌ„ they are angry but suffer and beare patiently if they threaten or correct vs. And if they be offended with vs when we thinke there is no cause why yet we must not lay vs down to rest before we haue by all kind of honest submissions appeased them Humilitie is always commendable but especially towards our parents The more we abase our selues before them the more we encrease in glory and honor before God and men This is very badly put in vre at this day when the sonne doth not onely not honor his father but euen dishonoreth him and is ashamed of him He is so farre from louing him that he rather hateth him so farre from fearing him that contrarywise he mocketh and contemneth him and in stead of seruing and obeying him he riseth vp and conspireth against him If he be angry he laboureth to anger him more brieflie scarce any dutie of a child towards his father is seene now a daies And if some point therof be found in any towards his father yet is it cleane put out in regard of the mother as if he that commanded vs to honour our father did not presently say and thy mother vnto whoÌ„ in truth we owe no lesse honor respect and obedience than to our father as well in regard of the commaundement of God as of the vnspeakable paines and trauell which she suffered in bearing and bringing vs into the world in giuing vs sucke in nourishing vs. But alas what shall we say of those that spoile their parents of their goods houses and commodities and desire nothing more than their death that they may freely enioy euen that which oftentimes their parents haue purchased for them O execrable impietie It is vnwoorthy to be once thought vpon amongst vs the iudgement of God doth of it selfe sufficiently appeere vpon such cursed children Whose behauiour that it may be more odious vnto vs let vs learn of Pittacus that our children will be such towards vs as we haue been towards our parents But let vs be more afraid to prouoke our fathers in such sort through our default vnto wrath that in stead of blessing vs they fall to curse vs. For as Plato saith there is no prayer which God heareth more willingly than that of the father for the children And therfore special regard is to be had vnto the cursings and blessings which fathers lay vpon their childreÌ„ Which was the cause as the scripture teacheth vs that children in old time were so iealous one of another who should â—ary away the fathers blessing and that they stoode in greater feare of their curse than of death it selfe Torquatus the yonger being banished from his fathers house slue himselfe for grief thereof And to alleage another example out of the writings of auncient men of the loue which they bare to their fathers that of Antigonus the second sonne of Demetrius is most woorthy to be noted For when his father beyng prisoner sent him worde by one of his acquaintaunce to giue no credite nor to make account of any letters from him if it so fell out that Seleucus whose prisoner he was should compell him thereunto and therefore that he should not deliuer vp any of those
townes which he held Antigonus contrarywise wrote to Seleucus that he would yeeld vp vnto him all the landes he had vnder his obedience and would also himselfe become his pledge if he would deliuer his father We may not here passe ouer with silence the rare example of daughter-like pietie with which all the painters in the world haue set foorth their science I meane of the daughter that gaue sucke to hir father who was condemned to die of that auncient and vsuall punishment of famine which neuer suffereth a sound man to passe the seuenth day The iailour espying this acte of pietie gaue notice thereof to the magistrates which beyng knowen to the people the daughter obtained pardon for hir fathers life Moreouer seeyng we must labour to obey and to please our parentes in all things it is certaine that no action gift or disposition in vs is more acceptable or contenteth them better than to see good-will and an assured and certaine friendship among brethren Which may easily be knowen by these contrary signes For if parents are offended when their children offer wrong to a seruant whom they loue and if hartie old men are grieued when no account is made of a dog or horse bred in their house and are vexed whē they see their children mocke despise those pastimes stories and other such like things which they somtime loued is it likely that they could patiently abide to see their children whom they loue best of all to hate one another to be always quarelling one with another to speake ill one of an other and in all their enterprises actions to be diuided and set one against another and to seeke to supplant and defeat each other I think no man will affirme it Therefore contrarywise we may iudge that those brethrē which loue and cherish one another which ioine togither in one bond of self-same wils studies affections that which nature had disioined separated in bodies lastly which haue all their talke exercises playes pastimes common amongst them they I say vndoubtedly giue occasion to their parents of a sweete and happy contentation in their old-age for this brotherly loue friendship For no father saith Plutarke euer loued learning honour or siluer so much as he did his children And therefore they neuer took so great pleasure to see their children good orators rich or placed in great offices and dignities as to see the loue one another To this purpose one rehearseth that Apollonida mother to king Eumenes and to three other of his brethren accounted hir selfe happy as she said and gaue great thanks to God not for hir riches or principalitie but bicause she saw hir three yonger sons as it were a gard to their elder brother who liued freely and most safelie in the middest of them with their swordes by their sides and their iauelins in their handes Contrarywise when king Xerxes perceiued that his sonne Ochus lay in waite for his brethren to put them to death he died for displeasure thereof Therefore Euripides sayd that warres betweene brethren are grieuous but most of all to their parents bicause he that hateth his brother and cannot abide to looke vpon him must needes also be offended with him that begate him and hir that bare him Whereas good children that loue one another for the loue of their parents are so much the more prouoked to loue and honour them saying and thinking alwayes with themselues that they are bound vnto them for manie causes but chiefly in regard of their brethren who are vnto them as precious pleasaunt and gracious an inheritaunce as any they could receiue from them This ment Homer to teache vs when he brought in Telemachus reckoning this amongst his calamities that Iupiter had ended the race of his father in him and had not giuen him a brother Let vs not then doubt but that this is a certaine demonstration to the parents that their childe loueth them when he loueth his brethren And this also serueth for as great an example and instruction to his children to loue one an other as any can be Therefore let vs vtterly banish awaye all hatred of our brethren which is both condemned by God who commendeth aboue all things concord vnto vs and also a naughtie nurse for the olde age of fathers and mothers and a worse for the yong yeeres of children And seeing we are about this matter of brotherly loue so precious and excellent whereunto now adayes men haue so small regard I thinke we ought to insist and stand longer vpon it and alleage some precepts and examples of auncient men whereby to confirme vs in it more and more First nature hath bred from our birth in regard of vs the beginning and occasion of this amitie and hath taken away from our iudgement all former motions to procure loue Therefore we must beware that we seeke not too exactly after the faults and imperfections one of another but couer beare with them bicause they are of our own blood knowing that no mans life can be sincere clean frō all vice so that we were better to support the domestical imperfectiōs of our brethrē thā to make trial of those that are in strangers That brother saith Plutark that warreth with his brother seeketh to procure a stranger to friend seemeth to me to cut off voluntarily a mēber of his owne flesh belonging to him that he may apply and fasten to that place one taken from another mans body We note also that nothing more preserueth the loue of brethren than to haue the same common friends For seueral familiaritie conuersation company keeping turneth aside alienateth them one from another bicause thereby they acquaint themselues with diuers natures and take pleasure in things that are contrary But there is a further matter in it For as tinne doth soder ioine togither broken copper by touching both ends of the broken pieces bicause it agreeth as well with the one as with the other so a common friend serueth to confirm to preserue to encrease to reunite their mutual friendship and good-wil when vpon light occasion somtimes it is as it were in danger of breaking Which is so much the more to be feared as it is certain that all enmitie breedeth within our soules a thousand passions that torment vs but especially that enmitie which a man beareth towards his brother as that which is most prodigious and against nature And as bodies that were once ioined togither if the glew or bande waxe loose may be reioined and glewed againe but if a naturall bodie breake or rent asunder it is hard to find any soder that is able to reunite and knit them well togither againe so those mutual friendships which we contract voluntarily with such as are not of kinne or allied vnto vs if peraduenture they fall asunder sometimes may easily be vndertaken againe but when brethren
ciuil estate gouernment which is the chief Magistrate let vs consider now of the second no lesse necessary therein which is the law whereby he is ioined and vnited to the rest of the publike body for the maintenance and preseruation thereof ACHITOB. The lawe is in the citie as the spirite is in the body For as the body without the spirite vndoubtedly perisheth in like maner euery citie Commonwealth that hath no law falleth into ruine and perdition Therefore Cicero calleth lawes the soules of Common-wealths ASER. As the soule guideth the body and indueth it with abilitie to work so the law is the direction maintenance of euery Estate By the lawe is the Magistrate obeied and the subiects kept in peace and quietnes But let vs heare AMANA handle this matter AMANA We see that naturally all liuing creatures whether earthie watry aërie or flying tame or wild seeke after the companies and assemblies of their kinds to liue with them as Sheepe by flocks Kine Oxen Harts and Hindes feeding by herds Horses Asses Mules by companies Choughs Stares Cranes other birds by flights Fishes both in fresh and salt waters following one another in sholes Bees dwelling in hiues Pigeons in doouehouses Ants in little hollow places No maruell therefore if men singularly adorned with an immortal soule with reason speech and by these prerogatiues more communicable than other creatures as borne to honour God to loue one another to liue togither in a ciuill policie with lawes Magistrats iudgements hauing proper to themselues onely the knowledge of good euill of honestie dishonestie of iustice iniustice knowing the beginnings causes of things their proceedings antecedents consequents their similitudes cōtrarieties no maruel I say if they liue more commodiously happily togither do that by right equity which other liuing creatures do only by a natural instinct seeing also they may be assured as Cicero saith that nothing here below is more acceptable to god the gouernor of all the world than the cōgregations assemblies of mē linked togither by right equity which we cal cities Now we are to note that all those which obey the same lawes Magistrats make iointly togither but one city which as Aristotle saith is euery cōpany assembled togither for some benefit If a city be assēbled in monarch-wise it is to be defēded against strāgers to liue peaceably among thēselues according to law if Aristocratically vnder certaine chiefe lords it is to be respected according to their riches nobility vertue if in a popular cōmunity it is to enioy liberty equality the better that the city is guided by policy the greater benefit they hope for therby Therefore as the Venetians make but one city liuing vnder an Aristocraticall gouernment the Bernians an other liuing vnder a Democraty whether they liue within or without the wals or far frō the chief towne so all the natural subiects of this Monarchy acknowledging one king for their soueraigne lord obeying his commandemēts the decrees of his coūcel represent one city political cōmunion cōpounded of many villages townes prouinces Prouostships Bailiweeks Senshalships gouernments Parliaments Barronies Counties Marquesies Dukedoms Cures Bishopriks Archbishopriks being in of it self sufficiently furnished with all necessary honest things for the leading of a good vertuous life obeying the statuts lawes ordinances established therin according to which the Magistrat ought to rule to gouern his subiects shewing therby that albeit he be not subiect to the law yet he wil as it becommeth him liue gouerne himselfe vnder the law Therfore the Magistrate is very wel called by some a liuing lawe the law a mute Magistrate Moreouer the marke of a soueraign Prince of which depēdeth whatsoeuer he doth by his imperial authority is the power to prescribe lawes vnto all in general to euery one in particular not to receiue any but of God who is the Iudge of Princes saith Marcus Aurelius as Princes are the iudges of their subiects yea it is God saith the wise mā that wil proceed with rigor against thē for the contēpt of his law So that they which say generally that princes are no more subiect to laws thā to their own couenāts if they except not the laws of god of nature those iust couenants and bargaines that are made with them they are iniurious to God And as for their power to abrogate such lawes by their absolute authoritie it is no more permitted vnto them than the other seeing the power of a soueraign is only ouer the ciuill or positiue lawes But that we may haue some certaine vnderstanding of the matter heere propounded vnto vs to intreate of we must first see what the lawe is into howe many kindes it is diuided whereunto it ought to tend the profite of it and howe we must obey it The lawe is a singular reason imprinted in nature commanding those things that are to be done and forbidding the contrary We haue both the lawe of nature and the lawe written The lawe of nature is a sence and feeling which euerie one hath in himselfe and in his conscience whereby he discerneth betweene good and euill asmuch as sufficeth to take from him the cloake of ignorance in that he is reprooued euen by his owne witnesse The written lawe is double diuine and ciuill The diuine lawe is diuided into three partes that is into Manners Ceremonies and Iudgements That of Manners was called of the ancient writers the Morall lawe beeing the true and eternall rule of Iustice appointed for all men in what countrie or tyme soeuer they liue if they will direct their life according to the will of God And as for the Ceremonies and Iudgements although they haue some relation to Maners yet bicause both of them might be altered and abolished without the corruption or diminution of good manners the Ancients did not comprehend those two parts vnder the word Morall but attributed this name particularly to the first part of the lawe of which the sincere integritie of Maners dependeth which neither may nor ought in any sort to be altered or changed and whereunto the end of all other lawes is to be referred in honouring God by a pure faith and by godlines and in being ioined vnto our neighbour by true loue The Ceremonial lawe was a Pedagogie of the Iewes that is to say a doctrine of infancie giuen to that people to exercise them vnder the obedience to God vntill the manifestation of those things which were then figured in shadowes The Iudiciall law giuen vnto them for policie taught them certaine rules of iustice and equitie wherby they might liue peaceably togither without hurting one another Now as the exercise of ceremonies appertained to the doctrine of pietie which is the first part of the Morall law
the small and so consequently no agreement Besides this is out of doubt that all the subiects of an Estate stand in neede of a law as of a light to guide them in the darkenes of humane actions especially it is necessarie for the terrifieng of the wicked who might pretend some true cause of their ignorance or some probable colour of their wickednes or at least some shew why they should escape the punishment which is not imprinted in our hartes as things forbidden by nature Neuertheles it is not the law that maketh a right gouernment but vpright iustice and the equal distribution therof which ought to be surer ingrauen in the mindes of good kings and princes than in tables of stone And it is to small purpose to multiply Edicts and Decrees if they be not seuerely obserued yea the first signe that a man may haue of the losse of an estate is when there appeereth an vnbrideled licence and a facilitie in dispensing with good statuts and when new decrees are daily consulted of And if the estate be already troubled the heaping vp of lawes vpon lawes is no lesse dangerous for it than a multitude of medicines in a weake stomacke whereas contrarywise new introductions and abuses are then especially to be taken away and things brought backe againe to their first and ancient forme Histories teach vs that when edicts and decrees were most of all multiplied then did tiranny gather greatest strength As it fell out vnder the tyrant Caligula who published decrees of al sorts both good and bad and those written in so small a letter that men could not read them to the end that he might thereby snare those that were ignoraunt His successour Claudius made twentie edicts in one day and yet tirannie was neuer so cruell nor men more wicked than at that time Therefore let the lawes and good ordinances of an estate be inuiolable straightly kept not subiect to dispensation not fauourable to great men but common and equall to all and then shall the bond of ciuill societie bee surely tied Now where as I said that all nations haue libertie to prescribe and frame ciuill lawes for themselues my meaning was not to approoue certaine barbarous beastly lawes receiued of some people as those lawes which alowed theeues a certain reward which permitted the company of men and women indifferently and innumerable others more dishonest which are not onely voyd of all iustice but euen of all humanitie But these two things must be kept inuiolably in all lawes namely The ordinance of the law the equitie of it vpon the reason wherof the ordinance is grouuded Equitie is alwayes one and the same to all people bicause it is naturall Therefore all the lawes in the world of what matter soeuer they are must meete in the same equitie Concerning the ordinance of the law bicause it is ioyned with circumstances no inconueniēce letteth but that it may de diuers among sundry nations prouided alwayes that they all tend a-like to the same marke of equitie Now seeyng the diuine law which we call morall is nothing else but a testimonie of the law of nature and of the conscience that is imprinted in all mens hartes no doubt but this equitie whereof we now speake is wholy declared and comprehended therein Therefore it is meete that this equitie onely should be the white rule and end of all lawes For as S. Augustine saith in his booke of the citie of God euery law that beareth not the image of the diuine lawe is a vaine censure And iustice is the end of euery law wel established which is the cause why S. Paul so greatly extolleth the vigor of the lawe calling it the bond of perfection Those lawes then which are squared out by this heauenly rule which tend to this ende and are limited out by this measure ought to be receiued and followed cheerfully albeit they differ from the Mosaicall law or otherwise one from another For many haue denied some amongst vs are yet of that opinion that no Common-wealth can be well iustly instituted and ordained if leauing the policie of Moses it be gouerned by the common lawes of other nations which is so absurd a thing and would be the cause of so great confusion in the policies of the world that there needeth no great store of arguments to prooue it vaine and friuolous Moreouer by that distinction of the law which we haue already set downe in our discourse it appeereth sufficiently that the opinion of these doters is grounded vpon a meere ignoraunce of the will of God The lawe of God forbiddeth stealing and diuers paines and punishments are appointed for the same in the policie of the Iewes according to the kind time and place of the theft The ancientest lawes of other nations punished theeues by causing thē to restore double that which they had stolne Those lawes which folowed made a distinction betweene open and secret theft others vsed banishment and some death The lawe of God forbiddeth false witnes-bearing which was punished amongst the Iewes with the same punishment that the partie falsely accused should haue incurred if he had been found guiltie In some other countries there was no punishment for it but publike ignominie and shame and in some also the gibbet Brieflie all the lawes in the world with one common consent how different soeuer they be tend to one and the same ende pronouncing sentence of condemnation against those crimes that are condemned by the eternall lawe of God onely they agree not in equalitie of punishment which is neither necessarie nor expedient There is some suche countrey that woulde speedily become desolate through murders and robberies if it did not exercise horrible grieuous punishments vpon the offenders in those crimes There falleth out some such time as requireth increase of punishments Some such natiō there is that standeth in need of some grieuous correction to be appointed for some special vice wherunto otherwise it would be more giuē than other nations He that should be offended at this diuersitie which is most meete to maintain the obseruation of the law of God would he not be thought to haue a malicious mind and to enuy publike benefite and quietnes For the conclusion of our present speech let vs learne that ciuil lawes and ordinances depend only of the soueraigne ruler that he may change them according to the occurrence and benefit of state affaires Let vs learn that all lawes must be referred to the infallible rule of the iustice and will of God and to the common profit of ciuil societie that he which commaundeth vs to obey magistrates not only for feare of punishment but also for conscience sake requireth of vs such obedience to their lawes and ordinances so that he is accursed that infringeth or contemneth them Therfore we must voluntarily submit our selues vnto them so that their
shun the other Vnto profit we referre riches to honor magistracie publike offices charges to losse pouertie to dishonor coÌ„tinual iniurie contempt such like means Which things although they are reckoned among the motiues or efficient causes of seditions so farre foorth as they prouoke men to stirre vp seditions yet they may bee endes also bicause men conspire togither either to obtaine or to eschew them Thereore let vs handle the causes which mooue the people to murmure and lead them from priuate and secret grudging to publike and open sedition from which the changes alterations and finall ruines of estates and monarchies proceed The couetousnes of magistrates and gouernors seemeth to be a chief cause therof when they lay vpon their subiects great exactions taxes loanes and other intollerable subsides whereby their patience is oftentimes turned into furie and their hartes set vpon reuolting are driuen forward to imitate them that forsooke Roboam for the same cause as the scripture rehearseth But forasmuch as all ciuill societie is appointed to the end that men might keep their goods safely vnder the protection and guiding of good gouernors they that beare chief rule in estates ought especially to prouide that not onely publike goods may be distributed and imploied according to common necessitie and profit but also that euery mans priuate goods may be in safetiâ— Publike goods are the reuenues of Seignories kingdoms and empires demeans taxes tributes confiscations exchetes subsidies graunts and impositions brought in for the supply of publike necessitie A man may say that couetousnes which is a wrongfull desire of another mans goods is committed in these publike reuenues wheÌ„ the mony that commeth of them is conuerted rather to priuate than to publike vse by those that haue the disposing therof which fault the Romans called peculatus and the iudgement giuen against it Repetundarum Now wheÌ„ such goods are wasted vnprofitably or superfluously princes magistrates vse to lay immoderate and strange exactions vpon their subiects Couetousnes also is vsed in priuate goods when the poorer or weaker sort are spoiled of their owne by the mightier The people will hardly beare this kind of vsurping when they consider that they are tormeÌ„ted by those that should defend them this dealing is subiect to restitution before God Histories are ful of changes seditions and destructions of commoÌ„-wealths arising of these causes of couetousnes wherof we haue alleaged many examples in our discourses Vnder Charles the 6. king of France great seditions and robberies were practised by the Parisians by reason of imposts and subsidies that were leuied of the subiects The occasion of these commotions was bicause the farmers exacted a halfpeny of a poore woman that sold Water cressets The couetousnes briberie and polling vsed by the lords nobles of Switzerland caused the common people to fall to mutinie and to deliuer theÌ„selues out of their slauery bondage by horrible massacres which they made of them Vnder Ioel and Abiah the sonnes of Samuel iudges ouer the Israelites the people oppressed through their couetousnes asked a king wherupon the estate of their gouernment was changed The second cause that breedeth the alteration ruine of Common-wealths is ambition or desire of honor which then especially mooueth men to murmure when the vnworthy are aduanced preferred before men of desert Honor is the only reward of vertue that which is more esteemed of euery loftie noble hart than all worldly goods Therfore it is meet that in the distribution of publike charges rewards and honors regard be had to the qualitie merite and sufficiencie of men that they may be giuen to woorthy persons and that such as are vnfit may be put backe Let vertue only diligence open the gates of honor and not mony or fauor We saw before many examples of the fruits of ambition we taste daily of some that are very bitter The third cause that changeth and ouer-turneth estates monarchies is iniurie which hapneth when they that are highest in authoritie through too much insoleÌ„cie pride offer wrong to the honor or person of their inferiors A kingdom saith the wife man is translated froÌ„ one nation to another through the iniustice iniuries contumelies offred by superiors Cyrus the great reuolted froÌ„ his grandfather Astyages ouercame him in battell translated the monarchie of the Medes vnto the PersiaÌ„s bicause of that iniurie which he offered vnto him in casting him out into the fields as soone as he was borne Coriolanus being vniustly banished his countrey tooke armes conquered a great part of the Romane dominion and burned all to the gates of Rome bringing their estate to such an extremitie that it was readie to be destroyed had not the women come towards him to pacifie him Childeric king of Fraunce caused Bodilus to be whipped with rods wherupon he slew him aâ—d his wife great with child Iustine the third emperour was slayne by Atelius generall of his armie whose sonne he had murdred and abused his wife to despite him there-with Feare also is many times the cause of alteration and daunger to a Common-wealth when guiltie and conuicted persones mooue sedition and rebell against the Magistrates to preuent and auoyd the punishment that is due to their faultes Catiline vrged with the consideration of his manifold wicked prankes and with the feare of iudgement conspired against his countrey beyng assisted by Lentulus Cethegus with many sacrilegious persones murderers adulterers bankrupts and other naughtie liuers that stoode in feare of iustice by reason of their misbehauiour Neither may any man doubt but wicked men will rather trouble the estate than stand in daunger of their liues or hazard their goodes For besides the assuraunce which they haue conceiued to escape the iudgement of men by this meanes they haue this further aduauntage to fish in troubled waters so that they are no lesse afrayd of peace than of the plague hauing in all euentes the same resolution before their eyes that Catiline had who sayd that he could not quench the fire begun in his house with water and therefore would pull it downe and so quench it This was one reason that mooued Caesar to lay hold of the estate bicause his enimies threatned that as soone as he was out of his offices they would cause him to giue an accouÌ„t how he had discharged theÌ„ I would to god we had not bought as deerly the same causes of our ciuil warres Likewise too much authoritie and power both for wealth friendship is dangerous in euery kinde of gouernment so that great heede is to be taken that none grow to be vnmeasurable great For men are subiect to corruption neither can euery one sustaine wisely the prosperitie of fortune which causeth some to seeke the alteration of popular and Aristocraticall Common-wealths into monarchies others
to vsurpe kingdomes empires This reason brought in the Ostracisme amongst the Atheniās which was a banishmēt for a time wherby they brought downe them that seemed to exceed in greatnes This they vsed as Plutarke reherseth against Themistocles Aristides and other excellent men fearing least their authoritie credite and good will of all men should procure them a kingly power with the chaunge of their popular gouernment Many kings and princes that had some of their friends and seruaunts too great were themselues or their children ouerthrowen by them afterward Tyberius making Seian too mightie Commodus Perennius Theodosius the second Eutropus Iustinian Bellisarius Xerxes Artaban were in danger of their estate The vnmeasurable authoritie of the Maiors of the palace and of the Constables chaunged the crowne of France from the race of Clouts to that of Charles Martel and vpon the same occasion it was afterward taken from that line and transferred to another Contempt also is another cause greatly to be feared in euery estate and Monarchie as that which oftentimes breedeth their change and ouerthrow It is very daungerous in two considerations especially first when some are contemned and excluded from publique offices and dignities which they deserue and yet see them wholy in the power and disposition of some particular men Whereupon both the one and the other are mooued to sedition the contemned persones through enuie and desire of reuenge they that haue the great charges in their handes through contempt of the others whome they seeke vtterly to exclude and to driue them further off from all publique honours and authorities Secondly contempt is verie pernitious when inferiours contemne their superiours They are commonly despised that haue neither vertue courage nor fortitude that are not able to profite themselues or others that are not laborious painfull nor any manner of way carefull Where contempt is there no obedience is to be had This maketh the sonne disobedient to the father the wife to the husband the learner to the teacher the seruant to the maister The opinion of prudence iustice constancie knowledge goodnes modestie and of other vertues nourisheth and preserueth the obedience of subiects towards their Princes and the contrarie vices prouoke them to rebellion Therefore as policies prosper when they are gouerned by prudent iust constant valiant and moderate men so they are troubled with seditions through the ignorance cowardlines and intemperancie of Princes or else when they are too familiar with their inferiors or when they are suddenly lift vp from base estate or seem too aged or too yong or poore or miserable all which things breede contempt Wherefore this is set downe as a good rule to preserue the estate of a Monarchy That the Prince must procure to himselfe loue without the contempt or hatred of any if it may be For the obtaining whereof there is no better way than the iust distribution of rewardes The Princes and Lords of France bicause they were contemned by king Lewes the 11. who had none about him nor fauoured any but men of lowe and base estate gaue him battell at Montlhery whereof the battel hath euer since retained the name to the great perill of the Estate and danger of the kings life if he had not appeased the indignation and furie of the said Princes and Lords by his great prudence and policie Moreouer too much encrease and vnproportionable growth is one cause that procureth the change and ruine of Common-wealths For as the bodie is made and compounded of parts and ought to grow by proportion that it may keep a iust measure so euery Common-wealth beeing compounded of orders or estates as it were of parts they must be maintained in concord one with another by equall and due proportion obserued betweene each of them For if one Estate be aduanced too much aboue another dissention ariseth As long as the three Orders and Estats at Rome namely the Senators the Knights the people were caried proportionably their policie flourished but after they dealt one against another through enuie ambition couetousnes diuisions and part-takings began This caused many to commend equalitie so much calling it the nursing mother of peace amitie betweene subiects and contrariwise inequalitie the beginning of all enmities factions hatred part-taking But seeing it is meete that in euery well established policie there should be a difference of rights and priuiledges betwixt euery estate equalitie may continue if carefull prouision be made that one Estate go not too much before the other The impunitie of offences is one cause also from whence seditions and ciuill warres proceede yea it is a matter of very great waight and yet men make least account therof We spake of it before but we must of necessitie often rub vp the remembrance thereof as the wise Hebrew doth by repeating so many times that admonition that we should not be suretie for another not that he forbiddeth charitie towardes the poore but that none should be a meanes to let the wicked escape vnles he will beare the punishment himselfe This is that word which God sent to king Achab after he had saued the life of Benhadad king of Syria that he made himselfe a pledge for another man by suffering the wicked to liue and therefore that it should cost him his life Hitherto we haue seene how the couetousnes of Princes the ambition or desire of honour in priuate men iniurie and reproch feare in the guiltie excesse of authoritie and wealth contempt ouer-great encrease or aduancement without proportion and lastly impunitie of offences procure commonly seditions in Estates and Monarchies Besides all these extreame pouertie and excesse of wealth idlenes and want of feare of the forraine enimie as we haue else-where declared change of Princes and lawes too great licence of seditious Orators and Preachers the naturall disposition of places where men are borne which maketh them more inclined to commotions and seditions as Historiographers haue noted of Genes Florence and Flanders with many other things may be said to be causes of ciuill warres of alterations changes and ruine of Estats and Policies Among which we note that shame is sometime a cause of change in the gouernment of Common-wealths but it is without tumult or sedition Thus it fell out in Herea a towne of Arcadia which was gouerned popularly where men of no account were elected Magistrates by others like themselues whereupon beeing mocked they changed their manner of election into chusing by lot that so they might haue a more lawefull excuse There was seene not long since in the Councell of France such a number of Maisters of Requests and of Secretaries of the Treasure that very shame caused them to be sent away bicause it was not meete to entreat of great and waightie matters before such a multitude Negligence likewise breedeth the change and ouerthrow of a politike Estate There