father and of the rest of the family be it neuer so vertuous there must also concurre the goodnesse of his conuersation abroade to make his domesticall familiaritie worke due effect since many times I haue seene it fall out that the haunting of ill company from home hath done a young man much more hurt then all the good instructions or vertuous examples domesticall could do him good So soft and tender are the minds of yong men and apt as was formerly said to be wrought like waxe to vice And this cometh to passe by reasō that the sensitiue part calling youth to delight and diuerting it from the trauell and paine which learning and vertue require is hardly subdued and brought vnder the rule of reason by which it esteemeth it selfe forced when it is barred from that it desireth And if by any exteriour occasion it be pricked forward it fareth as we see it oftentimes do with young hard-headed colts who take the bit in the mouth and run away with the rider carrying him will he nill he whether they list It ought therefore to be none of the least cares of the father to prouide that the forraine conuersation of his son may be such as shall rather help then hinder his care and home-example To which effect it would be very good if it might be possible that the young man were neuer from his fathers side But forasmuch as many occasions draw men to attend other waightier affaires as well publike as priuat wherby they are driuen to haue their minds busied about exterior things and to neglect their childrē who are their owne bowels Therefore is it their parts in such cases to appoint for their children when they are past their childish yeares some learned and honest man of vertuous behauiour to gouerne them and take care of them whose precepts they may so obey as they shall feare to do any thing that may breede reproch or blame vnto them For such things are mortall poison to yong mens minds and not only put them astray from the path that should leade them to vertue but imprint in them also a vitious habit that maketh them vnruly and disobedient to all wholesome admonitions and vertuous actions This man so chosen to haue the charge of youth must be carefull among other things to foresee that his disciples may haue such companions as the Persian Princes had prouided for them to wit equall of age and like of conditions with whom they may be conuersant familiar For such similitude of age and conditions doth cause them to loue and like one another if some barre or impediment fall not betweene them The auncient wise men assigned to youth the Plannet of Mercury for no other cause as I suppose but for that Mercury being as Astronomers say either good or bad according as he is accompanied with another plannet good or euil euen so youth becommeth good or bad as the companies to which it draweth or giueth it selfe And therefore ought not yong men to haue libertie to haunt what companie they list but to be kept vnder the discipline of wise men and trained vp in the companie of others of their age well bred vntill it may be thought or rather found by experience that they be past danger and become fit to guide themselues hauing brought their mind obedient to reason so farre as it cannot any more draw him to any delights but such as are honest and vertuous This delight in vertue and honestie is best induced into a yong mans mind by that true companiō of vertue that breedeth feare to do or say any thing vnseemely or dishonest which companion Socrates sought to make familiar to his scholers when he would tell them how they should endeuour themselues to purchase in their minds prudence into their tongues truth with silence and in their faces bashfulnesse called by the Latins verecundia deriuing it from the reuerence which yong men vse to beare to their elders This we call shamefastnesse and is that honest red colour or blushing which dieth a yong mans cheekes when he supposeth he hath done or said any thing vnseemely or vnfit for a vertuous mind or that may offend his parents or betters a certaine token of a generous mind and well disciplined of which great hope may be conceiued that it will proue godly and vertuous For as a sure and firme friend to honestie and vertue like a watch or guard set for their securitie it is euer wakefull and carefull to keepe all disordinate concupiscences from the mind whereby though of it selfe it be rather an affect then a habit neuerthelesse she induceth such a habite into a yong mans mind that not onely in presence of others he blusheth if he chance to do any thing not commendable but euen of himselfe he is ashamed if being alone he fall into any errour For though some say that two things chiefly keepe youth from euill correction and shame and that chastisement rather then instruction draweth youth to do well yet I for my part neuer think that yong man well bred or trained vp who for feare of punishment abstaineth from doing things shamefull or dishonest punishment being appointed but for them that are euill which made the Poet say For vertues sake good men ill deeds refraine Ill men refraine them but for feare of paine For the wickednesse of men hath caused lawes to be deuised and established for the conseruation of honest and vertuous societie and ciuil life whereunto man is borne which lawes haue appointed penalties for the offenders to the end that for feare thereof as Xenocrates was wont to say men might flie from ill doing as dogs flie harme doing for feare of the whip And because Plato formed his Common-weale of perfect and vertuous men therfore set he downe no lawes in his bookes de Repub. because he supposed the goodnesse of the men to be sufficient for the gouernement thereof without a law either to commaund good order or to punish offenders Neuertheles the same diuine Philosopher considering how the imperfection of mans nature will not suffer any such Common-wealth to be found he wrote also his bookes of lawes to serue for the imperfection of other Common-weales which were composed of men of all sorts good and bad meane or indifferent in which both instruction and punishment were needfull as well to make the euill abstaine from vice as to confirme the good and to reduce those that were indifferent to greater perfection Lawes therefore haue appointed punishments that vertue might be defended and maintained ciuill societie and humane right preserued But young men bred as our author would haue them are by all meanes to be framed such as for vertues sake for feare of reproch for loue and reuerence to honestie and not for feare of punishment to be inflicted on them by the magistrates or their superiours for doing of euill they may accustome themselues neuer to do any thing for which they should neede to blush
to liue among men These how faire soeuer be they children or men that cary one thing in their tongue and another in their heart be they that deserue to be hunted out of all ciuill societie that are ingrate for benefites receiued who hurt or seeke to hurt them that haue done them good and hate them onely because they cannot but know themselues to be bound vnto them These be they that in very truth are crooked mis-shapen and monstrous and might well be condemned to be buried quicke not simple innocent babes who hauing no election can yeeld not tokens either of good or euill against whom to pronounce sentence of death before they haue offended is great iniustice and exceeding crueltie And this loe is the sentence of this author touching the doubt proposed wherein if you rest satisfied I will proceede All the companie assented to the same and then Master Dormer said Now then I pray you let vs heare you declare what this end is whereof you were discoursing when this doubt was proposed and withall we must expect that you shall shew vs and set vs in the way wherein we are to trauel for the attaining thereof and giue vs precepts whereby that perfection may be purchased vnto which all men desirous to become happie in this life direct their actions and their endeuours Of this expectation quoth I you need not feare to be frustrated for here shall you haue enough I assure my selfe to fulfill your desire and therewith perusing my papers I thus followed The end of man in this life is happinesse or felicitie and an end it is called as before was said because all vertuous actions are directed thereunto and because for it chiefly man laboureth and trauelleth in this world But for that this felicitie is found to be of two kinds wherof one is called ciuill and the other contemplatiue you shall vnderstand that the ciuill felicitie is nothing else then a perfect operation of the mind proceeding of excellent vertue in a perfect life and is atchieued by the temper of reason ruling the disordinate affects stirred vp in vs by the vnreasonable parts of the mind as when the time shall serue will be declared and guiding vs by the meane of vertue to happy life The other which is called contemplation or contemplatiue felicitie is likewise an operation of the mind but of that part thereof which is called intellectiue so that those parts which are void of reasō haue no intermedling with the same for he which giueth himselfe to follow this felicitie suppresseth all his passions and abandoning all earthly cares bendeth his studies and his thoughts wholy vnto heauenly things and kindled and inflamed with diuine loue laboureth to enioy that vnspeakable beauty which hath bin the cause so to inflame him and to raise his thoughts to so high a pitch But forasmuch as our purpose is now to intreate onely of the humane precepts and instructions and of that highest good which in this vale of misery may be obtained ye shall vnderstand that the end whereunto man ought to direct all his actions is properly that ciuill felicitie before mentioned which is an inward reward for morall vertues and wherein fortune can chalenge no part or interest at all And this end is so peculiar to reason that not onely vnreasonable creatures can be no partakers thereof but yong children also are excluded from the same For albeit they be naturally capable of reason yet haue they no vse of her through the imperfection of their yong age because this end being to be attained by perfect operations in a perfect life neither of which the child nor the yong man is able to performe it followeth that neither of them can be accounted happie And by the same reason it commeth to passe that though man be the subiect of felicitie yet neither the child nor the yong man may be said properly to be the subiect therof but in power and possibilitie only yet the yong man approcheth nearer thereunto then the child And thus much may suffice for a beginning to satisfie the first part of your demaund Then said Captaine Carleil seeing you haue proposed to vs this end which is the marke as it were whereat all ciuill actions do leuel as at their highest or chiefest good we will now be attentiue to heare the rest and how you will prescribe a man to order his life so as from his childhood and so forward from age to age he may direct his thoughts and studies to the compassing of this good or summum bonum as Philosophers do terme it That shal you also vnderstand quoth I but then must the discourse thereof be drawne from a deeper consideration Those men that haue established lawes for people to be ruled by ought to haue framed some among the rest for the foundation of mans life by which a true and certaine forme of life might be conceiued and such as beginning to leade him from his childhood might haue serued him for a guide vntill he had attained to those riper yeares wherein he might rather haue bin able to instruct others then need to be himselfe instructed For the foundation of honest and vertuous liuing beginneth euen in childhood neither shal he euer be good yong mā that in his childhood is naught nor a wicked yong man lightly proue good when he is old For such as are the principles and beginnings of things such are the proceedings Whereupon the wisest men of the world haue euer thought that the way to haue cities and common-wealths furnished with vertuous and ciuil men consisted in the bringing vp of childrē commendably But among all the lawes of our time there is no one that treateth of any such matter There are orders and lawes both vniuersall and particular how to determine causes of controuersie to end strifes and debates and how to punish malefactors but there is no part in the whole body of the law that setteth downe any order in a thing of so great importance Yet Plato held it of such moment as knowing that the well bringing vp of children was the spring or wel-head of honest life he thought it not sufficient that the fathers onely should take care of nurturing their children but appointed besides publike magistrates in the common-wealth who should attend that matter as a thing most necessary For though man be framed by nature mild and gentle yet if he be not from the beginning diligently instructed and taught he becometh of humane and benigne that he was more fierce and cruell then the most wild and sauage beast of the field Wheras if he be conueniently brought vp and directed to a commendable course of life of benigne and humane that he is he becometh through vertue in a sort diuine And to the end the cause may be the better knowne why so great diligence is needful and requisite you must vnderstand that although our soule be but one in substance and properly our true forme yet
and accounted cruell what praise or commendation can be iustly giuen to two gentlemen of one citie or country that fight together with purpose to kill one another whereas then the circumstances aboue mentioned make the vniuersall warre iust and lawfull this wicked kind of priuate fight or combat is voyde of them all and cannot therefore be but most vniust and vnlawfull With like wrong do they also labour to make it seeme commendable affirming that men thereby shew their valour and fortitude For valour or fortitude being a principall vertue how can it haue place in so vniust and so vnnaturall an action proceeding onely from anger rage fury and rashnes Finally these men that will needs haue Aristotle to be their warrant might if they list see that he in his Ethikes where he directeth man vnto vertue and to ciuill felicitie putteth not among those whom he calleth fortes or men of valour such men as are delighted in reuenge but giueth them the title of warlike or bellicosi And in the same bookes he sayth that whosoeuer doth any thing contrary to the lawes is to be accounted vniust And I pray you what can be more directly contrary to the lawes then this kind of combat or priuate fight And if by taking iustice from the world all vertue must needs decay because she is the preseruer and defender of vertue how can this so excellent a vertue of fortitude be in them that despising the lawes and the magistrates and neglecting all religion and good of their cuntrey and weale publike do practise this wicked combat Moreouer they perceiue not that Aristotle in his Ethikes from whence the rules of ciuill life are to be drawne and not from his Rhetorikes out of which these men fetch their doutie arguments because elsewhere they can find none for their purpose saith that to fight for cause of honour is no act of fortitude Whereupon ensueth that such as come to the combat vpon points of honour as men do now a dayes for the most part make not any shew of their fortitude but onely of their strength and abilitie of body and of their courage whereas true fortitude is to vse these gifts well and honestly according to reason And what honestie or reason can there be in this so mischieuous and wicked a fight which neuertheles these men so farre allow and commend as they are not ashamed to say moued surely by some diuellish spirit that a man for cause of honour may arme himselfe against his country the respect whereof is and euer was so holy yea euē against his father and with cursed hands violate his person vnto whom next after God he must acknowledge his life and being and what else soeuer he hath in this world This cannot be but a most pestiferous opinion and a speech hardly to be beleeued could come out of the diuels owne mouth of hell who though he be the author of all euill yet scarce thinke I that he durst father so abhominable a conceit or sentence But it is a world to see how solemnly men wil become starke mad when they once vndertake to defend a mad cause For to make their frantike fancie to seeme reasonable they vtter such absurdities as are not only detestable to mē but euē bruite beasts also abhorre For among beasts many there are that by naturall instinct not onely feare and respect their begetters but do also nourish them diligently when they are waxen old and not able to purchase foode for themselues repaying thankfully the nouriture which themselues receiued whiles they were yong as it is certainly knowne the Storke doth But here to colour their assertions they say that so ought children to do to their parents and citizens to their country so long as the one ceaseth not to be a father and the country forgetteth not her citizens a saying no lesse foolish then the other For when can that come to passe what law of nature or what ciuill constitution hath taught vs this lesson or out of what schoole of Philosophie haue they learned it what iniuries can a father or a mans country do vnto him that may make him not to acknowledge his countrey which ought to be deerer vnto him then his life or to cast off the reuerence due to his father Good God what els is this but to inuite men and as it were to stir them vp to parricide a thing odious euen to be mentioned It is no maruel therfore if such as attribute so much to points of honor wil needs defend the combat in that respect fall by Gods sufferance as men blinded of the light of naturall reason into such absurd opinions fit for senslesse men which opinions in very truth are no lesse to be condemned then wicked heresies and the authors of them worthy sharpe punishment to be inflicted vpon them by such as haue authoritie in that behalfe And this do they the rather deserue because they seeke to maske and disguise the good and commendable opinions of the best Philosophers and to wrest them in fauour of their damnable and wicked doctrine But I should digresse too far if I should say all I could to confute this impietie and these wicked writings and cruell opinions and therefore returning to our purpose of honour whereof we were speaking you may vnderstand by that which I haue already sayd that honour there is none to be gotten by the combat yet because among other things they say the combat hath bin deuised for cause of honour I must let you know that in true and sound Philosophie they that respect honour as the end of their actions are not onely vnworthy to be accounted vertuous men but deserue blame and reproch But hereof I shall haue occasion to speake more amply in a fitter place Onely this I wil now adde that no actions are commendable but those that are honest and where honestie is not there can be no honour And honestie in truth there is none as before hath bin said in such a fight contrary to all vertue odious to all lawes to all good magistrates and to God himselfe though the folly of the fauourers of this diuellish deuice seeke most wrongfully to draw the summe of all vertues to this iniustice Furthermore either the offences done to men may be auouched before Princes and magistrates in iudgement as no wrongs but lawfull acts or not If they may be so auouched and proued then a thousand combats cannot take them away neither is there any cause of combat if so wicked a custome were allowable If not then he that hath done the iniury is already dishonest and dishonored and the victorie ouer such a man in faith what honour can it purchase Plato the diuine Philosopher and Aristotle his disciple after him considering the nature of iniury and finding that it caried with it alwayes vice and reproch affirmed that it was better to receiue an iniury then to do it And Plato concludeth that he that doth iniury cannot
Hydra had the same that gaue Hercules so much to do to ouercome her and it is to be maruelled that all yong men are not soone weary of that age which bringeth with it such varietie of imperfections and all contrary to reason and vertue You make vs almost to conceiue an opinion that there can be no Art nor prudence sufficient to deliuer vs from such a multitude of errors that enuiron vs on euery side If there were cause of complaint that youth should be thus described said I yet am not I the man you should complaine of but rather of mine author or of Aristotle who long before described the same euē as he hath done and of Horace in like sort who taking the matter out of Aristotle concluded it in substance much like though in fewer words saying The yong man on whose face no beard yet shewes When first he creepeth out of others charge Delights to haue both horse and hound at will With them to hunt and beate the woods and fields Like waxe to vice is easie to be wrought And sowre to them that tell him of his fault Too late he learnes his profit for to know And in expence aye too too lauish still His heart is high and full of hote desires And soone he loathes that earst he loued deare And truly the nature of a young man is very perillous and vnapt of it selfe to be ruled and directed to any good course partly because of the ignorance accompanying that age and partly for that following the vanities and delights which the worser part of the soule or mind doth set before him he respecteth not that which is honest and vertuous as a thing he neuer knew or tasted And therefore being intent onely to pleasures and delights he considereth not any thing but what is present before him For wanting as is said experience meete to foresee accidents to come he beleeueth much more them that intice him flatter him by praising all he doth then those men that reproue or check him for doing ill or shew him the way to vertue by telling him the truth Neither is there any thing that more setteth a yong man astray from the course of vertue then flattery and specially are yong Princes to take heede thereof about whom are continually flatterers to winne their fauor and by harming them with that subtil engin to purchase to themselues as much gaine profit as they can These who as Aristotle saith bend all their wits to euill with continuall lying and soothing make yong men beleeue that they are excellent in all things aboue course of nature whereunto they simple giuing a readier eare then they should become so blind and foolish that they discerne not their owne good but pricked forward with those false praises apply themselues to that onely which is pleasant and delightfull and become a prey vnto their flatterers who like Parasites affirme all that they heare their master say and denie whatsoeuer he denieth In which respect Diogenes did right well say that flatterers were worse then crowes who feed but on the carcasses of the dead but these iolly companions deuoure the mindes of men aliue making them become as Seneca saith foolish or mad Frō whose conceit Epicarmus varied not much who said that crows pick out the eyes but of dead carcasses but flatterers pick out the eyes of the mind whiles men are yet aliue And to say truly this cursed generation with their leasings and soothing induce such as harken to them and beleeue them to be their own foes and to barre themselues from the attaining of true glory whiles they make them glory in the false praises of wicked flatterers Who to the end they may be the better beleeued when they flatter vse all art possible to shew themselues affectioned though counterfetly to them in whose harts they seeke to poure their poison For they kill in them all seeds of vertue and they take from them the knowledge of themselues and of all truth to which flattery is a most pestilent and mortall enemie And happy might indeed Princes thinke themselues if they had about them men that would frankly and resolutely resist the attempts of flatterers such as was Anaxarcus Eudemonicus about Alexander the Great This Anaxarcus misliking that Alexāder throgh the flattery false praises of such as magnified his acts grew so prowd as he wold needs be esteemed a God seeing on a time his Physition to bring him a potion to ease the griefe of his disease when he was sicke said Is it not a wofull case that the health of our God should consist in a draught of licour and drugs composed by a man Words full wel beseeming the sincere mind of a free harted man As on the other side it was vile adulation which Demades the Athenian vsed who being at an assembly of Councell proposed a decree by which he would haue had Alexander to be reputed for the thirteenth of the great Gods But the people perceiuing his flattering purpose and small reuerence to diuine things condemned him in a fine of an hundred talents If Princes and such as manage States would follow this example and haue an eye to such fellowes there would not be such store of Sycophants as now a dayes there are and the vertues and merites of honest men worthy honour and fauour would be better knowne and regarded then they are and rewards and recompences would be giuen to such men and not to flatterers who seeke to put them besides themselues This I say of such as suffer themselues to be seduced by these charmers but not of wise Princes who giue no more eare to their inchantments then doth the serpent to the charmer because they know that their praises and soothings are but strāgling morsels smeared ouer with hony Philip of Macedon the father of Alexander had a flatterer in his Court called Cisofus or as some say Cleophus who did not onely affirme and deny all that Philip sayd or denied but also on a time when Philip had a sore eye and ware some band or scarfe before it he in like manner came before the King with the like and another time when Philip hauing hurt one of his legs limped vpon it and had clothes wrapped about it the flatterer came likewise with his leg so wrapped and halting into the Court seeking thus not only by his words as other Parasites do but also with his gestures and whole body to transforme the King and put him beside himselfe But although Philip tooke delight in this skim of men yet could they neuer draw him by their charming to incurre those vices which his sonne ranne into who albeit he was of a most noble nature and mind yet did he so much attribute to these bad companions and was so caried away with their flattering praises that he could not endure the truth that Calisthenes told him but miserably slue him spotting with so cruell and barbarous a fact all that
loue of vertue or feare of lawes they could possibly be reclaimed to vertuous life I pray you said Captain Norreis let me interrupt you a little so shall you the better take breath in the meane while I noted not long sithens a saying of your author which me seemed somewhat strange and that is that the substance of the soule should be made perfect by the accidents You say right quoth I but let not that seeme strange vnto you for it ought rather to seeme strange vnto you if it were otherwise because the substance of euery thing is so called by reason that it is subiect vnto accidents neither can there be any accident to which it is proper to be in some subiect but it must fall into some substance and hardly would the substance perhaps be discerned by sense but that the accidents do make it to be knowne Yet hath nature giuen to the substance all that she could giue to enable the same to wit that it might by nature be of it selfe alone hauing no need of any other thing in respect of being and that it should be so necessary to all things else that is not a substance as without it they should be nothing Therefore the nature of the soule is such as the parts thereof haue their vertues and faculties perfect but in that concerneth the directing of them to ciuill life man cannot by nature onely compasse it nor attaine to that end of which we treate Then said Captaine Norreis If it be so as by nature we cannot haue that wherewith we should compasse our felicitie it must belike be in vs contrary to nature And all things contrary to nature being violent and of no continuance I cannot perceiue how this felicitie of ours may stand Sir said I it followeth not that whatsoeuer is not by nature must needs be contrary to nature But most true it is that the meanes to guide vs to this felicitie or our felicity it selfe is in vs not by nature for if it were so all men should naturally be happy and by nature haue the means to purchase the same because all men should of necessitie worke after one sort For things naturall vnlesse they be forced or hindered do alwayes bring foorth the same effects wheresoeuer they be and the powers which nature bestoweth are indifferently dispensed to all alike Which thing is to be vnderstood by the vegetatiue part of the soule which in plants and in creatures sensible attendeth onely by nature without counsell or election to nourish to increase to procreate and to preserue ne ceaseth at any time frō those offices but alwaies produceth like effects in al things that haue life And the sēsible soule euermore giueth the power and vertue of feeling to creatures sensible and neuer altereth her operation nor ceaseth to yeeld the same whiles life endureth except by some strange accident she be forced Seeing therefore the diuersitie of mans will the varietie of his operations and how differently they vse the faculties of the soule we must needes conclude that in respect of ciuill life they work not according to nature But we must not therfore say that their working to purchase their felicitie and the end we speake of is contrary to nature For such things are properly said to be contrary to nature as are violently forced to that which is not naturall and whereunto they haue no aptnesse or disposition at all As for example if a stone which is naturally heauy and therfore coueteth to moue to the center of the earth be cast vpward into the aire by force it is to be said that the motion of that stone so forced vpward is contrary to nature because it hath no instinct or mouing from nature to go vpward and though it were throwne vp ten thousand times so often wold it fal downe again if it were not retained otherwise frō falling And if fire which is light couets to ascend should be forced downeward that force would be contrary to nature and the force ceasing it would by nature ascend again because it hath not any vertue or principle or motion to descend but onely to ascend by which it striueth to come to the place which is proper to it by nature as it is fire and by which it is fire naturally For the elements haue alwayes their essence most perfect when they are nearest to the place assigned them by nature But man being a creature capable of reason and thereby apt to receiue those vertues the seeds whereof nature hath sowne in his mind it cannot be said that the meanes by which he is to be led to so noble an end as his felicitie should be in him contrary to nature For neuer any thing worketh contrary to nature in which is the beginning of that operation that it is to do Why said Captaine Norreis againe since you say that the seeds of vertues are in our minds naturally it seemeth strange to me that they should not bring forth generally in all men their fruite as the seed which is cast into the earth springeth buddeth flowreth and lastly in due seasō yeeldeth fruite according to kind Marry said I and so they do For if mans care and industry be not applied to manure the earth diligently and to weed out the il weeds that spring among the good seed which is sowne they would so choke the same as it would be quite lost And euen so if the seeds of vertue be not holpen with continuall culture and care taken to pul vp the vices which spring therewith and whereof the seeds are naturally as well in our mind as those of vertue they wil ouer-grow and choke them as the weeds of the garden ouer-grow and choke the good herbes planted or sowne therein For so grow vp the disordinate appetites vnreasonable anger ambitions greedie desires of wealth of honour wanton lusts of the flesh and such other affections spoken of before which haue their naturall rootes in those two baser parts of the soule deuoyde of reason And as we see the earth without manuring to bring forth wyld herbs and weeds more plentifully then other good seed which by industry and labor is cast into the same so do those passions affects and appetites of those baser parts of the soule spring and grow vp thicker and faster then the vertues whereby for the more part the fruit of those good seeds of vertue is lost if the mind be not diligently cleaned frō them by the care of others And these ill qualities are in yong men the worse when they suffer themselues to be transported without regard of reason or honestie and their right iudgement to be corrupted and their crooked to preuaile Which crooked iudgement is in effect the cause of all vices and ill affections turnes the braine making them like drunken men much like as coccle doth to them that feed thereupon But this hapneth not vnto that youth which succeedeth a well fashioned childhood such as yesterday was
apprehended yet free of any materiall condition and this part is to the vnderstanding as the hand is to the bodie For as the hand is apt to take hold of all instruments so is this power or facultie apt to apprehend the formes of all things from whence grow the vniuersals which though they haue their being in the materiall particulars which the Latins cal indiuidua yet are they not material because they are not according to Aristotle yet in act In which respect it is sayd that sense is busied about things particular and that onely things vniuersall are knowne because they be comprehended by the vnderstanding without matter It is neuerthelesse to be vnderstood that the kindes of things are in this possible part thus separated from matter but blind and obscure euen as colours are stil in substances though the light be taken away which light appearing and making the ayre transparent which before was darkened it giueth to things that illumination by which they are comprehended and knowne to the eye whose obiect properly colours are And the Sunne being the fountaine of light wise men haue said that the same Sunne giueth colours to things for that by meanes of his light they are seene with those visible colours which naturally they haue neuerthelesse in themselues though without light they could not be discerned and remaine there as if they were not at all This part of the soule then wherein reason is worketh the same effect towards things intelligible that the Sun doth towards things visible for it illumineth those kinds or formes which lie hidden in that part possible dark and confused deuoyde of place time and matter because they are not particular And hence it cometh that some haue said this possible vnderstanding as we may terme it to be such a thing as out of it all things should be made as if it were in stead of matter and the other agent vnderstanding to be the worker of all things and as it were the forme because this part which before was but in power to things intelligible becometh through the operation of the agent vnderstanding to be now in act And for this cause also is it said that the vnderstanding and things vnderstood become more properly and truly one selfe same thing then of matter and forme it may be said For it is credible that both the formes of things and the vnderstanding being immateriall they do the more perfectly vnite themselues and that the vnderstanding doth so make it selfe equall with the thing vnderstood that they both become one To which purpose Aristotle said very well that the reasonable soule whiles it vnderstandeth things intelligible becometh one selfe same thing with them And this is that very act of truth to wit the certain science or knowledge of any thing which knowledge or science is in effect nought else then the thing so knowne And this knowledge is not principally in man but in the soule wherin it remaineth as the forme therof This is briefly the summe of the order or maner of knowledge which those that follow Aristotle do set downe who therefore affirme that his sentence was that who so would vnderstand any thing had need of those formes and images which the senses offer to the fantasie From which sentence some not well aduised in my opinion haue gone about to argue that the soule of man should be mortal because Aristotle assigned no proper operation vnto her as if such had bin his opinion But they consider not that Aristotle in his bookes de Anima spake of the soule as she was naturall and the forme to the body performing her operations together with the body and as she was the mouer of the body and the body moued by her but not as she was distinct or separate from the bodie And right true it is that whiles she is tied to the bodie she cannot vnderstand but by the meanes of the senses but that being free and loosed from the body she hath not her proper operations that is most false For then hath she no need at all of the senses when being pure and simple she may exercise her owne power and vertue proper to her which is the contemplation of God Almightie the highest and onely true good nor yet of any other instrument but her selfe And in this respect perchance the better sort of Peripatetikes following their masters opinion haue said that the soule separated from the body is not the same she was whiles she was linked thereunto as well because then she was a part of the whole and was troubled with anger desire hatred loue such like passions cōmon to her with the body as because being imprisoned in the body she had neede of the senses but now that she was freed frō that imprisonment nor any way bound to the body she might vse her selfe and her vertue much more nobly and worthily then before And therefore Aristotle said that the soule separated frō the body could no more be called a soule but equiuocally But here is to be noted that it is one thing to speake of the intellectiue soule which is diuine and vncorruptible and another thing to speake of the soule simply For doubtlesse the vegetatiue and sensitiue soules which cannot vse their vertues and operations but by meane of the body die with the body But the intellectiue soule which is our onely true forme not drawne from the materiall power but created and sent into vs by the diuine maiestie dieth not with the body but remaineth immortal and euerlasting And thus much touching the maner of our learning according to Aristotles opinion may suffice But Plato doubtlesse was of opinion that our soule before it descended into vs had the knowledge of all things and that by comming into this mortall prison which his followers haue termed the sepulchre of the soule she was plunged as it were into profound darknesse from a most cleere light whereby she forgat all that erst she knew And that afterwards by occasion of those things which by meanes of the senses come before her the memory of that she knew before being stirred vp and wakened she came to resume her former knowledge and in this sort by way of rememorating and not of learning a new she attained the knowledge of sciences so as we learned nothing whereof before we had not the knowledge In conformitie of which their masters sentence the Platonikes say that since the body bringeth with it the seeds that appertaine vnto it by nature it is to be beleeued that the soule likewise being much more perfect should bring with it those seeds that appertaine to the mind And to this reason they adde that men euen from their first yeares desiring things that are good true honest and profitable and since no man can desire a thing which he knoweth not after some sort it may be cōcluded that we haue the knowledge of those things before But because it would be too long a matter to rehearse
all the arguments which Plato his followers bring to proue this by our desiring of things by seeking them by finding them and by the discerning of them it may suffice to referre you to what Plato hath left of this matter written vnder the person of Socrates in his dialogs intitled Menon and Phoedon and diuers other places And likewise to that which his expositors haue written among whō Plotinus though he be somewhat obscure deserueth the chiefe place as best expressing Plato his sence and meaning But let our knowledge come how it will either by learning anew or by recording what the soule knew before she hauing need howsoeuer it be of the ministery of the senses and seeing it is almost necessary to passe through the same meanes from not knowing to knowledge we shall euer find the like difficulties whether we rememorate or learne anew For without much study great diligence and long trauel are sciences no way to be attained Which thing Socrates who haply was the author of Plato his opinion shewed vs plainely For when the curtizan Theodota scoffing at him said she was of greater skill then he for she had drawne diuers of Socrates scholers from him to her loue where Socrates could draw none of her louers to follow him he answered that he thereat maruelled nothing at all for said he thou leadest them by a plaine smooth way to lust and wantonnesse and I leade them to vertue by a rough and an vneasie path Here Captaine Norreis said Though this controuersie betweene two so great Philosophers be not for ought I see yet decided and that if we should take vpon vs to discerne whose opinion were the better it might be imputed to presumption yet would I for my part be very glad to know what was the reason that induced Plato to say that our soule had the knowledge of all things before it came into the body and I pray you if your author speake any thing thereof that you will therein satisfie my desire Yes marry doth he sir said I and your desire herein sheweth very well the excellencie of your wit and your attention to that which hath bin said and both may serue for a sufficient argument what hope is to be conceiued of a gentleman so inclined and desirous to learne Thus therefore he saith to your question That whereas we according to truth beleeue that our soules are by the diuine power of God incontinently created and infused into our bodies when we beginne to receiue life and sense in our mothers womb Plato contrarily held that they were long before the bodies created and produced in a number certaine by God and that they were as particles descended from the Gods aboue into our bodies and therfore he thought it nothing absurd that they should haue the knowledge of al things that may be knowne For that they being in heauen busied in the contemplation of the diuine nature free from any impediment of the body and that diuine nature containing in it as he said the essentiall Ideas of all things which Ideas according to his opinion were separate and eternall natures remaining in the diuine minde of God to the patterne of which all things created were made they might said he in an instant haue the knowledge of all that could be knowne If this opinion were true said Captaine Norreis happie had it bin for vs that our soules had continued stil after they were sent into our bodies to be of that sort that they had bin in heauen for then should we not haue needed so much labour and paine in seeking that knowledge which before they had so perfectly And being so perfect to what end did he say they were sent into our bodies to become vnperfect His opinion said I was that the soules were created in a certaine number to the end they might informe so many bodies and therfore if they should not haue come into those bodies they should haue failed of the end for which they were created In which bodies the Platonikes say further that they were to exercise themselues and were giuen to the bodies not onely because they should giue them power to moue to see to feele and to do those other operations which are naturall but to the end that they should in that which appertaineth to the mind not suffer vs to be drowsie and lie as it were asleepe but rather to waken and stirre vs vp to the knowledge of those things that are fit for vs to vnderstand and this was the most accomplished operation sayd they that the soule could giue vnto the bodie whiles it was linked thereunto I cannot see said the Lord Primate how this hangeth together For I haue read that these kind of Philosophers held an opinion that our soules all the while they were tied to our bodies did but sleepe and that all which they do or suffer in this life was but as a dreame It is true said I that the Platonikes said so indeed and that was because they knew that whatsoeuer we do in this life is but a dreame in comparison of that our soules shal do in the other world when they shal be loosed from those bands which tie them to our bodies here through which bands they are hindred from the knowledge of those things perfectly which here they learne In regard whereof Carneades Arcesilas and others the authors of the new Accademie said constantly that in this world there was no certaine knowledge of any thing And Nausifanes affirmed that of all those things which here seeme to vs to be we know nothing so certainly as that they were not Vnto which opinion Protagoras also agreed saying that men might dispute of any thing pro contra as if he should say that nothing could be assuredly knowen to vs whiles we are here as our soules shall know them whensoeuer they shall be freed from our bodies and lie no more inwrapped in these mortall shadowes because then they shall be wholy busied in the contemplation of truth neither shal they be deceiued by the senses as in this life they are oftentimes who offer vnto them the images of things vncertainly not through default of the senses but by reason of the meanes whereby they apprehend the formes of things For the sense by his owne nature if he be not deceiued or hindred in receiuing of things sensible comprehendeth them perfectly nay becometh one selfe same thing with them And this is the cause why it is said that our soules sleepe whiles they remaine in this life and that our knowledge here is but as a dreame According to which conceit the inamoured Poet speaking of his Ladie Laura said very properly vpon her death in this sort Thou hast faire Damsell slept but a short sleepe Now wak'd thou art among the heau'nly spirits Where blessed soules interne within their maker Shewing that our life here is but a slumber and seeming to infer that she was now interned or become inward in the
souldiers besides that their peaceable maner of coming freed me from doubt of cesse thanked be God the state of the realme was such as there was no occasion of burthening the subiect with them such had bin the wisedome valour and foresight of our late Lord Deputie not onely in subduing the rebellious subiects but also in ouercoming the forreine enemie whereby the garrison being reduced to a small number and they prouided for by her Maiestie of victual at reasonable rates the poore husbandman might now eate the labors of his owne hands in peace and quietnes without being disquieted or harried by the vnruly souldier We haue said sir Robert Dillon great cause indeed to thanke God of the present state of our country and that the course holden now by our present Lord Deputie doth promise vs a continuance if not a bettering of this our peace and quietnesse My Lord Grey hath plowed and harrowed the rough ground to his hand but you know that he that soweth the seede whereby we hope for haruest according to the goodnesse of that which is cast into the earth and the seasonablenesse of times deserueth no lesse praise then he that manureth the land God of his goodnesse graunt that when he also hath finished his worke he may be pleased to send vs such another Bayly to ouersee and preserue their labours that this poore countrey may by a wel-ordered and setled forme of gouernement and by due and equall administration of iustice beginne to flourish as other Common-weales do To which all saying Amen we directed our course to walke vp the hill where we had bene the day before and sitting downe vpon the little mount awhile to rest the companie that had come from Dublin we arose againe and walked in the greene way talking still of the great hope was conceiued of the quiet of the countrey since the forreine enemie had so bin vanquished and the domesticall conspiracies discouered met withall and the rebels cleane rooted out till one of the seruants came to call vs home to dinner Where finding the table furnished we sate downe and hauing seasoned our fare with pleasant and familiar discourses as soone as the boord was taken vp they sollicited me to fetch my papers that I might proceede to the finishing of my last discourse of the three by me proposed But they being ready at hand in the dining chamber I reached them and layd them before me and began as followeth Hitherto hath bin discoursed of those two ages which may for the causes before specified be wel said to be void of election and without iudgement because of their want of experience For which cause haue they had others assigned to them for guides to leade them to that end which of themselues they were not able to attaine that is their felicitie in this life And now being to speake of that age which succeeds the heate of youth we must a litle touch the varietie of opinions concerning the same Tully saith that a citizen of Rome might be created Consul which was the highest ordinary dignitie in that citie when he was come to the age of 23. yeares Plinie in his Panegyrike saith that it was decreed lege Pompeia that no man might haue any magistracie before he were thirtie yeeres old And Vlpian lege S. Digest treating of honours writeth that vnder the age of 25. yeares no man was capable of any magistracie Among these three opinions the last of the ciuill lawyer holdeth the medium and is therefore the fittest to be followed for then is a young mans mind setled and he is become fit being bred and instructed as hath bin before declared to be at his owne guiding and direction and then doth the ciuill law allow him libertie to make contracts and bargaines for himselfe which before he could not do being in pupillage and vnder a tutor Howbeit our common law cutteth off foure yeeres of those and enableth a yong man at 21. yeeres of age to enter into his land and to be as we terme it out of his wardship Which time being I know not for what respect assigned by our lawes may well be held not so well considered of as that which the ciuill law appointeth if we marke how many of our yong men ouerthrow their estates by reason of their want of experience and of the disordinate appetites which master them all which in those other foure yeares from 21. to 25. do alter to better iudgement and discretion Whereby they are the better able to order their affaires Why said Captain Dawtry I haue knowne and know at this day some young men who at 18. yeeres of age are of sounder iudgement and more setled behauiour then many not of 25. yeeres old onely but of many moe yea then some that are grey-headed with age Of such said I there are to be seene oftentimes as you say some that beyond all expectation and as it were forcing the rules of nature shew themselues stayed in behauiour and discreete in their actions when they are very yong to the shame of many elder men Of which companie I may well of mine owne knowledge and by the consent I thinke of all men name one as a rare example and a wonder of nature and that is sir Philip Sidney who being but seuenteene yeeres of age when he began to trauell and coming to Paris where he was ere long sworne Gentleman of the chamber to the French King was so admired among the grauer sort of Courtiers that when they could at any time haue him in their companie and conuersation they would be very ioyfull and no lesse delighted with his ready witty answers thē astonished to heare him speake the French language so wel and aptly hauing bin so short a while in the countrey So was he likewise esteemed in all places else where he came in his trauell as well in Germanie as in Italie And the iudgement of her Maiestie employing him when he was not yet full 22. yeeres old in Embassage to congratulate with the Emperour that now is his comming to the Empire may serue for a sufficient proofe what excellencie of vnderstanding and what stayednesse was in him at those yeeres Whereby may well be said of him the same that Cicero said of Scipio Africanus to wit that vertue was come faster vpon him then yeeres Which Africanus was chosen Consull being absent in the warres by an vniuersal consent of all the tribes of Rome before he was of age capable to receiue that dignitie by the law But these are rare examples vpon which rules are not to be grounded for Aristotle so long ago said as we do now in our common prouerbe that one swallow makes not summer Among young men there are some discreete sober quicke of wit and ready of discourse who shew themselues ripe of iudgment before their yeeres might seeme to yeeld it them so are there among aged men on the other side some of shallow wit and little
their nature inclineth them whereas we notwithstanding the vse of reason should be like bond-slaues tied to what the necessitie of destinie should bind vs vnto This was the cause why Chrysippus was worthily condemned among all the auncient Philosophers for that he held destinie to be a sempiternal and vneuitable necessitie and order of things which in maner of a chaine was linked orderly in it self so as one succeeded another and were fitly conioyned together By which description of destinie appeereth that he meant to tie all things to necessitie For albeit he affirmed withall that our mind had some working in the matter yet did he put necessitie to be so necessary that there could no way be found whereby our mind might come to haue any part For to say that our mind or will concurred by willing or not willing whatsoeuer destinie drew vs vnto was nought else but a taking away of free choice from our vnderstanding or will since our mind like a bond-slaue was constrained to will or not to will as destinie did inuite it or rather force it And like to this were the opinions of Demetrius of Parmenides and of Heraclitus who subiected all things to necessitie and deserued no lesse to be condemned then Chrysippus Prince of the Stoikes Among which some there were who seeing many things to happen by chance or fortune whereby it appeared that it could not be true that things came by necessitie lest they should denie a thing so manifest to sense they supposed the beginnings and the endings of things to be of necessitie but the meanes and circumstances they yeelded to be subiect to the changes and alterations of fortune And of this opinion was Virgil as some thinke in the conducting of Aeneas into Italie For it should seeme that he departed his country to come into Italie by fatall disposition that he might get Lauinia for his wife but before he could arriue there and winne her he was mightily tossed and turmoyled by fortune which neuerthelesse could neuer crosse him so much but that in the end he obtained his purpose which by destiny was appointed for him But howsoeuer Virgil thought in that point which here need not to be disputed sure I am that he in the greatest part of his excellent Poeme is rather a Platonike then a Stoike Howbeit some Platonikes as I thinke were not farre different in opinion from the Stoikes for they say that fortune with all her force was not able to resist fatall destinie Though Plotinus thought otherwise and indeed much better who answering them that would needs haue the influence of starres to induce necessitie prooued their reasons to be vaine onely by an ordinary thing in dayly experience which is that sundry persons borne vnder one self same constellation are seene neuerthelesse to haue diuers ends and diuers successes which they could not haue if those influences did worke their effects of necessitie And as for Epicures opinion which was that the falling of his motes or Atomi should breed necessitie in our actions he rather laughed at then confuted Yea he was further of opinion that not onely humane prudence and our free election was able to resist the influences of the starres but that also our complexiō our conuersation and change of place might do the like meaning that the good admonitions and faithfull aduice and counsell of friends is sufficient to ouercome destinie and to free our mindes from the necessitie of fatall disposition Wherefore though it be granted that there is a destinie or that the starres and heauens or the order of causes haue power ouer vs to incline or dispose vs more to one thing then to another yet is it not to be allowed that they shall force vs to follow the same inclination or disposition For though the heauens be the vniuersall principle or beginning of all things and by that vniuersalitie as I may call it the beginning of vs also according to naturall Philosophie yet is it not the onely cause of our being and of our nature for to the making man a man must concurre and so restraine this vniuersall cause to a more speciall And as the heauen or the order of higher causes cannot ingender man without a man speaking according to nature so can they do nothing to bind the free election of man without his consent who must voluntarily yeeld himselfe to accomplish that whereunto the heauen or the order of causes doth bend and incline him And if we haue power to master our complexion so as being naturally inclined to lust we may by heed and diligence become continent and being couetous become liberall though Aristotle say that couetise is as incurable a disease of the mind as the Dropsie or Ptisike is to the body what a folly is it to beleeue that we cannot resist the inclinations of the stars which are causes without vs and not the onely causes of our being but haue need of vs if they will bring forth their effects in vs The beginning of all our operation is vndoubtedly in our selues and all those things that haue the beginning of their working in themselues do worke freely and voluntarily And consequently we may by our free choise and voluntarily giue our selues to good or to euill and master the inclination of the heauens the starres or destinie which troubleth so much the braines of some that in despite of nature they will needes make themselues bond being free whom Ptolomie doth fitly reprehend by saying that the wise man ouer-ruleth the starres For well may the heauens or the stars being corporall substances haue some power ouer our bodies but ouer our mindes which are diuine simple and spirituall substances can they haue none for betweene the heauens our minds is no such correspondence that they may against our wils do ought at all in our minds which are wholy free from their influences if any they haue And therefore do the best of the Platonikes say very wel that man must oppose himselfe against his destinie fighting to ouercome the same with golden armes and weapons to wit vertues which is as Plato saith the gold of the mind For he that behaueth himselfe well that is to say ruleth wel his mind or soule which is the true man indeed as we haue formerly shewed shall neuer be abandoned to destinie or fortune against which two powers mans counsell and wisedome resisteth in such sort if he set himself resolutely thereunto as it may wel appeere that he is Lord and master ouer his owne actions Neither without cause did Tully say that fatall destinie was but a name deuised by old wiues who not knowing the causes of things as soone as any thing fell out contrary to their expectation straight imputed it to destinie ioyning thereunto such a necessitie as it must needs forsooth force mans counsell and prudence A thing most false as hath bin declared Is it not said in the Scripture that God created man and left him in the power
minister vnto vs the matter of those pleasures which we seek And as we haue said that molestation goeth before vaine and vnruly delight so doth displeasure and griefe follow as if it should finally resolue into his first principle and beginning The feare whereof diminisheth part of the hope a man might haue to liue stil contented disturbeth the ioy which he feeleth in his vnruly pleasures and delights But to those pleasures and delights which accompany vertue which are pleasures of such a kind as they neuer carry with them any displeasure or annoyance at all wheras the other that are vnruly beginne with pleasure and end with bitter paine And this moued Aristotle to say that the right iudgment of those pleasures is to be made at their farewell not at their comming for that they leaue behind them euermore sadnes and repentance So said Theocritus that he that stroue to fulfill his pleasures and delights prepared to himself matter of perpetual griefe and sorow There was a Sophist called Ileus who though he had spent his youth wantonly in pleasures yet he so called himselfe home when he was come to riper yeeres that he neuer after suffered any vaine delights to tickle him neither beauty of women nor sweetnes of meates nor any other such pleasures to draw him from a sober and temperate life To which sobrietie and temperance of life Licurgus being desirous to draw the Lacedemonians by his lawes he forbad them all those things that might turne their minds frō manly thoughts and make them soft and effeminate for he said that wanton pleasures were the flatterers of the mind And as flatterers by their deuices and arts draw men that giue eare vnto them besides themselues as hath bin already declared so pleasures through their sweetnesse corrupt the sense together with the mind to whom they are the ministers And Agesilaus being once asked what good the lawes of Lycurgus had done to Sparta Marry sayd he they haue brought our men to despise those delights which might haue made them to be no men There are so many wise and graue sayings to this purpose that to repeate them all the day would be too short It may therefore suffice what is already sayed and confirmed by the cōsent of all the wise mē in the world to shew you manifestly that the true proper end of man is not to be atchieued by this sensual kind of life And since that which is truly proper to any thing cannot be common with any other as to laugh is so proper to man as no other creature can laugh but he and pleasure is common to other creatures besides man therefore it cannot in any wise be proper to him It cannot be gainesaid with any reason said my Lord Primate and therefore no doubt but euery man ought to apply himselfe to follow that which is most proper to his owne nature for that is his best and pittie it is and maruell eke to see such numbers that neither for loue of vertue nor feare of God will frame themselues to a good and comendable course of life but follow their vaine delights and pleasures insatiably Pittie indeed it is said I but no great maruell because perfect iudgements are rare and many there be who though they know the truth of things yet suffer themselues to be caried away with apparances For their delight proposing to them certaine figures or images of what is good and faire they are content to be deceiued and to become bondslaues to their senses or rather charmed by them as by some witch or inchantresse and by them to be guided But this notwithstanding I must aduertise you that I haue not so absolutely spoken against pleasures that you should therefore inferre that vertues should be without their pleasures also For albeit pleasure be not vertue nor yet mans true good yet doth it follow vertue euen as the shadow followeth the bodie And though vertues haue difficulties and trauels before they be gotten yet when they are gotten pleasure is the inseparable companion vnto them not such as keepeth company with lasciuious and wanton affections and is soone conuerted to griefe and repentance but a delight that is permanent and stable insomuch as some of very good iudgement haue thought there is no pleasure worthy the name of delight but that which proceedeth from vertue and maketh our actions perfect For this cause did Aristotle say that most perfect was that delight which was comprehended by the most perfect part of the soule which is the vnderstanding And this delight is so perfectly perfect in God that he is far from any annoyance or molestation for delight is not in God a passion as in vs our delights are which neuer come to vs without molestation it being as hath bin said the begining of them Therfore the pleasures of the mind are esteemed so much the more perfect as the vnderstanding is more perfect then the sense which vnderstanding delighteth onely in that pleasure that is accompanied with honestie and this pleasure he esteemed to be so excellēt that he wished some new excellent name to be found for the same But we hauing no other name to giue it call it by similitude with that name which is fit for the delightfullest thing that the senses can yeeld vs and therefore we call as well the imperfect delight of the senses as that most perfect of the vnderstanding by the name of pleasure though the one of them consist in extremes which is vicious and the other in the meane where vertues haue their place Here Captaine Norreis spake saying We haue heard you sundrie times say that vertues consist in the meane betweene two extremes but how that meane is to be found you haue not yet declared to vs therefore I pray you let vs be made acquainted with the way to compas the same that we may learne to take hold of vertue and not be deceiued with the false semblance thereof to fall into vice This meane said I is found when a man doth what he ought to do when time serueth in maner as he should for such as becommeth him to do and for causes honest and conueniet And whosoeuer setteth this rule to himselfe in all his actions which being so conditioned shall be farre off from the extremes and neere vnto vertue Yea said Captaine Norreis this is soone said but not so soone done for it is not so easie a matter to hitte vpon these conditions but that a man may more easily misse them But since by your words neither delight alone nor profit onely can worke humane felicitie it should seeme the qualitie and trade of the world considered that it may well be gathered that they which haue them both linked together are worthy to be esteemed happie since plenty of wealth may yeeld them all their desires and fulfill their delights And this haply may be the cause why Kings and Princes are so accounted in this life Of the happinesse or
occasions to be angry not with intention to offend others but for the defence of a mans selfe and of those to whom he is tyed and specially of his reputation lest by being too dull and carelesse in regarding iniuries done vnto him he become apt to be ridden and depressed by euery ruffling companion so to be either too sudden or outragious in anger and thereby to be incited to do any act contrary to reason cannot in any sort agree with vertue or become a gentleman For to speak of that bearing which is vndertaken for Christian humilitie or feare of offending God appertaineth not to this place This vertue then of Mansuetude is she that holdeth the reines in her hand to bridle the vehemency of anger shewing when where with whom for what cause how farre foorth and how long it is fit and conuenient to be angry and likewise to let them loose and to spurre forward the mind that is restie or slow in apprehending the iust causes of wrath with regard of like circumstances directing the particular actions of the vertuous man in such cases according to reason to whom she as all other the vertues is to haue a continuall eye and regard in euery thing Desire of Honor succeedeth next and is a vertue that is busied about the same subiect with Magnanimitie For as the magnanimous man respecteth onely great and excessiue honors so doth this vertue teach the meane in purchasing of smaller honours or dignities such as ciuill men of all sorts are to be employed in For as there are some that seeke by all meanes possible to catch at euery shew of honor at euery office or degree that is to be gotten and spare not to vndergo any indignity or to try any base or vnlawfull meanes to compasse the same heauing and shouing like men in a throng to come to be formost though they deserue to be far behind so are there others so scrupulous and so addicted to their ease and quiet that they cannot endure to take vpon them any paines or any place that may bring them either trouble or hazard absolutely refusing in that respect and despising al dignities and offices together with the honor they might purchase by the same The first sort of men are called ambitious the other insensible and carelesse of their reputation Betweene which two extremes this vertue hath her place to keepe the first from seeking not by vertue but by corruptiō deceit or other vnfit meanes to compasse honors dignities or authoritie as many do slandering and backbiting such as are competitors with them or else most basely flattering and with cappe and knee crouching to those that they thinke may yeeld them helpe or fauour them in their purchase which they seeke and beg to supply their owne vnworthinesse and to quicken the other whose mindes haue no care of their credit reputation but liue in base companies and estrange themselues from all ciuill conuersation like brute and sauage beasts And in this respect is she worthy high estimation and necessary for all them that esteeme true honour as they ought to be the most excellent good among exteriour things who neuerthelesse temper themselues from ambition so as they are not drawne to commit any vile or base act for the atchieuing of the same but striue euermore by vertue to purchase their honor reputation Neither is this vertue all one with Magnanimitie because it requireth not so excellent an habit as doth Magnanimitie though they both be busied about the same subiect for between them is the like difference as is betweene Magnificence and Liberalitie whereof we haue already spoken Veritie is the vertue which followeth in order by which a man in all his conuersation in all his actions and in al his words sheweth himselfe sincere and ful of truth making his words and his deeds alwayes to agree so as he neuer sayeth one thing for another but still affirmeth those things that are and denieth those that are not The two extremes of this vertue are on the one side dissimulation or iesting called in Greeke Ironia and on the other side boasting For some there are that seeke by this vice to purchase reputation and credit or profit or else euen for foolish delight giue themselues to vanting and telling such strange things of themselues as though they be incredible yet wil they needs haue men forsooth to beleeue them Others for the same respects dissemble the good parts that haply are in them seeme willing to make mē beleeue that their good qualities are not so great as they are with a counterfeit modestie faining alwayes to abase themselues in such sort as men may easily discouer them to be plaine hypocrites and that vnder pretence of humilitie they labour to set pride on horsebacke yea some euen of meriment or by long custome of lying thinke it sport sufficient neuer to tell any thing but exorbitant and strange lies insomuch as in fine though they wittingly speak no truth yet themselues fal to beleeuing what they say to be most true Betweene these two vices sitteth this bright-shining vertue of Truth as she is a morall vertue by which men vse the benefit of their speech to that true vse for which it is bestowed vpon them by God and purchase to themselues not onely honour and praise but also trust and credit with all men so as their words are obserued as oracles whereas of the others no man maketh more account then of the sound of bels or of old wiues tales This is that excellent vertue that is of all others the best fitting a Gentleman and maketh him respected and welcom in all companies which made Pythagoras to say that next vnto God truth in man was most to be reuerenced whose contrary likewise is of all other things the most vnfitting the very destroier of humane conuersatiō the mother of scandals and the deadly enemy of friendship the odiousnesse whereof may be discerned by this that albeit we stick not sometimes to confesse our faults though they be very great to our friends yet we are ashamed to let them know that we haue told a lie The vertue of Affabilitie which succeedeth is a certaine meane by which men seeke to liue and conuerse with others so as they may purchase the fauor and good liking of all men not forgetting their owne grauitie and reputation And because there are some that thinke with pleasing speeches and pleasant conceits to be welcom into all companies they giue themselues to flatter to commend and extoll euery man to sooth all that they heare spoken and still to smile or laugh in euery mans face purchasing thereby in the end to be esteemed but as ridiculous sycophants or base flatterers and others holding a contrary course neuer speake word that may be gratefull or pleasing to any man supposing thereby to be held for graue and wise men euermore opposing themselues to what others say dispraising al mens doings and finally with