that I eat thou shooldst not serue so great a tyraunt as thou doost The excesse of meates ys greater in these days both in quantity and in dressing of them then in tymes past For in that golden age which the philosophers neuer cease to beewaile men had no other houses but naturall caues in the ground and apparelled onely with the leaues of trees the bare ground for their shoes their hands seruing them in steede of cuppes to drink in they drank water for wyne eat toâ—â—â—s for bread and fruyts for flesh and finally for their bed they made the earth for their couering the sky beeing lodged always at the signe of the starre When the diuine Plato returned out of Cicill into Greece hee sayd one day in his colledge I doo aduertise you my disciples that I am returned out of Cicill maruelously troubled and this is by reasoÌ„ of a monster I saw there And beeing asked what moÌ„ster it was hee told them that it was Dionisius the tyrant who is not contented with one meale a day but I saw him suppe many tymes in the night O diuine Plato if thou wert alyue as thou art dead and present with vs in this our pestilent age as thou wert then in that golden tyme how many shouldst thou see that doo not onely dyne and suppe wel but beefore dinner breake their fast with delycate meats and wynes and banket after dynner and supper also beefore they goe to bed So that wee may say though Plato saw then but one tyrant suppe hee might see now euery body both dyne and suppe and scant one that conteÌ„teth hym with one meale a day in which the brute bests are more moderate theÌ„ reasonable men Syth wee see that they eat but somuch as satisfyeth them and men are not contented to eate inough yea till they bee full but more then nature wyl beare And brute beasts haue not also such diuersity of meats as men haue neither seruants to wayt on them beddes to lye in wyne to drink houses to put their heads in money to spend nor phisitioÌ„s to purge them as men haue And yet for al these commodities wee see men the most part of their tyme sick And by these things recyted wee may perceyue that there is nothing preserueth so much the health of man as labor nothing consumeth sooner then rest And therefore Plato in his tyme on spake a notable sentence and woorthy to bee had in mynd and that is this That in that city where there are many phisicions yt must needes follow of necessity that the inhabitaunts there of are vicious ryotous persons And truely wee haue good cause to cary this saying away Sith wee see that phisitions commonly enter not into poore mens houses the trauell and exerciseth their body dayly but contrarily into the rych and welthy mens houses which lyue coÌ„tinually idlely at ease I remember I knew once a gentleman a kynsman of myne and my very frend which hauing taken physyck I came to see how hee did supposing hee had beene syck and demaunding of him the cause of his purgacion hee told mee hee tooke it not for any sicknes hee had but oÌ„ely to make him haue a better appetite against hee weÌ„t to the feast which should bee a two or three days after And with in syxe days after I returned agayn to see hym and I found him in his bedde very sick not for that hee had fasted too much but that hee had inglutted hym self with the variety of meats hee eat at the feast So it happened that where hee purged him self once onely to haue a better stomack to eat hee needed afterwards a douzen purgacions to discharge his loden stomack of that great surfet hee had taken at the feast with extreme eating And for the fower howers hee was at the table where this feast was hee was lodged afterwards in his chamber for two moneths to pay vsery for that hee had taken yet yt was the great grace of god hee escaped with lyfe For if it bee yll to synne yt vs farr worse to seeke and procure occasions to synne And therfor by consequent the synne of Gluttony is not only dangerous for the coÌ„sciens hurtfull to the health of the body and a displeasing of god but it is also a worme that eateth and in fine consumeth wholly the goods faculties of him that vseth yt Beesyds that these gurmands receyue not so much pleasure in the eatyng of these dainty morsells as they doo afterwards greefe and displeasure to heare the great accounts of their stewards of their excessyue expensis Yt is a swete delight to bee fed daily with dainty dishes but a sower sawce to those delicat mouthes to put his hand so oft to the purse Which I speake not with out cause syth that as wee feele great pleasure and felicity in those meates that enter into our stomack so doo wee afterwards think that they pluck out of our hart that mony that payeth for those knacks I remember I saw writen in an Inne in Catalogia these woords You that hoste heere must say wheÌ„ you sit down to your meat Salue regina yea when you are eating Vitae dul cedo yea and when you recken with the host Ad te Suspiramus yea and when you come to pay him Gementes flentes Now yf I would go about to describe by parcells the order and maner of our feasts and banckets newly inuented by our owne nation there would rather appeare matter to you to lament and bewaile then to write And it had been better by way of speach to haue inuented dyuers fashions of tables formes and stooles to sit on theÌ„ such diuersity of meates to set vpon the tables as wee doo vse now a dayes And therefore by good reason did Licurgus King of Lacedemonia ordeyne comaund that no stranger comming out of a strange country into his should so hardy bring in any newe customes vpon pain that if it were knowen hee should bee streight banished out of the couÌ„try and if hee did vse and practise yt hee should bee put to death I will tell you no lye I saw once serued in at a feast xlii sortes and kyndes of meates in seuerall dishes In an other feast of diuers sortes of the fish caled Tuny And in an other feast beeing flesh day I saw dyuers fishes broyled with lard And at an other feast wheare I saw no other meate but Troutes and Lampereis of dyuers kyndes of dressinge And at an other feast wheare I saw only vi persons agree togethers to drink ech of them .iii. pottels of wyne apeece with this condition further that they should bee .vi. howers at the table and hee that drank not out his part should pay for the whole feast I saw also an other feast where they prepared iii. seuerall tables for the bidden guests the one boord serued after the Spanish maner the other after the Italian and the third after the fasshion
for in the ende tyme is of such power that it cause the renowmed men to be forgotten and all the sumptuous buildinges to decaye and fall to the earth If thou wilt knowe my frende Pulio in what tyme the tyraunt this philosopher was I wyll thou knowe that when Catania the renowmed citie was builded in Cicilia neare the mount Ethna and when Perdica was the fourth kyng of Macedonia and that Cardicea was the thirde kyng of the Meedes and when Candare was fift king of Libeans and that Assaradoche was ninth king of the Assirians and when Merodache was twelft king of Caldeans and that Numa Pompilius reigned second king of the Romaines in the time of those so good kinges Periander reigned amonges the Assirians And it is meete thou knowe an other thyng also whiche is this That this Periander was a tyraunt not only in dede but also in renowme so that thei spake of no other thing thorowe Greece but it tended hereunto Though he had euill workes he had good wordes procured that the affaires of the cōmon wealth shuld be wel redressed For generally there is no man so good but a mā may finde somwhat in him to be reproued neither any man so euill but he hath some thing in him to be cōmended I doe yet remēber of my age being neither to young nor to old that I saw the emperour Traian my lord suppe once in Agrippine it so chaunced that wordes were moued to speake of good euil princes in times past as wel of the Grekes as of the Romains that al those which were present there cōmended greatly the emperour Octauian they al blamed the cruel Nero. For it is an aūcient custome to flatter the princes that are present to murmure at princes that are past When the good emperour Traian was at dinner when he praied in the tēple it was maruel if any mā sawe him speake any word that day since he sawe that thei excessiuely praised the emperour Octauian that the others charged the emperour Nero with more then neded the good Traian spake vnto them these wordes I am glad you cōmende the emperour Octauian but I am angry you should in my presence speake euil of the emperour Nero of none other for it is a great infamy to a prince being aliue to heare in his presence any prince euill reported after his death Truly the emperour Octauian was very good but ye will not denye me but he might haue bene better and the emperour Nero was very euil but yet you will graunt me he might haue ben worse I speake this because Nero in his first fiue yeares was the best of all and the other nyne folowyng he was the worste of all so that there is bothe cause to disprayse him and also cause to commende him When a vertuous man will speake of princes that are dead before princes whiche are aliue he is bounde to prayse onely one of their vertues which they had hath no licence to reuyle the vices whereof thei were noted For the good deserueth rewarde because he endeuoreth him selfe to folowe vertue the euill likewyse deserueth pardon because through frayltie he hath consented to vyce All these wordes the emperoure Traian spake I being present and they were spoken with suche fiercenes that all those whiche were there present bothe chaunged their colour and also refrained their tongues For truly the shamelesse man feeleth not so muche a great strype of correction as the gentill harte doth a sharpe worde of admonition I was willing to shewe thee these thinges my frende Pulio because that since Traian spake for Nero and that he founde in hym some prayse I doe thynke no lesse of the tyraunte Periander whome thoughe for his euyll workes he dyd we doe condemne yet for his good wordes that he spake for the good lawes whiche he made we doe prayse For in the man that is euill there is nothing more easier then to geue good counsayle and there is nothing more harder then to worke well Periander made dyuerse lawes for the common wealth of the Corinthians whereof here folowing I wil declare some We ordeyne and commaunde that if any by multipliyng of wordes kyll an other so that it were not by treason that he be not therefore condemned to die but that they make hym slaue perpetuall to the brother of him that is slayne or to the nexte of his kynne or frends for a shorte deathe is lesse payne then a longe seruitude We ordeyne and commaunde that if any these be taken he shall not dye but with a hotte iron shal be marked on the forehead to be knowen for a thefe for to shammefaste men longe infaime is more payne then a short lyfe We ordeyne and commaunde that the man or woman whiche to the preiudice of an other shall tell any lye shall for the space of a moneth carie a stone in their mouthe for it is not meete that he whiche is wonte to lye should alwayes bee authorysed to speake We ordeyne and commaunde that euery man or woman that is a quareler and sedicious persone in the common wealth be with great reproche bannished frome the people for it is vnpossible that he shoulde bee in fauoure with the Gods which is an enemie to his neighbours We ordeyne and commaunde that if there be any in the common wealth that haue receiued of an other a benefite and that afterwardes it is proued he was vnthankefull that in suche case they put hym to death for the man that of benefites receiued is vnthankefull oughte not to lyue in the worlde amonge menne Beholde therefore my frende Pulio the antiquitie whiche I declared vnto thee and howe mercifull the Corinthians were to murtherers theues and Pirates And contrarie howe seuere they were to vnthankefull people whome they commaunded forthwith to be putte to deathe And truly in myne opinion the Corinthians had reason for there is nothinge troubleth a wyse man more then to see him vnthankefull to him whome he hath shewed pleasure vnto I was willing to tel thee this historie of Periander for no other cause but to the end thou shouldest see and know that forasmuch as I doe greatly blame the vice of vnthankefulnes I will laboure not to be noted of the same For he that reproueth vice is not noted to be vertuous but he which vtterly flieth it Count vpon this my worde that I tel thee which thou shalt not thinke to be fained that though I be the Romain Emperour I wil be thy faithfull frend wil not faile to be thankefull towardes thee For I esteme it no lesse glory to know how to keape a frend by wysedom then to come to the estate of an emperour by philosophie By the letter thou sentest thou requiredst me of one thing to answere thee for the whiche I am at my wittes end For I had rather open my treasures to thy necessities then to open the bookes to answere to thy
wealthe where the gouernours and iudges thereof doe not cast theire eyes but vnto them whâ—e they ought to chastise where they doe not thynke in theire harte but howe they maye enryche theire coffers where they doe not occupye theire handes but to take brybes and doe not passe the tyme but in bankettes And I sayde not wythout a cause bankettes For there are manye iudges whyche imploye they re studye more to geate frindes to mayntayne theire state proudlye then for to read bookes to iudge mennes causes vprightly The iudge which neuer readeth the iudge whiche neuer studieth the iudge whiche neuer openeth boke the iudge which is neuer in his house the iudge which day night robbeth howe is it possible that he execute one true iustice There can bee no greater feare in a man nor sclaunder more greate in the common welth then when the iudge who ought to iudge and chastise the offences of others is alwaies ouerwhelmed with vices him selfe The iudge which presumeth to be good and wil be good and desireth to be good a manne shoulde finde him no where vnlesse he be studying in his house or sitting in the place of iustice Let not princes trust vppon this when they prouyde iudges and gouernours for to iudge saieng that if they fynde any euill they wil soone cut him of for suche are so euil that if they want to meanes to get to those offices they shal want no cautils nor corrupt frindes to suborne them therein When princes great lordes shall finde anye iudge euill I counsaile them to auoide him immediatlye or that they shewe them selues not contented with his dooinges for suche one shal forthwith enforce him selfe to doe iustice with intencion that those of the common wealth myght desire him to be theire iudge Although my penne doth reproue these Iudges whiche are negligent and carelesse the whiche neither by knowledge can iudge nor with stoutnes punishe The iudges whiche iudge and gouerne ought not to be with all so familiar that all dare take vppon them to aske him for in this case if some commend his gentle coÌ„uersacion others will blame his parciall iustice I counsaile admonishe and require Princes that they content them selues not only to be true pitifull honeste and vertuous nor yet to be iuste but that it is as well necessarie they be obseruers of iustice For let them knowe that there is great difference betwene him that is iust and an other that doth minister iustice for to the prince that is good commeth honour to his parsonne but from him that ministreth iustice commeth profite to his common wealth Peraduenture it is no wonder to see the Prince that will tell no lye and to see his ministers not to speak one truthe peraduenture I do not thinke my self sclaundered to se the prince temperate in eatinge and to see all his seruauntes distempered bothe wythe eating and drinkinge peraduenture and it is no cause to muse vppon to see the princes chaste and honeste and to see theire seruauntes in fleshe filthye and dissolute peraduenture it is no cause to meruaile to see the prince iuste and to loue iustice and that verye fewe of hys ministers doe minister it The ende why all these thinges are spoken is to aduertise Princes that they bee not so carefull to bee chaste sober true and iust but that they know whether theire gouernoures and iudges are corrupted couetous gredy vnshame faste lyers or brybers For if it toucheth vs much that oure Princes be good so much more it toucheth vs that the ministers be not euil One of the things wherein princes ought to prouyde with their iudges and gouernours is that by no meanes they suffer theire lawes and auncient customes to bee broken in theire common wealthe and that in theire steedes straunge customes bee not introduced For the comminaltye is so variable in that they saye and so light in that they aske that they woulde daylye see a newe kinge and hourely chaunge a newe lawe Plinie in an epistle that he writeth to Escario saieth Optime apud Persas capitalem per legem fuit prohibitum nouos aut peregrinos mores inducere As if he spake more plainelye Amongest the Perses it was a lawe inuiolable that no man shoulde bringe into the common wealth anye straunge custome for suche an offence they shoulde paye none other raunsome but the losse of theire heades As menne dayly doe diminishe in vertue vnlesse by force they bee witholden and augment in vanitie so they woulde inuent newe deuyses and straunge customes wherewith men shoulde be decayed and the common wealthe destroyed For straunge meates doe alter mennes stomackes When those of Creta were vngentlye vsed of the Rhodiens they did not praye to theire godes to sende them pestylence warre famin or sedition amonge theire enemies but that they woulde suffer some euil maners to bee brought in amongest theire people Let not those thinke that shall reade this that it was a small curse those of Creta desired and that it was a small reuenge whiche God gaue them of theire enemyes if he gaue them that whiche they dyd requyre For from warres famin and pestylence some maye escape but with the newe and straunge deuyses we see all perishe Of manye thinges the Historians doe reproue the Emperour Sergius Galba and for one alone they doe praise him whiche is that he neuer consented that in Rome anye newe lawe shoulde bee made nor anye olde custome broken And hee commaunded that those shoulde bee greuouslye punished whiche brought in anye newe lawe and hee rewarded those whiche put hym in mynde of anye olde custome the whiche he commaunded to bee obserued It is a mockerye yea better to saye a sclaunder to see that some younge iudges will doe that of the common wealthe whiche a Taylour dothe of a gowne that is to saye to tourne hym within and without before and behynde whiche they ought not to doe nor the people to consent thereunto For the Prince dothe not sende them to make lawes nor to bringe in newe orders but to the ende that they doe onelye preserue the common wealthe in theire good customes Princes ought also to take greate care that vnto lyttle and greate riche and poore they minister equall iustice sithe there is no dyuyne nor humayne lawe that geueth them power and aucthoritie to corrupt it for if a Prince cannot wythout reason dispose his owne goods much lesse he can make lawes and sell iustice We doe not denye a Prince but that he is lorde of beastes of fysh of byrdes of mynes of mountaines of seruaunts and of fyeldes finallye that hee is lorde of the sea and lande but therefore we will not graunt hym that he is lorde of iustice For there is none other true Lorde of iustice but God whiche is the selfe same iustice When a Prince dyeth and maketh his will hee saieth I leaue all my realmes seignories to the prince my sonne and legittimate heire and doe leaue vnto
court to chaunge that seruile trade of lyfe for quiet rest at home Thinking assuredly that enioying rest at home in his own house hee myght easely bee damned and abyding the payns and seruyce of court hee beleeued vndoubtedly hee shoold bee saued Surely wee may aptly say that thys old courtier was more then a dotard and that hee had mard the call of his conscyens since hee beleeued it was a charge of conscience to depart the court The ābition to doo much the couetousnes to haue much maketh the miserable courtiers beleeue that they haue yet tyme enough to lyue to repent them when they will So that in the court thinking to lyue two yeres only in their age good men they lyue fifty and three score yeres wicked naughty persons Plutarch in his Apothegmes saith that Eudonius that was Captain of the Greekes seeing Xenocrates reading one day in the vniuersity of Athens hee being not of thage of eyghty fyue yeres asked what that old mā was it was aunswered him that it was one of the philosophers of Greece who followed vertue and serched to know wherein true philosophy consisted Whereuppon hee aunswered If Xenocrates the philosopher tell mee that hee being now eyghty fyue yeres old goeth to seeke vertue in this age I woold thou shooldest also tell mee what tyme hee shoold haue left him to bee vertuous And hee said more ouer in those yeres that this philosopher ys of it were more reason wee shoold see him doo vertuous things thā at this age to goe and seeke it Truely wee may say the very lyke of our new courtier that Eudonius said of Xenocrates the philosopher the which if hee did look for other three score yeres or three score yeres and tenne to bee good what time shoold remain for him to prooue and shew that goodnes It is no maruel at al that the old courtiers forget their natiue countrey and bringing vp their fathers that begat them their frends that shewed thē fauor the seruants that serued them but at that that I doo not only woonder at thē but also it geeueth mee cause to suspect them is that I see they forget them selues So that they neuer know nor consider that they haue to doo till they come afterwards to bee that they woold not bee If the courtiers which in princes courts haue been rich noble in auctority woold counsel with mee or at least beleeue my writing they shoold depart from thence in time to haue a long tyme to consider before of death least death vnwares sodeinly came to take executiō of their liues O happy thrise happy may wee call the esteemed courtier whom god hath geeuen so much wit knowledge to that of him self hee doo depart frō the court before fortune hath once touched him which dishonor or layd her cruell hands vpon him For I neuer saw courtier but in the end did complain of the court of their yll lyfe that they lead in court And yet did I neuer know any person that woold leaue it for any scruple of conscience hee had to remain there but peraduenture if any did depart from the court it was for some of these respects or altogether that is to say Either that his fauor credit diminished or that his money failed him or that some hath doon him displeasure in the court or that hee was driuen from the court or that hee was denyed fauor or that his syde faction hee held with had a fal or for that hee was sick to get his health hee went into the countrey So that they may say hee rather went angry displeased with him self then hee dyd to lament his sinnes If you ask pryuatly euery courtier you shal find none but will say hee is discontented with the court either because hee is poore or afflicted enuyed or yll willed or out of fauor hee wil swere reswere again that hee desyreth nothing more in the world then to bee dismissed of this courtiers trauel painfull life But if afterwards perchaunce a lytle wynd of fauor bee put stirring in the entry of his chāberdore it wilsodeinly blow away al the good former thoughts frō his mynd And yet that that makes mee wonder more at these vnconstant courtiers vnstable brains is that I see many buyld goodly stately houses in their countrey yet they neither dwel in them nor keep hospitality there They graffe set trees plant fruits make good gardeins and ortchyards and yet neuer go to enioy them they puchase great lands and possessiōs and neuer goe to see them And they haue offices and dignities geeuen them in their countreys but they neuer goe to exercise them There they haue their frends and parents and yet they neuer goe to talk with them So that they had rather bee slaues and drudges in the court then lords and rulers in their own countrey Wee may iustly say that many courtiers are poore in riches straungers in their own houses and pilgrimes in their own countrey and banyshed from all their kinreds So that if wee see the most part of these courtiers bakbyte murmure complayn and abhorre these vyces they see dayly committed in court I dare assure you that this discontentation dyslyking proceeds not only of these vyces and errors they see committed as of the spight and enuy they haue dayly to see their enemies grow in fauor and credit with the prince For they passe lytle of the vyces of court so they may bee in fauor as others are Plutarch in his booke de exilio sheweth that there was a law amongst the Thebans that after a man was fyfty yeres of age if hee fell sick hee shoold not bee holpen with phisitians For they say that after a man is once aryued to that age hee shoold desire to lyue no lenger but rather to hast to his iorneys end By these exāples wee may know that infancy is till vii yeres Childhood to .xiiii. yeres youth to xxv yeres manhod till .xl. and age to three score yeres But once passed three score mee think it is rather tyme to make clean the nets and to content themselues with the fish they haue til now then to goe about to put their nettes in order again to fish any more I graunt that in the court of princes all may bee saued and yet no mā can deny mee but that in princes courts there are mo occasions to bee damned then saued For as Cato the Censor saith the apt occasions bring men a desire to doo yll though they bee good of them selues And although some do take vppon them and determyne to lead a godly and holy lyfe or that they shew themselues great hipocrits yet am I assured notwithstanding that they cannot keepe their tongue from murmuring nor their hart from enuying And the cause heereof proceedeth for that there are very few that follow the court long but only to enter into credit and afterwards to waxe rich
the yle of Scicili haue caried a great quantitie of corne into Spaine and into Affrike the which thing was forbidden by a Romayne lawe and therefore they haue deserued greuous puniâ—â—ement Nowe because thou arte vertuous thou mayst teache me to do wel and I that am olde wil teach the to say wel this is because that amongest wyse and vertuous men it is enoughe to saye that the lawe commaundeth appointeth and suffereth this thing but in as much as it is agreing with reason For the crowne of the good is reason and the scourge of the wicked is the lawe The fourth thing that commonly through the worlde amongest all men was accepted was the barbars And let no man take this thing in mockery For if they doe reade Plinie in the .59 chapiter the seuenth booke they shal finde for a truth that the Romaines wer in Rome .454 yeres without pouling or shauing the hayres of the beard of any man Marcus Varro said that Publius Ticinius was the firste that brought the barbers from Scicili to Rome But admitte it were so or otherwise yet notwithstandinge there was a greate contention amonge the Romaynes For they sayde they thought it a rashe thinge for a man to committe his life to the courtesie of another Dionisius the Siracusan neuer trusted his beard with any barbor but whaÌ„ his doughters were very little they clipped his beard with sisers but after they became great he woulde not put his trust in them to trimme his bearde but he him selfe did burne it with the shales of nuttes This Dionisius Siracusan was demanded why he would not trust any barbours with his beard He answered because I know that ther be some which wil geue more to the barbor to take away my life than I wil giue to trimme my beard Plinie in the seuenth booke saith that the great Scipio called African and the Emperour Augustus wer the first that caused them in Rome to shaue their beards And I thinke thend why Plinie spake these things was to exalte these twoo princes which had as greate courage to suffer the raysours touche their throtes as th one for to fight against Hannibal in Afrike and thother against Sextus Pompeius in Scicili The fifte thing which coÌ„monly through the world was accepted were the dialles and clockes which the Romaines wanted a long tyme. For as Plinie and Marcus Varro say the Romaines were without clockes in Rome for the space of .595 yeres The curious hystoriographers declare thre maner of dialles that were in olde time that is to say dialles of the houres dialles of the sonne and dialls of the water The dialle of the son Aneximenides Millesius inuented who was great Animandras scholer The dialle of the water Scipio Nasica inuented and the Diall of houres one of the scholers of Thales the Phylosopher inuented Of all these antiquities whyche were brought into Rome none of them were so acceptable to the Romaines as the dialles were wherby they measured the daye by the houre For before they could not saye we wil ryse at .vii. of the clocke we will dine at .x. we will see one thother at .xii. at .i. we will doe that we oughte to doe But before they sayde after the sonne is vp we wil doe such a thinge and before it goe downe we wyll doe that we ought to doe Thoccasion of declaryng vnto you these .v. antiquities in this preamble was to no other intente but to call my booke the Dial of Prynces The name of the booke veing newe as it is maye make the learning that is therein greatly to be estemed God forbyd that I should be so bolde to saye they haue ben so longe time in Spayne without dialles of learning as they were in Rome without the diall of the sonne the water and of the houres For that in Spayne haue ben alwayes men well learned in sciences and very expert in the warres By great reason and of greater occasion the Princes oughte to be commended the knyghtes the people their wittes and the fertilitye of their countrey but yet to all these goodnes I haue sene manye vnlearned bookes in spayne which as broken dialles deserue to be cast into the fier to be forged anew I do not speake it without a cause that manye bookes deserue to be broken and burnte For there are so many that without shame and honestie doe set forthe bookes of loue of the worlde at this daye as boldely as if they taught theim to dispise and speake euil of the world It is pitye to see how many dayes and nightes be consumed in readyng vayne bookes that is to say as Orson and Valentine the Courte of Venus the .iiii. sonnes of Amon and diuerse other vaine bokes by whose doctrine I dare boldlye say they passe not the tyme but in perdicion for they learne not how they oughte to flye vice but rather what way they may with more pleasour embrace it This dial of princes is not of sande nor of the sonne nor of the houres nor of the water but it is the dial of lyfe For that other dialles serue to know what houre it is in the nyghte and what houre it is of the day but this sheweth and teacheth vs how we ought to occupye our mindes and how to order our lyfe The propertye of other dyalles is to order thinges publyke but the nature of this dyal of prynces is to teache vs how to occupye our selues euery houre and how to amende our lyfe euery momente It lytle auayleth to keape the dyalles well and to see thy subiectes dissolutely without any order to range in routes and dayly rayse debate and contention amonge them selues Jn this Prologue the Aucthour speaketh particularlye of the booke called Marcus Aurelius which he translated and dedicated to the Emperour Charles the fyfte THe greatest vanitye that I find in the world is that vayne men are not only conteÌ„t to be vaine in their life but also procure to leue a memory of their vanity after their death For it is so thought good vnto vaine and light men whyche serue the worlde in vaine workes that at the houre of death when they perceyue they can do no more that they can no lenger preuaile they offer them selues vnto death which now they see approche vpon them Manye of the world are so fleshed in the world that although it forsaketh them in déedes yet they wyl not forsake it in theyr desires And I durst sweare that if the world could graunt them perpetual life they woulde promyse it alwayes to remaine in their customable follye O what a nomber of vaine men are aliue whiche haue neither remembraunce of god to serue him nor of his glorye to obey him nor of their conscience to make it cleane but like brute beasts folow and ronne after their voluptuous pleasours The brute beast is angrye if a man kepe him to much in awe if he be wery he taketh his rest he slepeth when he lysteth he eateth and
but al that Marcus Aurelius sayd or dyd is worthy to be knowen necessary to be folowed I do not meane this prynce in his heathen law but in hys vertuous dedes Let vs not staye at hys belyef but let vs embrace the good that he did For compare many chrystians wyth some of the heathen loke howe farre we leaue them behynd in faith so farre they excel vs in vertuous works Al the old prynces in times past had som phylosophers to their familiars as Alexander Aristotle King Darius Herodotus Augustus Pisto Pompeius Plauto Titus Plinie Adrian Secundus Traian Plutarchus Anthonius Apolonius Theodotius Claudius Seuerus Fabatus Fynally I say that philosophers then had such authority in princes palaces that children acknowledged them for fathers and fathers reuerenced them as maysters These sage meÌ„ wer aliue in the coÌ„pany of princes but the good Marcus Aurelius whose doctrine is before your maiestie is not aliue but dead Yet therfore that is no cause why his doctrine shold not be admitted For it may be paraduenture that this shal profit vs more which he wrate with his hands then that which others spake with their tongues Plutarche sayth in the time of Alexander the great Aristotle was aliue and Homere was dead But let vs see how he loued the one reuerenced the other for of truth hee slept alway with Homers booke in his hands waking he red the same with hys eyes alwayes kept the doctrine therof in his memory layed when he rested the booke vnder his head The which priuiledge Aristotle had not who at al times cold not be heard much lesse at al seasons be beleued so that Alexander had Homere for his frend and Aristotle for a maister Other of these phylosophers wer but simple men but our Marcus Aurelius was both a wyse phylosopher and a valiaunt prynce and therfore reason would he should be credited before others For as a prince he wyl declare the troubles as a phylosopher he wil redresse them Take you therefore Puisaunt Prince this wise phylosopher and noble emperour for a teacher in your youth for a father in your gouernment for a captayne general in your warres for a guide in your iourneys for a frend in your affayres for an example in your vertues for a maister in your sciences for a pure whyte in your desyres and for equal matche in your deedes I wil declare vnto you the lyfe of an other beinge a heathen and not the lyfe of an other being a chrystian For how much glory this heathen prince had in this world being good and vertuous so much paynes your maiestie shal haue in the other if you shal be wicked and vycious Behold behold noble prince the lyfe of this Emperour you shal se how clere he was in his iudgement how vpright in hys iustyce howe circumspect in hys life how louing to his frends how pacient in his troubles how he dissembled with hys enemies how seuere agaynst Tyraunts how quyet among the quiet how great a frend to the sage and louer of the simple how aduenturous in his warres and amyable in peace and aboue al thinges how high in words and profound in sentences Many tymes I haue bene in doubt with my selfe whether the Eternal maiesty which gyueth vnto you princes the temporal maiestie to rule aboue al other in power and authorytie did exempt you that are princes more from humaine frayltye then he did vs that be but subiects and at the last I knew he did not For I see euen as you are chyldren of the world so you do lyue according to the world I see euen as you trauaile in the world so you can know nothing but things of the world I se because you liue in the fleshe that you are subiect to the myseryes of the fleshe I see though for a tyme you prolong your lyfe yet at the last you are brought to your graue I see your trauaile is great and that within your gates there dwelleth no rest I se you are cold in the wynter and hote in the sommer I se that hunger feeleth you and thirst troubleth you I se your frendes forsake you and your ennemyes assault you I se that you are sadde and lacke ioy I se you are sicke and be not wel serued I see you haue muche and yet that which you lacke is more What wil ye se more seyng that princeâ— die O noble princes great Lordes syns you must die and become wormes meat why do you not in your lyfe tyme serche for good counsayle If the prynces and noble men commit an â—rroure no man dare chastice them wherfore they stand in greater nede of aduyse counsaile For the trauailer who is out of his waye the more he goeth foreward the more he errethe If the people do amisse they ought to be punyshed but if the prince erre hee shoulde bee admonished And as the Prynce wyl the people shoulde at his handes haue punyshment so it is reason that he at their hands should receyue counsayle For as the wealthe of the one dependeth on the wealthe of the other soo trulye if the prince bee vycious the people can not be vertuous If youre maiestie wyl punyshe your people with words commaund them to prynt this present worke in their harts And if your people would serue your hyghnes with their aduise let them likewyse beseche you to reade ouer this booke For therin the subiectes shal fynd how they may amende and you Lordes shal se al that you ought to do wdether this presente worke be profytable or noo I wyll not that my penne shal declare but they whyche reede it shall iudge For we aucthours take paines to make and translate others for vs vse to giue iudgement and sentence From my tender yeres vntil this present I haue liued in the world occupieng my selfe in reading and studieng humaine deuyne bookes and although I confesse my debilitie to be such that I haue not reade so much as I might nor studied so much as I ought yet not withstandinge al that I haue red hath not caused me to muse so muche as the doctrine of Marcus Aurelius hath sith that in the mouth of an heathen god hath put such a great treasor The greatest part of al his workes were in Greke yet he wrote also many in latin I haue drawen this out of greke throughe the helpe of my frends afterwards out of latin into our vulgare tongue by the trauaile of my hands Let al men iudge what I haue suffred in drawing it out of Greke into latin out of the latin into the vulgar and out of a plaine vulgar into a swete and pleasaunt style For that banket is not counted sumptuous vnlesse ther be both pleasaunt meates and sauory sauces To cal sentences to mynd to place the wordes to examine languages to correct sillables what swette I haue suffred in the hote sommer what bytter cold in the sharpe wynter what
abstinence from meates when I desired to eate what watching in the night whan I would haue slept what cares I haue suffred in steed of rest that I might haue enioyed let other proue if me they wyl not credite The intencion of my painful trauailes I offer to the deuine maiestie vpon my knees to youre highnesse noble prince I presente thys my worke and humbly beseche god that the doctrine of this booke may be as profitable vnto you and the common wealth in your lyfe as it hath ben to me tedious hinderaunce to my health I haue thought it good to offer to your maiestye the effect of my laboures thoughe you peraduenture wyl lytle regard my paines for the requyting of my trauayle and reward of my good wyl I requyre nought els of your highnes but that the rudenesse of my vnderstanding the basenes of my stile the smalnes of my eloquence the euil order of my sentences the vanitie of my words be no occasion why so excellent and goodly a worke shold be lytle regarded For it is not reason that a good horse should be the lesse estemed for that the ryder knoweth not how to make hym ronne hys carrier I haue done what I could doe doe you now that you ought to doe in gyuynge to this present worke grauytye and to me the interpretor thereof aucthority I saye no more but humbly besech god to mayntayne your estimacion and power in earth and that you maye afterwarde enioye the fruicion of hys deuyne presence in heauen The Argumente of the booke called the Diall of Princes VVherein the aucthour declareth hys intencion and maner of proceadinge ARchimenedes the great and famous philosopher to whom Marcus Marcellus for his knowledge sake graunted life and after vsing Nygromancie deserued death being demaunded what time was sayd that time was the inuentor of al noueltyes and a Regestre certaine of antiquities whiche seeth of it selfe the beginning the middest and the ending of al things And finally time is he that endeth al. No man can deny but the diffinition of thys Philosopher is true for if tyme could speake he would certifye vs of sundry things wherin we doubt and declare them as a witnes of sight Admyt al things perishe and haue an ende yet one thing is exempted and neuer hath end which is truth that amongest al things is priuileged in such wise that she triumpheth of time and not tyme of her For accordyng to the dyuine sayeng it shal be more easy to se heauen and earth to fal then once truth to perish There is nothing so entyer but may be diminished nothynge so healthful but may be diseased nothing so strong but may be broken neyther any thing so wel kept but may be corrupted And finally I say there is nothing but by time is ruled and gouerned saue only truth which is subiect to none The fruits of the spring time haue no force to giue sustenaunce nor perfait swetenes to giue any sauour but after that the sommer is past and haruest commeth they rype and then all that we eate nourisheth more and gyueth a better tast I meane by this when the world beganne to haue wyse men the more Philosophers were estemed for their good maners the more they deserued to be reproued for their euyl vnderstandyng Plato in his second booke of the comon wealthe sayd that the auncient Phylosophers aswell Grekes as Egiptians Caldees which firste beganne to beholde the starres of heauen and ascended to the toppe of the mount Olimpus to vew the influences and mocions of the planets on the earthe deserued rather pardon of their ignoraunce then prayse for their knowledge Plato sayde further that the Phylosophers which were before vs were the first that gaue themselues to searche out the truth of the Elements in the heauen and the first whych sowed errors in things natural of the earth Homere in his Iliade agreyng wyth Plato saith I condemne al that the auncient Phylosophers knew but I greatly commend theym for that they desired to know Certes Homere sayd wel and Plato sayd not amysse for if amongest the first Philosophers this ignoraunce had not raygned there had not bene such contrary sectes in euery schoole He that hath redde not the bookes which are lost but the opinions whych the auncient phylosophers had wyl graunt me thoughe the knowledge were one yet their sectes were dyuers that is to say Cinici Stoici Academici Platonici and Epicurei whych were as variable the one from the other in their opinions as they were repugnaunt in their condicions I wyll not neyther reason requireth that my penne should be so much dysmesured as to reproue those whyche are dead for to gyue the glory al onely to them that are alyue for the one of them knew not al neyther were the other ignoraunt of all Yf he deserueth thankes that sheweth me the way whereby I ought to go no lesse then meriteth he whiche warneth me of the place wherin we may erre The ignoraunce of our forefathers was but a gyde to kepe vs from â—rryng for the errour of them shewed vs the truth to theyr much prayse and to our great shame Therfore I dare boldly say if we that are now had bene then we had knowen lesse then they knew And if those were nowe whych were then they would haue knowen more then we know And that this is true it appeareth wel for that the auncyent phylosophers through the great desyre they had to know the trouth of small and bypathes haue made brode and large wayes the whych we now wil not sée nor yet walke therin Wherfore we haue not so muche cause to bewayle their ignoraunce as they had reason to complayne of our negligence For truth whych is as Aulus Gelius saith the doughter of time hath reueled vnto vs the errours which we ought to eschew and the true doctrine which we ought to folow What is ther to se but hath bene sene what to dyscouer but hath ben discouered what is there to reade but hath bene red what to write but hath bene writen what is ther to know but hath ben knowen now a dayes humaine malice is so expert men so we â—able and our wittes so subtyl that we want nothyng to vnderstand neither good nor euyl And we vndoe our selues by sekyng that vayne knowledge which is not necessary for our life No man vnder the pretence of ignoraunce can excuse his fault since al men know al men reade and al men learne the whych is euident in this case as it shal appeare Suppose the ploughe man and the learned man do go to the law and you shall perceyue the labourer vnder that simple garment to forge to his councellour halfe a dosen of malicious trickes to delude his aduersary as fynely as the other that is leerned shal be able to expound 2. or 3. chapters of this booke If men would employ their knowledge to honesty wisedome pacience and mercy it were wel but
I am sory they know so much only for that they subtilly disceiue and by vsury abuse their neighbours and kepe that they haue vniustly gotten and dayly getting more inuenting new trades Finally I say if they haue any knowledge it is not to amend their life but rather to encrease their goods If the diuil could slepe as men do he might safely slepe for wheras he waketh to deceiue vs we wake to vndoe our selues wel suppose that al these heretofore I haue sayd is true Let vs now leue aside craft take in hand knowledge The knowledge which we attaine to is smal that whych we shold attaine to so great that al that we know is the least part of that we are ignoraunt Euen as in things natural the elamentes haue their operacions accordyng to the variety of time so moral doctrines as the aged haue succeded and sciences were discouered Truly al fruites come not together but when one faileth another commeth in season I meane that neyther al the Doctours among the Christians nor al the phylosophers among the gentyles were concurrant at one time but after the death of one good ther came another better The chiefe wysedome whych measureth al thyngs by iustyce and disparseth them accordyng to his bounty wyl not that at one time they should be al wyse men and at an other time al simple For it had not ben reason the one should haue had the fruite and the other the leaues The old world that ran in Saturnes dayes otherwyse called the golden world was of a truth muche estemed of them that saw it and greatly commended of them that wrote of it That is to say it was not gilded by the Sages whych did gilde it but because there was no euyl men whych dyd vngild it For as thexperience of the meane estate nobility teacheth vs of one only parson dependeth aswel the fame and renoume as the infamy of a hole house and parentage That age was called golden that is to saye of gold and this our age is called yronne that is to say of yron This dyfference was not for that gold then was found now yron nor for that in this our age ther is want of theym that be sage but because the number of them surmounteth that be at this day malicious I confesse one thing and suppose many wil fauour me in the same Phauorin the philosopher which was maister to Aulus Gellius and his especial frend sayde ofttimes that the phylosophers in old time were holden in reputacion bycause ther were few teachers and many learners We now a daies se the contrary for infinite are they whych presume to be maysters but few are they whych humble theym selues to be scholers A man maye know how litle wise men are estemed at this houre by the greate veneracion that the phylosophers had in the old tyme. What a matter is it to se Homere amongest the Grecians Salomon amongest the Hebrues Lycurgus amongest the Lacedomoniens Phoromeus also amongest the Grekes Ptolomeus amongeste the Egiptians Liui amongeste the Romaynes and Cicero lykewyse amongeste the Latines Appolonius among the Indians and Secundus amongest the Assirians How happy were those philosophers to be as they were in those dayes when the world was so ful of simple personnes and so destitute of sage men that there flocked greate nombers out of dyuers contries and straung nacions not only to here their doctrine but also to se their persons The glorious saint Hierome in the prologue to the bible sayth When Rome was in her prosperitie thenne wrote Titus Liuius his decades yet notwithstaÌ„ding men came to Rome more to speake with Titus Liuius then to se Rome or the high capitol therof Marcus Aurelius writing to his frend Pulio said these words Thou shalt vnderstand my frend I was not chosen Emperour for the noble bloude of my predecessours nor for the fauoure I had amongest them now present for ther were in Rome of greater bloud and riches then I but the Emperour Adrian my maister set his eyes vpon me and the emperour Anthony my father in law chose me for his sonne in law for no other cause but for that they saw me a frend of the sages an enemy of the ignoraunt Happie was Rome to chose so wise an emperoure and no lesse happye was he to attaine to so great an empire Not for that he was heire to his predecessoure but for that he gaue his mynd to study Truly if that age then were happie to enioye hys person no lesse happie shal ours be now at this present to enioy his doctrine Salust sayth they deserued great glory whych did worthy feates and no lesser renowme merited they whych wrote them in high stile What had Alexander the great ben if Quintus Curtius had not writen of him what of Vlisses if Homere hadde not bene borne what had Alcibiades bene if Zenophon had not exalted him what of Cirus if the philosopher Chilo had not put his actes in memory what had bene of Pirrus kinge of the Epirotes if Hermicles cronicles were not what had bene of Scipio the great Affricane if it had not bene for the decades of Tâ—tus Liuius what had ben of Traiane if the renowmed Plutarche had not bene his frend what of Nerua and Anthonius the meke if Phocion the Greke had not made mencion of them how should we haue knowen the stout courage of Cesar and the great prowesse of Pompeius if Lucanus had not writen them what of the twelue Cesars if Suetonius tranquillus hadde not compiled a booke of their lyues and how should we haue knowen the antiquityes of the Hebrues if the vpright Iosephe had not ben who could haue knowen the commyng of the Lombardes into Italy if Paulus Diaconus had not writ it how could we haue knowen the comming in the going out and end of the Gothes in Spayne if the curious Rodericus had not shewed it vnto vs By these things that we haue spoken of before the readers may perceyue what is dew vnto the Historiographers who in my opinion haue left as great memorye of theym for that they wrote with their pennes as the prynces haue done for that they dyd with their swordes I confesse I deserue not to be named amongest the sages neyther for that I haue wryten and translated nor yet for that I haue composed Therfore the sacred and deuyne letters set a side ther is nothing in the world so curiouslye wryten but neadeth correction as I say of the one so wil I say of the other and that is as I wyth my wyl do renounce the glorye which the good for my learning woulde gyue me so in like maner euyl men shal not want that agaynst my wil wil seke to defame it We other writers smally esteme the labour and paynes we haue to wryte although in dede we are not ignoraunt of a thousand enuyous tongues that wyl backbite it Many now a dayes are so euil taught
there captaine But that could not be for Adrian my lord sent for me to returne to Rome which pleased me not a lytle albeit as I haue said they vsed me as if I had ben borne in that Iland for in theend although the eyes be fedde with delyght to see straunge thinges yet therefore the hart is not satisfyed And this is al that toucheth the Rhodians I will now tel the also how before my going thether I was borne and brought vp in mount Celio in Rome with my father from mine infancie In the common wealthe of Rome ther was a law vsed by custome wel obserued that no citizē which enioyed any lybertie of Rome after their sonnes had accomplyshed .10 yeares should be so bold or hardy to suffer them to walke the streates like vacabondes For it was a custome in Rome that the chyldren of the senatours should sucke til two yeres of age til 4. they should liue at theyr own wylles tyl 6. they should reede tyl 8 they should wryte tyll 10. they should study gramer 10. yeares accomplished they should then take some craft or occupacion or gyue them selues to study or go to the warres so that throughout Rome no man was idell In one of the lawes of the 12 tables weare written these wordes We ordeine and commaund that euery cytizen that dwelleth wythin the circuite of Rome or lybertyes of the same from 10 yeres vpwardes to kepe hys sonne well ordered And if perchaunce the chyld being ydel or that no man teacheth hym any craft or scyence should therby peraduenture fal to vyce or commyt some wycked offence that then the father no lesse then the sonne should be punyshed For ther is nothing so much breadeth vyce amongest the people as when the fathers are to neclygent and the chyldren to bold And furthermore another law sayd We ordeine and commaunde that after 10. yeares be past for the fyrst offence that the chyld shal commyt in Rome that the father shal be bound to send hym forth some where els or to be bound suertye for the good demeanour of hys son For it is not reason that the fonde loue of the father to the sonne should be an occasion why the multytude shuld be sclaundered because al the wealth of the Empyre consisteth in kepyng and mayntaynyng quyet men and in banishyng and expellyng sedycious personnes I wyll tell the one thyng my Pulyo and I am sure thou wylt meruell at it and it is thys When Rome tryumphed and by good wysedom gouerned all the worlde the inhabitantes in the same surmounted the nomber of two hundreth thousand parsonnes which was a maruelouse matter Amongeste whom as a man maye iudge ther was aboue a hundreth thousand chyldren But they whych had the charge of them kept them in such awe and doctryne that they banyshed from Rome one of the sonnes of Cato vticensis for breakyng an erthen pot in a maydens handes whych went to fetche water In lyke manner they banyshed the sonne of good Cinna onlye for entrynge into a garden to gather fruyte And none of these two were as yet fyftyne yeares olde For at that tyme they chastised them more for the offences done in gest then they doo now for those which are don in good earnest Our Cicero saith in his booke De legibus that the Romaynes neuer toke in any thing more paynes then to restreine the chyldren aswel old as young from ydlenes And so long endured the feare of their lawe and honour of theyr common wealthe as they suffered not their children lyke vacabondes idelly to wander the streates For that countrey may aboue all other be counted happye where eche one enioyeth hys owne laboure and no man lyueth by the swette of another I let the know my Pulio that when I was a chylde althoughe I am not yet very olde none durste be so hardy to go commonly throughe Rome wythout a token about hym of the crafte and occupacion he exercysed and whereby he lyued And if anye man had bene taken contrary the chyldren dyd not onlye crie out of hym in the streates as of a foole but also the Censour afterwardes condemned hym to trauayle wyth the captynes in common workes For in Rome they estemed it no lesse shame to the child which was idle then they dyd in Grece to the phylosopher whych was ignorant And to th ende thou mayest se thys I write vnto the to be no new thynge thou oughtest to know that the Emperour caused to be borne afore hym a brenning brand and the counsel an axe of armes the priestes a hat in maner of a coyfe The Senatours a crusible on their armes the Iudges a lytle balance the Tribunes Maces the gouernours a scepter the Byshoppes hattes of floures The Oratours a booke the cutlers a swerd the goldsmithes a pot to melt gold and so forth of al other offices strangers excepted which went al marked after one sort in Rome For they woulde not agree that a stranger shoulde be apparailed marked according to the childrē of Rome O my frend Pulio it was suche a ioye then to beholde the discipline and prosperitie of Rome and it is now at this present suche a grefe to see the calamitie thereof that by the immortall gods I sweare to the and so the god Mars guyde my hande in warres that the man which now is best ordered is not worthe so much as the most dissolute person was then For then amongest a thousande they could not finde one man vicious in Rome and nowe amonges twentie thousande they cannot finde one vertuous in all Italye I know not why the gods are so cruel againste me and fortune so contrary that this 40. yeares I haue done nothynge but wepe and lamente to see the good men die and immediatly to be forgotten and on the other side to see the wicked liue and to be alwayes in prosperitye Vniuersallye the noble harte maye endure al the troubles of mans life vnlesse it be to see a good man decay and the wicked to prosper which my harte cannot abyde nor yet my tonge dissemble And touchynge this matter my frende Pulio I will write vnto the one thynge whiche I founde in the bookes of the highe Capitoll where he treateth of the time of Marius and Sylla whiche trulye is worthy of memorye and that is this There was at Rome a custome and a lawe inuiolable sith the time of Cinna that a Censour expressely commaunded by the senate should goe and visite the prouinces whyche were subiecte vnto it throughe out all Italye and the cause of those visitacions was for three thinges The firste to see if any complained of iustice the second to see in what case the common wealthe stode The thirde to th ende that yearelye they should render obedience to Rome O my frende Pulio how thinkest thou if they visited Italye at this presente as at that time they surueyed Rome how ful of errous should they fynd it And what decaye
but also before them he did dishonour hym and shame him to his power whiche thinge made him vtterly to dispaire For there is nothing that spiteth a man more then to haue before hys enemies any iniurie or dishonoure done vnto him of his superiour The empresse Sophia therfore deserued great reproche for speakinge suche dishonest wordes to Narsetes to send him to thread the nedels in that occupacion where the damsels wrought For it is the duty of a noble princesse to mitigate the ire of Princes when they are angry and not to prouoke them further to anger Narsetes then alwaies dowting the empresse Sophia neuer after retourned into Naples where she was but rather came from Naples to Rome a yeare before the Lumbardes came into Italy where he receiued all the sacramentes and like a deuout ChristiaÌ„ dyed His body was caried to Alexandria in a coffine of siluer al sette with precious stones and ther was buried And a man cannot tel whither the displeasour were greater that all Asia had not to see Narsetes aliue or the pleasour that Sophia had to see him deade For the vnpacient hart especially of a woman hath no rest vntill she see her enemye dead ¶ Of a letter the Emperour Marcus Aurelius sente to the Kynge of Scicile in which he recordeth the trauailes they endured togethers in their youth and reproueth him of his small reuerence towardes the temples Chapter xvii MArcus Aurelius sole Emperour of Rome borne in mouÌ„te Celio called the old tribune wisheth health and long lyfe to the Gorbin Lord kynge of Sicile As it is the custome of the Romaine Emperoures the firste yeare of my reigne I wrate generallye to all that I le the seconde yeare I wrate generallye vnto thy courte and palace and at this presente I write more particulerlye to thy parsone And although that Princes haue greate Realmes yet they ought not therfore to cease to coÌ„municate with their old frendes Since I toke my penne to write vnto the I stayed my hande a great while from writing and it was not for that I was slouthfull but because I was a shamed to see all Rome offended with the. I let the to weâ—e most excellent prince that in this I say I am thy true frend for in my hart I fele thy trouble and so sayd Euripides that whiche with the harte is loued with the hart is lamented But before I shew thee the cause of my writing I will reduce into thy memory some thinges past of our youth and therby we shall see what we were then and what we are now for no man dothe so muche reioyce of his prosperitie present as he whiche calleth to minde his miseries past Thou shalt call to minde most excellent Prince that we two togethers did learne to reade in Capua and after we studyed a litle in Tarentum and from thense we went to Rhodes where I redde Rhethorike and thou hardest philosophie And afterwardes in the ende of x. yeres we went to the warres of Pannonia where I gaue my selfe to musike for the affectioÌ„s of yong men is so variable that daily they would know straunge realmes and chaunge offices And in all those iourneis with the forse of youth the swete company with the pleasaunte communicacion of sciences and with a vaine hope we did dissemble our extreme pouerty which was so great that many times and ofte we desired not that whiche manye had but that litle which to few abounded Doest thou remember that when we sayled by the goulfe Arpin to goe into Helesponte a long and tempestuous torment came vpon vs wherin we were taken of a pirate and for our raunsome he made vs rowe about .ix. monethes in a gally wheras I cannot tell whiche was greater either the wante of bread or the abundaunce of stripes whiche we alwaies endured Hast thou forgotten also that in the citie of Rhodes when we were beseged of Bruerdus puissaunt kyng of Epirotes for the space of fourtene monethes we were tenne withoute eatyng fleshe saue onely .ii. cattes the one whiche we stole and the other whiche we bought remember that thou and I being in Tarent were desired of our host to go to the feast of the great goddesse Diana into the whiche temple none coulde enter that day but those which were new apparelled And to say the trouthe we determined not to go thither thou because thy garmentes were torne and I because my shoes were broken and that bothe the tymes we were sicke in Capua they neuer cured vs by dyet for our dyseases neuer proceded of excesse but of extreame hunger An often times Retropus the phisician for his pleasour spake to vs in the vniuersitie and sayd Alas children you dye not through surfeting and muche eatinge And truly he sayde trouth for the contrey was so dere and our mony so scarse that we did neuer eate vntyl the time we could endure no lenger for famine Dost thou not remember the great famine that was in Capua for the which cause we were in the warre of Alexandria wherin my fleshe dyd tremble remembring the great perilles whiche we passed in the goulfe of Theberynthe What snowes all wynter what extreme heate all sommer what general famine in the fieldes what outragious pestilence amongest the people and worste of all what persecution of straungers and what euill will we had of ours remember also that in the citie of Naples when we made our prayer to the profetesse Flauia she told vs what shoulde become of vs after we lefte our studies She tolde me that I should be an Emperour and sayde that thou shouldest be a kynge To the whiche aunswere we gaue suche credite that we toke it not onelye for a mocke but also for a manifest iniurye And nowe I doe not merueile in that then we bothe marueled wonderfull muche For enuyous fortune practised her power more in pluckyng downe the ryche then in setting vp the poore Beholde excellente Prince the greate power of the goddesse the whele of fortune the variety of times who would haue thought when I hadde my handes all rough and scuruy with rowing in the galley that betwene those handes the scepter of the Romayne Empire should haue ben put who would haue thoughte when I was so sicke for lacke of meat I should euer haue surfited by to muche eating who would haue thought when I could not be satisfied with cattes fleshe that I shoulde haue then glutted with to moch dainty meates who wold haue thought at that time when I left going into the temple because my shoes were broken that another tyme should come when I shoulde ryde triumphyng in chariotes and vppon the shoulders of other menne who woulde haue thought that that which with my eares I hard of the prophetesse in Campagnia I should see here with my eyes in Rome O how many dyd hope at the time we were in Asia to be gouernours of Rome and lords of Sicille which not only fayled of the honour that they desired
he geueth theÌ„ one which robbeth theÌ„ they require one to deliuer them from boÌ„dage he ordaineth one to kepe them as slaues And finally the Hebrues trusting to be deliuered of their iudges which ruled not according to theyr appetites god shal geue them a king that shal take they â–ª goodes from them by force O how many times ought we to pray vnto god to giue vs princes in our comon wealth prelates in our churches which do know how to gouerne vs and minyster vnto vs not accordynge to the weyght of our soule but accordyng to the measure of hys mercy Plato sath in the first booke of lawes that one of the most excellent lawes which the Siciones had in their prouince was to kepe the Cities that they shoulde not chaunge nor alter any thing therin Truly those Barbarous were sage in doing and Plato was very discrete to commend them therin For nothing destroyeth a common wealth soner then to suffer chaunges oftetimes therin Al these things semed to be true in the Hebrues the which in their gouernment were very rashe and vndiscrete For first they gouerned theym selues by Patriarches as Abraham was After they were gouerned by prophetes as Moyses by captaynes as Iosue by iudges as Geâ—eo by kynges as Dauid after they gouerned theymselues by Byshoppes as Abdias was and in the end the Hebrues not contented with all these God suffered that they should fall into the handes of Antiochus Ptolomeus and Herodes all tyrauntes This punishment fell accordyng to the iust iudgement of God vppon theym for their offeÌ„ces for it was euen mete that they that would not enioy the pleasauÌ„t lybertie of Iudea should tast the cruell seruitude of Babylone The condicion whych chaunced in the gouernement to the vnconstant Hebrues the same happened vnto the proude Romaines The which in the beginning of theyr Empire were gouerned by kinges afterwardes by tenne men then by the Consulles soo by the dictators by the Censours and afterwardes by the Tribu nes and Senatours and in the ende they came to be gouerned by Emperours and tirannous princes The Romaynes inuented all these alteracions in their gouernments for none other cause but to see whether they could be deliuered from the commaundement of an other For the Romaynes in this case were so proude harted that they had rather dye in lybertie then liue in captiuitie God had so ordeyned it and their wofull case dyd soo promyse it when they were aboue al other kyngs and realmes of the earth that then the slaue should be obedyent to his yronnes and the subiect should acknowledge the homage to hys maister And though the subiects do moue warres though kinges also do wynne Realmes and Emperours conquere Empyres yet wyl they or nyl they both great small should acknowledge them selues for seruauntes For duringe the tyme of oure fleshlye lyfe wee canne neuer withdrawe oure selues frome the yooke of seruitude And saye not you Princes for that you are puyssaunte princes that you are excepted from seruitude of menne For withoute doubte it is a thinge more vntollerable to haue their hartes burdened with thoughtes then their neckes loden with yrons If a slaue be good they take from him some yrons but to you that are prynces the greater you are they greater cares you haue For the prynce that for hys common wealthe taketh care hath not one momente of an houre quyete A slaue hopeth to be delyuered in hys lyfe but you can not looke to be delyuered tyl after youre death They laye yrons on the slaue by weyghte but thoughtes burdenne you wythoute measure For the wofull heart is more burdened with one houre of care thenne the bodye is pressed wyth twentye pounde of yrone A slaue or prysonner if he bee alone manye tymes fylethe of hys yrons but you Princes that are alone are more greuouslye tormented wythe thoughtes for soletarye places are Arbours and Gardeyns to woofull and heauye hartes A slaue hath nothing to care for but himselfe alone but you that be Princes haue to satisfie please al men For the prince shuld haue a time for himself also for those which are aboue him The deuine Plato saide wel that he that shold haue the lest part of a prince belonging to a prince oughte to be the prince himselfe For to the end the prince should be al his owne he ought to haue no part in himselfe Though a slaue worke trauaile in the day yet he slepeth without care in the night but you princes passe the daies in hearing importunate suetes the night in fetching innumerable sighes Finallye I say that in a slaue be it wel or be it euil al his paine is finished in one yere or is ended at his death but what shal a woful prince do when he dyeth If he were good ther is but a short memorie of his goodnes and if he hath bene euil his infamy shal neuer haue end I haue spoken these things to the ende that great small lordes and seruauntes should confesse and acknowledge the true signory to be onely vnto him who for to make vs lords aboue became a seruaunt here beneath ¶ When the tirannes beganne to reigne and vpon what occasion commaunding and obeying first began And how the auctorytie which the prince hath is by the ordenaunce of God Cap xxx CEasing to speake any further of the poetical histories auncieÌ„t feynings and speaking the truth according to the deuine histories the first that did loue in this world was our father Adam who did eate of the fruit forbidden that not so much for to trespasse the commaundement of one as for not to displease his wife Eue. For many now a dayes had rather suffer their coÌ„science a long time to be infected then one only day to se their wiues displeased The first homicyde of the world was Cayn The first that died in the world was Abel The first that had .ii. wiues in the world was Lamech The first citie of the world was by Enoch built in the fields of Edon The first musitian was Tubalcaim The first which sayled in that world was Noe. The firste tirant of the world was Nembroth The first priest was Melchysedech The first king of the world was Anraphel The first duke was Moyses The first which was called Emperour in the world was Iulius Cesar For vntil this time they which gouerned wer called CoÌ„sulles Censors Dictators And from Iulius Cesar hitherto haue bene called Emperours The first battaile that was giuen in the world as we rede was in the wild valleis which now they cal the dead salt sea For a great part of that that then was the maine land is now the dead sea The holy scriptures cannot deceue vs for it is ful of al truth by them it is declared that a thousand eyght hundred yeres after the world began there was no battaile assembled nor company that met to fight in the field for at that tyme
to be blamed for those which haue credit for their euil are many and those whych haue power to do well are very fewe ¶ Of the golden age in times past and worldly miserie which we haue at this present Cap. xxxi IN the first age golden world al liued in peace ech man toke care for his owne lands euery one planted sowed their trees corne eueryone gathered his frutes and cut his vynes kned their breade and brought vp their children and finally all liued by their owne proper swette trauaile so that they all liued without the preiudice or hurt of any other O worldly malice O cursed wicked world that thou neuer sufferest things to remaine in one estate and thought I cal the cursed maruaile not therat for when we are in most prosperitie then thou with death persecutest vs most cruelly Without teares I say not that I wil say that 2000 yeres of the world wer past before we knew what the world ment god suffering it and worldly malice inuenting it ploughes were turned into weapons oxen to horses goades to lances whippes to arrowes slinges to crosbowes simplycitye into malice trauaile into Idlenes rest to paine peace to warre loue to hatred charitie to crueltie Iustice to tyranny profite to domage almes to theft aboue al fayth into Idolatrie And finallye the swete they had to profite in their owne goods they tourned to bloud sheading to the domage of the comon wealth And herein the world sheweth it selfe to be a world herein worldly malice sheweth it selfe to be malicious in somuch as the one reioyceth the other lamenteth the one reioceth to stomble to the end the other may fall breake his necke the one reioyceth to be poore to the end the other maye not be riche the one reioyseth to be dispraised to the end the other may not be honored the one delighteth to be sad to the ende the other shoulde not be merye to conclude we are so wicked that we banishe the good from our owne house to the end that the euill might enter in at the gates of an other man When the creator created the whole world he gaue to eche thinge immediatly his place that is to wete he placed intelligence in the vppermoste heauen he placed the starres in the firmament the planettes in the orbes the byrdes in the ayre the earth on the center the fyshes in the water the serpentes in the holes the beastes in the mountaines and to al in generallye he gaue place to reste them selues in Now let princes and great Lordes be vaine glorious sayenge that they are Lords of the earth for truly of all that is created god only is the true Lord therof because the miserable man for his part hath but the vse of the fruit for if we thinke it reasonable that we should enioy the profite of that which is created then were it more conuenient we should acknowledge god to be the Lord therof I do not deny but confesse the God created al things to the end they should serue man vpoÌ„ condicion that maÌ„ shold serue God likewise but wheÌ„ the creature riseth against god immediatly the creator resisteth against man For it is but reason that he be disobeyd who one only coÌ„maundemeÌ„t wil not obey O what euil fortune hath the creature only for disobeying the comaundement of his creator For if man had kept his coÌ„maundement in Paradise god had conserued to the world the signorie but the creatures whome he created for his seruice are occasion to him of great troubles for the ingratitude of benefit heapeth great sorow to the discret hart It is great pitie to behold the man that was in paradise that might haue bene in heauen now to se him in the world aboue al to be interred in the intrailes of the earth For in terrestiall paradise he was innocent in heauen he had bene blessed but nowe he is in the worlde enuirouned with cares and afterwardes he shal be throwen into hys graue and gnawen of the wormes Let vs nowe see the disobedience wee hadde in the commaundemente of GOD and what fruite we haue gathered in the world For he is very simple that dare commit any vice taking no delight nor pleasure therof in his body In my opinion through the sinnes whiche our forefathers committed in paradise the seruitude remaineth in vs their children which are on the earth For so much as if I entre into the water I drowne if I touche the fire I burne if I cone neare a dog he biteth me if I threaten a horse he casteth me if I resiste the wynde it bloweth me downe if I persecute the serpent he poysoneth me if I smite the beare he destroieth me and to be brief I saie that the man that without pitie eateth men in his life the wormes shal eate his intrailes in the graue after his death O princes great lordes lode your selues with cloth of gold heape vp your great treasours assemble many armies inuente Iustes Torneis seke your pastimes reueÌ„ge your selues of your enemies serue your selues with your subiectes marrye your children to mighty kinges set them in great estate cause your selues to be feared of your enemies imploye your bodies to al pleasures leue great possessions to your heires rayse sumptuous buildinges to leaue memory of your persons I sweare by him that shal iudge me that I haue more compassion to see your sinfull soules then I haue enuy to see your vicious liues For in the end all pastimes will vanishe away and they shal leaue you for a gage to the hungry wormes of the earth O if princes did consider though they haue bene borne princes created norished in great estates that the day thei are borne death immediatly commeth to seke the end of their life and taketh them here and there when they are whole when they are sicke now tombling then rising he neuer leaueth them one houre vntill their woful burial Therfore sith it is true as in dede it is that that whiche princes possesse in this life is but small that which they hope in the other is so great truly I marueile why princes the which shal lie so straight in the graue dare liue in such so great largenes in their life To be riche to be lordes to haue great estates men should not therof at al be proude since they see how fraile mans condicion is for in th end life is but lone but death is enheritage Death is a patrimonie heritage which successiuely is inherited but life is a righte which daily is surrendred For death counteth vs somuche his owne that oftimes vnwaâ—es he coÌ„meth to assault vs life taketh vs such straungers that oftetimes we not doubting therof it vanisheth away If this thing theÌ„ be true why wil princes great lordes presume to coÌ„maunde in a straunge house which is this life as in their own house which is the
Alexander though thou callest thy selfe lorde of all yet thou hast but onely the name thereof and others thy seruauntes subiectes haue all the profites for the gredy and couetous hartes do trauaile and toyle to get and in wasting that whiche they haue gotten they pyne awaye And finally Alexander thou wilt not denie me that all that whiche thou hast in the longe conquest gotten is litle and that whiche of thy wysedome and quietnes thou hast lost is much For the Realmes whiche thou hast gotten are innumerable but the cares sighes and thoughtes whiche thou hast heaped vpon thy harte are infinite I let the knowe one thing that you princes are poorer then the poore subiectes for he is not ryche that hath more then he deserueth but he that desireth to haue lesse then that he possesseth And therfore princes you haue nothing for though you abound in great treasures yet you are poore of good desires Nowe Alexander let vs come to the pointe and caste accompte and let vs see to what ende thy conquest wil come Eyther thou arte a man or thou arte a God And if thou be any of the gods commaunde or cause that we be immortall and if thou canst doe any suche thing then take vs and our goods withall For perpetuitie of the lyfe by no riches can be boughte O Alexander I let thee vnderstande that therefore we seke not to make warre with thee for we see that bothe from thee and also from vs death will shortly take away the life For he is a very simple man that thinketh alway to remayne in an other mans house as in his owne If thou Alexander couldest geue vs as god euerlastinge life eche man would trauayle to defende his owne house but sithe we knowe we shal die shortly we care litle whether to thee or any other our goods riches remaine For if it be folly to dwell in an other mans house as in his owne it is a greater folly to him that loseth his life in taking thought and lamenting for his goodes Presuppose that thou art not god but a man I coniure the then by the immortal gods and do require the that thou lyue as a man behaue thy selfe as a man and couet no more then an other man neither desyre more nor lesse then a man for in the end thou shalt die as a mā and shal be buried as a man and throwen into the graue then there shal be no more memorie of thee I tolde thee before that it greued me to see thee so hardy couragious so apte and so younge and nowe it greueth me to see thee so deceiued with the world and that which I perceiue of thee is that then thou shalt knowe thy folly when thou shalt not be able to finde any remedy For if the proude younge man before he feleth the wound hath all redy the oyntment You whiche are Grecians call vs Barbarous because we enhabite the mountaines But as touching this I say that we reioyce to be Barbarous in our speache and Greekes in our doinges and not as you which haue the Grecians tongue and doe Barbarous workes For he that doth well speaketh rudely is no barbarous man but he which hath the tongue good and the life euill Sithe I haue begonne to that ende nothing remaynd vnspoken I will aduertise thee of our lawes and life and marueile not to here it but desire to obserue and kepe it for infinite are they whiche extolle vertuous workes but fewe are they whiche obserue the same I let thee wete Alexander that we haue short life we are fewe people we haue litle landes we haue litle goodes we haue no couetousnes wee haue fewe lawes we haue fewe houses wee haue fewe frendes and aboue all we haue no enemies For a wyse man ought to be frende to one and enemy to none Besides all this we haue amongest vs great frendshippes good peace great loue much reste and aboue all we holde our selues contented For it is better to enioy the quietnes of the graue then to liue a discontented life Our lawes are fewe but in our opinions they are good and are in seuen wordes onely included as here foloweth We ordaine that our children make no more lawes then we their fathers doe leaue vnto them for newe lawes maketh them forget good and olde customes We ordayne that our successours shall haue no mo Gods then twoo of the whiche the one god shal be for the life and the other for the death for one God well serued is more worth then many not rewarded We ordaine that all be appareled with one cloth and hosed of one sorte and that the one haue no more apparell then the other for the diuersitie of garmentes edgendreth folly among the people We ordeine that whan any woman which is maried hath had thre childrē that then she be separated from her husband for the aboundaunce of children causeth men to haue couetous hartes And if any woman hath broughte forth any mo children then they should be sacrificed vnto the gods before her eies We ordeine that all men and women speake the truthe in all thinges and if any be taken in a lie committing no other fault that immediatly he be put to death for the same For one lyer is able to vndo a whole multitude We ordeine that no woman liue aboue .xl. yeres and that the man lyue vntill fiftie and if they die not before that time that then they be sacrifised to the gods for it is a great occasion for men to be vicious to thinke that they shal lyue many yeares ¶ That princes ought to consider for what cause they were made princes and what Thales the philosopher was of the .xii. questions asked him and of his aunswere he made vnto them Cap xxxv IT is a commen and an old saiyng whiche many times by Aristotle the noble prince hath bene repeted that in the ende all thinges are done to some purpose for there is no worke neither good nor euill but he that doth it meaneth it to some end If thou demaundest the gardener to what ende he watereth so oft his plantes he wil aunswere thee it is to get some money for his herbes If thou demaundest why the ryuer runneth so swift a man wil aunswere thee that his ende is to the sea from whence it came If thou demaundest why the trees budde in the spring time they will aunswere to the ende they may beare frute in haruest If we see a trauayler passe the mountaines in the snow the ryuers with perill the woodes in feare to walke in extreme heate in sommer to wander in the night time in the colde wynter if by chaunce a man doth aske one of them saiyng frend whether goest thou wherfore takest thou such paines and he aunswereth truly syr I know no more then you to what ende neither can I tell why I take so much paines I aske thee now what would a wyse man aunswere to
euer succeded so prosperouslye but that they had rather lyue in peace then in warre When the Romaine Emperours wente to the warres or came from the warres first they vysited the Temple of Iupiter secondarilye the Temple of the vestall virgins and thirdely they vysited the Temple of the God Ianus bycause there was a law in Rome that the Emperour should at his going forth to the warres vysite the Temple of Iupiter last of al and at his retourne againe the Temple of Ianus first And let them that be desierous of antiquities here know that when the Emperour should go to the warres in the Temple of the goddesse Vesta they put vpon his shoulders the royall mantell and in the Temple of Iupiter al the senators kissed his foote and in the Temple of Ianus the Consuls kissed his arme For since the time that the cruell Sylla caused thre thousand neighbours to dye which kissed his right hand they neuer after kissed the handes of any Emperour in Rome Therfore sith the gentyles woulde not issue out of Rome before that first they had taken the benediction of those vaine Gods how muche more ought Christian Princes to do it which know well that their Temples are consecrated to the true God and ordayned for his seruice only For the man that forgetteth God and commytteth his affaires to men shal see how his busines wil thriue in the handes of men Therefore procedinge forth the day wherin the feast of the god Ianus was celebrated euery man left his worke reioysed through al the streates of Rome no more then lesse then in the feastes of Iupiter Mars Venus and Berecinthia For the feastes of the other goddes sith they were many in nomber were not celebrated but in certaine places in Rome The Romaynes on that day put on their beste apparell for they had a custome in Rome that he whych had not that daye chaunge of apparell to honoure the feaste should eyther go out of Rome or els kepe themselues locked in his house That daye they set on their houses many lyghtes and made greate bondfiers before their dores and had sondry and many playes and pastimes for the feastes of vaine men are more to delight their bodies then to reforme their minds They watched al the night in the Temples and also they deliuered all the prisoners which were inprisoned for dette and with the common treasures paied their dettes Furthermore they had a custome in Rome that they shoulde susteine all the Senatours whiche were fallen into pouertie with the goodes of the common wealthe They had that daye tables set before their dores furnished with all sortes of meates so that that whiche remayned and was left was more worth then that which was eaten For vaine glorious men auaunt theym selues more of that which in bankettes and feastes is left then they do of that whyche is eaten They sought all that day for poore men bycause they shoulde be prouyded of all things For it was an auncient lawe that none should be so hardy to make any open feast excepte first he had prouided for all them of his streate The Romaynes thought that if they spend lyberallye that day the god Ianus would deliuer them from pouertye because he was the God of the temperall goodes And they sayde further that the GOD Ianus was a God very thankeful acknowledged the seruyces whych were donne vnto hym and beleued earnestlye that if they spente frelye for hys sake he woulde requyte it doble In the feaste of this God Ianus manye processions were made not all togethers but the Senate wente by theym selues the Censours by them selues the people by them selues the Matrones by theym selues the maydens by them selues the vestal virgins by them selues al the straunge Imbassadours went wyth the captiues in procession There was a custome in Rome that the same day the Emperour should were the imperyal robe al the captiues which could touche him with their hands were delyuered and all the transgressours pardoned the exules and outlawryes were called againe For the Romayne princes were neuer presente in any feast but they shewed some noble example of mercy or gentlenes towardes the people At this time Marcus Aurelius was Emperoure of Rome and maried with the beautiful lady Faustina who in the feast of Ianus leuing in procession the company of the Senatours came into the procession of the captiues the which easelye touched his robe wherby they obtained lybertie the which they so greatly desired I say desired for truly the captiue is contented with a small thinge And because ther is no good thing by anye good man done but immediatlye by the wycked it is repined at this deede was so contrary to the euyl as ioyfull to the good For there is nothing be it neuer so good nor so wel done but forthwith it shal be contraried of them that be euyl Of this thing I haue sene by experience in this miserable life sondry examples that euen as amonge the good one only is noted to be chiefe so lykewise amonge the euyll one is noted principall aboue the rest And the worst I find herein is that the vertuous do not so much glory of their vertue as the euil and malicious hath shame and dishonour of their vyce for vertue naturally makleth a man to be temperate and quyet but vice maketh him to be dissolute and rechlesse This is spoken because in the Senate of Rome there was a Senatour called Fuluius whose berd heere 's wer very white but in malyce he was most cankered blacke so that for his yeres he was honoured in Rome of many for his malyce he was hated of al. The Senatour Fuluius made frendes in the time of Adrian to succede in the empire and for this cause he had alwayes Marcus Aurelius for his competytour and whersoeuer he came he alwayes spake euyll of him as of his mortall enemye For the enuyous hart can neuer geue a man one good word This Senatours hart was so puffed with enuye that he seing Marcus Aurelius to obtaine the empire being so yong that he being so old could not attaine therunto ther was no good that euer Marcus Aurelius did in the common wealth openly but it was grudged at by Fuluius who soughte alwayes to deface the same secretlye It is the nature of those whiche haue their hartes enfected with malyce to spitte out their poyson with woordes of spite Oft times I haue mused which of these 2. are greater the dewtye the good haue to speake against the euyl or els the audacitie the euyl haue to speake against the good For in the world ther is no brute beast soo hardye as the euill man is that hath lost his fame O would to God the good to his desyre had asmuch power to do good workes as the euyl hath strength to his affection to exercise wicked dedes For the vertuous man findeth not one hand to helpe him in vertue to worke yet after he
is but it greueth me that in this conflict I haue neither vnderstanding nor yet sence to tast nor that I haue time enoughe to thanke the. For I let the know that ther is no tongue can expresse the griefe which a man feeleth when he ought forthwith to dye I die and as thou seest they kil me only for that I am vertuous I feele nothing that tormenteth my hart so much as king Cadinus my brother doth for that I can not be reuenged For in myne opinion the chiefe felycitie of man consisteth in knowing and being able to reuenge the iniurye done without reason before a man doth end his lyfe It is a commendable thing that the philosopher pardon iniuries as the vertuous philosophers haue accustomed to do but it should be also iust that the iniuries which we forgiue the gods should therwith be charged to se reuengment For it is a hard thing to se a tiraunt put a vertuous man to death and neuer to se the tiraunte to come to the lyke Me thinketh my frend Pulio that this philosopher put all his felycytie in reuenging an iniurye during the like in this world Of the Sarmates THe mount Caucasus as the Cosmographers say doth deuide in the middest great Asia the which beginneth in India and endeth in Scithia and according to the varietie of the people which inhabyte the vyllages so hath this mount diuerse names and those which dwel towards the Indians differ much from the others For the more the countrey is ful of mountaines so much the more the people are Barbarous Amongest al the other cyties which are adiacent vnto the same there is a kinde of people called Sarmates and that is the countrie of Sarmatia which standeth vpon the riuer of Tanays There grow no vynes in the prouince because of the great cold it is true that amonge all the orientall nacions there are no people which more desire wine then they do For the thyng which we lacke is coÌ„monly most desired These people of Sarmatia are good men of warre thoughe they are vnarmed they esteme not much delicate meates nor sumptuous apparaile For al their felicytie consisteth in knowing how they might fil them selues with wine In the yere of the foundacion of Rome .318 our auncient fathers determined to wage battaile agaynst those people and other Barbarous nations and appointed a Consull called Lucius Pius And sith in that warres fortune was variable they made a truce and afterwardes all their captaines yelded themselues their countrey into the subiectioÌ„ of the Romaine empire only because the Consul Lucius Pius in a banket that he made filled them with wine After the warres were ended al the land of Sarmatia subiect the Consul Lucius Pius came to Rome for rewarde of his trauaile required the accustomed triumphe the which was not only denied him but also in recompense of his fact he was openly beheaded by the decre of all the Senate about his graue was written this Epitaphe WIthin this tombe Lucius Pius lyes That whilome was a Consul great in Rome And daunted eke as shame his sclaunder cries The Sarmates sterne not by Mauors his dome ¶ But by reproofe and shame of Romayne armes He vanquishte hath not as the Romaynes vse But as the bloody tyrauntes that with swarmes Of huge deceites the fyerse assaultes refuse ¶ Not in the warres by byting weapons stroke But at the boorde with swete delighting foode Not in the hasard fight he did them yoke But feding all in rest he stole their bloode ¶ Nor yet wyth mighty Mars in open fielde He rest their lyues with sharpe ypersing speares But with the pusshe of dronken Bacchus shielde Home to hye Rome the triumphe lo he heares THE sacred Senate set this epitaphe here because al Romaine captaines should take example of him For the maiestie of the Romaines consisteth not in vanquishing their enemyes by vyces and deliciousnes but by weapons and prayers The Romaynes were very sore greued with the audacitie of this Consul Lucius Pius and not contented to haue beheaded him and to haue set on his graue so defamous a tytle but made proclamacion forthwith throughout Rome by the sounde of a trumpet howe al that whyche Lucius Pius had done the sacred senate condemned for nothing and shoulde stand to no effete For there was an auncient law in Rome when they beheaded any man by iustice they should also take away the aucthoritie he had in Rome And not contented with these thinges the sacred senate wrote to the Sarmates that they did release them of their homage making themselues subiectes of the Romaynes wherfore the restored theim agayne to their lybertie They did this thing because the custome amonge the stoute and valiaunt Romaines was not to get nor winne realmes in makinge their enemyes druncke with delycate wines but in shedding their proper bloude in the plaine field I haue told the this my frend Pulio because the Consull Lucius Pius did perceiue that the Sarmates put all their filicitye to ingurge them selues with wine ¶ Of the Philosopher Chilo IN the 15. Dinastia of the Lacedemonians and Deodeus beinge kyng of Medes Gigion being kyng of Lides Argeus being king among the Macedonians and Tullius Hostilius kyng of the Romaynes in the Olimpiade â–ª 27. there was in Athens a philosopher borne of Grece whose name was Chilo one of the .7 sages which the Grekes had in their treasure In that time there was great warres betwene the Atthenians and the Corinthians as we may perceiue by the Greeke histories whiche we see written Since Troye was destroyed there was neuer peace in Greece for the warre betwixte the Greekes and Troyans was neuer so great as that which afterward they made amonge themselues Sithe the Grekes were now wise men they did deuide the offices of the comon wealth acording to the abilytie of euery person that is to know that to the stout and hardy men they gaue the gouernement to the sage they recommended the imbasies of straunge countryes And vpon this occasion the Athenians sent the philosopher Chilo to the Corinthians to treat of peace who came vnto the citie of Corinthe Bechaunce on that day ther was celebrated a great feast wherfore he found all men plaieng at dyce the women solacing them selues in the gardeins the priestes shâ—tte with the crosse-bowes in the temples the senatours played in the consistorye at tables the maisters of fence played in the streates to conclude he found them al playeng The philosopher seing these thinges without speakinge to any man or lighting of on his horse returned into his countrey without declaringe hys message when the Corinthians went after him asked him why he did not declare the cause of his comming he aunswered Frendes I am come from Athens to Corinthe not without great trauayle now I returne from Corinthe to Athens not litle offended ye might haue sene it because I spake neuer a word to any of you
chaunseth but that one of the parties are deceiued ¶ Of the wysedome and sentences of Phalaris the tyraunt and howe he putte an Artisan to death for inuentinge newe tormentes Cap. xlvi IN the laste yeare of the Latines and in the firste yeare of the Romaynes Ezechias beinge kyng of the Iewes and Azarias great Bysshoppe of the holy temple Abacuck Prophet in Iewry and Merodach beyng kynge in Babilon and when the Lacedemonians buylte Bizaunce whiche nowe is Constantinople Phalaris the famous tyraunt was then lyuinge Of this Phalaris Ouide saieth that he was deformed in his face spoore blynde of his eyes and exceading couetous of riches and neuer obserued any thynge that he promysed He was vnthankefull to his frendes and cruell to his ennemies finally he was such a one that the tyrannies which seuerally were scattered in others in hym alone were altogethers assembled Amongest all the iniquities that he inuented and amongest all the tyrannies that he committed he hadde one vertue very great whiche was that euen as he was onely head of all tyrannies so was he chiefe louer and frende of al philosophers and sage men And in all those sixe and thirty yeares whiche he gouerned the realme by tyranny they neuer founde that any man touched his bearde nor that any man satte at the table with him spake vnto him or slepte in his bed nor that any man sawe in his countenaunce any mirthe vnlesse it were some philosopher or sage man with whome and to whom he liberally put his body in truste And they sayde that this Phalaris saide oftentimes The prince that absenteth him selfe from sage men and accompanieth with fooles I saye vnto him though he be a prince of his common wealth he is a cruell tyraunt of his person For it is a greater paine to lyue among fooles then to die amongest sages Pulio in the sixte booke De gestis Romanorum saieth that a worthy and excellent painter presented a table to Octauian the Emperour wherein were drawen all the vertuous princes and for their chefetaine Octauian the Emperoure was drawen at the foote of this table were all the tyranous Princes paynted of the whiche Phalaris was chiefe and captaine This table vewed by Octauian the Emperour he commended the worke but he disalowed the intention thereof saiyng me thinketh it not mete that I beinge aliue should be set chiefe and princicipall of all the vertuous menne that are deade For during the time of this wicked lyfe we are all subiecte to the vices of weake and feble fleshe Also it seameth vnto me an vniuste thing that they should put Phalaris for principall and captaine of all the tyrauntes since he was a scourge and enemy to fooles and ignoraunt men and so earnest a louer and frende of sages and wyse philosophers The fame of this cruell tyraunte Phalaris beinge knowen and his extreame cruelties he vsed spred through all Greece A neighbour and artificer of Athens called Perillus a man very excellent in metalles and a great worker in works of fountaines came to Phalaris the tyraunt saying that he would make suche a kinde of torment that his harte should remayne reuenged and the offender well punished The matter was that this workeman made a bull of brasse wherein there was a gate by the whiche they put the offender and in putting the fier vnder the bul it roared and cried in maner as it had bene aliue whiche thing was not onely a horrible and cruell tormente to the myserable creature that endured it but also it was terryble to hym or those that sawe it Let vs not marueile neyther at the one nor at the other for truely the pitefull harte whiche is not fleshed in crueltie hath as muche pitie to see an other man suffer as of the sorrowe and tormente whiche he hym selfe feeleth Phalaris therfore seing the inuention of this tormente whereof the inuentour hoped great rewarde prouided that the inuentoure of the same should be put within the bull and that the crueltie of the tormente shoulde be experimented in none saue onely on the inuentour Truly in this case Phalaris shewed him self not a cruel tyraūt but rather a mercifull Prince and a sage Philosopher for nothyng can be more iuste then that the inuention of the malice be executed on the frayle fleshe of the inuentoure Nowe because Phalaris was a great frende of sages the philosophers of Grece came oftentymes to see hym whiche were verye gently receiued of hym Though to saye the truthe they profited more with his goodes then he did with their phylosophie This tyraunte Phalaris was not onely a frende of sages but also he was very well learned and depelye seene in morall philosophie The whiche thing appeareth well in the epistles whiche he wrote with his owne hande I can not tell wherein he shewed hym selfe greater either in the sentences and doctrines whiche he wrote with his penne or in the slaughter and cruelties whiche he did with his sworde O howe many companions had Phalaris the tyraunt in this case in tymes passe and that as I woulde there were none also at this time present whiche in their pleasaunte wordes did not resemble the Emperoure Nero. I neuer reade other thynge of those that are gone neyther haue I seene otherwyse of those that are present but many they are that blase vertues and infinite whiche runne after vices For of truth we are very lighte of tongue and to feble of fleshe The Epistles whiche this Phalaris wrote are knowen to all men I meane of those which knowe Greke or laten and for those that knowe them not I was wylling to drawe these that are present and to put them in our vulgare tongue for twoo causes The one to the ende princes myght see howe good a thynge it is to be sage and howe tyrauntes were praysed for being Sages and geuing good counsayles The other to the ende the people mighte see howe easie it is to speake well and howe harde it is to woorke well For there is nothyng better cheape in the worlde then counsayle The sentences therefore of the Epistles of Phalaris are these whiche followe in such sorte as I could moste briefly gather them to reduce them in good and profitable stile to wryte them The particuler loue whiche princes shew to one more then an other breadeth oftentimes muche enuie in their Realmes For the one being loued and the other hated of this commeth hatred of hatred cōmeth euil thoughtes of euyll thoughtes proceadeth malice and of malice commeth euyl wordes the whiche breake out into worse deedes Finally when a prince sheweth not to equalles his fauoure indifferently he setteth fyre in his cōmon wealth Princes ought to forbidde and Sages ought not to consente that rebelles and quarellers should trouble those whiche are quiet and peace makers for when the people rise immediatly couetousnes is awaked When couetousnes groweth iustice falleth force and violence ruleth snatchynge reigneth lecherie is at lybertie the euyll haue power
were Sinatus Sinoris whiche were by bloud cosins in familiaritie frendes and for the loue of a Grekes doughter being very noble beautifull and exceading gratious they both striued to haue her in mariage and for to attain to their desires they both serued her they both folowed her they both loued her and for her both of them desired to die For the dart of loue is as a stroke with a clod of earth the which being throwen amongest a company dothe hurte the one and blinde the others And as the fatal destinees had ordeined it Sinatus serued this lady called Camma in suche sorte that in the ende he obteined her in mariage for his lawfull wife whiche thing when Sinoris perceiued he was ashamed of his doinges was also wounded in his harte For he lost not only that which of so long time he had sought loued and serued but also the hope to attaine to that which chiefly in his life he desired Sinatus therfore seing that his wife Camma was noble meke gratious faire and louing and that in all thinges she was comely and well taught decreed to offer her to the goddesse Diana to the end that she would preserue her from peril and keape her from infamie Truly we cannot reproue the knight Sinatus for that he did nor we ought to note him for rashe in his counsel for he sawe that his wife was very faire and therfore much desired For with great difficultie that is kepte whiche of many is desired Though Camma was nowe married and that she was in the protectioÌ„ of the goddesse Diana yet notwithstanding her olde frend Sinoris died for her sake and by all meanes possible he serued her continually he importuned her daily he folowed her howerly he required her And all this he did vppon certayne hope he had that suche diligent seruice should suffice to make her chaunge her sacred mynde and as she had chosen Sinatus for her husbande openly so he thought she shoulde take him for her frend secretly For many women are as men without tast through sickenes the which eate more of that that is hurtful and forbidden then of that whiche is healthsome and commaunded Not without a cause Camma was greatly renowmed throughout all Galatia for her beautie and much more among the vertuous esteamed for her honestie The which euidently in this was sene that after she was maried Sinoris could neuer cause her to receiue any iewell or other gifte nor that she would heare him speake any worde nor that she would shew her selfe in the wyndowe either to him or to any other to the ende to be sene in the face For it is not sufficient for Ladies to be pure good but also to geue no occasion for men to iudge that if they durste they would be euill As it is true in dede that the harte which is intangled with loue dare boldely aduenture him selfe in many kynde of daungers to accomplishe that whiche he desired so Sinoris seing that with faire wordes he could not flatter her nor with any giftes wynne her determined to kyll Sinatus her husbande vpon hope that when she should be wydowe he might easely obteine her in matrimonie For he thought although Camma was not euyll it was not for that she wanted desier to do it but because she had no commodious place to accomplishe it And to be shorte Sinoris would neades execute and bryng to effect his deuellyshe and damnable intente so that sone after he vylie slewe his saide compaignion Sinatus After whose death the noble lady Camma was of Sinoris greatly desired and by his parentes muche importuned that she would condiscende to take and mary him and that she would forgyue him the death of her husband Sinatus whiche then was buried And as she was in all her doinges suche a princely woman she imagened with her selfe that vnder the pretence of mariage she might haue opportunitie to accomplishe her desiers wherfore she aunswered vnto his parentes that she did accepte their counsel and saide to Sinoris that she did choose him for her husbande speakyng these woordes more for to comforte him then with intente to pardon him And as amongest those of Galatia there was a custome that the newe maried folkes shoulde eate togethers in one dishe and drynke in one cuppe the daye that the mariage was celebrated Camma determined to prepare a cuppe with poyson and also a lute wherewith she began to playe and singe with her propre voyce before the goddesse Diana in this maner TO thée Dian whose endles reigne doth stretche Aboue the boundes of all the heauenly route And eke whose aide with royall hande to reche Chiefe of all gods is moste proclaimed oute I sweare and with vnspotted faith protest That though till nowe I haue reserud my breth For no entent it was but thus distrest With waylefull ende to wreke Senatus deth ¶ And if in mynde I had not thus decreed Wherto should I my pensife daies haue spent With longer dewle for that forepassed dede Whose ofte record newe sorowes still hath bent But oh synce him their kindled spite hath slaine With tender loue whom I haue waide so dere Synce he by fate is rest from fortunes rayne For whose decaye I dredelesse perishe here Synce him by whom my only lyfe I ledd Through wretched handes the gaping earth nowe haue Ought I by wyshe to lyue in eny stedd But closde with him togither in the graue O bright Dian synce senceles him I see And makeles I here to remaine alone Synce he is graude where greedy wormes nowe bee And I suruiue surmounted with my fone Synce he is prest with lumpes of wretched soyle And I thus chargd with flame of frosen care Thou knowest Dian howe harde with restles toyle Of hoote abhorring mynde my life I spare For howe can this vnquiet brest resarue The fainting breth that striues to drawe his last Synce that euen then my dieng harte did starue When my dead phere in swalowyng earth was cast The first black daye my husbande slept in graue By cruell sworde my lyfe I thought to spende And synce a thousande times I sought to haue A stretching corde my sorowes wrath to ende And if till nowe to wast my pining daies I haue deferde by slaughter of my hande It was but loe a fitter cause to raise Whereon his sharpe reuenge might iustly stande Now since I may in full suffising wyse Redeme his breath if waywarde will would let More depe offence by not reuenge might rise Then Sinoris erst by giltles bloud did get Thee therfore mightie Ioue I iustly craue And eke thy doughter chast in thankefull sorte That loe the offering whiche of my selfe ye haue Ye wil vouchesafe into your heauenly forte Synce Sinatus with soone enflamed eies Amongest the Achaian routes me chiefly â—ewed And eke amidst the prease of Grekes likewyse Chose for his phere when swetely he had sewed Synce at my will the froth of wasting welth With
she goeth out of the house she ought to thinke that her maydens will stray abrode the children wil ronne out to play the varlettes and seruaunts wil be out of order the neighbours wil take occasions to speake euill and that which is worst of al some will steale the goodes out of the house and the others wil speake euyl of the renowne of the wife Oh god giueth a goodly gift grace to that man which hath such and so good a wife that of her owne nature loueth to kepe her selfe within the house And truly I say that such one doth excuse many griefes saueth much money For she spendeth not the goodes in apparel nor giueth occasion to men to iudge euil of her personne The greatest debate that is betwene man and wife is for that he desireth to get and kepe his goodes to bringe vp his chyldren and to maintaine his family and on the other part that she desireth to spend all vppon apparell For women in this case are so curious in louinge of themselues that they would absteine from meates that should mainteyne their life onlye to bye a new gowne to set out their pride Women naturally do loue to keape and wil not spend any thinge except it be in apparell For euery houre that is in the day and the night they desire to haue a new gowne to chaunge My entencyon is not to speake of apparell only but to perswade Princesses and great Ladyes that they would kepe themselues in their houses and in so doing they should excuse these superfluous wastes expenses For her neighbour seing her better apparelled then she is loketh vpon her husband as she were a Lyon It chaunceth oftentymes I would to god I had no cause to speake it that if by chaunce there commeth anye great or solempne feast or mariage she wil neuer loke louyngly on his face before he hath geuen her a new gowne to her backe and when the poore gentleman hath no money to paye of necessity he must runne in credit And when the vanytie of the woman is past then the time of payment draweth nere and they come to arest all his goodes so that they haue cause to lament one hole yeare for that whych they haue spent in one houre Women seldome contende for that one is fairer more nobler of lynage better maried or more vertuous then an other but onely for that an other goeth better apparailed then she For touching apparell there is no woman cā endure that an other meaner woman shoulde make comparison with her nor that in like maner her equal should excell her Lycurgus in the lawes that he gaue to the Lacedemonians commaunded that their wiues should not goe out of their houses but at dyuers solempne feastes in the yere For he sayde that the women ought to be makinge their prayers in the Temples to the gods or els in their houses bringing vp their children For it is not honest nor commendable that the wife shold passe her time abroade trotting from strete to strete as common women I say that the Princesses and great Ladies are much more bound to kepe them selues at home in their houses then other women of meaner degre without a cause I speake it not for therby they shal get them more reputacion For ther is no vertue wherby the woman winneth more reputacion in the common wealth then alwayes to be sene resident in her house I say also that a wife ought the most part of her time to keape her house bycause she hath lesse occasion then other haue to go abroade For if the poore wife the Plebian go out of her house she goeth for no other cause but for to seke meate but if the riche and noble woman goeth out of her house it is for nothing but to take her pleasure Let not princesses maruel nor let not great ladies wonder if they dispose their feete to trotte occupye their eyes to behold though their ennemyes and neighbours with cankered hartes doth iudge them and with euil tongues defame them for the fond dedes that women do maketh men to be rash of iudgement I like it wel that the husbands should loue their wiues that they should comfort them and make much of them and that they should put their trust in them but I do discommend that the women should go gadding abroad in visitacion from house to house that their husbands dare not gaine say them For admyt that they be good in their personnes yet in this doing they giue occasion for men to esteme them vaine and light Seneca saieth in an epistel that the great Romaine Cato the censor ordeyned that no woman shold go out of her house being alone if perhappes it were in the night she should not go alone without company that the company shold not be such as she would chose but such as her husband or parent would assigne so that with the same coūtenaunce we behold now a comen woman with the selfe same lookes then we beheld her that went oft out of her house Noble ladies which loue their honour ought greatly to consider way the great incōueniences that may ensue by often gadding abroad for they spend much to apparel them they lose much time in trimming them they kepe gentlewomen to wait vpon them they wil striue with their husbands to goe whiles she is out of the dores the house shal be euil kept and al the enemyes frendes therby haue matter wherupon to talke finally I say that the woman that goeth out of her house doth not wey the losse of her honour so much as she doth the pleasure she taketh abroad Presuming as I presume to write with grauitie I say that I am ashamed to speake it yet for al that I wil not refraine to write of the walkes of these dames that visite desire to be visited amongest whom ther is moued oftentimes such vaine cōmunication that it causeth their husbands to become ennemyes and on the other parte they remember more the gossippinges that they haue to go then their sinnes which they ought to lament ¶ Of the commodities and discommodities which folowe Princesses and great Ladyes that go abroade to vysite or abyde in the house Cap. viii LUcretia by the consent of all was counted the cheafest of all other Matrones of Rome and not for that that she was more faire more wise of greater parentage or more noble But because she did withdrawe her selfe from company and abode solitary For she was such a one that in the heroical vertues there could be nothing more desired nor in womens weakenes there was nothinge in her to be amended The historye of the chast Lucretia is euident in Titus Liuius that when the husbandes of diuers Romaines came home from the warres to their houses they founde their wiues in such sort that some were gasing out of the windowes others devising vainely at their doores others in the field wandering others
so swift as he that is naked Aristotle in the sixt booke de Animalibus saith when the Lionesse is bigge with whelpe the Lyon doth not only hunt for her him self but also both night daye he wandreth continually about to watche her I meane that princesses great Ladies when they be with child should be of their husbande 's both tended serued for the man can not do the woman so great a pleasure before her lieng down as she doth to him when she bringeth forth a sonne Considering the daunger that the woman abideth in her deliuerance beholding the paines that the husbād taketh in her seruice without cōparison that is greater which she suffereth then that which he endureth For when the womā deliuereth she doth more then her power and the husband though he serueth her well doth lesse then his dutie The gentle and louing husband ought not one moment to forsake his wife specially when he seeth she is great for in the law of a good husbād it is written that he should set his eies to behold her his handes to serue her he should spende his goods to cherishe her should geue his harte to cōtent her Let not men thinke it paines to serue their wiues when they are with childe for their labour consisteth in their strengthe but the trauell of their wiues is in their intrailes And that whiche is moste pitifull is that when the sorowfull women will discharge their burden on the earthe they often times bryng them selues vnto the graue The meane women of the Plebeians ought no lesse to be reproued for that when they are with childe they would be exempted from all busines of the house the whiche neither they them selues ought to desire nor yet their husbandes to suffer For idlenesse is not only an occasion not to deserue heauen but also it is a cause whereby womē ofte times haue ill successe in their trauaile For considering bothe the deintie Ladie with childe that hath her pleasure and doth litle and on the other side the poore mans wyfe whiche moderatly laboureth you shall see that the great Ladies for all their pleasures abydeth more daunger then the other doth with all her labour The husbande ought to keape his wyfe from takyng to muche paines for so ought he to doe and the wyfe lykewyse ought to flee to much pleasure for it behoueth her For the meane trauaile is no other but occasion of a safe deliuerie The women with childe also ought to take hede to them selues and in especially noble and great ladies that they be not to gredy nor hasty in eating For the woman being with childe ought to be sobre and the woman whiche is a great eater with great paines shall liue chaste Women with childe ofte times doe disordre them selues in eating licorous meates and vnder the colour of feedinge them selues and their infant they take to excessiuely which is not onely vnholsome for the childe but also dishonour for their mothers For truly by the great excesse of the mother being with child commeth many diseases to the infant when it liueth The husbande 's also ought neither to displease nor greue their wiues specially when thei see them great with child for of truth ofte times she deliuereth with more daunger by reason of the offences that mē do vnto them then by the abondaunce of meates which they doe eate Though the woman when she is with childe in some thinges doth offend her husband yet he like a wise man ought to forbeare her hauing respect to the child wherwith she is great and not to the iniurie that she hath committed for in th end the mother can not be so great an offender but that the childe is muche more innocent For the profe of this it neadeth not bookes to reade but only our eies to see how the brute beastes for the moste parte when the females are bigge doe not touche them nor yet the females suffer thē to be touched I meane that the noble and high estates ought to absent them selues from their wiues carnally beyng great with child and he that in this case shal shewe him selfe moste temperate shall of all men be deamed most vertuous I do not speake this to thend it should bind a man or that it were an offence then to vse the company of his wyfe but vnto men that are vertuous I geue it as a counsel For some things ought to be done of necessitie others ought to be eschewed for honestie Diodorus Siculus saith that in the realme of Mauritania there were so few men so many women that euery man had fiue wiues where there was a law amōgest them that no man should mary vnder thre wiues furthermore they had a wonderful folishe custome that when any husband died one of these women should cast her selfe quick in to the graue be buried with him And if that within a moneth she did it not or that she died not by iustice she was then openly put to death saiyng that it is more honestie to be in company with her husband in the graue then it is to be alone in her house In the Isles of Baliares the cōtrary is sene for there increase so many men and so few women that for one woman there was seuen men and so they had a custome specially amongest the poore that one woman should be maried with fiue men For the ryche men sent to seke for women in other straunge Realmes wherfore then marchauntes came heuie loden with women as now they do with marchaundise to sell Vpon which occasion there was a custome in those Isles that for as muche as there were so fewe women when any woman with chylde drewe nere the seuen monethes they were seperated from their husbandes and shut and locked vp in the Temples where they gaue them suche thinges as were necessary for them of the commen treasure For the auncientes had their goodes in suche veneration that they would not permitte any personne to eate that whiche he brought but of that whiche vnto the goddes of the Temple was offered At that tyme the Barbarous kepte their wyues locked in the churche because the gods hauing them in their Temples should be more mercifull vnto them in their deliuery and also to cause them to auoyde the daungers at that tyme and besydes that because they tooke it for a great vilany that the women during that tyme should remaine with their husbandes The famous and renowmed philosopher Pulio in the fift booke De moribus antiquorum said that in the Realme of Paunonia whiche nowe is Hongarie the women that were great with childe were so highly estemed that when any went out of her house al those which met with her were bounde to returne backe with her in such sorte as we at this present do reuerence the holy Comunion so did these Barbarous then the women with child The women of Carthage being with child whē Carthage was
crueller enemy to man nor more troublesome to liue with all then the woman is that he kepeth in his house for if he suffer her once to haue her owne wyll then let him be assured neuer after to bring her vnto obedience The younge men of Rome folowe the Ladies of Capua but they may well repente them for there was neuer man that haunted of any longe tyme the company of women but in the ende to their procurement either by death or with infamie he was defaced For the Gods esteme the honour aboue all thinges and as they suffer the wickednes of the euyll men so we see the sharpe punishementes that they ordeine for them I am well assured Faustine of one thing and I doe not speake it by heare saye but because continually I haue proued it and it is that the husband which condiscendeth to all that the wyfe desireth causeth his wife to doe nothing of that her husband commaundeth For there is nothing that kepeth a womā more vnder obedience to her husband then when oft times he denieth with sharpe wordes her vnlawfull request In my opinion it is muche crueltie of the barbarous to kepe as they do their wiues like sclaues but it is muche more folly of the Romaines to kepe them as they doe like Ladies The fleshe ought not to be so leane that it be in eating drie nor yet so fat that there be no leane but it would participate both of the fat and of the leane to the intent it might geue the more nourishement I meane that the man of vnderstanding ought not to kepe his wyfe so shorte that she should seme to be his seruaunt nor yet to geue her so muche libertie that she becommeth his mistresse For the husbande that suffereth his wife to commaunde more then she ought is the cause why he him selfe afterwardes is not estemed as he should be Beholde Faustine you women are in all thinges so extreame that for a litle fauour you waxe proude and for a litle displeasure you become great enemies There is no woman that willingly can suffer to haue any superiour nor yet scarcely can endure to haue any equal for we see that you loue not the highest nor desire to be loued of the lowest For where as the louers be not equal there their loue can not be perfite I knowe well Faustine that thou doest not vnderstande me therefore harken what I doe tell thee more then thou thinkest and more then thou wouldest O what and howe many women haue I sene in Rome the which though they had two thousand pound of rent in their houses yet they had thre thousand follies in their heades and the worste of all is that oftetimes her husbande dieth and she looseth her rente yet for all that ceasseth not her folly Nowe listen Faustine and I will tell thee more All women will speake and they will that others be silent All wil commaunde and will not that they be commaunded All wil haue libertie and they wil that al be captiues to them Al wil gouerne and wil not be gouerned Finally they al in this one thing agree and that is that they will cherishe theym that they loue and reuenge theym of those that they hate Of that whiche before is saide it may be gathered that they make fooles and sclaues of the young vaine men which folow them and persecute the wise men as enemies that flie them For in the end where as they loue vs moste their loue may be measured but where as they hate vs leaste their hate exceadeth reason In the Annales of Pompeius I remember I haue redde doe note one thinge worthy of knowledge that when Pompeius the great passed first into Asia as by chaūce he came by the mountaines of Rypheos he founde in those places a Barbarous nation that liued in the sharpe mountaines as wilde beastes and doe not marueile that I doe call them beastly that liue in those mountaines For as the sheepe cowes that feade on the fine grasse haue their wolle softe and fine so the men which are brought vp in the sharpe wylde mountaines vse themselues after a rude behauiour These Barbarous had therfore a lawe among them that euery neighbour had in those mountaines two caues for the sharpnes of the hylles permitted not that they should haue any houses Therefore in one caue the husbandes the sonnes and the seruauntes were and in the other his wife his doughters and his handemaydes abode they did eate togethers twise in the weeke they slept togethers other twyse in the weeke and al the residue of the time they were seperate the one from the other The great Pompeius asked them what the cause was why they liued so sithe it was so that in all the world there was neuer sene nor redde such extreme lawe nor so straunge a custome The historie saith in that place that an auncient man aunswered him saying beholde Pompeius that the gods haue geuen short life vnto vs that be present in respect of that whiche he gaue to our fathers that are past and since we lyue but fourty or fiftie yeres at the vttermost we desire to enioye those daies in peace for the life is so shorte and oure trouble so longe that we haue small tyme to reioyce in peace after we retourne from the warres It is true that amongest you Romaines whiche enioye pleasure and richesse life seameth to short but vnto vs that haue toyle with pouertie lyfe semeth to longe For through out all the yeare we neuer keape suche solempne feastes as when one passeth out of his life Consider Pompeius that if men liued many yeares there should be time to laugh weepe to be good and to be euill to be poore and to be ryche to be mery and sadde to lyue in peace and warre but why wyll men seeke contention in their lyfe synce it is so shorte In keping with vs as you doe our owne wyues in liuing we should die for the nightes should passe in hearing their cōplaintes and the dayes in suffering their brawlinges but keping them as we doe we see not their heauy countenaunce we heare not the cryeng of our chyldren we heare not their greuous complaintes nor listen vnto their sorowefull wordes neyther we are troubled with their importunate sutes and yet the chyldren are nouryshed in peace and the father foloweth the warre so that they are well and we are better This was the aunswere that this olde man gaue at the requeste of the great Pompeius Truly Faustine I saye that though we call the Messagetes Barbarous in this case they knowe more then the Latynes For he that is free from a brawling woman hath escaped no small pestilence I ask thee nowe Faustine synce those barbarous coulde not agree nor would not haue their wyues with them in those sharpe mountaines howe shall we other agree and please you that lyue in these pleasures in Rome One thing I wil tel thee Faustine
with their owne proper wyues The Rules are these THe firste the husband must neades haue pacience and suffer his wyfe when she is displeased for in Libia ther is no serpent so spiteful as an euyl woman when she is vexed The second the husband ought to prouide for his wife accordyng to his abylitie al that is necessary for her as wel for her personne as for her house for oft times it chaunceth that women seking things necessarie find things superfluous and not very honest The third the husband ought to prouide that his wife do kepe good company for women oft times are more troubled with the wordes that their euil neighbours speake against them then for any occasion that their husbandes geue them The fourth that the husband ought to vse a meane that his wife be not to much a subiect nor that she stray to much abrod for the woman that gaddeth muche in the streates bothe loaseth her good name and spendeth his goodes The fifth the husband ought to take hede that he striueth not so with his wife that she be brought past shame for the woman that towards her husbande is shamelesse hathe no respect what dishonestye shee committeth The sixt the husband ought to let his wife vnderstand that he doth trust her for the woman is of such condicion that that which a wise man would not she should do she wyl do sonest and that wherin she should take paynes she wil do nothing The seuenth the husband ought to be circumspect that he do not holy trust his wife with the goods and treasours of the house nor yet vtterly distrust her for if the wife haue the charge of the goods of the house truly she wyl augment lytel and if the husband do suspect her she wil steale much The .8 the husband ought to loke vpon his wife merily at other times agayne sadly for women are of such condicion that when their husbandes sheweth them a merye countenaunce they loue them and when they shew them selues demure the feare them The 9. the husband ought if he be wise in this to take good aduysement that his wife quarel not with his neighbours for we haue oft times sene in Rome that for the quarrel of his wife against his neighbour the husband hath lost his life she hath lost her goodes and a slaunder hath risen throughout the common wealth The 10. the husband ought to be so pacient that if he saw his wife comit any fault in no wise he shold correct her openly but in secret for the husbaÌ„d that correcteth his wife before witnes doth as he whiche spitteth into the element and the spittel falleth againe into his eyes The 11. the husband ought to haue much temperaunce lest he lay hands on his wife to punishe her for truly the wife that with sharpe words doth not amend with al the chastysementes of the world wyl neuer be good The 12. if the husbande wil be in quyet wyth his wife he ought to prayse her before his neyghbours and straungers for amongest all other thinges women haue thys propertye that of all they woulde be praysed and of none corrected The .13 the husband ought to beware to prayse any other then his owne wife she being present for women are of this condicion that the same day the husbande commendeth any other woman the same day his wife wyll cast hym out of her harte thinkinge that he loueth another and dyspyseth her The .14 the husband oughte to make his wife beleue that she is faier though in dede she be foule for ther is betwene them no greater strife then to thinke that her husband forsaketh her for being foule The 15. the husband ought to put his wife in remembraunce of the infamye that they speake of them that be euyl in the citye for women are glorious bycause they would be loth that men should talke such thing by them as they talke of others peraduenture they will refraine from those vyces that others commit The 16. the husband ought to take hede that his wife accept no new frendes for through acceptyng of new frendes there grow commenly betwene them great discention The 17. the husband ought to take heade that his wife beleue that he loueth not them whom she hateth for women are of such a condicion that if the husbandes loueth al them that they hate immediatlye they wil hate all those which they loue The 18. the husband ought sometime in matters which are not preiudicial vnto him confesse him selfe to be ouercome for women desire rather to be counted the best in reasoning though it be of no value then to haue otherwise a greater iewel geuen them In this sort Faustine I wil say no more to the but wishe that thou shouldest se what I se and fele what I fele and aboue al that my dissimulacion should suffice to amend thy life ¶ The Emperour aunswereth more particularlye concernyng the Key of his studye Cap. xvii NOw Faustine since I haue the old venym from my hart expelled I wil aunswere to thy present demaund for vnto demaundes aunswers that passeth betwene the sages the tongue ought neuer to speake word but that first he aske the hart lycence And it is a general rule amongest the phisicians that the medicens do not profite the sicke vnlesse they first take away the opilacions of the stomacke I meane by this that no maÌ„ can speake to his frend as he ought vnlesse before he sheweth what thing greueth him for it is better to repaier the roufes of the houses that be olde then to go about to build them new Thou requirest me Faustine that I geue thee the Keye of my studye and thou doest threaten me that if I geue it not vnto the that thou shalt forthwith be deliuered I marueile not at that thou sayest neyther I am abashed of that thou demaundest nor yet of that that thou wouldest do for you women are very extreame in your desires very suspicious in your demaundes very obstinate in your willes and as vnpacient in your sufferinges I say not without a cause that women are extreame in their desires for theâ—e are thinges wherof women are so desirous that it is wonder though neuer lyuing creature saw them nor hard speake of them I haue not sayd without a cause that women are suspicious in their demaunds for the Romaine women are of such a condicion that assone as a woman desireth any thing she forthwith commaundeth the tongue to aske it the feete to seke it the eyes to se it the hands to fele it and likewise the hart to loue it I say not without a cause that women are obstinate in their willes for if a Romaine woman beareth any malyce to any man she wil not forbeare to accuse him for anye slaunder nor faile to pursue him for any pouerty nor feare to kil him for any Iustice I say not without a cause that women are vnpacient to suffer for many are of such
want no perils For in warres renoune is neuer sold but by weight or chaunged with losse of lyfe The yong Fabius son of my aunt the aged Fabia at the .iii. CaleÌ„des of March brought me a letter the whych you sent and truely it was more briefe then I would haue wyshed it For betwene so dere children and so louinge a mother it is not suffered that the absence of your parsonnes shoulde be so farre and the letters whyche you write so briefe By those that goe from hence thyther I alwayes do sende you commendations and of those that come from thence hyther I doe enquire of newes Some saye they haue sene you other tell me they haue spoken with you so that with thys my hart is somwhat quieted For betwene them that loue greatly it may be endured that â—he sight be seldome so that the health be certain I am sole I am a widow I 〈◊〉 aged and now all my kinred is dead I haue endured many trauailes in Rome and the greatest of all is my children of your absence For the paine is greater to be voide of assured frendes theÌ„ assault is daungerous of cruel enemies Since you are yong and not very ryche since you are hardy and brought vp in the trauailes of Afrike I do not doubte but that you doe desire to come to Rome to se and know that now you are men whiche you haue sene when you were children For men doe not loue their countrey so much for that it is good as they do loue it for that it is naturall Beleue me children ther is no maÌ„ liuing that hath sene or hard speake of Rome in times past but hath great griefe sorow and pitie to se it at this present For as their hartes are pitiefull and their eyes tender so they can not behold that without great sorow which in times past they haue sene in great glory O my children you shal know that Rome is greatly chaunged from that it was wont to be To reade that that we do reade of it in times past to se that whyche we se of it now present we must nedes esteme that whiche the auncientes haue writen as a gest or els beleue it but as a dreame Ther is no other thing now at Rome but to see iustice corrupted the commen weale oppressed lyes blowen abroade the truth kept vnder the satires silent the flatterers open mouthed the inflamed personnes to be Lordes and the pacient to be seruauÌ„tes and aboue al and worse then all to se the euil liue in rest contented and the good troubled displeased Forsake forsake my children that citie where the good haue occasioÌ„ to weape the euil haue liberty to laugh I can not tel what to say in this mater as I would say Truly the coÌ„mon weale is at this day such so woful that eche wise man without coÌ„parison wold haue greater pleasure to be in the warres of Affrik then in the peace at Rome For in the good war a man seeth of whom he shold take hede but in the euil peace no maÌ„ knoweth whom to truste Therefore my children since you are naturall of Rome I wil tel you what Rome is at this present I let you know that the vestall virgines are now dissolute the honour of the gods is forgotten the profit of the coÌ„mon weale no maÌ„ seketh of the excercise of chiualry ther is no memory for the orphanes widowes ther is no man that doth aunswere to ministre iustice thei haue no regard the dissolute vices of the youth ar without measure Finally Rome that in times past was a receypt of all the good vertuous is now made a denne of al theues vitious I feare me I feare me least our mother rome in shorte time wil haue some sodein great fal And I say not without a cause some great fall for both men Cities that fall froÌ„ the top of their felicity purchase greater infamy with those that shal com after theÌ„ the glory that they haue had of theÌ„ that be past Peraduenture my childreÌ„ you desire to se the walles buildinges of Rome for those thinges which childreÌ„ se first in their youth the same they loue kepe alwaies in memory vntill their age As the auncient buildinges of rome are destroyed the few that ar now builte so would I you should loose your earnest affection to come to se theÌ„ For in dede the noble hartes are ashamed to se that thing amisse which they caÌ„ not remedye Do not thynke my chyldren thoughe Rome be made worse in maners that therfore it is diminished in buildinges For I let you vnderstand if you know it not that if a wall doth decay there is no man that doth repaire it If a house fall ther is no man that wil rayse it vp again If a strete be foule ther is no man that wil make it cleane If the riuer cary awaye any bridge there is no man that will set it vp again If any antiquitie decaye ther is no man that wil amend it If any wood be cut ther is no man that wil kepe it If the trees waxe old ther is no man that will plant theÌ„ a newe If the pauement of the streates be broken ther is no man that wil ley it again Finally ther is nothing in Rome at this day so euil handled as those thinges whiche by the commoÌ„ voices ar ordered These thinges my childreÌ„ though I do greatly lament as it is reason yet you ought litle to esteme them al but this al only ought to be estemed with droppes of bloud to be lamented That now in Rome when the buildinges in many places fal downe the vices all wholy together are raised vp O wofull mother Rome since that in the the more the walles decay the more the vices increase Peraduenture my childreÌ„ since you are in those frountiers of Affrike you desire to se your parentes here in Rome And therat I meruaile not for the loue which our naturall countreye do gyue the straung countrey can not take awaye All those which come from those parties doe bring vs no other certaine newes but of the multitude of those which dye are slain in Afrik therfore since you send vs such newes froÌ„ thence loke not that we should send you any other then the like from hence For death hath such auctoritie that it killeth the armed in the warres sleyeth the quiet in peace I let you know that Licia your sister is dead Drusio your vnckle is dead Torcquatus your neyghbour is dead His wife our cousin her .iii. doughters are dead Fabius your great frend is dead Euander his childreÌ„ ar dead Bibulus which red for me in the chaire the last yere is also dead Finally ther are so many so good with al that be dead that it is a great shame pitie to se at this present so many euill as do liue Know ye my children that all
these and many others which ye left aliue ful high in rome are now become wormes meat ful low vnder the yearth death also doth summon me vnto the graue If you my childreÌ„ did consider what shal become of you herafter truly you will thinke it better to weape .1000 yeares with the dead then to laugh one houre with those that be aliue Remembryng that I baâ—e ye in great payne and haue nourished you in great trauell that ye came of my proper intrailles I would haue you as children about me for the confort consolation of my paines But in the end beholdyng the prowesses of those that are paste that bindeth their heires I am coÌ„tent to suffer so long absence your persons only to the end you may get honour in chiualrye For I had rather here tell you should liue like knightes in Afrik theÌ„ to se you vtterly lost here in Rome My childreÌ„ as you are in the warres of Afrike so I doubt not but that you desire to se the pleasurs of rome for ther is no man in this world so happy but at his neyghbours prosperity had som enuy enuie not the vitious nether desier to be amoÌ„g vices for truly vices ar of such a coÌ„dition that they bring not with theÌ„ so much plesure wheÌ„ they com as they leaue sorow behind theÌ„ wheÌ„ they depart for that true delight is not in the pleasure which sodeÌ„ly vanisheth but in the truth which euermore remaineth I thank the immortal gods for all these thinges first for that they made me wise not folish for to a woman it is a small mater to be called so fraile that in dede she be not folish The secoÌ„d I thank the gods bicause in al times of my troubles they haue geueÌ„ me pacieÌ„ce to endure theÌ„ for the maÌ„ only in this lif may be called vnhappy to whom the gods in his troubles hath not giueÌ„ pacience The third I thank the gods for that those .lxv. yeares which I haue liued I neuer hytherto was defamed for the woman by no reason can coÌ„plaine of her fortune if in none of her troubles she hath loste her honour The fourthe I thanke the Gods that in this forty yeres I haue lyued in Rome remained widow ther was neuer man nor woman the contended with me for since we women profite litle the commoÌ„ wealth it is but reason that she whych with euill demeanoures hath passed her lyfe shoulde by iustice receaue her death The fift I giue the gods tankes that they gaue me children the whych are better contented to suffer the trauailes of Affrik theÌ„ to inioy the pleasurs of Rome Do not counte me my childreÌ„ for so vnlouing a mother that I wold not haue you alwayes before my eyes but considering that many good meÌ„s children haue bene lost only for being brought vp in the excessiue pleasures of Rome I do content my selfe with your absence For that man that desireth perpetuall renowne thoughe he be not banished he ought to absent him self froÌ„ his natiue countrey My deare children I most earnestly desire you that always you accoÌ„panie your selues with the good with the most auncientes and with those which ar graue most expert in councel and with those that haue most sene the world and do not vnderstand most of the world by those that haue sene most countreis For the rype councel proceadeth not from the man that hath traueiled in many contreis but from him that hath felte him selfe in many daungers Since the nature of the countrey my children dothe knocke with the haÌ„mer at the gate of the hart of man I feare that if you come and se your frendes parentes you shal always lyue in care pensifnes and being pensife you shal always lyue euil coÌ„tented you shal not do that whiche becommeth Romain knights to do And you not beyng valiaunt knightes your enemies shal alwayes reioice ouer you your desires shall neuer take effect for of those men which are careful heauy proceadeth always seruices vnworthy I desire you hartely by this present letter I counsell you that you wil not in any wise seke to come to rome for as I haue saied you shal know few of those that did know you for eyther they are dead or banished poore or sicke aged or coÌ„me to nought sad or euil coÌ„tented so that sithens you are not able to remedy their grefes it is best you should not come hyther to se their troubles For no man coÌ„meth to Rome but to weape with the liuing and to sigh for theÌ„ that be dead Truly my children I know not what pleasure is in Rome that should cause any good man to come hyther and to forsake Affrik for if there you haue enemies here you shall want frendes If you haue the sworde that perceth the body we haue that tong here that destroyeth the renowme If you be vexed with the theues of Affrike we are wounded with the traitours Flatterers and liers of Italy If you lack rest we haue here to much trouble Finallye seyng that that I doe se in Rome and hearynge that which I heare of Affrik I commende your warre and abhorre our peace If you do greatly esteme that which I haue sayd esteme much more that whiche I shall say which is that we alwayes here that you are conquerours of the Africkans you shall here always that we are conquered by vyces Therfore if I am a true mother I had rather se you winne a perpetuall memory amonge straungers theÌ„ to liue with infamy at home in your couÌ„trey Peraduenture with hope that you shal enherit some goodes you wil take occasioÌ„ to come to Rome When this thing shall come to your mindes remember my children that your father being aliue had not much and that vnto your mother being a widow many thinges wanted And remember that your father bequethed you nothing but weapons and know that from me you shall enherite nothing but bookes For I had rather leaue my children good doctrine wherby they may liue them euil riches wherby they may perysh I am not riche nor I neuer trauailed to be rich and the cause was that I saw many mens children vndone only through the hope they had to enherite their pareÌ„tes goods and afterward went a huntinge after vices For they seldome times do any worthy feates which in their youth enherit great treasurs This thing therfore being true as it is in dead I do not say only that I would watche and toile as many do to get riches and treasurs but also if I had treasour before I would gyue them vnto you I would as the philosopher did cast theÌ„ into the fyre For I had rather haue my children pore and vertuous in Affrike theÌ„ riche and vitious in Rome You know very wel my children that there was amongest the Tharentins a law wel obserued that the sonnes shoulde not inherit any other thyng of their fathers but weapons to fight and
of such a qualitie that it foloweth new inuentions and despiseth auncient customes All the people therfore gathered togethers the good philosopher Phetonius set vp in the middest of the market place a gybet hoote yrons a swerd a whip and fetters for the feete the whiche thyng done the Thebains were no lesse as they thought slaundered thē abashed To the which he spake these wordes You Thebains sente me to the Lacedemonians to the entent I should learne their lawes and customes and in dede I haue bene ther more then a yere beholdyng al thinges very diligentely for we Philosophers are bound not onely to note that whyche is done but also to know why it is done knowe ye Thebains that this in the aunswere of my Imbassage That the Lacedemonians hang vpon this Gybet theues with this same sworde they behede traytors with these hoote Irons they torment blasphemers and lyers with these roddes they whippe vacabondes and with these Irons do keape the rebels and the others are for players and vnthriftes Finally I say that I do not bryng you the lawes written but I bring you the Instrumentes wherwith they are obserued The Thebains were abashed to se these thinges and spake vnto hym such wordes Consider Phetonius wee haue not sent the to the Lacedemonians to bring instrumentes to take away life but for the good lawes to gouerne the common wealth The philosopher Phetonius replyed again aunswered Thebains I let you wete that if ye know what we philosophers knew you shold see how far your mindes wer from the truth For the Lacedemonians are not so vertuous thoroughe the lawes whych wer made of them that be dead as for the meanes they haue sought to preserue them that be alyue For maters of Iustice consiste more in execution then in commaundyng or ordeinynge Lawes are easely ordeyned but with difficultie executed for there are a thousande to make them but to put them in execution there is not one Ful lytle is that whych men knowe that are present in respect of that those knewe which are past But yet accordyng to my litle knowledge I proffer to gyue as good lawes to you Thebains as euer wer obserued among the Lacedemoniās For there is nothing more easy then to know the good and nothynge more commen then to folow the euill But what profiteth it if one will ordeyne and none vnderstand it Yf ther be that doth vnderstand thē there is none that excuteth them Yf there be that executeth them there is none that obserueth thē Yf there be one that obserueth them ther is a thousand that reproueth them For without comparison mo are they that murmure grudge at the good then those whych blame and despise the euyll You Thebains are offended bycause I haue brought suche Instrumentes but I let you wete if you wyll neyther Gybet nor sworde to kepe that which shal be ordeyned you shall haue your bookes full of lawes and the common wealth full of vices Wherfore I sweare vnto you that there are mo Thebains whiche folowe the deliciousnes of Denis the tyraunt then there are vertuous men that folowe the lawes of Lycurgus If you Thebains do desire greatly to know with what Lawes the Lacedemonians doe preserue their common wealthe I will tel you them all by worde and if you will reade them I will shew you them in writyng But it shal be vpon condition that you shall sweare all openly that once a daye you shall employ your eyes to reade them and your parsonnes to obserue them For the prince hath greater honour to se one onely law to be obserued in dede then to ordeyne a thousand by wryting You ought not to esteame muche to be vertuous in harte nor to enquire of the vertue by the mouth nor to seeke it by labour and trauaille of the feete but that whyche you ought greatly to esteame is to know what a vertuous lawe meaneth and that knowen immediatly to execute it and afterwardes to kepe it For the chefe vertue is not to do one verteous work but in swet and trauayl to continue in it These therfore wer the wordes that this philosopher Phetonius sayde to the Thebains The whyche as Plato sayeth estemed more his wordes that he spake then they dyd the lawes whyche he brought Truly in my opinion those of Thebes are to be praysed and commended and the philosopher for his wordes is worthy to be honoured For the end of those was to searche lawes to liue well and the ende of the Philosophet was to seke good meanes for to kepe them in vertue And therfore he thought it good to shew thē and put before their eyes the gibbet and the sword with the other instrumentes and tormentes For the euill do refraine from vice more for feare of punyshement then for any desire they haue of amendement I was willyng to bring in this Historie to th ende that all curious and vertuous men may see and know how litell the auncientes did esteme the beginnynge the meane and the ende of vertuous workes in respect of the perseueraunce and preseruacion of them Commyng therfore to my matter whych my pen doth tosse and seke I aske now presentely what it profiteth princes and great ladyes that God do gyue them great estates that they be fortunate in mariages that they be all reuerenced and honored that they haue great treasures for their inheritaunces and aboue al that they se their wiues great with child that afterwardes in ioy they se them deliuered that they se theyr mothers geuing their childrē sucke finally they se them selues happy in that they haue found them good nources helthful honest Truely al this auaileth litle if to their children when they are yong they do not giue masters to enstruct thē in vertues and also if they do not recomend them to good guides to exercise thē in feates of Chiualry The fathers which by syghes penetrat the heauē by prayers importune the Liuing god only for to haue children ought first to thinke why they wil haue childrē for that iustly to any man may be denayed which to an euil end is procured In my opinion the father ought to desire to haue a child for that in his age he may susteine his life in honour that after his doth he may cause his fame to liue And if a father desireth not a son for this cause at the least he ought to desire him to the end in his age he may honour his horye hed and that after his death he may enheryte his goodes but wee see few children do these thynges to their fathers in theyr age if the fathers haue not taught them in their youth For the fruite doeth neuer grow in the haruest vnlesse the tree dyd bere blosommes in the spryng I see oftentimes many fathers complaine of their Children sayenge that they are disobedient and proude vnto theim and they doe not consydre that they them selues are the cause of all those euilles For
chose the good for lack of force cannot resiste the euil which is the cause that noble mens children ofttimes cōmit sondrye heynous offences For it is an infallible rule that the more a mā geueth him selfe to pleasures the more he is entangled in vices It is a thing worthy to be noted and woful to see how politike we be to augmente thinges of honour how bolde we be to enterprise them how fortunate to compas them how diligent to kepe them how circumspect to susteine them and afterwarde what pitie is it to see how vnfortunate we are to lose all that whiche so longe time we haue searched for kept and possessed And that which is moste to be lamented in this case is that the goodes and honour are not lost for wante of diligence trauaile of the father but for the aboundaunce of pleasures and vices of the sonne Finallye let the riche man knowe that that which he hath wonne in labour and toyle waking his sonne being euill brought vp shall consume in pleasures sleaping One of the greatest vanities that reigneth at this day among the children of vanitie is that the father can not shew vnto his sonne the loue which he beareth him but in suffering him to be brought vp in the pleasures and vanities of this life Truly he that is such a one ought not to be called a pitifull father but a cruel stepfather for no man wil denie me this but that where there is youth libertie pleasure and money there will all the vices of this world be resident Lycurgus the great king geuer of lawes and sage philosopher ordeined to the Lacedemonians that all the children whiche were borne in cities good townes should be sent to bringe vp in villages till they were .xxv. yeares of age As Liuius saith that the Lygures were which in olde time were confederate with those of Capua and great enemies to the people of Rome They had a lawe amongest them that none should take wages in the warres vnlesse he had bene brought vp in the fieldes or that he had bene a heard man in the mountaines so that through one of these twoo wayes their flesh was hardned their ioyntes accustomed to suffer the heate and the colde and their bodies more mete to endure the trauayles of the warres In the yeare of the foundation of Rome a hundred and fourty the Romaines made cruell warres with the Lygures against whome was sent Gneus Fabritius of the which in the ende he triumphed and the day folowyng this triumphe he spake vnto the Senate these wordes Worthy Senatours I haue bene these fiue yeares against the Ligures and by the immortall gods I swere vnto you that in al this time there passed not one weke but we had either battaile or some perilous skermiche And that whiche a man oughte moste to marueile at is that I neuer perceiued any feare or cowardlynes to be in those barbarous people whereby they were constrained to demaunde peace of the people of Rome These Lygures pursued with suche fearcenes the warres that oftetimes they toke awaye from vs all hope to winne the victory for betwene armies the great might of the one doth put alwayes the others in feare And I wyll tell you fathers conscript their brynging vp to the ende the Romaine youth should take hereby example When they are young they are put to be shepeheardes because they should accustome their fleshe in the mountaines to endure trauaile by the whiche custome they are so much maisters of them selues the countrey being alwayes ful of snowe Ise in the wynter also noisome through the extreame heate in the Sōmer that I sweare by the god Apollo in al this time of fiue yeres of those we haue not sene one prease to the fire in the winter nor couet the shadow in the sommer Do not ye thinke worthy Senatours that I was willing to declare vnto you these thinges in the Senate for any desire I haue that you should esteame any thing the more my triumphe but I doe tell it you to this ende that you may haue an eie and take heade to your men of warre to the ende they may alwayes be occupied and that you suffer them not to be idle For it is more perilous for the Romaine armies to be ouercome with vices then to be disconfited with their enemies And to talke of these matters more at large me thinketh they should prouide commaunde that riche men should not be so hardy to bring vp their children to delicatly for in the ende it is vnpossible that the delicate persone should winne with his handes the honour of many victories That which moued me to saye so muche as I haue sayed worthy Senatours is to the end you may know that the Ligures were not ouercome by the power of Rome but because fortune was against them And since in nothing fortune sheweth her selfe so variable as in the thinges of warre me thinketh that though the Ligures are nowe vanquished ouercome yet notwithstanding you ought to entertaine them in loue to take them for your confederates For it is not good councell to hazarde that into the handes of fortune which a man may compasse by frendship The authour of this whiche is spoken is called Iunius Pratus in the booke of the concorde of Realmes and he saith in that place that this captaine Gneus Fabritius was counted no lesse sage for that he spake then esteamed valiaunte for that he did In the olde time those of the Iles Balleares whiche nowe are called Maiorque and Minorque though they were not counted wyse yet at the least in bringing vp their children they shewed them selues not negligent Because they were brought vp in hardnes in their youth and could not endure all painefull exercises of the warres Those of Carthage gaue fiue prisoners of Rome for one sclaue of Maiorque Diodorus Siculus saith in those Iles the mother did not geue the children bread with their own handes but they did put it on an high pole so that they might see the bread with their eies but they could not reache it with their handes Wherefore when they woulde eate they should firste with hurling of stones or slinges winne it or elles faste Though the worke were of children yet the inuention came of a high wyt And hereof it came that the Balleares were esteamed for valiaunt mē as well in wrastling as in slinges for to hurle for they did hurle with a slinge to hit a white as the Lygures shoote nowe in a crosse bowe to hitte the prick Those of great Britayne whiche nowe we call Englande amongest all the Barbarous were men most barbarous but you ought to knowe that within the space of fewe yeares the Romaines were vanquished of them many tymes For tyme in all thinges bringeth such chaunge alteration that those which once we knew great lordes within a while after we haue sene them sclaues Herodian in his hystory of Seuerus
circumspect that they kepe them in awe feare subiection that they ought not to be contented though the fathers say they are pleased For the disordinate loue that the fathers haue to them is the cause that they caÌ„not se whether they be mockers or euil brought vp And if it chaunced as ofttimes it doth that the father shold come to the maister to cause him to withdraw correction in this case if the master be a wise maÌ„ he ought no lesse to reproue admonish the father then to correct the sonne And if this did not auaile I councel him to forsake and leaue his charge For the man of an honest nature after he hath taken anye charge in hand wil eyther bring it to passe or els he wil dye in the same I wyl not denaye but that it is reason noble mennes sonnes be more gently brought vp handled and honoured then the sonnes of the Plebeiens for more delicately is the palme tree which bringeth forth dates cherished then the oke which bringeth forth Akornes wherwith the hogges are nourished Let princes and great lordes beware that the pleasures which they gaue their childre in theyr youthe be not so excessyue nor of soo longe continuaunce that when they would withdraw them the world hath not alredy festered them For the children brought vp with to much delicatenesse are disobedient to their fathers and mothers or els they are sicke in their bodyes or worse then that they are vicious in their behauiours so that their fathers shold be better to burye theym quycke then to bring them vp vycious ¶ That princes and greâ—te Lordes oughte to be carefull in seking wyse men to bryng vp their children Of .x. conditions that good Schole maisters ought to haue Cap. xxxiiii WHen he that is without end gaue beginning to the world in this sort he beganne The Sonday he created heauen and earth The Mondaye he created the element the Tuesday he created the Planettes the Wednesday he created the Sonne and the Mone the Thursday he created the birdes in the ayre and the fishes in the sea the fryday he created Adam and Eue hys wife and truly in that he created and how he created hee shewed himselfe as God For as sone as the house was made he fornished peopled it with that that was necessarie as he could wel do Omitting therfore the creator and talking of creatures we se by experience that a householder in planting a vineyarde immediatly maketh a hedge to the ende that the beasts do not hurt it and eate it vp And when it is wel growen he hyreth some poore laborer to watche that trauailers do not gather nor eate the grapes therof The rich man that traffiqueth by sea after he hath made a great shippe and bestowed vi or vii thousand ducates if he be wise he wil first prouide a man that may gouerne her before he wil seke marchaundise for to fraite her for in perilous tempestes the greatnes of the shippe lytel auayleth if the pilot therof be not expert The householder that hath many cowes and shepe and likewise hath faire feeldes and pleasaunt pastures for his cattel doth not only seke herdmen to kepe the cattell but also dogges to feare the wolfes and cabannes to lodge the herdmen For the cabanne of the shepherdes and the baying of the dogge is but as a sauegard of the shepe from the raueninge of the wolfe The mightie and valiaunte princes whiche in the frontiers of their enemyes kepe strong fortresses seke alwayes stout and hardy captaynes to defend their walles for otherwise it were better the fort shold be battered to the grounde then it should come into the power of the enemyes By the comparisons aboue named ther is no discreat man but doth vnderstand to what end my penne doth write them that is to know to kepe and proue how that men which loue their children wel adding this vnto it haue great neade of good maisters and gouernours to teache and bring them vp For whiles the palme tre is but litle a frost doth easely destroy it I meane whiles the child is yonge if he haue no tutour he is easely deceiued with the world If the lord be wise and of vnderstanding there is no fortresse so esteamed neyther ship so fayre nor herd so profitable nor vyne so fruitful but that he better estemeth to haue a good sonne then al these thinges together or any other thing in the world For the father ought to loue his childreÌ„ as his owne proper and al residue as giftes of fortune If it be so as it is in deade since that for to keape and watche the herd they seake a good shepherde if for the vine they seake a good labourer if for to gouerne the shippe they seke a good maister and for to defend a fort they seke a good captayne why then wil not the wise fathers seke for good maisters to teach bring vp their chyldren O princes and great lords I haue now told you and agayne do say that if you trauaile one yeare to leaue your chyldren goodes you ought to sweate 50 yeres to leaue them wel brought vp For it auayleth lytle to carye much corne to the myl if the myl be out of frame I meane that in vayne riches and treasurs are gathered when the child that shal inherite them hath not witte to vse them It is no smal matter to know how to choose good gouernours For the prince is sage that fyndeth such a one and much more happie is he that of him shal be taught For in my opinyoÌ„ it is no smal charg for one man to bring vp a Prince that shal gouerne manye As Seneca sayth the wise man ought to conferre al thinges with his frend but first he ought to know who he is that is his frend I meane that the wise father oughte for his children to seke one good maister and to him he should recommende them al but first he ought to know what he is For that man is very simple which wil bye a horse before he se proue him whether he be hole or lame He ought to haue many and good condicions and qualyties that shoulde bring vp the children of princes and great lordes for by one way they nourishe the tender trees in the orchard after another sort they plant the wild trees in the mountaynes Therfore the case shal be this that we wil declare here what condicions and behauiours the maisters and gouernours of noble mens sonnes ought to haue which may bring them to honour and their disdoundeth to the honour and praise of his mayster The first condicion is that he which ought to be tutor to noble mens sonnes shold be no lesse then 40. yeres of age no more then 60 bicause the maister that is yong is ashamed to comaund if he be aged he is not able to correct The .2 it is necessary that tutors be very honest that not only in
And the cause whye I was willing ther should be none in the common wealth was for that ther was not riches in Rome sufficient to acquite the desarts of the Romaine chiualry And if you esteme an honorable office to be a Tribune Millitaire since you cānot al haue it me thinketh you shold al want it For amonge the noble men Plebeians it is not mete that one alone should enioy that which many haue deserued This history Sabellicus declareth allegeth Pulio for his aucthor reciteth that for this good worke that Camillus did in Rome that is to wete to set the great the smal at one he was aswel beloued of that romaines as he was feared of the enemies And not without a iust cause for in my opinyon it is a greater vertue to pacify his owne then to robbe straungers As touching the office of this Tribune wherupon this great cōtencion rose in Rome I cānot tel which was greater the folish rashnes of the knights to procure it or the wisedom of Camillus to abbolish it For to say the truthe the arte of cheualrie was inuented more to defend the common wealth then to byde at home haue the charge of iustice For to the good knight it semeth better to be loden with weapōs to resist enemyes then to be enuyroned with bokes to determyne causes Returning therfore to that whych the people sayd against the souldiors it was ordayned by the consent of al that in Rome an office should be erected and that he which should haue it should haue the charge to go through Rome to se what they were in Rome that did not instruct their children in good doctrine and if perchaunce he found any neighbours child that was euyl taught he chastised and banished the father And truly that punishment was very iust for the father deserueth more punyshment for that he doth therunto consent then the child deserueth more the offences which he doth comit When Rome was Rome that of al the world the common wealth therof was comended they chose for an officer therin the most auncient vertuous Romaine who was called the general vysiter of the childrē of Rome it semeth to be true for somuch as he whych had this office one yere hoped to be consul dictatour or censor the next As it appeareth by Marcus Porcio who desired to be corrector of the childrē afterwards succeded to be censor of the Romaine people For the Romaynes dyd not offer the office of iustice to any man vnlesse he had had experience of al offices Patricius Senensis in the booke of the common wealth saith that before the warres were betwene Carthage Rome the comon wealth of Carthage was very wel gouerned as it be semed such a noble citie but it is an auncient preuiledge of the warre that it kylleth the persones consumeth the goods aboue al engendreth a new passion miserie in the end destroyeth al good aunciente customes The Carthagians therefore had a custome that the chyldren and especially those which were of honest men should be put in the temples from iii. yeres tyl .xii. so from .xii. til xx they learned crafts sciences occupacions and from .xx. vntil .xxv. they instructed them in the feates of warre at the end of xxx yeres they gaue themselues to mariage ▪ For amōgest them it was a law inuiolable that no man shold mary vntil he were xxx yeres of age the women xxv And after that they were maried the moneth folowing they ought to present themselues before the Senate ther to chose what kind of estate they would take vpon them to liue in and what their minds most desired that is to wete if they would serue in the Temples folow the warre or trauayle the seas or get their lyuing by land or follow their occupacion which they had learned And loke what estate or office that day they chose the same they kept occupyed during their lyfe truly the law was very good bycause such chaunge of estates offices in the world are occasion that presently so many come to destruction Al the excellent and auncient Princes had many great philosophers for their masters this seameth to be true by this that kyng Darius had Lichanius the phylosopher for his mayster The greate Alexander had Aristotel the phylosopher for hys master Kinge Artaxerces had Pindarus the phylosopher for his mayster The aduenturous and hardye captayne of the Athenians Palemo had Xenocrates the Phylosopher for his maister Xemiades only kyng of the Corinthians had Chilo the phylosopher for hys mayster and tutour to hys chyldren Epamynundes prince of the Thebaines had for his maister and councelloure Maruchus the Phylosopher Vlisses the Greke as Homere sayth had for his mayster and companyon in hys trauayles Catinus the phylosopher Pirrus whyche was kynge of the Epirotes and greate defendoure of the Tharentines had for hys maister and chronicler Arthemius the phylosopher Of whom Cicero speaketh ad atticum that his sword was sharper to fighte then his penne ready to write The great kyng Ptholomeus Philadelphus was not onely scholer of the most singuler Phylosophers of Grece but also after he was king he sent for 72. phylosophers wych were Hebrues Cirus kyng of the Persians that destroyed the great Babylon had for his mayster Pristicus the Phylosopher Traian the Emperour had Plutarche for hys mayster who dyd not only teach hym in hys youth but also wrote him a booke how he ought to gouerne hym selfe his common wealth By these few examples which I haue expressed and by many other whych I omit Princes at this present may se how carefull princes were in tymes past to geue their chyldren wyse and learned men O prynces and great lordes synce you that are at thys present do presume and take vppon you that whyche your forefathers dyd I would that now you would consyder who brought them to so high estate and who leaueth of them eternal memory For wythout doubt noble men neuer wanne renowme for the pleasures they had in vyces but for the trauailes they had in vertues Againe I say that princes in tymes past were not famous for theyr stoutnes and apt dysposicion of theyr bodyes neyther for discent of hygh and noble lynage nor yet for the possession of many realmes or heaping vp of great treasours but they wanne obtayned immortal renowme for that their fathers in theyr youth put them vnder the tuiciō of wise and learned tutours whych taught them good doctrine when they were of age gaue them good counsaylers to gouerne the common wealth Laertius in the lyfe of the phylosophers Boccase in the boke of the lynage of gods say That among the phylosophers of Athens there was a custome that no straung phylosopher should reade in their scholes before he weare first examyned in natural and moral phylosophy for amonge the Grekes it was an auncyent prouerbe that in the schole
of Athens no vycious man could enter nor idle word be spoken neither they dyd consent that any ignoraunt philosopher should come in to read there As by chaunce many phylosophers were come from the mout Olimpus amongest the residue ther was one came to se the phylosophers of Athens who was natife of Thebes a man as afterwards he declared him selfe in mortal natural Phylosophy very wel learned and since he desired to remayne in Athens he was examined and of many and dyuers thyngs demaunded And amongest the others these folowing were some of them Firste they asked him what causeth women to be so frowarde since it is true that nature made them shamefast and created them simple the Philosopher aunswered A Woman is not frowarde but bycause she hath to much her wil and wanteth shame Secondarily they asked him why yong men are vndone he aunswered bycause time aboundeth them for to do euil and maysters wanteth to enforce them to do good Thirdly they asked him why are wise men deceyued aswel as the simple he aunswered The wise man is neuer deceyued but by him that vseth faire words and hath euil condicions Forthly they asked him of whom mē ought most to beware he aunswered That ther is to a man no greater enemye then he which seeth that thing in the which he desireth to haue in him selfe Fifthly they asked him why many princes beginne wel and end euil he aunswered princes begin wel bycause their nature is good they end euil bycause no man doth gaine say them Sixtly they asked him why do princes comit such follyes he aunswered Bicause flatterers aboundeth that deceiue them true men wanteth which should serue them Seuenthly they asked him why the auncients were so sage men at thys present so simple he aunswered Bycause the auncients did not procure but to know they present do not trauaile but for to haue Eightly they asked him why so many vyces were nourished in the pallace of princes he aunswered Bycause pleasures abound and councel wanteth The ninth they asked him why the most part of mē liued without rest few without paine he aunswered No man is more without suffereth more paine thē he which dieth for the goods of another litle estemeth his owne The tenth they asked him wherby they myght know the common wealth to be vndone he aunswered There is no comon wealth vndone but where the yong are light and the old vicious The xi they asked him wherwith the comon wealth is mainteyned he aunswered The common wealth cannot decay wher iustice remayneth for the poore punishment for the tiraunts weight and measure plentiful chefely if ther be good doctrine for the yong lytle couetousnes in the old Affro the historiographers declareth this in the x boke De rebus attheniensium Truly in my opinion the words of this philosopher were few but the sentences were many And for none other cause I dyd bring in this history but to profite me of the last word wherin for aunswere he saith that al the profite of the commō wealth consisteth in that ther be princes that restrayne the auarice of the aged that there be maisters to teach the youthful We se by experience that if the brute beasts were not tied the corne seedes compassed with hedges or ditches a man should neuer gather the fruite when they are ripe I meane that strife debate wil rise continually amonge the people if the yonge men haue not good fathers to correct them wise maisters to teach them We cānot deny but though the knife be made of fyne steele yet sometimes it hath nede to be whet so in lyke maner the yong man during the time of his youth though he do not deserue it yet from time to time he ought to be corrected O princes great lords I know not of whom you take councell when your sonne is borne to prouyde him of a maister gouernour whom you chose not as the most vertuous but as the most richest not as the most sagest but as the most vile euil taught Finally you do not trust him wyth your children that best deserueth it but that most procureth it Againe I say O princes great lords why do you not wtdraw your childrē from their hands which haue their eyes more to their owne profite thē their harts vnto your seruice For such to enrich themselues do bring vp princes vyciously Let not princes thinke that it is a trifle to know how to find chose a good master the lord which herein doth not employ his dyligence is worthy of great rebuke And because they shal not pretend ignoraunce let them beware of that man whose life is suspicious and extreame couetous In my opinion in the palace of princes the office of tutorship ought not to begeuen as other comon offices that is to wete by requestes or money by priuyties or importunities eyther els for recompence of seruices for it foloweth not though a man hath ben imbassadour in straunge realmes or captaine of great armies in warre or that he hath possessed in the roial palace offices of honour or of estemaciō that therfore he should be able to teach or bring vp their children For to be a good captayne sufficeth only to be hardy and fortunate but for to be a tutour and gouernour of princes he ought to be both sage and vertuous ¶ Of the ii children of Marcus Aurelius the Emperour of the which the best beloued dyed And of the maisters he prouided for the other named Comodus ▪ Chap. xxxv MArcus Aurelius the xvii Emperour of Rome in that time that he was maried with Faustine only doughter of the Emperour Antonius Pius had only ii sonnes wherof the eldest was Comodus and the second Verissimus Of these ii chyldren the heyre was Comodus who was so wycked in the 13 yeres he gouerned the empire that he semed rather the disciple of Nero the cruel then to descend by the mothers syde from Anthonius the mercifull or sonne of Marcus Aurelius This wicked chyld Comodus was so light in speach so dishonest in parson so cruel with his people that oft tymes he being aliue they layed wagers that ther was not one vertue in him to be found nor any one vyce in him that wanted On the contrary part the second sonne named Verissimus was comely of gesture proper of personne in witte verye temperate the most of al was that by his good conuersacion of al he was beloued For the faire and vertuous princes by theyr beauty draweth vnto them mens eyes by their good conuersacion they winne their harts The child Verissimus was the hope of the comon people the glory of his aged father so that the Emperour determined that this chyld Verissimus shold be heyre of the Empire and that the prince Comodus should be disherited Wherat no man ought to maruaile for it is but iust since the child
and more profyte of the scoller he maye be soner vertuous then vitious For there is more courage required in one to be euil then strenght in another for to be good Also the maisters commenly haue another euill property worse then this whyche is they beare with their scollers in some secreat vices when they are yong from the whiche they cannot be withdrawen afterwarde when they are olde For it chaunceth oftetimes that the good inclination is ouercome by the euill custome and certainly the maisters whych in such a case should be apprehended ought to be punished as traitors pariured For to the mayster it is greater treason to leaue his disciple amongest vices then to delyuer a forte into the handes of the enemyes And let no man maruaill if I call such a mayster a treator for the one yeldeth the forte whych is but of stones builded but the other aduentureth hys sonne who is of his proper body begotten The cause of al this euill is that as the children of Princes ought to enherite realmes and the children of greate lordes hope to inherite the great estates so the maisters are more couetous then vertuous For they suffer their puples to runne at their own willes whē they be yong to thend to winne their hartes when they shal be olde so that the extreame couetousnes of the maisters now a dayes is suche that it causeth goodmens sonnes commonly to be euil and vitious O tutors of princes and maisters of great lordes I do admonyshe you and besides that I counsell you that your couetousnes deceiue you not thynkynge that you shal be better estemed for being clokers of vices then louers of vertues For there is none old nor yong so wicked but knoweth that good is better then euill And further I say to you in this case that oftetimes God permitteth when those that wer children become old their eyes to be opened wherby they know the harme that you haue done them in suffering them to be vitious in thier youth at what tyme your dutye had bene to haue corrected their vices You thought by your goods to be honored for your flattery but you find the contrary that you are despised worthely For it is the iust iudgement of god that he that committeth euill shall not escape without punyshment and he that consealeth the euill committed shal not liue vndefamed Diadumeus the Historiographer in the lyfe of Seuerus the .xxi. Emperour de clareth that Apuleius Rufynus who hadde ben consull twise and at that tyme was also tribune of the people a man who was very aged and likewise of greate aucthoritie thoroughe oute Rome came one daye to the Emperour Seuerus and sayed vnto him in this sorte Moste inuicte Prince alwayes Augustus know that I had .ii. children the whiche I committed to a mayster to bring vp and by chaunce the eldest increasinge in yeares and diminishing in vertues fell in loue with a Romaine ladye the which loue came to late to my knowledge for to such vnfortunat men as I am the disease is alwayes past remedy before the daunger thereof commeth to our knowledge The greatest grefe that herein I fele is that his mayster knew and consealed the euill and was not onely not a meanes to remedye it but also was the chefe worker of the adultery betwene them to be committed And my sonne made hym an oblygation wherin he bounde hym selfe if he woulde bryng hym that romaine lady he would geue hym after my death the house and herytages whych I haue in the gate Salaria and yet herwith not contented but he and my sonne together robbed me of much money For loue is costlye to hym that maynteineth it and alwayes the loues of the children are chargefull to the fathers Iudge you now therefore noble Prince thys so heinous and slaunderous cause for it is to muche presumption of the subiecte to reuenge any iniury knowyng that the lorde hym selfe will reuenge all wronges When the Emperour Seuerus hadde vnderstode this so heynous a case as one that was both in name and dede seuere commaunded good inquisition of the matter to be hadde and that before his presence the shoulde cause to appeare the father the sonne and the mayster to the ende eche one should alledge for his owne right for in Rome none could be condemned for anye offence vnlesse the plainetife had first declared the faulte before hys presence and that the accused shold haue no tyme to make hys excuse The trueth then knowen and the offenders confessyng the offences the Emperour Seuerus gaue iudgement thus I commaunde that this mayster be caste alyue amonge the beastes of the parke Palatine For it is but mete that beastes deuoure hym whyche teacheth others to lyue lyke beastes Also I doe commaunde that the sonne be vtterly dysinheryted of all the goodes of hys father and banyshed into the Iles Balleares and Maiorques For the chylde whiche from hys youth is vitious oughte iustlye to be banyshed the countrey and dysherited of hys fathers goods This therfore of the maister and of the sonne was done by the complaint of Apuleius Rufinus O howe vnconstant fortune is and howe oft not thynkyng of it the threde of lyfe doth breake I saye it bicause if this maister had not bene couetous the father hadde not bene depriued of his sonne the childe hadde not bene banished the mother had not bene defamed the common weale had not bene slaundered the master of wylde beastes hadde not bene deuoured neyther the Emperour hadde bene so cruell agaynst them nor yet their names in Hystories to their infamies hadde alwayes continued I doe not speake thys without a cause to declare by writyng that whyche the euyll do in the world For wyse menne ought more to feare the infamye of the litle penne then the slaunder of the bablyng tongue For in the ende the wicked tongue can not defame but the lyuynge but the litle penne doth defame them that are that were and the shal be To conclude thys my mynde is that the mayster shoulde endeuour hym selfe that hys scooller shoulde be vertuous and that he doe not dispayre though immediately for hys paines he be not rewarded For thoughe he be not of the creature let hym be assured that he shal be of the creatour For God is so mercyefull that he ofte tymes takynge pitie of the swette of those that be good chastneth the vnthankfull and taketh vpon him to require their seruices Of the determination of the Emperour when he committed his childe to the tutours whyche he had prouided for his education Chapter xxxviii CInna the Hystorien in the first booke of the times of Comodus declareth that Marcus Aurelius the Emperour chose .xiiii. masters learned and wise men to teache hys sonne Comodus of the whyche he refused fyue not for that they were not wyse but for that they were not honeste And so he kepte these nyne onely whyche were both learned in the sciences and also experte in bringyng vp the chyldren of
thintent you may know thē then to refourm thē If there come a right poore mā to demaūd iustice hauing no mony to geue nor wine to present nor oyle to promise nor frindes to help him nor reuenew to succour him maynteine him in expēces after he hath cōplained they satisfie him with words saiyng vnto him that spedely he shall haue iustice What wil ye I should say but that in the meane time they make him spend that litle he hath geue hī nothing though he demaund much they geue him vaine hope they make him wast the best of his life euery one of thē doth promisse his fauour afterwards they al lay hādes vpon him to oppresse him The most of thē say his righte is good afterwards they geue sentence against him so that the miserable persone whyche came to complaine of one returneth home complaining of all cursing his cruell destenies criynge out to the iust and mercifull gods for reuengement It chaunseth allso that oft times there cōmeth to complaine heare in the Senat some flattering man more for malice then by reason of right or iustice and ye Senatours crediting his double words his fained teares immediatlye ordein a Cēsor to go geue audience on their cōplaints Who being gōne returned ye seke more to remedy geue eare to the complaints of the Iudge thē to the sclaunders which were among the people I will declare vnto you mye life O ye Romaines therby ye shall se how they passe their life in my countrey I liue by gathering akornes in the winter reapinge corne in the sūmer some time I fishe aswell of necessitie as of pleasure so that I passe allmoste al my lyfe alone in the fieldes or in the mountaines And if you wote not whye heare me I wil shew you I se such tirranny in your iudges such robberies as they commit among the poore people there are such dissētions in that realme such iniuries cōmitted therin the poore cōmon wealth is so spoyled there are so few that haue desire to do good and allso there are so few that hope for remedy in the senate that I am determined as most vnhappy to bānishe my selfe out of mine owne house to seperate my selfe from my swete company to the end my eyes should not behold so miserable a chaunge For I had rather wander solitarie in the fields then to see my neighbours hourly lamēt in the stretes For there the cruell beastes do not offende me vnles I do assault thē but the cursed men though I do serue them yet dayly they vexe me Without doubt it is a marueilous paine to suffer an ouerthrowe of fortune but it is a greater torment when one felethe it without remedy And yet witheoute comparison my greatest griefe is when my losse may be remedied that he which may wil not he that wil can not by any meanes remedy it O cruel Romains ye fele nothyng that we fele inespecially I which speake it ye shal se how I fele it since only to reduce it to memory my eies do dasell my tongue wil waxe weary my iointes do seuer my hart doth tremble my entrailes do breake and my flesh consumeth what a woful thing is it in my countrey to se it with my eies to heare it wyth my eares to fele it with myne owne hands Truly the griefes whiche the wofull Germany suffreth are such so many that I beleue yet the mercyful gods will haue compassion vpon vs. I wil not desire ye to think sclander of my wordes but onely I do besech ye you wil vnderstād wel what I say For you ymagining as you doe presume to be discrete shal see right wel that the troubles which came to vs from men among men with men by the hands of men it is a small mattery we as men do fele them speaking For according to the truth also with liberty if I should declare euerye other iuste aduertisement which came from the senat al the tyranny which your iudges cōmit in the miserable realme one of these .2 thinges must ensue either the punishment of me or the depriuacion of your officers if I say true One thing onely comforteth me or whereof I with other infortunate people haue had experience in that I think my selfe happy to know that the iust plagues proceede not from the iuste gods but through the iust deserts of wicked men And that our secret fault doth waken those to the end that they of vs may execute open iustice Of one thing only I am sore troubled because the gods can not be contented but for a smal fault they punish a good man much for many faultes they punishe euill men nothing at all so that the gods do beare with the one forgeue nothinge vnto the other O secret iudgements of god that as I am boūd to praise your workes so likewise if I had licence to condempne them I durst saye that ye cause vs to suffer greuous paines for that ye punish persecute vs by the hands of such iudges the which if iustice toke place in the world whē they chastise vs wyth their hands they do not deserue to haue their heades on theire shoulders The cause why now again I do exclame on the immortall gods is to se that in these 15. daies I haue bene at Rome I haue sene such dedes done in your senat that if the least of them had ben done at Danuby the gallows gibbets had ben hāged thicker of theues then the vyneyard is with grapes I am determined to see your doings to speake of your dishonesty in apparell your litle temperāce in eating your disorder in affaires your pleasures in liuing and on the other side I see that when your prouision arriueth in our countrey we cary into the temples offer it to the gods we put it on their heads so that the one meting with the other we accomplish that which is commaunded accurse those that commaunded And sith therfore my hart hath now sene that which it desireth my minde is at rest in spitting out the poyson which in it abideth If I haue in any thing here offended with my tongue I am redy to make recompēce with my head For in good faith I had rather winne honour in offring my selfe to death then ye should haue it in taking from me my life And here the villayne ended his talke immediatlye after Mar. Aur. saide to those whiche were aboute him How think ye my frindes what kernell of a nut what golde of the myne what corne of straw what rose of bryers what mary of bones how noble valiaunt a man hath he shewed him selfe What reasons so hye what wordes so wel couched what truth so true what sentēces so wel pronoūced also what open malice hathe he discouered By the faithe of a good man I sweare as I may be deliuered from this
beeholdynge thye persone then in gouerninge well my common wealthe whyche thou oughtest not to consent vnto and muche lesse doe in dede For the iudge oughte to be so occupyed in the administracion of the common wealth that he shoulde haue noe leysure at anye tyme to keame his heade These wordes the good king Phillip spake vnto the iudge whom he dysplaced of his office for beeynge to fyne and dylygent in keamynge hys heade and trymmynge his persone It is not onelye decent for ministers of iustice to be graue and honest but allso it behouethe them to be true and faithefull For to a iudge whose offyce is to iudge the truethe there can be noe greater infamye then to be counted a lyer When two Plebeians be at variaunce togethers for one thinge they come beefore the iudge for noughte els but that hee shoulde iudge whoe hathe righte and iustice thereunto Therefore if suche a iudge bee not counted true but a lyer all take his iudgement for false so that if the plainetife hathe noe more power he wyll obeye iustice yet at the leaste he wyll blaspheme hym that gaue sentence There are some iudges that presentlye to gette more moneye to drawe vnto them moe friendes and to contynewe allso in their offyces vse suche shamefull shiftes with the poore plainetifes and take so large brybes of the defēdaunt that bothe parties are by hym selfe assured of the sentence in their fauoure before he come vnto the barre Manye goe to the houses of iudges some to demaunde others to geue instructions other to woorke deceite others to importune them others to wynne them but fewe goe to vysyte them so that for those such sēblables I do aduise and admonishe offycers that theye be iuste in theire sentences and vprighte in theire woordes The mynysters of iustice oughte to be suche and so good that in theire lyfe nothynge be woorthye of rebuke neyther in their wordes anye thinge worthye of reproche For if herein theye be not verye circumspect oftentymes that shal happen whiche the goddes woulde not whiche is that to the preiudice of the iustice of another he shall denye the worde of hym selfe It suffysethe not iudges to bee true in theire wordes butte it is verye necessarye that theye bee vpryghte in theire sentences That is to wete that for loue theye bee not to large neither for couetuousnesse theye shoulde be corrupted nor for feare drawen backe nor wythe prayours to be flattered nor withe promysses blynded for otherwise it were a greate shame and inconuenience that the yarde whiche theye carye in theire handes shoulde be streyghte and the lyfe whyche theye leade shoulde bee verye crooked To the ende iustices be vprighte they oughte muche to trauaile to be lyberall I meane in thinges wherein theye ought to geeue sentence It is vnpossible that those whiche haue respecte in theire sentence to fauoure their friendes shoulde not accustomablye vse to be reuenged of their enemies Trulye suche a iudge ought not to be counted iust but a pryuate Tiraunte He that withe affeccion iudgethe and passyon punisheth is greatlye deceyued Those inlyke manner whyche haue aucthoritie to gouerne and doe thynke that for borrowynge a lytle of iustice theye shoulde therebye encrease and multyplye frendes in the common wealthe are muche abused for thys acte beefore menne is so heinous and beefore godde so detestable that thoughe for a space he refrayne hys handes yet in the ende he will extende his power For the redemer of the worlde onelye father of trueth will not permit that suche doe take vppon them the title of iustice which in their offices do shew so extreme wrōg Helius Spartianus in the lyfe of Antonius sayethe that the good Emperoure going to vysite hys Empyre as he was in Capua and there demaūding of the state of the Censours whether they were vniust or rightful a man of Capua sayed in this wise by the immortal gods most noble Prince I sweare that this iudge who presently gouerneth here is neither iust nor honest and therefore me thinke it necessarye that we depriue him of his dignitie and I will accompte vnto thee what befel betwene him and me I besought him that for my sake he would graūt me .4 thinges which were al vniust he willingly condescended thereunto wherof I had no lesse meruel in my harte then vexacion in my body For when I dyd desire him I thought nothing lesse then to obtein thē but onely for the cōtentacion of those whiche instauntlye desired me to do it And further this Capuan sayed By the GOD Genius I swere likewise that I was not the more fryndely vnto him for that hee sayde he did it for mye sake more then for another for he that to me would graunt these foure it is to be beleued that to others he would graunt foure hundreth For the whiche thou oughtest to prouyde most noble Prince because good iudges oughte to be pacient to heare iust to determine By this notable example iudges ought to haue a great respecte not to those which do desire them but to that which theye demaund For in doing their dutie their enemies will proclaime them iust and contrarywise if they doe that they shoulde not doe theire nerest freendes wil count them tirantes Iudges which pretend fauour to the common wealth to be carefull of their consciences oughte not to content them selues simply to do iustice but that of them selues they should haue suche an oppinion that none durst presume to come and require at their hands any vile or dishonest thing For otherwise if we note the demander to be vnshamefast we muste nedes somewhat suspecte the iudge in his iustice Princes ought also to be very circumspect that the iudges be not only contented to bee iust honest and true but also in them there ought to remaine no auarice nor couetousnes For iustice auarice can seldome dwell in one house Those that haue the charge of the gouernement of the people to iudge causes ought to take great hede that with bribes and presētes they be not corrupted for it is vnpossible but that the same day that riches treasoures in the houses of iudges begin to encrease that the selfe same day the administration of iustice should not decay Licurgus Prometheus Numa Pompilius did prohibite nothing in their law so muche neither for anye other cause theye ordeyned so greauous punishments but to thintent iudges should not be couetous nor yet theues And of trueth they had great cōsideracion to fore see forbyd it for the iudge that hath receaued parte of the theft wil not geue sentence against the stealers thereof Let not iudges be credyted for saying they receiue no siluer nor golde neyther silkes nor iewels but that they take onely small presentes as fruites foule and other trifles For oftentimes it chaunseth that the iudges doe eate the fruite and the poore suter doth fele the morsell Cicero in the booke of lawes sayethe that Cato the
vertues men ought to vse and the vyces which they ought to eschew Cap. xxvi IN tymes past I beeing yong and thou old I did succor thee with money and thou mee with good counsell but now the world is otherwise chaunged in that thy white hears doo iudge thee to bee old and thy woorks doo cause thee to bee yong Therefore necessity compelleth mee that wee chāge our stile which is that I succor thee with good counsell though thou geeue mee no money therfore for I count thy couetousnes to bee such that for all the good counsel coūselers of Rome the wilt not vouchsafe to geeue one quatrine of Capua Now for the good that I wish thee for that which I owe to the law of frendship I will presently geeue thee a counsel wherby thou mayst know what a good mā ought to doo to bee loued of god feared loued of mē If the wilt quietly lead thy life in this miserable world retain this well in memory which I write vnto thee First the good deedes thou hast receiued of any those shalt thou remember the wrongs thou hast sustained them shalt thou forget Secondarely esteeme much thy own little way not the much of an other Thirdly the company of the good always couet the conuersation of the euill dayly fly Fourthly to the great shew thy self graue to the small more conuersant Fiftly to those which are present doo always good woorks and of those that bee absent always speak good woords Sixtly way little the losse of fortune esteeme much things of honor The seuenth to win one thing neuer aduenture thou many nor for many things doubtfull doo not thou aduēture any one thing certain Finally lastly I pray thee aduertise thee that thou haue no enemy that thou keepe but one frend Hee which among the good wil bee counted for good none of these things hee ought to want I know well that thou wilt haue great pleasure to see these my counsels well writen But I ensure thee I shal haue greater pleasure to see them in thy deedes well obserued For by writing to geeue good counsel it is easy but by woorks to folow the same is maruelous hard My faithful frendship to thee plighted thy great ability considered caused mee always for thee in Rome to procure honorable offices by my suyt thou hast been Edite tribune maister of the horses wherin thou behauedst thy self with such wisdom that all the senate therfore yelded mee most harty thanks I procuring them for thee thou for thy self winning such perpetual renowm One thing of thee I vnderstand which with good wil I woold not haue knowen much lesse that any such thing by thee shoold haue been cōmitted that is to weet that thou leauing thy office of the pretorship in the warre by land hast taken vpon thee traffike of a marchāt by sea so that those which in Rome knew thee a knight doo see thee now in Capua a marchant My pen indyting this my letter for a tyme stood in suspence for no other cause but only to see what thing in thee first I might best blame either the noble office which thou didst forsake or the vyle base estate which thou hast chosen And though thou bee so much bereued of thy sences yet call to mynd thy auncient predecessors which dyed in the warres only to leaue their children and nephews armed knights and that thou presently seekest to lose that liberty through thy couetousnes which thei wanne by their valyauntnes I think I am not deceiued that if thy predecessors were reuiued as they were ambicious of honor so woold they bee greedy to eat thee in morsels sinnues bones and all For the children which vniustly take honor from their fathers of reason ought to lose their lyues The castels towns housen mountains woods beasts Iewels and siluer which our predecessors haue left vs in the end by long cōtinuance doo perish and that which causeth vs to haue perpetuall memory of them is the good renowm of their lyfe And therfore if this bee true it is great shame for the parents to haue such children in whom the renowm of their predecessors dooth end In the florishing time of Cicero the oratour when by his counsell the whole common wealth was gouerned hee beeing then of power both in knowledge and of money Salust said vnto him in his inuectiue that hee was of base stock wherunto hee aunswered Great cause haue I too render thāks vnto the gods that I am not as thou art by whom thy high linage is ended but my poore stock by me doth now begin too rise It is great pity to see how many good noble valiant men are dead but it is more greef to see presently their children vitious and vnthrifts So that there remaineth asmuch memory of their infamy as there doth of the others honesty Thou makst mee ashamed that thou hast forsaken to conquer the enemies as a romain knight and that thou art become a marchant as a poore plebeian Thou makest mee to muse a littel my freend Cincinnatus that thou wilt harme thy familiars and suffer straungers to liue in peace Thou seekest to procure death to those which geeue vs life and to deliuer from death those which take our life To rebels thou geeuest rest to the peace makers thou geeuest anoyaunce To those which take from vs our own thou wilt geeue and to those which geeueth vs of theirs thou wilt take Thou condemnest the innocent and the condemned thou wilt deliuer A defender of thy countrey thou wilt not bee but a tirant of thy common welth To al these things aduentureth hee which leaueth weapons and fauleth to marchandise With my self oft times I haue mused what occasion should moue thee to forsake chiualry wherein thou hadst such honor and to take in hand marchandise whereof foloweth such infamy I say that it is asmuch shame for thee to haue gon from the warres as it is honor for those which are born vnto office in the common welth My freend Cincinnatus my end tendeth not to condemne marchandise nor marchaunds nor to speak euill of those which traffick by the trade of bying and selling For as without the valiant knights warre cannot bee atchyued so likewise without the diligent marchants the comon wealth cannot bee maintained I cannot imagin for what other cause thou shooldst forsake the warre traffique marchandise vnlesse it were because thou now being old wantest force to assault men openly in the straits shooldst with more ease sitting in thy chayer robbe secretly in the market place O poore Cincinnatus sithens thou byest cheap sellest deare promisest much performest litle thou byest by one measure sellest by an other thou watchest that none deceiue thee playest therin as other marchants accustom And to conclude I swear that the measure wherwith the gods shall measure thy lyfe shal bee much iuster
the main land our parsons are in safegard Knowing thy property I woold rather binde my self to seeke thy lead tinne theÌ„ thy hart so wouÌ„ded For in the end thy lead is together in some place in the bottom of the sea but thy couetousnes is scattered through al the whole earth If perhaps thou shooldst dye and the surgions with the sharp raser should open thy stomack I sweare vnto thee by the mother Berecinthe which is the mother of all the gods of Rome that they shoold rather fynd thy hart drowned which the lead then in life with thy body Now thow canst not bee sick of the feuer tertian as I am for the heate with in thy body the pain in thy head woold cause thee to haue a double quartain and of such disease thou canst not bee healed in thy bed but in the shyp not in land but in the sea not with phisitions but with pirats For the phisicions woold cary away the money and the pyrats woold shew thee where thy lead fel. Trouble not thy self so much Mercury for though thou hast not thy lead with thee in the land it hath thee with it in the sea and thou oughtest inough to comfort thy self for where as beefore thou hadst it in thy cofers thou hast it presently in thy intrailes For there thy life is drowned where thy lead is cast O Mercury now thou knowest that the day that thou didst recommend thy goods to the vnknowen rocks and thy shyp to the ragyng seas and thy outragious auarice to the furious wynds how much that thy factors went desyryng thy profyt and gayn so much the more thow mightst haue been assured of thy losse Yf thou hadst had this consyderacion and hadst vsed this diligence thy desire had been drowned and thy goods escaped For men that dare aduenture their goods on the sea they ought not to bee heauy for that that is lost but they ought to reioyce for that that is escaped Socrates the auncyent and great Phylosopher determyned to teach vs not by woord but by woork in what estimacion a man ought to haue the goods of this world for hee cast in the sea not lead but gold not litle but much not of another mans but of his own not by force but willingly not by fortune but by wisedome Finally in this woorthy fact hee shewed so great courage that no couetous man woold haue reioyced to haue fouÌ„d so much in the land as thys phylosopher did delyght to haue cast in the sea That which Socrates dyd was much but greater ought wee to esteme that hee sayd which was O ye disceytfull goods I will drown you rather then you shoold drown mee Since Socrates feared and drowned hys own proper goods why doo not the couetous feare to robbe the goods of other Thys wyse Philosopher woold not trust the fyne gold and thou doost trust the hard lead Draw you two lottes Socrates of Athens and thou of Samia See which of you two haue erred or doone well hee to cary gold from the land to the Sea or thou by the Sea to bring gold to the land I am assured that the auncyent Romayns woold say that it is hee but the couetous of this present world would say that it is thou That which in this case I thynk is that thou in praysyng yt doost disprayse thy self and Socrates in dyspraysyng it of all is praysed and esteemed ¶ The Emperor followeth his matter concludeth his letter greatly reprouing his frend Mercurius for that hee tooke thought for the losse of his goods Hee sheweth him the nature of fortune and describeth the condicions of the couetous man Cap. xxxi THis messenger told mee that thou art very sad that thou cryest out in the night and importunest the gods wakest thy neighbors and aboue all that thou complainest of fortune which hath vsed thee so euill I am sory for thy grief for grief is a frend of solytude enemy of company a louer of darknes straunge in conuersation heire of desperacion I am sory thou cryest in the night for it is a signe of folly a token of smal pacience the point of no wise man and a great proof of ignoraunce for at the hour when al the world is couered with darknes thou alone doost discouer thy hart with exclamacions I am sory that thou art vexed with the gods saying that they are cruell For so much as if they haue taken any thing froÌ„ thee for thy pryde they shoold restore it again vnto thee for thy humility For as much as wee offeÌ„d the gods through the offence so much doo wee appease them with pacieÌ„ce O my frend Mercurius knowst thou not that the pacience which the gods haue in dissembling our faults is greater then that which men haue in suffering their chastisements for wee others vniustly doo offend them and they iustly doo punysh vs. I am sory that with thy exclamations and complaints thou slauÌ„derest thy neighbors for as thou knowst one neighbor always enuyeth another in especially the poore the rych And according to my counsell thow shooldst dyssemble thy payn and take all things in good part for if perhaps thy riches haue caused thy sorow thy pacience will moue them to compassion I am sory thou complainest of thy fortune For fortune sith shee is knowen of al dooth not suffer her self to bee defamed of one and it is better to thynk wyth fortune how thou mayst remedy it then to thynk with what grief to coÌ„playn For they are diuers men which to publish their pain are very carefull but to seeke remedy are as negligent O poore innocent Mercurius after so long forgetfullnesse art thou more aduysed to complayn of fortune agayn datest thow defye fortune with whom all wee haue peace Wee vnbend our bowes and thow wilt charge thy launces thou knowst not what warre meaneth and yet thou wilt winne the victory all are deceiued and wilt thow alone go safe What wilt thow more I say vnto thee synce I see thee commyt thy self to fortune Doost thow know that it is shee that beateth down the high walles and defendeth the town dyches knowst thou not that it is shee that peopleth the vnhabitable deserts and dyspeopleth the peopled Cities Knowst thou not that it is shee that of enemyes maketh frends and of frends enemyes Knowest thou not that it is shee that conquereth the conquerors Knowst thou not that it is shee that of traitors maketh faithfull and of faithfull suspicious fynally I wil thou know that fortune is shee which turneth realms breaketh armies abassheth kings raiseth tirants geeueth lyfe to the dead and berieth the lyuing Doost thou not remember that the second king of the Lacedemonians had ouer his gates such woords ¶ The pallace here beehold where men doo striue by fruitles toyle to conquere what they can And fortune â—cke that princes fancies riue by his vnbrideled wyl that alwayes wan CErtaynly these woords were high and proceeded of a hygh
good Plutarche sayeth further If thow wilt noble Prince trust thyne own vnderstanding in my poore counsayl in few woords I woold recite vnto thee al the auncyent laws I wil send thee very brief sweete laws not to th end thow shooldst publysh them in Rome but to the end thou keepe them in thy house For synce thow hast made laws for all I wyll make laws for thee The fyrst law is that thow beehaue thy self in such sort that thow bee not noted of any notable vice For yf the prynce bee vertuous in hys pallace none dare bee dyssolute in hys house The second law is that equally thou keepe iustice as well to him which lyueth farre of as to him which is neere about thee for it is much better that thou depart of thy goods to thy seruants then that thou shooldst geeue that iustice which apperteineth to others The thyrd law is that thou delyght in woord and deede to bee true and that they take thee not in this default to speak too much For prynces which in their woords are vncertayn and in their promyses doubtfull shal bee hated of their frends and mocked of their enemies The fourth law is that thou bee very gentle of condicion and not forgetful of seruices doon For vnthankful princes are hated of god despised of mē The fift law is that as a pestilence thou chase from thee flatterers For such with their euill lyfe doo disturb a whole common wealth and with their flatteries doo darken thy renowne If thou most noble prince wilt obserue these .v. laws thou shalt neede to make no moe laws For there is no neede of other law in the common wealth but to see that the prince bee of good life This wrote Plutarche to Traian and euery vertuous man ought to haue them written in his hart I was willing to touch this history onely to shew the profyt of this last law where it sayth that princes admit into their conuersation no flatterers of whom it is reason wee talke of now For so much as there are dyuers men with whom they lose their time and spend their goods When Rome was well ordered two officers were greatly estemed to the Romains The one was the maisters of fence which were as men that fought and turned and many times in that fyght they were slaine And the cause to inuent this play was to the end yong men not expert in warre shoold see the swords drawen sharp speres shootyng of crossebows to geeue blows with their sword to shed blood to geeue cruell wounds and to sley men For in this sort they lost feare and in goyng to the warre they recouered courage The man which hath once past a fourd in the water though it bee in the night dare pas it again But hee which hath neuer passed it ouer though it bee in the day dare not auenture it I mean that the Romains were very sage to shew vnto their children the daungers beefore they did put them therein For this is the difference beetwene the fearefull hart and the couragious stomack in that the one flyeth from a distaffe and the other is not afrayd of a sweord The second office which was esteemed in Rome was that of the iugglers iesters comediants and of such others which inuented playes and pastimes and the romayns deuised these sports to reioyce the people and in especially men of warre whom they feasted at their goyng foorth and much more at their comming home For the Romains thinking that they shoold bee wyth such glory receyued went with determinacion eyther to winne the victory or to dye in battaile The auncient and true Romains had such care for the common wealth of their people that they consented that iesters shoold iest iugglers shoold iuggle and the players of enterludes shoold play But this was not through abundaunce of vanyty nor for want of grauity but to take from the Plebeians occasion of idlenes and to keepe them occupied in other particuler playes they woold that all the pleasures shoold bee taken togethers Not without cause I say that the pleasures were taken in commen that is to weete that no romayn could play any playes particularly make any bankets represent comedies nor make any feasts beeside those which they made to reioyce the whole people so that in Rome they trauayled seuerally and reioyced togethers I would to god that such and so excellent a romain custome were obserued in our christian common wealth But I am very sory that indifferently rich and poore great and small doo play comedyes roune the bulles make iust ordein bankets weare deuises feast the ladyes spend in bankets and inuent feasts The which things altogether doo redound to the domage of the common wealth to the wast of the goods and to the corrupcion of the maners for the particuler pastimes doo encrease new vices to breede in mè These players did serue in rome to make pastime at the great feasts of their Gods For since Romayns were great worshippers of their gods and so careful of their temples they sought to feast them al the ways they could inuent Truly this was doon by the deuine sufferance for their gods beeing laughing stocks as in deed they were the liuing god would they should bee serued honoured and feasted by iestures and mocks Blondus in the third booke de Roma triumphante mencioneth the which I haue haue spoken and sayth That the Romayns were no lesse curious to giue laws to the iudglers and iesters which went mocking vp and down Rome then to the captayns which were fighting in the warre For though they did permit iesters players and iuglers to exercise their offices yet they did commaund theim that their liues might bee vpright and iust Amongst others such were the laws which the romayns ordeyned for these iesters iuglers players and tomblers The first law was they commaunded that they should all bee knowen and examined to see if they were honest men wise and sage For the more their offices were vaine so much the more they prouided that they were geeuen to wise men The second law commaunded to examine them to see if they were able and comly to exercise their offices and in deed in this case as well as in the other they had reason as very a foole is hee which for harkneth to a foole not pleasant as the foole him selfe The third law was that they did not permit any Romaine iugler to exercise such feats oneles hee had some other craft So that if they occupyed the holy days to play and shew pastyme in the streats the other days they should woork at home at their houses The fourth law was that no iugler nor vice should bee so hardy in his ostentacions to speake any malices and in deede it was a law very necessary For often times they are few which doo reioyce at their mockryes and many which complayne of their malices The fift law was that no iugler or iester should bee so
wee shall write but such as they shal finde vs so shall wee bee iudged And that which is most fearfull of all the execucion and sentence is geeuē in one day Let princes and great lords beeleeue mee in this Let them not leaue that vndoon till after their death which they may doo during their lyfe And let them not trust in that they commaund but in that whiles they liue they doo Let them not trust in the woorks of an other but in their own good deedes For in the end one sigh shal bee more woorth then all the frends of the world I counsel pray and exhort all wise and vertuous men and also my self with them that in such sort wee liue that at the hour of death wee may say wee liue For wee cannot say that wee lyue whē wee liue not well For all that tyme which without profit wee shall liue shall bee counted vnto vs for nothing ¶ Of the death of Marcus Aurelius the Emperor and how there are few frends which dare say the truth to sick men Cap. xlix THe good Emperor Marcus Aurelius now beeing aged not only for the great yeres hee had but also for the great trauels hee had in the warres endured It chaunced that in the .xviii. yere of his Empire and .lxxii. yeres from the day of his birth and of the foundation of Rome .v. hundreth xliii beeing in the warre of Pannony which at this tyme is called Hungary beeseeging a famous citie called Vendeliona sodaynly a disease of the palsey tooke him which was such that hee lost his life and Rome her Prince the best of lyfe that euer was born therein Among the heathen princes some had more force then hee other possessed more ryches then hee others were as aduenturous as hee and some haue knowē as much as hee but none hath been of so excellent and vertuous a lyfe nor so modest as hee For his life beeing examined to the vttermost there are many princely vertues to follow few vices to reproue The occasion of his death was that going one nyght about his camp sodeinly the disease of the palsey tooke him in his arme so that from thence forward hee coold not put on his gown nor draw his sword and much lesse cary a staffe The good emperor beeing so loden with yeres and no lesse with cares the sharp winter approching more and more great aboundance of water and snow fell about the tenis so that an other disease fell vppon him called Litargie the which thing much abated his courage and in his hoast caused great sorow For hee was so beeloued of all as if they had been his own children After that hee had proued all medicins and remedies that coold bee found and all other things which vnto so great and mighty princes were accustomed to bee doon hee perceiued in the end that all remedy was past And the reason hereof was beecause his sicknes was exceeding vehement he him self very aged the ayer vnholsom aboue al beecause sorows cares oppressed his hart Without doubt greater is the disease that proceedeth of sorow then that which proceedeth of the feuer quartain And thereof ensueth that more easely is hee cured which of corrupt humors is full then hee which with profound thoughts is oppressed The emperor then beeing sick in his chamber in such sort that hee coold not exercise the feats of arms as his men ranne out of their camp to scirmidge the Hungarions in lyke maner to defend the fight on both parts was so cruell through the great effution of blood that neither the hungarion had cause to reioyce nor yet the romayn to bee mery Vnderstanding the euil order of his specially that .v. of his captains were slain in the conflict that hee for his disease coold not bee there in person such sorows persed his hart that although hee desired foorthwith to haue dyed yet hee remained two days three nights without that hee woold see light or speak vnto any man of his So that the heat was much the rest was small the sighs were continuall and the thirst very great the meat lytle and the sleepe lesse and aboue all his face wrynkled and his lips very black Sometimes hee cast vp his eyes and another tyme hee wrong his hands always hee was sylent and continually hee sighed His tong was swollen that hee coold not spit and his eyes very hollow with weeping So that it was a great pity to see his death and no lesse compassion to see the confusion of his pallace and the hinderaunce of the warre Many valiant captains many noble Romayns many faithfull seruaunts and many old frends at all these heauines were present But none of them durst speak to the Emperor Marke partly for that they tooke him to bee so sage that they knew not what counsel to geeue him and partly for that they were so sorowfull that they coold not refrayn their heauy tears For the louing and true frends in their lyfe ought to bee beeloued and at their death to bee beewailed Great compassion ought men to haue of those which dye not for that wee see them dye but beecause there are none that telleth them what they ought to doo Princes and great lords are in greater perill when they dye then the Plebeyans For the counsaylour dare not tell vnto his Lord at the hour of death that which hee knoweth and much lesse hee will tell him how hee ought to dye and what things hee ought to discharge whiles hee is aliue Many goe to visit the sick that I woold to god they went some other where And the cause heereof is that they see the sick mans eyes hollow the flesh dryed the arms without flesh the colour enflamed the ague continuall the payn great the tong swollen nature consumed and beesydes al this the house destroyed and yet they say vnto the sick man bee of good cheere I warrant you you shall liue As yong men naturally desire to liue and as death to all old men is dredfull so though they see them selues in that dystresse yet they refuse no medicine as though there were great hope of lyfe And thereof ensueth oftentymes that the miserable creatures depart the world without confessing vnto god and making restitutions vnto men O if those which doo this knew what euil they doo For to take away my goods to trouble my person to blemish my good name to sclaunder my parentage and to reprooue my lyfe these woorks are of cruell enemyes but to bee occasion to lose my soul it is the woorke of the deuill of hell Certeinly hee is a deuyll whych deceiueth the sick with flatteries and that in steede to healp hym to dye well putteth him in vayn hope of long lyfe Heerein hee that sayth it winneth lyttle and hee that beeleeueth it aduentureth much To mortall men it is more meete to geeue counsels to reform their consciences with the truth then to hasard their houses
with lyes With our frends wee are shamelesse in their life and also bashfull at their death The which ought not to bee so For if our fathers were not dead and that wee did not dayly see these that are present dye mee thinketh it were a shame and also a fear to say to the sick that hee alone shoold dye But since thou knowst as well as hee and hee knoweth as well as thou that all doo trauell in this perillous iurney what shame hast thou to say vnto thy frend that hee is now at the last point If the dead shoold now reuyue how woold they complayn of their frends And thys for no other cause but for that they woold not geeue them good counsell at their death For if the sick man bee my frend and that I see peraduenture hee will dye why shall not I counsell him to prepare him self to dye Certeinly oftentimes wee see by experyence that those which are prepared and are ready for to dye doo escape and those which think to liue doo perish What shoold they doo which goe to vysit the sick perswade them that they make their testaments that they confesse their sinnes that they discharge their conscience that they receiue the Communion and that they doo reconcile them selues to their enemies Certeinly all these things charge not the launce of death nor cut not the threed of lyfe I neuer saw blyndnes so blynd nor ignoraunce so ignorant as to bee ashamed to counsell the sick that they are bound to doo when they are whole As wee haue sayd heere aboue Princes and great Lords are those aboue all other that liue and dye most abusedly And the cause is that as their seruaunts haue no harts to perswade them when they are mery so haue they no audacity to tell them trueth when they are in peril For such seruaunts care lytle so that their maisters beequeath them any thing in theyr willes whether they dye well or lyue euyll O what misery and pity is it to see a Prince a Lord a gentleman and a rych person dye if they haue no faythfull frend about them to help them to passe that payn And not wythout a cause I say that hee ought to bee a faythfull frend For many in our lyfe doo gape after our goods and few at our deaths are sory for our offences The wyse and sage men before nature compelleth them to dye of their own will ought to dye That is to weete that beefore they see them selues in the pangues of death they haue their consciences ready prepared For if wee count him a foole whych will passe the sea without a shippe truely wee will not count him wise which taketh his death without any preparacion beefore What loseth a wise man to haue his will well ordained in what aduenture of honor is any man beefore death to reconsile him self to his enemies and to those whom hee hath born hate and malyce What loseth hee of his credit who in his lyfe tyme restoreth that which at his death they will commaund him to render wherein may a man shew him self to bee more wise then when willingly hee hath discharged that which afterwards by proces they will take from him O how many princes great lords are there which only not for spending one day about their testament haue caused their children and heirs all the days of their life to bee in trauerse in the law So that they supposing to haue left their children welthy haue not left them but for atturneis and counselers of the law The true and vnfained Christian ought euery morning so to dyspose his goods and correct his lyfe as if hee shoold dye the same night And at night in like maner hee ought so to commit him self to god as if hee hoped for no lyfe vntill morning For to say the truth to sustein life there are infinit trauels but to meete death there is but one way If they will credit my woords I woold counsell no man in such estate to liue that for any thing in the world hee shoold vndoo him self The rich and the poore the great and the small the gentlemen and the Plebeians all say and swear that of death they are exceeding fearfull To whom I say and affirm that hee alone feareth death in whom wee see amendment of lyfe Princes and great lords ought also to bee perfect beefore they bee perfect to end beefore they end to dye beefore they dye and to bee mortified beefore they bee mortified If they doo this with them selues they shall as easely leaue their lyfe as if they chāged from one house to an other For the most part of men delight to talk with leisure to drink with leisure to eat with leisure to sleep with leisure but they dye in haste Not without cause I say they dye in haste since wee see thē receiue the sacrament of the supper of the lord in haste make their willes by force with speed to confesse and receiue So that they take it and demaund it so late and so without reason that often times they haue lost their senses and are ready to geeue vp the spirit when they bring it vnto them What auaileth the ship maister after the ship is sonk what doo weapons auayl after the battell is lost What auaileth pleasures after men are dead By that I haue spoken I will demaund what it auaileth the sick beeing heuy with sleep and beereft of their senses to call confessors to whom they confesse their sinnes Euill shal hee bee confessed whych hath no vnderstandyng to repent him self What auayleth it to call the confessor to vnderstand the secret of his conscience when the sick man hath lost his speach Let vs not deceiue our selues saying in our age wee will amend heereafter make restitution at our death For in myne oppinion it is not the poynt of wyse men nor of good christians to desire so much tyme to offend and they wil neuer espy any to amend Woold to god that the third part of tyme which men occupy in sinne were employed about the meditations of death and the cares which they haue to accomplish their fleshly lusts were spent in beewayling their filthy sinnes I am very sory at my hart that thei so wickedly passe their life in vyces and pleasures as if there were no God to whom they shoold render account for their offences All worldlings willingly doo sinne vppon hope only in age to amend and at death to repent but I woold demaund him that in this hope sinned what certeinty hee hath in age of amendment and what assuraunce hee hath to haue long warning beefore hee dye Since wee see by experience there are mo in nomber which dye yong then old it is no reason wee shoold commit so many sinnes in one day that wee shoold haue cause to lament afterwards all the rest of our lyfe And afterwards to beewail the sinnes of our long life wee desire no more but one
to deny that I feare not death shoold bee to deny that I am not of flesh Wee see by experience that the elephants doo feare the Lyon the Beare the Elephant the woolf the Beare the lamb the woolf the ratte the catte the catte the dogge and the dogge the man fynally the one and the other doo feare for no other thyng but for feare that one kylleth not the other Then since brute beasts refuse death the which though they dye feare not to fyght with the furies nor hope not to rest with the gods so much the more ought wee to feare death which dye in doubt whither the furies wyll teare vs in pieces with their torments or the gods will receyue vs into their houses with ioy Thinkest thou Panutius that I doo not see well that my vine is gathered and that it is not hyd vnto mee that my pallace falleth in decay I know well that I haue not but the kirnel of the raison and the skinne and that I haue not but one sygh of all my lyfe vntill this time There was great difference beetweene mee and thee and now there is great difference beetwixt mee and my self For about the ensigne thow doost place the army In the ryuers thow castest thy nettes within the parks thou huntest the bulles In the shadow thow takest cold By this I mean that thow talkest so much of death beecause that thou art sure of thy life O myserable man that I am for in short space of all that in this lyfe I haue possessed with mee I shall cary nothing but onely my wynding sheete Alas now shall I enter into the field not where of the fierce beasts I shal bee assaulted but of the hungry woorms deuoured Alas I see my self in that dystresse from whence my frayl flesh cannot escape And yf any hope remayn it is in thee o death When I am sick I woold not that hee that is whole shoold comfort mee When I am sorowfull I woold not that hee which is mery shoold cōfort mee When I am banished I woold not that he which is in prosperity shoold comfort mee When I am at the hour of death I woold not that hee shoold comfort mee which is not in some suspicion of lyfe But I woold that the poore shoold comfort mee in my pouerty the sorowfull in my sorows the banyshed in my banishment and hee which is in as great daunger of his life as I am now at the poynt of death For there is no counsayle so healthfull nor true as that of the man which is in sorow when hee counsayleth an other whych is likewise tormented him self If thow consyderest well this sentence thow shalt fynd that I haue spoken a thyng very profound wherein notwithstanding my tongue is appeased For in my oppinion euill shall hee bee comforted which is weeping with him that continually laugheth I say this to the end thow know that I know it and that thou perceiue that I perceyue it And beecause thou shalt not lyue deceyued as to my frend I wil disclose the secret and thow shalt see that small is the sorow which I haue in respect of the great which I haue cause to haue For if reason had not stryued wyth sensuality the sighs had ended my lyfe and in a pond of teares they had made my graue The things which in mee thow hast seene which are to abhorre meat to banysh sleepe to loue care to bee annoyed with company to take rest in sighs to take pleasure in tears may easely declare vnto thee what torment is in the sea of my hart when such tremblings doo appeare in the earth of my body Let vs now come to the purpose and wee shall see why my body is without consolation and my hart so ouercome with sorows for my feelyng greatly exceedeth my complaynyng beecause the body is so delycat that in scratchyng it it complayneth and the hart is so stout and valiaunt that though it bee hurt yet it dyssembleth O Panutius I let thee weete that the occasion why I take death so greeuously is beecause I leaue my sonne Commodus in this life who lyueth in this age most perillous for hym and no lesse daungerous for the Empire By the flowers are the fruits knowen by the grapes the vines are knowen and by the face men are knowen by the colt the horse is iudged and by the infant youth is knowen This I say by the Prince my sonne for that hee hath been euill in my life I doo ymagyn that hee will bee woorse after my death Since thou as well as I knowst the euill condicions of my sonne why doost thou maruell at the thoughts and sorows of the father My sonne Commodus in years is yong and in vnderstanding yonger Hee hath an euill inclynation and yet hee wil not enforce him self against the same hee gouerneth him self by hys own sence and in matters of wisedome hee knoweth lytel of that hee shoold bee ignoraunt hee knoweth too much and that which is woorst of all hee ys of no man esteemed Hee knoweth nothing of things past nor occupyeth hym about any thing present Fynally for that which with myne eyes I haue seene I say and that which with in my hart I haue suspected I iudge that shortly the person of my sonne shall bee in hazard and the memory of hys father perysh O how vnkyndly haue the Gods vsed them selues toward vs to commaund vs to leaue our honor in the hands of our children for it shoold suffice that wee shoold leaue them our goods and that to our frends we shoold commyt our honor But yet I am sory for that they consume the goods in vices and lose the honor for to bee vitious The gods beeyng pityful as they are since they geeue vs the authoryty to deuyde our goods why doo they not geeue vs leaue to make our wills of the honor My sonnes name beeing Commodus in the Romayn tongue is as much to say as profyt but as hee is wee will bee content to bee without the lytle profyt which hee may doo to some so that wee may bee excused of the great domage which hee is lykely to doo to all For I suppose hee wyll bee the scourge of men and the wrath of Gods Hee entreth now into the pathway of youth alone without a guide And for that hee hath to passe by the hygh and daungerous places I feare lest hee bee lost in the wood of vices For the children of Princes and great Lords for so much as they are brought vp in lyberty wantonnes doo easely fall into vices and voluptuousnes and are most stubborn to bee wythdrawen from their folly O Panutius geue attentiue eare to that I say vnto thee Seest thow not that Commodus my sonne is at lyberty is rych is yong and is alone By the fayth of a good man I sweare vnto thee that the least of these wynds woold ouerthrow not onely a yong tender ash but also a mighty strong
thousand sexterces Trauaile to augmēt them for her not to dymynish them I commend vnto thee Drusia the Romain wydow who hath a proces in the Senat. For in the times of the cōmotions past her husband was banished proclamed traytor I haue great pyety of so noble worthy a widow for it is now .iii. moneths since shee hath put vp her cōplaint for the great warres I could not shew her iustice Thou shalt find my sonne that in .xxxv. yeares I haue gouerned in Rome I neuer agreed that any widow should haue any sute beefore mee aboue .viii. dayes Bee carefull to fauour and dispatch the orphanes and wydows For the needy wydows in what place so euer they bee doo encurre into great daunger Not which out cause I aduertise thee that the trauaile to dispatch thē so sone as the maist to administer iustice vnto thē For through the prolōging of beautiful womēs suites their honor credit is diminished So that their busines being prolōged they shal not recouer so much of their goods as they shal lose of their renowm I cōmēd vnto thee my sonne my old seruaunts which with my long yeares and my cruell warres with my great necessityes with the combrance of my body and my long disease haue had great trouble as faithfull seruaunts oftentimes to ease mee haue annoyed them selues It is conuenient since I haue preuailed of their lyfe that they should not loose by my death Of one thing I assure thee that though my body remaine with the wormes in the graue yet beefore the gods I will remember them And heerin thou shalt shew thy selfe to bee a good child when thou shalt recompence those which haue serued thy father well Al princes which shall doo iustice shal get enemies in the excucion therof And sith it is doone by the hands of those which are neere him the more familiare they are with the prince the more are they hated of the people al in generally doo loue iustice but none doo reioyce that they execute it in his house And therfore after the Prince endeth his lyfe the people will take reuenge of those which haue beene ministers therof It were great infamy to the empire offence to the gods iniury to mee vnthankfulnes to thee hauing found the armes of my seruants redy xviii yeares that thy gates should bee shut against them one day Keepe keepe these thinges my sonne in thy memorye and since particulerly I doo remember them at my death cōsider how hartely I loued them in my life ¶ The good Marcus Aurelius Emperor of Rome endeth his purpose life And of the last woords which hee spake to his sonne Commodus and of the table of counsels which hee gaue him Cap. lvii WHen the Emperor had ended his particuler recommendacions vnto his sonne Commodus as the dawning of the day beegan to appeere so his eies beegan to close his tong to faulter his hands to tremble as it dooth accustome to those which are at the point of death The prince perceiuing then litle life to remaine commaunded his secretory Panutius to go to the coffer of his books to bring one of the coffers beefore his presence out of the which hee tooke a table of .iii. foot of bredth and ii of length the which was of Eban bordered al about with vnycorne And it was closed with .2 lyds very fine of red wood which they cal rasing of a tree where the Phenix as they say breedeth which dyd grow in Arabia And as there is but one onely Phenix so in the world is there but one onely tree of that sorte On the vttermost part of the table was grauen the God Iupiter on the other the goddesse Venus in the other was drawen the God Mars the goddesse Diana In the vppermost part of the table was carued a bull in the neythermost part was drawne a kyng And they sayd the paynter of so famous renowmed a woork was called Apelles The Emperor takyng the table in his hands casting his eies vnto his sonne sayd these woords Thou seest my sonne how from the turmoyls of fortune I haue escaped how I into miserable destenies of death doo enter where by experience I shall know what there is after this lyfe I meane not now to blaspheme the gods but to repent my sinnes But I would willingly declare why the gods haue created vs since there is such trouble in life such paine in death Not vnderstāding why the gods haue vsed so great cruelti with creatures I see it now in that after .lxii. yeres I haue sayled in the daunger peril of this life now they commaund mee to land harbour in the graue of death Now approcheth the houre wherin the band of matrimoni is losed the thred of life vntwined the key dooth lock the slepe is wakened my lyfe dooth end I go out of this troublesome paine Remembring mee of that I haue doone in my lyfe I desire no more to liue but for that I know not whyther I am caryed by death I feare refuse his darts Alas what shal I doo since the gods tel mee not what I shal doo what coūsail shal I take of any mā since no man will accompany mee in this iourney O what great disceite o what manifest blindnes is this to loue one thing al the days of his life to call nothing with vs after our death Beecause I desired to bee rych they let mee dy poore Bycause I desired to lyue with company they let mee dy alone For such shortnes of life I know not what hee is that wyl haue a house since the narow graue is our certain mansiō place beeleeue mee my sonne that many things past doo greeue mee sore but with nothing so much I am troubled as to come so late to the knowledge of this life For if I could perfectly beeleeue this neyther should men haue cause to reproue mee neither yet I now such occasion to lament mee O how certaine a thing is it that men when they come to the point of death doo promise the gods that if they proroge their death they will amend their life but notwithstanding I am sory that wee see them deliuered from death without any maner of amendment of life They haue obteyned that which of the gods they haue desired haue not perfourmed that which they haue promised They ought assuredly to think that in the sweetest time of their lyfe they shall bee constreyned to accept death For admit that the punishment of ingrate persons bee deferred yet therfore the fault is not pardoned Bee thou assured my sonne that I haue seene enough hard felt tasted desired possessed eaten slept spoken and also liued inough For vices geeue as great trouble to those which follow them much as they doo great desire to those which neuer proued them I confesse to the immortall Gods that I haue no desire to lyue yet I ensure thee
to god and confesseth to the world that hee more rashely then wysely plonged him self into so graue and deepe a matter and whose yong yeres and vnskilfull head might both then and now haue excused his fond enterprise heerein For the second and last I must needes appeal to all the woorshipfull and my beeloued compaignyons and fellow students of our house of Lyncolnes Inne at that tyme from whence my poore english Dyall tooke his light To whose iust and true reports for thy vndoubted satisfaction and discharge of my poore honesty I referre thee and wholly yeld mee These recyted causes for purgacion of my suspected fame as also for established assurance of the lyke and thy further doubt of mee heereafter I thought good gentle reader to denounce vnto thee I myght well haue spared thys second and last labor of myne taken in the reformacion and correction of thys Dyall enlarging my self further once agayn wyth the translation of the late and new come fauored courtier and whych I found annexed to the Dyall for the fourth and last booke If my preceeding trauell taken in the settyng foorth of the first three books and the respect of myne honesty in accomplyshing of the same had not incyted mee vnwillyng to continue my first begonne attempt to bring the same to his perfyt and desyred end whych whole woork is now complete by thys last booke entituled the fauoured courtyer Whych fyrst and last volume wholly as yt lyeth I prostrate to the iudgement of the graue and wyse Reader subiecting my self and yt to the reformation and correction of hys lerned head whom I beeseech to iudge of mee wyth fauor and equity and not wyth malyce to persecute my same and honest intent hauyng for thy benefit to my lyttle skill and knowledge imployed my symple talent crauyng no other guerdon of thee but thy good report and curteous acceptaunce heereof Whych dooyng thou shalt make mee double bound to thee First to bee thankfull for thy good will Secondly to bee considerate how hereafter I take vppon mee so great a charge Thirdly thou shalt encourage mee to study to increase my talent Fourthly and lastly most freely to beestow thincrease thereof on thee and for the benefit of my countrey and common weale whereto duety byndeth mee Obseruing the sage prudent saying of the renowmed orator and famous Cicero with which I end and thereto leaue thee Non nobis solum nati sumus ortusque nostri partem patria vendicat partem parentes partem amici In defence and preseruation whereof good reader wee ought not alone to employ our whole wittes and able sences but necessity enforcing vs to sacrifice our selues also for benefit thereof From my lord Norths house nere London the .10 day of May. 1568. Thine that accepteth mee Th. North. ¶ The prolog of this present woork sheweth what one true frend ought to doo for an other Addressed to the right honorable the lord Fraunces Conos great commaunder of Lyon THe famous Philosopher Plato beesought of al his disciples to tel theÌ„ why hee iornyed so oft from Athens to Scicille beeing the way hee trauelled in deede very long and the sea hee passed very daungerous aunswered them thus The cause that moues mee to goe from Athens to Scicille is only to see Phocion a man iustinal that hee dooth and wise in all that hee speaketh and beecause hee is my very frend and enemy of Denys I goe also willingly to him to ayd him in that I may and to councell him in all the I know and told them further I doo you to weete my disciples that a good philosopher to visit and help his frend and to accompany with a good man shoold think the iorney short and no whit paynfull though hee shoold sulk the whole seas and pace the compase of the earth Appolonius Thianeus departed from Rome went through all Asia sayled ouer the great flud Nile endured the bitter cold of mount Caucasus suffered the parching heat of the mountayns Riphei passed the land of Nassagera entred into the great India And this long pilgrimage tooke hee vppon him in no other respect but to see Hyarcus the philosopher his great and old frend Agesilaus also among the Greekes accompted a woorthy Captayn vnderstanding that the kyng Hycarius had an other captayn his very frend captyue leauing all his own affayres apart traueling through dyuers countreis went to the place where hee was and arryued there presented him self vnto the kyng and said thus to him I humbly beeseech thee O puissant king thou deigne to pardon Minotus my sole and only frend and thy subiect now for what thou shalt doo to him make thy account thou hast doon it to mee For in deed thou canst neuer alone punish his body but thou shalt therewith also crucify my hart Kyng Herod after Augustus had ouercome Mark Antony came to Rome and laying his crown at the Imperiall feete with stout corage spake these woords vnto him Know thou mighty Augustus if thou knowst it not that if Mark Antony had beeleeued mee and not his accursed loue Cleopatra thou shooldst then haue proued how bitter an enemy I woold haue been to thee and hee haue found how true a frend I was and yet am to him But hee as a man rather geeuen ouer to the rule of a womans will then guyded by reasons skill tooke of mee but money only and of Cleopatra counsell And proceeding further sayd Lo here my kingdom my person and royall crown layd at thy princely feete all which I freely offer to thee to dispose of at thy will pleasure pleasing thee so to accept it but yet with this condicion inuict Augustê° that thou commaund mee not to here nor speak yll of Mark Antony my lord and frend yea although hee were now dead For know thou sacred prince that true frends neither for death ought to bee had in obliuioÌ„ nor for absens to bee forsaken Iulius Cesar last dictator and first emperor of Rome dyd so entierly loue Cornelius Fabatus the consull that traueling togethers through the alps of Fraunce and beeing beenighted farre from any town or harber saue that only of a hollow caue which happely they lighted on And Cornelius the consull euen then not well at ease Iulius Cesar left him the whole caue to th end hee might bee more at rest and hee him self lay abroad in the cold snow By these goodly examples wee haue resited and by dyuers others wee coold resite may bee considered what faithfull frendship ought to bee beetwixt true and perfect frends and into how many daungers one frend ought to put him self for an other For it is not enough that one frend bee sory for the troubles of an other but hee is bound if neede were to goe and dye ioyfully wyth him Hee only deseruedly may bee counted a true frend that vnasked and beefore hee bee called goeth with his goods and person to help and releeue his frend But in this our
yron age alas there is no such kynd of amity as that wee haue spoken of More then this that there is no frend will part with any thing of his to releeue his frend much lesse that taketh care to fauor him in his trobles but if there bee any such that will help hys frend yt is euen then when tyme serueth rather to pity and lament him then to ayd or succor him It is a thing woorth the knowledge that to make a true and perpetuall frendship wee may not offer to many persons but according to Seneca his saying who saith My frend Lucillus I councell thee that thou bee a true frend to one alone and enemy to none for nombers of frends brings great incumbrance which seemeth somewhat to diminish frendship For who that considereth the liberty of the hart it is impossible that one shoold frame and agree wyth the condicions of many and much lesse that many shoold content them with the desiers and affections of one Tully and Salust were two famous orators amongst the Romayns and great enemies beetwene them selues and duryng thys emulation beetweene them Tully had purchased all the Senators frendship and Salust only had no other frend in all Rome but Mark Anthony alone And so these two great Orators beeing one day at woords togeethers Tully in great anger sayd to Salust what force or power art thou of or what canst thou doo or attempt against mee sith thou knowst that in all Rome thou hast but one only frend Mark Antony and I no enemy but one and that is hee To whom Salust answered Thou gloriest O Tully that thou hast no mo but one only enemy and afterwards iests at mee that I haue no more frends but only one but I hope in the immortall Gods that this only enemy thou hast shal bee able enough vtterly to vndoo thee and this my sole frend that I haue shal bee sufficient to protect and defend mee in al my causes And shortly after these woords passed beetween them Mark Antony shewed the frendship hee bare to the one and the enimity hee had to the other for hee caused Tully to bee put to death and raysed Salust to great honor A frend may well impart to the other all his own as bread wyne money tyme conuersation and such lyke but hee cannot notwithstandyng geeue him part of his hart for that suffereth it not to bee parted nor deuyded beecause it can bee geeuen but to one alone This graunted to bee true as needs it must doubtles that the hart can not bee deuyded but only geeuen to one then is it of necessity that hee that will seeke to haue many frends must needs repair to the shambels to prouyde him of many harts Many vaunt them selues and think it a glory to haue nombers of frends but let such well consider to what vse that legendary of frends do serue them they shall then easely fynd they stand them in no other steed but to eat to drink to walk to babble and to murmure togeethers and not one to help the other with their goods fauor and credit at their neede nor frendly to reprooue them of their faults and vyces whych doubtles ought not to bee so For where true and perfect frendship raygneth neither I wish my frend nor hee with mee shoold dissemble any fault or vyce Ouide sayth in his booke de arte amandi that the law of true vnfayned loue is so streight that no frendship but myne in thy hart shoold herber and in myne shoold lodge none others loue but thine for loue is none other thing but one hart lyuing in two bodies two bodies obeying one hart In this world there is no treasure cōparable to a true sure frend syth to a faith full frend a man may safely discouer the secrets of hys hart beewray vnto him hys gryping greeues trusting him with his honor comitting to his guyd custody all his goods hee shall succor him in his misery counsell him in peril reioyce at his prosperity and mourn at his aduersity and in fyne I conclude such a frend neuer werieth to serue him in his lyfe nor to lament him after his death I graunt that gold and siluer is good kynsfolks are good and money is good but true frends exceede them all without comparison For all these things cannot warrant vs from necessitie if synister fortune plunge vs into it but rather encrease our torment and extremitie Also they doo not reioyce vs but rather heap further greefes vppon vs neither doo they succor vs but rather ech hour geeue vs cause to complayn much lesse doo they remember and aduise vs of that that is good but still doo deceiue vs not dyrectyng vs the right way but still bringing vs out of our way and when they haue lead vs awry out of the high way they bring vs into desert woods and hygh and daungerous mountayns whereof necessity wee must fal down hedlong A true frend is no partaker of these conditions but rather hee ys sory for the lest trouble that happeneth to hys frend hee feareth not neither spareth hys goods nor the daunger of his person hee careth not to take vppon hym any painfull iorney quarels or sutes nor yet to put his lyfe in euery hasard of death And yet that that is most of all to bee esteemed is that lyke as the hart and bowels euer burn with pure and sincere loue so dooth hee wish and desire wyth gladsome mynd to bere the burthen of all hys frends mishaps yea more then yet spoken of Alexander the great offered great presents to the Philosopher Zenocrates who woold not vouchsafe to receiue them much lesse to beehold them And beeing demaunded of Alexander why hee woold not receyue them hauyng poore kinsfolks and parents to beestow them on hee aunswered him thus Truely I haue both brothers and sisters O Alexander yet I haue no kinsman but him that is my frend and one only frend I haue who hath no neede of any gyfts to bee geeuen him For the only cause why I choose him to bee my sole and only frend was for that I euer saw him despise these worldly things Truely the sentence of this good philosopher Zenocrates is of no small efficacy for him that will aduysedly consider of it sith that not seeldom but many times it happeneth that the great troubles the sundry daungers and the continuall necessities and miseries wee suffer in this vale of misery haue for the most part proceeded from our parents and afterwards by our frends haue been mediated and redressed Therefore since wee haue thought it good and necessary to choose a frend and that hee bee but one only ech man must bee wise lest in such choise hee bee deceiued For oft tymes it happeneth that those that take litle regard herein graunt their frendship to such one as is to couetous impacient a great babbler seditious and presumptuous and of such condicions that sometyme it
remouing of the court for some courtiers there are that bee so poore that for wāt they canne hardli follow the court and others also that are rych are compelled to beare many of their charges with whome they are in company with by the way and some of those are so rude ill brought vp that they had rather beare their charge al their iourny then once againe to haue them in their company But a godsname what shall wee say yet of the wretched courtier whose coffers and horse are arrested at his departing for his debts Truly I ly not for once I sawe a courtiers moyle sold for her prouinder shee had eaten that mony not sufficient to pay the host the courtier remaining yet detter of an ouerplus the poore man was stripped euen of his cappe and gloues for satisfaction of the rest Also there is an other sorte of needy courtiers so troblesome and importune that they neuer cease to troble their freends to borow money of their acquayntance soome to fynd themselues soome to apparell them selues others to pay their dets others to play and others to geeue presents so that at the remouing day when they haue nothing wherwith to pay nor content their crediters then are they sued in lawe and arrested in theyr lodging and the credyters many tymes are not satisfyed with theyr goods but take execution also of theyr bodyes laying them in fast prison till they bee payd and satisfied of their whole dett O what a folly may bee thought in those that cannot moderat theyr expences according to theyr ability For to say vprightly hee should cut his garments according to his cloth and measure his expences with his reuenues and not followyng his affection and desire For the gentleman or courtier in the end hath not the meane nor commodity to spend as the contry man hath that lyueth at home at ease in his contry spēdeth such commodityes as hee brings into his howse but the courtier consumeth in court not his owne alone but also that of others And therfore in courte or els where let euery wise man bee diligent to bring his affaires to end but yet let him so moderate and vse his expences as hee shall not neede nor bee driuen to morgage and gage that hee hath For hee that feasteth and rowteth with others purse of that that is lent hym cannot choose but in the end hee must breake and deceyue his crediters Therfore all woorthy men that loue their honor and feare reproche ought rather to suffer honger cold thirst care paine and sorow then to bee had in the check rowle of riotous and prodigall spenders trustles of their promise and suspected of their woords There is yet an other great troble in the court of princes and that is the exceding derth of vittels the vnresonable wāt of howses and the great price of horses for many times they spend more for straw and litter for their horse then they doo in other places for hey otes and bread And further if the courtier bee a poore gentillman and that hee would feast and bancket his frends or companions hee shall spend at one dinner or supper somuch that hee shal bee constrained to fast a hole weeke after Therfore if the courtier wil be wel vsed in folowing of the court hee must not only know and speake too but also loue and inuite at tymes the bouchers vittlers fruterers keepers and softers Fishmongers and poulterers and other purueiers of the same of whōe hee shall alwaies haue asmuch neede of his prouision as hee shall haue of the iudges to shew him Iustice when hee shal neede it For meate bread wyne wood hey otes straw are comōly very deare in court For fewe of al these things are to bee bought in court but of others infinit things to bee sold to profit and gaine the poore courtiers that els had no shyft to liue And yet is there a litle more trouble in court and that is that continually letters are sent to the courtier from his frends to obtaine of the prince or his counsel his dispatch in his priuate affaires or for his seruants or tenants or other his frends And manie times these sutes are so ill welcome to the courtier that hee had rather haue pleasured his frend with a peece of mony then they should haue layd vpon him so waighty a matter And beesides this there is yet an other troble that the bringet of the letter must needes ly at the courtiers house attending his dispatch so that the courtier delaiyng his frends busines augmenteth his greefe and keeping the messenger there increaseth his charge And if perchanse his busines bee not dispatched and the sute obteyned those that wrote to him will not think hee left it of for that bee would not doo it or take paines therin but for that hee wanted fauour and credit or at least were very negligent in following their cause And that that vexeth them thorowly yet is that their parents and frends weene which are in the contry farr from court that this courtier hath all the courtiers at his commaundement that hee may say and doo what hee wil there And therfore his frends when they haue occasion to imploie him in court and that they wryte to him touching their affaires and that hee hath now taken vpon him the charge and burden of the same seeing him selfe after vnable to discharge that hee hath enterprised and can not as hee would satisfie his frends expectacion then hee faleth to dispaire and wissheth hee had been dead when hee first tooke vpon him this matter and that hee made them beeleeue hee could go thorough with that they had cōmitted to him beeing vnpossible for him hauing small credit and estimation amongst the nobility and councellers Therefore I would neuer councell him that hath brethern frends or other neere kynsfolks in court to go seeke them out there albeeyt they had matters of great weight and importance on hope to bee dispatched the sooner by their credite fauour and sute and for this cause for that in court there is euer more priuy malice and Enuy then in other places wherefore they can not bee reuenged one of the other but must tary a tyme and then when they see oportunity they set in foote to ouerthrow and secretly to put back their enemyes sute Now lo these things and other infinite plagues doo light on these poore vnfortunate courtiers incredible happely to any but the old and experienced courtier Yf the old and wise courtier would count all the fauors and mischances the derth and aboundance the frendships and enmities the contentation and displeasures the honor infamy hee hath endured in the court I beeleeue assuredly wee should not bee a litle sory for that body that had suffryd somuch but much more for that hart that had abidden al those stormes and broyls Whan the courtier seeth that hee is not hard of the prince nor spoken to of the
him A pilgrime or traueler shal come into a citty wheare hee shal see fayre goodly churches stately buyldinges rich gates high walles pauid streates large market places prouision enough aboundaunce of vittells and nombers of strangers and when hee hath seene all this hee dooth so litle esteeme of thē that to retorne agayne to his poore home hee trauelleth though it bee all the night And therfor wee should not wōder at those that doo not greatly stray from their howse and that are but seldome in many places but wee might well haue him in suspition that continually wandreth through strange contries and howses For notwithstāding the great wonders hee seeth and the greate conuersation of amity that hee hath or can fynde yet in the end they are only the eies that are fed with the sight of others thinges not the hart that is contented with his owne and also to see in princes courts great treasure ritches brings vs comonly more greefe then delight And the more his eye is fed with viewe of the faire dames of court princely pomp therof the greater sorrow assaulteth his harte hee may not still enioy the same And therfor the Renoumed Focion the Athenian captain aunswered once certaine men that said there were to bee solde in the markett place of Athens goodly stones rich Ieweles woorthi the sight howbeeit hard to bee bought beeing held at so hie a price by the marchant that sold thē From my first youth sayd this philosopher I made an oth neuer to goe see any city onles it were to conquer yt yeld yt subiect to mee nor to go see Iewels that I could not buy The great emperor Traian was much comended for that hee neuer tooke toy in his head to go see any thing but for one of these three causes to weete ether to imitate that hee sawe to bye yt or els clerely to conquer yt O worthy words of Focion and Traian very meete to bee noted retained Now to speake more particularly of the trobles daily heaped on their necks that folow court that are to bee lodged in dyuers places and straunge howses I say that if the poore courtier doo depart at night from the court to repaire to his lodging hee fyndeth oft tymes the host of his howse and other his guestes at home alreadie in theire beds and fast asleepe so that it hapneth somtimes hee is fayne to go seeke his bed in an other place for that night And also if hee should rise early in the morning to followe his matters or to wayte vpon his lord our master his host perhaps and his howsehold are not yet awake nor slurring to opē him the doore And further if his host bee angry displeased out of time who shall let him to lock his doores the day once shutt in and who should cōpell him to open his doores beefore brode day Truly it is a great happ to bee wel lodged aboute the courte much more to meete with an honest host For it hapneth oft that the great pleasure and contentacion wee receiue beeing lodged in a faier lodging is lightly taken from vs by the hard intreatie and straight vsage of the host of the same And in this is apparant the vanity fondnes and lightnes of some courtiers that rather desier seeke for a fayre pleasant lodging then for a good and profitable The ambition of the courtier is now growne to so great a soly that hee desireth rather a fayr lodging for his pleasure then a comodious or profitable for his family For admit the harbinger doo geeue them a good and comodious lodging if yt bee not sightly to the eye stand comodiously they can not lyke of yt by no meanes So that to content them the fouriers must needs prouide them of a faire lodging to the eye though litel handsome to lodge in and yet somtymes they wil hard scāt bee pleased with that And if the courtier bee of reputaciō and beeloued in court I pray you what paine and troble shall the poore harbinger haue to content his mynd and to continew in his fauor For beefor master courtier wil bee resolued which of the .ii. lodgings hee will take the fayre and most honorable or the meane most profitable hee bleedeth at the nose for anger and his hart beats and leapes a thowsand tymes in his body For his person would haue the good and comodious lodging his folly the pleasant fayr I neuer sawe dead man complaine of his graue nor courtier content with his lodging For if they geeue him a hall hee will say it wanteth a chimny if they geeue him a chamber hee will say yt lacketh an inner chamber if they geeue him a kitchin hee wil say it is to lowe smoky and that yt wanteth a larder if they geeue him a stable that it wanteth a spence or storehowse if they geeue him the best cheefest partes of the howse yet hee saieth he wanteth small litell houses of office if hee haue accesse to the wel hee must also haue the comodity of the base court And in fyne if they geeue him a low paued hall to coole refreshe him in sommer hee wil also haue a high boorded chamber for the winter possible hee shall not haue so many roomes at home in his owne howse as hee will demaund in his lodging abrode And therfor many things suffereth the courtier in his owne howse that hee wil not beare with al in an inne or an other mans howse And it may bee also that the harbingers haue prouided them of a fayr goodly lodging wheare hee shall comaund both master Stuff and al other things in the howse yet the courtier shal mislike of it fynding faulte it is to farre from the courte reputeth yt halfe a dishonor impayr of his credit to bee lodged so farre of synce others that are beeloued in fauor in court in deede lye hard adioining to the court or at the least not farr of For this is an old sayd troth the neerest lodged to the court comōly the best esteemed of the prince I haue seen many courtiers offer large giftes rewardes to intreat the harbingers to lodge thē neere the court but I neuer saw any that desyred to bee lodged neere the churche this cometh for that thei rather glory to bee right courtiers thē good christians And therfore Blondus reciteth in his booke De declinatione imperii that a gretian called Narsetes a captaine of Iustinian the great was wōt to say oft that hee neuer remēbred hee wēt to the sea nor ētred into the pallace nor beegā any battaile nor coūceled of warres nor mounted a horse back but that first hee went to the church seruid god And therfor by the dooings saiyngs of Narsetes wee may gather that euery good man ought rather to incline to bee a good christien thē to geeue him self to armes
vpright a iusticer but in the end hee geeueth more trust credit to one then to an other And hereof proceedes most coÌ„monly that wee loue not those wee ought to loue but those whom wee fansy most Now therefore following our intent touching the visitacion of courtiers hee must lay watch consider wel to procure knowledge first if any such noble men or other his frends which hee hath deuotion to visyt bee occupied or withdrawen to their bed chaÌ„bers for some priuate busynes of theirs for if it were so they woold rather think hee came to trouble them theÌ„ to visit them And therefore hee that is wise in visiting his freÌ„ds may not be too importune vpon them to prease into their bed chaÌ„ber neither to bee too tedious vnpleasant in his woords There are some so solitary that woold neuer be vysyted others that desires to bee visited euery day others there bee that woold the visitacion shoold bee short others that take such pleasure to heare a long discours that hee woold his tale shoold neuer bee ended So that the courtier must looke into the natures of men so to frame his visitacions according to the condicions of their mynd and to remember his visitations to great graue men bee not so oft dayly that they bee troublesome to him nor so seldome that they may think them strauÌ„gers that they had forgotten him That only deserueth the name of a trew visitacion where the person visyted may not bee troubled with importunacy nor the visyter may dymynish any part of his credyt and estimacion and also that hee preiudice not his own commodyty in his affaires I speak it for some that are so troublesome in their visytacions so foolish and tedious in their woords not knowing how to make an end that wee may better call them troublesome enuious and impudent then honest vysiters and faithfull frends And therefore wee should leaue them so contented wee vysyt that they shoold rather bee angry to leaue our company then that they should complayn of our importunity geeuing them rather occasyon to meete vs with a pleasant countenaunce when wee enter into their house then to make them hyde them selues or fly from vs when they see vs to say they are not within And mee thinks in deede where wee haue not great and straight frendship or els some affaires of great importaunce that toucheth vs much it should bee sufficient to vysyt our frends and acquaintance once in a moneth and where they would see vs more oftner let vs carry till they complayn and fynd fault and send to vs to let vs vnderstand it and not that wee bee so ready to come to offer and present our selues vnto them onlesse the necessity of our cause doo vrge vs. There are some persons so vndiscreete in being vysited that when others come to see them eyther they make the gates to bee shutte vppon them or they cause their seruants to say they are not within or els they get them out at the backdore or they fayn that they are a lytle aâ—rafed onely to auoyd and flye from these troublesome and babling visyters â–ª So that they had rather see a seriant enter into his house to arrest them for debt then to bee cumbred wyth these lothsome and pratyng vysyters Also yt ys not fyt to goe see their frends at vnlawfull howers as about dynner or supper tyme for those that are vysyted wyll rather thynk they come to dyne or suppe wyth them then of curtesy and good wyll to see them It happeneth sometymes that many are braue and rytch in apparell that keepe but a poore and mean ordynary at their table sparyng from their mouth to lay yt vppon their backs and therefore they are very loth and offended that any of their frends or famylyars should take them at meales to iudge of them for they thynk yt lesse payn to fast from meat secretly then that their scarcety should openly bee discouered Also the laws of honesty and ciuylity doo not permit any man to enter into the house hall or chamber of an other wythout knockyng or callyng fyrst at the doore For that onely pryuyledge to come into the house sodeynly and speak neuer a woord beelongeth to the husband or masters of the house Also it is not good to goe see hys frend when hee is at play for yf hee bee a loser it can not bee but hee wyll chafe and bee in choler in hys mynd wyth his frend to come then to trouble hym and to let hym of his play And yf haply hee were a wynner beefore his frend came to see him and afterwards chaunce to bee a loser agayn hee will lay thoccasyon of his losse vppon his frend that came of good wyl to see hym and say that hee turned hys good luck away from him and that hee came but to trouble him takyng it rather for an offence and iniury doone him then for any good loue or duty shewed him If our frend in lyke manner whom wee goe to vysyt come out of his chamber to receyue vs not byddyng vs come into the camber nor to syt down but standing to talke wyth vs wythout any other curtesy or enterteynment wee may easely perceyue by this his maner of interteynment that hee geeueth vs good and honest leaue to depart when wee wyll The wyse and fyne courtyer will as easely fynd and vnderstand hym by his signes as hee wyll doo sometymes by his woords Also the courtier must take great heede that inseemyng to vse curtesy hee happen not to make some foolish countenance in pulling of his cap in makyng curtesy coming into the hall or taking a stoole to syt down lest he bee therfore marked mocked of the standers by or noted for proud or presuÌ„ptuous for to stay or let at these triffles a man rather getteth the name of a glorious light and proud then of a graue sober man All things touching consciens ciuility honor the good courtier should always haue in memory beefore his eyes when hee shall discours with his lord or vysyt his frend And for the first beeginning of his discourse talk with him after they are set down togethers hee must ask him how his body dooth whether all his house bee meery and in good health for yt is the thyng that wee must first procure for our own priuate commodity and secondly desire yt for our frends Also in the courtyers vysitacions hee may not bee too curious or inquisytiue of news nether ouer beesy to tell news for after his frend were once aduertised of the troth it might bee lightly hee woold thank him for his coÌ„ming comend him for his curtesy and notwtstanding blame him for his news count him a lyer And yf it happen wee fynd the party whom wee visyt sad comfortles and in some necessity although hee were not our frend yet for that hee is a chrystyan wee ought to comfort him
forced to syt lowest at the boord vpon a broken stoole to be serued with a rusty knyfe to eat in foule dishes to drink for a change whot water wine more then half full of water to eat hore bread that that of all others yet is worst of all euery one of the seruants lookes ouer the shoulders on him are angry with him in their mynds Truely hee that with these condicions goeth abrode to seeke his dinner were better in my opinion to fast with bread water at home then to fill his belly abroad But such mens reward that haunts mens houses in this maner is this in the end that the noble men to whose houses they come to are offended with them the stewards of the house murmure at them the pages seruāts mocks them laughs thē to scorn the tasters cup bearers chafe with them in their mynds the cubberd keepers wonder at them the clarks of the kychyn thinks them importunat and shameles creatures Wherefore it followeth who soeuer wil obserue it that so soone as the seruants see him once come into the dyning chāber some of them hydes the stoole where hee woold syt down others set beefore him the woorst meat of the boord the filthiest dishes they haue therefore hee that may haue at home at his house his poore litle pyttance wel drest a faire white table cloth a bright knife new white bread wood candel in the winter other necessaries if hee like better to goe from table to table from kychyn to kychyn from one buttery to an other I wil suppose hee dooth it for great spare hardnes or for want of honesty good maners Now hee that keepes an ordinary house remayns always at home may dine if it bee in the somer season in his shyrt if hee list hee may syt whan hee will and where it please him hee drinks his wine fresh hath the flyes driuen from his table with the ventola hee disdaigneth the court noble mens boords keeping his own as frank and as sparing as hee list no man to gayn say him yea after meat hee is at lyberty to syt still take his ease or to walk abrode in the shade as hee wil. And in winter if perhaps hee bee wer hee straight shifts him changes all hys clothes gets him a furred night gown on the back of hym a paire of warm slyppers to heat his cold feete with all hee eates his meat warm smoking whot takes that hee likes best hee drinks white wine red wine or claret wine as hee thinks good and neede neuer to care for them that beehold hym And therefore so great priuileges as those bee of lyberty the courtier should neuer refuse to buy them for his money much lesse for the gayn of a meales meat he should leaue to enioy them But if the courtier will needes determyn to vysyt noble mens boords hee must bee very ware that in comming to a noble mans table hee doo not so much commend his fare ordinary that hee complayn of other men 3 tables where hee hath fed For it is a kynd of treason to defame sclauader those whose houses they are wont to visyt oft And when hee ys set at the table the courtier must beehaue him self modestly hee must eat temperatly and fynely hee must delay his wine with water and speak but lytel so that those that are present can not but prayse hym for his temperancy and sober diet but also for his wisedome and moderat speach To feede mannerly is to bee vnderstand not to blow his nose in his napkyn nor to lean his armes vppon the table not to eat to leaue nothyng in the dysh not to fynd faults wyth the cookes saying the meat is not inough or not well dressed For yt were a great shame for the courtier to bee noted of the wayters to bee a belly gut and to bee counted a grosse feeder There are some also that make them selues so familiar and homly in the house that they are not contented with that is serued them in the dysh but shamefully they pluck that to them that ys left in other dyshes so that they are esteemed for Iesters no lesse sawsy and malepert in their order then insatiable in their beastly eating The good courtier must also take heede hee lay not his armes to faire on the table nor that hee make any noyse wyth his teeth or his tongue nor smack with his mouth when hee eateth and that hee drink not wyth both his hands on the cup nor cast his eies too much vpon the best dishes that hee knaw nor teare his bread with his teeth that hee lick not his fyngers nor adoone eating beefore others nor to haue too greedy an appetite to the meat or sauce hee eates and that in drynkyng hee gulp not with his throte For such manner of feedyng rather beecommeth an alehouse then a noble mans table And although the courtyer can not goe ouer all the dyshes that comes to the boord yet at least let him proue a litle of euery one and then hee must praise the good cookry fine dressyng of them al. For cōmonly the noble men gentlemen that inuite any to their boord take it vncurteously are ashamed if the inuyted praise not their meat and drink they geeue them and not onely the noble men are ashamed of yt but also the other officers that haue the charge to see yt well dressed in good order Always he that eateth at an other mans table to doo as hee ought shoold praise the woorthines of him that bad him yea though perhaps hee made a lye and commend the great care and diligence of his officers in furnishing his table with so good meats and in settyng on yt foorth in so good order I say not without a cause that sometime a praise with a lye may well stand togethers sence wee see some noble mens tables so sclender furnyshed and that his ordinary should seeme rather a preparatiue supper and dyet for a sick man that means to take phisick in the next morning then an ordynary or dinner for Easter day And therefore I say that of right the lords and masters are pleased when they here their officers and seruants commendid For they choose most commonly such a steward as they knew to bee wise curteous of nature a treasorer trew and faythfull a purueier expert and diligent a butler hasty and melancony the groome of his chamber paynfull and trusty his secretary wise secret his chappleyn simple his cooke fyne curious For many think it more glory to haue an excellent cooke in their house then to haue a valyaunt captayn to keepe a strong peece or hold They are contented in court that noble mens chappleins bee rather symple then ouer wise or wel learned For if hee read but lytle hee hath the sooner say seruice therwith
enryched by his famous acts Saul was king of Israell taken for a god was anointed of Samuell his father a poor husbādman of the countrey hee frō his youth brought vp in that trade to hold the plough yet when hee was king hee neuer disdeined to plough his ground to sow his otes and to dryue hys beastes now to pasture them home again So that the good king did glory this day to hold the plough and to morow to fyght with his swoord When fortune therefore sheweth her self enemy to any and that from great dignity and high cal shee ouerthroweth him and bringeth him to low and mean estate it is then that hee hath good cause to complain of fortunes cruelty and to bewail his wretched happ ashamed to see his lothsom misery But when shee woorketh contrarily and from mean estate brings him to great honor credit that must needes bee great honor and glory to him Therefore I say let them beware beware that bear rule and aucthority in the court that they bee not proud glorious and high mynded neither otherwise detected of any kynd of vyce though the bee neuer so much in fauor and estimation Sith fortune sheweth most her spight against the proud and disdainfull hart rather then to the hūble and meeke To stopp the enemies mouth there can bee found no better means then for the derlyng of the court not to bee too proud and presumptuous since no man is found so mad or foolish in the same as once to dare to say I accuse this man because hee is in fauor and estimation but hee may boldly doo it when hee seeth in deede that hee is a proud glorious foole If wee see the fauored of the court offended one with the other wee will say it is but heat if wee see him eat to much wee will say it is but of a good stomack If hee ryse late wee will excuse him and say it was late ere hee went to bedd and that hee was wery with watching If hee play oft wee wil say hee dooth it for pastime yf hee bee careful in keeping that hee hath together that hee is wise and pollytike if hee speak much that hee is a pleasant man geeuen to bee mery yf hee speak litle that hee is wise and modest yf hee spēd much that hee is liberal and bountiful but if hee bee glorious proud what shal a man say on him with what honest mean can wee excuse him Surely let others looke For I know not Truely for all other faults and errors of men they may honestly bee excused saue only that of pryde For though many tymes wee commit other offences it is but through frailty but if wee offend in pryde it commeth of a great folly want of discretion And for the contrary the lowly curteous condition of the courtier doo not only depresse resist the detractions and murmurings of their enemies but dooth inforce them against their willes to say wel of thē For god dooth suffer many times that the peruerse nature condition of one is subdued ouercome by the good gentle vsage of an other Therefore the beloued of court shoold take great heede that they shew not them selues proud in their woords much lesse in their ceremonies which they vse in the court as in going vp the stairs in entring in at the doores in taking the stoole to sitt down also in putting of his cap. And though perhaps hee that shall read these our aduertisments will thynk them rather precepts for children then for men yet I will aunswer him neuertheles that they are very necessary for those that are in fauor in the court and for all other courtiers without the vse of which hee may happely noorish a venemous Serpent in his brest And therefore not without great reason wee haue spoken that wee haue that of too little heede taking sometymes there may folow great trouble to the fauored courtier For many tymes they murmure more against him in not putting of his capp when hee is curteously saluted then they doo if they deny their fauor when they are requested If one courtier leaue to doo curtesie to an other they say hee dooth yt not for that hee beareth him yll will but for want of bringing vpp But if hee bee great with the king then they say it is not for want of good maner but for that hee is too proud To say truely it is an vnhappy life the life of the beloued in the court sith they attribute all their faults and errors to folly although they committed them rather through negligence and want of foresight then of pretensed malyce or yll will as it is taken and thought Gneus Flaccus a noble Romayn going in company with other Romains to visit a sick man and comming also an other romain to see the same sick person lykewise and being no place commodious in the chaumber wher the last might sit down neither any stoole left to sitt down vppon they say hee rose of on his stoole and gaue him place that came last The which humanity and curtesy was afterwards published among al the Romains and after also greatly praysed of the wryters And the Romains also beeing very true graue curious and woorthy of great faith and credit in all that they wrote it is to bee credited that that act of curtesy was much noted and esteemed sith they woold wryte it in the most noble and heroycall acts of their common weale When the fauored courtier is accompanied with knights and gentlemen of the court that brings him to the court and it happen any to goe vp the degrees before him hee shoold not passe for that much lesse shew any token that hee made any rekening of it For to say troth it is no great matter for him to goe vp beefore him on the degrees of stone sith hee went beefore all on the degrees of fauor What matter is it to the fauored or officer of the court to see an other enter in at the staier doore beefore him if afterwards when they shall come where the king is hee shall goe into the priuy chamber as one that in deede is in fauor and beloued and the other shal stand wythout like a sheep And to conclude I say if I were in the nomber of those that are thus belyked and fauored of the king I woold in the kings chamber vse my fauor and credit and abrod all curtesy and ciuility ¶ That it is not fitt for courtiers to bee too couetous if they mean to keepe them selues out of many troubles and daungers Cap. xiiii AVlus Gelius and Plinie render true testimony in their writings that the honesty of the Romains was so great in their eating and their modesty in their mainteining of them selues such that they did not suffer any romain citezen to haue any moe houses then one to dwell in nor but one gown to put on his back one horse to ryde
occasion to others to iudge him to be euil Al the losses of temporal goodes that chaunce vnto men in this life oughte not to be cōpared with a litle blemishe of a mans good name The man that hasardeth for a trifle his good name in this world shall at a hūdreth shootes scarsly shoote one right And cōtrariwyse the man that hath lost his honesty and that estemeth not the reputation of his persone truly from him we shall neuer see any good thing proceade Now the emperour like vnto a wise ship-maister fearing after the great calmes some tempestuous storme seing the lightnes of his doughter and vanitie of the mother I meane in the time of this great mirth and gladnes feared lest any infamy should ensewe vnto these two ladies And for a surety he doubted not without a cause for it is an infallible rule of enuious fortune to geue vs in many yeres a litle prosperitie to thintēt that afterward sodainly she may bring vs into some great aduersitie By experience we see that the sea is seldome times calme but immediatly foloweth some perilous tēpest The extreame heate of the day doth prognosticate that terrible thōder in the euentide I meane whē fortune doth flatter vs with her golden pilles it is a token that she entendeth to catche vs in her snares The mylner before the bankes broken repareth the dammes The husbandman before it raineth thacketh his house fearing the snow and raine that is to come So lykewise the sage man ought to consider that during this lyfe he hath prosperity but by leaue aduersity as by patrimony Marcus Aurelius among al other men was he that knew how to enioy prosperitie also to preuaile of aduersity Though fortune gaue him much prosperity yet he neuer trusted therin nor for any troubles that euer he receiued in this lyfe he was at any time abashed Of the sharpe words which Marcus Aurelius spake to hys wyfe and to his doughter Cap. v. WHen the tryumphes before named were finyshed this good Emperour being willyng to vnbourden his hart and to aduyse Faustine to teache the youg damosel his doughter and to the end that no man shold heare it he called them a part and sayd vnto them these words I am not contente Faustine with that thy doughter did nor yet with that which thou hast done being her mother The doughters if they wil be counted good children must learne to obeye their fathers and the mothers if they wil be counted good mothers must learne to bring vp their doughters wel When the mother is honest and the doughter shamefast the father is excused in geuyng councel It is great shame to the father being a man that the mother being a womā should chastise his sonne And it is a great reproch to the mother that the doughter should be chastised by the hands of any man There was a law enacted among the Rhodiens that neyther the father should haue to doe wyth the doughters nor the mothers with the sonnes but the men vsed to bring vp the men and the women the women And in such wise that they abyding al in one house it semeth vnto the fathers that they had no doughters and vnto the mothers that they had no sonnes O Rome Rome I bewaile the not for to se the streates vnpauid nor to se the houses so decayed nor to se the battlements so fallen downe nor the timber hewed downe nor for the dyminishing of the habytaunts for al this tyme bringeth and tyme taketh awaye but I wepe for the and wepe for the againe to se the vnpeopled of good fathers and vnprouided in the nourishing of their children Rome began to decay when the disciplyne of sonnes and doughters was enlarged that their brydle was let at lybertye For ther is now such boldnes in boyes and so lytle shamefastnes in girles with dishonesty of the mothers that where as one father suffised for .xx. sonnes and one mother for xx doughters now xx fathers dare scarcely vndertake to bring vp wel one sonne xxx mothers one doughter I say this to you Faustine you remember not how you are a mother for you geue more libertie to your dougher then ought to be suffred And now Lucilla remember not how you are a doughter for you showe to haue more liberty then requireth for a yong mayden The greatest gift that the gods haue geuen to the Matrons of Rome is because that they are women they kepe them selues close and secret and because they are Romaines they are shamefast The day when the women want the fearre of the gods secretly and shame of men openly beleue me they shal eyther faile the world or the world theym The common wealth requyreth it of great necessity that the women which therin enhabyte should be as honest as the captaines valyaunt for the captaines going to warre defend them and the women whych abyde at home conserue them As now .iiii. yeares passed ye saw this great pestilence and I demaund then to haue account of the people and I found that of C. and xl M. honest women .lxxx. M. dyed of .x. M. dyshonest women in maner they scaped al. I cannot tel for which I should wepe eyther for the lacke that we haue of the good vertuous womē in our comon wealth or els for the great hurt domages that these euil wicked women do to the youth of Rome The fyer that brenneth in mount Ethna doth not so much endomage those that dwel in Scicil as one euyl woman doth with in the walles of Rome A fyerse beast and a perillous ennemy to the common wealth is an euyl woman for she is of power to commyt all euyls and nothing apte to do anye good O how many realmes and kingdomes rede we of whych by the euil behauiours of one woman haue bene lost and to resist agaynst them there hath bene nede both of wisedome perils money and force of many men The vyces in a woman is as a grene rede that boweth euery waye but the lightnes and dyshonesty is as a dry kyxe that breaketh in such wise that the more euyl they vtter the more vnlykely is the amendment therof Behold Faustine ther is no creature that more desireth honour and worse kepeth it then a woman and that this is true we se by iustice by orations by writyng and other trauailes man getteth fame renowme but withoute it be by flattering and faire speakyng this houre by auncient writers we cā rede of few women or none whych eyther by writyng redyng workyng with nedle spinning or by weauing haue gotten them any great renowme But as I say of one I say of an other certaynely of diuers we rede by keping them close in their houses being wel occupyed in their busines temperate in their words faithful to their husbands wel ordred in their persons peasable with their neighbours and finally for being honest amonge their owne family and shamefast amongest straungers
Gods wyll that the heire and heritage should perishe Marke what I saye I had two sonnes Comodus and the prince Verissimus the yonger is dead that was greatest in vertue Alway I imagined that whyle the good liued I should be poore and nowe that the euill remayneth I thinke to be riche I will tell thee the cause the Gods are so pitifull that to a poore father they neuer geue euill childe and to a ryche father they neuer geue a good childe And as in all prosperitie there chaunceth alwayes some sinister fortune either sone or late so therewith fortune doth arme and apparell vs wherein she seeth we shall fall to our greatest hurte And therefore the Gods permit that the couetous fathers in gathering with greate trauayle should die with that hurte to leaue their ryches to their vicious children I wepe as muche for my childe that the Gods haue left me as for him that they haue taken from me For the small estimation of him that lyueth maketh immortall memory of him that is dead The ill rest and conuersation of them that liue cause vs to sighe for the company of them that be dead The ill is alway desired for his ilnesse to be dead and the good alwaye meriteth to haue his death bewayled I saye my frende Catullus I thought to haue lost wy wytte when I sawe my sonne Verissimus die but I tooke comforte againe for either he of me or I of him must see the ende considering that the Gods did but lende him to me and gaue him not and howe they be inheritours I to haue the vse of the fruite For all thinges is measured by the iust wyll of the Gods and not by our inordinate wylles and appetites I thinke when they toke away from me my childe I restored him to another and not that they haue taken myne But sithe it is the wyll of the Gods to geue rest to the good childe and hurte the father because he is euill I yelde thankes to theim for the season that they haue suffered me to enioye his life and for the pacience that I haue taken for his death I desire them to mitigate therewith the chasticement of their yre And I desire sith they haue taken away the lyfe from this childe to plante good customes in the prince myne other sonne I knowe what heauinesse thou haste taken in Rome for my sorow I praye the Gods to sende thee ioy of thy children and that I may rewarde thee with some good pleasure for that thou hast wept for my payne My wyfe Faustine saluteth thee and truly thou wouldest haue had compassion to see her for she wepeth with her eies and sigheth with her harte and with her handes hurteth her selfe and curseth with her tongue She eateth nothing on the daye nor sleapeth in the night She loueth darkenes and abhorreth light and thereof I haue no marueyle for it is reason that for that was nourished in her entrayles she should fele sorowe at her hart And the loue of the mother is so strong that though her childe be dead and layed in graue yet alwayes she hath him quicke in her harte It is a general rule that the persone that is entierly beloued causeth euer great griefe at his death And as for me I passe the life right sorowfully though I shew a ioyfull face yet I want mirth at my harte And among wyse men being sorowful and shewing their faces mercy is none other thing but burying the quicke hauing no sepulture And I sweare by the Gods immortall I feele muche more than I haue saide And diuers times me thinke I should fall downe because I dare not wepe with myne eyes yet I fele it inwardly in my harte I would fayne common with thee in diuers thinges Come I praye thee to Briette to the entent that we may speake together And sithe it hath pleased the Gods to take my chylde fro me that I loued so well I would counsayle with thee that arte my louing frende But few dayes passed there came thither an Embassadour fro the Rhodes to whom I gaue the moste parte of my horses and fro the farthest parte of Spayne there were brought me eight of the which I send the foure I would they were such as might please ye. The gods be thy saulfegard send me my wife som coÌ„fort Marcus Aurelius right sorowfull hath written this with his owne hande ¶ A letter sent by Marcus Aurelius Emperour to Catullus Censoâ—ius of the newes which at that time were at Rome Cap. ix MArcus the new Censore to thee Catullus now aged sendeth salutations There are ten daies paste that in the temple of God Ianus I receiued thy letter And I take that same God to witnes that I had rather haue sene thy persone Thou desirest that my letters may be longe but the sshortnes of tyme maketh me to aunswere thee more briefly than I would Thou wyllest me to geue thee knowledge of the newes here Therto I anwere that it were better to demaunde if there were any thing remayning here in Rome or Italy that is olde For nowe by our euill destinies all that is good and olde is ended and newe thinges which be euil nowe begynne The Emperour the Consull the Tribune the Senatours the Ediles the Flamines the Pretours the Centurions all thinges be newe saue the veretues which be old We passe the time in making newe officers in deuisinge newe counsailes in raysing newe subsidies In suche wyse that there hath bene now mo nouelties within these foure yeres theÌ„ in time passed in .400 yeres We now assemble together .300 to couÌ„sel in the capitol and there we bragge and boste sweare and promise that we will exalte the vertuous and subdue the vitious fauour the right and not winke at the wrong punishe the euil and rewarde the good repayre olde and edefie new plucke vices vp by the rootes and to plant vertues to amend the olde and folow the good reproue tyrauntes and assist the poore and when that we are gone from thence they that spake beste wordes are often taken with the worst dedes Oh wicked Rome that now a daies hath such senatours which in sayinge we wil doe we wil doe passe their life and so euery man seking his owne profite forgetteth the weale publyke Oftentimes I am in the senate to behold others as they regard me I maruaile much to heare the eloquence of their wordes the zeale of iustice and the iustification of their persons and after that I come thence I am ashamed to see their secret extortions their damnable thoughtes and their il workes And yet ther is an other thing of more marueile not to be suffered that such persones as are most defamed and vse most wicked vices with their most damnable incencioÌ„s make their auowes to doe moste extreame iustice It is an infallible rule and of humain malice most vsed that he that is most hardy to coÌ„mit greatest crimes is most cruel to
geue sentence against an other for the same offence Me thinke that we beholde our owne faultes as thorowe small nettes whiche cause thinges to seame the lesser but we behold the faultes of other in the water that causeth them to seame greater O how many haue I sene condemned by the Senate for one small faulte done in all their life and yet they them selues commit the same faulte euery houre I haue red that in the time of Alexander the great there was a renowmed pirate on the sea called Dionides which robbed and drowned all shippes that he could get and by cōmaundement of this good king Alexander there was an army sent forth to take him And when he was taken and presented to Alexander the king saide vnto him showe me Dionides why doest thou spoyle on the sea that no shippe can sayle out of the east into the west for thee The pirate aunswered sayd if I spoyle the sea why doest thou Alexander robbe both the sea and lande also O Alexander because I fight with one ship in the sea I am called a thefe and because thou robbest with two hundred shippes on the sea and troublest all the worlde with .200000 men thou art called an Emperour I sweare to thee Alexander if fortune were as fauourable to me and the gods as extreame against thee they would geue me thine empire and geue thee my litle shippe and then peraduenture I should be a better kinge then thou art and thou a worse thefe than I am These were high wordes and wel receiued of Alexander and of trouth to see if his wordes were correspondent to his promises he made him of a pirate a great captaine of an army he was more vertuous on land than he was cruel on the sea I promyse thee Catullus Alexander did right wel therin and Dionides was to be praised greatly for that he had said Now adaies in Italy they that robbe openly are called lordes and they that rob priuely are called theues In the annales of Liuius I haue red that in the second troublous warre punike betwene the Romaines Carthagians there came an Embassadour Lusitain sent from Spain to treate of accorde of peace When he came to Rome he proued before the senate that sithe he entred into Italy he had bene ten tymes robbed of his goodes and whiles he was at Rome he had sene one of them that robbed him hange vp another that had defended him He seing so euill a deede and howe the thefe was saued without iustice as a desperate man tooke a cole and wrote vpon the gibet as foloweth O gibet thou art planted among theues norished among theues squared of theues wrought of theues made of theues set among theues hanged full of innocentes with innocentes The originall of these wordes are in the history of Liuius where the whole Decade was written with black inke and these wordes with red vermilion I can not tel what other newes I should sende thee but that euery thinge is so newe and so tender and is ioyned with so euill sement that I feare me all will fall sodainly to the ground I tell thee that some are sodainly risen within Rome vnto honour whose fall I dare rather assure then life For al buildinges hastely made can not be sure The longer a tree is kept in his kinde the longer it will be ere it be olde The trees whose fruite we eate in sommer do warme vs in wynter O howe many haue we sene wherof we haue marueyled of their rising and bene abashed of their falles They haue growen as a whole piece and sodainly wasted as a skumme Their felicitie hath bene but a short moment and their infortune as a long life Finally they haue made a mylle and layde on the stones of encrease and after a litle grinding left it vnoccupied all the whole yeare after Thou knowest well my frende Catullus that we haue sene Cincius Fuluius in one yeare made consul and his children tribunes his wyfe a matrone for young maydens and beside that made keper of the capitol and after that not in one yere but the same daye we sawe Cincius beheaded in the place his children drowned in Tiber his wife banished fro Rome his house raced down to the groūd and all his goodes confisked to the common treasury This rigorous example we haue not red in any booke to take a copy of it but we haue seene it with our eies to kepe it in our myndes As the nations of people are variable so are the conditions of men diuers And me thinketh this is true seing that some loue some hate that some seke some eschewe and that some sette litle by other make much store In such wise that al can not be content with one thing nor some with al thinges can not be satisfied Let euery man chose as him liste and embrace the world when he wyl I had rather mount a soft pace to the falling and if I can not come therto I wyl abyde by the waye rather then with the sweate to mount hastely and then to tumble downe headlong In this case sithe mens hartes vnderstande it we nede not to wryte further with pennes And of this matter marke not the litle that I doe say but the great deale that I wyl say And sith I haue begon and that thou art in straunge landes I wil write thee al the newes from hence This yeare the .xxv. day of May there came an Embassadour out of Asia saiynge he was of the Isle of Cetin a baron right propre of body ruddy of aspect and hardy of courage He considered being at Rome though the sommers dayes were long yet wynter would drawe on and then would it be daungerous sailyng into this Isle and sawe that his busines was not dispatched On a daie being at the gate of the senate seing al the senatours entre into the Capitol without any armour vpon them he as a man of good spirite and zelatour of his countrey in the presence of vs all sayde these wordes O fathers conscript O happy people I am come from a straunge countrey to Rome onely to see Rome and I haue founde Rome without Rome The walles wherewith it is inclosed hath not brought me hyther but the fame of them that gouerne it I am not come to see the treasoury wherein is the treasure of all Realmes but I am come to see the sacred senate out of the whiche issueth counsayle for all men I came not to see ye because ye vanquishe all other but because I thought you more vertuous then all other I dare well saye one thyng except the Gods make me blynde and trouble myne vnderstanding ye be not Romaines of Rome nor this is not Rome of the Romaines your predecessours We haue heard in our Isle that diuers Realmes haue bene wonne by the valiantnes of one and conserued by the wysdome of all the Senate and at this houre ye are more lyke to lose then to