the Philosophers rule Pythagoras rule to abstain from speaking fiue yeare I doubt not but in that time they would be fitted and fully established to write with sober iudgement as men of vnderstanding reason or if the Apostles rule were followed Be swift to heare and slowe to speake they would be more considerate and not runne out the course of their liues in such vnprofitable studie But touching the defence some make to approue this vaine writing it is too ridiculous and not worth an answere that they doo by this meanes polish refine our English tongue and drawe it from barbarisme into a more finer Cadence of words but those bookes that polish the toong depraue the life are dangerous and in the sentence of wise men in no case to be allowed for it were better for a man to be dumbe then by speaking to approue a wrong and accuse the innocent and better it were indeed that they had not only no learning at all but also that they had no eyes to see nor eares to heare for as it is in the Gospell it were much better for a man to goe blinde into heauen then with two eyes to be cast into hell Neither can I see but that they drawe our language from the auncient tenor by mixing it with so many straunge countries that it seemeth rather more artificiall then naturall and more baser then the common lawe which is compounded of French English and Latin c. The harsh tooting of Pans pipe was more pleasing to Mydas eare then the sweet harmony of Apolloes harp but this fault was in the Iudge Vaine men iudge vainly whose simplicitie could not distinguish them aright in like manner many are better content with vicious bookes bawdie songs foolish and wanton ditties then in the well seasoned writings of holy men and this is for want of iudgement being as blinde as he was foolish It may be said of such as Pythagoras said to a leaude fellow that soothed himselfe in conuersing with badde company I had rather quoth he be acquainted with bawdes then wise Phylosophers L. Max. No maruell quoth he very sadly swine delight more in dirt then in pure and cleane water Of such bookes as moue to good life and bring a benefit to posteritie we haue but too fewe and can neuer haue too many but of such as followe their owne fancies in spewing out their wandering imaginations we haue but too many and it were to be wished we had none at all Good men are not only otherwise imployed but also greatly discouraged for if they set forth any notable booke of diuinitie humanitie or such like they are in no request but to stop musterd-pots what is the reasō but this euery Stationers shop stal almost euery post giues knowledge of a new toy Good bookes lye dead which many times intercepts the vertuous dispositiō of a willing buyer so that hauing time and incouragement labor what they can to deface good mens workes with the multitude of their sinfull fopperies Hee that can but bombast out a blancke verse and make both the endes iumpe together in a ryme is forthwith a poet laureat challēging the garland of baies and in one slauering discourse or other Many Poets shallow wits hang out the badge of his follie O how weake and shallow much of theyr poetrie is for hauing no sooner laide the subiect and ground of their matter and in the Exordium moued attention but ouer a verse or two runne vpon rockes and shelues carrying their readers into a maze now vp thē downe one verse shorter then an other by a foote like an vnskilfull Pilot neuer comes nigh the intended harbour in so much that oftentimes they sticke so fast in mudde they loose their wittes ere they can get out either like Chirrillus writing verse not worth the reading or Battillus arrogating to themselues the well deseruing labours of other ingenious spirits Farre from the decorum of Chauser Gowers Lidgate c. or our honourable moderne Poets who are no whit to be touched with this but reuerently esteemed and liberally rewarded Then seeing this naughtie kinde of writing dooth plucke vp the seeds of Vertue by the rootes and quench that little fire assoone as it beginneth to kindle they ought to be shunned as Serpents Snakes and youth chiefly to be kept from reading them The Libeller is punished according to the qualitie of his Libell A fit comparison either by pillorie whipping losse of eares fine imprisonment and such like the thiefe hanged the traitor drawne and euery one punished in that kind he doth offend in are not these filthy bookes libells do they not defame discredit and reproach Vertue and honestie by expounding Vice with large comments do they not steale away all holy deuotion poyson good wits and corrupt young people shall hee be pardoned by course of lawe that offends in the highest degree and shall hee be counted a maister of wisedome that teacheth nought but foolishnesse to the people wherefore then should this so great mischiefe goe vnreproued To conclude he that can read shall finde bookes worthy to be read wherein is both wisedome and learning pleasant wittie sober and chast that both profit the life The profit of reading good bookes and ioy the mind but before all other to read those diuine bookes that both lift the heart to God and direct vnto Christian duties for such is Fomentum fidei nourishing faith Lexio alit ingenium so the bookes bee wise vertuous chaste and honest touching the former they are but stinking infectious writings which as mudde and dyrt defile the body so do they pollute the soule By reading good bookes the minde is stored with wisedome the life bettered and setled in quietnesse so that still all reading be referred to the Bible frō whence all Vertue is deriued For this cause S. Paul admonisheth Timothie to giue attendance to reading for albeit hee was trained vp in the scriptures from a childe and had all Ephesus vnder his charge yet hee stirreth him to reading for by reading more knowledge is not onely gotten but also the decayes and breaches of the memorie is againe renued and vnlesse there be both a powring in of more and a continuall restoring of that which is lost all will drop away and leaue a man emptie for the memorie is like a ruinous house readie to fall downe which if not eftsoones repaired will soone become inhabitable Touching Enterludes and Playes The grounded opinion of wise and godly men against Playes must be authentick I will omit to speak how the best iudgements conceiue of them their reasons being strong and manifolde to thrust them out as things indifferent and make them simply vnlawfull For although they are not simply forbidden in expresse words yet if it once appeare the true vse be lost and cleaue to a bad report it is the part of euerie man to shun and auoyd the same
she is deuidable and albeit many sprigges growe out of these foure braunches yet is shee called Vertue in the singular number Prudence Prudence is a certaine brightnesse shining in the minde by which the light of truth is descried foreseeing what is fit to be done a true affection labouring by reason to finde out the quallitie and to iudge what is iust fit honest profitable equall and good not onely aduisedly looking to the first motiue cause but also to the consequent and finall endes by this the present felicitie and infelicitie of this life is sweetly tempered and all things ordered in comelinesse Whosoeuer rashly setteth vpon his businesse without her rusheth vpon the rockes of errour and by his owne headie opinion commeth soone to ruine because it is impossible to effect any thing well vnlesse he be guided by her light neither can hee be able to discerne good from euill things profitable from thinges preiudiciall but as a blinde man doth venterously trauaile without a guide and at euery step readie to stumble so hee that is ignorant in plotting his affaires wadeth in darkenesse wherein euery storme of triall doth ouerturne his pollicie A prudent man is so cautelous and vigillant as wel in the consideration of fore-passed daungers as in preiudicating perills to come that he meeteth with euerie mischiefe and is not ouertaken with non putaui had I wist for hauing set his rest on a firme ground doth not doubt but expect not repēt in the end but reioice in the whole action so that she regardeth things past present and to come and bendeth her force to that part that is needfull to defend the weakenesse of reason and when she hath drawne out the plot which honestie doth require committeth it to Sapience whch as a hand-maide is readie to execute that in the outward worke which before was determined The main difference betweene these two is the former is a generall comprehending and knowledge of things the other an experience of that in action For as by reasoning reading and conuersing with wise men a man may vnderstand much yet without practise all is nothing Before a Phisition doth minister to his Patient he searcheth into the nature of the disease and acquaints himselfe with the state of the body which hauing once found out it is to no end if he apply not himselfe in outward meanes to benefite the sicke person with his potion So if there be but a defused knowledge of things Scire tuum nihil est nisi te scire hoc sciat alter and as it were such a collection as by it the vnderstanding is bettered and no outward demonstration it is as treasure hid in the earth and serues for no vse for there be markes to knowe a prudent man by if hee be vniustly vexed troubled Ennius or in pouertie sicknesse and tossed too and fro in miserie if he reioyce in these afflictions Notes of a wise man and patiently beare the crosse the same is a prudent man and his suffring maketh it a meane to him but when a man is chastised either in body or goods and will not suffer without griefe and muttering the same is a vitious and imprudent man To be briefe she is the right disposer of all things an enemie to ignorance the key of knowledge which openeth the rich treasure of diuine and humane things doing nothing but that which is right iust and praise-worthy Iustice Iustice is a vertue that giueth to euery man his owne the first and principall part whereof is and euer was to doo God that honour which is due to his diuine maiestie consisting in feare loue reuerence for as Iustice will equally render to euery man his owne bring discording things to an equalitie by considering the difference betweene them so much more and most of all it is most iust to loue God of whom wee haue all that we haue and being perished by originall corruption were eftsoones recouered by the sufferings of his son this part of Iustice ought to be imbraced with other affectiō than the Heathen who wandring in the darknes of ignorance know not God as he is A iust man coueteth not that that is an others but rather neglecteth his owne for the good of the Common-wealth nor with a greedie humor doth incroach vpon his neighbors possession Without Iustice no estate can subsist for all vertues are comprehended vnder the name of Iustice of which a man is said to be a good man for all the other vertues cannot make a man good if Iustice be absent Tully calleth her the Lady Queen of all other vertues by her is the societie of man preserued the most excellēt blessing that euer God gaue to man was to be gouerned by Iustice which bridleth the hot fury of the wicked comforteth the innocent equally decideth between Meum Tuū And he that is exercised herein his mind is lifted vp to the apprehension of greater wisdome For howsoeuer the world is troubled with hurly burly yet the quietnesse of his minde is no whit distracted but resting in securitie smileth at the worlds turbulent state Finally it is a bloud in the vain giuing life to the whole body the head of all vertues for of her selfe she may do many things but without her the rest can doo nothing rightly Fortitude Fortitude is a greatnesse of mind which without furious or rash resolution feareth not to hazard it selfe in the greatest perils and with eager pursuite to hunt after honourable actions thirsting after glory not respecting the tedious difficultie of the passages therevnto to encounter wiih dangers wade through the mystie clouds of darknes willingly endure all bitternes of fortune for the safegard of the country such were Scipiones Fabij Alcibiades Hannibal c. who by their valour great prowes reached to the top of honour Neither is true Fortitude measured by the compasse of a great body nor by dooing great enterprises in respect of the huge stature but by a fierce and couragious spirit striuing in a good cause the cause is all The cause maketh a Martyr it is not the torment that maketh a Martyr but the cause for which he suffereth So that to speake properly Fortitude is that which is granted vpon good cause possible to be atchieued such true valour was in Dauid who could not abide to heare the name of God blasphemed by such a monster as Goliah therefore knowing God would aide his enterprise he relyed not vpon his owne strength but cast off all vaine glory for when matters are rightly attempted many straunge aduentures proceed euen as it were by myracle a iust honest cause maketh a man bolde hardie and venterous to striue against one of greater force as King Alexander being of small body sought hand to hand with Porrus which was a more mightie man it is not then any great person or huge Collosse that can triumph ouer a good cause The
wicked desires he is not to bee numbred amongst vertuous and good men To conclude where the Common-wealth is guided by godly lawes of Princes the lampe of Vertue shining in the hearts of subiects laudable sciences imbraced Iustice without partialitie administred the good protected the bad punished peace maintained there is a happpie and blessed gouernment a sweete harmonie of nature and an earthly Paradize for he that shall goe about to counite and couple Vice Vertue in one putteth a man and a beast together honestie admits no such knot for the end of good which ought to be after one sort must not be mingled with any thing disagreeable in an other sort for Vertue is no longer Vertue if mixed with contrarie qualities we may then safely conclude that there is no goodlyer possession then Vertue and that it is perfect folly to couet to be rich mightie and creepe vp to worldly honour and make so small reckening to be stored with Vertue which is so certaine the tytle so glorious and permanent wherevpon one calleth it Dimidium animae meae which is not vnproperly spoken for take away vertue from a man which is the plain path to sanctimony he must be numbred among those creatures that haue onely essence and want vnderstanding sith hee aymeth not at the purpose of his creation The audacitie and stout courage of the Heathen was such that for morrall vertues would cast themselues into daungers many times deadly abandon riches endure pouertie abide tortures desiring rather a poore quiet life to follow Vertue then by a prosperous state to draw the mind into a troublesome stirre for pouertie performes that indeed that all Philosophy goeth about to perswade But this dooth much shake the feeble conscience when wee behold diuers good men endued with rare vertues and stored with good parts Vertue dismayed by pouertie notwithstanding oppressed discarred and as it were made the scorne and May-game of the world finding no place of safetie to rest vpon and the bad and vicious to sit in Fortunes lap Now whē we mark these vnproportionable accidents onely with the eye of common reason ô how it distracteth the minde accusing through ignorance the iust and diuine prouidence because he permitteth the good to be punished with miserie and the bad to swim in prosperitie but if we bend our wits to find out a deeper reason we shal see that the good are not afflicted for their hurt but fatherly chastised for their better triall the wicked not fauored but seuerely punished for God worketh al things for the good of those that are his yet who can denie but that the burthen of pouertie is importable hunger imprisonment exile intollerable persecution and death insufferable all which is inough to driue a man to dispaire of his owne happinesse supposing God had vtterly forsakē him but the waight hereof is lightned made easie to them that steadfastly beleeue Gods promises and cast their care on him as Peter willeth Cast thy care on him for hee hath care on thee Moreouer though a man be poore sicke diseased and wayed downe with a clogge of miserie An honest mā is not poore for in aduersitie Vertue sheweth her chiefest operation yet can he not say hee is so bare and naked as vtterly vnable to help himselfe or an other for admit he hath no temporall goods to helpe that way yet can hee harbour and shewe the rights of hospitalitie if hee hath neither of both yet can hee visit the sicke and cheare vp his mind with good counsell if he be poore sicke lame harborlesse and comfortlesse himselfe yet can he helpe with his prayers and communicate his loue by his orysons and deuout supplications so that euery one hath a rich fountaine within which vpon euery occasion may be powred out and therefore no man can pleade disabilitie and want of meanes to relieue And what though a man haue some casuall deformitie in his body or bee vnhappily fallen into a wretched estate yet so long as his vertue and honestie may bee iustified hee neede not bee ashamed of brusing the flesh or feeling penurie but rather boast and glorie in them for it cannot bee any shame or dishonour to carrie about him the visible tokens of such scarres neither dooth it any whit impaire his credit with the wise and vertuous nor make him of lesse esteeme with good men much lesse with God who putteth no difference between a king and a begger but onely in obedience to his will but here is the ignominie to bee branded with the hotte iron of wicked conuersation as when a man shall haue his eares cut from his head The simbolls of vanitie or marked in the hand for some villainie and the spots of vice so pregnant on his body or going vnder a hard censure for a bad opinion iustly conceiued in this case hee hath small cause to glory or boast but rather blush be ashamed and exile himselfe from common societie and striue with humilitie to reforme those rebellious passions that haue so strongly lead him into such dishonestie But where Vertue doth rule the affaires and actions of this life are mannaged with wisedome and those swelling thoughts kept backe which as a raging floud carrie away all that is not ground-fast that any outward griefe is quietly suffered and patiently endured for what aduerse fortune soeuer happens is borne with contentment in so much as neither pouertie sicknesse crosses afflictions or what calamitie soeuer come cannot moue or distemper a stayed minde for beeing inflamed with a constant resolution doth fit himselfe to beare the troubles of this life with a valiant and immutable courage Stilpo a Greeke Philosopher when the citie where hee dwelt was burnt to sinders his wife and children consumed in the flame and all that hee had turned to ashes himselfe hardly escaping with his life was asked what he lost in the fire quoth he I lost nothing Omnia mea mecū perto for Omnia mea mecum porto all that is mine I carrie about me meaning his vertues the onely proper goods of a wise man which no force of fire can cōsume nor the furie of no enemy take away In like maner an other being told his own son was dead was no whit moued at the message and being told againe again he was dead why quoth he what of that I knew I begat a mortall creature and being mortall he must needs die who could beare such great cause of griefe without some shew of sorrow but such smal reckning did the wise Heathē make of worldly losses for it is the nature of mā to relent deplore and be subiect to lamentations yet their wisedome kept it vnder the yoake of reason or who in these daies would refuse such preferment as Diogenes Riches rightly vsed are great blessings or his loade of gold as Fabritius or cast his treasure into the sea as Antippus I verily suppose fewe or none would bee of
of it selfe is not so short by nature but it is more shortned by sinne and the length of time hastened on by iniquitie The soule is of too fine a mettall and so pure a temper as to loue to do nothing but wil be imployed in labour yet because she is imprisoned in the walles of flesh followeth her sluggish inclination the body by too much ease is like a pampered Iade vnseruiceable and her dexteritie and faculties being made blunt and dull with sloth becommeth wholy vnfit for honest labour for if he remit and giue his minde to idlenesse ill corrupting motions creepe into the soule which polluting the purer parts do by little and little carry him to all impietie vntill the whole man become nothing but the sonne of Belial by it a wide gap is opened for adultery to enter in at and therefore Diogenes was wont to say by doing nothing we learne to do euil and lust quoth he is the trade and occupation of loyterers and as that grand-maister of wantonnesse Ouid in his booke De remedio aemors saith Osia si tollas periere Cupidinis arcus And it being asked how the Emperour Aegistus became an adulterer it is answered Ouid. In promptu causa est desidiosus erat It is a plaine case he was idle For if the bodie be not set on worke the minde goeth astray whereby this litle world is soone ouerthrowne by the inuasion made against it by concupiscence as whē a man doth fast long and abstaine from bodily foode The cause of the plague or pestilence the emptinesse of the stomacke and passages draweth into the bodie windie humours and infectious vapours because according to Philosophie there is no vacuum but a present supply of ayre so that often eyther by the disposition of the elements or by reason of some accidentall cause the ayre is so infected and poysoned as it pierceth into the vitall powers and either bringeth a vniuersall mortalitie or some lingring disease and sicknesse so in like manner when the body is kept from corporall labour and the minde from studious exercise a fit mansion for don Sathan is prepared euery roome emptied and the whole poores and faculties of soule and body really possest with wicked impietie wherein this grand-traitor to mans happinesse as in a worke-house forge or common shoppe dooth stampe and coine a multitude of euils and suggest abhominable vices into the heart for verily none are such fit instruments for him to worke by then such as liue idlely and do nothing for where there is no defence to keepe him backe there dooth hee rule so strongly ouer the affections that there is no other fruites but a sinfull life and a shamefull ende for such as occupie themselues in no commendable exercise but mispend the time no maruell though the minde bee vpon vnhallowed actions Idlenesse is a capitall plague a sore vexing the body with extreame torment and loading the bones till they cracke with weakenesse pouertie impotencie and in the ende leaueth olde age naked and vnprouided for In a word nothing is more vnseemely in a Christian nor more contrarie to the lawe of God which commaundeth euery one to get his liuing with the sweate of his browes preiudiciall to humane societie and iniurious to nature and therefore Themistocles tearmeth idlenesse the graue and tombe of such men as are aliue An idle man is a dead carkasse for that there is no difference betweene an idle man and one that is dead for that neither one nor the other doth any good Euery one is commaunded to be industrious in that calling wherein hee is set and earnestly seeke to applie himselfe therevnto for he that worketh not is not worthie to eate but hee that followeth his trade with diligence be it neuer so base or mechanicall is alwayes sure of competencie and saturitie when as the luskish and idle notwithstanding their great aboundance are in short time consumed and come to nothing as the wise man saieth Prou. 14.30 I passed by the field of the slouthfull and loe it was ouergrowne with bryars and nettles had couered the face thereof and the stone wall was broken downe c. Yet a little sleepe a little slumber a little fowlding the handes together so thy pouertie commeth vppon thee like an armed man and as it is in an other place hee that putteth his hand into his bosome is like to fall into pouertie Some lur-daines that haue wealth left by their ancestors holde it a poynt of wisedome to rest theyr idle limmes and spare theyr bodies and liue in the hyue vppon the hunney of others labour and as vultures kill nothing themselues but preye vppon that which is killed by other so like Catter-pillers do they liue by the fruites of other mens labours and sore trauaile This kinde of life was so much hated among the Aethenians that who so was seene idle was seuerely punished And for this vse was there Sophronistes and graue Fathers that had the ouersight and surueighing of the Common-wealth and most chiefly looked to the manners of youth Tully reports that none durst walke the streetes of Rome without bearing about him some signe of his profession least hee should bee impeacht of idlenesse and in his oration Pro Archita poeta hee saith of himselfe What time other men spent in sports playes bankets dice cardes tennice c. that saith he I bestowed in poring on my booke which is vndoubtedly true for surely had he bene idle and giuen to pastime as many students are in these dayes hee could neuer haue bene that notable and excellent summus Orator There is nothing so precious as time which being wilfully or willingly ouerslipt The picture of time is impossible to be recalled for that she is deafe and cannot heare and therefore she is painted with lockes before but bauld behind because holde may be taken in the comming but her back once past is irrecouerable and the lowder she is called Mora trahit periculum the faster she flyeth It were a world to note the idlenesse of many in these times and what multitudes liue with doing nothing or at leastwise in doing things vnprofitable and dishonest yea what numbers there be both in Citie and Towne that liue like Drones idle Grashoppers as a right wise and honourable Counsellor reported in the Starre-chamber that in the citie as hee verily was perswaded there were at least a thousand families that could giue no honest reckening of their life Some like Aesops labber sit beating their heeles against a stall some friske from house to house as busie-bodies others in curious obseruations and fault-finding with the gate apparell speech and defects of other and fat themselues with busie apprehensions This peeuish nature is deriued from that olde Witch Lamea Lamea hath many childrē who as the Poets faine had broade prospectiue eyes to pull out and in at pleasure and at her going abroad would put on and be very curious and
other and a kinde communication as when a man saith Syr I drinke to you with all my heart this cup of wine being as much as if he should say all the strength and good this wine shall minister to my body I am readie to spend it in your seruice which being gratefully requited by the other is full of humanitie Many noysome detracting euils lye hid in the bosome of a drunkard The often bibbing at feasts breakes the bonds of modestie Some are neuer well but when theyr nose is in the pot and so are made drunke by accident which breaketh out vpon euery occasion in so much as he can neuer be at peace but one torment succeedeth an other which as eating vulcers or sores byte and gnawe continually neuer suffering body or mind to haue one houres respite for intollerable anguish The body I say is subiect to so much pestilence and rottennesse as cannot in fewe words be expressed the face blowte puft vp and stuft with the flockes of strong beere the nose so set out with pearles diamonds that by the reflecting beames which they cast frō so glorious antiquitie the bye-standers may see to walk as by a lighted tapor Thus doth God pursue them with his iudgements some the gallows knits vp the sword deuours the pox marbles c and the whole body so impaired and shaken with goutes sciaticaes panges palsies appolexies c. that for the most part lye vnder the Phisitions hand who though they liue yet such life is a liuing death for Medice viuere est miserè viuere And being thus surfetted liue disconsolate and hasten their owne destruction by casting themselues headlong into the bottome of endlesse wretchednesse For the excellencie of reason being thrust forth of her cabbin by wine-washing excesse they incidently fall into woe and miserie Lot being drunke committed incest with his daughters Noah was mocked of his sonnes Holofernes had his head cut off by a poore woman for it is an easie thing for the diuel to accomplish his will if the mind be bent to surfetting For this is that poysoned fountaine out of which floweth so many maladies greeuous long diseases impostumations inflamations obstructions ventosities and what not whereby the mildnesse of nature is disturbed And therefore one of the Sages being asked why he refused a cup of wine when it was offered him because quoth hee I take it to be poyson for this other day when I was inuited to a Feast I sawe that euerie one that drunke of it soone after decayed both in minde and bodie hauing lost both reason and vse of theyr limbes and as the Poet saith Vino forma perit vino corrumpitur aetas But these straunge euents happen not simply in respect of the wine it selfe being in it owne nature good for if it be moderately taken it comforteth the bodie and cherisheth the minde strengtheneth the sinewes and helpeth the eyes and that was the cause Saint Paul counselled Tymothie to drinke a little Wine but only and altogether in the intemperate and immeasurable vsage So is it likewise in meates when one doth gurmandize and feede vpon diuersitie and disguised dishes of manifolde operations Many accidences arise and diseases growe and this is by reason of the contrarietie and different natures of those meates and in the superfluitie and aboundance as the prouerbe saith much meate much maladie whereas in simple and vniforme kindes delight neuer exceedes the appetite and he that feedeth but of one dish liueth longer and is more healthfull then those accidentall dieters queasie stomackes that glutte themselues with euerie kinde artificially compounded sometime of easie digestion then of harde digestion that many times before one can be concocted the other putrifieth in the stomacke and this is verie familiar in common knowledge that the ploughman that liues by curdes bread and cheese and such homely fare workes harde all the day and lyeth vneasie at night is more sounder healthfuller and more free of malladies then those fine nice and curious dyeters Now when the bodie is thus misdieted by surfetting and drunkennesse it is not only subiect to diseases and afflicted with torments and incurable laments whereby it becommeth vnweildie vnfit for any vertuous exercise but also draweth the horror and iudgements of God vppon both bodie and soule How ought men therefore to liue soberly and chastely and stoppe the abuse of such abhominable Epicurisme and as wise Cato saieth Eate to liue and not liue to eate like the Epicure that putteth all his felicitie in Bacchus his belly-cheare By this the quicke conceit of the spirit is dulled and made impregnable the glorious sun-shine of Vertue eclipsed and all good motions quite extinguished that a man cannot be saide to be a man but the trunke or carkasse of a man wherein an infernall spirit in stead of a soule doth inhabite Heereby hee becommeth rash-headed and vnaduised dooing that in haste whereof he repenteth at leisure As Alexander who in his drunkennesse would sley his dearest friends and being sober would be readie to kill himselfe for anger and all those noble vertues and princely qualities wherewith he was endued were all defaced by the intollerable delight he had in drinking The famous Citie Persepolis in a drunken humour was burned to ashes which was no sooner deuised by Thayis the harlot but was executed with great celeritie but recouering his wits repented his folly for with this spirit is a drunken man alwaies possest to attempt things rashly to despise good counsel to vndertake great exployts but neuer with mature deliberatiō vnruly disobedient and violating the lawes both of God and man and lastly with the foolish Troians sero sapiunt phriges be wise when it is too late If this Hidra infuse her venome into the tendernes of youth and not crushed downe when it begins to peepe by killing the serpent in the egge but suffered to growe ripe ô how it distilleth into the soule and pulles downe the whole frame of Vertue whereby he is cast downe headlong from a high promentarie into a deepe vgly dungeon it weakeneth the nature and maketh them fooles and meacockes not fit for any imployment To giue wine to youth is olium igni addere And therefore the Spartans and Lacedemonians at their great festiuals would shewe vnto their children drunkē men that by seeing their beastlines they might shun the like practise Vinum est quasi remedium aduersus duritiem senectutis largitus est It was a great shame among the Athenians for a young man to haunt tauernes or common tap-houses in so much as on a time when a youth beeing in a tauerne and seeing Diogenes come towards him shifted into an other roome for feare he should see him Nay quoth he stay young man the more you goe in that way the further you goe into the Tauerne If Diogenes or Polemon liued in these daies they should haue worke inough to sweepe youth out of Tauernes