like a singing catch some are beginning when others are ending others in the middest when another begins againe Let another bee absent from this mint and without the discipline of a Tailour but a few monthes and at his next appearance his friends shall not knowe whether hee bee a man or a Ghoast of times past or a spirite mouing a Westminster Statue The money-maisters haue not ingrossed all vanitye though they haue money for these people haue a chaunge where to bee out of fashion is to be banquerupt and as the ones billes are protested so the others discretion This is not to haue a head but a hat buttond vp on the side It is no matter what soule so a body in fashion of which though I doe despise it enough yet I wishe it no other mischiefe then the Painters Shoppe where a picture of seauen yeares since lookes more like an Anticke Dauncer than a man But thus shall I be if I speake more of them for I drawe them and Time drawes them out of fashion and they if I laye any more holde on them drawe me But now the motions of man by reason of his reason called Actions what an Eclipse doe they suffer with vanityes darke bodye getting betweene them and the clearenesse of reason what see wee almost performed How neerely soeuer resembling vertue which more deepelye examined would not prooue vanity euen Diuinitie is not free for Hipocrisie killes many actions which without hipocrisie would be vertues but I will leaue this office to Diuines whose sightes can better discouer the inuisible walkings of professours of good-dooing ill In secular professions I hardly see euen the grauest goe without touching vanity performing as much for osteÌ„tations sake as for vertues the obseruation of which hath made me so incredulous as I beleeue light actions no more theÌ„ I do words he that protests he loues his country in some aduenture of his pursse and paines showes it I am neuer the more mooued to extoll him but when in a breache he defends his countrie when he calleth the forces of his scattered countrimen shattered by Fortune and so out of hope as his action may bee called the dying with his Countrey I will begin then to trust him or if like the keeper of a Forte in the olde Florentine dissentions who being beseiged and his Castle fired threwe his owne children into the flame willing them to take those giftes of Fortune but for his honour he held that in his brest which no shocke of fortune should ouerthrowe nor fire melte Were there not such men to inriche Histories how idle a thing were a Historie for who is not mooued to followe this honorable patterne his children were not more inflamed with the fire then the vertuous reader mee thinkes should be with his throwing them in the fier now may we sweare he loued his countrie and honour and from him may distingush betweene the louers of Fame and Vertue for Fames seruantes loue commendations but with all they loue to heare it themselues the other thinkes of vertue not of Life It needes no wonder though their valures differ that imploy them for fame from those for vertue Were I the seruant of Fame it should be my case for her rewardes are fainte and leane the fire nourishing valour comes from no outward thing but from the sweetnesse of the meditation of vertue but Fame thinks not on that but lookes who seeth her and dooth worse then louers that drawe their vigour from their Mistresse eyes Vertue hath Fame though vertue workes not for fame which mee thinkes is an excellent testimonie of the diuine goodnesse when not onelie his and humaine lawes teache it but euen from the example of our familiars may be read good and bad Thus preuailed Benedetto Alberti banished by the Florentines for after his death they confessed their errour and fetched home his bones buying them with solemne pompe and honour whome being aliue they had persecuted with slaunder and reproache In matters of pollicie vanitie beares no lesse swaye when from the force of rules and institutions they thinke to maintaine states Policie conducted by vertue I thinke the life of Gouernment without which a common-wealth can no more liue then a bodie without a soule but policie as it is commonly taken and vsed is no more certaine nor profitable then a Farmers drawing all his Councell from a Kalender It raines of which Philosophy will say the sunnes drawing vp of moysture from the earth is the cause alas this is the last cause but the cause of causes we vnderstand not Tracke by Philosophie the most impotent naturall thing for some discentes you may go with it but the ende is you must leaue it attributing it to the intelligences and to the first cause past the ability of our meditations strength for wee are yet humaine they meerelie diuine As this so this pollicie is coniecturall and vncertaine full of perill neuer safe Of men of this kinde Caesar Borgia is a fitte example in whome was as much wicked wisedome as I thinke euer in anye with which hee fared like a Cock-boate in a storme now alofte now suncke and still in his desseignes rather increased in his sinnes then in his power at last when hee meant one that should not haue assisted his rising hee killed the supporter of his heigth Hee that will with naturall accidents seeke to diminishe the diuine hand in this worke doth impiously and is in the waye of Atheisme for it is manifest God meant to punish and to teache in this example that hee did it rather by his ministers then immediately explaining his diuine wisedome which inforced them to runne into their owne plots laide for others Not onely dooth heauen detest this course but euen among men it is vaine though the strength of a state may be knowne their vse lyes hidden Euery daye doth the witte of industrie inlarge it selfe and deuise vses of things which without the spirite of Prophecie or chaunce may be without his rules and then who seeth him not apt to fall into the worste errours Thus hath Artillery put the auncient Romaine and Graecian Histories out of fashion in many things thus hath the experience of their times and the witte of these changed almost the whole body of gouernment Who heareth of Lycurgus common-wealth not skilled in Antiquities and beleeues it not rather a thing thought then done Doubtlesse the witte of man is too excellent a thing to bee catcht in a snare which hee seeth lye before him he goeth not alwayes one waye though lawes can fadome the driftes of vice yet those of wisedome this pollicie cannot for it is vpwarde euen to heauen is her flight the other earthly and visible But I may in this offende like some confutours that haue ended their paines with making their cause worse This paper is yet in my handes but in whose it may be I knowe not and howsoeâ—â—â— I meane others not meaning well may make helpe their
shortnesse and the others eternitie life being but like a Prentises holy-day but more neere when we thinke of our knowledges which are here impotent and defectiue but are there complete and full all things appearing there vnmasked and the borrowed coulours and vaine apparitions of Affection beeing withdrawne those vnlimmtied and rich lights of the minde beholde euerie thing in the right proportion all the deformities and misdemeanors of the world are the children of affection which bindes vp our sight in darkenesse and leads vs blindfolded from hence Opinion which is the destinated censure of Affection as Iudgement is the Soules from hence proceedes the irresolution of our thoughts and our wauerings and changings from one thing to another for Affection likes his present satisfaction and iudgeth that best which if in Opinion bettered he changeth his sentence and so not able to penetrate into the depth of things is euery day ready for a new impression All that I haue heard all that I haue read all that by any meanes hath come to my knowledge performed well hath beene where Reason hath made Affection his seruant contrariwise destructions dishonours dangers haue beene inforced by the tyrannie of Pride Disdaine Hate Selfe-loue or some other of those Affections vnrestrained so can I fetch Calamitie from none other originall but this not happinesse but from the depriuation of this frailtie Euen that honest harmlesse Affection which possesseth Parents towards their children me thinkes whiles they are yet but lumpes of flesh and things without all merit should not be so ardent and vehement pitty and commiseration fits them better then Loue of which they are no way worthy for howsoeuer we abuse loue with casting it away vpon trifles yet it is the pretiousnesse of Loue appointed onely to attend deserts and to ioyne no peeces together that are not of this kinde but it is well that Nature hath cast the extremitie of this disease vpon mothers it becomes them not so ill to be fond as men besides these little ones being their charges Affection makes them more carefull and so it is for those first yeares neuer the worse for the childe whatsoeuer it is for the mother Iustice being for example and no more destroying a common-wealth then the husbandman the trees with executing the water boughes which he dooth as well in respect of their vnprofitablenesse as also to shew malefactors in a glasse their owne state while they beholde the guiltie vnder-going the seueritie of the lawe but yet the creatures bound to profit others with their owne destruction should bee picked out monsters whose natures might be seene incorrigible and those of whom mercy may coniecture amendment to be spared thus in the ambiguitie of things which doubt will not haue resolued mercy may haue a hand Thus commiseration and a charitable eye to the distrested all which though they leaue more to affection then to the strictnesse of iustice yet must we so farre tolerate them for so God lookes vpon vs and so should we vpon our bretheren being all borne lame which fault of ours if it were punished with death none should liue yet I go not with Montangnia who in his Essay of Crueltie bribes wit to take part with commiseration so extreamly and so womanish as not to indure the death of Birdes and Beasts alas this gentlenesse of nature is a plaine weaknesse wee may safely see the deaths of these yea of men without motion it belongs to vs to looke into the cause of their deaths not into the manner onely but fetching it from the desert wee shall see plainely it is not the Iudge nor the executionner that committes this abhorred spectacle but them-selues them-selues doe execution vppon them-selues Might there bee that vnspeakable blessing giuen to the imprisoned soule that she might here view things in sincere trueth how would vice and sinne flie light when vnmasked light might discouer their deformities how profoundly should we be able to censure things how would we scorne lawes and compulsion when the most ragged-vnderstanding should flye farre aboue them Lastly all the enemies of wealth and pouerty should be banished for we should not know want and so should want them and the laborious life of Studye should end whose trauels ayme at no other end but an ability to knowe euery thing in his propper kinde this is not because Affection is who dayly ouercomes reason not by strength but flattery and sometimes makes the weapons of Reason treacherously turne head vpon Reason with corrupting his taste and making him fortifie pleasure with arguments I would be glad to looke vpon my brother with the same eye that I behould a stranger and may the strangers worthe excell his I would preferre him He is deceiued that thinkes vertue respects bloud and aliaunces she is not so bodely hauing commerce with vs whiles we haue bodyes not because we hauing bodyes should loue our bodyes but because we should with the ordering and subiecting them win her It is Affection that hath skil of colours and hath set vp the estimation of White and Red. I verely beleeue Vertue was neuer Paynter nor Armorist all those choyses and allowances that come from tall and fatte or slender and well bodied are all Affections choise the minde sees the minde and giues the body leaue to looke how it will for she loues the abilities and graces of the mind whose neuer fading beauties makes their imbracements blessed Here is the choise of all things made sure thus friends are to bee entertained whose perfection may be better discoursed of then it is possible to finde it actually the reason because Affection beares so great sway our causes of combination being commonly more beholding to Affection then Reason which makes vs so often complaine of the vnstablenesse of friends friendships incōstancie No other are those leauges which looke into the fortune rather then vertue of friends that cunningly make Loue the broker to supply their wants how can these hould since the hould of their hould blinde Dame Fortune is brittle and flitting But amongst all I finde no body hath so iust cause to complaine of this as Iustice which being the very soule and life of gouernment is oft time compelled to help the lightest scoale with her finger whiles Partialities burden makes the other heauie I can pittie the distresse of no vertue so much as this since no vertue carryes with her a greater maiestie and in that maiestie knowledge the life of life the ioy of man his surest euidence of participating with the deuine nature Surely were it not for the orderly working of this vertue we should make the world in a worse state thē the Chaos where was a confusion but it was innocent though deformed but now it would be turned into a guilty deformity the picture of which though not fully are those sick states that are continually letting blood where the sweet wisdom of laws are turned into those doubtful arbitrators blowes and where Iustice
ill It must be God that in these and all other things must helpe vs wee are no other then his instrumentes when we vndertake to bee handes we sin in presumption vnder his conduct things come to a conclusion Those that prosper for a while without his counsaile and direction they are but the Instruments of his scourge and prosper no longer then while they are in their executioners office we go blind fold without the Sunne can we then go without his licence that made the Sunne Wee are to impotent to stand without a supporter our actions rest in doubt and our discourse cannot resolue them but euer wee shall thinke La tardita noi toglie L'occasione la celerita â—e forâ—e I account in this list all that account their countrey vngratefull or that repine at her commaundementes shee cannot bee for thou art for her vse and if thou bee'st vnprofitable with iustice shee may put thee awaye Wee must not thinke shee can doe vniustlye it is Arrogancy and partiality to compare thy knowledge with hers our soules are for heauen our bodyes for our Countrey and that excellent Issue of heauen is destinated to no worke vpon the earth but to vphould this our common mother How may wee blush that are ouercome by heathens and yet haue the oddes of diuinity by them that knew vertues preciousnesse onely in fame when wee know shee is curraunt in the worlde of worldes this hath come from an opinion that their ignoraunce produced valour but this opinion is as full of sinne as follye Is valour prohibited because murder and selfe murther is prohibited the building cannot stand where the foundation is falseâ— they faile in the definition of fortitude which is as all other single vertues are but the colour of the substanciall body of vertue which when cast-vpon another substaunce is not vertue though like vertue These hold that fortitude hath runne her perfectest course when shee hath passed the gates of death no fortitude indures stronger assaults then death But were it so Is he that comes neare death valiaunt why then hang Tropheys ouer the gallowes the cause the cause must in all things tell whose child the effect is He that fights with fury is not valiant but he that lendes iustice force Cato dyed in as fit a time to make his death looke nobly as could be and at the fittest course of naturall reason it will seeme good reason not to out liue his countries liberty but had it not beene more compassionately done of him to haue accompanied his country in misery had it not beene more wisely done to haue repriued hope and to haue watch'd time when happily by opportunity hee might haue ransomed his country I account not his valour no more then he that winkes at the blow of death the one hiding his eyes because he would not see death the other seeking death because he would not feele misery Cato is not held by mee a paterne of fortitude hee helped not his country by his death if to dare dye you thinke so excellent the women among the Romans could doe it aswell as he because it is prohibited we like it because contrary to our selfe-louing mindes we admire it in that respect were it not against diuinity I should allowe of it for he comes nerest vertue that throwes against the bias of his affections Camillus whom I once mentioned was a patterne of fortitude so was among the Graecians Pelopidas and his companions who plotted and effected the ouerthrow of tiranny with the aduenture of their liues yet killed not themselues because their country was oppressed by a tirant Fortitude take her in her vttermost boundes incircleth the ouercomming Passions the bearing the assaults of the world she goeth euen into the confines of temperaunce for to curbe appetite mee thinkes is fortitude but bind her now to her managing peril and to the seruing her common wealth to make her herselfe there must be in her pretence reason profit and iustice Reason in the plotting profit in the obtaining iustice in the vse for without these it is a bestiall daring not fortitude Now to my comparison of the valour of those times with this of Christianity can his reason be so exact that knowes not from whence his reason comes for their wisest did but gesse at the immortality of the soule as his that doth continually coÌ„uerse with his soule for so ought Christians Or shall his profit that lookes no farther then the body bee compared to him that profits both soule and body Bud for iustice what vnderderstanding wil prefer humane lawes whose end is but proffit to diuine iustice whose end is vertue who seeth not now that will see times past had not the way of fortitude for their best were but shaddowes neither had they that cause for fortitude at that time was not known They durst die but wee know how to vse death they durst aduenture but we know how to profit by aduenturing then it is Idlenes that hath fouÌ„ded this opinion for if we wil do wel none euer knew better how neuer had any better cause for we are certaine of our reward Of the repinings vpbraidings of a man reiected by his countrie I should speake a little more how contrary it is to right and vertue for thy body is thy countries and thy soule ought to follow vertue dooth thy soule consent to thy bodies rebellious thoughtes both body and soule forsake right and vertue for thy soule maintaines wrong so looseth vertue thy body doth wrong and so looseth right In this both the Graecian and Romane common wealthes brought forth many more faithull the repetition of whome those eyes that haue seene historye can as redily produce as I whom I will therefore omit and saue that labour Onely thus to vpbraide our country with our good desertes is to aske reward at the worldes handes not at vertues out all is not all wee are bound to doe for it but our best shall be called well because our vttermost Not to professe much but to vse it well is the way of felicitie and then doth our body not hurt our soule when it is content to imploy his force to blowe the fire while shee is extracting the quintessence of things For the lighter performaunce of men how drunkenly doth vanity make euery thing that comes from them looke one gildes himselfe with hauing much lookes big doubtes not of himselfe speakes peremptorily when asked for his warrant he throwes out the big-swolne wordes of a 1000 pound a yeare not from his wit but reuenew drawes he the strength of his ability it is seene allowed by custome to the terrour of wisdome that from that 1000 pound a yeare are fetch'd all vertues he shall bee honest temperate wise valiant learned for he hath a thousand pound a yeare who seeth not here a conspiracie betweene ignorance and adulation to confound knowledge and vertue for neuer was there yet so vnchast and poore a vertue as
ware but in great assemblies where they may hope certainely of witnesse It sometimes makes cowardise to aduenture vpon daunger but they will seldome make triall of themselues alone they like not night-seruices nor secret Stratagems A pitch'd field is too little and the eye of the Generall must attend them or else they like it not It is wisedome with them to loose no labour and prodigalitie to conceale vertue it is worse then to weare cloath of gold inwardly and fustian outwardly they allowe of no secret expence it is vnthriftinesse They often goe like Vertue speake like Vertue doo like Vertue but that is where Vertue is in fashion for as it alters they alter they loue not her but Opinion Opinion the mother of Hipocrisie who coynes counterfet money vnder the stampe of Vertue which nothing can disprooue but the touch-stone of both Fortunes surely these people ought to bee pittied for they take more paines theÌ„ the vertuous for these last vtter their ware as Occasion giues them leaue and when t' is done t' is done the other are faine to get coÌ„pany togither to make frends and all the time of their performing any thing their mind is dictracted they desire to doo it well and are earnest about that and as earnestly are their eyes and eares busied at out their allowance which if they haue not they are throwne lower in their imaginations then the Center of the Earth theyr paines are thrice more their reward much lesse the allowance of the people the applause of vncertaine Ignorance which if they do not as much to morrowe is lost but the vertuous haue an inward satisfaction and a sure expectation of an eternall reward If at any time the attempts of these Sectaries of Opinion bee espied and that the cause of theyr seeming good bee knowne they are then the very pictures of wretchednes more base then a Spittle-house they lament and howle and chide Fortune bitterly thus is it with them in their apprehensioÌ„ of misfortune they are more subiect to take infection then the best complexions their imaginations multiply griefes they adde more terror then it is possible they should suffer An ill Dreame to them is worse then the sword of an Executioner to ResolutioÌ„ In a word they know nothing neither doo they thinke of any truly but the excesse of delights or griefes worries them worse then a beare bouÌ„d to endure ten dogges Hee that loathes this life let him not beleeue any thing rashly let him loue Vertue let him aspire to Cato his description of whom Salust saith Esse quam videri bonus malebat Let him neither be subiect to vaine-glory nor flatterers nor respect coÌ„mendatioÌ„s nor reproofes farther then they go with Truth If otherwise let him defend his eares from their noise let them passe without attention for they are but as fawning dogges This course will defend him from being bewitched with words and beget Iudgement the cause of all well performed Actions Essay 17. Of Discontentments SHall we rob our selues of Contentment because our bodies are mortall or shall wee esteeme it the best assistance of our friend to weepe I shall doubt of the che choise of my Counsailour if his Proemium be bewailing and his instructions teares Our griefes originalls are two both arise from the body the one the issue of Pleasure the other of Griefs the first is the most honest the â—ast most foolish WheÌ„ our body hath rebelled becommeth the slaue of lust it is well done of the soule to lameÌ„t his obstinate folly but to simpathize with the bodies griefs and aches and paines to spend exclamatioÌ„s vpon a thing necessited it is most ridiculous We haue many faire examples before vs rather to be followed then admired for I thinke it not impossible to put on this Habit of Resolution It is an armour mee thinkes of excellent proofe to meditate of the Eternitie of our worthiest part and to thinke this compact of the Elements must suffer a dissolution Whatsoeuer God doth by a Medium must know an ende what immediately belongs to Eternitie Heere doth Philosophy according to Plato giue the Soule againe her winges and helpes her to blowe the Coale of her first light and makes her to distinguish betweene Earth and her owne Essence and when any of these Tooth-aches of the body come shee teacheth that they are to be entertained not as straungers but as Familiars that we haue long expected Who hath bene acquainted with this Philosophicall life cannot but end with Plato in his Axiochus Tantum abest vt timeam mortem vt nunc etiam teneor Amore. Resoâ—ued of this mee thinks Things short of this should lay no holde of vs but alas we are so vsed to this bewayling as if we haue no cause for what wee feele we will for what we see for the losse of money and things of that kinde and if these be not readie we will weepe at a Tale or at a Puppet play It skilles not If the body onely were at this expence but our soules will accompany them and bee so foolishly kinde as to lament for that they neuer knew Writing of this Contemplation desires me to protest her the onely Curer of these Diseases and she is so indeed There is no way to make this seperation but by her shee sheweth her seruants those Terrours vnmasked which are found to be no other then like Chimeraes begotten betweene Feare and Darkenesse which vanish with the Light and are expelled by the eye-light of Knowledge Doest thou lament for what is to come Why because it is not come No because it is greeuous and wilt thou double thy griefes with pulling them on before they come Are they come why it is too late to weepe If thou wilt do any thing please thy body with getting Cure If it be vncurable Lamentations are vaine There rests nothing then but to imitate cunning Porters get somewhat to saue thy shoulders and learne to carry it with the greatest ease I neuer yet sawe griefe of so deep a Dye that Time hath not changed were it not better to be ones owne Phisition and though we haue lost Friendes Reputation and Riches the houshold-stuffe of esteeme in the world yet if we holde Patience we are not poore And among the wise the estimatimation will rather encrease then decrease with these tryalls Come then let vs maintaine this Fort resolutely there is no safetie but here Nullus locus est quo non possit Fortuna prosequi yes heere shee cannot this place is diuine and immortall and shee commaunds ouer nothing that is not sensible for the other Vitij affectus proprius est displicere sibi Beholde this woorkeman who hath made vs so contrary to vice as wee neuer taste her but shee riseth in our stomackes and checkes our Intemperancy Here are the best motions that the Soule hath of the Body shee erreth not from her Diuinitie to be thus charitable for her self and her Companion there is no
our opinion of others the opinion of all others neerest a kin to iudgemeÌ„t we hould pride a vile and loathsome companion The creatures that giue vs earthly immortalitie whose chosen euidence is beauty if that not beautified with modestie humilities other name it is no lesse loathed then deformitie it giues a sweetnesse both to the beautie of behauiour and the bodies beautie and turnes the beholders thoughts into admiration that vnlesse thus accompanyed would end with enuie and a repining against natures partialitie The assistance of this vertue is as much as her contraries dangers neuer was there pride though incompassed with the strongest guarde safe For it is a vice contrary to all natures there is no other but may haue ayde ayded by the hopes of gaine or satisfying some humor but Pride deuouting all things to vpholde her selfe destroyes both loue and hope and is left destitute of all manner of defence it killes succors and multiplieth enemies the contrarie purchasing friendes infeebling enemies therefore without question a vertue of great helpe profit But her best vertue is Preseruation for beauty is but a colour and not reckened amongst the substantiall helpe may be helped and yet haue neede againe but Preseruation looseth no friend and humilitie is the author for sailing by this compasse we knowe wheresoeuer we are what we are it is impossible for any place or any state to alter vs all fortunes are one things that may stick vpon the body but neuer vpon the minde thus is she the cause of Preseruation for to preserue is not to loose she looseth not therefore she preserueth making the minde constant and free To tell how fit it is for man it were fit first to relate the wretchednesse of his state an argument long and dolefull but that it were a relation that would aske a long time since it is of his miserie shortly auerreth mine opinion for those debased states vnable to stand vpon themselues haue no other refuge but humility a testimony of an obeying minde yet far inough from a deiected basenesse Essay 32. Of Feare WE heare from our nurses and old women tales of Hobgoblins deluding spirits that abuse trauellers and carry them out of their waye we heare this when we are children and laugh at it when wee are men but that we laugh at it when we are men makes vs not men for I see few men we delight not perhaps in Iigges but in as ridiculous things wee liue nor this disprooues not their relations for wee are misvsed by these spirites both night and day some goe but a a little out of the waye most goe contrarie yea succourlesse for the Moone-light of sence is hardly their companion but the clowds of error wholy incompasseth them and in their trauells pride catcheth some luxurie some hate others couetousnesse deludeth another ambition others and my text millions whose cases are desperate For daye helpes them not but then instead of thinking of these impostors they see them and follow them and loue them of none of these haue we so iust cause to complaine as of Feare for most of the others are the diseases of our choyce rather then natures but this imperfect opinion catcheth hould in our very conceptions and when we haue not witte enough to bee cousined with the other crimes wee haue then apprehentions of feare and nothing is more conuersant with vs then dismayednesse and terror Licurgus ordeined the Laconian women the exercise of their limmes wrasteling running and managing weights and throwing them it did well doubtlesse for the preparing their issue strong and sturdy but had he giuen mothers the education of bettering their mindes he had done much better matters of execution are the seruants of direction weaknesse is not so great a fault as ignorance and ill strength with a stronge minde more inuincible then a strong body and feeble minde but to my vse we leaue our women ignorant and so leaue them fearefull which makes vs so weake harted the mans part is soone done he hath much more from his mother which being thus full of pusillanimitie must needs susteine and make his issue fearefull it will impaire a maÌ„s courage to conuerse with a cowarde but a twelue-moneth to liue with them and be nourished with such faint blood cannot choose but make them like safetie best and prize a whole skin aboue honor I do not thinke women are much more faultie in Natures abilities then men but they faile in education they are kept ignorant and so fearefull Instead of these Lâ—curgian courses I would haue them learned experienced let them know as much as we know and then doublesse they would be as fearelesse as we are I am much against that Romaine lawe that prohibiteth commanders wiues going to the warres with their husbands all obiections set apart their common-wealth would haue gained by it for doubtlesse a wenche that hath beene in many countries seene many battailes and is full of experience is excellent to breed on and if the Nurse were there to it were well for from her teat they suck somwhat of her constitutioÌ„ in which I doubt whether there be not some fault for we take the wiues of our groomes and tenants to feede these little ones and mingle grosse heauie blood with their gentile and spirited natures This is that I thinke now to that I see there is no vice that wee blame so much to blame as this no vice so putrifieth mans best part as this for though voluptuousnesse and other frailties will abuse the office of wit procure warrants for their purposes yet in none doth wit strengthen opinion with such strong argumeÌ„ts as she doth feare she will heere transforme bushes into men bul-rushes into Speares any thing into any thing being still desirous of matter and occasion to do her selfe hurt man had neede beware of these imbecillities for their neighborhood to his reason makes them obstinate hence commeth it that no creature is so good and so bad as man for all other creatures are bound by nature but the vniuersall circuit of mans minde hath leaue to runne into the extreame and furthest parte of things which since it hath well may we profit by it as well as receaue losse who hath the history but of his owne time and so much of yeares as may make him hould the relations of the world shall finde the worst of calamity to bee a thing so ordinary and so incident to the life of man as not at all to feare their approche but imbrace them as the appendixes and connections of life I was and againe not to be must giue beings to others that time shall ruine me and my memory skilleth not before I was I was in the same case and when I am so againe I shall not be sory for it fame and obliuion such things are coine of our stamping only curraÌ„t with our pouerties those opposites to feare as to be the fauorites of Fortune to
their vertues knowledge teacheth direction how to commaund direction giueth knowledge maiesty and power These order the sences and makes their effects come to the determined period teaching those belonging to the schoole to gather wisedome for the soule which two destinated seruantes though they present the minde sometime with allurments yet the execution of all vice belongs to the other three the assistants of the body What ariseth from these sences are affections what affection thinketh but opinion affection like the parents medleth with single obiects the minde graspeth vniuersalities the mindes imploiment is about things firme the affections momentary and sading Who seeth not then to bee led by our affections is vaiue and beastiall who seeing this will neglect the minde whose ample territory stretcheth eueÌ„ to the heauens Mens cernit et mens audit caeca caetera et sur da sunt I account our sences and their affections like Phisicke drugges which are one waye poyson another waye preseruatiues when they worke onely in the bodye they preserue the body but if ouercharged with excesse the fumes smother the soule and makes her aguish distasting what she ought to taste furring her mouth with superâ—â—uities and making her not know true pleasure and vanitie by the taste What blessings or cursses can I thinke of in the world but are deriued from these two heads these were the two wayes that Hercules was led vnto these are the two wayes that leades to knowledge and ignorance these are the two wayes that part light and darkenesse in a worde these are the two waies that make mans life either happy or vnfortunate Quisquis profunda mente vestigat verum Cupit que nullis ille deuijs falli In sereuoluaâ— intimi lucem visus Longosque in orbem cogat inflectens motus Animuque doceat quicquid extra molitur Suis retrusum possidere thesauris Thus haue I anatomized the partes of life of which if Phisicke be so carefull as to anatomize bodyes for bodilie diseases in these where minde and body are to be both inquired into care cannot be called curiositie To meddle with effects without the causes is to tell him that is sicke he is sicke not to remedy his sicknesse I will nowe speake more feelingly and speake of euents and actions which in the pettigree of knowledge is knowledges last discent Contemplation thinkes well action ought to do well of contemplation it is too vnsensible to dilate so contrary to custome and nature as it would be hard like Poetry the touch of the phansie But action is euery bodies case he that can but wipe his nose is his acquaintance of which I will speake my opinion concluding all in the managing these three Prosperitie Aduersitie and Danger If I should exempt knowledge from all things but the happinesse of vnderstanding it were well but it is not taken thus by the world no sildome it meetes with the worlds diffinition whose maine is riches and eyther pompe or pleasure luxurie or power of these what one is there whose gaine hath not beene knowledge that the waight of them hath not pressed downe and been like a Milstone tyed about the neeke of a swimmer Is it wealth and is it giuen thee thinkest thou onely to nourish thy sensualitie foole that thou art which hast thirsted after thy destruction how much would pouertie haue become thee better since wealth prooues but an instrument of thy destruction I accompt wealth and wante the touch-stones of dispositions euen in their vttermost extremities they agree in this wealth melting substances not throughly substanciall and wante vndooing their powers with his chilnesse and stormes of immoderate colde and heate man is impatient so of prosperitie and want which are not so vnlike as not to fitte a resemblance There is vertue in wealth as there is in any manuall instrument handsome and proâ—itable if in a skilfull hand that fearefull Simile of the sacred bookes that sayeth It shall be as possible for a ritche man to enter into the kingdome of heauen as a Cammell to passe through the eye of a Needle is meant as I hould not by any propriated course incident to wealth but incident to the disposers of wealth because commonly disposing it to their owne ruines for charitie is a commaundement to whose performance wealth is a visible testimonie It is the vse that carryes the cursse the thing is innocent it is a newter for can we seperate it from vayne glorye and prodigallitie it is a steppe to eternall felicitie and hapipinesse To come to this iourneyes end wee must passe by two daungers not bestowing too much vpon our selues not bestowing where it may bring foorth pride rather then defend want I neuer sawe it yet though I should be happy to see it a man curbing his owne disease of excesse to bestowe it vpon others needie we are content to starue our selues to wante handsomnesse to depriue our selues euen of the necessaries of the worlde to feede the vnsatisfied appetite of couetousnesse in the which we suffer so much as not to thinke of our owne vsing this store during our life we need do no more to do vertuously alter but the person and loue not another better then thy selfe and thou art in the waye of heauen put in thine owne name for thy sonnes or heires and thou hast purchased a diuine inheritance I for them giuing from them thou augmentest their state purchasing a blessing vpon their house and life I know not the thoughts of wealth for I was neuer wealthy but as I am I neuer see excesse that my memory laments not the want of penury How vnequallie nay how foolishly mannage we our states that neglect heauen and buye damnation with surfets and excesses A particuler faith serues a seculer fortune in these holy misteries my knowledge aspires no higher then the saluation of one soule in morallitie common to all men I may speake as well as any man because it is mine as well as an others So strong is my proposition as I neede not the valure of diuinitie morrall reasons will shewe how excellentlie Liberallitie becomes Plentie and Plentie without Knowledge is not Liberallitie but a chest that vnnecessarily maketh much of his store without vse or els prodigallitie which in confuming is no lesse vitious then couetousnesse is in sparing what haue we that the vse makes not precious dominion pallaces riches what els if not vsed lies without any more contentment then the things take in themselues which haue none other but a sencelesse being me thinks contentment can be bestowed vppon nothing more rich then to see creatures by nature neglected by thy good nature maintayned wherein thou surpassest common nature for she gaue them a life but thou giuest more a contentment of life for she gaue them life which ending there would haue proued misery and vnhappinesse but thou giuest him life and from his life remouest those torments which are worse and death How beautifull doe these actions looke vpon vs