generally so manie wonderfull works vnder the cope of heauen I cannot maruell enough at the excellencie of Man for whom all these things were created are maintained and preserued in their being and moouing by one and the same diuine prouidence alwaies like vnto it selfe AMANA There is nothing more certaine than this that all things whatsoeuer either the eie can behold or the eare heare were created for the benefit profit and vse of man and that he was made excellent aboue all things to rule ouer them yea the very Angels are sent to minister for their sakes which shall receiue the inheritance of saluation ARAM. Oh vnspeakable and heauenlie goodnesse which hast created man little lower than thy selfe and crowned him with glorie and worship But tell vs I pray thee ACHITOB more particularly what this great and principall worke of nature Man is to what end his being was giuen him and how he hath shewed foorth the fruits thereof For it â—â—st needes be that there is something in him greatly to be woondered at seeing all things were created to serue and obey him ACHITOB. Truely yee haue reason companions to begin our happie assembly with that knowledge which we ought to haue of our selues as being the storehouse of all wisdome and beginning of saluation wherof we may haue an assured testimonie from that father of Philosophie Socrates who beholding the first precept written at Delphos in that temple of Apollo which was so renowmed throughout Graecia namely Know thy selfe was foorthwith driuen into a very deepe cogitation and being rapt with contemplation of spirit he began from that time forward to doubt and to inquire of himselfe Wherupon contemning that way which all the Philosophers of his time who busied themselues about nothing but onely in finding out the causes of naturall things and in disputing curiously of them he gaue himselfe wholie to the knowledge of himselfe I meane of his soule which he maintained to be in deed man and by disputuation to intreat of the soueraigne good thereof and of vertue By which meanes the gate of wisedome was opened vnto him wherein he profited in such sort that according to the oracle at Delphos he was called of all men the wise the iust the prince of Philosophers and father of Philosophie And surely out of his sayings which being more diuine than humane were written by his disciples all other Philosophers haue drawne their knowledge Heraclitus another excellent man minding to giue out in speech that he had done some notable act woorthy of himselfe said I haue sought my selfe Which beginning truely is verie necassarie for man as being a guide to leade him to the true knowledge of God which is a heauenly gifte of God and peculiar to his And this is learnedly taught vs by the same Socrates where he saith that the dutie of a wise man is to seeke out the reasons of things that in the ende he may finde that diuine reason wherby they were made and hauing found it may worship and serue it that afterward he may enioy it and reape profite thereby Moreouer he addeth that the perfect knowledge of ones selfe which consisteth in the soule is in such sort ioined with the knowledge of God that the one without the other cannot be sincere and perfect And for the same reason Plato his disciple who for the excellencie of his writings was surnamed the Diuins saith that the perfect dutie of man is first to know his owne nature then to contemplate the diuine nature and last of all to bestow his labour in those things which may be most beneficiall to all men Ignorance of a mans selfe saith Lactantius and the want of knowledge wherefore and to what end he is borne is the cause of error of euill of leauing the right way to follow the crooked of wandring out of the plaine way to walke in the ragged and vneeuen way or vpon a dangerous and slipperie mountaine and lastly of forsaking the light to walke in darknes Now if we account it a shamefull thing to be ignorant of those things which belong to the life of man surely the not knowing of our selues is much more dishonest Let vs then consider what man is according to that meane knowledge which by the grace of God we are endued withal not staying in those curious definitions which the Philosophers haue made Man is a creature made of God after his owne image iust holy good and right by nature and compounded of soule and body I say of soule which was inspired of God with spirite and life and of a perfect naturall bodie framed of the earth by the same power of God In this sort man had his beeing of the eternal workmaster of the whole world of whom he was created by his incomprehensible goodnes to be made partaker of his immortalitie and permanent felicitie for this onely ende to set foorth the glorie of his Creator and to speake and do those things that are agreeable vnto him through the acknowledgement of his benefits From which ende man being fallen of his own free wil through ingratitude and disobedience was bereaued of all those ornaments which he had receiued before of God and in steede of righteousnes and holines all iniquitie filthines and vncleannes entred into him wherby he was made the slaue of sinne and of death from whence all those miseries had their beginning wherewith the life of man is ouerwhelmed His soule also was wrapped with infinite hurtfull passions and perturbations which worke in it a continuall disquietnes and his body became subiect to innumerable trauailes and violent vntowardnes Of which corruption the ancient Philosophers had great and assured knowledge but the first and true cause therof which was sinne and the voluntarie fall of man with his restoring vnto grace by the vnspeakeable goodnes and mercie of his Creator from whence he was fallen were alwaies hidden from them as we shall see anon as also from an infinite number of men who liuing holily according to the world neuer had the perfect knowledge of God in his eternall sonne As for any good thing whatsoeuer they vttered or found out it came through earnestnes of studie by discoursing and considering in the reasonable part of their soule of those things which offred themselues to their minde But forasmuch as they were not wholy ouerwhelmed in euery part of reason and yet had no knowledge of the heauenly word Iesus Christ they vttered many things contrarie one to another and in the midst of their great and woonderfull skill according to that saying of the Scripture who hideth his secrets from the prudent and reueleth them to babes they had a continuall troubled spirit wandring here and there aswell in the seeking out of themselues and of the causes of naturall things as of those things which are aboue nature And truely the reason of man naturally ingraffed in his hart which so farre foorth
mortall matter of as small continuance as a vessell of earth sinning without ceasing and endeuoring that that which is shut vp within it should please it Notwithstanding we ought not to neglect and contemne the woonderfull frame of this heauenly plant as Plato calleth it saying that the roote thereof is in the head drawing towards heauen seeing as in a little world we may behold therein the excellencie of the woonderful works of God and that in so great measure that the wisest and most eloquent men could neuer set them foorth sufficiently And if we cal to minde how by his almightie power he framed him at the first of a peece of earth we shall not neede to stand long heere to inquire and search out how he could be ingendred and fashioned in his mothers wombe how he receaued nourishment and life and lastly how he came into the light As for example how the sixe first daies after his conception he is nothing but milke the nine following blood twelue daies after flesh and howe in the eighteene next ensuing he is fashioned at what time the fruite beginneth to liue and to haue sence which is the fiue and fortieth day after he was conceaued These are secrets of nature which may seeme as incomprehensible and beyond the capacitie of man as his first creation For what greater maruell can there be than that of a little drop of mans seed there should be engendred bones sinewes vaines arteries similar and instrumentall partes skinne and flesh and that all these should be framed in that kinde figure and similitude which we daily see in men who are all created after that maner What neede we then to make an anatomy of all the chiefest partes of the body of man when as the consideration of the least of them which peraduenture may be found to be most necessarie will suffice to rauish vs with admiration What superfluous thing can be noted in the bodie What small parcell is there which the noblest part may want conueniently and which is not partaker of euerie euill disposition thereof What thing is there in the whole nature thereof which doth not satisfie that dutie verie profitably whereunto it is borne and appointed which mooueth not of it selfe which either doth suffereth or disposeth of it selfe otherwise than is most expedient and meet for it owne benefite and for the rest of the frame of man The progresse and growth thereof from day to day from houre to houre and that of all the parts together of this principall worke at one instant euen from the first houre of his being vntil his whole perfection are they not more heauenly than humane things What is more woonderfull vnder the cope of heauen than the coniunction and subiection of the naturall sences vnto the bodie I meane of the sight smelling hearing taste and touching whereby saith Plato the common sence which is as it were a generall receptacle conceaueth al outward things What an excellent propertie in man is it to voide from him a profitable superfluitie of his nourishment from whence the cause of the preseruation of mankinde proceedeth The articulate and distinct voice proper to him onely is it not woorthy of great maruell What greater secret of nature could rauish the minde of man more with admiration than amongst the infinite multitude of men in the world to consider the variety of their gestures and diuersity of their countenances that hauing al but one and the same forme yet not one almost resembleth another And when in so great varietie two are found resembling in all points one another as we read of some euen of sundry nations who haue been taken indifferently one for the other is it not a stranger matter How maruellous is it that all men hauing a toong wherewith they speake and sing yet we seldome see that the speaking and singing of one resembleth the speech and tune of another wherupon it commeth to passe that friends and familiars oftentimes acknowledge and vnderstand one another by their speech and voice before they see ech other Who will not admire this great secret in the hand of man that a hundred thousand writers may write the same thing with the same inke and like pen and that with three and twentie letters which haue each his owne figure and shape and yet the writings shall not resemble one another so but that euery writing may be knowne by his hand that wrote it Briefely what is there in the whole body of man that is not full of rare beautie This is sufficient for the matter in hand now let vs come to the soule which is much more noble and infused into the body by God the Creator without any vertue of the generatiue seed when as the parts of the body are alreadie framed and fashioned This alone can lead vs to the knowledge of God and of our selues or rather as Socrates said we shall neuer vnderstand perfectly what the soule is except we first know God and behold it in him as in a true glasse who onely can represent it vnto vs. Let vs then see what the soule is according to the sayings of the ancient Philosophers Thales Milesius one of the sages of Graecia who florished in Athens in the time of Achab king of Iuda was the first that defined the soule affirming it to be a nature alwaies moouing it selfe Pythagoras the light of his time and the first that tooke vnto himselfe the name of a Philosopher bicause all those who before him were addicted to the contemplation of the diuinity of the secrets of nature caused themselues to be called by the name of Mages and wisemen which he would not haue spoken of himselfe saying that this diuine and lofty title of Wise was proper to God onely and that it farre passed all humane ability I say this excellent man Pythagoras affirmed that the soule was a number moouing it selfe Plato saith that it is a spiritual substance moouing it selfe by harmonicall number Aristotle saith that the soule is the continuall act or moouing of a naturall and instrumentall bodie that may haue life Or else according to others it is the light of the substance and in perpetuall motion They diuiâ—e it likewise diuersely and make many parts therof The soule as Pythagoras said is compounded of vnderstanding knowledge opinion and sence from which things all knowledge and Arts proceed and of which man is called reasonable that is apt to discourse by reason Plato saith that there are three vertues in the soule belonging to knowledge and vnderstanding which for this cause are called cognitiue or knowing vertues namely reason vnderstanding and phantasie Vnto which three others are answerable appertaining to appetite namely Will whose office is to desire that which vnderstanding and reason propound vnto it Choler or Anger which followeth that that reason and phantasie offer vnto it and Concupiscence which apprehendeth whatsoeuer phantasie and
them next we will behold some examples of these famous personages that we may be induced thereby to contemne such pernitious goods Men ought to make great account of riches said Socrates if they were ioined with true ioy but they are wholy separated from it For if rich men fall to vsing of them they spoile themselues with ouergreat pleasure if they would keepe them care gnaweth and consumeth them within and if they desire to get them they become wicked and vnhappie It cannot be saith Plato that a man should be truly good and very rich both togither but he may well be happie and good at one time And it is a verie miserable saying to affirme that a rich man is happy yea it belongeth to children and fooles to say so making them vnhappy that beleeue and approoue it Slouth and slug gishnes grow of riches and they that are addicted to heape them vp more and more the greater account they make of them the lesse they esteeme vertue So that if riches and rich men are greatly set by in a Common-wealth vertue and good men will be much lesse regarded and yet great matters are brought to passe and Common-wealths preserued by vertue and not by riches Riches saith Isocrates serue not so much for the practise of honestie as of wickednes seeing they draw the libertie of men to loosenesse and idlenesse and stirre vp yong men to voluptuousnes Men said Thales are by nature borne to vertue but riches draw them backe vnto them hauing a thousand sortes of sorceries to allure them to vices and through a false opinion of good to turne them from those things that are truly good They suffer not him that hath them to be able to know any thing but draw him to external goods They are passing arrogant most feareful If they vse themselues they are riotous if they abstaine miserable They neuer content their Owners nor leaue them void of sorow and care but as they that are sicke of the dropsie the more they drinke become the thirstier so the more that men abound in wealth the more they desire to haue Riches of themselues breed flatterers who helpe to vndoe rich men They are the cause of infinite murders and hired slaughters they make couetous persons to contemne the goods of the soule thinking to become happy without them They prouoke them also to delicacies and to gluttony whereby their bodies are subiect to diseases and infirmities Briefly riches greatly hurt both bodie and soule They stirre vp domesticall sedition and that among brethren They make children worse in behauiour towards their fathers and cause fathers to deale more hardly with their children Through them it commeth that friends suspect each other for a true friend is credited no more by reason of a flatterer Besides rich mē are angry with good men saying that they are arrogant bicause they will not flatter them and in like maner they hate such as flatter them thinking that they keepe about them onely to robbe them and to diminish their wealth These are the cuils which may be said to be commonly in riches But these also accompany them being execrable diseases namely presumptiō pride arrogancie vile and abiect cares which are altogether earthly naughtie desires wicked pleasures and an insatiable coueting Besides if they were not pernitious of thēselues so many mischiefs would not take their beginning from them For men commit a thousand murders for gaine They robbe churches fidelitie is lost and broken friendship is violated men betray their country maidens are loosely giuen brieflie no euils are left vnexecuted through the desire of riches They that giue them selues said Bion to gather riches are verie ridiculous seeing fortune giueth them couetousnes keepeth them and liberalitie casteth them away Men must haue rich soules saith Alexides as for siluer it is nothing but a shew and vaile of life It is a naughtie thing saith Euripides but common to all rich men to liue wickedly The cause thereof as I take it is this bicause they haue nothing but riches in their mind which being blind seele vp likewise the eies of their vnderstanding I pray God neuer to send me a wealthy life which hath alwaies sorow and care for hir Companions nor riches to gnaw my hart Speake not to me of Pluto that is to say of riches for I make no great reckoning of that God who is alwaies possessed of the most wicked vpon the earth O riches you are easie to beare but infinite cares miseries and griefs keepe you companie He saith Democritus that woondereth at such as haue great riches and are esteemed of the ignorant multitude to be happie will surely through a desire of hauing commit and vndertake wicked things and those oftentimes against the lawes As drunkennes saith Aristotle begetteth rage and madnes so ignorance ioined with power breedeth insolencie and furie And to those whose minds are not well disposed neither riches nor strength nor beautie can be iudged good but the greater increase ariseth of them the more harme they procure to him that possesseth them Moreouer do we not see that the most part of rich men either vse not their riches bicause they are couetous or abuse them bicause they are giuen ouer to their pleasures and so they are all the seruants either of pleasures or of trafficke and gaine as long as they liue But he that would be as Plato saith truly rich ought to labor not so much to augment his wealth as to diminish his desire of hauing bicause he that appointeth no bounds to his desires is alwaies poore and needie For this cause the libertie of a wise mans soule who knoweth the nature of externall goods belonging to this life is neuer troubled with the care of them being assured as Plutark saith that as it is not apparell which giueth heate to a man but only staieth and keepeth in naturall heate that proceedeth from the man himselfe by hindring it from dispersing in the aire so no man liueth more happily or contentedly bicause he is compassed about with much wealth if tranquillitie ioy and rest proceed not from within his soule Heape vp saith the same Philosopher store of gold gather siluer togither build faire galleries fill a whole house full of slaues and a whole towne with thy debtors yet if thou doest not maister the passions of thy soule if thou quenchest not thy vnsatiable desire nor deliuerest thy soule of all feare and carking care thou doest asmuch to procure thy quietnes as if thou gauest wine to one that had an ague Life of it selfe saith Plato is not ioyfull vnles care be chased away which causeth vs to waxe gray-headed whilest we desire but meane store of riches For the superfluous desire of hauing alwaies gnaweth our hart Whereupon it commeth to passe that oftentimes amongst men we see pouertie to be better than riches death than life And truly there is great madnes in the greedy coueting of
himselfe indebted for the glorifieng of his name whether it were by death or by life For it belongeth to him to determine what is expedient for his glorie Wherefore if it behooueth vs to liue and die vnto him let vs leaue both our life death to his good pleasure but yet so that we alwaies desire rather to die than to liue be ready cheerfully to renounce this life whensoeuer it pleaseth the Lord bicause it holdeth vs vnder sin And let vs hold this Maxime that no man hath throughly profited in the school of Christ Iesus but he that with ioy gladnes expecteth the day of death and of the last resurrection S. Paul in his epistle to Titus describeth al the faithful by this mark the scripture when it propouÌ„deth vnto vs matter of reioicing calleth vs backe thither Reioice saith the Lord in Luke and lift vp your heads for your redemption draweth neere It were absurd that that thing should breed nothing but sorow and astonishment in vs which Christ thought was fit matter to worke ioy in vs. Now than seeing death is dead to them that beleeue in him there is nothing in death which a maÌ„ ought to feare It is true that the image thereof is hideous and terrible bicause that besides the violent taking away of life it representeth vnto vs the wrath of God which biteth like a serpent but now the venome of it is taken away and can not hurt vs. And as through the brasen serpent which Moses lift vp in the wildernesse the liuing serpents died and their venome hurt not the Israelites so our death dieth and is not able in any sort to hurt vs if we behold with the eyes of faith the death of Iesus Christ Briefly it is nothing but an image and shadow of death and the beginning and entrance vnto true life Wherefore concluding our present speech let vs learne that as our miserable nature had brought vs to the like condition of death so the grace of God maketh this difference that some namely the wicked die to their destruction and others which are the children of God led by his spirit and word die to liue more happily so that their very death is precious in the sight of God And although the lust of our fleshe beyng blind and earthly striueth continually against the desires of the spirit seeking to separate vs as far as it can from our soueraigne Good yet let vs haue this ingrauen in our harts that they are happy that know the vanitie of this world more happy that set not their affections vpon it and they most happy that are taken out of it to be with GOD in the kingdome of heauen The ende of this Academie 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 Arist lib. 2. Eth. cap. 2. Aug. lib. 2. de doct chr cap. 40. Aug. lib. 8. de ciuit Dei cap. 6. 7. 8. c. Aristotle de Mundo Lib. 6. Strommat This commendation of vertue is chiefly to be vnderstood of faith the roote of all good vertues Hebr. 1. Psalm 8. All things were created for man To knowo our selues is true wisedome The soule is truly man Socrates was called the father of Philosophie Socrates said that the knowledge of God and of our selues must be ioined together Wherin the dutio of man consisteth Ignorance of our selues the cause of much euill What man is Gen. 1. Col. 3. The ende of mans being There is a double reason in man Heraclitus wept continually Democritus alwaies laughed The iudgement of Philosophers concerning the nature of man Pindarus Homer Timon Plinie The custome of the Scythians The presumptuous opinion of the Stoiks The end of the knowledge of our selues The wilfull fall of man The restoring of man All men naturally haue some loue and liking of the truth Effects of Christian regeneration The perfection of a wise mans life The wonderfull coniunction of the bodie and soule All things are preserued by agreeing discords The definition of a bodie Gen. 6. Rom. 8. Gal. 5. The works of the flesh Man is a little world Gen. 3. Of the conception and fashioning of man Of the excellencie of the bodie and of all the parts thereof Great secrets of nature The diuersitie of mens voices and writings The soule is infused not 〈◊〉 The definition of the soule Pythagoras was the first that was called a Philosopher The diuision of the soule Plato maketh sixe parts of the soule Aristotle diuideth it in two parts Foure parts of the soule The best diuision of the soule The soule cannot be diuided but is made subiect to two parts Both parts of the soule are corrupted Rom. 7. 23. The properties of the soule The actions of the soule The beautie of the soule Gal. 5. 22. 23. The true delight of the sense Phil. 4. 4. Luke 10. 20. How a man ought to vse both body and soule Nothing woorse to man than man himselfe Rom. 7. 18. 19. There is no good thing in the flesh of man Man is a mutable creature Pleasure and griefe the cause of passions Manis more carefull of his body then of his soule The ende cause and remedie of bodily diseases Naturall passions The definition of passion The diuision of passions All men haue naturally a desire of happines No man by nature can finde out the right way that leadeth to happines The word of God sheweth vs the right way to happines Of the perturbations of the soule The scope of our passions The ancient heathen may rise vp in iudgement against many Christians in these daies The originall nature and effects of perturbations All perturbations are contained vnder these foure heads Desire Ioy Feare Griefe An excellent comparison The cause of the diseases of the soule Reason is the medicine of the soule A sound soule correcteth the naughtines of the bodie The passions of the soule are headstrong and hard to be cured The passions of men commonly bring foorth effects contrarie to their purposes Reason is wisedome inspired from heauen A remedie against passions Examples of death by ouer-great ioy Herennus died for feare Plautius through griefe The effects of desire Vertue is alwais without excessiue passion The nature of worldly goods A wise soule gouerneth the affections What it is to liue happilie The common drife of men What men ought chiefly to leuell at The worke of philosophie The proper end and scope of Philosophie Why the philosophers could neuer attaine to the souereigne good in this life The definition of philosophie The diâ—ision of philosophie Of diuine philosophie How we must behaue out selues in searching our the secrets of God Of naturall philosophie Aâ—ule to be kept in naturall philosophie Against sorcerers magitians and birth-gazers The issue of all things is to be referred to the prouidence of God Of morall philosophie God the Idea of all good The benefit that commeth by philosophie Philosophie is the art of life What it is to play the philosopher Where and how philosophie is
diuine nature Of the diseases and passions of the bodie and soule and of the tranquillitie thereof Chap. 3. ARAM. ONe of the ancient philosophers vsed to say that no liuing creature was worse to man than man himselfe bicause albeit he hath dominion ouer all things yet he cannot rule himselfe nor his desires Experience causeth vs but too much to knowe the truth of this saying For who can doubt in any sort heerof seeing blessed S. Paule himselfe confesseth that he did not the good thing which he would but the euill which he would not and that in his flesh there dwelt no goodnes So vndoubtedly we haue both bodie and soule compassed about with so many pernitious passions that it is very hard yea altogither vnpossible that what good thing soeuer is in vs should not faint and sinke vnder their heauie waight without a speciall and diuine grace ACHITOB. Truly this is no vaine speculation nor vnprofitable to man as also for a man to know that he is as it were tied in this world to all vncertaine things which he being mortall by nature cannot any way shun and auoid without the helpe of God He which is in health expecteth sicknes he that is sicke health Doth any one desire in his mind any thing Before he enioyeth it his desire is often changed into another In a word no man abideth still in one and the same estate And therfore Plato calleth man a mutable creature as if he meant to say that he is easily altered and changed ASER. The change which this diuine philosopher meant if I be not deceiued hath relation principally to the conditions of the soule which being filled with infinite perturbations fastened in the midst of it with the naile of pleasure and griefe is carried away with inconstancie and vncertaintie into a streame of troublesome passions which if they be not cut off and maistred by reason draw a man into vtter destruction But giue vs to vnderstand AMANA more at large of these passions of the soule and of the way to remedie them and if you thinke good you may speake somewhat of those of the bodie AMANA Amongst the innumerable euils which the desire of pleasure and feare of griefe ingrauen in the most secret parts of our soule by our first corruption bring to man this is the greatest and most pernitious that they make sensible things more euident and plaine vnto him than things intelligible and constraine the vnderstanding to iudge more by passion than by reason For vsing through the sence oâ— pleasure or trauell to attend to the erronious vncertaine and mutable nature of the bodie as to that which is subsisting and subiect to sight he remaineth blind and looseth all knowledge of that which truly is and subsisteth namely of the light of the soule which is diuine and immortall Moreouer applying himselfe wholie to the sensuall and vnreasonable will which is that part of the soule that proceedeth of the corruption thereof he laboureth with all his might to quench and choke that weake instinct of the soule which aspireth vnto the true Good from whence she perceiueth hir selfe to haue fallen And this he doth with such force and power that if God strengthen not the soule and reason the diuine guide accompanie hir not without doubt she yeeldeth to such mightie enimies and then as we haue said staying himselfe wholy in things subiect to sight he appeereth too carefull and curious in seeking to decke that which belongeth to the bodie but as for the soule wherof all humane felicitie dependeth bicause she is inuisible and not seene of him it is the lest of his cares to furnish hir with that which she seeketh and desireth and which is necessarie for hir Wherupon in the end it commeth to passe that the lest ouerthwarts and discommodities of his flesh seeme very greeuous and burthensome to a man but as for the incurable diseases which ouerwhelme his soule he doth not so much as feele them Now to the end we may vnderstand more particularly that which is heer propounded vnto vs we will handle in order and as briefly as we may this matter being very large the diseases and passions of the bodie and soule with the remedie which we are to desire and seeke after And first we will speake a word of the diseases of the bodie next of the naturall and necessarie passions thereof albeit we will intreat of the passions of the soule as of our chiefe matter subiect Concerning the maladies and euill dispositions of the bodie one Hippocrates one Galen nay infinite others skilfull in physicke are not able to describe them exactly much lesse prescribe certaine and sure remedies But seeing it is not my purpose or profession to stay long heere neither yet necessarily belonging to the cause of our assemblie I will content my selfe to speake these few words by the way that we ought to take euerie bodily infirmitie as a fatherly chastisement of our sins and as a necessarie meane to awaken vs to warne vs of our dutie and to keep vs in awe Besides one principall cause of all bodilie diseases proceedeth ordinarily from vices which are the proper inheritance of man and with which we defile our selues continually Therefore if we heale our soules we may cure our selues of the most of them and as for others which come by defect of nature or by some other hidden cause we haue the counsell and helpe of physicions whom willingly and diligently we seeke after There are besides these certaine naturall and necessarie passions in the body properly belonging vnto it euen from the first creation therof which are not to be condemned neither can be taken away but with the abolishing of mans nature as the desire of drinking eating sleeping such like which onlie by the direction of reason are to be freed from all superfluitie But it standeth otherwise with the diseases and passions of the soule deriued from our first corruption and driuen forward by sinne being plentifull and rich which without comparison are far more dangerous than those of the bodie more hard to be perceiued knowen more headstrong and vneasie to cure and which is worse man is very slothfull in seeking out a remedie for them And for the most part thinking that he hath found some remedie through want of skill and ignorance he falleth into a worse estate than he was in before and as we commonly say from a gentle ague into a pestilent and burning feuer But first we will generally define this word Passion according to the opinion of those philosophers who were endewed with greatest light Passion is euerie naturall and actuall motion in the soule This motion is of two sorts the one weake good and holie aspiring and reioicing in that which is truly good the other verie strong euill and pernitious coueting with a disordered desire and delighting with an immoderate ioy in a good falsly so imagined The
more they thought to know the greater occasion of doubting they found in them so that for all their labour and vnderstanding they could neuer carrie away any true knowledge or certaine resolution And euen as that man who not contenting himselfe with the abundant light of the sunne beames but seeking with his eies to pearce through the brightnes therof euen vnto the midst of the circle of the body must questionlesse become blind so falleth it out for the most part to those who go about too curiously to inquire after that which is not lawfull to be knowen The ill successe of our age affoordeth vs too manie miserable testimonies wherin at this day we see nothing but contrarieties of opinions and vncertainties through their subtilties bold curiosities who haue sought to plucke as a man would say out of heauen the secrets hid from the angels yea which is worse haue boasted that they haue attained vnto the knowledge of them filling our times with trouble and confusion vnder that false pretence There are others also no lesse hurtful who haue binne such curious Inquisitours of the causes of all naturall things that through friuolous and vnprofitable questions they haue fallen into that impietie as to seeke for another beginning of all things than God Whereupon this prouerbe which is too true arose Of three Physitions one Atheist This kinde of curiositie is of all others most pernitious But forasmuch as it is without the compasse of our Academie we let it passe with this short mention thereof and with this onely addition that God commonly punisheth the pride of such men by those fruits which we see them bring foorth and by taking from them their vnderstanding in principall and most necessarie matters wherein notwithstanding they thinke themselues to be woonderfull and iolly fellowes aboue all others As touching this point the example of Socrates is very memorable and to be imitated who being demanded what the world was answered that since he had any iudgement he gaue himselfe to seeke out the true knowledge of himselfe which yet he could neuer find But so soone as he had attained thereunto then he would seeke for other things that would do him no seruice or pleasure Aristotle as Iustin Martyr writeth who for the excellencie of his skill in naturall philosophie was called the god of the earth burned with such a desire of curiositie in vnderstanding the causes of naturall things that bicause he could not know and conceiue the cause and nature of Euripus which is in Chalcis a citie of Eubaea I meane of the flowing ebbing of the sea which turneth compasseth about that place nor giue a sufficient reason thereof he died for very shame and greefe which he conceiued thereupon Plinie also who wrote the historie of naturall philosophie was choked with the flames and vapors of the mountaine Mongibel in Sicilia whilest he sought to find out the cause of them and from whence that great fire came which spoiled the countrie round about in the time of Titus the emperor insomuch that seuen or eight townes were burned and many persons trauelling by land and sailing on the sea were stifled with the ashes therof caried about by the vehemency of the winds But let vs leaue these curious spirits and speake of two other generall kinds of curiositie which respect chiefly our morall philosophie and from whence all corruption of good maners proceeded The first kind concerneth our selues onely and the other our brethren and countrimen To speake therefore of the first it bringeth foorth pernitious effects after diuers sorts and maners but amongst vs Frenchmen they appeere principally in that burning desire which inflameth vs to trauell into strange nations and in our carking and caring for the nourishment clothing and decking of our bodies and for the setting foorth and trimming vp of our houses with curious and vnprofitable moueables wherein we exceede all the superfluitie of other countries When the ancients speake of the felicitie that accompanied the golden age amongst the good conditions and commendable maners which they noted in that holie and first simplicitie they neuer forgat this that the men of that good time tilled and manured their grounds and cared not what strangers did in farre countries Moreouer since the time that men made light account of their owne climate through a curious and vnsatiable desire of appropriating vnto themselues the inheritance and labour of others besides the crueltie violence and murders which prepared a way to their miserable platformes all corruption of good maners at home and all bastardlike attire haue followed thereupon We might heere note infinite testimonies of antiquitie and especially of our ancient progenitors the Gaules who were verie warlike and liued within their bounds in al simplicitie of maners and frugalitie of life But our owne example to our vnspeakeable shame and miserie is so euident before our eyes that I neede no better proofe of my saying than that experience which we feele by our owne perill For the ruine and destruction of this french monarchy proceedeth of no other second cause our iniquitie being the first than of the mixture which we haue made of strangers with our selues Wherein we are not contented to seeke them out vnder their roofes vnlesse we also draw them vnto vs and lodge them vnder our roofes yea preferre them before our owne countrimen and citizens in the offices and honorable places of this kingdome against the law and right of euerie good and well established policie Besides we adore and reuerence all their nouelties and subtill inuentions and that so ignorantly or rather blockishly that suffring them to sucke vs euen to the verie bowels in steade of all our riches and spoiles which they for their part haue drawne from vs they haue left vs nothing but new maners and fashions of liuing in all dissolutenes and pleasure except this one thing also that we haue learned of them to dissemble and withall to frame and build a treason verie subtillie Such is the prouision wherewith our french youth is commonly furnished by their Italian voyages To this purpose Gueuara Chronicler to the emperor Charles the first writeth that from forraine countries men commonly bring newes to prattle of and strange customes to practise and that few come out of Italie that are not absolute and dissolute Lycurgus by his lawes commanded the Lacedemonians not to go out of their kingdome nor to conuerse with strangers saying that although by their trafficke with them they might be inriched yet on the other side they would grow poore in regard of their owne vertues Titus Liuius Macrobius Salustius and Tully cursed and bewailed the conquests and victories which Rome had in Asia saying that if the Romanes brought the Persians Medes vnder subiection by force yet the selfe same Asians ouercame the Romans with their vices and delights This doth Cicero testifie writing to Atticus where he saith
the same matter find more profitable instruction by considering his nature more narrowly as also what commeth vnto him by good education which that I may so say standeth him in stead of a second nature To you therfore my Companions I leaue this matter to be intreated of ARAM. The nature of man is like to a paire of ballance For if it be not guided with knowledge and reason vnto the better part of it selfe it is caried to the woorse And although a man be well borne yet if he haue not his iudgement fined and the discoursing part of his mind purged with the reasons of philosophie it will fall often into grosse faults and such as beseem not a prudent man For in those men that are not indued with vertue ruled by certaine knowledge nature bringeth forth such fruits as naturally come from the ground without the manuring and helping-hand of man ACHITOB. That which commonly causeth men to will euill rather than good proceedeth chiefly of this that they haue no knowledge or experience therof And therfore Socrates said that as bringing vp maketh dogs fit for hunting so good instruction causeth men to become profitable in the managing of a commonwealth But it commeth to thy course ASER to discourse vpon this matter ASER. This hath been alwaies a great question among the skilfull and diligent inquiters after the perfection of nature whether learning or nature teacheth vs to know our selues Iustice saith Cicero is naturally planted in vs from our birth as also religion pietie grace dutie and truth Whatsoeuer is according to nature as the philosophers say is certainly ordained and appointed bicause nature is nothing else but order or rather the effect of order But disorder like to Pindarus sand cannot be comprehended in any certaine number neither can that which is against nature be defined bicause it is infinite When they speake generally of nature they make two principall kinds the one spirituall intelligible and the vnchangeable beginning of motion and rest or rather the vertue efficient and preseruing cause of all things the other sinsible mutable and subiect to generation and corruption respecting all things that haue life and shall haue end Aristotle saith that nature in one respect is said to be the first chiefe matter subiect of euery thing that hath being namely of those things which haue in them the beginning of their own moouing mutation and in another respect it is called the form of any thing But leauing the infinite disputations and curious inquirie made by the philosophers concerning this excellent matter whereof we haue not heere vndertaken to intreat we say with Iustin Martyr that Nature in which the steps of the diuinitie shine and are liuelie represented is that spirit or diuine reason which is the efficient cause of naturall works and the preseruing cause of those things that haue being through the onely power of the heauenlie word which is the workmaister of nature and of the whole world and hath infused into euery thing a liuely vertue and strength wherby it encreaseth and preserueth it selfe by a naturall facultie Or to speake more briefly Nature is the order and continuance of the works of God obeying the deitie and his words and commandements and borrowing hir force and strength from thence as from hir fountaine and originall In this nature thus defined which respecteth all things created we haue heere to consider of and to handle particularly according to our meaning at the first the nature of man onely which naturall philosophers call the instinct and inclination of euerie ones spirit There is nothing more true than that nature of hir selfe leadeth men in some sort to that which is decent and honest neither is learning able to shew any thing which is not to be found in nature whether we go about to teach the end of man which the philosophers call the action of vertue or whether we seeke out the causes and beginnings of other sciences For other is no man so barbarous or wicked in all the world who is not touched with honestie and who retaineth not somewhat of the light of nature Which may be cleerely perceiued by this that a vertuous action pleaseth him so that he is euen constrained to commend it And if he might taste thereof neuer so little not being fore-possessed with other disordinate desires no doubt but he would become such a one as might purchase and deserue praise and commendation But here we must acknowledge the first corruption of our nature whereby it is inclined to pleasure and to eschew labour which are the welsprings of vices and of infinite euils And if our nature should be suffered to runne with the bridle at libertie whether soeuer it is driuen by carnal desires hauing none of them cut off by wise admonitions and liuely perswasions there is no beast so vntamed or sauage that would not be milder than man Whereupon it followeth that nature must of necessitie be tamed and as it were mollified by the studie of good letters by the instruction of good philosophicall reasons which as they serue for nourishment and food to our minds so by them our maners and actions are framed and guided according to vertue and prudence and we made able to learne how by the compasse of reason to attain to mediocritie wherin perfection consisteth and to reiect excesse which is alwaies dangerous A good plaier on a lute or violl toucheth no other stringes than those that are touched by him that is most vnskilfull Notwithstanding being taught in the beginning he knoweth afterward through vse what strings make that sound which the earc iudgeth by the harmonie and agreement of sound to be delectable whereupon he is taken for his crafts-master Euen so a perfect vertuous man vseth onely naturall gifts but reason and practise bringeth them to their perfection Euery good beginning commeth vnto vs by nature the progres and growth by the precepts of reason and the accomplishment by vse and exercise Nature without learning good bringing vp is a blinde thing Learning without nature wanteth much and vse without the two former is vnperfect It is true as Plato saith that some may be found that are of a strong and forceable nature and therby indued with reasonable good sence and iudgement which is in man as the rudder in a ship so that they make shewe of great vertues But those men are not without manie great vices also if they want good education learning not vnlike to a good fat ground which bringeth foorth many good and bad hearbes togither if it be not well dressed Now if this good nature be ill brought vp without doubt it will spoile it selfe and become verie pernitious Scipio and Catiline were both high minded and couragious by nature but forasmuch as the one was alwaies obedient to the lawes of his common-wealth vsed his vertue as reason required he was accounted vertuous the other
vpon no other vse than vpō the paiment of his men of war as also to keepe that money apart from his ordinary receipts But bicause this is not duely obserued the people are doubly vexed for they pay their money and yet are polled on all sides Notwithstanding all these ordinarie charges the poore pesants would thinke themselues happie if they were discharged by erecting victualing tents for the men of warre as they haue been forced to doe of late yeeres Now what good issue can be hoped for when the souldiors through an vnbrideled licence sack spoile and burne the poore subiects This hath alwayes been seene that houses families kingdoms and Empires haue come to ruine and pouertie bicause the poore were contemned and the subiects giuen ouer to the robberies of souldiors The immoderate licence of the Pretorian souldiours who were to the emperors as the Ianitzaries are to the Turke and of other men of warre was no small helpe to ouerthrowe the Romane Empire For taking vpon them to elect Emperours at their pleasure one was chosen in one armie and an other else-where and presently murdered by those that had elected them Their insolencie also caused seditions and ciuill warres whereupon those kingdoms and countreys that were vnder the Romane obedience reuolted And it commeth to passe oftentimes that their vnruly behauiour incenseth the people in such sort against them that their destruction followeth As it hapned to all the Frenchmen that were in the I le of Sicilia in the yeere 1281. vpon Easter day at the first peale to Euensong at what time they were all put to death by a secret conspiracie for their insolencies and whoredoms whereupon this prouerbe doth yet remaine amongst vs The Sicilian Euensong There is no corner of this kingdom where the people being halfe mad through the iniuries receiued from the men of warre haue not committed infinite and cruell massacres We may not here forget to propound the wise and warlike discipline of Bellizarius lieutenaunt generall to the Emperor Iustinian who for valure and temperance was equall to the ancient Romanes as histories testifie of him which was the cause that he reconquered all Italy possessed by the Barbariās Not long since during the warre of Piemont which was a very schoole of vertue and of warrelike knowledge the pesaunt husbandman and artificer were suffered quietly at their worke the warre continuing betweene warriours onely for the possession and not the ruine of the countrey And as the people were then glad to receiue amongst them such armies so they dispaire no lesse at this day bicause all warlike discipline all policie both diuine and humane is in such sort extinguished yea all kind of humanitie and societie which is to be seen amongst barbarous people that it is lawfull for Frenchmen to sacke spoile and put to ransome Frenchmen that are many times of the same side faith and condition and that without punishment But let vs not looke for prosperitie and good successe in our enterprises before there be some other order and discipline obserued The ende of the seuenteenth dayes worke THE EIGHTEENTH DAIES WORKE Of the office and dutie of a Generall Chap. 69. ASER. THose men commonly prosper in their affairs that vnderstand them throughly and manage them well diligently considering aduisedly what hath beene heretofore that they may in some sort iudge of that which is to come bicause all worldly things haue euermore some agreement with the ages past Which commeth of this that beyng the works of men they haue had and will alwayes haue like formes and therfore must of necessitie haue like effectes But the cause of the good or euill successe of men in respect of mans nature consisteth in this that the meanes and maner of proceeding iumpe with the time wherein the very condition therof and the occasion offred is diligently to be obserued And if this consideration taketh place in all priuate affaires it is much more necessarie in warre wherein a light fault oftentimes procureth losse ouerthrow to a whole armie whose good or ill happe dependeth of the head and leader therof according as he is either woorthy or vnwoorthy of his charge My opinion therfore is my companions that we alleage in this place whatsoeuer we know belongeth to his duetie and office I propound now the discourse of this matter to you AMANA Men disdaine commonly to obey such as know not how to commaund well Therfore euery Generall of an armie ought to labour carefully that men may behold and see a certaine greatnes magnanimitie constancie in all his doings ARAM. A Generall must be had in estimation of his souldiors and of that reputation that they may giue credite to his prudence otherwise an army doth quickly become rebellious and troublesome to be guided But let vs learne more amply of ACHITOB whatsoeuer concerneth this matter ACHITOB. Lamachus a great Athenian captain sayd that no man must offend twise in warre bicause the faults are of so great waight that for the most part they bring with thē the ouerthrow of the state or losse of life to those that commit them and therefore that it was a hard and daungerous matter to haue experience thereof So that Prudence gotten by vse ought to bee hastened forward bicause it is deerly bought so long a cōming that oftentimes death preuenteth it It must be hastned forward by the diligent enquirie of those things that haue fallen out both before since our time that we may become wise by other mens perils For this cause it is very necessarie that whosoeuer taketh vpon him the honor of guiding an armie should exercise his minde as much in science and in the knowledge of histories as he doth his body in all martiall actes that so he may diligently obserue the deedes of famous personages see how they gouerned themselues in warres and examine the causes of their victory thereby to flie the one and to follow the other And bicause it is against reason that a well armed man should obey him that is vnarmed or that they should take the rudder out of the Pilots hand to saue the ship in a storme that haue no skill in sea-faring matters it is very requisite that whosoeuer vndertaketh to commaund an army should first haue gotten a good report of all men for his valure and greatnesse of courage whereby his authoritie will be reuerenced as being bestowed vpō one that is woorthy of it forasmuch as titles of dignitie do not honor men but men are an ornament to titles Now if souldiors haue conceiued a good opinion of the desert and valure of their captaine it will be as a sharpe spur to pricke them forward in well doing and cause them to honor to loue his commandements For true zeale of vertue that is to say the desire to imitate it is not imprinted in mens harts but through a singular good will reuerence towards that
mislike publike charges and by and by they blame the priuate life labouring that they may be imploied They forsake one countrie to go and dwell in another and suddenly they desire to returne againe into their former waies They that haue neither wiues nor children seeke and wish for them and when they haue them they desire oftentimes nothing more than to be rid of them and soone after ye shall see them married againe Haue they heaped vp great store of wealth and increased their reuenues by halfe so much more they desire notwithstanding to make it altogither as much The soldier seeketh to be a captain from a captaine to be maister of the campe from maister of the campe to be lieutenant to the king then he would gladly make himselfe king The seelie Priest would be a Curate from a Curate Bishop from a Bishoppe Cardinall from a Cardinall Pope and then would commaund Kings and soueraigne Princes Kings are not contented to raigne ouer their owne subiects but bende themselues alwaies to enlarge their limits to make themselues if they can the onely Monarchs Briefly all men whose harts are set vpon worldly goods when they are come to this estate of life they would attaine to that and being come thereunto some other neae desire carieth them farther so that this mischiefe of continuall vncertaine and vnsatiable lustes and desires doth more and more kindle in them vntill in the ende death cut off the thred of their inconstant and neuer contented life This commeth to passe bicause the alteration of an Estate and condition of life plucketh not out of the mind that which presseth and troubleth it namely the ignorance of things and imperfection of reason But they who through the studie of wisedome are furnished with skill and vnderstanding and know that all humane and earthlie things are vncertaine deceitfull slipperie and so many allurements vnto men to drawe them into a downe-fall and destruction they I say doe laie a farre better and more certaine foundation of their chiefe Good contentation and felicitie For they are so farre off from being caried away as worldlings are with the desire of greatnes riches and pleasure that they rather desire lesse than they haue contemne them and so vse them as though they had them not And deliuering their soules by the grace of God from all those perturbations which besiege them in the prison of their bodies they lift vp their wishes and desires yea they refer al the endsof their intents actions to this only marke to be vnited and ioined to the last end of their soueraigne Good which is the full whole fruition of the essence of God that their holy affections might be at once fulfilled and satisfied by enioying that diuine light through a most happie immortal life when they shal be vncloathed of this body of death of all concupiscences passions reioice in such a felicitie as neither eie hath seene nor eare heard nor euer entred into the hart of man Moreouer we ought to know if we haue neuer so litle iudgmēt reason that in al worldly things how great goodly soeuer they seeme to our carnall eies sences there is such a mixture of bitternes dislike ioined with the fruition of them that if we could diuide the euil from that which of the ignorant sort is called good weigh them one against another there is no doubt but the bad part would easily weigh down what goodnes soeuer could be found amongst them But how shal we call that good which is so mingled with euill which oftentimes hurteth more than it profiteth and which being possessed abundantly cannot yet keepe the possessor thereof from being wretched and miserable What contentation can a man find therein seeing that such a Good commonly slippeth away as soone as it is receiued and alwaies worketh an vnsatiable desire thereof What felicitie shall we expect and looke for in the fruition of that thing which waxeth old and perisheth and which men are alwaies afraid to loose Now I pray you who can doubt iustly but that the qualitie and nature of riches of glorie of honour and pleasure is such Whereupon we must conclude that man can finde no goodnes contentation or happines in any thing that is earthly and mortall Besides who knoweth not sufficiently the poore estate of mans life which in the fairest of his race commeth to nothing in the twinkling of an eie so that all his bodily shewe and brightnes turneth suddenly into putrefaction Who doth not try more than he would how full his life is of sharpe griefes and pricking miseries and how it is assaulted with continuall troubles With how many percing cares doth it abound and what griping griefes doe pursue it Briefly as a wise Grecian said hauing but the bare name of life it is in effect and truth a continuall paine And truly that thing hath no beeing in deede which changeth without ceasing as the nature of man doth which neuer continueth in the same estate no not the least moment that is I would gladly aske of thee who readest this or doest meane to reade it what day or what hower thou hast passed or now passest ouer since thou hadst any iudgement or knowledge wherein thy body hath not felt some griefe or thy hart some passion As there is no sea without tempest warre without danger or iourney without trauell so there is no life without griefe nor calling without enuie or care neither did I euer see or know that man who hath had no cause to be grieued or to complaine Doth not experience daily teach vs that no man liuing can make choise of any estate void of all trouble or flie one inconuenience but that he is in danger to fall into another Is it not also most certaine that a sudden ioy or prosperitie is but a fore-warning or signe of some griefe heauie calamitie at hand But what Shall we for all this think man so miserable that sailing all his life time in stormes and tempests he cannot possibly attaine to any safe hauen against the rage of them Shall we in such sort depriue him during the time of his being in this world of all Good contentation and happines as if there were no meanes to auoid or at leastwise to mollifie the mishaps and miseries of mankind that he faint not vnder the heauy burden of them Wherefore then do wise men by so many learned writings inuite vs diligently to seeke after and with a burning zeale to embrace holy vertue saying that by hir alone a man may liue happily and contentedly in euery calling and may enioy therein the soueraigne Good through the tranquillitie and rest of his soule purged of perturbations by Philosophy Was it in vaine and fruitles that an infinite number of famous personages whom Histories the mother of antiquitie set before our eies imploied so great trauell passed infinite watchings for sooke and contemned riches pleasures honors and worldly
might refer all to the glorie of the diuine maiestie and to the profit and vtilitie as well of themselues as of their country And yet in the meane while these noble toward youths were not depriued of other exercises meete for them which as the diuine Plato saith are very profitable for this age and helpe much to quicken the spirits of yoong men and to make their bodies which are weake by nature more strong and apt to sustaine trauell as namely to ride horses to run at the ring to fight at barriers to applie themselues to all kind of weapons and to followe the chace of beasts All which exercises this wise and ancient Knight did intermingle with their earnest studies by way of recreation himselfe standing them in steade of a maister For in such exercises he was as fully furnished as is to be wished in a man of valure and actiuitie insomuch that he was more expert than many of our time who make no other profession Now this schoole hauing been continued for the space of sixe or seauen yeeres to the great profit of this nobilitie of Aniou the fower fathers on a day tooke their iournie to visite this good old man and to see their children And after the vsuall welcome which is betweene kinsfolks and friends they discoursed togither of the corruption which then was in all estates of France wherevpon they foresawe as they said some great storme at hand if euerie one did not put to his helping hand for the correction and reformation of them but chiefly the secular power authorised of God for this purpose They alledged for witnes of their saying many examples of ancient estates common-wealths and kingdoms which were fallen from the height of glorie and excellencie into a generall subuersion and ouerthrow by reason of vices raigning in them vnpunished And thus continuing their speech from one thing to another they fell in talke of the corrupt maners that might particularly be noted in all and those maintained by authoritie and with commendation insomuch that both great and smal endeuored to disguise vice with the name of vertue In fine they were of opinion to heare their children discourse heervpon that they might know and iudge whether they had profited so wel in the institution of good maners the rule of good life by folowing of vertue and by the knowledge of histories the patterne of the time past for the better ordering of the time present as their maister who was present at the discourses of these ancient gentlemen did assure them by intermingling the praises of his schollers in the midst of their graue talke and vaunting that they were well armed to resist the corruption of this age For truly vertue purchased and gotten by practise is of no lesse power against all contagion of wickednes than preseruatiues well compounded are of force in a plague time to preserue in good helth the inhabitants of a countrie and as heeretofore that famous physicion Hippocrates preserued his citie of Coos from a mortalitie that was generall throughout all Grecia by counselling his countrymen to kindle many fires in all publike places to the end thereby to purifie the aire euen so whosoeuer hath his soule possessed and his hart well armed with the brightnes and power of vertue he shal escape the dangers of corruption and eschew all contagion of euill maners But returning to the intent and desire of our good old men bicause they had small skil in the Latine tong they determined to haue their children discourse in their owne naturall toong of all matters that might serue for the instruction and reformation of euerie estate and calling in such order and method as themselues with their foresaid maister should thinke best For this purpose they had two howers in the morning granted vnto them wherein they should be heard and as much after dinner which was to each of them one hower in a day to speake in You may ghesse gentle readers whether this liuely youth did not bestow the rest of the day yea oftentimes the whole night vpon the well studying of that which they purposed to handle and with what cheerfulnes of hart and willingnes of mind they presented themselues before the honorable presence of their fathers who were so greatly delighted in hearing them that for the most part in stead of fower howers a day before mentioned they bestowed sixe or eight For after they had heard the two first discourse one morning they had not the patience to refer the rest of that matter vnto the afternoone when the other twain of their children should be heard but commonly commanded them presently to enter the lists and to proceed as being iealous ouer their glorie in regard of their companions In this commendable maner of passing their time they continued certaine daies But the sudden and sorrowfull newes of the last frantike returne of France into ciuill war brake vp their happie assemblie to the end that these noble youths betaking themselues to the seruice due to their prince and to the welfare and safetie of their countrie might make triall of their first feates of armes wherein they wanted neither readines nor valure of hart which being naturally in them was also increased by the knowledge of philosophie The studie whereof resembling as Plato saith to a separation of the soule from the bodie standeth wise men in stead of an exercise to die without feare when dutie requireth it and causeth them to esteeme of death as of the cause of the true and perfect good of the soule For which reason Socrates Xenophon Architas Thucidides Thales Epaminondas and a million of other famous men learned philosophers and historiographers hauing charge of armies neuer doubted or feared in any sort to offer themselues cheerfully vnto all perils and dangers when the question and contention was for publike benefit and safetie and in a iust war without which a wise man neuer ought to fight Yea I dare boldly say that the greatest and most famous exploits of warfare were atchieued for the most part by them and their like Which serued well for a spurre to our yoong Angeuins to cause them to vndertake this iournie with ioy and cheerfulnes of spirit being resolued to follow with all their might the examples of such great and notable personages as histories the treasurie of time did call to their remembrance When they were in the campe each of them according to his particular affection ranged himselfe vnder sundry cornets of great Lords and good captaines But as we said in the beginning after news of the peace proclaimed which was so greatly looked for and desired of all good men they labored foorthwith to meete togither knowing that their ioint-returne would be acceptable to their friends especially to that good olde-man by whome they were brought vp Moreouer they deliberated with themselues as soone as they were arriued at the old mans house to giue their fathers to vnderstand thereof to the end
matter of these motions are opinions affections and inclinations which being considered in their owne nature are through sinne wicked and corrupt throughout the soule yea the blossome and roote of them proceed from our owne substance to the end as Plato saith that no man should thinke God to be the cause of euill Now albeit these passions thus defined by the philosophers are many in number yet drawing neerer to the truth we may comprehend and diuide them all into two principall kinds The first kind shall be that which we beleeue by faith the other according to our opinions and affections Vnder the first we comprehend that which euerie one beleeueth thinketh and desireth concerning diuine and heauenlie things as of true righteousnes of the immortalitie of the second life and of the iudgement to come Vnder opinions and affections is comprehended whatsoeuer respecteth and concerneth earthlie things this life maners gouernment of a houshold of a common wealth and generally al humane inclinations and actions As touching that which we beleeue by faith we are led thereunto and stirred by the weake instinct and feeling of the diuine nature imprinted in euery soule which after a sort mooueth man to aspire vnto and to desire the true and souereigne good and which being more power-full and of greater efficacy in some than in others causeth the better sort to delight also in the same good Neuertheles it is proper to euery mans vnderstanding not to hold a stedfast and sure way in seeking out the truth but to wander aside into diuers errors as a blind man that walketh in darknes and to fill it selfe rather with lies and with a continuall desire and curiositie of new vnprofitable and superfluous things than to content it selfe simplie with the truth insomuch that finally it misseth of all But to the end we be not of this number we ought to hold fast the infallible rule of the holie scriptures which gift we are to aske hope wait and seeke for in the onely grace and mercie of that Spirit which indighteth them and to looke for the full opening of these treasures in the second and eternall life As for the second kind of our passions properly called perturbations according to the philosophers from whence all the euils and miseries of mankinde proceed and whereof we minde chiefely to speake they are but affections and inclinations which come from our will corrupted by the prouocations and allurements of the flesh and which wholy resist the diuine nature of the reasonable part of the soule fastening it to the bodie as Plato saith with the naile of pleasure Which passions the mind of man commonly beholdeth cleerly enough when it applieth it selfe thereunto if it be not altogither peruerted and depraued yea by the grace and helpe of God the mind is able to confirme it selfe against any passion through the discourse of reason before it be in force and during the vehemencie thereof to fortifie it selfe against it And although the passion be contrarie to reason and haue for hir onely scope pleasure and the feare of griefe which can preuaile greatly with man yet reason by the meanes of Gods grace can both easily constraine maister and compell all passions in such sort that they shall take no effect and also bring to passe that whatsoeuer is rashly desired shall be ouercome by the discourse of prudent counsell And for this cause we say that the first motions are not in our power but that the euent and issue of them is in some sort Likewise reason doth not wholie quench and extinguish all passions which cannot possibly be performed in the nature of man but repelleth and hath the vpper hand of them as the precepts of doctrine and infinite examples of the liues of ancient heathen and pagan philosophers do learnedly teach vs. Which thing as it ought to cause many at this day to be ashamed who vaunt themselues of the name of Christians so it condemneth them in a fault not to be excused before the iust iudgement of God bicause those men being destitute of the perfect knowledge of God which they say they haue far excelled and surpassed them in the bridling ouercomming and killing of so many pestiferous passions as compasse the soule about as we may handle elsewhere and see examples thereof worthie of eternall remembrance when we shall discourse particularly of vertues and vices In the meane while we may learne of Cicero the father of Latine eloquence whose skill in ioining philosophie with the art of Rhetorike was excellent and who in my iudgement handleth this our present matter more profitably than any other of the ancients that all the aboue named euill passions are perturbations which if they be not maistered by reason depriue man of the soueraigne good of the soule which consisteth in the tranquillitie therof Moreuer he saith that through ignorance basenes of minde they proceed onely of the opinion of good or euill either present or to come which we imagine to be in the vnperfect and transitorie things of the world and which are accompanied vnseparably either with good or euill In respect of good things we are caried away with a vehement desire or coueting of them besides an immoderate ioy in them in regard of euil things we are oppressed with feare and sorrow And these are the foure springs of all vices sins wherein men plunge themselues during this life and vnder which all perturbations are comprehended which fill the soule with endlesse trouble and disquietnes causing man to liue alwaies vncontented and to finde euery present kinde of life burthensome and so to seeke after and to desire another But as fearefull men saith Plutark that excellent philosopher schoolemaster to that good Traian and they that are at sea subiect to casting thinking they shal be better in one place than in another go from the sterne to the stem then to the bottom of the ship afterward to the highest part frō thence go into the skiph and in the end returne into the ship without any amendment of their euil because they carrie alwaies about with them both feare griefe so the alteration of life of worldly conditions and estates into others doth not purge but rather increase the perturbations diseases of the soule if first the cause of them I meane ignorance of things the imperfection of reason be not taken out of it These are the mischiefes which trouble both rich and poore these are the miseries which wait vpon great and final bond and free yoong old Thus is the spirit of sick persons vexed and that continually One while the wife is troublesome the physition vnskilfull the bed vneasie the friend that visiteth importunate he which visiteth not proud but being once healed they finde that whatsoeuer was irksom vnto them before now pleaseth them But that which health doth to the diseased body the same thing
reason worketh in the soule of a prudent man by curing the passions and perturbations thereof and by causing him to rest ioyfull and contented in what estate and condition soeuer he be Let vs note moreouer which we touched in the beginning of this present discourse that all these passions of the soule are much more dangerous than those of the bodie bicause the most hurtfull passions of the bodie are first ingendred of those in the soule For the bodie yeeldeth it selfe ready to serue the desires appetites and pleasures of the soule which being ouercome and in the power of fleshly prouocations procureth in the end destruction to them both But contrariwise the soule being ruled by reason resisteth mightilie all corporall passions and is nothing at all or verie little made partaker of their euill dispositions whereas on the other side the bodie is constrained to alter and change with euery infirmitie of the soule If the minde be troubled what cheerefulnes can be seene in the face The diseases of the bodie hinder not the soule from effecting all good vertuous actions yea many haue brought forth the fruits of wise philosophers and great captaines when they were vexed with diseases which they could neuer do at least verie few of them that were corrupted and defiled in soule And therfore Democritus said very well that it was much more conuenient and meet for a man to haue care of his soule than of his bodie For if the soule be perfect she correcteth the naughtines of the body whereas the strength disposition of the body without the vse of reason hurteth both the soule and it selfe Moreouer that the passions of the soule are harder to be perceiued and knowne and consequently more vneasie to be cured who doth not easily feele it being greeued but in the least part of his bodie yea what griefe doth not of it selfe sufficiently appeere either by some inflammation or by the colour of the visage or by some other outward shew But how many do we fee whose soules are extreemly sicke spoiled and corrupted with vice and yet being depriued of all feeling they thinke themselues to be the soundest men in the world And that they are headstrong and vneasie to be cured we may know by this that the body is in the end so farforth obedient that if reason be vrgent vpon it she forceth euen the naturall passions of hunger thirst and sleepe findeth out besides a thousand remedies to help it self But when the passions of the soule haue once beene grounded and rooted within it without resistance they haue such pearcing pricks that oftentimes they presse ouerwhelme all reason which is their onely medicine and preseruatiue And yet to fill vp the measure of all miserie such is the froward nature of man that he is much more slothfull to seeke out this remedy of the soule than that of the bodie as we touched in the beginning of this present discourse Moreouer the iudgement of reason being oftentimes diseased within him is the cause that when he thinketh to finde health he encreaseth his euill and falleth into those inconueniences which he desired most of all to eschew Example hereof we haue in those who being led onely with a desire of glory and honor obtaine nothing by their dooings if we consider them well but shame and dishonor The like may be said of all the other diseases of the soule which commonly are accompanied and followed with effects contrary to their endes and desires What remaineth then seeing we perceiue the dangers to be great which follow al the perturbations of the soule but that knowing it to be more easie not to receiue them than to driue them out being receiued we preuent them and hinder them from taking liuely roote within our soules by making reason which as Hesiodus saith is a diuine guide and wisedome inspired from aboue so strong and powerfull that it may be able by the grace of God to resist al the assaults of vnbrideled desires and the froward affections of this flesh But behold yet a better and more certaine remedie namely that being assured that all perturbations are but opinions drawne from our will through a iudgement corrupted with the affections of this flesh we labor by good and sound reasons to ouerthrow and confound these false and erronious opinions perswading our selues that whatsoeuer we imagine to be good or euill in the world which is the cause that our minds are depriued of their rest and quietnes is indeede neither good nor euill and so consequently that it ought not in any sort to breed passions within vs. Hereof the sequele of our discourses shall by the helpe of God giue vs to vnderstand more at large and furnish vs with examples of pernicious effects which proceed from all the passions of the soule We will here by the way note their force hauing learned out of Histories that they haue oftentimes set vpon the harts of men in such violent maner that some through desire some for ioy those by feare others by griefe haue ended their liues Diagoras the Rhodian and Chilon hearing that their children had wonne the price at the games of Olympus felt such a motion in them of the spleene that they were stifled with laughter Herennus the Sicilian as he was led prisoner for being a copartner in the conspiracie of Caius Gracchus was so astonished oppressed with the feare of his iudgement to come that he fell downe strke dead at the entrie of the prison Plautius the Numidian looking vpon his dead wife tooke it so to hart that casting himselfe vpon the dead body he arose no more but was there stifled with sorrow As for extreme desire or coueting there is nothing that so greatly mooueth or carieth away the minds of men or that commeth neerer to their destruction than this foolish passion indangereth their life Galeace of Mantua saying oftentimes to a damsell of Pauia whom he courted and made loue to that he would suffer a thousand deaths for hir seruice if it were possible was in iest commanded by hir to cast himself into the riuer which he presently performed was drowned But we shal alleadge more fitly such testimonies of the fond effects of desire and of all the perturbations of the soule when we discourse more particularly of euery vice that proceedeth from them In the meane time I would gladly aske this question of him that is most ignorant vicious and carnall whether he will not grant vertue to be a good of the soule There is none so impudent whose conscience would not compell him to confesse the same And yet no man is caried away with too great a desire of vertue neither doth any reioice therein too excessiuely after he hath obtained it Likewise there is none that feareth so vehemently least he cannot obtaine hir as that the feare thereof driueth the soule out of his place and rest For
vnbeseeming good wits This did Antisthenes giue one to vnderstand who greatly commended Ismenius for an excellent plaier on the flute it is true quoth he to him but otherwise he is good for nothing For else had he not been so good a minstrell So euerie one applying himselfe to some base and vaine art produceth for witnes against himselfe that labor which he hath bestowed about vnprofitable matters to prooue that he hath beene idle and slothfull in learning honest and profitable things And for the last fruit and vse of our speech we see heere what great occasion we haue all our life time to become the disciples of knowledge which is so high and profound and to diminish all pride and presumption of our skill after the example of that wise man Socrates who although he were the learnedest of his time and so iudged to be by the oracle at Delphos yet alwaies said that he knew nothing And when he was demanded any thing he would neuer answer resolutely as if he would haue been beleeued but doubtingly vsed to say I thinke so or It may be so Being therefore desirous to learne with all modestie let vs endeuor to seeke out more and more by trauell and studie the assurance and knowledge of veritie and vertue Of the Spirit and of memorie Chap. 8. AMANA HAuing now discoursed of the greatnes beutie and profit of knowledge I thinke that if we were to wish for two helps very necessarie for the attaining vnto it those ought to be a spirit or mind ready to conceiue and memorie firme to retaine without which two things we shall profit our selues little and much lesse a great many ARAM. Those two things which thou propoundest vnto vs would seeme woonderfull if they were togither For we commonly see that they who haue a readie and quicke wit for the most part want memorie and they that learne with greatest difficultie and paine do best retaine and keepe that which they haue once learned ACHITOB. This talke of the spirit whereunto you attribute the propertie of comprehending and yet speake not of the soule is vndoubtedly worthie of great consideration For euen when we speake of a yong infant we say by and by that his spirit or wit will grow with his bodie and of a crooked old-sire we say that his spirit waxeth old with him which in many we see oftentimes becommeth altogither dul and vnfit for the ordering gouernment of affaires Now that which waxeth old draweth to an end as the scripture it selfe teacheth vs concerning times and seasons which wax old like to mens garments and are to take end And yet we know that the soule is immortall and therefore waxeth not old So that one would thinke that the soule and spirit are two distinct things although we see euery where the one taken for the other But let vs heare ASER discourse of this matter and so we shall learne what the spirit is in the soule ASER. As the works of the diuine power are altogither incomprehensible to the outward sence of man and very hard to be comprehended by reason guided conducted by grace from aboue so we are not to think much if the knowledge of a mans selfe which is most necessary be so hardly found out by him seeing his composition farre passeth all the works of nature that are visible and subiect to sight Now if a man cannot know himselfe how should he hope to comprehend greater matters which are supernaturall and hidden in the heauens And who can rightly boast that he hath the true and perfect vnderstanding of the chiefest part and most powerfull beginning of himselfe namely of his spirite Who am I saide Socrates Am I a subiect compounded of soule and body Or rather a soule that vseth the body as a horseman doth a horse Or is euery one of vs that principall part of the soule whereby we vnderstand discourse and do and all the other parts of the bodie but instruments of this power Or if there be no proper substance at all of the soule by it selfe but that it is onely a temperature and complexion of the bodie so framed that it hath power to vnderstand and to liue am I not a sauage beast more crafty bold and furious than euer was the serpent Typhon Or else am I a meeker and simpler creature pertaker of a better estate and voide of pride All the excellentest philosophers that euer were handled this self same matter aswel as Socrates with incredible trauel and paine that they may attaine to this knowledge of the noblest part in the which is the soule and spirite taking indifferently the one for the other But first of all this wise Socrates spake excellently of the dignitie and immortalitie of the soule saying that in truth the soule is man and not this mortall masse and lumpe of the bodie which of it selfe is no more than a simple and base instrument is in regard of the most cunning workeman of any art of science And for this cause giuing vp the ghost amongst his disciples and being asked by Clito where he would be buried As for Socrates quoth he to him take thou no thought or care For thou canst not stay him whose tombe hath beene from all time readie for him But concerning that which he leaueth here below it is not woorthy to be cared for by him The greatest thing said Periander that may be said to be contained in a little place is the soule in a mans bodie Empedocles speaking of the generation of the soule saith that neither bloud nor the vitall spirit congealed haue giuen vnto vs the substance of the soule and the beginning of life The bodie onely is compounded earthlie and mortall But the generation of the soule is heauenly being sent here below as a passenger and stranger or as one that is banished and sent out of his countrey Whereupon she continually sigheth groneth and as it were drieth away like to a good plant translated out of a good plot of ground into a bad vntill in the end she returne and be receiued into hir immortall habitation after she hath changed hir present life which is vnto hir but as a vaine illusion of some dreame in respect of a true certaine and permanent life Surely these philosophicall speculations are not vaine and friuolous but very necessarie to lead vs to that happie end of our being which we seeke for For if we be well instructed concerning the great and honorable place and condition which the soule enioieth aboue the bodie as well in hir immortall generation as in hir contemplation and action as also that of hir happines dependeth as before we handled it the felicitie of the whole frame of man will we not apply all our principall care studie and diligence in prouiding such things for hir as she desireth and which are meet and healthfull for hir But we haue further thanks be giuen to
perfection of these two great gifts of nature is a good sound iudgement proceeding from pondering and from a firme discourse of reason lightned by the spirit of God and by the same spirit purged from error illusion and all vaine opinion which are vsuall in man and hinder him from iudging aright of the truth But to continue our speech of the woonderfull effects of memorie so much esteemed of Plato that he writeth that we shuld leaue of to be men become like to the gods if our memory could retaine and keepe so much as the eies can read and see We must not here forget to make mention of Iulius Caesar that great monarke of whom Historiographers report that at one time he caused his Secretaries to write vnto foure seuerall persons of sundry matters and that oftentimes he would indight a letter to one of his Secretaries read in a booke and heare another speake all at one time Seneca rehearsed two thousand sundry names hauing onely heard them pronounced before beginning at the last and continuing to the first By these examples we see the greatnes of memorie wherby we may easily indge how profitable it is for the inriching of the minde with all things necessarie to the gouernment of mans estate Yea it is vnto vs a helpe requisite to saluation as that whereby we keepe in remembrance the gifts and graces which we daily receiue from the goodnes and fauor of God to this end that we should not be vngrateful but yeeld vnto him glorie and praise without ceasing Nowe bicause one of you my companions touched this that they which haue a ready and quick wit commonly want memorie that they which hardly learne retaine and keepe better that which they haue learned I will giue you this reason with Plutark that hardnes of belecfe seemeth to be the cause why men comprehend slowly For it is very euident that to learne is to receiue some impression whereupon it followeth that they which resist least are such as soonest beleeue And therefore youth is easier to be perswaded than old folks sick than sound women than men and generally the weaker that thing is which discourseth and doubteth the easier may a man put and adde vnto it what he will as likewise the selfe same thing is sooner lost and let slip away Some others as Iustine Martyr saith haue rendred this reason of the quicknes or slownes of mans wit saying that it commeth of the good or immoderate mixture temperature of the elements of which our bodies are compounded and framed and of the symmetrie and proportion of the organicall or iustrumentall parts ioyned togither in him And surely these seeme to giue the true reason therof For we see many who in their beginning and first age shew that they haue a prompt and sharp wit but when they come to old age are changed become slow and dul to conceiue Which is a great token and argument that a good or bad complexion and constitution of the body is the cause of such a disposition either in quicknes or slownes of spirit as the difference of yeeres doth affoord them Besides doe we not perceiue that they which haue the head ouergreat and ill fanored whom we cōmonly call great blockheads bicause there is not an equall symmetry and moderate proportion betweene that and the other parts of the bodie are naturally vnapt to conceiue and to bring foorth any sensible and wittie thing But the resolution of al this speech shall be that all gifts of the spirit are from aboue that amongst all sorts of men there are some found that are prompt wittie to comprehend great and diuine things by a speciall grace and fauour which God hath bestowed vpon them Some by the gift of the holie Ghost haue wisedom others knowledge and vnderstanding of things and all giuen to euerie one for the profiting both of himselfe and of his neighbor Knowing therefore by this present discourse according to the weakenes of our iudgement the creation and nature of the spirit which is the principall and most noble part of vs and that whereof dependeth and proceedeth all our happines rest and felicitie let vs be carefull and diligent to search it out and to prouide such things as it desireth of vs as helps to that effect bestowing all our care labour and studie to adorne and deck it with righteousnes and holines according to the holie desire therof wherin consisteth life and peace And let vs beware that we seeke not to feede it with strange meats which may make it sorrowfull and with which our flesh aboundeth to hir death and destruction But mortifieng all the deadly desires and affections thereof let vs labour not to walke any more according to the flesh but according to the spirit and let vs know that all wearisomnes and tediousnes which troubleth the tranquillitie and rest thereof proceedcth from the want of experience in affaires from the want of good discoursing grounded vpon a resolute and setled iudgement and from the want of skill fitly to apply our selues to present occasions And this is that which troubleth all sorts and conditions of life as well rich as poore But the way to preserue the spirite in rest and quietnes is to nourish and exercise it in the studie of wisedome where it learneth reason which of it selfe can cure it of all sorrow anguish and greefe through wise discoursing and worke in it a like inclination and constant behauior in euerie alteration of life causing man to liue happie throughout the whole course of his life not without the hope and certaine expectation of a blessed immortalitie The end of the second daies worke THE THIRD DAIES WORKE Of Dutie and Honestie Chap. 9. ASER. ALthough all things were created of diuers natures and properties and manie of cleane contraries yet by an incomprehensible wisedom they were appointed to refer themselues to one onely certaine and common end namely to shew foorth the infinite power and greatnes of their worke-maister sufficient in the lest of his works with admiration to rauish man to whom he hath made al things subiect But as in him alone the treasures of his heauenly graces haue been without comparison more liberally vnfolded and that in all fulnes and bountie as well in regard of the goods and commodities of this life which he draweth from heauen from the earth from the aire from the water from beasts and plants and generally from all things contained vnder the cope of the firmament as also in respect of that vnspeakable happines and eternall felicitie which by the speciall grace of God is purchased and assured to him onely in the immortalitie of the second life so also hath God from the beginning vntill this present and for euer reserued to himselfe a particular homage and that not for a time or for certaine yeeres of his life but to continue without intermission from time to
and impietie as well of the monarks themselues as of their people Now if fortune turne hir selfe about and set hir selfe neuer so little against an ignorant person he is straightway ouercome with a thousand perturbations and vrged with despaire as being only grounded before vpon the vaine and weake hope and confidence in externall and vncertaine goods Perses king of Macedonia and one of the successors of Alexander the great in his great conquests but not in his vnspeakable vertues was ouercome in battel by Paulus Emilius chiefe captain of the Romans was led towards him Emilius as soon as he saw him arose from his seate and went forward to receiue and honor him as being a great personage and fallen into that mishap by the hazard of fortune But Perses being wholie beaten downe through faintnes and basenes of mind cast himselfe at his feete vpon the ground with his face downeward vsing such abiect requests and supplications and so vnbeseeming the vertue of a king that the Conqueror could not abide them but said thus vnto him Alas poore ignorant man as thou art how dost thou by discharging fortune accuse thy selfe in this sort to be the onely cause of this ill successe that is befallen thee seeing thou neuer deseruedst that honor which thou hast had heeretofore bicause of thy base mind within thee which hath made thee an vnwoorthy aduersary of the Romans And truly a man cannot iustly be called through the benefit of fortune but by knowing how to vse hir well and wisely both in prosperitie aduersitie As for an ignorant baseminded man the higher that fortune lifteth him vp in great estate where he shal be viewed of many so much the more shee discouereth descrieth dishonoreth him For great calling riches are no more able to lift vp the hart of a base minded fellow than pouerty can abate and lessen the great courage of a noble hart I could here alleadge many mo examples of the pernicious effects that are as we haue said wrought in the soule by ignorāce but hereafter they will come in more fitly when we shall discourse particulerly of vices Onely I say here with Plato that arrogant ignorance hath now more than euer seazed vpon the minds of men filled them with euils as being the roote and spring of them that it peruerteth al things causeth him that possesseth hir to taste in the ende of a most bitter fruite Nowe to come to malice and crafte which is the excesse of prudence it is that which leadeth a man through wilfull ignorance to oppose himselfe against that which he knoweth to be dutifull and honest causing him vnder the counterfaite name of prudence to seeke to deceiue those that will beleeue him This vice is the chiefe cause of ambition and couetousnes which most men serue in these daies but aboue all things it is an enimie to iustice causing all their actions to tende to the ouerthrow thereof To this purpose Cicero saith that the craftier and subtiler a man is the more he is to be suspected and hated as one that hath lost al credite of goodnes All knowledge seuered from iustice ought rather to be called craft and malice than science and prudence Neither is the onely act of malice as the same author saith euill wicked but also the deliberation therof although it take no effect yea the onely thought thereof is vile and detestable so far is it that any couering or cloake can excuse a fault committed of malice Also he saith that in deliberating all hope of concealing and hiding the fact must be taken away forasmuch as vertuous men ought to seeke after honest not secret things Moreouer it is the propertie of a malicious man to choose hypocrisie and dissimulation for his companions Besides he hath for his first author and father sathan who by his subtiltie and craft abused the simplicitie of our first mother to the ouerthrow of all mankind Amongst many we may note here the example of Nero a most cruell emperor who being instructed from his youth by that wise man Seneca his schoolemaster in the beginning of his empire counterfaited so great bountifulnes and clemencie that when he was to set his hand to the condemnation of one adiudged to die he cried out and said Would to God I had no learning then should I be excused from subscribing to any mans death Notwithstanding within a while after he disclosed his detestable impiety and cruelty by putting to death his mother his tutor and a great number of honest men against all right and iustice Moreouer he purposely caused fire to be put into all quarters of Rome forbidding vnder paine of death that any should quench it insomuch that more then halfe the citie was cleane consumed Afterward to the ende he might haue some coulor to persecute the christians he laid to their charge the kindling of the fire so put a great number of them to death Tiberius also in the beginning of his raigne behaued himselfe so wisely vertuously and gently that he seemed to be saith Suetonius a simple and plaine citizen And yet soone after he became as detestable a tyrant as euer was for crueltie and filthy pleasures True it is that one may attribute the cause of such sodaine alteration of humors to the soueraigne authoritie and power of commanding which commonly hath his propertie to make him that seemed good to become wicked the humble to be arrogant the pittifull cruell the valiant a coward But it is alwaies more likely that a prince changing his nature so quickly vseth to counterfeit and to dissemble and to put a goodly vizard vpon his face as historiographers write that Tiberius could behaue himselfe cunningly in that sort Now that we may profite by this discourse let vs learne to be prudent and simple as the scripture speaketh eschuing all shameles and damnable malice and deceit al want of prudence and ignorance which procure the losse of soule and bodie whereof a man may accuse none but himselfe For ignorance saith Menander is a voluntarie mischeefe And although the knowledge of good euill is most necessarie of all others yet is it most easie For the obtaining whereof and auoiding through the grace of God of that condemnation which is to fall vpon the blinde and vpon the guides of the blinde let vs neuer be ashamed to confesse our ignorance in those things whereof we want instruction following therein that precept of Plato That we must not be ashamed to learne least happily we be hit in the teeth to our confusion with that saying of Diogenes to a yoong man whom he espied in a tauerne who being ashamed to be seene there speedilie fledde further into the same The more thou runnest in quoth this wise man to him the further thou art in the tauerne Euen so we shall neuer cure our ignorance by denying or hiding it but the wiser we seeke to be
bicause he discouereth manifesteth and sheweth vnto them from what they are to beware and what to correct and yet in the mean while he seeth not the most part of that which is within himself so greatly is he dazeled by beholding that which is without in other men He openeth all euen to the very wals of strange houses and pearceth like a wind into the midst of those things that are most secret His mind is both vpon the pallaces of the rich and cotages of the poore He ferretteth out euerie thing and inquireth many times after the affaires of the greatest which is the cause of his ouerthrow when he busieth himself too far in them This was wisely noted by Philippides when Lysimachus the king asked him what part of his goods he would haue imparted vnto him What you please sir quoth he so it be no part of your secrets Now if we desite to diuert and to quench the heate of this vicious passion of curiositie which is too familiar amongst vs and vnseemlie in a prudent and vertuous man we must sometimes abstaine from inquiring after lawfull things though otherwise not necessarie In the exercise and practise of iustice it is expedient sometime to leaue vntaken that which a man may lawfully take thereby to accustome himselfe to abstaine more easily from taking any thing vniustly Likewise it is good for a man sometime to abstaine from his owne wife that he may attaine to the vertue of temperancie and so be neuer mooued to desire another mans wife In like maner if in stead of shewing our selues to be of the number of these diligent and curious inquirers after vnprofitable newes we signifie rather to him that commeth to tell vs of some newes that he should please vs better if he had some good and profitable matter to speake than should we thereby giue testimonie of a staied and setled nature despising curiositie This was noted in Alexander the great who seeing a messenger running apace towards him with a smiling countenance said vnto him not shewing himselfe to bee mooued at all or desirous to vnderstand what he would speake what good newes canst thou bring me my friend vnles thou didst come to tel me that Homer is risen again And truly he had great reason to thinke that no more excellencie could be added to his valiant acts and deeds except it were to haue them consecrated to immortalitie by the writings of some learned and notable wit The example of Phocion deserueth well to be heere alledged against curious folks who are commonly light of beliefe For as soone as the Athenians receiued newes of Alexanders death they purposed presently to alter their estate and to shake off the yoke of the Macedonian alliance But Phocion being of a contrarie opinion said vnto them If this newes be true to day it will be true also to morow And therfore my Lords Athenians make no haste but deliberate leisurely and looke safely to that which ye haue to do It is certaine that if we vse in this sort to shew our selues staied in such things and in all other things of smal importance wherein our naturall inclination would prouoke vs to be curious as namely to breake off good communication begun vpon the receit of a letter to forsake companie to run and meet a messenger onely to know what newes he bringeth and a thousand such like sudden motions proceeding of lightnes and curiositie I say by auoiding such things we should prepare a way to the restraining of al curiositie in greater matters which otherwise may procure blame As for example to open another bodies letter to intrude our selues into the secret counsels of our neighbors to seeke out their faults and imperfections to inquire busily after that which may greeue our familiar friends or to aske them of that which they like not of neither is grounded vpon any good cause or reason least peraduenture the answer of some wise man should turne more to our shame than be framed according to our desire Thus dealt Demaratus with a curious importunate fellow that had oftentimes asked of him who was the honestest man in Sparta He that resembleth thee lest quoth he vnto him The answer also of an Egyptian was not vnfitly made to one that asked him what he caried there folded It is wrapped vp quoth he bicause thou shouldst not know what it is Now by that which hath been hitherto discoursed it appeereth sufficiently that al kind of curiositie is hurtful hateful and greatly to be blamed in euerie one if it be not bounded and limited by the reason of true prudence which guideth and stirreth vs vp to seeke after good honest and profitable things either in heauen in earth in the aire or in the sea according to the gift and capacitie of our vnderstanding and iudgement which may be necessarie for vs to know or may helpe vs to liue well and happily For whatsoeuer is more we ought to account it vnprofitable and superfluous Let vs learne then not to know more than we ought but vnto sobrietie containing our spirits within the limits of mediocritie simplicitie and modestie Let vs forsake all sophisticall curiositie and worldlie wisedome which is meere foolishnes before God that we may imbrace a simple popular and Academicall kind of knowledge which will teach vs to know our selues and our dutie whereby we shall be led to that happy end which we seeke for and desire Let vs not admire any more the merchandise and outward shewes wherewith strangers feed the eies of curious folks but let vs wonder at vertue onely saying with the comicall poet where he speaketh of those that couered their bedsteads with gold and siluer what great follie is it to make sleepe so deere which God hath freely giuen vnto vs So to seeke for that of strangers with such great expences which we may haue at our owne hauen better more cōmodiously were all one as if we shuld leaue the substance run after the shadow or that which is certain for an vncertaintie We may haue in France if our blockishnes stay vs not Vniuersities and schooles for all honest exercises meet for our nobilitie without strangers And if we think that in some places amongst them they haue better teachers than we haue let vs first seeke amongst our selues for those instructions that are most necessarie namely for the knowledge of good letters and institution of vertue and then if we thinke good we may heare their teachers and maisters without infecting our behauiour with the corruption of their maners Besides by the same studie we shal learne to shun al curious inquiry into other mens imperfections that we may diligently looke into our owne Of Nature and Education Chap. 16. AMANA SEeing that in the entrance of our former treatise we began with that naturall instinct of man which mooueth and disposeth him to desire and to seeke after his good we may in continuing
countries as the histories of most nations in the world declare vnto vs and namely of the Germaines who in the time of Tacitus had neither law nor religion nor knowledge nor forme of commonwealth whereas now they giue place to no nation for good institution in all things Let vs not then be discouraged or faint by knowing our naturall imperfections seeing that through labor and diligence we may recouer that which is wanting but happie is that man and singularly beloued of God to whom both good birth and like bringing vp are granted together It followeth now to discourse particulerly of the maner of good education and instruction of youth but this will come in more fitely when we shall intreat of Oeconomy And yet seeing we are in the discourse of mans nature I thinke it wil not be from the purpose nor without profite if to make vs more seuere censurers of our owne faults we note that although our behauior be cheefely known by the effects as a tree by the fruit yet many times a mans naturall inclinatiō is better perceiued in a light matter as in a word in a pastime or in some other free and priuate busines wherein vertue or vice ingrauen in the soule may be sooner espied than in greater actions and works done publikely bicause in these matters shame or constraint commonly cause men to vse dissimulation Howbeit this also is true that the more power and authoritie a man hath when he may alleadge his owne will for all reason the inward affection of his hart is then best discouered For such an vnbrideled licence mooueth all euen to the verie depth and bottome of his passions and causeth all those secret vices that are hidden in his soule to be fullie and euidently seene Whereupon it followeth that great and noble men ought aboue all others to learne vertue and to studie to liue well especially seeing they haue all those requisite helps and commodities through want of which most men are hindred from attaining thereunto Let vs therefore learne by our present discourse to knowe that the nature of all men by reason of the corruption of sin is so depraued corrupted and vnperfect that euen the best men amongst many imperfections carry about them some enuie ielousy emulation and contention against some or other and rather against their verie friends This did Demas a noble man and greatly conuersant in matters of estate declare vnto the councel in the citie of Chio after a ciuill dissention wherin he had followed that part which ouercame For he perswaded those of his side not to banish all their aduersaries out of the city but to leaue some of them after they had taken from them all meanes of doing more harme least quoth he vnto them we begin to quarrel with our friends hauing no more enemies to contende withall For this cause we must fortifie our selues with vnderstanding and knowledge through labor and studie of good letters that we may restraine and represse so many pernitious motions mingled togither in our soules Let vs know moreouer that seeing our nature is assaulted and prouoked by a vehement inclination to do any thing whatsoeuer it is a very hard matter to withdrawe and keepe it backe by any force no not by the strength or feare of any lawes if in due conuenient time we frame not within it a habite of vertue hauing first wished to be well borne But howsoeuer it be let vs endeuor to be well borne through custome and exercise in vertue which will be vnto vs as it were another nature vsing the meanes of good education and instruction in wisedome whereby our soules shal be made conquerors ouer all hurtfull passions and our minds moderate and staied that in all our doings sayings and thoughts we passe not the bounds of the dutie of a vertuous man The ende of the fourth daies worke THE FIFT DAIES WORKE Of Temperance Chap. 17. ASER. THe diuine excellencie of the order of the equall wonderful constācie of the parts of the world aswell in the goodly and temperate moderation of the seasons of the yeere as in the mutuall coniunctiō of the elements obeying altogither with a perfect harmonie the gratious and soueraigne gouernment of their creator was the cause that Pythagoras first called all the compasse of this vniuersal frame by this name of World which without such an excellent disposition would be but disorder a world of confusion For this word world signifieth asmuch as Ornament or a well disposed order of things Nowe as a constant and temperate order is the foundation thereof so the ground-worke and preseruation of mans happie life for whom all things were made is the vertue of temperance which conteineth the desires and inclinations of the soule within the compasse of mediocritie and moderateth all actions whatsoeuer For this cause hauing hitherto according to our iudgment sufficiently discoursed of the first riuer of the fountaine of honestie I thinke we ought to set downe here in the second place although it be contrarie to the opinion of manie philosophers this vertue of Temperance saying with Socrates that she is the ground-worke and foundation of all vertues AMANA As a man cannot be temperate if first he be not prudent bicause euerie vertuous action proceedeth of knowledge so no man can be strong and valiant if he be not first temperate bicause he that hath a noble and great courage without moderation will attempt a thousand euils and mischeefes and will soone grow to be rash and headie Likewise iustice cannot be had without temperance seeing it is the cheefe point of a iust man to haue his soule free from perturbations Which cannot be done except he be temperate whose proper subiect the soule is ARAM. Heroicall vertue saith Plato is made perfect by the mixture and ioyning together of Temperance and fortitude which being separated will at length become vices For a temperate man that is not couragious easily waxeth to be a coward and faintharted and a noble hart not temperate becommeth rash and presumptuous Let vs then heare ACHITOB discourse of this Temperance so excellent and necessarie a vertue ACHITOB. Agapetus a man of great skill writing to the emperor Iustinian amongst other things had this saying We say that thou art truly and rightly both emperor and king so long as thou canst command and master thy desires and pleasures and art beset and decked with the crowne of Temperance and clothed with the purple robe of Iustice For other principalities end by death whereas this kingdome abideth for euer yea others are manie times the cause of perdition to the soule but this procureth a certaine and an assured safetie When we haue considered well of the woorthie effects and fruits of this vertue of temperance no doubt but we will subscribe to this wise mans opinion and to as many as haue written of the praises and roialties of that vertue Temperance saith thagoras is that light which
too carefull to keep themselues But to come to the conclusiō of our discourse we say with Aristotle that concupiscences and desires change the bodie and make the soule outragious that so many as are infected with such a pernicious and damnable vice as intemperance is are no mē but monsters in nature leading a life altogether like to that of brute beasts which being destitute of all reason know nothing better or more honest than pleasure hauing no knowledge of the iustice of God neither reuerencing the beautie of vertue bestow al the courage craft force that nature hath giuen them to satisfie and to accomplish their desires So that if death brought with it an end of all sence and feeling and an vtter abolishing of the soule as well to men as to beasts intemperate folks should seeme to gaine much by enioying their desires and lusts during their life time and to haue good cause to waxe old and euen to melt in their foule filthie pleasures But seeing we know for truely he that doubteth hereof is very ignorant most miserable that sence and feeling remaine after death and that the soule dieth not with the body but that punishment yea euerlasting payne is prepared for the wicked let vs be careful to do the will of our father which is in heauen whilest we haue time that in the triumphing day of his eternal sonne we may not heare to our confusion that sentence of his mouth Depart from me ye workers of iniquitie At which time the iust shall shine as the sunne in the kingdome of God and the wicked shall be cast headlong into euerlasting fire where shall be weeping and gnashing of teeth Of Sobrietie and Frugalitie Chap. 19. ARAM. SOcrates vsed to dispute earnestly and grauely of the manner of liuing as of a thing of great importance For he said that continencie in meate and drinke was as it were the foundation and beginning of skill And truely the minde is much more prompt to comprehend all good reason when the operations of the braine are not hindered by vapours which the superfluitie of meates send vp thither I am of opinion therefore that we handle this vertue of sobriety which dependeth of temperance and is contained vnder the first part thereof namely vnder continencie ACHITOB. To liue well and frugally saith Plato is to liue temperately and as Epictetus saith there is great difference betweene liuing well and liuing sumptuously For the one commeth of temperance frugalitie discipline honestie and moderation of the soule contented with her owne riches and the other of intemperance lust and contempt of all order and mediocritie In the end the one is followed with shame and the other with true and lasting praise ASER. We can not well vse our spirite saith Cicero when we are stuffed with meate Neither must we gratifie the belly and intrailes only but also the honest ioy of the mind For that which is contained in the other parts perisheth but the soule separated from the body abideth for euer Let vs then harken to AMANA of whome we may vnderstand howe necessary sobrietie is for a happie life AMANA If we set before our eies the long and happy life of the Ancients so long as they obserued sobrietie and frugalitie out of doubt we will attribute one principall cause of our so short life and so full of infirmities to the riot superfluitie and curiositie of diet which at this day are seene amongst vs. The life of our first Fathers was it not maintained a long time with fruits milke honie and water Who euer came neere their long and happie daies since those times What preparation of exquisite victuals did those six hundred thousand Israelites thinke to find that came out of Egypt to go into a new land walking fortie yeeres through the wildernes drinking nothing but water and many times wanting that After those first ages the Grecians and Romanes loued sobrietie more than all other nations And as the Hebrewes vsed to eate but once a daye which was at dinner so the Grecians onely supped For this cause we read that Plato being demanded whether he had seene any new or strang thing in Sicilia answered that he had found a monster of nature which did eate twice a day This he spake of Dionysius the tyrant who first brought vp that custome in his countrey In the time of Iulius Caesar the Germaines a strong and warlike people liued onely of milke cheese and flesh not knowing what wheate and wine were nor yet what it was to labour the ground or to sowe Yea how many millions of men are there at this day in the West regions and Ilands who know not what all this superfluitie and daintines of fare meaneth and yet liue long and healthie in all frugalitie the greatest part of them vpon herbs and rootes whereof they make cakes in steede of wheate and others of raw flesh Whereby it is easie to iudge that sobrietie is the preseruation and maintenance of health and of naturall strength and vigor and so consequently of the life of man But when we looke higher and with the eies of our mind marke the excellent glorie and immortall praise deserued by so many Camilli Scipiones Fabriti◠Metelli Catones and by a thousand other famous families which executed so many woorthy acts by their owne vertue and yet in the meane while kept such a simple and sober diet that the most of them were contented with bread herbs and water endured and tolerated cheerefully all iniuries of weather went but homely araied and altogither contemned gold and siluer out of question we will iudge those men very blind and farre from the white of such glorie and honour who imbrace nothing but dissolutenes superfluitie lust dronkennes pride and all such like imperfections that beare sway amongst vs who behold Vice mounted so high that men must in a manner blush as much to speake of Vertue or to be vertuous in a thousand companies as in that happy time of the Ancients they were ashamed of vice or to be vitious And truly I thinke that these men being past shame care but little for the glorie that hath beene in many ages seeing they liue for the body onely after a brutish impietie without all regard of the foule or of the second life What say I for the body Nay rather they are the destroiers thereof seeing it cannot be denied but that sobrietie is a great benefit and helpe to preserue health and bodily strength and to expell diseases and is to be vsed as a good foundation to attaine to a happy old age The experience heereof is well knowne to euery one although there were no other proofe but this that we see the simple sort of people that labor and trauell to liue with bread and water grow old in health whereas our Princes and great Lords being delicately brought vp in idlenes die yoong men tormented with infinite diseases especially when they
grow a little in yeeres Further let such dissolute men as make pleasure the ende of their desire know that sobrietie leadeth those that follow her to farre greater and more perfect pleasures than incontinencie and superfluitie doe For these excessiue fellowes neuer expect hunger or thirst or any other pleasure of the bodye but through intemperance preuent them and so enioy scarce half the pleasure But sober and temperate men forbearing the fruition of their desire a long time haue a farre more perfect taste of them bicause as Cicero saith the pleasure of life consisteth rather in the desire than in the satietie thereof And if mediocrity be not obserued those things that are most acceptable and pleasant become most vnpleasant Do we not also see that when the body is not ouercharged with meate and wine it is better disposed and more temperate for euery good action And as for the spirite for which we ought chiefly to liue it is more ready and nimble to comprehend and conceiue what right reason and true honestie are For as Aristotle saith sobrietie causeth men to iudge better and according to truth of all things and in that respect is very necessary for the attaining of Philosophye Likewise sobrietie retaineth that in a wise mans thought which a foole without discretion hath in his mouth And therefore saith Cares we must striue by all meanes to restraine our belly bicause that only is alwaies vnthankfull for the pleasures done vnto it crauing continually and oftener than it needeth so that whosoeuer is not able to command ouer it wil daily heape vp mischiefe vpon mischiefe to himselfe But frugalitie and sobrietie are the mistresses of good counsell and the badges of chastitie For this cause Titus Liuius commendeth more the barrennes and sterilitie of a countrey than fertilitie and fruitfulnes saying that men borne in a fat fertile soile are commonly do-littles and cowards but contrariwise the barrennes of a countrey maketh men sober of necessitie and consequently carefull vigilant and giuen to labor as the Athenians were being situated in a very vnfruitfull place We make great account saith Paulonius of frugalitie not bicause we esteeme the creatures themselues vile and of small value but that by meanes thereof we may encrease the greatnes of our courage And if the greatest chiefest benefit that could come to man were said Solon to haue no need of nourishment it is very manifest that the next to that is to haue neede but of a little But amongst so many good reasons of such excellent mē the counsell of Epictetus is wel woorth the marking where he saith then when we would eate we must consider that we haue two guests to entertain the body and the soule and that whatsoeuer shall be put into the body departeth away quickly but what good thing soeuer entreth into the soule abideth for euer To this effect Timotheus a Grecian captaine hauing supped with Plato in the Academie at a sober and simple repast for the greatest festiual dainties were oliues cheese apples colewoorts bread wine said that they which sup with Plato feele the benefit therof the next day yea a long time after For these wise men met togither at bankets void of excesse not to fill their bellies but to prepare and dresse their minds to learne one of another by their goodly discourses of Philosophie whereof a vertuous soule hath better taste than the body of a well relished and delicate meale Such were the feasts of Pythagoras Socrates Xenocrates and of other Sages of Grecia where the discussing of good and learned matters there handled brought through the remembrance of them great pleasure and no lesse liked commoditie and that of long continuance to such as were present at them And as for the pleasures of drinking and eating they iudged the very remembrance thereof to be vnwoorthie and vnbeseeming men of honor bicause it was to passe away as the smell of a perfume Neither would they suffer that men should bring into their assemblies the vanitie of foolish delights as of the sound of instruments of enterludes or of any other pastime which a wise man ought rather to esteeme as a hinderance of delight than any pleasure at all For hauing within themselues sufficient matter of recreation and reioicing through their learned discourses it were meere follie to beg strange and friuolous delights from without them And Plutark saith that the brutish part of the soule depending of the feeding beast and vncapeable of reason is that which is pleased brought to order satisfied by songs and sounds which are sung and tuned vnto it euen as with the whistling of lips or hands or with the sound of a pipe sheepeheards cause their sheepe to arise or lie downe bicause they vnderstand not an articulate or distinct speech that hath some pith in it Therefore I commend Euripides for reprehending such as vse the harpe so long as a feast lasteth for quoth he musicke ought rather to be sent for when men are angrie or mourne than when they are feasting or making merry thereby to make them giue more libertie to all pleasure than before I suppose the Egyptians did better who vsed in the midst of their bankets to bring in the Anatomie of a dead bodie dried that the horror thereof might containe them in all modestie For this cause the memorie of the Emperour Henrie the third greatly recommendeth it selfe who banished all pompe and vanitie from his wedding and draue away the plaiers iesters causing a great number of poore folke to come in their place The custom which the Lacedemonians obserued when they liued vnder Lycurgus lawes is also worthie to be remembred which was that no torches or lights should be brought vnto them when they departed from feastes at night that it might be an occasion vnto them to feare drunkennes and so to auoid this shame that they onely could not find out their houses Now in those happie times vines were planted and dressed that wine might be drunke rather in time of sickenes than of health insomuch that it was not sold in Tauernes but onely in Apothecaries shops Those ancient Sages commonly measured their drinking by that saying of Anacharsis that the first draught which men drunke ought to be for thirst the second for nourishment and as for the third that it was of pleasure and the fourth of madnes Pythagoras being much more religious in this matter and liuing onely of herbs fruite and water said that the vine brought foorth three grapes whereof the first quencheth thirst the second troubleth and the third altogither dulleth He neuer dranke wine no more did that great Orator Demosthenes nor many other famous men of whome histories make mention The kings of Egypt were forbidden wine which they neuer dranke except on certaine daies and then by measure And truly it bringeth with it pernitious effects aswell to the soule as to
the bodie For from it proceedeth the chiefe and most common cause of bodilie diseases and of the infirmities of the soule But to continue the examples of loue which the Ancients bare to the vertue of sobrietie this was it that caused Alexander the Great to refuse those Cookes and Paisterers which Ada Queene of Caria sent vnto him to send her word backe againe that he had better than they were namely for his dinner early rising and walking a good while before day and for his supper a little dinner Notwithstanding in the ende the Persian delicacies and riches which alwaies is the propertie of such goods caused this vertuous monarke to change his commendable custome of liuing and to approoue and like of excesse in drinking to which vice that he might giue greater authoritie he propounded six hundred crownes for a reward to him that dranke most and called a great cup after his owne name Which cup when he offered to Callisthenes one of his fauorits he refused saying that he would not for drinking in Alexander stand in need of Esculapius With which the King perceiuing him selfe touched was so incensed against him that he caused him to be put in a cage with dogs where he poisoned himselfe being impatient of his captiuitie Wherein we may note how ridiculous their blockishnes is who for feare not of such an entertainment as this wise man receiued but of being taken and reputed as void of good fellowship and vnciuill cast themselues into the danger of a sore sicknes rather than they will refuse to drinke carouse when they are inuited thereunto Hereby also those men shew their want of iudgement and of conuenient matter to talke of who cannot entertaine their friends without dronkennes and gluttonie And the other if they knew how to make denial fitly and in good sort besides the profit which they should receiue thereby their companie would be more desired than it will be for their dronkennes Cyrus Monarke of the Persians from his childhood gane great testimonie that he would one daye become a very sober man For being demanded by Astyages his grandfather why he would drinke no wine he answered for feare least they giue me poison For quoth he I noted yesterday when you celebrated the daye of your natiuitie that it could not be but that some bodie had mingled poison amongst all that wine which ye then dranke bicause in the winding vp of the table not one of all those that were present at the feast was in his right mind Afterward this vertuous Prince alwaies liued very frugally for proofe whereof may serue his answer made one day to Artabazus as he marched in warre who asked of him what he would haue brought vnto him for his supper Bread quoth he for I hope we shall finde some fountaine to furnish vs with drinke Porus a noble king of India liued with water and bread onely Phaotes also king of the same countrey did the like and the greatest feastes which he made or suffered his Courtiers to make was onely with a kind of venison Alphonsus king of Arragon and Cocilia a very sober man was demanded of certaine of his Princes why he dranke no wine bicause quoth he wisdome is hindred through wine and prudence darkned which two things onely are able to make a king worthy of that name he beareth Agesilaus king of Lacedemonia hauing beene alwaies brought vp in the discipline of Lycurgus who had banished all riot and superfluitie from that citie by the vtter defacing and abolishing of gold and siluer became very woonderfull by reason of his simplicity and plainnes in feeding and clothing his bodie and in behauing himselfe as the meanest of his subiects He vsed to say which he likewise put in vre that he which commanded and ruled many ought to surpasse them not in dainties and delicacie but in sustaining labor and in nobilitie of hart The benefit which as he said he reaped thereby was libertie whereof he assured himselfe that he could neuer be depriued by any alteration and change of fortune And as he passed with his armie by the countrey of the Thasians they sent him certaine refreshing of sloure of daintie cates as comfits and other daintie deuices made of paast but he would take nothing saue onely the floure And being vrged of others to receiue all he said Well if ye thinke it good diuide the rest amongst the Ilots who were their slaues for it agreeth not with them that make profession of manlie fortitude and powers to take such iuncates For that which allureth and inticeth men of a slauish nature ought not to be acceptable to thē that are of a franke free courage But is there any thing now a daies I pray you that so much allureth and keepeth base minds in the seruice of great men as the daintines of their table And surely the Ancients did not vnfitly apply the name of Tyrant to a rich man keeping a sumptuous table as to one that compelleth men to follow to obey him Neuertheles a courageous hart suffreth not it self to be takē with such baits but let vs continue the examples of sobrietic Pompey the great hauing all his life tyme loued modestie and frugalitie gaue yet a more certain testimonie thereof when by reason of a lingring disease he had lost his appetite to meate His Physition appointing him to eate of a Blackbird he was giuen to vnderstand by his serunats that because they were out of season it would be a hard matter to get any except it were of Lucullus who kept some all the yeere long and would willingly giue him some What quoth he then if Lucullus were not a daintie and nice glutton could not Pompey liue No no let me haue somthing made ready that may easile be gotten Marcus Cato after he had ouercome Spaine and triumphed of notable victories albeit he was now old and very rich yet he would adde nothing to his ancient maner of liuing which was very austere but dranke almost nothing but water and for the most part did eat nothing but bread and biefe laboring in the field in time of peace as much as the meanest of his seruants Epaminondas the greatest captain philosopher of his time liued so thriftily and temperately that being inuited by a friend of his to supper and seeing great superfluitie and sumptuosnes he returned very angry saying that he thought he had been requested to sacrifice and to liue honestly together and not to receiue reproch by being entertained like a glutton Caius Fabritius a notable Romain captaine was found by the Samnite embassadors that came vnto him eating of reddish rosted in the ashes which was all the dishes he had to his supper and that in a very poore house Scipio Aemilius kept a very honourable table for his friends for in his time riot had alredy begun to enter into Rome but going
he looseth of his pride and arrogancie and they that haue nothing before their eies whereunto they aspire but vertue and dutie onely vse the occasion time and sequele of their affaires without caring for any other praise than that which proceedeth from the nature iudgement and consent of all good men It is true that sometime it is tollerable in good men yea necessarie for the benefit of others to commend themselues in some sort by speaking of themselues to their aduantage As if laboring to be beleeued we rendred a reason of our vertue and goodnes by our former effects that so hauing meanes to continue our vertuous actions to the benefit of many we may as it were against their wils worke their safetie and compell those men to receiue a good turne who shun all occasions thereof This caused Themistocles to vse those speeches in the Councell of the Athenians whome he perceiued to be wearie of him O poore men quoth he to them why do ye oftentimes receiue benefits of the same parties And another time he vsed these words In rainie and stormie weather ye haue recourse to me as to the shelter of a tree but when faire weather returneth ye snatch euery one a branch as ye passe by Homer bringeth in Nestor rehearsing his prowes and valiant acts to incourage Patroclus the other nine knights to vndertake the combat against Hector man to man Moreouer exhortation hauing the testimonie of works readie at hand and examples ioined with the pricke of emulation are liuely and woonderfully whetteth men on yea they bring togither with courage and affection hope of abilitie to attaine to the end of that thing which is perceiued not to be impossible But in this case as in euery other action let vs aboue al eschew pride hated of God and men and the cause of the corruption and transgression of mans nature Yea it causeth that worke to become wicked which of it self is good so that humble submission is better than the proud boasting of our good deedes which causeth a proud man oftentimes to fall into more detestable vices than he was in before Now in requiring first and chieflie those praises that proceede of bountie and iustice my meaning is not that we should contemne but rather search diligently after those that procure vnto vs immortall glorie by noble and couragious acts prouided alwaies that they passe not the bounds of equitie and iustice For otherwise they cannot but falsly be called works of fortitude and generositie as heerafter in our discourses vpon these vertues we may vnderstand more at large Therefore it is the ielousie of glorie gotten by vertue after the examples of our predecessors that liued well which ought to pricke forward euery noble hart to build for himselfe an eternall monument through heroicall deedes when dutie and reason inuite vs thereunto Thus did that good and valiant captaine Mattathias behaue himselfe who denying obedience to the tyrannicall edicts of Antiochus after he had subiected and subuerted Ierusalem and taking armes with his fiue sonnes went into the fields out of a poore village where he dwelt and called vnto him such as would follow him to recouer againe their liberty And after many victories obtained by him when he perceiued that he drew neere to death he exhorted his sonnes to follow his iust and holie deliberatiō without feare of any danger True it is quoth he to them that our bodies are mortall and subiect to the same decree that others are but the memorie of excellent deedes procureth to it selfe an immortalitie whereunto I would haue you aspire in such sort that ye thinke not much to die in behauing your selues valiantly Thus it is lawfull for vs to be touched and stirred vp with the ielousie of a good glorie so that it be without enuying the prosperitie and preferment of others but onely so farre foorth as it may serue for a spur vnto vs to vndertake and to effect all vertuous and commendable things As for example Themistocles hearing of the great victorie that Miltiades had obtained in the plaine of Marathon said that that newes would let him take no rest meaning thereby that he should neuer be quiet vntill by some other act of vertue he had deserued as much praise as did this excellent Captaine Miltiades Titus Flaminius a Romane Consul who deliuered Grecia from bondage and twice in battell ranged ouerthrew Philip king of Macedonia shewed himselfe likewise touched greatly with a desire of glorie and honour not to be blamed but to be practised of all excellent and noble natures by putting too his helping hande whensoeuer he coulde with the first yea sometimes alone to euery matter and exploit of importance He kept company oftner and more gladly with those that stood in neede of his helpe than with such as were able to aide him in well doing accounting these men to be his competitors in the purchasing of honor and glory the others to be matter whereupon he might exercise his vertue It was an argument of yong yeeres which seemed to promise much and to be borne to all great enterprises when Iulius Caesar being yet very yong and beholding the image of Alexander the great at foure and twentie yeeres of age fell to weeping and said Am not I miserable that haue done nothing woorthy of memorie and yet this prince at these yeeres had executed so many notable things Moreouer we may obserue among the Ancients infinite woorthy examples quite contrary one to another in that many great famous men haue altogether despised the honor of vaine-glory which is neuer without presumption and pride contrary wise others being led with pride and arrogancie haue fowly abused their authoritie and greatnes purchasing to themselues more blame and dishonor than praise and honour That great Cyrus Monarch of the Persians was of so meeke and gentle a nature and so little desirous of vainglory that he would neuer prouoke his equals in age to any exercise wherin he perceiued himself the stronger but those rather who were better practised than himselfe to the end he might not displease them by bearing away the price from them as also that he might reape this benefit to learne that which he could not do so well as others O right noble hart giuing euident proofe of the contempt of base and vile things to treasure vp those that are great and excellent But now adayes where about do we striue most namely who can most cunningly strike with the sword run at the ring or ride and manage horses And I would to God we did no worse But as for excelling others in vertue these times require no such matter We read of an Indian who being commanded by Alexander the Great to shoote before him bicause he had heard that he was very excellent in that art would do nothing Wherupon the Monarch being incensed condemned him to death if he would
chiefly to handle at this present The Grecians called it by these two words 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 and 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 the one signifieng troble the other a band as if they would haue said that it held the soule bound and wholie troubled They affirmed also that this feare was as it were a giddinesse and alienation of the mind from the right sense making the soule idle dead void of euerie good exploit or effect whatsoeuer The last kind of feare is that which worketh in the wicked a feare of paine and punishment appointed for offences wherby they are as it were with a bridle kept backe and restrained from presuming to commit their villanies and damnable purposes Now as the first kind of feare said to be good and necessarie is a great token of a commendable and vertuous nature as that which for good cause is grounded vpon the feare of reproch and infamie and vpon a desire to effect whatsoeuer belongeth to dutie so the one of these two last kinds testifieth a vile contemptible and abiect nature and the other a wicked corrupt disposition Plutark speaking of this good feare calleth it one of the Elements grounds of vertue saying that it is chieflie requisite and necessarie for those that haue authoritie ouer others who ought to feare rather to practise euil than to receiue punishment for the same bicause the first is the cause of the latter not onelie to themselues but to so manie as wallow in wickednesse which is neuer without recompense Therefore a prudent and well aduised man ought to haue this feare alwaies before his eies I meane this childlike feare which is vnseparably ioined with the true loue we owe to our common father and is the beginning of all wisedome wherby we are induced to honour him And looke how much the more the ancient Pagans were kept in awe by this good feare so much the more shall our condemnation be doubled if we despise it The dutie also of this profitable feare is to haue an eie vnto the good and safetie of our countrie and to cause vs faithfully to discharge euery charge committed vnto vs to the end we incurre not perpetuall shame and infamie among all good men It causeth vs to feare onelie the dishonor of an vnaduised counsel or action and to account it very seemelie honorable to be blamed and euil spoken of for well dooing which Alexander the great said did well become a king This good feare made Phocion who for his desert and valure was chosen generall of the Atheniens fiue fortie times to saie that he would neuer counsell but hinder to the vttermost of his power that enterprise of war which they would haue concluded against Alexander For said he although the Athenians would cast awaie themselues yet I will not suffer them to doe so bicause I haue for that intent purpose taken vpon me the charge of a Captain And when Demosthenes who persuaded this warre said vnto him the people will kill thee if they enter into a furie Phocion replied Naie they will kill thee if they be well in their wits Antigonus the second king of Macedonia declared what benefit commeth of this good feare necessarie for the foresight of a wise and experienced captaine in warre when retiring once from before his enimies who came to assaile him and being told by certaine that he fled he answered It is cleane contrarie For I looke backe to that profit wich is behind me As touching the opinion of the ancients alreadie mentioned that to stand in feare of nothing is more hurtful to Common-wealthes than foraine enimies it is that which Scipio Nasica a Romane Senator meant to signifie when vpon the hearing of some who said that Rome was in safetie if Carthage were laid wast he replied that it was farre otherwise For said he we are in greater danger now than euer bicause we stand no more in awe of anie whereby he wiselie inferred that too great and vnlooked for prosperitie of cities is commonly the cause of raising ciuill wars in them secret diuisions or else of bringing into them so great idlenes that by it a gate is opened to all vices as in truth it fell out with the Romans For then beeing in the top of their felicitie and greatnesse by reason of the destruction aswell of the Carthaginians by Scipio the yonger as of the Macedonians vnder Perseus and Antiochus the people began to abuse their authoritie preferring vnto estates and places of honour not the best and iustest citizens but such as flattered them most in their vices and dissolutenes and wan their hearts with prodigall and superfluous feasts and distributions to whome they solde their publike voices Whereupon in the end those ciuill wars arose which was the cause of their finall ouerthrow and of the alteration of their popular estate into a tyrannie afterwards called a Monarchie But this discourse being the matter of another Subiect let vs come to the defect of the vertue of Fortitude which is a feare voide of reason and assurance and argueth a faint and cowardlie hart causing a man through want of sense and vnderstanding to account this the surest waie to doubt all things and to distrust euerie one Of this feare one of the ancients said Feare taketh awaie memorie and all good effects from euerie art and industrie Yea sometimes some haue beene found so faint-harted that as soone as this feare seazed vpon them they gaue vp the ghost not beeing oppressed with anie other euill or violence It is in this passion that Feare and Greefe fullie practise their power being grounded vpon a false opinion of euill and sworne enimies to all rest and tranquillitie gnawing and consuming life as rust doth steele or yron Neither is this feare without an vnrulie desire and immoderate ioie in things that are worldlie base and contemptible whereupon the soule is continuallie carried hither and thither with pernicious and immoderate passions which depriue hir of the excellencie of hir immortalitie to attend to the mortall and corruptible affections of the flesh Alexander spake of such as are possessed with this feare when he said that no place is so strong by nature and situation which fearefull men iudge safe enough Therefore the Satyricall Poēt said verie well that Fortune alwayes maketh timorous men little For although they be borne bigge of stature yet the small courage of their hearts maketh them so much the more contemptible bringing foorth worse and more dangerous effects and making them vnwoorthy of all intermedling with matters of estate of policie or of warre In this number among many whom histories mention we may heere reckon Claudius the first of the Caesars who was so faint-harted base-minded blockish that his mother said often of him that Nature had begun but not finished him And truly a hartles-fellow or one of litle-hart is nothing els but a bodie
he knoweth the one to be honest and the other vile and wicked Hauing now seene that vice which is cleane contrary to Fortitude and knowing that euery vertue hath a counterfeit follower thereof no doubt but rashnesse is that vice which falsly shrowdeth it selfe vnder the title of Fortitude and valure For this vertue easily ouerthroweth it selfe if it be not vnderpropped with good counsaile and the greater abilitie it supposeth to haue in it selfe the sooner it turneth aside to wickednesse if prudence gouerne it not This is that which Isocrates saith that Fortitude ioined with Prudence is auaileable but otherwise it procureth more euill than good to the possessors thereof If Fortitude saith Lactantius without necessarie constraint or for a dishonest matter hazardeth hir selfe into daungers she chaungeth into rashnesse He that doth anie thing at all aduentures saith Aristotle not considering how well he doth it ought not to be called vertuous but onely if he put it in execution after knowledge consultation and election Therefore as it is a noble acte to make such account of vertue as for the loue thereof not to feare the losse of life otherwise very deare so is it a point of rashnesse and follie to contemne life vpon a small and light occasion Rashnesse than is that which causeth a man with ioy of hart and for a vaine and friuolous matter to cast himselfe into certaine vndoubted daungers and to desire earnestly to fall into them to vndertake all things vnaduisedly and vnconstrained to expect those perils which he knoweth will fall vpon him The Elder Cato hearing certaine men to commend one openly who desperately hazarded himselfe and was bold without discretion in perils of warre said vnto them That there was great difference betweene much esteeming of vertue and little waighing of life as if he would haue said that it is a commendable thing to desire life to be vertuous And truely to liue and die are not of themselues good but to do both of them rightly and in a good matter So that to shunne death if it proceed not from a faint hart is not to be reprehended But rashnesse is especiallie to be condemned in Captaines and Heads of Armies as that which procureth great dammage to kingdomes and monarchies and to so manie as march vnder their conduct This is that which Iphicrates an Athenian captaine would haue vs learne who compared in an armie the Scoutes lightly armed to the handes the Horsemen to the Feete the battaile of Footemen to the Stomacke and breast and the Captaine to the Head of a Mans bodie For sayde he the Captaine that hazardeth himselfe too much and throweth himselfe into daunger without cause is not retchlesse of his own life onely but also of all those whose safetie dependeth vpon him and contrarywise in taking care for the safegard of his owne person he careth therewithall for all those that are vnder him Isadas the Lacedemonian seeyng Epaminondas with the Thebane armie at hand agaynst the Spartanes readie to force and take their Citie vnclothed himselfe starke naked puttyng off his Shirte and all and taking a Partisane in one hand and a sworde in the other he went with might and mayne agaynst his enemies where he shewed great prowesse and valure For which behauiour although he had a Crowne giuen him by the Seignorie according to the custome that was amongst them yet he was fined bicause he hazarded his lyfe so rashly We see daylie among vs but too manie examples of great mischiefes which befall men through their rashnesse led with ambition and desire of vayne-glorie Therefore to conclude and to drawe some profite out of our present discourse we say that we ought to feare the incurring of blame and dishonour for filthie and vnhonest matters and for euill deeds and are to shun all feare proceeding of want of courage of pusillanimitie and of a depraued and corrupted nature this last as proper and peculiar to the wicked and the other as that which maketh a man vnapt to all good and commendable thinges And as it is an acte of Prudence and Fortitude to prouide for a tempest and for stormes to come when the shippe is still in the Hauen and yet not to be afrayd in the middest of stormes so is it a point of rashnesse for a man to throw himselfe wittingly into an euident danger which might be auoyded without any breach of Vertue and Iustice Therefore Plato saith that timorous and rash men feare enterprise vnaduisedly whatsoeuer they take in hand but that noble minds do all things with prudence This also is that which Seneca saith thou maist be valiant if thou cast not thy selfe into perils nor desirest to fall into them as timorous men do neither abhorrest or standest in feare of them as being timorous But following the sage aduice of Cicero before we enterprise any thing we must not onely consider whether it be honest and commendable but also whether there be any like meane to execute it that neither throgh cowardlines we giue it ouer nor through greedie desire and presumption we purchase to our selues the reputation of rash men obseruing moreouer in euery matter of importance this Maxime of estate that before we begin any thing we must diligently prepare and foresee whatsoeuer is necessarie thereunto Of Magnanimitie and Generositie Chap. 27. ARAM. WHen that saying of Aristotle cōmeth to my remembrance that Fortitude isa mediocritie in fearing enterprising but that Magnanimitie consisteth in great things I am somewhat troubled in the vnderstāding of this sentēce bicause it semeth he would put a difference betweene Fortitude and Magnanimitie as if this latter had more excellencie and perfection in it than the other For this cause my Companions hauing intreated this morning of the vertue of Fortitude I propound now vnto you to discourse vnto vs what Magnanimitie is ACHITOB. Among mortall and perishing things there is nothing as the Philosophers say that ought to trouble the Magnanimitie of a noble hart But I find that they propound vnto vs in this word such a wisedome as cannot be in him that remaineth all his life time subiect to affections and perturbations For this they would not haue in true Magnanimitie which notwithstanding is wel able to bring foorth infinite wonderfull effects out of a noble mind causing it to be neuer vnprouided of a good resolution to be put in execution according to the ouerthwarts that happen vnto him ASER. The propertie of a noble spirit saith Cicero is not to be turned aside through ingratitude from the desire of doing good to all men euen to his enemies as also to leaue carking for that which is mortall that he may imbrace celestiall things But we shall vnderstand more at large of thee AMANA how these marueilous effects are works of true magnanimitie AMANA Although the vertue of Fortitude be neuer perfected without Magnanimitie which is as much to say as generositie or noblenes of
vehemencie those things which they had begun with a quiet spirit mind throwing down at one blow whatsoeuer they had builded with long labour But of thee ACHITOB we shall vnderstand the prayse and propertie of this vertue of Patience with the contrary effects thereof namelie Impatiencie Choler and Anger and the meanes to shunne and auoid them ACHITOB. Among all the ancients the Stoike Philosophers were most zealous and precise obseruers of all points concerning this vertue of patience which they grounded vpon the fatall cause of necessitie requiring such exactnes and perfection thereof in men that they would haue a noble hart to be no otherwise touched with aduersitie than with prosperitie nor with sorowful things than with ioyfull For this cause Aristo said that vertue onely was to be wished and therefore that it was all one to be sicke or sound poore or rich briefly that in all other humane and necessary vses of nature there was no more euil in one kind than in another Whereby it seemeth that these Philosophers delighted in painting out a picture of such patience as neuer was nor shal be among men except first they should be vnclothed of all humaine nature or become as blockish and sencelesse as a stone For so long as man remaineth in this life he cannot be void of affections and perturbations that draw the soule to care and to prouide for the body which continually crieth out against her for feare of griefe and of wanting that which belongeth vnto it But it is the dutie of a wise man to moderate all passions in such sort that in the end reason remaine mistresse Moreouer we say that vertue which is a habite of comelines and mediocritie in affections ought neither to be without hir motions nor yet too much subiect to passions For the abolishing of desire maketh the soule without motion without ioy euen in honest things as on the other side ouer vehement motions thereof altogether trouble hir and cause hir to be as it were beside hir selfe Further we seeke after the common practise of men not for that perfection which they wish for and whereunto they ought to aspire and we desire that affection should shew it selfe no otherwise in vertue than a little shadow of a hidden cloud or a line in a picture Therfore true patience which we ought to imbrace in all things not as compelled and of necessity but cheerfully and as resting in our welfare is a moderation tolerance of our euils which albeit we sigh vnder the heauie burthen of them clothe vs in the meane while with a spirituall ioy that striueth so well and mastreth in such sort the sence of nature which shunneth griefe that in the end it worketh in vs an affection of pietie godlinesse ioyned with a free cheerful mind vnder the yoke obedience of the iust rightfull will of God through a certain expectation of things promised and causeth vs to iudge impatiencie to be contumacie and rebellion to this diuine wil and sufficient of it selfe to make a man to be called wretched Patience saith Plato is a habite that consisteth in sustaining stoutly all labours and griefes for the loue of honestie The law saith that it is a very good thing to keep the tranquillitie of our spirit as much as may be in aduersities and not to complaine of that which is vncertaine bicause men know not whither that which is light vpon them be good or euil for them as also bicause sorow can not helpe that which is to come but rather hindreth the curing of the euill and lastly bicause there is nothing in humane matters wherof any great account is to be made But if I must needs support them my desire and labour is to do it nobly honestly and courageously It skilleth not what we endure but how we endure it And then doth patience preuail most when we know that whatsoeuer we haue done was executed of vs for godlines sake The conflict of Patience saith Euripides is such that the vanquished is better than the vanquisher And let vs not thinke that there is any calamitie which cannot be sustained by the nature of man armed with patience which is an inuincible tower Patience saith Cicero is a voluntarie and long suffring of labours calamities trauels and difficult matters for the loue of honestie and of vertue And when all things are ouerthrowen and counsaile wil do no more good there is but this one only remedy to beare patiently whatsoeuer shall come vpon vs. Patience serueth vs for a meane to attaine to great matters staying men from fainting in dangers and trauels By patience whatsoeuer is disordred may be brought againe to good order as that wise emperor Marcus Aurelius would giue vs to vnderstand when he sayd that patience had no lesse holpen him in the gouernmēt of his estate than knowledge Likewise it is for the most part followed of curtesie and gentlenes which make him well liked of that is adorned therewith and sooner draw good wil the cause of mens obedience then force or violence doth He that is slowe to anger saith the wise man is better than the mightie man and he that ruleth his owne mind is better than he that winneth a citie True patience loueth the afflictions which she suffreth causing him that possesseth hir to giue prayse to God in the midst of aduersities and to submit himself to his iudgement when he is pressed with diseases neither can pouertie keep him backe from cōmending highly his bountie and goodnes To be short as a pearle sheweth hir beautie euen in the midst of a puddle so a patient man causeth his vertue to appeere in al aduersities Moreouer this patience which we shew in aduersities mooueth those to compassion and pitie that see vs suffer Which thing as it greatly comforteth in affliction so oftentimes it causeth others to reape inestimable benefite when they behold vs to suffer vniustly For it serueth to awaken and to strengthen the weake in the knowledge of their duetie that they suffer not themselues to be deceiued with the poisonfull sweetnes of worldly goods and commodities In a word the vertue of patience is so necessarie for a good and happy life that no part or action of mans life can be guided to their proper end without hir And as she is a branch of Magnanimitie Fortitude and greatnes of courage so Impatiencie is a weakenes and imbecillitie of a base vile and contemptible nature wherin choler and in the end wrath are easily ingendred which are two very pernitious passions in the soule and differ nothing from furie as the elder Cato said but onely in this that they continue a lesse time and this a longer This is that which Possidonius teacheth vs saying that Anger is nothing else but a short furie Aristides called it the inflammation of blood and an alteration of the hart Cicero saith that that which the Latines
acceptable sacrifice to God when he yeeldeth vnto him dailie thanks in the midst of infinite troubles and vexations which benefit will worke in vs the vtter ouerthrow of all impatience choler and wrath sworne enemies to all reason and vertue Of Meekenes Clemeneie Mildnes Gentlenes and Humanitie Chap. 30. ACHITOB A Philosopher in a great assemblie of people taking a lanterne and a candle lighted at midday and going into an high place in all their sight was demanded what he ment to do with all I seeke said he for a man but can see none no not one And truly it is a very rare and excellent thing to find one that in deed is a Man which is as much to say as courteous or made of meekenes and gentlenes for which cause Plato calleth him a ciuill creature and sociable by nature Now therefore let vs vnderstand of you my companions what woorthy effects this vertue of meekenes bringeth foorth in man ASER. Mercie said Plato ought no more to be taken away from the nature of man than the altar out of the Temple And euery noble hart ought to be so courteous and gratious that he be reuerenced more than feared of his neighbors AMANA There is no nation so barbarous which loueth not meekenes curtesie beneuolence and a thankfull soule and contrariwise which hateth and contemneth not proud wicked cruell and vngratefull persons But it belongeth to thee ARAM to discourse of this matter vnto vs. ARAM. Sinne hauing depriued man of the perfection of graces wherewith the image of God in him had inriched and beautified him namely with perfect goodnes and holye righteousnes there remained nothing in his soule but a weake desire to aspire to that soueraigne Good of which she felt hir selfe spoiled For further confirmation whereof this incomparable beautie of the visible shape of the bodie was left vnto him to the end that in this principall worke as in a rich picture he might find large matter to mooue him to contemplate and to admire the excellencie and greatnes of his Creator who is able to set him againe in his former glorie and brightnes By means of this knowledge a man feeleth himselfe effectually mooued and touched with the loue of his like imprinted in euery nature which desireth vsually to shew foorth the effects thereof to the profite of many if it be not wholy depraued and accursed This loue ought to be so much the greater more perfect in man by how much the neerer he approcheth to the vnderstanding of the incomprehensible secrets of the diuinitie For what thing ought more to stirre vs vp and to mooue vs with zeale to do good to our neighbours than the consideration both of their creation after the image of God whereunto we owe all honor loue obedience and also of their roestablishment into the same image by his pure grace mercie besides the contemplation of the excellent composition and building of this frame of man These things being well considered in our minds whom shall we take for our enemie for a stranger as contemptible vnwoorthy and of no account seeing this brightnes and grace of God shineth in euery one and especially in those whom the world despiseth Moreouer when we know by his word that Man is substituted of God in his place that we should acknowledge towards him the inestimable benefits which we haue and daily receiue from the helpe and goodnesse of our common Father who promiseth to accept as done to himselfe what good thing soeuer we procure to his creatures so that it be done with a gladsome and cheerfull countenance and with a sweete and curteous kind of beneficence void of arrogancie contumelie or reproch shal any thing stay vs from exercising towards euery one all duties of humanitie We read in Macrobius that long sithence there was a Temple in Athens dedicated to Mercie into which none was suffered to enter except he were beneficiall and helpfull and then also with licence from the Senate In so much that through a desire which the people had to haue accesse into it they studied earnestly to exercise workes of pitie and pietie Yea the greatest reproch which an Athenian could vtter to his neighbor was to hit him in the teeth that he was neuer in the Academie of the Philosophers nor in the Temple of Mercie girding him by this only reproch with two shamefull things the one of ignorance and want of prudence the other of crueltie inhumanitie Now if among those of olde time the onely naturall seede of the loue of their like which also is seen in beasts was so strong and powerfull that it brought forth in them notwithstanding they were destitute of the heauenly light fruites woorthy of perpetuall memorie as they that had nothing in greater estimation than to shew themselues meeke gentle curteous helpfull and gratious towards others euen towards their enemies What ought they to do that say they are all members of that one head who recommendeth so expresly vnto them meeknes mildnes gentlenes grace clemencie mercy good-will compassion and euery good affection towards their neighbor All which things are cōprehended vnder this only sacred word of Charitie which is the indissoluble band of God with vs whereby we are inflamed with the loue of him for that which we owe vnto him and thereby also are induced to loue our neighbours for the loue of God But let vs consider how the ancients hauing but the shadow of this perfect Charitie praysed esteemed this vertue of Meeknes from which they knew how to draw so many good commodities for the profite and succour of euery one that after we may note here certain woorthy examples to stirre vs vp so much the more vnto our dutie Meeknes saith Plato is a vertue that belongeth to the courageous part of the soule whereby we are hardly mooued to anger Hir office and dutie is to be able to support and endure patiently those crimes that are layd vpon hir not to suffer hir selfe to be hastily caried to reuenge nor to be too easily stirred to wrath but to make him that possesseth hir mild gratious and of a stayed and setled mind Meeknes and gentlenes as he sayth else-where is that vertue whereby a man easily appeaseth the motions and instigations of the soule caused by choler and it standeth him in stead of a moderate temperāce of the spirit decking him with mildnes curtesie which draweth vnto him the loue of strangers and good seruice of his owne Whereby it appeereth that whosoeuer is mild and courteous to others receiueth much more profit and honor than those whome he honoreth They are not to be credited saith Cicero who say that a man must vse crueltie towards his enemies esteeming that to be an act proper to a noble and courageous man For nothing is more commendable or woorthie a great and excellent man than meekenes and clemencie It seemeth also that liberalitie beneficence iustice
miserable passions which depriue vs of true rest tranquillitie necessarie for a happie life let vs be carefull to learne how to discerne true happines from mishap that we may reioyce in that which is good and as readily giue thanks to the author thereof as naturally through a false opinion which we haue of euill we sustaine humaine miseries and crosses vnpatiently First then let vs heare the sundry and notable opinions of many ancient men touching good and ill hap If thou knowest all that ought to be knowen in all things said Pythagoras thou art happy Let them be accounted very happy said Homer to whom fortune hath equally wayed the good with the euill The greatest miserie of all said Bias is not to be able to beare miserie That man is happie said Dionysius the elder that hath learned from his youth to be vnhappy For he will beare the yoke better whereunto he hath been subiect and accustomed of long tyme. Demetrius surnamed the Besieger said That he iudged none more vnhappy than he that neuer tasted of aduersitie as if he would haue sayd that it was a sure argument that fortune iudged him to be so base abiect that he deserued not that she should busie hir selfe about him That man saith Cicero is very happy who thinketh that no humane matters how grieuous soeuer they may be are intollerable or ought to discourage him iudging also nothing so excellent wherby he should be mooued to reioyce in such sort that his hart be puffed and lift vp thereby Yea he is very happy who fitly and conueniently behaueth himself in all things necessary for him Nothing is euil saith Plutarke that is necessarie By which word Necessarie both he and Cicero vnderstand whatsoeuer commeth to a wise man by fatall destinie bicause he beareth it patiently as that which cannot be auoyded thereby increasing his vertue so much the more and so no euill can come to a good man Solon drawing neerer to the truth of sincere happinesse sayd that it consisted in a good life and death and that to iudge them happy that are aliue considering the danger of so many alterations wherein they are were all one as if a man should before hand appoint the reward of the victorie for one that is yet fighting not beyng sure that he should ouercome Socrates speaking rather with a diuine than a humane spirite sayd that when we shall be deliuered from this body wherein our soule is inclosed as an Oyster in his shell we may than be happy but not sooner and that felicitie cannot be obtained in this life but that we must hope to enioy it perfectly in the other life as well for our vertues as by the grace and mercy of God Not the rich said Plato but the wise and prudent auoyd miserie They that thinke sayth Aristotle that externall goods are the cause of happines deceiue themselues no lesse than if they supposed that cunning playing on the harpe came from the instrument and not from Arte but we must seeke for it in the good and quiet estate of the soule For as we say not that a body is perfect bicause it is richly arayed but rather bicause it is well framed and healthfull so a soule well instructed is the cause that both hir selfe and the bodie wherein she is inclosed are happy which cannot be verified of a man bicause he is rich in gold and siluer When I consider all the aboue named wise opinions of these Ethnikes and Pagans I cannot sufficiently maruell at the ignorance and blockishnes of many in our age touching Good and Ill hap bicause they labor to make these words priuate and to tie them to the successe of their affections in worldly matters which if they fall out according to their desire and liking behold presently they are rauished with extreme ioy boasting of thēselues that they are most happy But contrarywise if they misse of their intents by and by they dispaire and thinke themselues the vnhappiest men in the world Do we not also see that most men iudge them happy that possesse riches pleasure delight glory and honour and those men miserable that want especially if after they had aboundance they loose it by some mishap the cause wherof they commonly attribute either to good or ill lucke which they say ruleth all humaine affaires We read that Apollonius Thianaeus hauing trauelled ouer al Asia Afrike and Europe sayd that of two things whereat he maruelled most in all the world the first was that he alwayes sawe the proud man commaund the humble the quarellous the quiet the tyrant the iust the cruel the pitifull the coward the hardie the ignorant the skilfull and the greatest thieues hang the innocent But in the meane while who may doubt whether of these were the happiest that the good were not rather than the wicked if happines according to the ancients to the truth be perfected in good things then it is certain that whosoeuer enioieth al good things shall be perfectly happy Now nothing can be called good but that which is profitable and contrary to euill so that whatsoeuer may as so one be euill as good ought not to be called good Moreouer it must be the possession of some firme stedfast and permanent Good that maketh a man happy For nothing ought to wax old to perish or decay of those things wherin a happy life consisteth seeing he that feareth to loose them cannot be sayd to liue quietly Therefore neither beautie nor strength and disposition of body neither riches glory honour or pleasure can be truely called Goods seeing oftentymes they are the cause of so many euils waxe old and vanish away many times as soone as a man hath receiued them and lastly worke in vs an vnsatiable desire of them How many men are there to whom all these things haue been the occasion of euill And how can we call that good which being possessed and that in abundance cannot yet keep the owner thereof from being vnhappy and miserable Wherfore we may say that happines cannot be perfected by the possession of humane and mortall things neither vnhappines through the want of them but that the true felicitie which we ought to desire in this world consisteth in the goods of the soule nourished in the hope of that vnspeakable euerlasting happines which is promised and assured vnto it in the second life And so we say that none are vnhappy but they who by reason of their peruersnesse feele in their conscience a doubting of the expectation of eternall promises as also they that giue ouer themselues to vice whose nature is to corrupt destroy and infect with the venom that is alwayes about it all things whereof it taketh hold As for the common miseries of mans life they cannot in any sort make him vnhappy whose naturall disposition maners beyng framed and decked with vertue are able to giue to impart to euery
or execute the same but with a thousand perturbations which cause vs to want the rest and tranquillitie of our soules wherein all our happinesse and felicitie consisteth And therfore Seneca saith If he that wronged thee be weaker than thou forgiue him if he be mightier spare thy selfe For whosoeuer nourisheth his neighbors anger whosoeuer prouoketh incenseth him more when he seeth him vehement and importunate against him he committeth two faults First he hateth himselfe by procuring his owne trouble and griefe Secondly his brother bicause he maketh him sad and vexeth him Moreouer prudent men as Theophrastus saith ought to doe nothing in choler For that vnreasonable part of the soule being mooued foreseeth nothing wisely but being driuen forward with a contentious desire suffereth it selfe to be caried hither and thither as if it were drunken Also we must take great heed that we do not alwaies put in execution whatsoeuer we haue a mind vnto but onely that which moderate reason commandeth vs. Wherein we shal deserue the praise of true Magnanimity if I say we can command our selues and all vehemencie of choler which driueth men forward to be auenged on their enimies is an act that sauoureth more of a vile and abiect hart drawing neere to brutish fiercenes than of a noble mind which despiseth whatsoeuer is earthlie mortall and vading that it may thinke of nothing but of heauen and immortalitie This is that which the studie of our Philosophie teacheth vs euen as expert Phisitions knowe how to draw medicines apt for the preseruation of life out of serpents poisons other deadly and venemous things so we ought to draw from our enimies not their life which ought to be onely in the power of God and of his iustice but profit commoditie by their backbitings reproches and iniuries Which will easily be done if we make small account of their intent and consider narrowly the fact which they speake ill of to the end that if we be guiltie of that which they condemn in vs we may purge and correct our selues And if so be they harme vs wrongfully their impudencie will cause their reproches and iniuries to be turned back and sent against themselues togither with that shame and dammage which they thought to procure vnto vs wheras we shall be no lesse honest and vertuous men than before So that the best reuenge and most honorable victorie which we can carie away from our enimies will be to surpasse them in diligence bountie magnanimitie good-turnes and in all vertuous actions whereby they wil sooner perceiue and confesse them selues vanquished constrained to stop their mouth and to represse their toong than by any other force which we can oppose against them Then may we say that as he who enterprised to kill Prometheus the Thessalien gaue him so great a blowe with a sword vpon an apostume which put him in danger of death that by lancing it he saued his life contrary to his meaning so the iniurious speeches of our enimies vttred in wrath of ill will to hurt vs haue been the cause of curing many euils in vs whereof we made no account and of making vs much better than we were before But bicause iniurie seemeth so hard and vneasie to be tolerated by the imbecillitie of mans nature which is so soone offended and by the hart of man being full of reuenge let vs yet see whether we can find any remedie if not to cure that which is incurable at least wise to purge and to clense the Accidents of this euil Iniurie is offered either to the goods to the honour or to the person of a man As touching the first and last namely the spoiling of our goods and violence offred to our person what other reuenge either by the lawe of God or of man can we haue than to repulse force with force I meane when we are constrained thereunto or else by way of the prince his Iustice which is open to euery one If any haue robbed thee must thou become a thiefe or satisfie thy selfe by thine owne strength Much lesse oughtest thou to set thy selfe against him that is not faultie as many do If thou being the weaker art ouertaken hurt and wronged oughtest thou to vse new force violence and murder to reuenge thy selfe and to repaire thy iniurie receiued The sword is in the hands of the king and of the magistrate that representeth his person and it belongeth to him onely to vse it against them that trouble publike tranquillitie and ciuil societie to the end there should be no shew that any other either would or durst meddle with the soueraigntie whose greatnesse and preseruation consisteth in the administration of iustice Yea the lawes haue alwaies so abhorred violence and priuate force that they haue restored thieues and robbers into those places which they vniustly possessed if they had been driuen from them by violence But some man will say that these things ought in deed to be dulie considered of if Iustice were executed and had not forsaken the earth to dwell in heauen And how then canst thou execute it seeing thou art not called to do but to demand iustice Tarie and the iust Iudge wil returne double that which hath been vniustly taken from thee which thou hast suffered or which hath been denied thee euen then when thou shalt haue greater neede than now that thy daies are so short and then thou shalt liue for euer of that which thou hast reaped in this poore and miserable life Concerning honor the iniurie whereof we feare more than of the other let vs know that it cannot be hurt in a good man bicause vertue which is inuincible protecteth and defendeth it But now a daies we fetch it not so farre off For we will haue our honor tied to the vaine opinion of the world which reiecteth and contemneth those men as cowards and base-minded that haue but once put vp the least iniurie offered by another but honoreth as noble and courageous those that can lustilie kill their enimies This is the cause why many who would willingly forget an iniurie receiued dare not do it for loue of their friends as also bicause they see that it would rather be imputed vnto them as a tokē of a faint hart than of a desire to followe reason But let all these blood-suckers enclined to reuenge to murder couer their beastlie crueltie aswell as they can yet haue they no other reason to disguise it but this that it is a vsuall kind of behauiour now a daies amongest men to the ende they may be welcomed praised and fauoured of Kinges Princes and great Lords otherwise they must take a Coole and shut vp themselues in some cloister But they must needes affirme this withall that they had rather vndoe and condemne themselues with the multitude so they may haue worldlie honour than be saued with the small number of honest men except
families poore widowes only and orphanes quite vndone do remaine crying for vengeance and expecting it from aboue for the wrong that is offered to their innocencie How many such are set before our eies by histories which are the light of truth But alas the vnhappines of our age is growne to greater measure How many of the greater sort I meane of the Gouernors Magistrats of this desolate kingdome may iustly challenge that praise whereby Pericles Captaine and Gouernor of the Athenians thought himselfe more honored than by all his braue exploits done in his life time either in warre or in politike gouernment wherein he was the chiefest of his time and which his friends laid before his eies being readie to die thereby to assure him and to cause him to reioice in a true immortalitie of glorie O my friends said he vnto them Fortune hath had hir part in those exploits but I make greater account of this that I neuer caused any of my Countreymen to lament or to weare a mourning gowne which onely thing ought to be attributed to my vertue O excellent and honorable praise which euery good man ought to seeke after and to desire namely to be no cause of bringing sorrow and griefe to the common-wealth through any acte of Iniustice Moreouer this vertuous Athenian died willingly and without repining taking delight in an acceptable remembrance of those good turnes which he had done to his countreymen But contrarywise it will be a very hard matter for others who haue been the cause of many euils to their countrey and for all those that delight in committing iniustice not to die in great feare horror and trembling tormented with remorse of conscience for their life past The whole course whereof cannot be much more happy seeing euery wicked act ingendring it owne torment from the very instant wherein it is committed through the continuall remembrance thereof filleth the soule of the malefactor with shame and confusion with freights and perturbations with repinings and terrible disquietnes of spirit This is that which Plutarke saith That euery wicked man committing a trespasse is the prisoner of Iustice as soone as he hath done it This life is his prison out of which he hath no meane to depart or to flie but is to receiue the execution of that sentence which is giuen against him by the soueraigne Iudge And if in the meane time he feast it out send presents and gifts yea if he solace himselfe with sundry sports delights and pleasures it is all one as if condemned men that were prisoners should play at dice and cardes and vse other pastime with the halter ouer their heads wherwith they must be strangled But there are many men that cannot be better compared than to litle children who seeing men worth nothing to dance and play vpon a Theater apparelled with cloth of gold and siluer or with other rich garments and crowned with precious ornaments haue them in great estimation and admiration and thinking them happy vntill in the end they see them pearced through with great thrusts of a speare or hewen in pieces with swords or behold fire comming out of those goodly precious robes of gold which consumeth them The selfe same thing is done by them who when they see many wicked men either placed in great authoritie and dignitie or descending of good famous houses they honor admire and esteem them the happiest men most at ease in the world neuer considering that they are chasticed punished for their offēces before they see thē either put to death or else quite fallē from the height of their fortune Now seeing it is a thing flatly confessed of those that haue any knowledge of our Philosophie and prooued sufficiently by our former discourse that nothing can be called honorable or profitable which proceedeth of iniustice or of malice that excuse which men giuen ouer to vice do commonly alledge to cloke their impietie withall namely that Iniustice bringeth with it very ripe and readie fruit and that the punishment if there be any commeth very late and long time after the delight taken by the offence hath no more any shew of reason in it For as we haue alreadie learned the punishment of any sin is equall with it both for age and time Furthermore God permitteth oftentimes his diuine iudgement to be publikely knowen and shewed vpon the vniust yea he declareth himselfe so much the more openly by how much the lesse men exercise Iustice and vpright dealind And yet in respect of his maiestie we must not look vnto time which is alwaies one and the same to him and not future or past yea the whole continuance of mans life is as nothing vnto him and lesse than the present instant But if according to our carnall sences we desire examples of the greatnes and swiftnes of his wrath iustly kindled ouer our heads for our execrable impieties contrary to the nature of his gentlenesse and benignitie which mooued him to waite for vs a long time who can be ignorant of them in the vnspeakable affliction of this poore France wherein it were very hard in mans iudgement to discerne whether is most lamentable either iniustice or the miserie and calamitie which by the vengeance of God followeth it the horrible punishment whereof the fautors of iniquitie both haue daily do feele vpon their heads Those common-wealths saith Cicero which are readie to be ouerthrowen haue all things forlorne and desperate in them fall into this miserable issue that they whom the lawes condemne are restored and iudgements giuen are reuoked and broken And when such things come to passe let none be ignorant of this that destruction is at hand neither can any man iustly conceiue hope of safety What other thing can I say of France I would to God I were deceiued seeing that all Iustice is turned topsie turuie therein the wicked are placed in authoritie good men driuen away suites in law are commenced against euery one more vpon knauerie than equitie corruption than integritie fauor than vprightnes But to the end that the greater sort and euery particular man may open his eies and behold this shipwracke that threatneth vs let vs consider in our Ancestors through the reading of histories the like causes of the ruine alteration and subuersion of many very flourishing Estates proceeding from the raigne of Iniustice which being the daughter of tyrannie as Dionysius the elder said must needes be of the same nature namely that by vsurping an vniust and intollerable dominion it must of necessitie fall speedily into a miserable and wretched end We haue in all our former discourses alleadged sundrie examples of vices which as we said euen now take their beginning or at least wise are inseparably ioined with Iniustice and heerafter we will make mention of others when we handle certaine points which properly depend of this selfe same originall In
seeing it lieth so heauy vpon them and the time seemeth vnto them ouer-long to stay for the naturall death of this poore old man whom they hate so extremely And yet Titus shall not obtaine a victory greatly honorable or woorthy the praise of the ancient Romanes who euen then when Pyrrhus their enimy warred against them and had wonne battels of them sent him word to beware of poison that was prepared for him Thus did this great vertuous captaine finish his daies being vtterly ouerthrowen and trode vnder foote by fortune which for a time had placed him in the highest degree of honor that could be Eumenes a Thracian one of Alexanders lieutenants and one that after Alexanders death had great wars and made his partie good against Antigonus king of Macedonia came to that greatnesse and authoritie from a poore Potters sonne afterwards being ouercome and taken prisoner he died of hunger But such preferments of fortune will not seeme very strange vnto vs if we consider how Pertinax came to the Empire ascending from a simple souldier to the degree of a captaine and afterward of Gouernour of Rome being borne of a poore countrywoman And hauing raigned only two moneths he was slaine by the souldiers of his gard Aurelianus from the same place obtained the selfe same dignitie Probus was the sonne of a gardiner and Maximianus of a black-smith Iustinus for his vertue surnamed the Great from a hogheard in Thracia attained to the empire Wil you haue a worthy exāple agreeable to that saying of Iuuenal which we alleaged euen now Gregory the 7. from a poore monke was lift vp to the dignitie of chief bishop of Rome Henry the 4. emperor was brought to that extreme miserie by wars that he asked the said Gregory forgiuenes cast him selfe down at his feete And yet before this miserable monarch could speake with him he stood 3. days fasting and barefoote at the popes palace gate as a poore suppliant waiting whē he might haue entrance accesse to his holynes Lewes the Meeke emperour king of France was constrained to giue ouer his estate to shut himself vp in a monasterie through the conspiracie of his own childrē Valerianus had a harder chaunge of his estate ending his days whilest he was prisoner in the hands of Sapor king of the Parthians who vsed the throte of this miserable emperor whensoeuer he mounted vpō his horse But was not that a wonderful effect of fortune which hapned not long since in Munster principal towne in the country of Westphalia wherin a sillie botcher of Holland being retired as a poore banished man from his country called Iohn of Leiden was proclaimed king was serued obeied of all the people a long time euen vntil the taking subuersion of the said town after he had born out the siege for the space of 3. yeeres Mahomet the first of that name of a very smal and abiect place being enriched by marying his mistres and seruing his own turne very fitly with a mutinie raised by the Sarrasins against Heracleus the emperor made himself their captain tooke Damascus spoiled Egypt finally subdued Arabia discomfited the Persians and became both a monarch a prophet Wil you see a most wōderful effect of fortune Look vpon the procedings of that great Tamburlane who being a pesants son keping cattel corrupted 500. sheepheards his companions These men selling their cattel betook them to armes robbed the merchants of that country watched the high ways Which when the king of Persia vnderstood of he sent a captaine with a 1000. horse to discomfit them But Tamburlane delt so with him that ioining both togither they wrought many incredible feates of armes And when ciuil warre grew betwixt the king and his brother Tamburlane entred into the brothers pay who obtained the victory by his means therupon made him his lieutenant general But he not long after spoiled the new king weakened subdued the whole kingdom of Persia And when he saw himselfe captain of an army of 400000. horsmen 600000. footmē he made warre with Baiazet emperor of the Turkes ouercame him in battel and tooke him prisoner He obtained also a great victorie against the Souldan of Egypt and the king of Arabia This good successe which is most to be maruelled at and very rare accompanied him always vntill his death in so much that he ended his days amongst his children as a peaceable gouernour of innumerable countries From him descended the great Sophy who raigneth at this day and is greatly feared and redoubted of the Turke But that miserable Baiazet who had conquered before so many peoples and subdued innumerable cities ended his dayes in an iron cage wherein being prisoner and ouercome with griefe to see his wife shamefully handled in waiting at Tamburlanes table with hir gowne cut downe to hir Nauell so that hir secrete partes were seene this vnfortunate Turke beate his head so often agaynst the Cage that he ended his lyfe But what neede we drawe out this discourse further to shewe the straunge dealinges and maruellous chaunges of fortune in the particular estates and conditions of men which are to be seene daily amongst vs seeing the soueraign Empires of Babylon of Persia of Graecia and of Rome which in mans iudgement seemed immutable and inexpugnable are fallen from all their glittering shew and greatnes into vtter ruine and subuersion so that of the last of them which surpassed the rest in power there remaineth onely a commandement limited and restrained within the confines of Almaigne which then was not the tenth part of the rich prouinces subiect to this Empire Is there any cause then why we should be astonished if litle kingdoms common-wealths and other ciuill gouernments end when they are come to the vtmost ful point of their greatnes And much lesse if it fal out so with mē who by nature are subiect to change and of themselues desire and seeke for nothing else but alteration Being assured therefore that there is such vncertaintie in all humane things let vs wisely prepare our selues and apply our will to all euents whose causes are altogither incomprehensible in respect of our vnderstandings and quite out of our power For he that is able to say I haue preuented thee O fortune I haue stopped all thy passages and closed vp all thy wayes of entrance that man putteth not all his assurance in barres or locked gates nor yet in high walles but staieth himselfe vpon Phylosophicall sentences and discourses of reason whereof all they are capable that imploy their wils trauell and studie thereupon Neither may we doubt of them or distrust our selues but rather admire and greatly esteeme of them beyng rauished with an affectionate spirite He that taketh least care for to morow saith Epicurus commeth thereunto with greatest ioy And as Plutarke saith riches glory
our selues to intreate of I meane Oeconomie or gouernment of a familie we must seeke after a more ample and large declaration of a house which consisteth not in many stones and long peeces of timber ioined togither with great cunning but in stones that haue life and are partakers of reason tending to the benefite and profite of the house as to their end Also if you thinke it good and our howre giue vs leasure we may enter into the consideration of the sundry sorts of mariages and of certaine ancient customes obserued therein which I touched not in my discourse bicause I would not be ouer-long ASER. First it is necessarye saith Aristotle to ioine those togither which can not be the one without the other as the male and female for generation Next he that is able to execute the commandements of his maister by the strength of his bodie is a subiect and slaue by nature And of these two assemblies a house or familie is first instituted AMANA A familie or house is an assemblye framed by nature to communicate daily togither and they are called of the Grecians 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 such as liue of the same prouision or 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 such as vse the same Chimney But we shall vnderstād of thee ARAM the whole discourse of that which is heere propounded vnto vs. ARAM. When I consider of the excellencie greatnes of Plato his skil who was greatly admired of the Grecians as he that for vertue honesty of life for eloquence of speech perswasion by true and learned Philosophie went far beyond all other Philosophers I cannot sufficiently wonder how amidst so many good lawes profitable statuts for a common-wealth which we haue receiued from him he imagined to establish therein the communitie of goods wiues children amongst his Citizens not suffring them to haue any thing proper peculiar to the end as he said to banish from his citie these two words Thine Mine which in his opinion were the cause of all euils desolations that befall Common-wealths The Nicholaites reuiued the same error in the primitiue Church many others haue labored by friuolous reasons to defend maintaine it chiefly to roote out as they say vtterly frō within the soule those humane affections which commōly cary men rather towards their wiues children goods than to other things Which affections so long as they beare sway amongst the Citizens cause them oftentimes to turne aside from their duty towards the common-wealth whereby it is made weaker of lesse continuance Now among many grounds confuting this error which being receiued would fil all with disorder confusion to the ouerthrow of humane societie this is most certain cannot be impugned that forasmuch as the lawful distributiō of goods maner of mariages are the ordinance of God as it is manifest seeing the ordinance of God may not be altered by any counsell of man it followeth that aswell the diuision of goods as of wiues and children are immutable and consequently that the communitie of goods wiues children is a thing flatly gainsaying the institution of God therfore to be reproued Moreouer if goods were common an infinite multitude of do-litles of idle negligent persons borne as Horace saith onely to deuoure to consume the benefits of the earth being vnwilling to labor resembling waspes that eate the honie of the Bees would feede and cloath themselues with their goods who get their liuing with great sweate of their bodies vexation of their minds Which is against the expresse commandement of God who will haue vs eate our bread in the sweat of our face But what greater shame offēce vtterly defacing all honesty of life can there be amongst men than the community of wiues whereby all fornications adulteries would be maintained by authority This sheweth plainly that we are not to loose time in confuting such an opinion of theirs who seeke to take away from amongst men all marks of a Cōmon-wealth For there would not be any publike thing if nothing were priuate nor cōmon if nothing were peculiar Yea Plato afterward did wisely leaue that opiniō quietly renounced his first Cōmon-wealth to giue place to a second And the Heralds of Gods word condēned this error when it was raised vp in the Apostles time by an arch-heretik called Nicholas of Antioch who maintained this opiniō that goods wiues childrē ought to be cōmon amōg christians for example to others cōmunicated his wife to whosoeuer would albeit she was yoong and very beautifull Thus following the order established of God and continued alwaies through so many ages vntill our time and hauing seene the first institution of mariage we must also containe it within the house which is a societie and communion of life betweene the husband and the wife the maister and the seruant for daily profit Hesiodus putteth the Oxe in steede of the seruant so farre foorth faith Aristotle as the Oxe being fit to labour is to poore men in the place of a slaue This house thus described is simple but when children are contained therein it is absolute and compleate Therefore a house that is perfect and accomplished may be diuided according to the saying of Philosophers into these foure parts into Matrimoniall Parentall Lordly or Maisterlie and Possessorie part The Matrimoniall part comprehēdeth the husband the wife the Parentall containeth the father mother children the Lordlie hath vnder it the maister men-seruants and maid-seruants the Possessorie part includeth within it mooueables immooueables and chattels Now to follow our matter already begun and to discourse of things in order we haue heere to handle and to obserue diligently this first part of a house called the coniugall or wedlocke part and the sequele of our discourses shall instruct vs in the other parts He that hath tasted of learning and beene well instructed in the studie of wisedome shall find that there are foure kinds of coniunctions and mariages namely the mariage of honour the mariage of loue the mariage of labour and the mariage of griefe The mariage of honour is diuided into the highest middlemost and lowest degree The highest is that supernaturall mariage whereby God and mans nature meete togither euen by a mysterie which ouerpasseth the vnderstanding of all humane capacitie We saw the effect and truth therof in the incarnation and natiuitie of the eternall sonne of God The middlemost mariage of honour is when God and the soule meete and are ioined togither by grace and glorie The lowest degree of the mariage of honour is when God and the Church are coupled togither and are made one mysticall bodie These three sortes of mariages are supernaturall and appointed of God after an vnspeakeable manner but the cause of our assemblie requireth not that we should speake any more of them Now to come to the other kinds of
courage so much as to reprooue their slaues onely so far off are they that they can frankly chide their children And which is woorst of al by their naughty life they are vnto them in steed of maisters counsellors of il-doing For where old men are shameles there it must needs be that yoong men become impudent graceles Fathers therfore must striue to do whatsoeuer their dutie requireth that their children may waxe wise and well qualified This we may comprehend in fewe words namely if they bring them vp wel in their infancy let them haue due correction in their youth Which two things being neglected of fathers the faults of their children are for the most part iustly imputed vnto them Hely the Priest was not punished for any sin which himselfe had committed but bicause he winked at the sins of his children We read in the storie of the Heluetians or Switzers of the iudgement of a tyrant condemned to death where order was taken that the execution thereof should be done by the father who was the cause of his euill education that he might come to his death by the author of his life and that the father might in some sort be punished for his negligence vsed towards his child Moreouer they that haue many children must be passing careful to bring them vp in mutuall friendship causing them to giue each to other that honor and duty vnto which nature bindeth them and sharpely chastising those that in any respect offend therin The Ephoryes of Lacedemonia long since cōdēned a notable citizen in a very great sum when they vnderstood that he suffred two of his childrē to quarel togither The best meane which I find to auoid so great an euill is to loue and intreat them all alike and to accustom them to giue honour dutie and obedience one to another according to their degrees of age They must remoue from them al partialities and not suffer them to haue any thing seueral or diuided one from another that as it were in one hart and will all things may be common amongst them Example heerof was that good father of a familie Aelius Tubero who had sixteene children of his owne bodie all of them maried and dwelling all in one house with their children and liuing with him in all peace and concord For the conclusion therefore of our present discourse we learne that a father of a familie must begin the gouernment of his house with himselfe and become an example to his of all honestie vertue That he must not neglect the care of prouiding goods necessarie meanes for the maintenance of his familie remembring alwaies that in nothing he go beyond the bounds of that seemelines and decencie which dutie hath limited prescribed vnto him That he ought to loue to intreat his seruants curteously putting away threatnings as it is said in the Scripture and knowing that both their and his maister is in heauen with whom there is no respect of persons And for the last point that it belongeth to his dutie to bring vp his children in the holie instruction and information of the Lord not prouoking them to wrath that God may be glorified and he their father may reioice in the presence of his friends and that his countrie generally may receiue benefit profit and commoditie Of the dutie of children towards their parents of the mutuall loue that ought to be among brethren of the dutie of seruants towards their maisters Chap. 50. ACHITOB VPon a day when one said in the hearing of Theopompus king of Sparta that the estate of that citie was preserued in such flourishing maner bicause the kings knew how to command wel the prince replied that it was not so much for that cause as bicause the citizens knew how to obey well And to speake the truth to obey wel as also the vertue of commanding is a great vertue and proceedeth from a nature which being noble of it selfe is holpen by good education Therefore Aristotle said that it was necessarie that he which obeieth should be vertuous as wel as he that commandeth Now seeing we haue intreated of the dutie of a father and head of a familie exercising his office vpon all the parts of his house let vs now consider of the dutie and obedience that is requisite in seruaunts and children and of the mutuall and reciprocall amitie which ought to be betweene brethren desirous to preserue the bond of Oeconomical societie in a happie estate ASER. Children saith the Scripture obey your parents in all things for that is well pleasing vnto the Lord Honor thy father and mother which is the first commaundement with promise that it may be well with thee and that thou mayest liue long on earth AMANA Who so honoreth his father his sinnes shall be forgiuen him and he shall abstaine from them and shall haue his daily desires And he that honoureth his mother is like one that gathereth treasure And you seruaunts be subiect to your masters with all feare not onely to the good and curteous but also to the froward Let vs then heare ARAM discourse more at large of that which is here propounded vnto vs. ARAM. Nature saith Plutark and the law which preserueth nature haue giuen the first place of reuerence and honor after God vnto the father and mother and men can not do any seruice more acceptable to God than graciously and louingly to pay to their parents that begot thē and to them that brought them vp the vsurie of new and olde graces which they haue lent them as contrarywise there is no signe of an Atheist more certaine than for a man to set light by and to offend his parents The father is the true image of the great and soueraigne God the vniuersall father of all things as Proclus the Academike said Yea the child holdeth his life of the father next after God and whatsoeuer else he hath in this world Therfore a man is forbidden to hurt others but it is accounted great impietie and sacriledge for a man not to shew himselfe ready to doe and to speake all things I will not say whereby they can receiue no displeasure but wherby they may not receiue pleasure And in deed one of the greatest good turnes that we can do to those of whom we are descended is not to make them sad Which cannot possibly be done if God the leader and guide to all knowledge disposeth not the mind to all honest things The children of wisdome are the Church of the righteous and their ofspring is obedience and loue Children heare the iudgement of your father and do thereafter that you may be safe For the Lord will haue the father honored of the children and hath confirmed the authoritie of the mother ouer the children He that honoureth his father shall haue ioy of his owne children and when he maketh his prayer he shall
deed in the gouernment of the common-wealth they sayd That man hath wrought an act of policie this day But the chiefe signification of this worde and that which aunswereth to our present discourse is the order and estate whereby one or many townes are gouerned and publike affaires well managed and administred But before we beginne to speak of the diuers sortes of Policies that is to say of gouernments of townes of which all Common-wealthes and Monarchies are compounded let vs speake a word of the end of policy and of that marke whereat it ought especially to aime As all Cities and ciuill societies are appointed for the obtaining of some Good so all policie respecteth the same and tendeth to no other thing than to vnite and frame vs to the companie of men so long as we liue amongst them to conforme our maners to a ciuill iustice to set vs at agreement one with another and to maintaine and preserue common peace and tranquillitie by procuring that euery one may haue his owne It is the cause that men to communicate togither without fraud or hurt that the insolencie of the wicked is brideled and punished briefly that not onely all duties of humanitie are vsed amongst men but also that some publique forme of religion appeereth and that blasphemies against the diuine nature and other offences which trouble common quietnesse are not openly broched For although it falleth not within the compasse of mans power as we said to prescribe and appoint by their authoritie any regiment and gouernment ouer soules yet euery one is not to bee suffred to forge at his pleasure lawes concerning religion and the maner of seruing God But ciuil ordinance must carefully prouide that the true seruice of God be not publikely violated and polluted through an vncontrouled libertie especially considering that the conseruation of euery well ordered policie dependeth thereupon But we shal vnderstand this matter more at large hereafter in the particular handling of the parts of an estate which we wil diuide into 3. principal and general heads folowing therin the ancient Politikes namely into the Magistrate the Law and the people Now to goe on with that which was propounded vnto vs let vs speake of those kindes of gouernments which were amongst the ancients The ordinance of a citie or order amongst magistrates especially amongst them that had the soueraigne rule ouer all was called of the ancients Common-welth or as some others wil haue it Weale-publike which in hir kind of gouernment was named according to the qualitie of the chiefe rulers therof And those common-wealths that tended to common benefit were said to be right simply iust but if they respected the profit of the superiors only they were said to be corrupt were called transgressions of right commō-wealths these being the cause of as much euil to the whole body of the city as the others are of Good For as the good or euill of an house dependeth of the father of the familie the safetie or losse of a ship of the Pilote or master the good or ill successe of an army of the generall thereof so the happines or vnhappines of townes and peoples dependeth of the magistrates and yet so that God ruleth ouer all Common-wealths then are either good or bad right or corrupted That is a good common-welth wherin the gouernours seeke the publike profit of the citizens the benefit of the whole ciuil societie It is called right and iust bicause it hath such an end and seeketh after the same taking no counsell about any thing but only about the preseruation of iustice A corrupt common-wealth is that which repugneth and is directly contrary to that which is good and iust chiefly to the end therof For it seeketh only the increase of priuate commoditie hauing no care of publike profit There are 3. kinds of good common-wealths and 3. of bad whose gouernment alwayes consisteth in the superiors of the estate taking their appellation and name of them as hath been said The first kind of good common-wealths is a Monarchie which taketh place whē the soueraigntie is in one alone This respecting publike profit onely and preferring common benefit always before hir own priuate and particular commoditie taketh vpō hir the name of a kingdom or of kingly power But if she looke vnto his particular benefit that ruleth seeking to raign by an absolute wil without any obseruatiō of iust laws then she hath the name of tirānie which is the first bad kind of cōmon-welth Now forasmuch as we liue in this kingdō vnder this first kind of cōmon-welth called a kingly monarchie we wil dilate this matter cōsider thereof at large in a seueral treatise that we may the better know the excellencie of it when it is wel iustly ordained The second kind of a right good commō-welth is of a Greek word called an Aristocratie which in our lāguage we may interprete the power of the best mē whō we cal in latine optimates bicause they are accounted for the best most vertuous men This forme of gouernment taketh place when a few tried and approoued men for maners and learning haue the soueraigntie iointly togither and make lawes for the rest of the people whither it be generally or particularly directing their thoughtes to no other marke than to publique vtilitie and profite This was seene most excellently among the Lacedemonians whose common-wealth surpassed all others of hir time as well for hir policie and establishment whereof there was neuer the like and wherein she continued about 500. yeeres as also for the glorie of hir warlike actes whereby she helde the empire of Graecia a long tyme vnder the lawes of that happy Aristocraticall gouernment which Lycurgus established there This man seeyng their estate to incline one while to tirannie when the kings had too much power and an other while to popular confusion when the common people beganne to vsurpe too great authoritie deuised with him-selfe to giue them a counterpoize that should be healthfull for the whole bodie of the Common-wealth by establishing there a Senate which was as a strong barre holding both the extremities in equall balaunce and giuing firme and stedfast footing to their estate For the 28. Senators making the bodie of the Senate sometimes tooke part with the two kings who were depriued of all soueraigntie so far foorth as was thought needfull to resist the rashnesse of the people and contrarywise sometimes they strengthened the peoples side against the kings who had then but the voyces of two Senatoures in the councell thereby to keepe them from vsurping any tyrannicall power True it is that their estate was not purely Aristocraticall vntill one hundred yeeres after the first establishment thereof by Lycurgus bicause hee had left the confirmation and abrogation of the aduice and decrees of the Senate in the peoples power But Polydorus and Theopompus
the small and so consequently no agreement Besides this is out of doubt that all the subiects of an Estate stand in neede of a law as of a light to guide them in the darkenes of humane actions especially it is necessarie for the terrifieng of the wicked who might pretend some true cause of their ignorance or some probable colour of their wickednes or at least some shew why they should escape the punishment which is not imprinted in our hartes as things forbidden by nature Neuertheles it is not the law that maketh a right gouernment but vpright iustice and the equal distribution therof which ought to be surer ingrauen in the mindes of good kings and princes than in tables of stone And it is to small purpose to multiply Edicts and Decrees if they be not seuerely obserued yea the first signe that a man may haue of the losse of an estate is when there appeereth an vnbrideled licence and a facilitie in dispensing with good statuts and when new decrees are daily consulted of And if the estate be already troubled the heaping vp of lawes vpon lawes is no lesse dangerous for it than a multitude of medicines in a weake stomacke whereas contrarywise new introductions and abuses are then especially to be taken away and things brought backe againe to their first and ancient forme Histories teach vs that when edicts and decrees were most of all multiplied then did tiranny gather greatest strength As it fell out vnder the tyrant Caligula who published decrees of al sorts both good and bad and those written in so small a letter that men could not read them to the end that he might thereby snare those that were ignoraunt His successour Claudius made twentie edicts in one day and yet tirannie was neuer so cruell nor men more wicked than at that time Therefore let the lawes and good ordinances of an estate be inuiolable straightly kept not subiect to dispensation not fauourable to great men but common and equall to all and then shall the bond of ciuill societie bee surely tied Now where as I said that all nations haue libertie to prescribe and frame ciuill lawes for themselues my meaning was not to approoue certaine barbarous beastly lawes receiued of some people as those lawes which alowed theeues a certain reward which permitted the company of men and women indifferently and innumerable others more dishonest which are not onely voyd of all iustice but euen of all humanitie But these two things must be kept inuiolably in all lawes namely The ordinance of the law the equitie of it vpon the reason wherof the ordinance is grouuded Equitie is alwayes one and the same to all people bicause it is naturall Therefore all the lawes in the world of what matter soeuer they are must meete in the same equitie Concerning the ordinance of the law bicause it is ioyned with circumstances no inconueniēce letteth but that it may de diuers among sundry nations prouided alwayes that they all tend a-like to the same marke of equitie Now seeyng the diuine law which we call morall is nothing else but a testimonie of the law of nature and of the conscience that is imprinted in all mens hartes no doubt but this equitie whereof we now speake is wholy declared and comprehended therein Therefore it is meete that this equitie onely should be the white rule and end of all lawes For as S. Augustine saith in his booke of the citie of God euery law that beareth not the image of the diuine lawe is a vaine censure And iustice is the end of euery law wel established which is the cause why S. Paul so greatly extolleth the vigor of the lawe calling it the bond of perfection Those lawes then which are squared out by this heauenly rule which tend to this ende and are limited out by this measure ought to be receiued and followed cheerfully albeit they differ from the Mosaicall law or otherwise one from another For many haue denied some amongst vs are yet of that opinion that no Common-wealth can be well iustly instituted and ordained if leauing the policie of Moses it be gouerned by the common lawes of other nations which is so absurd a thing and would be the cause of so great confusion in the policies of the world that there needeth no great store of arguments to prooue it vaine and friuolous Moreouer by that distinction of the law which we haue already set downe in our discourse it appeereth sufficiently that the opinion of these doters is grounded vpon a meere ignoraunce of the will of God The lawe of God forbiddeth stealing and diuers paines and punishments are appointed for the same in the policie of the Iewes according to the kind time and place of the theft The ancientest lawes of other nations punished theeues by causing thē to restore double that which they had stolne Those lawes which folowed made a distinction betweene open and secret theft others vsed banishment and some death The lawe of God forbiddeth false witnes-bearing which was punished amongst the Iewes with the same punishment that the partie falsely accused should haue incurred if he had been found guiltie In some other countries there was no punishment for it but publike ignominie and shame and in some also the gibbet Brieflie all the lawes in the world with one common consent how different soeuer they be tend to one and the same ende pronouncing sentence of condemnation against those crimes that are condemned by the eternall lawe of God onely they agree not in equalitie of punishment which is neither necessarie nor expedient There is some suche countrey that woulde speedily become desolate through murders and robberies if it did not exercise horrible grieuous punishments vpon the offenders in those crimes There falleth out some such time as requireth increase of punishments Some such natiō there is that standeth in need of some grieuous correction to be appointed for some special vice wherunto otherwise it would be more giuē than other nations He that should be offended at this diuersitie which is most meete to maintain the obseruation of the law of God would he not be thought to haue a malicious mind and to enuy publike benefite and quietnes For the conclusion of our present speech let vs learne that ciuil lawes and ordinances depend only of the soueraigne ruler that he may change them according to the occurrence and benefit of state affaires Let vs learn that all lawes must be referred to the infallible rule of the iustice and will of God and to the common profit of ciuil societie that he which commaundeth vs to obey magistrates not only for feare of punishment but also for conscience sake requireth of vs such obedience to their lawes and ordinances so that he is accursed that infringeth or contemneth them Therfore we must voluntarily submit our selues vnto them so that their
the constitutions of lawes aswell in the gathering of their duties and tributes as in their manner of life They vsed the seruice of Noble mens and of Princes children onely who were of the age of twentie yeeres and were instructed in all sciences The reason whereof was that the king being pricked forward with the sight of thē that were about him might beware how he committed any thing woorthie of reproch And truly there is nothing that corrupteth Princes so much as vitious seruants who seeke to please their sensuall desires and affections When the king arose in the morning he was bound first to take and receiue all the letters and requests that were brought vnto him that answering necessarie matters first all his affaires might be guided by order and reason Then he went to the Temple to offer sacrifice to the gods where the Prelate and chiefe Priest after the sacrifice and praiers were ended rehearsed with a loud voice in the presence of the people what vertues were in the king what reuerence and religion towardes the gods was in him and what clemencie and humanitie towards men Moreouer he told that he was continent iust noble-minded true liberall one that brideled his desires and punished malefactors with a more mild and light punishment than the greatnes of their sinne and offence required rewarding also his subiects with graces gifts that were greater than their deserts This done he exhorted the king to a happie life agreeable to the gods and likewise to good manners by following after honor and vertue and therewithall propounded vnto him certaine examples of the excellent deedes of ancient kings thereby to prouoke him the rather therunto These kings liued with simple meates as with veale birds for all dishes they kept very exactly all the lawes and ordinances of their countrie in euery point of their life which was no lesse directed euen in the least things than the simplest of their subiects And truly so long as the kings of Egypt were such zealous obseruers of their lawes and of iustice raigned peaceably among their subiects they brought many strang nations into their subiection gathered togither infinite riches whereby they adorned their countrie with great buildings and sumptuous works and decked their townes with many gifts and benefits The Barbarian kingdomes were the second kinde of Monarchy namely the ancient Monarchies of the Assyrians Medes and Persians whose Princes vsurped Lordlie rule ouer their goods and persons and gouerned their subiects as a father of a familie doth his slaues Which kind of gouernment sauoureth more of a tyrannie than of a kingdome besides it is directly against the law of nature which keepeth euery one in his libertie and in the possession of his owne goods Notwithstanding when by the law of Arms and of iust warre a Prince is made Lord ouer any people they properly belong to him that conquereth and they that are ouercome are made his slaues by the ancient consent of all nations and this maketh the difference betweene the Lord-like Monarchy and a tyrannic which abuseth free subiects as slaues Of this second kinde of Monarchy was the kingdome of Persia as Plato writeth vnder Cambyses Xerxes and other kings vntill the last Darius For vsurping more absolute authoritie to rule than was conuenient they began to contemne their Vassals and to account of them as of slaues and putting no more confidence in them they intertained into their seruice mercenarie souldiors and strangers whereby they made their owne subiects vnfit for warre and so in the end lost their estate when it seemed to haue attained to the top of worldlie prosperitie Such is the estate of the Turke at this day wherein he is sole Lord commanding ouer his subiects in rigorous manner aswell ouer the Musulmans as Christians and Iewes He vseth in his principall affaires which concerne peace and warre and matters of gouernment the seruice of runnagate slaues whom he placeth in authoritie changeth or deposeth as he thinks good without peril and enuie yea he strangleth them vpon the least suspition or dislike conceiued of them not sparing his owne children and others of his blood if they anger him So did Sultan Solyman deale with Hibrahim Bascha who was almost of equall authoritie with him insomuch that he was there called the Seignour king of the Ianitzaries the Bascha and king of the men of Armes Neuertheles in one night wherin he made him stay sup with him lie in his owne chamber he caused him to be slaine and his bodie to be cast into the sea The morrow after he seazed vpon his goods as confiscate and caried them away and yet no man euer knewe the cause of his death except it were this that he was growne too great and consequently suspected of his maister who was a Tyrant rather than a King Likewise he keepeth in his hands all the Lordships of his kingdome which he distributeth to men of warre who are charged to maintaine a certaine number of men of Armes and of horses according to the rate of their reuenew and when it pleaseth him he taketh them away againe Neither is there any man in all the countries vnder his obedience that possesseth Townes Castles and Villages or dwelleth in strong houses or that dare build higher than one storie or than a Dooue-house The great Knes or Duke of Moscouia exceedeth for seueritie and rigour of commanding all the Monarchs in the world hauing obtained such authoritie ouer his subiects both Ecclesiasticall and secular that he may dispose of their goods and liues at his pleasure so that none dare gainesay him in any thing They confesse publikely that the will of their prince is the will of God and that whatsoeuer he doth is done by the will of God The king of Ethiopia is also a Lordlike Monarch hauing as Paulus Iouius affirmeth 50. kings no lesse subiect vnto him than slaues And Frauncis Aluarez writeth that he hath seene the great Chancellour of that countrie scourged starke naked with other Lords as the very slaues of the prince wherein they thinke themselues greatly honoured The Emperour Charles the fift hauing brought vnder his obedience the kingdome of Peru made himselfe soueraigne Lord thereof in regard of goods which the subiects haue not but as they farme them or for terme of life at the most The third kind of Monarchy whereof the Ancients made mention was that of Lacedemonia wherein the king had not absolute power but in time of warre out of the countrie and a certaine preheminence ouer the sacrifices We made mention of their gouernment before The first kings in Rome were sacrificers also and afterward the emperors called themselues Pontifices that is chiefe bishops and those of Constantinople were consecrated as our kings of Frāce are In like maner the Caliphaes of the Sarasins were kings and chiefe bishops in their religion the
they are to the great preiudice of the whole Common-wealth We are therefore to wish that all valuing and sale of offices especially of iudgement and iustice may be abolished and disanulled that all meanes of fauor and ambition may be taken away that the ancient and happie ordinances of our kings may be restored especially that decree of S. Lewes the king whereby he enacted that all publike offices should be bestowed vpon the election of three persons chosen by the Officers and Citizens of those places to one of which so elected the king was to giue freely without monie the office then void This holie ordinance hath since that time beene often renued by king Phillip the Faire Charles the Wise Charles the 7. Lewes the 11. and Charles the ninth that dead is when his Estates were held at Orleans So that if the King and his Councell would aduisedly consider of these things in the establishing of Iudges and Magistrates in his kingdome and would strengthen them in the execution of their iudgements the obedience of his subiects would be greater and the foundation of all good order and policie more sure Of Seditions Chap. 63. ARAM. AS it is necessarie that all things which haue a beginning should end which encrease should diminish and waxe olde some sooner others later according to the disposition of that matter whereof they are compounded and through the influence of the heauenlie bodies from which nature woorking in them by hir author this continuall and mutuall succession of generation and corruption proceedeth so are publike estates first instituted encreased maintained lessened changed destroied turned returned one frō another by the disposition of God Those that are best grounded in religion and iustice haue their power most assured and are of longest continuance but none are perpetuall although their policie and manner of gouernment be neuer so good For we see them al corrupt in processe of time and in the end perish through their own vices that follow and accompanie them being first mooued and stirred vp by nothing so much as by sedition and ciuill warre This bringeth to light all euill that lurketh in those members of the politike body that are most pernitious vntill the infection be wholy spread and hath taken hold of the noblest parts thereof whereby it is brought to extreame miserie without hope of remedie Nowe although euery one of vs haue sufficient feeling heereof in himselfe by his owne harme yet we may know it better by taking occasion vpon this subiect to discourse of the nature of seditions of their common effects that we may haue them in greater detestation and bring euery one of vs his hart and mind to helpe this Estate if there remaine neuer so little shewe or meanes whereby the subuersion thereof may yet be kept backe But I leaue the discourse of this matter to you my Companions ACHITOB. All sedition is euill and pernitious although it seemeth to haue a good and honest cause For it were better for him that is author of sedition to suffer any losse or iniurie than to be the occasion of so great an euill as to raise ciuill warre in his countrie ASER. Nature saith Empedocles vseth no other meanes to destroy and to ouerthrow hir creatures than discord and disiunction and sedition as Thucydides saith comprehendeth in it all kind of euils Let vs then heare AMANA who will prooue this sufficiently vnto vs. AMANA If we consider how God minding to punish Adam for his ingratitude and disobedience made his owne members rebell against the spirite vnto which they obeied before whereby he became captiue vnder the lawe of sinne no doubt but we may say that after the same manner he chastiseth Kings Princes and Heads of Common-wealths that haue no care to obey his commandements and to cause others to keepe them by the rebellion of their owne subiects not without great danger of depriuation from all authoritie by them and of receiuing the law at their hands to whome they should giue it as it hath beene seene practised in many Estates and gouernments Religion and the loue of God bringeth with it all vnion and concord preserueth Kingdomes and Monarchies in their integritie and is the nursing mother of peace and amitie amongst them But the contempt of religion bringeth discord and confusion ouerturneth all order treadeth vertue vnder foote giueth authority to vice and soweth quarrels and dissentions amongst men from whence seditions and priuate murders proceed and in the end ciuill and open wars which are as flaming fires to take hold of and to consume most flourishing Estates For without doubt if men had in them the true loue and feare of God which cannot be without the loue of our neighbour no such effects would euer proceed from their works and actions Politicks haue labored infinite waies to maintaine the people in peace and to cause ciuill iustice to flourish They haue made many Lawes and Edicts many Statutes appointed many punishments to bridle the boldnes of seditious fellowes to represse extorsions wrongs and murders but bicause they built without a foundation that is without the feare of God all their labour taken therein was fruitles It is the feare of God onely that causeth swords to be broken and turned into mattocks and speares into siethes as Isaias and Micah speake that is to say which breedeth humanitie and gentlenes mollifieth mens harts and causeth them to suffer much to auoide strife and debate in a word which is able to vnite in one with vs most strange and barbarous nations Besides it is the profession of godlines to suffer and not to offer violence neither can it bring foorth euill effects contrarie to their cause This deserueth to be handled at large but our present subiect leadeth vs to discourse of the nature of seditions and to set before our eies the euils that proceede thereof both by reasons and examples referring the consideration of their causes vnto some other time heereafter Sedition then being taken generally is nothing else but ciuill warre so hurtfull to all Estates and Monarchies that it is the seede of all kinde of euils in them euen of those that are most execrable It engendreth and nourisheth want of reuerence towards God disobedience to Magistrates corruption of manners change of lawes contempt of iustice and base estimation of learning and sciences It causeth horrible reuenging forgetfulnes of consanguinitie parentage friendship extorsions violence robberies wasting of countries sacking of townes burning of buildings confiscations flights banishments cruell proscriptions sauage murders alterations and ouerthrowes of Policies with other infinite excesses and intollerable miseries pitifull to behold and sorrowfull to rehearse Sedition armeth the father against the son the brother against the brother kinsman against kinsman men of the same nation prouince and citie one against another Heerupon the fields which before were fertile are left vntilled sumptuous and rich houses
of a man feeleth moueth by the sinewes so the body of the common-wealth receiueth strength power by riches to gather men of war togither in defence of hir libertie For this cause Aristotle in his plat-forme of a happy common-welth requireth abundance of wealth and money to help publike affairs at home warlike matters abroad And in another place he saith that a happy life consisteth in the perfect vse of vertue assisted with bodily external goods as with instruments that serue to execute honest actions wel vertuously It is certain that gold siluer in respect of the soule are neither good nor ill but by good vsage they are made profitable for this life the abuse of them is hurtful both to the body soule And in deed riches of their own nature are not to be condemned Abraham Lot Iacob Iob were rich holy men Iosephus writeth that neuer any king either of the Hebrews or of any other nation left so great riches to his successor as Dauid did to Salomon For he left him to build the temple withal 10000. talents of gold 100000. of siluer beside infinite store of stuffe of wonderful cost and value which he had caused to be prepared made readie The sumptuousnesse of that Temple as it is described by this Historiographer is wonderfull He saith that it was made and finished in seuen yeeres by 80000. Masons 3200. Ouerseers 30000. Hebrewes that hewed wood in the forest and 70000. others that brought stones and such like matter for the worke If the riches of the Romane Empire had not been great I meane both the publique and priuate wealth it is certaine that it had not so long time maintained it selfe in such a glorious and flourishing estate as the like was neuer before causing the farthest and most vnknowen nations to stand in feare of hir weapons Hereof wee haue good proofe by that which we read of Augustus Caesar who ordinarily defrayed the charges of 44. Legions which amounted yeerely to twelue millions of gold But the Romane empire was then come to the top of hir greatnesse hauing for hir bounds the riuer of Euphrates on the East side the Oceā sea on the West on the South side the fruitfull region of Africa and on the North side the riuers of Rhine and Danubius At this day 50. kingdoms estates are diuided out of that monarchy Therfore if the citizens of the common-wealth possesse riches if they imploy thē vpon good workes and that liberally for the tuition defence and setting foorth of their countrey they behaue themselues like good citizens borne to do good and to profit the Common-wealth The fift thing necessary in euery good Common-wealth and citie are occupations and consequently crafts-men An arte is a habite of working according to right reason as Aristotle saith Or else an arte is the knowledge of some certain thing gotten by vse instruction or reason tending to necessary vses for mans life Some artes consist in Speculation and others in practise We call Speculation Theoricall that is to say Speculatiue and Action practicall that is to say Actiue This word Artificer is deriued of the worde Arte. Nowe bicause that nature is most perfect next to God the neerer that arte approcheth to nature the better and perfecter it is as appeereth in images and pictures so that arte is nothing else but an imitation of nature Those Artes that are commonly called Mechanicall or handy-craftes whereby they differ from liberall Artes of which we haue alreadie discoursed are of diuers sortes For the better vnderstanding of them wee will presuppose that man hath need of three temporall things for the maintenaunce of this life namely of Alimentes Houses and Clothing He standeth in neede of Alimentes to restore the consumption of radicall moysture wasted away by naturall heate as the weeke consumeth the oyle in the Lampe I saye to restore it agayne by moyst nourishment as by breade wine flesh and other aliments without which a man could not liue These nutrimentes are prouided and prepared by men of Occupations as by Butchers Fishmongers Bakers Cookes Vintners and other handycrafts-men which serue and looke to the prouision of victuals Next mē haue need of houses that euery one may haue his priuate place of refuge to keep his body familie goods vnder couert these are edifices and frames erected by the arte of building made by Masons Carpenters Geometricians Sawyers Ioiners other handycrafts that are occupied in caruing Likewise a city in respect both of ornament of defence standeth in need of wals towers bulwarks rampires andother things of defence as also of temples and other common places all which cannot be made without the artes of building and of Masonry The third thing which men stand in need of are garments to clothe themselues withall to preserue natural heat and to keep out external cold these are prouided by Mercers Drapers Tailors Hosiers such like Besides the abouenamed things we stand in need of armour of horses to defend our libertie and for our greater commoditie and so consequently Armorers Glazers Sadlers Spur-makers Smithes and such like are necessarie Likewise for the preseruation and recouerie of our health we must honor the Physition Chirurgion Apothecarie Drug-seller and such like The dutie and office of all artificers is to auoyd idlenes slooth and negligence and especially to vse no deceit in their artes but to referre the end of their labours more to common profite than to their priuate gaine And for the auoiding of Ingrossers it is very expedient that the crafts-men should be diuided into diuers parts of the city and not placed all on a rowe in one quarter therof as they do in the townes of Afrike and in many cities of Europe For besides the discommodities in great townes when euery quarter hath not in it such artificers as are commonly necessary it is to be feared that there wil be amongst thē Ingrossers to fore-stall the merchandise and wares or else iealousie and quarels are to be feared if one sell better cheape than another euen before his eyes that refused to take that money It is true that such artificers as are least required as men that liue by the hammer may be ranged in one quarter that thereby they may be separated from men of learning and quietnes The sixt and last thing necessary in a Common-wealth remaineth to be considered of namely Aliments and consequently labourers We haue already spoken of Aliments but as for that which concerneth husbandry especially there is no other arte that doth more awaken the minde of man that rauisheth his sences more that affoordeth greater pleasure or is more necessarie and profitable for the life of man than husbandry Moreouer nothing sauoureth of greater antiquitie nothing doth better discouer the greatnes of the works of God
of confidence Our hope must be grounded vpon the grace of God Of vaine hope Who are soonest throwen downe with aduersitie Wencelaüs The diuision of hope Of the true and infallible hope Of earthly hope Speeches vnbeseeming a wise man The fruit of hope Our life would be insupportable without hope Cineas talke with I'yrrhus concerning his great hope Pyrrhus compared to a Dice-plaier Caesar was led continually with new hope Two things hurtfull to men We must not judge of enterprises by the euent Ill hap is more common than good Seneca aduiseth vs to prepare our selues to all cuents What the author vnderstandeth by the word Fortune Rom. 15. 5. Exod. 34. 6. Patience a salue for all sores Of the Stoicall patience Vertue is neither without affection nor subiect to affections Of true patience The definition of patience The fruits of patience Prou. 16. 32. Of impatiencie choler and wrath The definition of anger Who are most giuen to impatiencie and choler Aristotle contrary in opinion to the Stoicks How impatiencie and choler may be cured What the wicked iudge of patience Leuit. 19. 18. Deut. 32. 35. Whereof choler is bred A good way to remedie choler The counsaile that Athenodorus gaue to Augustus Eph. 4. 26. A notable custome of the Pythagorians Cotis brake his glasses to auoyd occasion of wrath Magistrates ought not to punish any in their choler As Theodosius did Plato refused to correct his seruant in his anger Aurelianus anger was the cause of his death Valentinian in his anger brake a veine and died thereof Against the infamous vice of swearing A notable decree of the Romanes S. Lewes his law against swearing Carilaüs 1. Thes 5. 14. Heb. 10. 36. This word Man is in Latin Hâ—mo froÌ„ whence is deriued humâ—nitas which signifieth curte fie or gentlenes No nation voyd of curtesie Reasons to mooue vs to loue our neighbours A Temple dedicated to Mercie What Charitie is The definition and effects of Meekenes A medioeritie must be kept betweene mildnes and crueltie Philip a Prince of a good and mild nature Antigonus Oh that Princes would consider this Alexander A commendable combat Bessus cruelly put to death for killing Darius Iulius Caesar M. Aurelius Dion All priuate reuenge commeth of frailtie Lycurgus Lewes the 12. Henry the 2. The Stoicks The Epicures Wherein good and ill hap consist Who is happie in Socrates iudgement Who is happie The cause why Amasis forfooke his alliance with Policrates An ordin arie imperfection in man A meane to auoid the â—â—â—re of our 〈◊〉 An other imperfection Notable opinions of good and ill hap Solon sayd that happines consisted in a good life and death The doctrine of Socrates and of the papists is all one touching the hope of eternall life The common opinion of men concerning happines and vnhappines Whereat Apollonius maruelled most Notable reasons to shew that no worldly thing can be called good and that happines cannot be perfected by any such thing Wherein true happines consisteth Who are vnhappy The happinesse of man commeth from within him Our life compared to table-play Alexander and Crates opposed one against an other Agamemnon Where we must seeke for true happines Who is happie in this world A pretie comparison A similitude A similitude Common effects of the fraile nature of man Prosperity more hurtfull than aduersitie Plato was requested by the Cyrenians to giue them lawes Good counsell for those that are in prosperitie Alexander Iulius Caesar Pompey A wise foresight of Sylla An excellent oration of P. Aemilius to his souldiers M. Aurelius Philip king of Macedonia Archidamas Cyrus The instabilitie of humane things The common effects of aduersitie The fruits of the study of Philosophie Craesus The Romanes were wise and constant in aduersitie The propertie of Vertue oppressed The wonderful constancie of Socrates P. Rutilus Q. Metellus Diogenes Socrates tooke the whole world for his countrey The fruits of riches Of the nature qualitie and effects of riches Riches of them selue are the good gifts of God but the euils wrought for or by theÌ„ come froÌ„ the corrupt nature of man The Poets fained Pluto to be the God of riches appointing Hell for his kingdome The euill disposition of the mind is the true cause of the hurt that commeth by riches From whence happines and contentation commeth Great madnes in coueting monie Examples of the contempt of riches M. Curius Phocion Philopaemen Cimon Anacreon Xenocrates Socrates Fiue Doubles in France make a peny of our coine Lycurgus abrogated the vse of gold and siluer coine Luke 16. 13. 1. Tim. 6. 9. Luke 12. 16. What riches we ought to treasure vp The chief cause why riches are so earnestly desired Against those that think poore men lesse happy than the rich A pretie comparison Matth. 19. 21. 23. No comparison between worldlie and heauenlie treasures The fruits of pouertie An excellent defence for pouertie Examples to shew that pouertie was more esteemed of than riches Zeno. Diogenes Cleanthes Menedemus Asclepiades Pythagoras kept a spare diet Philoxenus Who ought to be esteemed poore Diogenes supposed Alexander to be poorer than himself A friend is to wish 3 things to his friend What pouertie is odious Aristides Where the fulnesse of riches is to be sought Griefe pleasure the causes of all passions in men Idlenes is the mother nurse of all vice Idlenes is against nature Scipio was neuer idle To what end we must studie Philosophie Pythagoras precept against Idlenes Notable examples of the redresse of Idlenes Claudius Adrianus Scipio Nasica The Ephoryes of Lacedemonia Gelon A similitude Sweat is placed before vertue Prouerb 24. 30. 31. Idlenes decaieth the health of the body No man ought to hide his life Of gaming and of the effects thereof Chilon refused to make a league with dicers The occasion that mooued the Lydians to inuent games Alphonsus decree against play How we may recreate our selues Of perseuerance An excellent precept of Phocylides Examples against idlenes An excellent comparison How politicall knowledge must be preserued The fruits of idlenes The end of our life Matth. 10. 22. Matth. 12. 36. A pretie comparison Good friends or sharp enimies are necessarily required to a happy life Why men are beholding to their enimies How men behaue theÌ„selues now adays towards their enimies Murder forbidden A notable sentence Leuit. 24. 17. Psal 9. 9. 16. Matth. 5. 10. To suffer iniurie patiently is a badge of a most absolute vertue A commendable kind of reuenge Good counsaile of Seneca We must do nothing in choler An apt similltu le How a man may profit by the backbiting of his enimies The best kind of reueng How many wayes a maÌ„ may receiue iniurie Men must not take the law into their owne hands although it be not rightly executed Of the offence done to honor The excuse of quarrellers Socrates void of reuenge We must not be mooued with mocks Ptolemaeus How a man may repulse a mocke Cato
commoditie thereof A notable law for the common instruction of children Of Gymnastick or bodilie exercise The end of Musicke The vse of painning Fower things to be vsed in the institution of youth Instruction which consisteth in six precepts 1. The first precept The first thing that youth must learne is to worship God We can do nothing without the grace of God 2. The second precept Youth must not glorie in transitoric goods Nor in bodilie beautie The fruits of true knowledge and vertue 3. The third precept The common diseases of youth Modestie is the best remedie for them 4 The fourth precept hath fower branches 5. The fift precept 6 The sixt precept Of admonition Of promises Youth is to be drawne on with the promises of eternall life Of praises and threatnings Hope and feare are the foundation of vertue Adolescencie is the age betweene 14. 28 Place and time are to be considered in all things All kind of behauior not conuenient in all ages Of the diuision of the ages of man The number of seuen accounted a perfect number Of the climactericall yeere of 63. The whole age of man diuided into six parts Of Infaucie Of Childhood * He meaneth not common naturall infirmities but malitious offences Two things requisite in a Schoolemaister skill and bonestie of life The benefit that commeth by good Schoolemaisters A strang custom vsed by the children of Rome The reason oâ— this word Iuuentus Of adolescencie The fruits of adolescencie being left to it self Aurelius exhortation to his sonnes gouernours Concupiscence raigneth most in Adolescencie Who are to be accounted free Knowledge and iudgement are the gard of adolescencie Catoes sonne banished for breaking an earthen pot And Cinnaes sonne for gathering fruite without leaue How the Romanes taught their yoong men to forsake the follies of their first age The dutie of yoong men A moderate youth maketh a happie old age Examples of vertuous young men Alexander a paterne of vertue in his youth Bucephalus Alexanders horse Pompey Papyrius Of 〈◊〉 maâ—s estate The dutie of a man at the perfection of his age Clitomachus M. Aurelius Solon learned to the hower of his death Socrates learned musick being old T. Varro and M. Cato learned Greeke when they were old Iulianus Alphonsus Of old-age Psal 90. 10. Prudence is the ornament of old age What Senate is and froÌ„ whence it came What vse is to be made of a white beard Epaminondas salutation vsed to men according to their ages Cato What breedeth authoritie in a man Sophocles To whom old age is not grieuous The soule is not subiect to mans iurisdiction Gal. 3. 18. Col. 3. 11. Gal. 5. 1. 13. Rom. 13. 1. 2. All power is of God The beginning and preseruation of policies is from God Of commanding and obeying Policie is the bond of all societie There is shew of commanding and obeying in all things As in harmonie The superior part of the world ruleth the inferior The Sunne is king and the Moone Queene among the starres The Moone ruleth ouer all moistures The Fire and Aire chiefe among the elements The Eagle Lion whale and pike ouer their kinds No people without all policie Diuine iustice humane policie always linked togither Religion is the foundation of all estates The auncieâ—â— law makers established then ordinance through the means of religion Religion the greatest means of inlarging the Roman empire What Policie is and from whence the word is deriued The diuers significations of this word Policy Of the end of policie Ciuil ordinance ought to maintaine the worship of God Euery estate coÌ„sisteth of 3. parts of the magistrate the law and the people When common-wealths are right and when corrupt The good or euil estate of coÌ„mon wealths dependeth of the magistrates next vnder God The diuision of common-welths in generall The subdiuision of them Of a monarchie Of a tirannie Of an Aristocratie and what it signifieth The Lacedemonian estate was an excellent paterne of this gouernment Why the Senate of Lacedemonia was first instituted What power the kings of Lademonia had The policie of Polydorus and Theopompus to get the power out of the peoples hands Why the Ephories were appointed in Lacedemoniâ— Of an Oligarchâ— How an Oligarchie is changed into a tirannie with examples thereof Of a Timocraty * His meaning is that it is ruled by some lawes taken from ccb of these Of a Democratie Fiue kinds therof according to Aristotle in his 4. booke of Politi ca. 4. Athens a Democratical estate Of a mixt kinde of common-wealth Examples hereof The perfectest distinction of common-wealths There is difference between the estate and the gouernment of a common-wealth Examples of the popular estate Of the Aristocraticall Of the Monarchicall What right is The foundation of euery estate is the soueraigntie therof Euery estate coÌ„sisteth of 3. parts The magistrate is the image of God The wisest must rule Why God distributeth his gifts diuersly to diuers men A well gouerned familie resembleth the kingly regiment Gen. 10. 10. Of the originall of kingdoms Cicero his opinion therein What soueraigntie is A little king asmuch a Soueraigne as the greatest Monarch Of the name of Magistrate The Dictator of Rome was called Magister populi The calling of Magistrates prooued to be lawfull Psal 82. 6. Iohn 10 35. 2. Chron. 19. 6. Prou. 8. 15. 16. The calling of the Magistrate is most holie He is the minister of Gods iustice Good counsell for Magistrats The Magistrate compared to the hart of a liuing creature And to a Carpenters rule The Magistrate is in the Common wealth that which reason is in the soule The example of the Magistrate is the best way to teach the people Whereunto the Prince is bound aswell as his subiect The dutie of the Magistrate consisteth in three things The art Royall Philosophicall and Politicall is all one Who is most woorthie of soueraigne authoritie Why there are so few vertuous Princes Wherin the dutie of the chiefe Magistrate consisteth Why the sword is put into the Magistrates hand Ier. 22. 3. What is meant by this precept Do Iudgement and Iustice Prou. 16. 12. 20. 8. 26. Prou. 25. 4. 5. He that suffreth euill is culpable aswell as he that committeth it Seueritie and clemencie are to be linked togither in a Magistrate Ciuilitie and grauitie must be ioined both togither in a Magistrate The dutie of the Magistrate Al motions contained vnder one and all causes vnder the first The law is the blood and bond of the Common-wealth The law is the spirite and soule of the common-wealth All creatures are sociable by nature The prerogatiues of men aboue other creatures What a citie is The diuers ends of the three good Common-wealths A king must line vnder a law albeit he be not subiect to the lawe The marke of a soueraigne Wisd 6. 3. How far Princes are subiect to lawes Wherein the absolute power of Princes consisteth The definition of the law The diuision
vnreprooueable as Gods steward not frowarde not angry not giuen to wine no striker not giuen to filthie lucre but harberous one that loueth goodnesse wise righteous holy temperate holding fast the faithfull worde according to doctrine that he also may be able to exhort with wholesome doctrine and improoue them that say against it Feede the flocke of Christ which dependeth vppon you saith Saint Peter caring for it not by constraint but willingly not for filthie lucre but of a ready minde not as though yee were lordes ouer Gods heritage but that ye may be ensamples to the flocke Therefore if Pastors preach the Gospell giue example of good life by their workes fight against the enimies of the truth with the weapons of charitie prayers perswasions testimonies of the holy scripture if they remooue from them couetousnesse pride dissolutenesse and superfluitie of expences and walke in this sort in their vocation the first place of honour is due to them amongst men and a greater and vnspeakable prepared for them in heauen The second thing that is necessarie in euery Common-wealth and citie are iudgements and consequently magistrates to execute them But bicause we discoursed at large of this matter before we will not stand long vpon it but comprehend in few wordes the whole duetie and office of a good magistrate which consisteth in foure things In taking nothing vniustly from any body in giuing to euery one his owne in despising his owne profit and in preseruing publike profite He performeth these duties perfectly by the distribution of iustice into seuen partes by procuring that God may be worshipped that reuerence be giuen to superiours that concord be amongst equals that discipline bee vsed towards inferiours patience towardes enimies mercy towards the poore and that integritie of life proceede from himselfe Nowe let vs consider of Armes and of Nobles Armes as Varro saith are all warlike instrumentes seruing both to set vpon our enimies and to defend our selues from their assaultes and enterprises They are necessarie in a Common-wealth and citie for these three causes to resist the outward force of enimies and to keepe them in feare to represse naughtie citizens both by compelling them to obey magistrates and lawes and by punishing the guiltie and last of all to defend the libertie of subiects The exercise and vse of armes warres and battels hath from all antiquitie been committed to the noble men Nobilitie as Aristotle saith is a glittering excellencie proceeding from auncestors and an honour that commeth from an auncient linage and stocke Or according to Boetius Seuerinus nobilitie is a prayse that proceedeth from the deserts of our Elders and forefathers Many make three kindes of Nobilitie one that is bred of vertue and of excellent deedes the second that proceedeth from the knowledge of honest disciplines and true sciences and the third that commeth from the scutchions and armes of our auncestors or from riches But to speake truely there is no right Nobilitie but that which springeth of vertue and good conditions For as he is a thiefe that stealeth and he vniust that doth vniustly so he is a vile and base person that dealeth vilanously He boasteth in vaine of his great linage and seeketh to be esteemed for the nobilitie and vertue of his auncestours that hath no goodnesse in him nor commendable qualitic of his owne to ioine with those of his predecessors Let no man please himselfe too much saith Agapetus in the nobilitie of his ancestors for all men haue dung for their stock from whence they come both they that are pricked vp in purple and fine linnen they that are afflicted with pouertie and sicknesse as well they that are decked with crownes as they that lie naked vpon the strawe Let vs not therfore brag of our earthly race but let vs glory in the integritie of maners Although vice be in one that commeth of noble bloud yet is it always lothsome and infamous yea it doth so much the more appeere shameful odious as it is ioyned with greater nobilitie But vertue is the very liuely colour ornament of nobilitie and causeth it to be honored for loue of it selfe only All kings and princes saith Plato came of slaues and all slaues of kings What profite is there saith Macrine the Emperour writing to the Senate of Rome in nobilitie if the hart of a prince be not replenished with bountie and gentlenes towards his subiectes The goods of fortune come oftentimes to the vnwoorthie but the vertue of the soule always maketh a man woorthie of the greatest praise Nobilitie riches and such like come from without a man are subiect to corruption but iustice bountie and other vertues are not only wonderfull bicause they come from the soule but procure also to him that hath them vseth them vertuously a perfection of all felicitie Yea it is far better and more commendable in a man to leaue to his posteritie a good beginning of nobilitie by vertue than to defame by villanie wicked behauior that praise which he hath receiued frō his predecessors Therefore we ought not to be puft vp with pride bicause we come of a great race seeing that honour belongeth more to our progenitors thā to vs if we be not noble by our owne vertue Is not one God as Malachie saith father of vs all He made the first kings of a poore base stock to teach vs that men ought not through arrogancie vaine boasting of their nobilitie esteeme themselues better than others but so far forth only as his holy gifts and graces are more abundantly in them Saule was chosen king as he was seeking his fathers asses Dauid whē he was a sheepheard and the yongest of his brethren The brier and the rose came of one and the same roote so noble-men and vile persons came of one masse and lumpe The brier is reiected bicause it pricketh the rose for hir good smel is esteemed and held in mens hands So he that maketh himselfe vile through vice ought to be reiected and he that is odoriferous and smelleth sweetly by good vertues and noble actions ought to bee esteemed honoured and accounted noble of what race stocke soeuer he commeth True it is that ancient nobilitie ioined with excellent vertue is very commendable among men especially in euery monarchie wel established of which the nobilitie is the chiefest pillar being appointed by God and approoued by the law of man for their fidelitie towardes their kings and defence of their subiects wherein the true dutie and office of noble-men consisteth Riches are the fourth thing necessary in euery common-welth and consequently citizens who commonly possesse them and are setled from all antiquitie in towns hauing rents reuenues and possessions and being as it were the strong pillars of cities and of the whole political body Cicero saith that riches are the sinews of battels For as the whole body