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cause_n	body_n	nature_n	part_n	3,516	5	4.5867	4	true

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ID	Title	Author	Corrected Date of Publication (TCP Date of Publication)	STC	Words	Pages
A20028	The defence of contraries Paradoxes against common opinion, debated in forme of declamations in place of publike censure: only to exercise yong wittes in difficult matters. Wherein is no offence to Gods honour, the estate of princes, or priuate mens honest actions: but pleasant recreation to beguile the iniquity of time. Translated out of French by A.M. one of the messengers of her Maiesties Chamber.; Paradoxes, ce sont propos contre la commune opinion. English. Selections	Estienne, Charles, 1504-ca. 1564.; Munday, Anthony, 1553-1633.; Landi, Ortensio, ca. 1512-ca. 1553. Paradossi.; Duval, Jean-Baptiste, d. 1632, attributed name.	1593 (1593)	STC 6467; ESTC S105222	52,873	110

wherewith to oppugne and ouerthrowe the chastitie of innocent maidens Yet thinke not that gold serueth only as a custome to persecute the modesty of women withall but assure your selues beside that it is daily the cause of monstrous treasons slaughter and many other deedes of vile excesse which the breuity of time and feare of offending ye will not permit me to rehearse Wherefore I will conclude with the good Phylosopher Possidonius that riches is the cause of infinite euils which contrariwise cannot be so said or alleaged against our holy and well aduised pouertie of whom learned Seneca speaketh honourably sayeng That the naked by this speciall meane is out of danger of theeues and such as are free from money may in besieged places liue at ease not dreading the feare of enimies Much better then without comparison is franke pouertie then such slauish riches seeing from pouerty springeth infinite profits and commodities and from worldly goods proceedeth nothing but vnhappinesse For the hard-fauoured face or fowle Complexion Declamation 2. That it is better to be fowle than faire WHo knoweth not how much the deformitie of body and hard fauoured face is to bee esteemed principally in womē for in men it was neuer in so great request hath neuer considered how many amorous sparks is dayly to be seen vnder an il-fauoured countenance and badde composed body choicely hid and couered which in a faire face finely polished giues often occasion of ceaselesse flames and cruell passions But the strong and inuincible bulwarke which the fowle face not onely of olde but likewise in these times hath erected for it selfe will encounter the fires of loue that are so damageable Do ye beleeue Gentlemen if faire Helen the Greeke and the gentle Troian Sheepheard had beene hard fauored or counterfeit in personage that the Greekes would euer haue taken so much paine in pursuing them Nor had poore Troy endured such cruell ruine and destruction in longe description whereof so many skilfull wits were wearied and tyred And if we shall compare and vnite together the beawty of the mind with that of the body shall we not finde a greater number of deformed people to be more wise and ingenious then the faire and well fourmed Let Socrates be our witnesse whome the historians and auncient figures represent to be so ilfauoured as might be notwithstanding by the Oracle of Apollo he was acknowledged to be the wisest man of his time Phrigian Aesope the most excellent fabulist was in forme of bodie so strange and mishapen as the verie ougliest in his time in comparison of him might rightly bee resembled to Narcissus or Ganimede neuerthelesse as each one may read hee was most rich in vertues and in spirit beyond all other most excellent Of great deformitie were the Philosophers Zeno and Aristotle Empedocles fowlie composed and Galba a very ougly counterfeit neuerthelesse they al were of maruellous and sweet disposed spirit Could any impeach the deformity of Philopoemen who after hee was seene to be a good and hardie souldiour came he not to the dignity of a most valiant captaine and was hee not reuerenced among his people for his high excellent vertues Consider Gentlemen on such as are of faire and corpulent fashion and ye shall commonly finde them to be sicklie more weake and lesse able to trauaile more soft delicate and effeminate then the other kind of people Againe ye shall sildome times see it happen that in a beautifull body being of great excellence chastity agreeth in selfe-same likelihood because it is to bee kept with great difficultie being by so many sought after so earnestlie What shall we say of such whoe not contenting themselues with nature doe daily frame very great complaintes against her making no spare of their goods or labour to reforme with all endeuor what seemeth best to them for fashion of their bodies because they be not appropriate or agreeing with their curious appetites Of such fooles I demaund seeing nature the most carefull and discrete mother of all things hath giuen them what she thought meet and profitable in the form of their bodies for what cause they should be displeased with her or imagine her a bad bestower who would neuer giue them any part of that folly which is so vainely set by and esteemed of by euery one Nature giues not to her friendes the things that may quickly be wasted by sicknesse or ouerthrowne by the course of age therefore true liberalitie is knowne by the firme and long continuance of the gift bestowen vpon any one and what see ye of lesse permanence then beawty Consider how it hath headlong throwne downe yong people into secret greefes and perillous daungers and allured them to such hatefull sins as right happie might he count himselfe that coulde escape them with his honor vnstained Contrariwise note the good and profit ensuing by deformitie when all they in generall that of olde time haue beene yet at this day are studious in chastitie doe openly confesse as nothing hath like force in them to tame and check the pricks of the flesh neither long watchings greeuous disciplines or continuall fastinges as one only looke vpon an il-fauoured and counterfeit person Hence ensueth that which is vsed as a common prouerbe concerning a very fowle deformed woman that shee serueth as a good receipt and soueraigne remedy against fleshly tentations O sacred and pretious deformity deerly loued of chastitie free from all scandalous daungers a firme rampart against all amorous assaults I perceiue that by thy meanes company keeping is the easier to bee allowed for thou takest from them all greefes annoiances chasing from thy societie all wicked suspitions as a very speciall remedy against desperate iealousie O that I coulde finde wordes worthy thy praises and deserts whence proceedeth infinit good and treasure which with great shame hath beene by the ignorant despised and blamed O what affection I haue to perswade my friends how they shoulde know henceforth to adorne and embelish themselues with the beawtie that for euer endureth and not to depart therewith from among vs either drinking eating waking sleeping or breathing I meane that beawtie that keepes vs companye euen to our graue and leaues vs not till the latest gaspe that which we may truely call our owne no way due or attributable to our parents Gaine-say me who shal I will rest my selfe on this opinion that much better is it to be adorned with such a colour then to trust or repose only in borrowed corporall beauty which so easilie corrupteth euen by the least touch of any feuer that may come vpon vs. I remember a yong maiden of Perigourd who perceiuing her beauty to be a very great suspitious and capitall enimie to her good fame and that in regard thereof she was daily required and solicited by many yong yoonkers her owne selfe with a rasour or some piece of siluer made sharpe for the purpose so disfigured her faire face that her two

The Defence of Contraries Paradoxes against common opinion debated in forme of declamations in place of publike censure only to exercise yong wittes in difficult matters Wherein is no offence to Gods honour the estate of Princes or priuate mens honest actions but pleasant recreation to beguile the iniquity of time Translated out of French by A. M. one of the Messengers of her Maiesties Chamber Patere aut abstine Imprinted at London by Iohn Winde● for Simon Waterson 1593. To the King SIr after you had heard the censures of diuers learned Gentlemen on the seuerall Paradoxes which you pleased to propound and were therein as I imagined fully satisfied yet you would needes make triall of my meane iudgement in such matters and thervpon commanded me to set down mine opinion How simple soeuer they be doone they are and now in all humblenes presented to your Maiestie who doubtlesse will allow them gratious countenance because it was a taske imposed by your selfe and beside requireth labour and good wit to defend such contraries Let no manne thinke then that I or any other would be so sencelesse as to holde directly any of these vaine reasons but what for argumentes sake may be said that set I downe and no otherwise Your Highnesse knowes that the simplest conceit can maintaine It is better to be rich then poore better for a Woman to be faire then foule better for a man to be wise then a foole c. But to defend the contraries to these so farre as modestie and reason wil allow deserueth no hard coniecture among the learned because they are onely but exercise of wit to make proofe of a mans habilitie in such difficult occasions Cornelius Agrippa deserued good report for his Vanitas Scientiarum and I hope to passe the pikes with my Paradox'apologia how euer it fall out so your Maiesty buckler me with wonted fauour I am of Caesars mind Iactaest alea. Your Maiesties most humble subiect and seruaunt R. G. S. D. M. To the friendly Reader GEntle Reader euen as contrarie thinges compared one with another do giue the better euidence of their value and vertue so the truth of any matter whatsoeuer appeareth most cleerely when the different reasons against the same is equalled or neighboured therewith Beside whosoeuer woulde prepare a Knight to the field must first exercise himselfe in the most common and vulgare actes of Armes that cunning stratagems may seeme the lesse laboursome to him In like manner for him that woulde be a good Lawyer after he hath long listened at the barre he must aduenture to defend such a cause as they that are most imployed refuse to maintaine therby to make himselfe more apt and ready against common pleaders in ordinarie causes of processe For this intent I haue vndertaken in this book to debate on certaine matters which our Elders were wont to cal Paradoxes that is to say things contrary to most mens present opinions to the end that by such discourse as is helde in them opposed truth might appeare more cleere and apparant Likewise to exercise thy witte in proofe of such occasions as shall enforce thee to seeke diligentlie and laboriously for sound reasons proofes authorities histories and very darke or hidden memories Notwithstanding in this conceits I would not haue thee so much deceiued as that eyther my sayings or conclusions should make thee credit otherwise then common and sensible iudgement requireth and yet withall remember that diuersitie of things doth more comfort mens spirites then daily and continually to behold whatsoeuer is common and frequent to our iudgements Farewell For Pouertie Declamation 1. That it is better to be poore than Rich. COnsidering for what and against whome I am to speake in your presence I haue great occasion to feare and withal to request that credit and fauour shoulde haue no more meanes to blemish and obscure truth on your partes then may innocencie and simplicitie on my behalfe by bringing and conducting ye into the apparant light For minding to commend such things as are blamed and hated by most part of men it will be almost impossible for me to escape displeasure in the matters themselues which of each one and at all times haue beene loued esteemed and cherished aboued all other things But one thing that heerin giueth me some comfort is that among the wise and vertuous the number whereof are dailye without comparison farre lesse albeit much more esteemed then the bad and ignorant I shall escape vnblamed Wherefore I need not be dismaied if I find few protectors and friends for praising matters so good and honest when my aduersarie findeth greater aduantage for extolling such things as are euill and pernitious Nowe because the principall point of my cause consisteth in letting ye vnderstand the estate and valew of such matters as I stand for I desire ye to wish him who would turne ye from the knowledge heerof as pretending not to know that the well skilde in letters haue for the most part been poore and needie persons To cal to memorie the life of Valerius Publicola Menenius Agrippa as also the good Aristi●es who died all so poore as they were faine by almes to be buried Hee may remember likewise Epaminondas king of Thebes in whose rich houses Pallaces after so many faire victories and noble deedes of armes by him perfourmed was found but one poore straw-bed or base mattresse for to put in his Inuentory He may bee mindfull also of Paulus Aemillius Attillius Regulus Quintus Cincinnatus Cato Elius and Marcus Manlius whose noble hartes were more cōmanded by want then the height of worldly fortunes And who knowes not that loue of pouertie had such power ouer the good Abdolominus that to be ruled thereby hee refused the most riche and abounding kingdome of Sydonia he being elected by the people of the Countrey to be gouernor thereof Heerein appeareth sufficiently the great number of molestations and trauailes hidden vnder the vaine splendor of riches and the aboundance of honours hidden in the beautiful bosome of pouertie honors well knowne and vnderstood by the Poet Anacreon to whom it happened that hauing been two whole nights togither without any rest troubled with continuall deuisings how he might keepe from theeues and imploy the fiue talents of golde which Polycrates had giuen him at length to deliuer himselfe from this perpetuall molestation and returne to his former happinesse he brought backe the faire Talentes to the Tyrant with such wordes as one of his sorte might very well vse and notwithstanding hee was poore and indigent yet he refused those thinges so highly accounted on It is certaine that hee whoe hath alwaies liued poor in this world hath no greefe or sorrowe when he departeth from it for it is to bee considered that hee leaueth this earthlie life more contented and ioyfullie then he that by the meanes of riches hath therin endured long time of pleasure As for my selfe I neuer saw one that was poore indeed who

heereof looke in holy writ if any one of the good Patriarches was euer a hunter We read somwhat of Caine Esau and Nemrod but this was the cause why Saint Augustine held that the said Esau was reckoned among the nūber of sinners According to which opinion the chase was forbidden to Preests in the Mileuitane councel albeit that decree at this day is little accoumpted of VVherfore thinke ye the fabulists feigned Acteon to be turned into a Hart as hee was chasing but only to let vs vnderstand that the ouer-earnest immeasureable loue borne to that exercise with the consuming of goods bestowed thereon makes the hunters in the ende not onely beastly but euen horned altogither likewise For proofe and example of this daungerous pleasure I am to tell ye that not manie daies past a maruellous faire yong Gentlewoman accoumpted of greatest trust where she dwelt so soon as her husband was risen early in the morning to goe on hunting receiued the iniurious companie of hir secret friend with whom she had greater pastime not forsaking her bedde then the hunter could haue in midst of the fieldes where he pursuing some horned beast himselfe without thinking thereon was at home turned into a masque of the same fashion Poor and miserable huntsmen let me in curtesie tell ye to what end serues this great affection ye beare to sauage beasts but to make ye continuallie haunt the woods and forrests where ye likewise become sauage and brutish ready oftentimes to breake your neckes in bushes or ditches Take example I pray ye by Viriatus he that by his prowesse conquered the kingdom of Portugall and consider how of a shepheard hee became a huntsman and from a huntsman to bee a robber and theese in the woods The youths that are tearmed nice-wantons will neuer yeeld to mee but that riches will serue to feast their Ladies to banquet daunse vault braue it reuel all the night and vse a thousand idle tricks of louers wherein we see the wealthy youthes of these daies most commonly to place their pleasure Heereto I woulde not willinglie agree were it not I imagine what is doone in secret to Ladies so that the loue of the very fairest or most queint and finest Gentlewoman is nothing else than a secret hidden death a close contriued poison incident to the spirite of the most sensible person that is And for this cause the Egyptians willing to shewe loue portraied in euery part were wont to paint a snare or halter signifiyng thereby as I thinke the miserable ende and condition whereto poore louers are daily led a passion too bitter to feele that suddenlie making his entrie into the harts of men departs againe very slow and slacklie whence springeth afterward infinite fountaines of teares sighes too piersing anguishes and trauailes insupportable This was it that moued Alcesimarchus Plautinus to maintaine that loue was the first inuenter of begging and the wallet by reason I thinke of the incredible molestings and torments which he loades his poore beggers withal being as often present with him as absent absent as well as present by means whereof he sends them in the end if they be not wel grounded the bagge for their first salutation and with a newe shirt or sheet on their shoulder to the hospitall by foure horses or bearers And that loue is of all torments the most cruell in the worlde it appeareth by the answere which Apolonius Thianeus made to the king of Babilon concerning the paine he desired to be inuented for punishing of an Eunuche who was found with a gentlewoman his affected fauorite Ye need not bethinke any greater persecution for him quoth the Philosopher then to let him liue for I make no doubt mighty king if the fire of loue go forwarde in him according as already it hath begun ye cannot make him feele and endure a more cruell passion nor may hee bee so tormented with what else ye can deuise He shall finde himselfe like the shippe tossed with contrary winds himselfe by his owne procurement euen like the foolish fly shall burne and consume in this flame he shal burne when he is as cold as yce he shall request and refuse in one selfe-same instant and desire as much to die as to liue In these wordes Thianeus erred not a iot if we could consider how greeuously Salomon was toiled and tormented with this loue till men beheld him transported from all naturall sence and made a meere preuaricatour of the holy law If we should seeke after this wicked money to take pleasure in many farmes countrey houses enuironed with trim gardens and buildings beset with cleere fountaines Thickets Arbours Vineyardes Meadowes earable land and other singularities I say such things make vs often poore by slothfulnes and vndoeth vs by ouer-lauishnesse inducing vs to greeuous offenses thorow many by-places and behauiours that are ouer secret That it is not vnlikely let vs remember what Cicero wrote to his friend Verres and we shall finde that when he would well discipher and portrait to life as it were the libidinous acts of a Gentleman that first of all he painted forth the walks and pleasures of countrey houses and faire places which accustomably he frequented as if such things were the ministers and helps of his very chiefest faults and misbehauiors For conclusion riches haue euer beene in so bad reputation that they haue beene called brambles flames and burning coales See how they make insolent people arrogant spightfull beastly negligent disdainfull fooles melancholie solitary and hateful yee shall not finde one alone but doubteth of their seruice as being baits and nourishments to al vnhappie works Hence it came that Pliny saide treasures hid by nature for our profit doe commonly stifle vs and plunge vs in the deapth of all mischances So was Zeno wont to say that the goodes of the worlde did more hurt then helpe which was the cause that made Crates the Thebane passing one day from his countrey of Athens to followe the studie of Philosophy to throw all the golde and siluer he had about him into the sea imagining that vertue and riches coulde neuer partake togither the same speeches were likewise confirmed by Bias Plato and manie other wise Philosophers But what need I spend time in producing so many witnesses when the holy mouth of the Creatour hath said that sooner shall the cable of a shippe enter the eie of a needle to sow withal then can a rich man into the kingdome of heauen He spake it who all his life time distributed and spent his faculties on the poore But the Pagan that inuented the fiction in truth very ingenious how Iupiter surprized with the maruellous and exceeding beauty of Danae conuerted himselfe into a shower of golde falling into the bosome and lap of the Lady by this meane to haue iouissance with his so long desired and purchased pray dooth he not plainely enough giue vs to vnderstand that gold is the most proper and conuenable thing

minding such matters For the poore sicke man considering that he is weake and diseased will preserue himselfe very dilligentlie from al manner of excesse and liue more soberly then can the stiffest and strongest composed bodies These kind of men are such to whom oftentimes it happeneth thorow the ouer-much fiercenesse of their good disposition and strength that boldlie or carelesly they oppose themselues againste a thousand greefes perils and daungers vsing meates prohibited for the health of man taking the corrupted ayre in the euening or else without any need will wander into tempests raine snow winde stormes and thus aduenture themselues from morning to night And the worse is their successe thorowe the confidence which they repose in their bodies which they feeling to be strong and lustie feare not without any discretion to fight heere with one there to smite an other spoile outrage and commit a thousand euils Then what recompence haue they for al these They fall into the rightfull hande of Iustice who without any regard of valour strength dexteritie parents or riches makes them miserablie and shamefully to finish their daies before their expected time It is then great folly to desire strength and health of body so earnestlie seeing it is the cause of so many mishaps were it not onely but in regarde of the warres which we should neuer beholde so cruell or fierce but by the confidence that men suppose to be in their health and bodily strength wherewith great and wise Lordes vse to iest at each other and make as small account thereof as of balles running along the pent-house of a Tennis court For Teares Declamation 11. That it is better to weepe often then to laugh at any time NOt without great occasion is it that I must assuredlie by good right confesse the mourner to bee in better estate then the laugher seeing Salomon in his most holy Prouerbes hath lefte vs in writing that it is better to sleepe and repose in the house of sorrowe then in that of ioy and pleasure By laughter many soules haue beene seuered from their bodies to the infinite greefe of their good friends but by sadnesse not one only which I euer heard of at any time departed but well pleased Laughter hath euermore beene perticularlie proper to fooles mouthes or people without sence And it is not read in any one place of the holye Scripture that our blessed Sauiour euer laughed at any time but that he wept and sorrowed is to be found in sundry passages of the good and faithfull Euangelistes For this cause hath he promised eternall felicity to such as mourne and them that laugh he hath menaced with death To weepe is a signe of penitence and compunction whereto we are often inuited and exhorted by the voices of the holy Prophets but laughter hath beene the cause of mocking it selfe as the euident signe of ouermuch boldnes If we would make regard of the commodities ensuyng by teares howe many disdaines and howe many rages haue beene qualified by one little teare of the eie How manie poore louers haue they vnited and confirmed together that before liued not but in langour distresse How many storming hearts fierce and cruell one against another haue they brideled softened made gentle How many great and honest recompences haue beene obtained and measured by the waight of teares I am of this opinion that all the force and puissance of men assembled together cannot so soon winne or compasse what it would haue as one only teare can yea oftentimes it hath conqueringly obtained grace euen from obstinate and moste pittilesse persons For proofe heereof Heraclitus was alwaies more esteemed for his weeping then euer was Democritus for his laughing See how many thinges worthy of eternall memorie Crassus by this vertue accomplished purchasing the name of a scorner of vanities If we should need to produce the profit of teares often weeping Let vs consider that while our bodies are but young and tender they make them to grow and encrease Wherefore many Nursses in regard heereof are not very hastie to quiet their infantes when they lie criyng in the Cradle but by these meanes suffer them to dilate and stretch forth their members for so they come to the suddener growth And if proofes should faile me against laughter I would content my selfe with this only of good Hyppocrates who hath left written that the diseases which ensue by accident of laughter without any manifest cause are the most difficult to be healed Let vs then set laughing apart seeing it bringeth such offence to man and agreeth not with his honestie and grauitie beside we finde not at this daie among so many lamentable ruines where any place or oportunity for laughing indeed may be graunted or suffered And let vs conclude that laughter wrinkles and makes olde the face counterfeits the person makes the heart ake woundeth the lungs inwards of the bellie so that after long laughing many greefs doe follow whereof we neuer make doubt till wee feele them So that if laughter bee not refrained it makes the pallat of the mouth to fall the throte sore the voice hoarse and oft times shakes the body verie greeuously VVherfore very excellently said the wise man that the end of laughter was greefe and teares which ordinarilie endureth more space of time hath a longer taile behinde it than euer had mourning But the end of continuall teares after this mortall life is ioy and perpetual delectation which neuer hath ending and such as are promised by him who is onely truth it selfe For Dearth Declamation 12. That Scarsitie is better than aboundance ANy man of common sence and opinion will assure yee that for the ease and better estate of his person as also continuance of his pleasures aboundance or earthly goods ought well to be had in request But for one voluptuous man ye shall finde of this opinion I will furnish yee with an hundred of very singular spirit and perfect iudgement that liberally will maintaine the fertillitie and aboundance of goodes in this worlde is the mother and nursse of all euils enemie to all modesty and honestie and cheefe aduersarie to sobrietie The good Lady of Henault bemoned the great Dearth which the turbulence of the warres had caused and among other thinges she wept for the fertillitie of the former yeares past when as she called to minde what store of corne and wines she had and that before a weeke would be past both shee and all hir house shoulde scant tell where to gette foode or drinke once a day But the sober and frugal Solon-nist saith well to the contrarie that the lesse store of victuals are in a contrey the lesse is the insolence of the inhabitāts who in time of aboundance disdain the seruice of their superiors then hath a man greater paine to get a seruant how poore soeuer or bad disposed he be then a man of wisedome well skilde in good letters Moreouer what else