him and vices blind him and in all that is spoken to see the father so negligent as if he had no children where indeede the old man by the few vertues that he had in his youth might easily haue knowen the infirmities as vices wherewith his sonne was compassed If the expert had neuer been ignorant if the fathers had neuer been children if the vertuous had neuer been vicious if the fine wits had neuer been deceiued it had been no maruel though fathers were negligent to bring vp their children Little experience excuseth men of great offences but since thou art a father and first a sonne since thou art old and hast been yoong and besides all this pride hath inflamed thee lecherie hath burned thee wrath hath wounded thee negligence hath hindered thee and gluttonie surfeited thee tel me since so manie vices hath raigned in thee why hast thou not an eie to the child of thine owne blood begotten It is impossible that the child which with many vices is assaulted and not succored but in the end he should be infamed and to the dishonor of the father most wickedly ouercome It is not possible to keepe meate well sauored vnlesse it be first salted it is impossible that fish should liue without water it is not vnlikely but the rose which is ouergrowen with the thorne should wither so is it impossible that fathers should haue any comfort in their children vnlesse they instruct them in vertue of their youth The Lydes ordained a law that if a father had manie children that the most vertuous should inherite the goods and riches and if they be vicious no one to inherit for the goods gotten with trauel of vertuous fathers ought not by reason to be inherited with vicious children I do not maruel that the children of princes and great Lords be adulterers and bellie gods for that on the one part youth is the mother of idlenes and on the other little experience is the cause of great offences and which more is the fathers being dead the children inherit the fathers goods being with vices loden as if they were with vertues endued The instructors and teachers of youth ought to be informed what vices or vertues their children are most inclined vnto and this ought also to be to incourage them in that that is good and contrarie to reprooue them in all that is euill The more a man giueth a noblemans sonne the bridle the more hard it is for them to receiue good doctrine Augustus the Emperor said to the senate If my children wil be good they shal sit heerafter where I do now but if they be euill I will not their vices be reuerenced of the senators for the authoritie and grauitie of the good ought not to be imploied in the seruice of those that be wicked What a thing it is to see the sonne of a laborer their coate without points their shirt torne their feet bare the head without a cap the bodie without a girdle in sommer without a hat in winter without a cloke eating course bread lieng on straw or on the earth and in this state so well giuen and vertuous that diuers do wish to haue such a sonne On the other side to behold noble mens sonnes brought vp and nourished betweene Holland sheetes laid in a costly cradle shaped after the new fashion they giue the nurse what she wil desire if perchance the child be sicke they change the nurse or appoint him a diet the father and mother so carefull and diligent that they sleepe neither night nor day all the house watcheth eateth nothing but the broth of chickens asketh nothing but it is giuen him immediately It is a world to see the waste that a vaine man maketh in bringing vp his child specially if he be a man somwhat aged and that hath at his desire a child borne he ceaseth not to spend so much of his goods in bringing vp of him wantonly while he is yoong that oftentimes he wanteth to marrie him when he commeth to age The poore bringeth vp his children without the preiudice of the rich and to the profit of the commō welth but the rich bringeth vp his children with the sweate of the poore to the dammage of the common wealth it is reason therefore that the Wolfe that deuoureth vs should die and the sheep which clotheth vs should liue Oftentimēs parents for tendernes wil not haue their children brought vp in learning saying there is time ynough and leisure to be taught And further to excuse their error they affirme if the child should be chastened it would make him both sicke and foolish But what is their end they become slanderous to the commō welth infamous and disobedient to their parents so euill in conditions so light and vnaduised in behauior so vnmeet for knowledge so enclined to lies so enuying the truth that their fathers would not onely haue punished them with sharpe correction but also would reioyce to haue them buried out of the way Whilest the Palme tree is but yoong and little a frost doth easily destroy it so whilest the child is yoong if he haue not a good tutor he is easily deceiued with the world It is impossible that in any citie there be a good common wealth except they be carefull for the well bringing vp of children The cause is the couetousnes of the master who suffreth their pupils to run at their owne wils when they be yong to the end to win their harts when they be old so that their extreme couetousnes causeth rich and good mens sonnes to be euill and vicious The father is bound no more towards his childe but to banish him from his pleasures and to giue him vertuous masters All the vertues that yoong men do learne doth not them so much profite as one onely vice doth them hurt if they do thereto consent Children ought not to vse any pastime except there be therein contained some commendable exercise for if in youth he dare play a point it is to be feared when he commeth to yeeres he will play his coate Play is not forbidden yoong children for the money that they lose but for the vices they win thereat corrupt maners which therof they learne Of yong men light and vnconstant commeth oftentimes an olde man fond and vnthriftie of too hardie commeth rebellious and seditious persons and of vnshamefastnes slanderous persons What auaileth children to be faire of countenance well disposed of bodie liuely of spirite white of skin to haue yealow haires to be eloquent in talking profound in science if with all these that nature giueth them they be bold in that they do and shameles in that they say Sensualitie and euill inclination of the wanton child ought to be remedied by the wisedome of the chaste master The trees that bud and cast leaues before the tyme come hope is neuer to eate of their fruit in season so when
voluntarily to vertue and sensualitie draweth men against their wils to vices Vices are of such a qualitie that they bring not with them so much pleasure when they come as they leaue sorow behind them when they go for the true pleasure is not in the daily vice which sodenly vanisheth but in the truth which euermore remaineth Wise men after 50. yeeres ought rather seeke how to apply their mindes how to receiue death than to seeke pleasure how to prolong life How happy may that man be called that neuer tasted what pleasure meaneth Men that from their infancie haue bin brought vp in pleasure for want of wisedome know not how to chose the good and for lacke of force cannot resist the euill which is the cause that noble mens sons oftentimes cōmit sundry hainous offences It is an infallible rule that the more a man giue himselfe to pleasure the more he is intangled with vices The rich men win with their labor and watching and their sonnes brought vp in pleasure do consume it sleeping Where there is youth libertie pleasure and mony there will all the vices of the world be resident The greatest vanitie that ragineth among the children of vanitie is that the father cannot shewe vnto the sonne his loue but in suffering him to be brought vp in the pleasures and vanities of this life I wish no greater penance to delicate men than in winter to see them without fire and in the sommer to want fresh shadow Why are there so many vices nourished in the pallace of princes bicause pleasure aboundeth and counsell wanteth Play as Seneca saith is compared to the propertie raging of a mad dog with whom if a man be once bitten vnles he hath present remedie foorthwith he runneth mad and the disease continueth with him vntil the houre of death for those that vse it hurt their consciences lose their time and consume their substance Marcus Aurelius saith if I knew the gods would pardone me and also that men woulde not hate me yet I assure you for the vilenes therof I would not sin in the flesh Aristotle saith all beasts after the deeds of the flesh are sorie sauing onely the cocke In carnall vices he that hath the least of that that sensualitie desireth hath a great deale more than reason alloweth I see no other fruits of carnall pleasure but that the bodie remaineth diseased the vnderstanding blinded memory dulled sence corrupted will hurt reason subuerted their good name lost and woorst of all the flesh remaineth alwaies flesh therefore fire is not quenched with drie wood but with cold water In the war honor by tarrieng is obteined but in the vices of the flesh the victory by fleeing is wonne Pride THe proud and disdainfull man for the most part falleth into some euill chaunce therefore it is a commendable medicine somtimes to be persecuted for aduersitie maketh a wise man to liue more mery and to walke in lesse danger What friendship can there be among the proud since the one wil go before and the other disdaineth to come behind Of Princes with their actes and sayings A Poore woman comming before Claudius the Emperour with weeping eies to craue Iustice the good prince being mooued with compassion did not onely weep as she did but with his own hands dried vp the teares Oftentimes those that come before princes do return more contented with the loue they shew them than with the Iustice they minister vnto them Antonius Pius was such a fauourer of poore widowes and Orphans that the porters which he kept within his pallace were not to let the entrie of the poore but to let and keep back the rich To a prince there can be no greater infamie than to be long in words and short in rewarding his seruants Couetous princes do not onely suspect their subiects but also themselues The diseases which God oftentimes sendeth to princes commeth not through the fault of humours but through the corruption of maners the which no medicine can resist nor any other thing remedy It is the chiefest thing that can belong to a prince or other person to be beloued for their gentle conuersation and for their vpright iustice to be feared It is necessary for Princes to be stout and rich for by their stoutnes they may gouerne their own and by their riches they may represse their enimies The prince which is too liberall in giuing his owne is afterward compelled by necessitie to become a tyrant and take from others If princes be proude greedie and ambitious after strange realmes it is most certaine that they need great treasures to accomplish their inordinate appetites but if they be reposed quiet vertuous patient peaceable not couetous of the good of another man what need haue they of great treasures Princes become not poore for spending of their goods vpon necessaries but wasting it vpon things superfluous High and noble harts that feele themselues wounded do not so much esteeme their owne paine as to see their enimies to reioice at their griefe It is better for a Prince to defend his countrey by Iustice than to conquere an other by tirannie The prince is in great danger of damnation of soule if in his gouernment he haue not always before his eyes the feare and loue of the supreme prince to whome we must render account of all our doings for there is nothing so puissant but tis subiect to the diuine power That prince hath great occasion to be vicious which for his vice thinketh not to be chastised Princes fearing neither God nor his commandemēts do cause their realme and subiects to fall into great miserie for if the fountain be infected it is impossible for the streame therof to be pure We see by experience that as a bridle mastreth an horse a sterne the ship so a prince be he good or bad will after him lead all his people If they serue God the people will also serue him if they blaspheme God the subiects will do the like for it is impossible that a tree should bring foorth other fruits than those that are agreeable to the roote Princes ought to resemble God more by vertuousnes than others Princes WHat shall vnhappy princes do which shall render al their account to God only who will not be deceiued with words corrupted with giftes feared with threatnings nor answered with excuses That prince is more to be magnified which reformeth two vices amongst his people than he which conquereth ten realms of his enimies O princes if ye knew how small a thing it is to be hated of men and loued of God ye would not cease night nor day to commend your selues vnto God for God is more mercifull in succouring vs than we are diligent in calling vpon him God did neuer create high estates to worke wickednes but placed them in that degree to the ende they should thereby haue more
THE LORD MARQVES IDLENES Conteining manifold matters of acceptable deuise as sage sentences prudent precepts morall examples sweete similitudes proper comparisons and other remembrances of speciall choise No lesse pleasant to peruse than profitable to practise compiled by the right Honorable L. WILLIAM Marques of WINCHESTER that now is Cicero ex Xenoph. Nec vero clarorum virorum post mortem honores Permanerent si nihil eorum ipsorum animi efficerent The honor of noble men could not remaine after death If their minds should be idle and do nothing Scipio Nunquam minùs solus quà m cùm solus Nec minùs otiosus quà m cùm otiosus Imprinted at London by Arnold Hatfield 1586 DIEV ET MON DROIT Floreat alma diû Princeps precor ELISABETHA R Roscida solatur rutilans vt gramina Titan N E Et radio exhilarat cuncta elementa suo O G Grata velut nutrix sic Anglis numina praebens S I Iudith nostra Deo praeside clara viget T N Nobilis haec valeat in scena hac foemina semper R A Ac nectar gratum libet in aetherea A ANGLIAE TO THE HIGH MIGHTIE AND HIS RIGHT GRACIOVS SOVERAIGNE LADIE THE QVEENES MOST EXCELLENT MAIESTIE THe Traueller Right gracious SOVERAIGN hauing bestowed some time in surueying obseruing the people maners and state of foraine countries vpon returne rendreth a reckoning of his time spent by report of the fruite and effect receiued by his iourney whereby he gaineth vnto himselfe the credite of knowledge and giueth vnto the hearer direction and comfort of trauell My selfe hauing passed the morning tide of my Time wherein I should haue conuersed with the learned for my better instruction onely in the vaine disports and pleasures of the field And now at the Sunne setting looking back to view the benefit receiued thereby do finde the seed of pleasures to render no fruit so by defect of learning insueth the effect of Idlenes being meerly nothing The profite of which experience bestowed as a remembrance for the better sort in their yoonger yeeres to mingle with their pleasures some exercise of knowledge learning may happily produce in them an effect in future time wherby to conforme themselues answerable to their degrees callings both for the better performance of their duties vnto the State as also for the administring of Iustice in the weale publike For a magistrate without learning is like vnto an vnskilful physition who maketh the whole sick and cureth seldome the diseased or rather more fitly compared with an vnlearned schoolemaister who in steed of instruction giueth correction For as he seldome well ruleth who hath not first duly obeied euen so faileth he right to censure who hath not in him to discerne betwixt right and wrong the offended and the offence giuer As Idlenes is the mother of ignorance so is it the nurse of aspiring and disloiall minds Neither do I infer heerupon the vnlearned to be ill affected but onely the idle to be woorst disposed And as the qualities of Idlenes are diuers so are the effects accordingly some end in mischief som others waste Time without profit other some giue good instruction of reformatiō which last of the three is the whole summe of my trauel For finding in my self the want of those ornaments and good partes of learning which are requisite for the honorable could wish others not to feed the flower of their yeeres with the vanities of Idlenes but to recompence the benefit of time with some effect of knowledge to the good of thēselues as example of theirs For in the perfection or type of mans life the most that we know is the least part of the rest wherof we are ignorant My deceased Grandfather most gracious Soueraign your Maiesties late officer and seruant being a President vnto his to shun Idlenes and to performe their duties with all loialtie obedience passed many yeeres in Court as well to manifest the humble desire of his dutifull mind towards his Princesse as also for the instruction of his posteritie to hold nothing next vnto the true knowledge and feare of God of like price as the inestimable comfort of the good opinion and fauour of their Soueraigne wherof hoping and by sundry assured experiments finding no lesse from your Maiestie towardes me as onely proceeding from your Highnes gracious inclination clemencie and not of any desert or my part giuing cause thereof am thereby the rather emboldned most humbly to craue pardon as one by reason of many defects vnable to perform that seruice which in desire I wish and in duetie appertaineth as chiefly acknowledging my selfe greatly bound vnto your Highnes in that your Maiestie most graciously tendring my long sicknes weake estate of body would vouchsafe to licence my late absence frō so speciall a cause of importāce concerning the proceding against those vnnaturall and traiterous parts practises tending to the destruction of your Maiesties sacred and royall person sorowing the aduerse euent of my health at the instant especially such as vpon so firme an argument or token of your Maiesties most gracious fauor and good opinion conceiued not to be in case by seruice to performe any thing answerable in desert to the least part of so honorable a credite fidelitie reposed But right mightie and Soueraigne Lady like as your Maiestie of speciall grace hath hitherto accepted my willing and dutifull mind in lieu of action Euen so on my knee I humbly beseech the continuance of so gracious fauor vntil my state of body wil permit the accomplishment by seruice of my humble good will and willingnes And albeit my time spent hath wrought no condigne merite whereupon I should presume to make this humble petition neither doth there proceed therof any effect of gratuitie worthie the view or acceptance of your Maiestie And though discretion forbiddeth me to present your Maiestie with the fruit of my time passed as a remembrance by many degrees inferior and vnfit to be offered to so learned and prudent a Princesse yet dutifull good will not hauing otherwise to manifest it selfe vpon experience of your Maiesties former graces comforteth me of your highnes fauourable acceptance Neither might I with modestie presume to present your Maiestie with so meere a trifle as the effect of Idlenes for other title or terme I may not woorthily giue it though in truth it be the fruit of my time best spent in respect of the residue more vainly passed were it so that vpon returne of my trauell an iourney taken in the vanities of pleasures I had to report of better choise of commoditie receiued And bicause Time requireth me to render an account as whose Idlenes hath been greater than of sundry others and least my euill example might withdraw the better disposed from the studie and exercise of knowledge I do confesse my errour therein accordingly as the title of this Pamphlet giueth testimonie which approching your Maiesties presence in so simple an
needeth somtimes to be whet I meane though mans vnderstanding be neuer so cleare yet from time to time it needeth counsell Vertuous men oftentimes do erre not bicause they would faile but bicause the things are so euil of digestion that the vertue they haue suffiseth not to tell them what thing is necessarie for their profite For the which cause it is necessarie that his will be kindled his wit fined his opinion changed his memorie sharpned aboue all now and then that he forsake his owne aduise and cleaue to the counsell of another The world at this day is so changed from that it was woont to be in times past that all haue the audacitie to giue counsell and few haue the wisedom to receiue it If my counsell be woorth receiuing prooue it if it doth harme leaue it if it doth good vse it for there is no medicine so bitter that the sicke doth refuse to take if thereby he thinke he may be healed I exhort and aduise thee that thy youth beleeue mine age thine ignorance my knowledge thy sleepe my watch thy dimnes my cleernes of sight thine imagination my vertue thy supicion mine experience otherwise thou maist hap to see one day thy selfe in some distresse where small time thou shalt haue to repent and none to find remedie If thou wilt liue as yoong thou must gouerne thy selfe as olde If any old man fall for age and if thou find a yoong man sage despise not his counsell for bees do drawe more honie out of the tender flowers than of the hard leaues Plato commandeth that in giuing politike counsell it be giuen to them that be in prosperitie to the intent that they decay not and to them that be in heauines and trouble to the intent that they despaire not Happie is that common wealth and fortunate is that prince that is Lord of yoong men to trauell and ancient persons to counsell Manie things are cured in time which reason afterward cannot helpe No mortall man take he neuer so good heede to his works nor reason so well in his desires but that he deserueth some chastisement for some cause or counsell in his doings The examples of the dead do profit good men more to liue well than the counsell of the wicked prouoketh the liuing to liue euill Men ought not in any thing to take so great care as in seeking of counsell and counsellers for the prosperous times cannot be maintained nor the multitude of enimies resisted if it be not by wise graue counsellers Thales being demanded what a man should do to liue vprightly he answered To take that counsell for himselfe which he giueth to another for the vndoing of all men is that they haue plentie of counsell for others and want for themselues He shall neuer giue to his prince good nor profitable counsell which by that counsell intendeth to haue some proper interest He is not counted sage that hath turned the leaues of manie bookes but he which knoweth and can giue good and wholsome counsell Anacharsis said Thou shalt promise me not to be importune with me to receiue any thing of thee for the day thou shalt corrupt me with gifts it is necessarie that I corrupt thee with euil counsell It is easie to speake well and hard to worke well for there is nothing in the world better cheape than counsell By the counsell of wise men that thing is kept and maintained which by the strength of valiant men is gotten Ripe counsels proceed not from the man that hath trauelled into many countries but from him that hath felt himselfe in manie dangers It is impossible that there should any misfortune happen whereas ripe counsell is To giue counsell to the wise man it is either superfluous or commeth of presumption though it be true yet I say in like maner that the diamond being set in gold looseth not his vertue but rather increaseth in price so the wiser that a man is so much the more he ought to know and desire the opinion of others certainly he that doth so cannot erre for no mans owne counsell aboundeth so much but that he needeth the counsell and opinion of others We ordaine that none be so hardie to giue counsell vnlesse therewith he giue remedie for to the troubled hart words comfort little when in them there is no remedie The woman is hardie that dare giue counsel to a man and he more bold that taketh it of a woman but I say he is a foole that taketh it and he is a more foole that asketh it but he is most foole that fulfilleth it Children and youth IT is better to leaue vnto children good doctrine whereby they may liue than euill riches wherby they may perish And the cause is that manie mens children haue beene through the hope they had to inherit their fathers goods vndone and afterward gone a hunting after vices for they seldome do any woorthie feats which in their youth inherit great treasures It is better to haue children poore and vertuous than rich and vicious To be poore or sick is not the greatest miserie neither to be whole and rich is the chiefest felicitie for there is no such felicitie to fathers to see their children vertuous It is an honor to the countrie that fathers haue such children that will take profit with their counsell and contrariwise that the children haue such fathers as can giue it them The father ought to desire his sonne onely in this cause that in his age he may sustaine his life in honor and that after his death he may cause his same to liue If not for this at the least he ought to desire him that in his age he may honor his head and that after his death he may inherit his goods But we see few do this in these daies except they be taught of their parents the same in youth for the fruit doth neuer grow in the haruest vnlesse the tree doth beare blossoms in the spring Too much libertie in youth is no other but a prophesie and manifest token of disobedience in age It is a griefe to see and a monstrous thing to declare the cares which the fathers take to gather riches the diligence that children haue to spend them There can be nothing more vniust than that the yong and vicious sonne should take his pleasure of the sweate of the aged father The father that instructeth not his sonne in vertue in his youth is lesse blamewoorthie if he be disobedient in age It is a good token when youth before they know vices haue beene accustomed to practise vertue It is pitifull to see and lamentable to behold a yoong child how the blood doth stir him the flesh prouoke him to accomplish his desires to see sensualitie go before and he himselfe to come behind the malicious world to watch him and how the diuel doth tempt
for the poore punishment for the tyrants weight and measure plentifull and chiefly if there be good doctrine for the yoong and little couetousnes in the old Correction executed after a good sort hath this propertie that it incourageth the good to be good and feareth the wicked from their wickednes If men were not endued with reason and gouerned by iustice among all beasts none were so vnprofitable Iustice being taken away what are realms but dennes of theeues for to affirme that men can liue without iustice is as much to say as fishes can liue without water Do iustice thy selfe if thou wilt be a minister thereof for the good iudge with the right yarde of his owne life ought to measure the whole state of the common welth O to how much is he bound that hath taken vpon him to minister iusticel If such an one be an vpright man he accomplisheth that wherunto he is bound but if vniust iustly of God he ought to be punished and likewise of men to be accused No man neglecteth iustice but for want of knowledge and experience or else through abundance of affection and malice Musing with my selfe wherin so many dammages of the common wealth did consist such disobedience such contrarieties so many theeues in the end I find that all or the most part proceed in that they prouide for ministers of iustice not for conscience sake but for couetousnes and ambitions sake The vertuous and Christian iudge ought rather to shed teares in the Church than by affection of men to shed blood in the seate of iudgement There are many iudges which imploy their studie more to get friends to maintaine their state proudly than for to read bookes to iudge mens causes vprightly Great shame ought they to haue which take vpon them to correct others when they haue more neede to be corrected themselues for the blind man ought not to take vpon him to lead the lame If the poore come to demand iustice hauing no monie to giue no wine to present no friend to speake after his complaint he receiueth faire words promises of speedie iustice but in the end he consumeth that he hath spendeth his time looseth his hope and is voide of his sute although his cause be neuer so honest and good If wee sigh with teares to haue good princes wee ought much more to pray that we haue not euill officers What profiteth it the knight to be nimble if the horse be not readie What auaileth it the owner of the ship to be sage and expert if the pilot be a foole and ignorant What profiteth the king to be valiant and stout and the captaine in the war to be a coward I meane what profiteth it a prince to be honest if those that minister iustice be dissolute What profiteth vs that the prince be true if his officers be liers What to be louing and gentle and his officers cruell and malicious What to be liberall if the iudge that ministreth iustice be a briber and an open theefe What to be carefull and vertuous if the iudge be negligent and vicious What auaileth it if he in his house be secret iust if he trust a tyrant and an open theefe with the gouernement of the common-wealth Iudges ought to be iust in their words honest in their works mercifull in their iustice and aboue all not corrupted with bribes It sufficeth not that iudges be true in their words but it is very necessary that they be vpright in their dealings Iudges ought not to haue respect to those which desire them but to that which they demand for in doing their dutie their enimies will proclaime them iust and contrariwise if they do that which they should not their neerest friends will count them tyrants Lycurgus made a law whereby he inioined iudges not to be couetous nor yet theeues for the iudge that hath receiued part of the theft will not giue sentence against the stealers thereof Oftentimes it chaneeth that iudges do eate the fruit and the poore suter doth feele the morsell Sith frailtie in men is naturall and the punishment they giue vs is voluntarie let iudges shew in ministring of iustice that they do it for the zeale of the common wealth and not with a mind to reuenge The beginning of iudges are pride and ambition their meanes is enuie and malice and their end is death and destruction for the leaues shall neuer be greene where the roots are drie Offices are somtimes giuen to friends in recompence of friendship somtimes to seruants to acquit their seruice somtimes to their sollicitors to the end they shall not importune them so that few remaine to the vertuous which onely for being vertuous are prouided Idlenes EVerie lightnes done in our youth breaketh downe a loope of our life but idlenes whereby our enimie entreth is it which openeth the gate to all vice Of idle motions and outragious thoughts the eies take licence without leaue the mind altereth and the will is hurt and finally thinking to be the white that amarous men shoote at they remaine as a burt full of vices In conclusion there is nothing that more chaseth the ball of the thought in this play than the hand set a worke There is nothing breedeth vice sooner in children than when the fathers are too negligent and the children too bold as do not keepe the same from idlenes The prince that occupieth himselfe to heare vaine and trifling things in time of necessitie shall not imploy himselfe to those which be of weight and importance for idlenes and negligence are cruell enimies to wisedome Of knowledge wisedome foresight and vertue WE cannot say that the man knoweth little which doth know himselfe Man giuing his minde to seeke strange things commeth to forget his owne proper We see by experience that in the fistula that is stopped and not that which is open the surgeon maketh doubt in the shalow water and not in the deepe seas the pilot despaireth the good man of arms is more afeard of the secret ambushment than in the open battell I meane that the valiant man ought to beware not of strangers but of his owne not of enimes but of friends not of the cruell war but of fained peace not of the open dammage but of the priuie perill How manie haue we seene whom the mishaps of fortune could neuer change and yet afterward hauing no care she hath made them fall Asignorance is the cruell scourge of vertues and spur to all vice so it chanceth oftentimes that ouer-much knowledge putteth wise men in doubt and slandereth the innocent forasmuch as we see by experience the most presumptuous in wisedome are those which fal into most perilous vices The end why men ought to studie is to learne to liue well for there is no truer science in man than to know how to order his life well What profiteth it me to know much if
gaue vnto man was to know and be able to speake for otherwise the soule reserued the brute beasts are of more valew than dombe men Pythagoras commanded that all men which are dombe and without speech should immediatly and without cōtradiction be banished and expulsed from the people and the cause why he commāded this was that he said that the toong is mooued by the motions of the soule and that he which had no toong had no soule The toong which is noble ought to publish the goodnes of the good to the end that all know it the frailnes of the wicked ought to be dissembled and kept secret that it be not followed If the body of a man without the soule is little regarded I sweare vnto thee that the toong of a man without truth is much lesse esteemed As the sword pierceth the body so the toong destroieth the renowme There are many which are of a goodly toong and wicked life Wise men ought to feare more the infamie of the litle pen than the slander of the babling toong All corporall members in a man waxeth olde sauing the inward hart and outward toong for the hart is always greene to beare the fruit of euil and the toong always fruitfull to tell lies Time THere is nothing needeth more circumspection than the measuring of Time for that Time should be measured so iustly that by reason no Time should want to do well nor any time abound to doe euill That time may be accounted lost which is spent without the seruice of God or profite of our neighbor Time in all things bringeth such change and alteration that those we haue once seen to be great lords within a while after we haue seene slaues Deceiue not your selfe to say there is time for all amendement for time is in the hand of God to dispose Warres IN time of war princes cannot reforme vices nor correct the vicious They which mooue war or intreat it ought to consider that if it come not well to passe all the blame shall be imputed to their counsell and if his substance be not able presently to recompence the losse let him assure himselfe that his soule hereafter shall endure the paine In examining of histories we shall finde more defamed for beginning of wars than renowmed for vanquishing of their enimies In wars they do naught else but kill men spoile the people destroy innocents giue libertie to theeues seperate friendes raise strife all which cannot be done without hinderaunce of iustice and scrupulositie of conscience Before wars be begun it would be considered what losse and what profite may ensue None are fit for the wars but such as little esteeme their liues and much lesse their consciences If war were onely the euil against the euill there were no thought nor care to be taken but where honor fame glory and riches are taken prisoners it is a lamentable matter that so many wise good and vertuous be lost Iust war is more woorth than fained peace for looke how much his enimie offendeth for taking it so much he offendeth his common wealth for not defending it Women in times past were led to the wars to dresse meate for the whole and to cure the wounded but now to the end that cowards should haue occasions to be effeminate and the valiant to be vicious Men which in peace seeme most fierce in time of war shew themselues most cowards and likewise men full of words are for the most part cowards in deeds Women ANd sith God hath commanded and our face doth permit that the life of men can not passe without women I aduise the youth and beseech the aged I awake the wise and instruct the simple to shunne women of euill name more than the common pestilence Shee that will be accounted honest let hir not trust to the wisedome of the wise nor commit hir fame to the wanton youth let her take heede what he is that promiseth ought for after that the flames of Venus is set on fire and Cupid shot his arrowes the rich offereth all that he hath and the poore all that he may the wise man will be for euer hir friend and the simple man for euer hir seruant the wise man will loose his life for hir and the simple man will accept his death for hir It is great perill to wise women to be neighbored with fooles great perill to the shamefast to be with the shamlesse great peril to the chaste to be with the adulterers for the honorable to be with the defamed there is no slandered woman but thinketh euery one like hirselfe or at least desireth so procureth so and saieth so in the ende to hide their infamie they slander the good Diuers things ought to be borne in the weakenes of women which in the wisedome of men are not permitted I know not what iustice this is that they kill men for robbing and stealing of money and suffer women to liue that steale mens harts Women haue more neede of remedie than of good counsell The beautie of women setteth strangers on desire and putteth neighbours on suspection to great men it giueth feare to meane men ennie to the parents infamy to themselues perill with great paine it is kept that is desired of manie The most laudable and holy company in this life is of the man and woman especially if the woman be vertuous the wife withdraweth all the sorrowes from the hart of hir husbande and accomplisheth his desires whereby he liueth at rest A man of vnderstanding ought not to keepe his wife so short that she should seeme to be his seruant nor yet to giue hir so much libertie that she becommeth therby his mistres The good wife may be compared to the phesant whose feathers we little esteeme and regarde much the bodie but the euill woman to the Marterne whose skinne we greatly account of and vtterly despise the bodie The complexion of women with childe is very delicate and the soule of the creature is very precious and therefore it ought with great diligence to be preserued for all the treasure of the Indies is not so pretious or in value equal to that which the woman beareth in hir bowels when a man planteth a vineyarde foorthwith he maketh a ditch or some fence about it to the end beasts should not crop it while it is yoong nor that trauellers should gather the grapes when they are ripe if the laborer to get a little wine onely which for the bodie and soule is not alwaies profitable doth this how much more circumspection ought the woman to haue to preserue hir childe since she shall render account vnto the creator of a creature vnto the church of a christian vnto hir husband of a childe The birds when they haue hatched hauing but six little ones haue neither milke to nourish them nor corne to giue them neither haue they
wings to flie nor feathers to couer them nor any other thing to defende them and yet the mother in all this weaknes and pouertie forsaketh them not nor committeth them to any other but bringeth them vp hir-selfe how much more ought a christian woman to nourish and bring vp that with hir breasts which she once carried in hir wombe rather than commit it into the handes of another woman who bicause she bare it not can not haue the like tender care ouer it Children are neuer so wel beloued of their mothers as when they be nourished of their owne brests If women for excuse should say that they are weake tender and that they haue found a good nurse I answer that the nurse hath small loue to the childe which she nurseth when she seeth the vngentlenes of the mother that bare it for she alone doth nourish the childe with loue which did beare it with paine Aristotle saith that a childe at the most ought to sucke but two yeeres and at the least one yeere and a halfe for if he sucke lesse he is in danger to be sicke and if he sucke more he shall be alwaies tender All women are bounde to loue their husbandes since that willingly and not by compulsion they were not enforced to take them In like maner if the marriage please not the woman she hath not so much cause to complaine of hir husbande for asking hir as she hath reason to mislike with hirselfe that accepted him The wife to serue hir husband in his life time proceedeth oftentimes of fear but to loue him and honor him in his graue proceedeth of loue A woman cannot say euill of hir husband but she doth witnes dishonor to hirselfe I would counsell women not to presume to command their husbands and admonish husbands not to suffer themselues to be ruled by their wiues for in so doing I account it no otherwise than to eate with the feete and trauell with the hands to go with their fingers and to feed themselues with their toes There is an olde disease that happeneth to beautifull women that there be manie that defie them and mo that slander them It little auaileth man and wife that their goods be common and their wils priuate for if the man and wife in loue doe differ in their liues they shall neuer be quiet The want of magnanimitie in the female sexe is supplied with the excellencie of quicke conceite and inuention The reason why women for the more part exceed men in beautie and good complexion is for that they are an effect of a pure cause namely of man a creature polished and not formed as man immediately out of grosse earth After the creation of the worlde and mankind God preferred the companie of a woman as a comfort vnto man exceeding all others Good workes THey that be old and ancient ought to praise their good workes rather than their white haires for honor ought to be giuen for the good life and not for the white head To praise vertuous workes we greatly desire but to put them in vre we are very slow If I haue committed any euill it is impossible to find any that will do me good but if I haue done well no man shall be able to do me wrong Men are not bound to iudge others by the good nature they haue but by the good and euill workes which they do That man is perfite who in his own opinion deserueth not that he hath and in the opinion of an other deserueth much more than that he possesseth The vertuous ought to conforme their works to that they say and publish their words with their deeds There is nothing more infamous than to presume to be wise and desirous to be counted vertuous chiefly for him that speaketh much and worketh little Our euil worke sufficeth to deface many good works The world and worldly prosperitie THe prosperous estate whereupon the children of vanitie are set are founded of quicke sande in that sort that be they neuer so valiant prosperous and mightie a little blast of wind doth stirre them a litle calme of prosperitie doth open them sodenly death doth confound them Men seeing that they cannot be perpetual do procure to continue themselues in raising vp proud buildings leauing to their children great estates wherin I account them fooles no lesse than in things superfluous Admit the pillars be of gold the beames of siluer that those that ioyne them be kings and those which build them are nobles in which they consume a thousand yeers before they can haue it out of the ground or come to the bottom I sweare they shall find no steadie rocke where they may build their house sure not cause their memory to be perpetuall If men knew the world with his deceit why doe they serue him if they do not why do they follow him The world hath this condition to hide much copper vnder a litle gold vnder the color of one truth he telleth vs a thousand lies and with one short pleasure he mingleth ten thousand and displeasures Would ye not take the thiefe for a foole that would buy the rope wherewith he should be hanged and the murtherer the sword wherwith he should be beheaded and the traitor that should offer himselfe in place for to be quartered the rebell that should disclose himselfe to be stoned than are they I sweare more fooles that know the world and will follow it The ancients in times past did striue which of them could furnish most men haue most weapons and keep most horses but now a days they contend who hath the finest wit who can heape vp greatest treasure and who can keep most sheep They striued who should keep most men but in these days who can haue most reuenues Now it is so that one hauing mony to buy a lordship immediately he is made a knight and when he is made knight it is not to fight against the enimies in the field but more freely to commit vices and oppresse the poore at home What profiteth vs to desire much to procure much to attaine to much sith our days are so briefe and our person so fraile Men are deceiued that thinke that temporall goods shall remaine with them during life I see no greater mishaps to fall to any than vnto them which haue the greatest riches so that we may boldly say that he alone which is shut in the graue is in safegard from the inconstancie of fortune The earth is cold and drie the water cold and moist the aire hote and moist the fire hote and dry The wicked world is the euill life of the worldlings where the earth is the desire fire the couetice water the inconstancie aire the folly the stones are the pride the flowers of trees the thoughts the deep sea the hart The worldlings and their worldly liues are called the world for sinnes they be called the