swéet showers of Raine we shall find that there falleth much Haile But with reuerence now I craue pardon of all vertuous Women that with patience I may discouer my intent and that my presumption may not gaine the least frowne from their chast browes for to the vicious I speake and not to them whose breasts harbours the liberall Fountaine of vertue and wisdome The Athenians being a people much cōmended for their prudence and wisedome séeing that Husbands and Wiues could not agrée because of an infinite number of dissensions that chanced betweene them were constrained to ordaine certaine Magistrates in their Countrey whom they called Reconcilers of married ones the office of whom was to set agreement betweene the husband and the wife The Spartanes and Romanes had also such like Lawes and orders amongst them so great was the insolence and rashnes of some women towards their husbands In this age there are but few I thinke can beare patiently the charges of marriage or can endure the vnbridled rage of some women and to speake truth without flattery if thou takest her rich thou makest thy selfe a bondslaue for thinking to marry thine equall thou marriest a commanding Mistresse If thou takest her foule thou canst not loue her If thou takest her faire it is an Image at thy gate to bring thée company Beauty is a Tower that is assayled of all the world therefore it is a hard thing to kéep that where euery one séeketh to haue the key Then this is the conclusion Riches causes a woman to be proud Beauty maketh her suspected and hard fauour causeth her to be hated Therefore Hyponactes hauing tasted the martyrdomes of marriage sayed that there was but two good dayes in all the life of marriage Whereof the one was the wedding day vpon which is made good chéere the Bride fresh and faire and of all pleasures the beginning is most delectable The other good day is when the woman dieth for then the husband is out of bondage and thraldome Yet for all this a woman is to man a necessary euill and one whom he cannot well liue without Seeing that there is nothing more harder to find in this world than a good Woman a good Mule and a good Goate who are three vnhappy Beasts And to conclude there is nothing more lighter than a womans tongue vnbridled more piercing than her outragious words more to be feared than her boldnesse more cruell than her malice nor more dangerous than her fury Besides many other hurtfull discommodities of their huswiferie which for this time I passe ouer and so returne to our former discourse CHHP. VIIJ. Of the worlds generall misery and the vices of all sorts in the Communalty OF all the miseries that hapneth to man in this Pilgrimage of woe these hereafter following are the greatest Of which Nature her selfe hath complained vnto God who saith that man for euery Uice hath a cloake of Uertue to couer it as for example those that wound and kill one another we call them hardy and strong and we say that they haue a regard to honour and therefore deserue commendation They that violate Women and rauish Uirgins we call that bearing of loue Those that are proud and seeke by all vnlawfull meanes to climbe vp to high Dignities we call them honourable graue and men of ripe iudgement Those that are couetous and beguile their neighbours by crafty subtilties and inuentions and so in short time become rich those they call good husbands and men that will séeke to liue besides many other vices which are shadowed vnder the mantle of Uertue the which is one principall cause that so many miseries do fal vpon the world and to speake truth the whole earth is drowned in sinne that it séemeth to be the sinke wherein all the wickednesse of the former age hath béen emptied Who euer saw the sin of Couetousnesse more déeper rooted in the world than at this present day for all the Cities Prouinces and Kingdomes of the earth be very shops and storehouses of Couetousnesse and Auarice this is the world which the Prophets did foreshew that men ioyne house to house and land to land as though themselues would alone dwell vpon the earth Couetousnes is the wel spring of miseries for from thence procéedes warre and destruction and the great effusion of blood with the which the earth is ouerflowne from Couetousnes procéed Murders Treasons Thefts Usuries Forswearings the corruption of Witnesses and peruerting of Iudgements From Couetousnesse the tedious delayes in Law and lingering of sutes do procéed and to be short from thence commeth all wickednesse This grieuous sinne is growne so familiar amongst men that many liue without mercy in such sort that now we may see the stréetes full of poore Beggars naked and clad with pouerty with an infinite number of banished women driuen out of their Countries bearing their children in their armes wanting that which couetous men hoord vp with such cares that they make it their God and will rather let a poore body dye at their gates than refresh him with food Therefore let vs now leaue these wicked men Idolaters of their treasures with the couetous rich man mentioned in the holy Scripture and speake of an other vice which is called Enuy the malady wherewith many mindes in this new world is grieuously afflicted The time is now come that the whole earth is nothing but a very place of the Enuious a vice which is the oldest of all vices hath bin vsed in the worlds infancy the experience thereof was approued in the first age of Adam and the Serpent in Abel and Cain in Iacob and Esau in Ioseph and his brethren in Saul and Dauid in Hammon and Mardocheus the which pursued not one another for their riches but for the enuy that the one bore to the other But all this is nothing to the Enuy which is vsed amongst men at this day which wicked Uice not only reigneth amongst the common sort but also amongst the higher for when they are mounted to the top of Fortunes whéele and thinke peaceably to enioy the fauour of Princes behold sodainely the Enuy of some other conspires against them and causeth them to be disdained cast out of fauor Therefore I thinke there is no other meanes for to auoid Enuy but to auoid dignity and rule the reason is that we are the children of enuy and he that leaueth most goods leaueth most Enuy. For this cause the Elders counselled the Rich that they should not dwell neare the Poore nor the Poore neare the Rich for the one are enuied for their Wealth and the other for their Pouerty Here will we now leaue this grieuous sin of Enuy and a little glaunce at the ambitious Pride that reigneth amongst vs. Who euer saw such excessiue Pride in all estates as we sée at this present whereby we may well name this world a world of glistering Gold of Siluer and Ueluet of Purple of Silke with the
as it did to the Prophet Dauid 2 King 13. 15. whose sinne was punished in his Children which were most of them so wicked that the one of them deflowred his owne sister and the other killed his brother and afterward sought the death of his owne father and chased him out of his kingdome The ancient Philosophers maintained this Argument that all sinnes committed in this world were punished in the world to come except the sinne that man committeth in the bringing vp of his Children and for that he suffereth punishment in this world for the Father can giue nothing to his Child but fraile and mortall flesh by the corruption whereof the life taketh end but by good learning knowledge eternall praise and memory is gotten Therefore to conclude if that Children haue béen in great misery being nourished with spotted milke yet the misery doubleth in those that should cause them to be instructed for the food of the body is more vile than the food of the soule But now when he is come to the seuenth yeare of his age it behooueth his Parents to haue Tutors and Schoole-masters for to instruct him in good learning but growing further into yeeres and comming to his adolescency it is needfull then to haue more rigorous reformers for to tame his wilde youth and to breake him to labour CHHP. IIJ. Of the misery of man being come to his full strength HAuing finished this our second discourse Man is growne to his full perfection both of strength and discretion in which time hee entereth into déeper cogitations and trauell in the spirit It is requisite therefore that he frequent publike places that he haunt the company of those that are as touchstones for to know the good from euill If he be come of a great and a noble stocke he must make many enterprises of warre put himselfe in perils hazard his life and shed his blood for to die in the bed of Honour or else he shall be reputed a dastardly coward and vtterly despised of all men If he be of bare estate and that he be called to the knowledge of Arts Sciences and néedfull Trades yet for all that he runneth into a thousand dangers trauels paines and troubles as well of the body as of the soule he toyleth day and night and sweateth water and blood to get a maintenance during his life and oftentimes it is seene that what paines soeuer man taketh for his liuing yet it is scant sufficient to serue his necessity It is not therefore without cause that Marcus Aurelius was wont to say when he considered the misery of mankind I mused in my mind sayd he whether there might be found in any age a man that could vaunt that he neuer in al his life-life-time tasted aduersity and assuredly if there might be such a one found hée would be such a fearefull monster vpon the earth that all liuing things would be amazed to behold him Then he concluded after this sort saying And in the end I found mine owne thoughts true for he that was yesterday rich was to day poore He that was yesterday in health was to day sicke He that laughed yesterday to day did weepe He that was yesterday in prosperity was to day in aduersity and he that was yesterday aliue was to day dead But let vs now returne to our former matter and set down our Discourses in order What liuing man is he in all the world that hath giuen himselfe to any Science or otherwise to liue but that at one time or other he disliketh of his owne profession and is weary thereof And for the better vnderstanding of the same we will particularly discourse the miseries and troublesome liues of all the principall Estates liuing vpon the bosome of the sinfull earth CHAP. IV. Of the misery of wicked Kings Princes and Monarches SEarching into all estates of men wée shall finde that Fortune aboue all other mortall creatures hath prouided for Kings most liberally for what maketh man more happy in this world than goods honours dignities and rule licence to doe good or euill without controulement power to exercise liberality and all kind of pleasure as well of the body as of the mind all that may be wished for to the contentation of man either in varietie of meats magnificence in seruice or in vestures to raise at their pleasure the meanest man to high place and with a frowne disgrace the mightiest All which continually is at a Princes command there is nothing that may please the memory or flatter the desires of the flesh but is prepared for them euen from their cradles onely to make their liues more happy and full of felicity But now if wée iudge of their liues vprightly and waigh them in a true ballance wée shall finde that the selfe same things which makes them happy in this world are the very instruments of vice and the cause of greater sorrowes For what auaileth their costly ornaments honourable seruices and delicate meats when that they are in continuall feare to be poysoned wrong seduced and often beguiled by their seruitours Haue we not had experience therof many times Doth not Histories report that some Princes haue bin poysoned with Papers and with the smoake of Torches Wée may reade likewise of certaine Emperors that dust not lye downe to rest in the night before they had caused their Beds to be lyen on and all the corners of their Chambers to bee searched least they should be strangled or murthered in their sléepes Others that would not permit any Barbers to touch their faces for feare that in trimming of their heads or beards they would cut their throats And yet to this day they are in such feare that they dare not put meate in their mouthes before their Taster haue tasted thereof What felicity can a King or Prince haue that hath many thousands of men vnder their gouernments when hee must watch for all heare the complaints and cryes of euery one procure euery mans safegard prouoke some to do well by liberall gifts and others by terrour and feare Hée must nourish peace amongst his Subiects and defend his Realme against the inuasion of forraine enemies besides many other calamities that are depending vpon a Regall crowne But now touching the vnhappy states of wicked Princes vnto whom thrée kindes of people are most agréeable and familiar The first are Flatterers which bée the chiefe enemies to all Uertue and they that impoyson their soules with a poyson so pestiferous that it is contagious to all the world their Princes folly they call Prudence their cruelty Iustice their Letchery Wantonnesse their Fornications Pleasures and Pastimes if they bee couetous they call it good Husbandry if they bee prodigall they call it Liberality So that there is no vice in a Prince but they cloake it vnder the shadow of some Uertue The second sort are such who neuer rest night but that in the morning they bring in some new inuention or other how to
that the life of a Iudge or Magistrate be sincere and vertuous for as he iudgeth openly so shall he be iudged of the people seuerally not only in matters of waight and importance but in those of small consequence For alwayes the rude people will find somewhat to reforme as the Lacedemonians murmured at their Law-maker Licurgus for that he went alwayes holding downe his head The Venetians defamed wise Cato in his eating and accounted Pompeius vnciuill for that he would scratch with one finger onely Yet these are but few in comparison of other good men that the common sort haue persecuted banished and in the end put to death If that great Oratour Demosthenes were aliue he could say some what who after hée had a long time béene a iust and faithfull Gouernour of the Common-wealth of Athens was in the end without cause vniustly banished Moses and many other holy men haue so many times tasted the fury of the common people that if they were this day liuing they would powre out most grieuous complaints against them Now we haue shewed and set foorth the miseries that procéed from common people so must we in like sort put into the ballance the errours and corruptions that are found in wicked Iudges Of the which sort some are corrupted with Feare for such feare they haue that rather than they will displease a Prince or a great Lord they wil violate iustice like Pilate that condemned Christ for feare that he had to displease the Emperour Tiberius Other Magistrates are corrupted by Loue as was Herod who for to please the foolish loue of a Damsell that danced condemned to death Saint Iohn Baptist although he knew he was iust and innocent Some are many times corrupted by hatred as was the chiefe Priest that condemned Saint Paul to be stoned to death though he deserued it not Some Magistrates are corrupted by Siluer and Gold and other Gifts and Presents as were the children of the Prophet Samuel and this disease is so contagious that I feare at this day many are infected with it They all loue Rewards saith the Prophet they all séeke for Gifts they doe not right to the Orphane and the Widdowes complaint commeth not before them And in an other place Woe be to you that are corrupted by Money by hatred or loue and which iudge the good to be euill and the euill good making the light darkenesse and the darkenesse light Woe be to you that haue not respect to the deserts of things but to the deserts of men that regard not equitie but gifts that are giuen that regard not Iustice but Money You are diligent in rich mens causes but you deferre the cause of the poore You are to them most cruell and rigorous Iudges but vnto the rich kind and tractable The Prophet Ieremy cryeth out against wicked Iudges and saith They are magnified and become rich they haue left the Orphanes and haue not done iustice for the poore Shall not I therefore punish these things saith the Lord and my soule take vengeance on such manner of people Heare also the sentence that Saint Iames pronounceth against them at the day of Iudgment You haue condemned and killed the iust you haue liued in wantonnesse in this world and taken your ease now therefore saith the Lord of Hoasts wéepe and howle in your wretchednesse that shall come vpon you your garments are moatheaten your gold and siluer is cankred and the rust thereof shall be a witnesse against you and it shall eate your flesh as it were fire for the complaints of the poore are ascended vp to my Throne These are the complaints that the Prophets and Apostles made against wicked Iudges and Magistrates and likewise the censures that our good God hath thundred against them And now I will speake of the misery of Marriage with a discourse of the same CHAP. VIJ. Of the praise of Marriage and likewise the miseries that ensue thereon THere is no ioy nor pleasure in the world which may bee compared to Marriage for there is such fellowship between the parties coupled that they seeme two minds to be transformed into one likewise both good fortune and bad is common to both their cares equall and their ioyes equall and to be briefe all things are in common betwéene them two If wee account it pleasure to commit our secrets to our friends and neighbours how much greater is the ioy when we may discouer our thoughts to her that is ioyned to vs by such a knot of affinity that we put as much trust in her as in our selues making her wholly treasurer or faithfull kéeper of the secrets of our minds What greater witnesse of feruent loue and vndissoluble amity can there be than to forsake father mother sister and brother and generally all their kindred till they become enemy to themselues for to follow a husband that doth honor and reuerence her and hauing all other things in disdaine she onely cleaueth to him If he be rich she keepeth his goods if he be poore she is companion with him in pouerty if he be in prosperity his felicity is redoubled in her if hee be in aduersity he beareth but the one halfe of the griefe and furthermore she comforteth him assisteth and serueth him If a man will remaine solitary in his house his wife keepeth him company if he will goe into the fields she conducteth him with her eye as farre as she can see him she desireth and honoureth him being absent she complaineth and sigheth and wisheth his company being come home he is welcommed and receiued with the best shew and tokens of loue and for to speake truth it séemeth that a wife is a gift from heauen granted to a man as well for the contentation of youth as the rest and solace of age Nature can giue vs but one Father and one Mother but Marriage presenteth many in our children the which doe reuerence and honour vs and are more deare vnto vs than our owne selues for being yong they play prattle laugh and shew vs many pretty toyes they prepare vs an infinit number of pleasures and it séemeth that they are giuen vs by nature to passe away part of our miserable life If we be afflicted with age they shew the duty of children close vp one eyes and bring vs to the earth from whence we came They are our bones our flesh and blood for in séeing them we sée our selues The Father beholding his Children may be well assured that he séeth their liuely youth renued in their faces in whom we are almost regenerate and borne again in such sort that age is most grieuous vnto vs beholding the mirrours and similitudes of our selues the which doth make our memories almost immortall Many are the ioyes and swéet pleasures in marriage which for breuities sake I passe ouer but if we do well consider it and waigh it in a iust ballance we shal find that amongst these Roses are many Thornes growing and amongst these