here engraued rest That only was Camillus daughter deere Twyse twentie yeres and fixe she hath possest A couert lyfe vn touchte of any feere The king of Trinacry could not her moue To tast the swete delight of wedlockes bande Nor trayne by sute her sacred mind to loue â—nclosde in breest so deepe did chastnes stand But oh greate wrong the crawling wormes her do To gnawe on that vnspotted senceles corse That rage of youth spent vndefiled so VVyth sober life in spite of Cupides force And this was written in heroycal verse in the Greeke tongue with a maruelouse haughtie stile But to our mater ye shal vnderstand that the Romaynes kepte a certayne Lawe in the 12. tables the woordes wherof were these We ordeyne and commaund that al the Romaynes shal for euer haue specyall priuiledge in euery such place where theyr auncestoures haue done to the Romayne people any notable seruice For it is reason that where the citizen aduentureth hys lyfe there the citie should do him some honor after hys death By vertue of this lawe all the familie of Camilli euer enioyed the keping of the hyghe Capitoll for that by hys force and pollicye he chased the french men from the siege Truely it is not vnknoweÌ„ that this noble knight and valyant captayne Camille dyd other thynges as great and greater than this but because it was done within the circuite of Rome it was estemed aboue all hys other actes and prowes And herein the Romaynes swarued not farre from reason for that amongest all princelye vertues is estemed to be the chiefest and worthyest whych is employed to the profyt of the comon wealth The Romayne Croniclers wyth teares cease not to lameÌ„t the ruine of their countrye seynge that varietie of tyme the multytude of tyrauntes the crueltye of cyuill warres were occasion that the aunciente state of the Romayn gouernment came to vtter destruction and in steede therof a new and euyl trade of lyfe to be placed And hereof no man ought to maruaile for it chaunseth throughout al realmes and nacions by oft chaunging gouernours that among the people dayly spryngeth sondry new vices Pulio sayth that for no alteracion whych befell to the common weale for no calamitye that euer Rome suffred that priuiledge was taken away from the Image of Camilli I meane the gouernment of the high Capitol except it were in the time of Silla the consul when this familye was soore persecuted for none other cause but for that they fauoured the consull Marius Thys cruel Silla beinge deade and the piteful Iulius Cesar preuailinge al the banyshed men frome Rome returned home agayne to the commonne wealthe As touchinge the auncestours of the Emperoure Marcus Aurelius what hath bene their trade of lyfe estate pouertye or riches standinge infauour or displeasoure what prosperitie or aduersitie they haue had or suffred we fynde not in wrytinges thoughe with greate dilygence they haue bene serched for And the cause hereof was for that the auncient writers of the Romaine histories touched the lyues of the emperours fathers specially when they were made princes more for the good merites that were in the children then for the great estimacioÌ„ that came from the fathers Iulius Capitolinus saith that Annius Verus father of Marcus Aurelius was Pretor of the Rhodian armies and also wardein in other frontiers in the time of Traian the good Adrian the wyse and Antonye the mercifull Whiche Emperours trusted none with theyr armies but discrete and valiaunt men For good princes chose alway suche captaines as can with wisedome guide the armye and with valiauntnes giue the battaile Thoughe the Romaynes had sondrye warres in diuerse places yet chefelye they kept great garrisons alwayes in foure partes of the world That is to saye in Bizance which now is Constantinople to resist the Parthiens in Gades whiche now is called Galiz to withstand the Portugales in the riuer of Rein to defend them selues from the Germaines and at Colosses whiche now is called the I le of Rhodes for to subdue the Barbariens In the moneth of Ianuary when the Senate distributed their offices the dictatoure being appointed for 6. monethes and the. 2. Consulles chosen for one yere incontinently in the .3 place they chose 4. of the most renowmed personnes to defende the sayd 4 daungerous froÌ„tiers For the Romaynes neither feared the paynes of hell nor trusted for reward in heauen but sought by all occasions possible in their life to leaue some notable memory of them after their deathe And that Romaine was counted most valiante of the Senate best fauoured to whom they committed the charge of the moste cruell and daungerous warres For their strife was not to beare rule and to be in office to get mony but to be in the frontiers to ouercome their enemies In what estimacion these 4. frontiers wer we may easely perceiue by that we see the most noble Romaines haue passed som part of their youth in those places as captaines vntill such time that for more weyghtie affaires they were appointed from thense to some other places For at that time there was no worde so greauous and iniurious to a citezin as to saye go thou hast neuer ben brought vp in the warres and to proue the same by examples the great Pompey passed the winter season in Constantinople the aduenturous Scipio in Colonges the couragious Caesar in Gades and the renowmed Marius in Rhodes And these 4. wer not only in the frontiers afore sayde in their youthe but ther they dyd such valiaunt actes that the memory of them remayned euermore after their death These thynges I haue spoken to proue sythe wee fynde that Marcus Aurelius father was captaine of one of those .4 frontiers it followeth that he was a man of singuler wisedome and prowesse For as Scipio sayde to his frende Masinissa in affrike it is not possible for a Romaine captayne to want eyther wisedome or courage for thereunto they were predestined at their birthe We haue no autentike authorities that showeth vs from whence when or howe in what countreis and with what personnes this captaine passed his youth And the cause is for that the Romain Croniclers wer not accustomed to write the thynges done by their prince before they were created but only the actes of yonge men whiche from their youth had their hartes stoutlye bent to great aduenturs And in my opinion it is wel done For it is greater honor to obteine an empire by policie wisedom then to haue it by discent so that ther be no tirannie Suetonius Tranquillus in his first boke of Emperours counteth at large the aduenturous enterprises taken in hand by Iulius Caesar in his yong age how farre vnlikely they wer from thought that he should euer obtayne the Roman Empiree writing this to shew vnto princes how earnestlye Iulius Cesars harte was bent to winne the Romayne Monarchie and likewise how wisdom fayled him in behauing him selfe therein A philosopher of Rome wrote to Phalaris
better eyther hee will fynd the means to make his case very dark or at least hee will prolong his suite as long as it please It skilleth not much whether the iudges bee old or yong men for both wyth the one and the other the poore playntife hath enough to doo If they bee old men a man shall trauell long ere hee will heare his cause If they bee yong men hee shall wayt long also ere hee can informe them of the very poynts of his case An other great discommodity yet foloweth these old Iudges that beeing euer sickly and of weak nature they neuer haue strength nor tyme in maner to examyn their cases And as those that haue lost now a great peece of their memory only trusting in forepassed expences they presume to dispatch their sutes as lyghtly without further looking into them or throughly examining them as if they had already aduisedly studyed them And peraduenture their case is of such importaunce that if they had looked vppon it very well they coold scantly haue told what to haue said in it And I woold not that when my case shoold bee determined and iudgement geeuen vppon my matter that the Iudge shoold benefit him self only with that hee had seene or read beefore For although experience bee a great help for the Iudge to geeue the better Iudgement vppon the matter yet notwithstanding hee is to study a new to vnderstand the merits of the cause It is also a great trouble and daungerous for a man to practise wyth new Iudges and to putt their matters into their hands who only were called to the place of a Iudge beeing thought learned and fitt for yt and so brought to rule as a magistrate For many tymes these yong Iudges and new phisitians although they want not possibly knowledge yet they may lacke a great deal of practyse and experience which is cause that the one sort maketh many lose their lyues beefore they come to ryse infame and the other vndoo many a man in making him spend all that euer hee hath There is yet besydes an other apparaunt daunger to haue to doo wyth these new and yong experienced iudges for when they come to sit newly in iudgement with their other brethren the Iudges hauyng the law in theyr mouth to serue all turnes they doo but only desire and study to wynne fame and reputation amongst men and thereby to bee the better reputed of hys brethren And for this cause only when they are assembled together in place of iustyce to geeue iudgement of the plees layd beefore them they doo then only enlarge them selues in alleging many and dyuers oppinions of great learned men and booke cases So that the heerers of them may rather think they haue studyed to shew their eloquence and learning then to open the decision and iudgement of the cases they haue beefore them And for fynall resolution I say that touching plees and sutes I am of oppinion they shoold neyther trust the experience of the old Iudge nor the learnyng and knowledge of the yong But rather I recken that man wyse that seeketh by lyttle and lyttle to grow to an honest end and agrement wyth hys aduersary and that taryeth not many yeares to haue a long yea and possible an vncertain end Also I woold exhort the poore pleyntyfe not to bee ouer curious to vnderstand the qualityes of the Iudge as a man woold say If hee bee old or yong yf hee bee learned or priuileged yf hee bee well studyed or but little yf hee bee a man of few or many woords yf hee bee affected or passioned tractable or self willed for possibly beeyng to inquisitiue to demaund of any of these thyngs it myght happen though hee dyd it vnwarrs yet hee shoold fynd them afterwards all heaped togeethers in the parson of the Iudge to hys hynderance damage in decydyng his cause The wise suter shoold not only not seeke to bee inquisitiue of the Iudge or his condicions but also if any mā woold seme to tel him of him hee shoold geeue no eare to him at all For if it come to the iudges ears hee inquireth after his maner of lyuing and condition hee will not only bee angry with him in hys mynd but wil bee also vnwillyng to geeue iudgement in his fauor The poor suter shall also meete with terrible iudges seuere intractable collerick incommunicable and inexorable and yet for all this hee may not looke vppon his nature nor condicion but only regard his good conscience For what neede hee care if the Iudge bee of seuere and sharp condicion as long as hee may bee assertained hee is of good conscience It is as needefull for the vpright and good Iudge to haue a good and pure conscience as it is to haue a skylfull head and iudgement in the lawes For if hee haue this without the other hee may offend in mallyce and if hee haue that without the other hee may offend also in ygnoraunce And if the suter come to speak wyth the Iudge and hee by chaunce fynd him a sleepe hee must tarry tyll hee awake and yf then hee will not or hee cannot geeue eare vnto him hee must bee contented And yf hee caused his man to say hee were not within notwythstanding the suter saw him hee must dissemble yt yea if the seruaunts geeue him an yll aunswer hee must take it in good woorthe For the ware and politike suter must not bee offended at any thyng that is doon or sayd to hym tyll hee see the diffinitiue sentence geeuen with him or against him It is a maruelous trouble also to the suter to choose his Counseller For many tymes hee shall choose one that shall want both law and conscience And some others shall choose one that though on the one syde hee lack not law yet on the other hee shal bee without both soule and conscience And this is apparantly seene that sometyme for the gayn of twenty nobles hee shall as willingly deny the troth and goe against his own conscience as at an other tyme hee will seeke to mayntain Iustice It is true there are many other counsellers also that are both wise and learned and yet notwithstandyng they know the law they can by no means frame it to his clyents case wanting deuyse and conueyaunce to ioyn them togeether And so yt happeneth many tymes that to compare it to his clyants case hee conueyth him so vnfitly as of a playn case it was beefore it is now made altogeether a fold of infinite doubts I graunt it is a great furtheraunce to the clyants to haue a good wise counseller but it is a great deale more for their profit yf they can geeue a sound and profound iudgement of his case For yt is not enough for the counseller to bee able to expound the law but it is beehouefull for him to apply yt to hys purpose and to apt it to tyme and place accordyng to the necessity of his cause
after their death were changed into gods the wycked into deuils whych thing the Auctoure proueth by soundry examples Cap. x. ALthough the common opinion of the simple people was that ther were many gods yet not withstandinge al the Phylosophers affyrmed that ther was but one God who of some was named Iupiter the whiche was chiefe aboue al other gods Others called him the first intelligence for that he had created al the world Others called him the first cause because he was the beginner of all things It semeth that Aristotle vnderstode this thinge and was of this opinion forasmuch as he sayth in his .12 booke of his metaphisickes All superiour and inferiour thinges wold be well ordered and many thinges muche better by tharbitrement of one then by the aduice of many Marcus Varro in hys booke De theologia mistica Tullius in hys booke De natura Deorum although these were gentyles and curious enoughe of the Temples yet they do mocke the gentiles whych beleued ther were manye gods that Mars Mâ—rcury and lykewyse Iupiter the whole flocke of gods which the gentyles set vp wer al mortal men as we are But because they knew not that ther wer good nor bad angels nor knew not that ther was any paradise to reward the good nor hel to torment the euil They held thys opinion that the good men after their death wer gods and the euyl men deuils And not contented with these folysh abuses the deuil brought them into such an errour that they thought it consisted in the Senates power to make some gods and other deuils For when ther dyed at Rome any Emperour if he had bene wel willed of the Senate immediatly he was honoured for a god and if he died in dyspleasure of the Senate he was condemned for a deuyl And to the end we do not speake by fauour but by writting Herodian sayth that Faustine was the doughter of Antonius Pius wife of Marcus Aurelius which wer Emperours the one after the other And truly ther wer few eyther of their predecessours or of their successours which wer so good as they wer and in myne opinion more better therfore was she made a goddesse and her father a god An Emperour that coueteth perpetual memory must note 5. thinges which he should haue in his life That is to saye pure in lyfe vpright in iustice aduenturous in feates of armes excellent in knowledge and welbeloued in his prouinces which vertues were in these 2. excellente Emperors This Empresse Faustine was passing fayre and the wrytters praise her beauty in such sorte that they sayde it was vnpossible for her to be so beautiful but that the gods had placed som deuine thing in her Yet not with standing this added therunto it is doubtful whether the beauty of her face was more praysed then the dishonestie of her lyfe discommended For her beauty maruelously amazed those that saw her her dishonesty offended them moch that knew her Yet after the Emperour Marcus Aurèlius had triumphed ouer the Parthians as he went visitinge the prouinces of Asia the goodlye Faustine in 4. daies dyed in the mounte Taurus by occasion of a burnynge feuer and so annealed was caried to Rome And since she was the daughter of so good a father and wife of so dearely beloued an Emperour amonges the Gods she was canonyzed but consideringe her vnconstant or rather incontinent lief it was neuer thought that the Romaines would haue done her so much honor Wherfore the Emperour reioysed so much that he neuer ceased to render thankes vnto the Senate For truely the benefite ought to be acceptable to him that receiueth it especially whan it commeth vnloked for The contrary came to the death of Tiberius third Emperour of Rome which was not only killed and drawen throughe the streates by the Romans but also the priestes of all the Temples assembled together and openly prayed vnto the gods that they would not receiue him to them and prayed to the infernal furyes that greauously they would torment him sayinge it is iustly required that the Tirant which dispraiseth the life of the good in his life should haue no place amoÌ„gest the good after his death Leauing the common opinion of the rude people whiche in the olde time had no knowledge of the true god declaring the opinion of Aristole which called god the first cause the opinion of the Stoickes which called him the firste intelligeÌ„ce and the opinion of Cicero which vnder the colour of Iupiter putteth none other god but him I saye and confesse according to the religion of christian faith there is but one only God which is the creatour of heauen and earth whose excellency and puissaunt maiestie is litle to that our tong can speake For our vnderstaÌ„ding can not vnderstand nor our iudgemeÌ„t can determine neither our memory can comprehende and much lesse our tonge can declare it That which princes and other faithful ought to beleue of god is that they ought to know god to be almighty and incomparable a god immortall incorruptible immouable great omnipotent a perfite and sempiternall God for all mans power is nothing in respecte of his diuine maiesty I saye that our lord god is the onely hyghe god that if the creature hath any good it is but a meane good For a man comparing wel the good which he possesseth to the misery and calamitie whiche persecute him with out doubte the euill which foloweth him is greater then the good which accompanieth him Also our god is immortall and eternall which like as he had no beginning so shall he neuer haue ending And the contrarye is to the miserable man which if some see him borne others see him dye For the byrth of the children is but a memory of the graue to the aged Also God onely is vncorruptible the which in his beyng hath nother corruption nor diminution but al mortall men suffer corruption in their soules throughe vyce and in their bodyes through wormes for in the end no man is priuileged but that hys bodye is subiecte to corruption and hys soule to be saued or damned Also God is no chaungelyng and in this case thoughe he chaungeth his worke yet he chaungeth not his eternall counsayle But in men it is all contrarye for they oftetimes beginne their busynes with grauitye and afterward chaung theyr counseill at a better tyme and leaue it lyghtlye I haue now shewed you that God only is incomprehensible the maiestie of whom can not be attained nor his wisedome vnderstanded which thing is aboue mans intelligence For there is no man so sage nor profound but that an other in an other tyme is as sage and profound as he Also God onely is omnipotent for that he hath power not only ouer the lyuinge but also ouer the dead not onely ouer the good but also ouer the euill For the man which doth not feele his mercy to giue him glory he wil make him feele his
but also before them he did dishonour hym and shame him to his power whiche thinge made him vtterly to dispaire For there is nothing that spiteth a man more then to haue before hys enemies any iniurie or dishonoure done vnto him of his superiour The empresse Sophia therfore deserued great reproche for speakinge suche dishonest wordes to Narsetes to send him to thread the nedels in that occupacion where the damsels wrought For it is the duty of a noble princesse to mitigate the ire of Princes when they are angry and not to prouoke them further to anger Narsetes then alwaies dowting the empresse Sophia neuer after retourned into Naples where she was but rather came from Naples to Rome a yeare before the Lumbardes came into Italy where he receiued all the sacramentes and like a deuout ChristiaÌ„ dyed His body was caried to Alexandria in a coffine of siluer al sette with precious stones and ther was buried And a man cannot tel whither the displeasour were greater that all Asia had not to see Narsetes aliue or the pleasour that Sophia had to see him deade For the vnpacient hart especially of a woman hath no rest vntill she see her enemye dead ¶ Of a letter the Emperour Marcus Aurelius sente to the Kynge of Scicile in which he recordeth the trauailes they endured togethers in their youth and reproueth him of his small reuerence towardes the temples Chapter xvii MArcus Aurelius sole Emperour of Rome borne in mouÌ„te Celio called the old tribune wisheth health and long lyfe to the Gorbin Lord kynge of Sicile As it is the custome of the Romaine Emperoures the firste yeare of my reigne I wrate generallye to all that I le the seconde yeare I wrate generallye vnto thy courte and palace and at this presente I write more particulerlye to thy parsone And although that Princes haue greate Realmes yet they ought not therfore to cease to coÌ„municate with their old frendes Since I toke my penne to write vnto the I stayed my hande a great while from writing and it was not for that I was slouthfull but because I was a shamed to see all Rome offended with the. I let the to weâ—e most excellent prince that in this I say I am thy true frend for in my hart I fele thy trouble and so sayd Euripides that whiche with the harte is loued with the hart is lamented But before I shew thee the cause of my writing I will reduce into thy memory some thinges past of our youth and therby we shall see what we were then and what we are now for no man dothe so muche reioyce of his prosperitie present as he whiche calleth to minde his miseries past Thou shalt call to minde most excellent Prince that we two togethers did learne to reade in Capua and after we studyed a litle in Tarentum and from thense we went to Rhodes where I redde Rhethorike and thou hardest philosophie And afterwardes in the ende of x. yeres we went to the warres of Pannonia where I gaue my selfe to musike for the affectioÌ„s of yong men is so variable that daily they would know straunge realmes and chaunge offices And in all those iourneis with the forse of youth the swete company with the pleasaunte communicacion of sciences and with a vaine hope we did dissemble our extreme pouerty which was so great that many times and ofte we desired not that whiche manye had but that litle which to few abounded Doest thou remember that when we sayled by the goulfe Arpin to goe into Helesponte a long and tempestuous torment came vpon vs wherin we were taken of a pirate and for our raunsome he made vs rowe about .ix. monethes in a gally wheras I cannot tell whiche was greater either the wante of bread or the abundaunce of stripes whiche we alwaies endured Hast thou forgotten also that in the citie of Rhodes when we were beseged of Bruerdus puissaunt kyng of Epirotes for the space of fourtene monethes we were tenne withoute eatyng fleshe saue onely .ii. cattes the one whiche we stole and the other whiche we bought remember that thou and I being in Tarent were desired of our host to go to the feast of the great goddesse Diana into the whiche temple none coulde enter that day but those which were new apparelled And to say the trouthe we determined not to go thither thou because thy garmentes were torne and I because my shoes were broken and that bothe the tymes we were sicke in Capua they neuer cured vs by dyet for our dyseases neuer proceded of excesse but of extreame hunger An often times Retropus the phisician for his pleasour spake to vs in the vniuersitie and sayd Alas children you dye not through surfeting and muche eatinge And truly he sayde trouth for the contrey was so dere and our mony so scarse that we did neuer eate vntyl the time we could endure no lenger for famine Dost thou not remember the great famine that was in Capua for the which cause we were in the warre of Alexandria wherin my fleshe dyd tremble remembring the great perilles whiche we passed in the goulfe of Theberynthe What snowes all wynter what extreme heate all sommer what general famine in the fieldes what outragious pestilence amongest the people and worste of all what persecution of straungers and what euill will we had of ours remember also that in the citie of Naples when we made our prayer to the profetesse Flauia she told vs what shoulde become of vs after we lefte our studies She tolde me that I should be an Emperour and sayde that thou shouldest be a kynge To the whiche aunswere we gaue suche credite that we toke it not onelye for a mocke but also for a manifest iniurye And nowe I doe not merueile in that then we bothe marueled wonderfull muche For enuyous fortune practised her power more in pluckyng downe the ryche then in setting vp the poore Beholde excellente Prince the greate power of the goddesse the whele of fortune the variety of times who would haue thought when I hadde my handes all rough and scuruy with rowing in the galley that betwene those handes the scepter of the Romayne Empire should haue ben put who would haue thoughte when I was so sicke for lacke of meat I should euer haue surfited by to muche eating who would haue thought when I could not be satisfied with cattes fleshe that I shoulde haue then glutted with to moch dainty meates who wold haue thought at that time when I left going into the temple because my shoes were broken that another tyme should come when I shoulde ryde triumphyng in chariotes and vppon the shoulders of other menne who woulde haue thought that that which with my eares I hard of the prophetesse in Campagnia I should see here with my eyes in Rome O how many dyd hope at the time we were in Asia to be gouernours of Rome and lords of Sicille which not only fayled of the honour that they desired
the immortall Gods I swere vnto the that I had rather haue bene maried with a Moore of Calde that is so foule then beinge maried as I am with a Romaine being very faier for she is not soo faire and white as my life is wofull and blacke Thou knowest well Faustine that when Drusio spake these wordes I did wype the teares from his eyes and I gaue him a worde in his eare that he should procede no further in this matter for such women ought to be chastened in secrete and afterwardes to be honoured openly O thou art infortunate Faustine and the Gods haue euill deuided with the geuing the bewtye and riches to vndoe thy selfe and denayeng thee the best whiche is wisedome and good condicions to kepe thy honour Oh what euyl lucke commeth vnto a man when God sendeth him a fayer doughter vnlesse furthermore the gods do permyt that she be sage and honest for the woman which is yong folyshe and faier distroyeth the common wealth and defameth al her parentage I say vnto the againe Faustine that the Gods were very cruel against thee since they swallowe the vp by the goulfes wher all the euil perisheth and toke from the all the sayles and owers whereby the good do escape I remained xxxviii yeres vnmaried and these vi yeres only which I haue bene maried me thinketh I haue passed vi hundreth yeres of my life for nothing can be called a tormente but the euyl that man doth suffer that is euyl maried I wil ensuer the of one thinge Faustine that if I had knowen before which now I know and that I had felte that whiche now I fele though the gods had commaunded me and the emperour Adrian my Lord desired me I had not chaunged my pouertie for thy riches neither my rest for thy Empyre but since it is fallen to thine and myne euyl fortune I am contented to speake lytel and to suffer much I haue so muche dissembled with the Faustine that I can no more but I confesse vnto the that no husband doth suffer his wife so much but that he is bound to suffer her more considering that he is a man that she is a woman For the man which willingly goeth into the briers must thinke before to endure the prickes The woman is to bold that doth contend with her husband but the husband is more foole which openly quarrelleth with his wife For if she be good he ought to fauour her to the end she may be better if she be vnhappie he oughte to suffer her to th end she be not worse Trulye when the woman thinketh that her husband taketh her for euil it is a great occasion to make her to be worse for women are so ambitious that those which comonly are euyl wil make vs beleue that they are better then others Beleue me Faustine that if the feare of the gods the infamy of the person and the speach of men do not refraine the woman al the chastisements of the world wil not make her refraine from vyce for all things suffereth chastisemente and correction the woman only except the which must be wonne by intreaty The hart of the man is very noble and that of the woman very delycate bycause for a lytle good he wil geue a great reward and for a great offence he wil geue no punishment Before the wise man marieth let him beware what he doth and when he shall determine to take the companye of a woman he ought to be lyke vnto him that entereth into the warre that determineth with himselfe to suffer al that may happen be it good or euil I do not cal that life a warre without a cause which the euyll maried man leadeth in his house for women do more hurt with their tongues then the enemyes do with their swordes It is a great simplycitie for a wise man to make accompt or esteme the simplycitie of his wife at euery time for if they would marke and take hede to that which their wife doth or sayth I let them know that they shal neuer come to an ende O Faustine if the Romaine woman would alwayes one thing that they would procure one thing that they would be resolued in one thing though it were to our great charges we would haue pleasure to condiscend vnto their desires but what shal we do sinse that which now pleaseth you a while after dipleaseth you that which you aske for in the morning ye wil not haue at none that which you enioye at none days do trouble you in the night that which in the night you loue ye care not for in the morninge that which yesterday ye greatly estemed to day ye asmuch despise If ye desired to see a thing the last yeare this yere ye wil not heare talke of it that which before made you to reioyce doth nowe make you to be sad that which ye were wont and ought to lament at the selfe same thinge a man seeth you laughe Finally ye women are as children which are appeased with an aple and casteth the golde to the earthe not wayeng it I haue dyuers times thought with my selfe if I could say or write any good rule in keping the which I might teach men to be quiet in their house And by my counte I find hauing experimented it also with the Faustine that it is vnpossible to geue a rule to maried men and if a man could geue them they should scarcely profite therwith sinse their wiues lyue without rule But notwithstanding that I wil declare some rules how the maried folkes shold kepe themselues in their houses and how they shall if they lyst auoide strifes and debates betwene them For the husbandes and the wiues hauyng warres together it is impossible there should be peace in the common wealth And thoughe this present writynge hath not profited me vnluckey and vnfortunate man yet it may profite others which haue good wyues For oft times the medycen whiche profiteth not for the tender eyes suffiseth to heale the hard heales I know wel Faustine that for that I haue sayd and for that I wil say vnto the thou and others such like shall greatly enuye me Ye will marke the words that I speake more then the intencion that I meane but I protest before the Gods that in this case my end is for none other intent but to aduertise the good wherof there are a great manye and to punyshe the euyl whych are many moe And though perchaunce neyther the one nor the other wil beleue that my intencion in speaking these thinges was good yet therfore I wyl not cease to know the good from the euyl and to choose the euil from the good For in my fantasy the good wife is as the feasaunt whose feathers we lytle esteame and regard much the bodye but the euyll woman is as the Marterne whose skynne we greatly esteme and vtterly despise the fleshe I wil therfore declare the rules wherby the husbands may liue in peace
were more hardy stout then the Romaynes but the Romaynes were more honest pleasaunt and gracious then the Grekes And if this be true I do counsayle princesses and great Ladyes that they haue no more enuye at the honesty of the Matrones of Rome then at the boldnesse of the ladyes of Grecia For women were not borne to sley men in the warre but to spinne sow and liue wel like good housewiues in the house ¶ That women may be no lesse wise then men though they be not it is not through default of nature but for want of good bringing vp Cap. xxviii CEasing to speake ingenerally it is but reason we speake particulerly and that we reduce to memorye some aunciente histories of wise and discrete women aswel Grekes as Romaines and for that these Ladyes seing what others were in tymes past may know what theyr duty is at this present In mine opinion the duty that the meÌ„ of this present haue to folow the corage that the auncients had in fighting the selfe same desire ought womeÌ„ of this present to haue to folow the auncient women in deuout liuing For ther is no good thinge in the world at this present daye but the like hath bene sene of our auncients heretofore When any sodaine new vnacustomed thing doth happen men that neuer saw the like vse to say that there was neuer the lyke in the world yet in dede they say not true For though the thinge be vnto them new it is through their ignoraunce and simplenes whiche neyther haue reade it by them selues nor heard it of others For this excellencye hath the man that is learned that for what so euer he heareth or sayth he is nothing abashed at Since women now a dayes are so ignoraunt that scarcely any of them can reade wel he that shal reade this wil maruaile why I do perswade them to learne But the truth knowen what the auncients were and what they did know from this time forwarde I beleue they woulde greatly reproue the women of this present For the time which the auncient women spent in vertues and studies these of this present consume in pleasures and vyces Boccace in the boke of the praise of women sayth that Lucyus Sylla was a great compagnion of Marius the Consul in the time of the warre of Iugurtha and was no lesse a frend of Caius Cesar in the time of the first ciuill warres My penne neadeth not to be ocupied to write any thing of the life of Sylla For al the historiographers do not only reproue the cruelties which he vsed to his enemyes but also condempne him for the lytle fayth he obserued his frends This Consul Sylla had thre doughters the one of them was named Lelia Sabyna the which of al the Sisters was leste fayre but amongest al the Romaines she was most sagest For she red openly in Rome in a chayre both Greeke and Latyn After the warres of Mithridates Lucius Sylla came to Rome wher he beheaded thre thousand Romaynes which came to salute him although before by his word he had assured them al. And in deade also iustely Lucius Sylla had bene vtterly vndone for his fact if his doughter had not made to the Senate a wise oration For oft times it chaunceth that the wisedome of the good child doth remedy the follye of the wicked-Father The historians say that this Lelya Sabyna had not only a great grace in readyng but also she had much excellency in writing For she wrote many letters and Orations with her owne hand which her Father Lucius Sylla afterwardes learned by hart and as he was in dede quycke of sprite so he vsed to recyte them to the Senate alwaies for his purpose And let no man maruaile hereat for ther are some of so grose vnderstaÌ„ding that that which they write and study they can scarsely vtter and others againe are of such lyuely wyttes that of that onely which they haue heard it seameth meruailous to heare with what eloquence they wil talke Bycause Sylla had such and so excellent a doughter in his house he was esteamed for a sage and wise Councellour throughout al the common wealth He was counted verye absolute in executing strong in mayntaynynge and for right eloquent in speakinge Finally of this came thys auncyente prouerbe which sayth Lucius Sylla gouerneth his owne countreye wyth the eloquence of hys Tongue and is Lorde of straunge nacions by the force of his sworde What the great Plato hath bene and what great aucthoritie he hath had amongest his countrie men and amongest the straungers it is apparent for so much as the Greekes do acknowledge him of al other Philosophers to be the Prince and likewise the Latynes by one consent cal him deuine And me thinketh that in doing this they do no philosopher iniurie for as Plato in his lyfe time had great modestie so truly in his writing he exceaded mans capacitie And Historian called Hyzearchus declareth that Lasterna and Axâ—othea were two Grekes very well learned and amongest the scollers of Plato chiefely renowmed The one was of so parfect a memorie the other of so high an vnderstanding that Plato oft times beinge in the chayre and these two not ready he would not beginne to read And being asked wherfore he read not his lecture he aunswered I wil not read for that ther wanteth here vnderstanding to conceiue and also memorie to retaine Meaning that Lasterna was absent that Axiothe was not yet come The wisedome of those two women ought to be much synce Plato without them woulde not vtter one word vnlesse they were present in his schole For Plato esteamed more the vnderstandyng and memorye of those two women alone then he did the Phylosophy of his other Scollers together Aristippus the philosopher was Scholler to Socrates and of the moste renowmed of Athens He had a doughter called Aretha the which was so wel learned in Greke and Latyn letters that the common renowne said the soule of Socrates was entred into Aretha and the cause that moued them to say this was because she redde and declared the doctrine of Socrates in such wise that it seamed to most men she had rather write by hand then learne by study Boccace in the second boke of the praise of women sayth that this Aretha was so excellent a woman that she did not only learne for her selfe but also to teache others did not only teache in diuers Scholes but also she wrote many and sundry bookes one inespecially in the prayse of Socrates an other of the maner of bringing vppe children an other of the warres of Athens an other of the tyrannical force an other of the common wealth of Socrates an other of the infelicities of womeÌ„ an other of the Tyllage of the auncientes an other of the woÌ„ders of mount Olympus an other of the vaine care of the Sepulcre an other of the prouisioÌ„ of the Antes an other of the workmanshippe of the Bees in
these and many others which ye left aliue ful high in rome are now become wormes meat ful low vnder the yearth death also doth summon me vnto the graue If you my childreÌ„ did consider what shal become of you herafter truly you will thinke it better to weape .1000 yeares with the dead then to laugh one houre with those that be aliue Remembryng that I baâ—e ye in great payne and haue nourished you in great trauell that ye came of my proper intrailles I would haue you as children about me for the confort consolation of my paines But in the end beholdyng the prowesses of those that are paste that bindeth their heires I am coÌ„tent to suffer so long absence your persons only to the end you may get honour in chiualrye For I had rather here tell you should liue like knightes in Afrik theÌ„ to se you vtterly lost here in Rome My childreÌ„ as you are in the warres of Afrike so I doubt not but that you desire to se the pleasurs of rome for ther is no man in this world so happy but at his neyghbours prosperity had som enuy enuie not the vitious nether desier to be amoÌ„g vices for truly vices ar of such a coÌ„dition that they bring not with theÌ„ so much plesure wheÌ„ they com as they leaue sorow behind theÌ„ wheÌ„ they depart for that true delight is not in the pleasure which sodeÌ„ly vanisheth but in the truth which euermore remaineth I thank the immortal gods for all these thinges first for that they made me wise not folish for to a woman it is a small mater to be called so fraile that in dede she be not folish The secoÌ„d I thank the gods bicause in al times of my troubles they haue geueÌ„ me pacieÌ„ce to endure theÌ„ for the maÌ„ only in this lif may be called vnhappy to whom the gods in his troubles hath not giueÌ„ pacience The third I thank the gods for that those .lxv. yeares which I haue liued I neuer hytherto was defamed for the woman by no reason can coÌ„plaine of her fortune if in none of her troubles she hath loste her honour The fourthe I thanke the Gods that in this forty yeres I haue lyued in Rome remained widow ther was neuer man nor woman the contended with me for since we women profite litle the commoÌ„ wealth it is but reason that she whych with euill demeanoures hath passed her lyfe shoulde by iustice receaue her death The fift I giue the gods tankes that they gaue me children the whych are better contented to suffer the trauailes of Affrik theÌ„ to inioy the pleasurs of Rome Do not counte me my childreÌ„ for so vnlouing a mother that I wold not haue you alwayes before my eyes but considering that many good meÌ„s children haue bene lost only for being brought vp in the excessiue pleasures of Rome I do content my selfe with your absence For that man that desireth perpetuall renowne thoughe he be not banished he ought to absent him self froÌ„ his natiue countrey My deare children I most earnestly desire you that always you accoÌ„panie your selues with the good with the most auncientes and with those which ar graue most expert in councel and with those that haue most sene the world and do not vnderstand most of the world by those that haue sene most countreis For the rype councel proceadeth not from the man that hath traueiled in many contreis but from him that hath felte him selfe in many daungers Since the nature of the countrey my children dothe knocke with the haÌ„mer at the gate of the hart of man I feare that if you come and se your frendes parentes you shal always lyue in care pensifnes and being pensife you shal always lyue euil coÌ„tented you shal not do that whiche becommeth Romain knights to do And you not beyng valiaunt knightes your enemies shal alwayes reioice ouer you your desires shall neuer take effect for of those men which are careful heauy proceadeth always seruices vnworthy I desire you hartely by this present letter I counsell you that you wil not in any wise seke to come to rome for as I haue saied you shal know few of those that did know you for eyther they are dead or banished poore or sicke aged or coÌ„me to nought sad or euil coÌ„tented so that sithens you are not able to remedy their grefes it is best you should not come hyther to se their troubles For no man coÌ„meth to Rome but to weape with the liuing and to sigh for theÌ„ that be dead Truly my children I know not what pleasure is in Rome that should cause any good man to come hyther and to forsake Affrik for if there you haue enemies here you shall want frendes If you haue the sworde that perceth the body we haue that tong here that destroyeth the renowme If you be vexed with the theues of Affrike we are wounded with the traitours Flatterers and liers of Italy If you lack rest we haue here to much trouble Finallye seyng that that I doe se in Rome and hearynge that which I heare of Affrik I commende your warre and abhorre our peace If you do greatly esteme that which I haue sayd esteme much more that whiche I shall say which is that we alwayes here that you are conquerours of the Africkans you shall here always that we are conquered by vyces Therfore if I am a true mother I had rather se you winne a perpetuall memory amonge straungers theÌ„ to liue with infamy at home in your couÌ„trey Peraduenture with hope that you shal enherit some goodes you wil take occasioÌ„ to come to Rome When this thing shall come to your mindes remember my children that your father being aliue had not much and that vnto your mother being a widow many thinges wanted And remember that your father bequethed you nothing but weapons and know that from me you shall enherite nothing but bookes For I had rather leaue my children good doctrine wherby they may liue them euil riches wherby they may perysh I am not riche nor I neuer trauailed to be rich and the cause was that I saw many mens children vndone only through the hope they had to enherite their pareÌ„tes goods and afterward went a huntinge after vices For they seldome times do any worthy feates which in their youth enherit great treasurs This thing therfore being true as it is in dead I do not say only that I would watche and toile as many do to get riches and treasurs but also if I had treasour before I would gyue them vnto you I would as the philosopher did cast theÌ„ into the fyre For I had rather haue my children pore and vertuous in Affrike theÌ„ riche and vitious in Rome You know very wel my children that there was amongest the Tharentins a law wel obserued that the sonnes shoulde not inherit any other thyng of their fathers but weapons to fight and
to moch aboundaunce and libertie of youth is no other but a prophesie manifest token of disobedience in age I knowe not why princes and great lordes do toile and oppresse so much and scratche to leaue their children great estates and on the other syde we see that in teachyng them they are and shew theim selues to negligent for princes great lordes ought to make account that all that whych they leaue of their substaunce to a wicked heyre is vtterly lost The wise men and those which in their coÌ„sciences are vpright and of their honours carefull oughte to be very diligent to bring vp their children chiefly that they consyder whether they be mete to inherite their estates And if perchaunce the fathers se that their children be more giueÌ„ to follie then to noblenes and wysdome then should I be ashamed to se a father that is wise trauaile al the dayes of his life to leaue much substaunce to an euill brought vp child after his death It is a griefe to declare and a monstrous thyng to se the cares whych the fathers take to gather ryches and the diligence that children haue to spende them And in this case I saye the sonne is fortunate for that he doeth inherite and the Father a foole for that he doth bequeth In my opinion Fathers ar bound to enstructe theyr Children well for two causes the one for that they are nearest to them and also bycause they ought to be theyr heyres For truely with great greyfe and sorow I suppose he doth take his death which leaueth to a foole or an vnthrifte the toile of all his life Hyzearcus the Greeke hystorien in the booke of his antiquities and Sabellyquus in his generall history sayeth that a father and a sonne came to complaine to the famous phylosopher and auncient Solon Solinon the sonne complayned of the father and the father of the sonne First the son informed the quarel to the Phylosopher sayeng these wordes I complayne of my father bycause he beyng ryche hath dysheryted me and made me poore and in my steade hath adopted another heyre the whyche thyng my father oughte not nor cannot doe For sence he gaue me so frayle flesh it is reason he geue me hys goods to maintayne my feblenes To these wordes aunswered the father I complayne of my sonne bycause he hathe not bene as a gentle sonne but rather as a cruell enemye for in all thynges since he was borne he hath bene disobedient to my will wherfore I thought it good to dysheryte hym before my death I woulde I weâ—e quite of all my substaunce so that the goddes hadde quyte hym of hys lyfe for the earthe is very cruell that swalloweth not the chyld alyue whyche to hys father is dysobedyent In that he sayeth I haue adopted another chyld for myne heyre I confesse it is true and for somuche as he sayeth that I haue dysinheryted hym and abiected hym from my herytage he beynge begotten of my owne bodye hereunto I aunswere That I haue not disinheryted my sonne but I haue disinheryted his pleasure tothentent he shal not enioy my trauaile for there can be nothing more vniust then that the yonge and vitious sonne should take his pleasure of the swette and droppes of the aged father The sonne replyed to his father and sayd I confesse I haue offended my father and also I confesse that I haue lyued in pleasures yet if I maye speake the trueth thoughe I were disobedient and euill my father oughte to beare the blame and if for this cause he doeth dysherite me I thynke he doth me great iniurye For the father that enstructed not hys sonne in vertue in hys youthe wrongfullye dysheryteth hym though he be disobedient in hys age The father agayne replyeth and saieth It is true my sonne that I brought the vp to wantonly in thy youth but thou knowest well that I haue taughte the sondrye tymes and besydes that I dyd correcte the when thou camest to some discretion And if in thy youth I dyd not instructe the in learnyng it was for that thou in thy tender age dydest wante vnderstandyng but after that thou haddest age to vnderstand discrecion to receiue and strength to exercyse it I began to punyshe the to teache the and to instructe the. For where no vnderstandyng is in the chyld there in vaine they teache doctrine Sence thou arte old quoth the sonne and I yong sence thou arte my father and I thy sonne for that thou hast whyte heres of thy bearde and I none at all it is but reason that thou be beleued I condemned For in this world we se oftetimes that the smal aucthoryty of the parson maketh hym to lose hys great iustyce I grauÌ„t the my father that when I was a childe thou dydst cause me to learne to reade but thou wylte not denye that if I dyd coÌ„mit any faulte thou wouldest neauer agree I should be punyshed And hereof it came that thou sufferyng me to doe what I woulde in my youth haue bene dysobedient to the euer since in my age And I saye to the further that if in this case I haue offended trulye me thinketh thou canst not be excused for the fathers in the youthe of their children oughte not onely to teache them to dispute of vertues and what vertue is but they ought to inforce them to be vertuous in dede For it is a good token when youth before they know vyces hath bene accustomed to practice vertues Both parties thou diligentlie hard the good Philosopher Solon Solinon spake these wordes I geue iudgement that the father of thys child be not buried after hys death and I commaunde that the sonne bycause in hys youth he hath not obeyed his father who is olde should be dysinheryted whiles the father lyueth from all hys substaunce on suche condition that after hys death hys sonnes should inheryte the heritage and so returne to the heires of the sonne and line of the father For it were vniust that the innocencie of the sonne should be condempned for the offence of the father I doe commaunde also that all the goods be committed vnto some faithful parson to th end they may geue the father meate and drinke durynge hys lyfe and to make a graue for the sonne after hys death I haue not with out a cause geuen suche iudgement the which comprehendeth lyfe and death for the Gods wyll not that for one pleasure the punyshement be double but that we chastyse and punyshe the one in the lyfe takynge from hym hys honour and goods and that we punyshe others after there death takyng from them memorye and buriall Truly the sentence which the Philosopher gaue was graue and would to God we had him for a iudge of this world presentlye for I sweare that he should finde many children now a dayes for to disheryte and mo fathers to punishe For I cannot tell which is greater the shame of the children to disobey their fathers or
be called prosperous whych hath in it many people but that which hath in it few vices Speakyng therfore more perticulerly the cause that moued me to put you from me is bycause in the day of the great feast of god Genius you shewed in the presence of the senate your litle wisedom and great foly for so much as all men did behold more the lightnes of your parson then they did the follies of the iuglers If perchaunce you shewed your folly to th entent men should thinke that you were familiar in my royal pallace I tell you that the errour of your thought was no lesse then the euil and example of your work for no man ought to be so familiar with princes but whether it be in sporte or in earnest he ought to do him reuerence Since I geue you leaue to departe I know you had rather haue to helpe you in your iorney a litle money then many councelles but I will geue you both that is to wete mony for to bring you to your iournies end and also counsels to the end you may lyue And meruail not that I geue counsel to them that haue an office to councel others for it chaunceth oftetimes that the phisition do cure the diseases of others and yet in dede he knoweth not his owne Let therfore the last word counsell be when you shal be in the seruices of princes and great lordes that first you labour to be coūted honest rather then wise That they do chose you rather for quiet men then for busy heades and more for your fewe woordes then for your much bablyng For in the pallace of Princes if the wise man be no more then wise it is a great happe if he be moch estemed but if he be an honest man he is beloued and wel taken of all That Princes and other noble men ought to ouer see the tutours of their children least they conceale the secret faultes of their scollers Chap xxxvii VVe haue before rehersed what conditions what age and what grauity maisters ought to haue which should bring vp the children of Princes Now reason would we shold declare what the counsels should be that princes shold geue to the maysters and tutours of their children before they ought to geue them any charge And after that it is mete we declare what the counsel shal be whyche the mayster shall geue to hys dyscyple hauyng the gouernement of hym For it is vnpossible ther should happen any misfortune wher rype counsel is euer present It shal seame vnto those that shal profoundly consider this matter that it is a superfluous thing to treate of these thinges for either princes chose that good or els they chose the euil If they chose not good maisters they labour in vaine to geue thē good counsel for the folish maiser is lesse capable of coūsel thē the dyssolute scoler of holsome admonitiō If perchaunce princes do make elections of good maisters then those maisters both for them selues and also for others ought to minister good counsels For to geue councell to the wyse man it is either a superfluous dede or els it cōmeth of a presumptuous man Though it be true that he whych dare geue councel to the sage man is presumptuous I saye in lyke maner that the dyamonde beyng set in gold loseth not his vertue but rather increseth in pryce value I meane that the wiser a man is somuche the more he oughte to desire to knowe the opinion of another certainly he that doeth so cannot erre For to none his owne councell aboundeth somuch but that he nedeth the counsell and opinion of another Though princes and great lordes do se with their eyes that they haue chosen good maisters and tutors to teache their children yet they ought not therfore to be so negligent of them selues but that sometimes they may geue the maysters counsell For it maye be that the maysters be both noble and stout that they be auncient sage moderate but it may be also that in teaching children they are not expert For to masters and tutours of princes it is not somuche necessary that science doth abounde as it is shame that experience shoulde want When a riche man letteth out his farme or maner to a farmor he doth not only consider with him selfe before what rent he shall pay hym but also he couenanteth with hym that he shall keape his groundes well fensed and ditched and his howses well repaired And not contented to receiue the thirde parte of the frute of his vine but also he goeth twyse or thrise in a yeare to visite it And in seyng it he hath reason for in the end the one occupyeth the goods as tenaunte and the other doth viewe the grounde as chefe lord Then if the father of the family with so great diligence doeth recōmend the trees and the groūd to the labourer how much more ought the father to recōmend his children to the maisters for the father geuing coūcell to the maister is no other but to deliuer his child to the treasurer of sciēce Princes and great lords cānot excuse them selues of an offence if after that they haue chosen a knight or gentleman for to be maister or els a learned wise man to be tutour they are so necligēt as if they neuer had had children or did remember that their childrē ought to be their heires certainly this thing shold not be so lightly passed ouer but as a wise man which is careful of the honor profit of his child he ought to be occupied aswel in taking hede to the maister as the maister ought to be occupied in taking hede to the child For the good fathers ought to know whether the maister that he hath chosen can cōmaund and whether his child wil obey One of the notablest princes among the auncientes was Sculeucus king of the Assiriās and husband of Estrabonica the daughter of Demetrius kyng of Macedony a lady for her beauty in al Grece the most renowmed thoughe of her fame in dede she was not very fortunat This is an olde disease that hapneth alwayes to beautiful women that ther be many that desire them mo that slaunder them This king Seuleucus was first maryed with another woman of whom he had a sonne called Antigonus the whyche was in loue with the second wife of his father that is to wete with the quene Estrabonica and was almost dead for loue The whiche the father vnderstandyng maried his sonne with her so that she that was his stepmother was hys wife and she that was a faire wyfe was a faire doughter he which was hys sonne was made his sonne in lawe he which was father was stepfather The aucthor herof is Plutarke in his liues as Sextus Cheronensis saith in the third boke of the sayenges of the grekes The king Seuleucus laboured diligently to bring vp his son Antigonus well wherfore he sought him .ii. notable maisters the one a greke
and more profyte of the scoller he maye be soner vertuous then vitious For there is more courage required in one to be euil then strenght in another for to be good Also the maisters commenly haue another euill property worse then this whyche is they beare with their scollers in some secreat vices when they are yong from the whiche they cannot be withdrawen afterwarde when they are olde For it chaunceth oftetimes that the good inclination is ouercome by the euill custome and certainly the maisters whych in such a case should be apprehended ought to be punished as traitors pariured For to the mayster it is greater treason to leaue his disciple amongest vices then to delyuer a forte into the handes of the enemyes And let no man maruaill if I call such a mayster a treator for the one yeldeth the forte whych is but of stones builded but the other aduentureth hys sonne who is of his proper body begotten The cause of al this euill is that as the children of Princes ought to enherite realmes and the children of greate lordes hope to inherite the great estates so the maisters are more couetous then vertuous For they suffer their puples to runne at their own willes whē they be yong to thend to winne their hartes when they shal be olde so that the extreame couetousnes of the maisters now a dayes is suche that it causeth goodmens sonnes commonly to be euil and vitious O tutors of princes and maisters of great lordes I do admonyshe you and besides that I counsell you that your couetousnes deceiue you not thynkynge that you shal be better estemed for being clokers of vices then louers of vertues For there is none old nor yong so wicked but knoweth that good is better then euill And further I say to you in this case that oftetimes God permitteth when those that wer children become old their eyes to be opened wherby they know the harme that you haue done them in suffering them to be vitious in thier youth at what tyme your dutye had bene to haue corrected their vices You thought by your goods to be honored for your flattery but you find the contrary that you are despised worthely For it is the iust iudgement of god that he that committeth euill shall not escape without punyshment and he that consealeth the euill committed shal not liue vndefamed Diadumeus the Historiographer in the lyfe of Seuerus the .xxi. Emperour de clareth that Apuleius Rufynus who hadde ben consull twise and at that tyme was also tribune of the people a man who was very aged and likewise of greate aucthoritie thoroughe oute Rome came one daye to the Emperour Seuerus and sayed vnto him in this sorte Moste inuicte Prince alwayes Augustus know that I had .ii. children the whiche I committed to a mayster to bring vp and by chaunce the eldest increasinge in yeares and diminishing in vertues fell in loue with a Romaine ladye the which loue came to late to my knowledge for to such vnfortunat men as I am the disease is alwayes past remedy before the daunger thereof commeth to our knowledge The greatest grefe that herein I fele is that his mayster knew and consealed the euill and was not onely not a meanes to remedye it but also was the chefe worker of the adultery betwene them to be committed And my sonne made hym an oblygation wherin he bounde hym selfe if he woulde bryng hym that romaine lady he would geue hym after my death the house and herytages whych I haue in the gate Salaria and yet herwith not contented but he and my sonne together robbed me of much money For loue is costlye to hym that maynteineth it and alwayes the loues of the children are chargefull to the fathers Iudge you now therefore noble Prince thys so heinous and slaunderous cause for it is to muche presumption of the subiecte to reuenge any iniury knowyng that the lorde hym selfe will reuenge all wronges When the Emperour Seuerus hadde vnderstode this so heynous a case as one that was both in name and dede seuere commaunded good inquisition of the matter to be hadde and that before his presence the shoulde cause to appeare the father the sonne and the mayster to the ende eche one should alledge for his owne right for in Rome none could be condemned for anye offence vnlesse the plainetife had first declared the faulte before hys presence and that the accused shold haue no tyme to make hys excuse The trueth then knowen and the offenders confessyng the offences the Emperour Seuerus gaue iudgement thus I commaunde that this mayster be caste alyue amonge the beastes of the parke Palatine For it is but mete that beastes deuoure hym whyche teacheth others to lyue lyke beastes Also I doe commaunde that the sonne be vtterly dysinheryted of all the goodes of hys father and banyshed into the Iles Balleares and Maiorques For the chylde whiche from hys youth is vitious oughte iustlye to be banyshed the countrey and dysherited of hys fathers goods This therfore of the maister and of the sonne was done by the complaint of Apuleius Rufinus O howe vnconstant fortune is and howe oft not thynkyng of it the threde of lyfe doth breake I saye it bicause if this maister had not bene couetous the father hadde not bene depriued of his sonne the childe hadde not bene banished the mother had not bene defamed the common weale had not bene slaundered the master of wylde beastes hadde not bene deuoured neyther the Emperour hadde bene so cruell agaynst them nor yet their names in Hystories to their infamies hadde alwayes continued I doe not speake thys without a cause to declare by writyng that whyche the euyll do in the world For wyse menne ought more to feare the infamye of the litle penne then the slaunder of the bablyng tongue For in the ende the wicked tongue can not defame but the lyuynge but the litle penne doth defame them that are that were and the shal be To conclude thys my mynde is that the mayster shoulde endeuour hym selfe that hys scooller shoulde be vertuous and that he doe not dispayre though immediately for hys paines he be not rewarded For thoughe he be not of the creature let hym be assured that he shal be of the creatour For God is so mercyefull that he ofte tymes takynge pitie of the swette of those that be good chastneth the vnthankfull and taketh vpon him to require their seruices Of the determination of the Emperour when he committed his childe to the tutours whyche he had prouided for his education Chapter xxxviii CInna the Hystorien in the first booke of the times of Comodus declareth that Marcus Aurelius the Emperour chose .xiiii. masters learned and wise men to teache hys sonne Comodus of the whyche he refused fyue not for that they were not wyse but for that they were not honeste And so he kepte these nyne onely whyche were both learned in the sciences and also experte in bringyng vp the chyldren of
to take if ther by hee think hee may bee healed I pray thee I exhort thee I aduise thee my soÌ„ne that thy youth beeleue mine age thy ignorancy beeleue my knowledge thy sleepe beeleue my watch the dimnes of thy eyes beeleue the clearnes of my sight thy imaginacioÌ„ beeleue my vertue thy suspicion beeleue my experieÌ„ce For otherwise one day thou shalt see thy selfe in soÌ„e distresse where smal time thou shalt haue to repent none to find remedy Thou maist say vnto mee my sonne that sins I haue beene yong I let thee to bee yong that when thou shall bee aged thou wilt ameÌ„d I answer thee that if thou wilt liue as yong yet at the least gouerne thy self as old In a prince which gouerneth his common wealth wel mani myseries are dissembled of his parson Euen as for mighty affaires ripe couÌ„sayles are necessary so to endure the troubles of the empire the person needeth some recreacion For the bowe string which always is stretched either it lengthneth or it breaketh Whether princes bee yong or old there can bee nothing more iust then for the recreacioÌ„ of them selues to seeke some honest pastimes And not without a cause I say that they bee honest For sometimes they accompany with so dishonest persons and so vnthrifty that they spend their goods they loose their honor weary their persons more than if they were occupied in the affaires of the common wealth For thy youth I leaue thee children of great lords with whom thou maist past the tyme away And not without cause I haue prouided that with thee they haue beene brought vp from thy infancy For after thou camest to mannes estate enheriting my goods if perchauÌ„ce thou wooldst accompany thy selfe with yong men thou shouldst find them well learned For thy warres I leaue thee valiaunt captaines though indeede things of war are beegoon by wisdome yet in the end the issue faleth out by fortune For stuards of thy treasures I leaue thee faithful men And not wtout cause I say they are faythfull For oftentimes greater are the theeues which are receyuers tresorers then are they that doo robbe among the people I leaue thee my sonne expert auncieÌ„t men of whome thou maist take couÌ„saile with whome the maist coÌ„municat thy trobles For there can bee fourmed no honest thing in a prince vnlesse hee hath in his coÌ„pany auncieÌ„t men for such geeue grauity to his parsoÌ„ auctority to his pallace To inueÌ„t theaters to fish ponds to chase wild beasts in the forrests to renne in the fyelds to let thy haukes fly to exercise weapoÌ„s al these things wee can deny thee as to a yong maÌ„ the beeing yong mayst reioyce thy self in al these Thou oughtst also to haue respect that to ordeine armies inueÌ„t warrs folow victories accept truces coÌ„firm peace raise brutes to make laws to promote the one put downe the others to punish the euill first to reward the good the counsaile of al these things ought to bee taken of cleare iudgements of persons of experience of white heads Thinkest thou not that it is possible to passe the time with the yong to counsail with the old The wise and discreete princes for all things haue time inough if they know well how to measure it Bee ware my sonne that they note thee not to vse great extremities For the end occasion why I speake it is beecause thou shouldst know if thou knowest not that it is as vndecent a thing for a prince vnder the colour of grauity to bee ruled gouerned wholy by old men as vnder semblaunce of pastime alwayes to accompany hym selfe with the yong It is no general rule that all yong men are light nor all old men sage And thou must according to my aduise in such case vse it thus if ani old man lose the grauity of his age expulse him from the if that find any yong men sage dispise not their counsaile For the bees doo draw more hony out of the tender flowers then of the hard leaues I doo not condemne the aged nor I doo commend the yong but it shal bee wel doone that alwayes thou choose of both the most vertuous For of troth there is no company in the world so euil ordered but that there is meane to liue with it without any suspicion so that if the yong are euil with folly the old are worse through couetousnes On s againe I retourne to aduertise thee my sonne that in no wise thou vse extremity For if thou beeleeue none but yong they will corrupt thy maners with lightnes if thou beeleeue none but the old they will depraue thy iustice through couetousnes What thing can bee more monstruous then that the prince which commaundeth all should suffer him to bee commaunded of one alone Beeleeue mee sonne in this case that the gouernments of many are seldome times gouerned wel by the head of one alone The prince which hath to rule gouerne many ought to take the aduise and counsaile of many It is a great inconuenience that thou beeing lord of many realmes shouldst haue but one gate wherin all doo enter into to doo their busines with thee For if perchauÌ„ce hee which shall bee thy familiar bee of his owne nature good and bee not mine enemy yet I would bee afraid of him beecause hee is a freend of mine enemies And though for hate they doo mee no euil yet I am afraid that for the loue of an other hee will cease to doo mee good I remember that in the annalles of Pompeius I found a litle booke of memoryes which the great Pompeiê° bare about him wherin were many things that hee had read other good counsayles which in diuers parts of the world hee had learned and among other words there were these The gouernour of the common wealth which committeth al the gouernment to old men deserueth very litle hee that trusteth al yong is light Hee that gouerneth it by him selfe alone is beeyonde him self hee which by him self others doo gouerne it is a wise prince I know not whither these sentences are of the same Pompeius or that hee gathered them out of soome booke or that any philosopher had told him them or some freend of his had geeuen him them I meane that I had them writteÌ„ with his hands and truely they deserued to bee written in letters of gold When thy affaires shal bee weighty see thou dispatche theym alwayes by counsayle For when the affaires bee determined by the counsaile of many the fault shal bee deuided among them all Thou shalt find it for a truth my sonne that if thou take counsaile of many the one wil tel the inconuenience the other the peril other the feare the other the domage the other the profit the other the remedy finally they will so debate thy affaires that playnly thou shalt know the good see the daunger therof I
enryched by his famous acts Saul was king of Israell taken for a god was anointed of Samuell his father a poor husbādman of the countrey hee frō his youth brought vp in that trade to hold the plough yet when hee was king hee neuer disdeined to plough his ground to sow his otes and to dryue hys beastes now to pasture them home again So that the good king did glory this day to hold the plough and to morow to fyght with his swoord When fortune therefore sheweth her self enemy to any and that from great dignity and high cal shee ouerthroweth him and bringeth him to low and mean estate it is then that hee hath good cause to complain of fortunes cruelty and to bewail his wretched happ ashamed to see his lothsom misery But when shee woorketh contrarily and from mean estate brings him to great honor credit that must needes bee great honor and glory to him Therefore I say let them beware beware that bear rule and aucthority in the court that they bee not proud glorious and high mynded neither otherwise detected of any kynd of vyce though the bee neuer so much in fauor and estimation Sith fortune sheweth most her spight against the proud and disdainfull hart rather then to the hūble and meeke To stopp the enemies mouth there can bee found no better means then for the derlyng of the court not to bee too proud and presumptuous since no man is found so mad or foolish in the same as once to dare to say I accuse this man because hee is in fauor and estimation but hee may boldly doo it when hee seeth in deede that hee is a proud glorious foole If wee see the fauored of the court offended one with the other wee will say it is but heat if wee see him eat to much wee will say it is but of a good stomack If hee ryse late wee will excuse him and say it was late ere hee went to bedd and that hee was wery with watching If hee play oft wee wil say hee dooth it for pastime yf hee bee careful in keeping that hee hath together that hee is wise and pollytike if hee speak much that hee is a pleasant man geeuen to bee mery yf hee speak litle that hee is wise and modest yf hee spēd much that hee is liberal and bountiful but if hee bee glorious proud what shal a man say on him with what honest mean can wee excuse him Surely let others looke For I know not Truely for all other faults and errors of men they may honestly bee excused saue only that of pryde For though many tymes wee commit other offences it is but through frailty but if wee offend in pryde it commeth of a great folly want of discretion And for the contrary the lowly curteous condition of the courtier doo not only depresse resist the detractions and murmurings of their enemies but dooth inforce them against their willes to say wel of thē For god dooth suffer many times that the peruerse nature condition of one is subdued ouercome by the good gentle vsage of an other Therefore the beloued of court shoold take great heede that they shew not them selues proud in their woords much lesse in their ceremonies which they vse in the court as in going vp the stairs in entring in at the doores in taking the stoole to sitt down also in putting of his cap. And though perhaps hee that shall read these our aduertisments will thynk them rather precepts for children then for men yet I will aunswer him neuertheles that they are very necessary for those that are in fauor in the court and for all other courtiers without the vse of which hee may happely noorish a venemous Serpent in his brest And therefore not without great reason wee haue spoken that wee haue that of too little heede taking sometymes there may folow great trouble to the fauored courtier For many tymes they murmure more against him in not putting of his capp when hee is curteously saluted then they doo if they deny their fauor when they are requested If one courtier leaue to doo curtesie to an other they say hee dooth yt not for that hee beareth him yll will but for want of bringing vpp But if hee bee great with the king then they say it is not for want of good maner but for that hee is too proud To say truely it is an vnhappy life the life of the beloued in the court sith they attribute all their faults and errors to folly although they committed them rather through negligence and want of foresight then of pretensed malyce or yll will as it is taken and thought Gneus Flaccus a noble Romayn going in company with other Romains to visit a sick man and comming also an other romain to see the same sick person lykewise and being no place commodious in the chaumber wher the last might sit down neither any stoole left to sitt down vppon they say hee rose of on his stoole and gaue him place that came last The which humanity and curtesy was afterwards published among al the Romains and after also greatly praysed of the wryters And the Romains also beeing very true graue curious and woorthy of great faith and credit in all that they wrote it is to bee credited that that act of curtesy was much noted and esteemed sith they woold wryte it in the most noble and heroycall acts of their common weale When the fauored courtier is accompanied with knights and gentlemen of the court that brings him to the court and it happen any to goe vp the degrees before him hee shoold not passe for that much lesse shew any token that hee made any rekening of it For to say troth it is no great matter for him to goe vp beefore him on the degrees of stone sith hee went beefore all on the degrees of fauor What matter is it to the fauored or officer of the court to see an other enter in at the staier doore beefore him if afterwards when they shall come where the king is hee shall goe into the priuy chamber as one that in deede is in fauor and beloued and the other shal stand wythout like a sheep And to conclude I say if I were in the nomber of those that are thus belyked and fauored of the king I woold in the kings chamber vse my fauor and credit and abrod all curtesy and ciuility ¶ That it is not fitt for courtiers to bee too couetous if they mean to keepe them selues out of many troubles and daungers Cap. xiiii AVlus Gelius and Plinie render true testimony in their writings that the honesty of the Romains was so great in their eating and their modesty in their mainteining of them selues such that they did not suffer any romain citezen to haue any moe houses then one to dwell in nor but one gown to put on his back one horse to ryde
Alexander emperoure hauing warre with the people of that Isle made a strong castle ¶ Of that whiche chaunced vnto Antigonus a citezen of Rome in the time of Marcus Aurelius Cap. ii AT the same time when this woful chaunce happened in the Isle there dwelled a Romaine in the same citie called Antigonus a man of a noble bloud and wel stroken in age who with his wife and doughter were banished two yeares before from Rome The cause of his banishment was this There was an olde laudable custome in Rome instituted by Quintus Cincinatus the dictatour that two of the most auncient senatours should â—o with the censour newly created in the moneth of December to visite al Rome and to examine seuerally euery Romain declaring vnto him the .xii. tables also the particular decrees of the senate demaunding of theim if they knewe any man that had not obserued these lawes and if they did they should enfourme the senate thereof And so euery man should receiue condigne punishment according to his offence But thei neuer punished before they warned for they vsed the one yeare to admonishe them of their faultes and the next yeare if they dyd not amende to punyshe theim or elles to banyshe theim These were the wordes of the lawe in the fift table and thyrde chapter The sacret senate doth ordeyne the happy people do consent the auncient colonies doe allowe that if men as men in one yeare doe trespasse that men as men for that yeare doe wynke at them but if they as euill men doe not amende that then the good as good doe punishe them Moreouer the lawe sayde the first faultes are dissembled withall because they are committed through weake ignoraunce but the second shal be punished because they proceade of negligence and malice This inquiry was made in the moneth of December because in the moneth of Ianuary folowynge the officers of Rome were elected And it was reason the good from the euill should be knowen to th entent they might knowe who merited to haue them who deserued to go without them The chiefe cause why this Antigonus his wife and his doughter were banished was this It was ordeined by the eleuenth emperour of Rome Augustus that no man should be so hardy as to pisse nere the dores of any temple And Caligula the fourth emperour coÌ„maunded that no womaÌ„ should geue or sel any letters of witchecrafts to hange about the peoples neckes to deliuer them from the feuer quartaine And Cato the censour made a lawe that neither young maÌ„ nor mayde should talke togethers at the conduictes where they vsed to fetche water nor at the ryuer where they washed their clothes nor at the bakehouse where they baked their bread because al the wanton youth of Rome ordinarely haunted one of these two places It chaunced when the censours and consulles visited the warde of mounte Celio Antigonus who dwelled thereby was accused to haue pissed against the walles of the temple of Mars and his wife likewyse was complained of for selling wrytinges to cure the feuers and his doughter was noted for one that commonly haunted the conduictes riuers and bakehouses to talke with younge men the whiche in those daies was a great shame to maydes of Rome The censours therefore seinge the euill president whiche they founde in the house of Antigonus at that tyme registred also before and that he had bene gently thereof admonished banished him into the Isle of Scicilly for as long time as it should please the senate And lyke as in sumptuous and goodly buyldinges one stone falleth not without shakyng of an other so it chaunceth likewyse to men For commonly one mischaunce commeth not alone but that another immediatly foloweth I speake it for this purpose for that Antigonus was not onely depriued of his honoure goodes and countrey but also by an earth quake his house fel down to the ground slewe his dearest beloued doughter Whyles both these great mischaunces happened I meane of the monstre of Scicily and of the banishement of Antigonus from Rome Marke the emperour was in the warres againste the Argonautes where he receiued a letter from Antigonus of his banishemente whereof the emperoure was marueylous sory as it appeareth by the aunswere whiche he sent to comforte him ¶ Howe Marcus Aurelius sought the wealth of his people and howe his people loued him Cap. iii. IN the seconde yeare that Marke was elected emperour the .xlv. of his age when he retourned from the conquest of the Germaines the Argonautes from whence he brought great ryches and treasures to the Romaine empire he to reste him selfe and to appointe his men lay at Salon vntil such time as the Romaines had prepared all thinges conuenient for suche a glorious triumphe There was one thing done whiche neuer was sene in Rome for that same day of his triumphe his sonne Comodus by the assent of the whole people of Rome was chosen emperour after the death of his father He was not chosen at the request of his father for he was against it saiyng that the empire ought not to be geuen for the merites of those whiche are dead but he should be chosen for his own good workes being aliue This emperour said oftentimes that then Rome should be vndone when the election shal be takeÌ„ from the senate when the emperour shal enherite the empire by patrimony Now to come to our matter themperour being at Salon trauayled much to bring his men into Rome in good order and Rome was more careful for to receiue him triumphantly as it appertained to such a great conqueste He was marueilously wel beloued of al the empire and he alwayes studied the wealthe of his people and they were alwayes most faithful in his seruices So that sundry times there was a question moued in the senate whiche of these two thinges was better beloued Either the emperour of his people or the people of their emperour So that one day they appointed two iudges in this case the one was the Embassadour of the Parthes and the other was the Embassadour of the Rhodes and the information was geuen on bothe partes in writing The emperour alleaged the great profite that he had done to the common wealth and the many euils which he had deliuered it from On the other part the senatours declared the good dedes they had done in his absence and the great loue they bare him alwayes in his presence So likewyse the emperour an other day moued an other question to the senate affirming that it was more glory for him to haue such subiectes then for them to haue such an emperour The senate denied it affirming that the coÌ„fort was greater that they had of him then that which he could haue of them And in this wise the emperour gaue the glory to his people and the people gaue the glory to their emperour Thus merily this matter was reasoned of againe It was a pleasaunt thing to heare the reasons
of such a qualitie that it foloweth new inuentions and despiseth auncient customes All the people therfore gathered togethers the good philosopher Phetonius set vp in the middest of the market place a gybet hoote yrons a swerd a whip and fetters for the feete the whiche thyng done the Thebains were no lesse as they thought slaundered thē abashed To the which he spake these wordes You Thebains sente me to the Lacedemonians to the entent I should learne their lawes and customes and in dede I haue bene ther more then a yere beholdyng al thinges very diligentely for we Philosophers are bound not onely to note that whyche is done but also to know why it is done knowe ye Thebains that this in the aunswere of my Imbassage That the Lacedemonians hang vpon this Gybet theues with this same sworde they behede traytors with these hoote Irons they torment blasphemers and lyers with these roddes they whippe vacabondes and with these Irons do keape the rebels and the others are for players and vnthriftes Finally I say that I do not bryng you the lawes written but I bring you the Instrumentes wherwith they are obserued The Thebains were abashed to se these thinges and spake vnto hym such wordes Consider Phetonius wee haue not sent the to the Lacedemonians to bring instrumentes to take away life but for the good lawes to gouerne the common wealth The philosopher Phetonius replyed again aunswered Thebains I let you wete that if ye know what we philosophers knew you shold see how far your mindes wer from the truth For the Lacedemonians are not so vertuous thoroughe the lawes whych wer made of them that be dead as for the meanes they haue sought to preserue them that be alyue For maters of Iustice consiste more in execution then in commaundyng or ordeinynge Lawes are easely ordeyned but with difficultie executed for there are a thousande to make them but to put them in execution there is not one Ful lytle is that whych men knowe that are present in respect of that those knewe which are past But yet accordyng to my litle knowledge I proffer to gyue as good lawes to you Thebains as euer wer obserued among the Lacedemoniās For there is nothing more easy then to know the good and nothynge more commen then to folow the euill But what profiteth it if one will ordeyne and none vnderstand it Yf ther be that doth vnderstand thē there is none that excuteth them Yf there be that executeth them there is none that obserueth thē Yf there be one that obserueth them ther is a thousand that reproueth them For without comparison mo are they that murmure grudge at the good then those whych blame and despise the euyll You Thebains are offended bycause I haue brought suche Instrumentes but I let you wete if you wyll neyther Gybet nor sworde to kepe that which shal be ordeyned you shall haue your bookes full of lawes and the common wealth full of vices Wherfore I sweare vnto you that there are mo Thebains whiche folowe the deliciousnes of Denis the tyraunt then there are vertuous men that folowe the lawes of Lycurgus If you Thebains do desire greatly to know with what Lawes the Lacedemonians doe preserue their common wealthe I will tel you them all by worde and if you will reade them I will shew you them in writyng But it shal be vpon condition that you shall sweare all openly that once a daye you shall employ your eyes to reade them and your parsonnes to obserue them For the prince hath greater honour to se one onely law to be obserued in dede then to ordeyne a thousand by wryting You ought not to esteame muche to be vertuous in harte nor to enquire of the vertue by the mouth nor to seeke it by labour and trauaille of the feete but that whyche you ought greatly to esteame is to know what a vertuous lawe meaneth and that knowen immediatly to execute it and afterwardes to kepe it For the chefe vertue is not to do one verteous work but in swet and trauayl to continue in it These therfore wer the wordes that this philosopher Phetonius sayde to the Thebains The whyche as Plato sayeth estemed more his wordes that he spake then they dyd the lawes whyche he brought Truly in my opinion those of Thebes are to be praysed and commended and the philosopher for his wordes is worthy to be honoured For the end of those was to searche lawes to liue well and the ende of the Philosophet was to seke good meanes for to kepe them in vertue And therfore he thought it good to shew thē and put before their eyes the gibbet and the sword with the other instrumentes and tormentes For the euill do refraine from vice more for feare of punyshement then for any desire they haue of amendement I was willyng to bring in this Historie to th ende that all curious and vertuous men may see and know how litell the auncientes did esteme the beginnynge the meane and the ende of vertuous workes in respect of the perseueraunce and preseruacion of them Commyng therfore to my matter whych my pen doth tosse and seke I aske now presentely what it profiteth princes and great ladyes that God do gyue them great estates that they be fortunate in mariages that they be all reuerenced and honored that they haue great treasures for their inheritaunces and aboue al that they se their wiues great with child that afterwardes in ioy they se them deliuered that they se theyr mothers geuing their childrē sucke finally they se them selues happy in that they haue found them good nources helthful honest Truely al this auaileth litle if to their children when they are yong they do not giue masters to enstruct thē in vertues and also if they do not recomend them to good guides to exercise thē in feates of Chiualry The fathers which by syghes penetrat the heauē by prayers importune the Liuing god only for to haue children ought first to thinke why they wil haue childrē for that iustly to any man may be denayed which to an euil end is procured In my opinion the father ought to desire to haue a child for that in his age he may susteine his life in honour that after his doth he may cause his fame to liue And if a father desireth not a son for this cause at the least he ought to desire him to the end in his age he may honour his horye hed and that after his death he may enheryte his goodes but wee see few children do these thynges to their fathers in theyr age if the fathers haue not taught them in their youth For the fruite doeth neuer grow in the haruest vnlesse the tree dyd bere blosommes in the spryng I see oftentimes many fathers complaine of their Children sayenge that they are disobedient and proude vnto theim and they doe not consydre that they them selues are the cause of all those euilles For
vertues their children are moste inclined and this ought to be to encourage them in that that is good and contrary to reproue them in all that is euill For men are vndone for no other cause when they be olde but for that they had so much pleasures when they are younge Sextus Cheronensis in the seconde booke of the saiynges of the auntientes saieth that on a daye a citezen of Athens was byenge thinges in the market and for the qualitie of his persone the greatest parte of them were superfluous and nothing necessary And in this case the poore are no lesse culpable then the ryche and the ryche then the poore For that is so litle that to susteyne mans lyfe is necessary that he which hath lest hath therunto superfluous Therfore at that tyme when Athens and her common wealth was the lanterne of all Grece there was in Athens a lawe long vsed and of great tyme accustomed that nothing should be bought before a philosopher had set the pryce And truly the lawe was good and would to God the same lawe at this present were obserued for there is nothing that destroyeth a cōmon wealth more then to permitte some to sell as tyrauntes and others to buye as fooles When the Thebane was buying these thinges a philosopher was there present who sayed vnto him these wordes Tell me I praye thee thou man of Thebes wherefore doest thou consume and waste thy money in that whiche is not necessary for thy house nor profitable for thy persone the Thebane aunswered him I let the knowe that I doe buye all these thynges for a sonne I haue of the age of .xx. yeares the whiche neuer did thinge that seamed vnto me euill nor I neuer denayed hym any thing that he demaunded This philosopher aunswered O howe happy were thou if as thou arte a father thou were a sonne and that which the father saieth vnto the sonne the sonne would saye vnto the father but I am offended greatly with that thou hast tolde me For vntill the childe be .xxv. yeares olde he ought not to gaynesaye his father and the good father ought not to condescende vnto the appetites of the sonne Nowe I call the cursed father since thou arte subiect to the wyll of thy sonne and that thy sonne is not obedient to the wyl of his father so that thou alterest the order of nature For so muche as the father is sonne of his sonne and the sonne is father of his father But in the end I sweare vnto thee by the immortall Gods that when thou shalt become old thou shalt weape by thy selfe at that whiche with thy sonne thou diddest laughe when he was younge Though the wordes of this philosopher were fewe yet a wyse man wyll iudge the sentences to be many I conclude therfore that princes and great lordes ought to recōmende their children to their maisters to th ende they may teache them to chaunge their appetites and not to folowe their owne wil so that they withdrawe them from their own will and cause them to learne the aduise of an other For the more a man geueth a noble man sonne the brydle the more harder it is for them to receiue good doctrine ¶ Princes ought to take hede that their children be not brought vp in vayne pleasures and delightes For oftetimes they are so wicked that the fathers would not only haue them with sharpe discipline corrected but also with bitter teares buried Chap. xxxiii BY experience we see that in warre for the defence of men rampiers fortes are made according to the qualitie of the enemies those which sayle the daungerous seas doe chose great shippes whiche may breake the waues of the raging Sea so that all wyse men according to the qualitie of the daunger doe seke for the same in time some remedy Oftetymes I muse with my selfe and thynke if I coulde finde any estate any age any lande any nation any realme or any worlde wherein there hath bene any man that hath passed this life without tasting what aduersitie was for if suche a one were founde I thinke it should be a monstrous thing throughout all the earth and by reason both the dead and liuing should enuie hym In the ende after my counte made I finde that he whiche yesterdaye was ryche to daye is poore he that was hole I see hym to daye sicke he that yesterdaye laughed to daye I see hym wepe he that had his hartes ease I see hym nowe sore afflicted he that was fortunate I see hym vnlucky finally hym whom we knewe aliue in the towne now we see buried in the graue And to be buried is nothing els but to be vtterly forgotten for mans frendshyp is so frayle that when the corps is couered with earth immediatly the dead is forgotten One thinge me thinketh to all men is greuous to those of vnderstandyng no lesse payneful whiche is that the miseries of this wicked worlde are not equally deuided but that oftetymes all worldly calamities lieth in the necke of one man alone For we are so vnfortunate that the world geueth vs pleasures in sight troubles in profe If a man should aske a sage man now a daies who hath liued in meane estate that he would be contented to tel him what he hath paste since three yeares that he began to speake vntill fifty yeares that he began to waxe olde what thinges thinke you he would tel vs that hath chaunced vnto him truly al these that here folowe The grefes of his children the assaultes of his enemies the importunities of his wife the wantonnes of his doughters sicknes in his person great losse of goods general famine in the citie cruel plagues in his coūtrey extreme colde in wynter noysome heate in sommer sorowful deathes of his frendes enuious prosperities of his enemies finally he wil say that he passed such so many thinges that oftimes he bewailed the wofull life desired the swete death If the miserable man hath passed such things outwardly what would he saye of those which he hath suffred inwardly the whiche though some discrete men may know yet truly others dare not tell For the trauailes which the body passeth in fifty yeres may wel be counted in a day but that which the hart suffereth in one day cannot be counted in a hundred yeres A man cannot denay but that we would coūte him rashe which with a rede would mete an other that hath a sword him for a foole that would put of his shoes to walke vpō the thornes But without cōparison we ought to esteame him for the most foole that with this tender fleshe thinketh to preuaile against so many euil fortunes for without doubt the man that is of his body delicate passeth his life with much paine O how happy may that mā be called which neuer tasted what pleasure meaneth For men whiche from their infancy haue bene brought vp in pleasures for want of wisdome know not how to
chose the good for lack of force cannot resiste the euil which is the cause that noble mens children ofttimes cōmit sondrye heynous offences For it is an infallible rule that the more a mā geueth him selfe to pleasures the more he is entangled in vices It is a thing worthy to be noted and woful to see how politike we be to augmente thinges of honour how bolde we be to enterprise them how fortunate to compas them how diligent to kepe them how circumspect to susteine them and afterwarde what pitie is it to see how vnfortunate we are to lose all that whiche so longe time we haue searched for kept and possessed And that which is moste to be lamented in this case is that the goodes and honour are not lost for wante of diligence trauaile of the father but for the aboundaunce of pleasures and vices of the sonne Finallye let the riche man knowe that that which he hath wonne in labour and toyle waking his sonne being euill brought vp shall consume in pleasures sleaping One of the greatest vanities that reigneth at this day among the children of vanitie is that the father can not shew vnto his sonne the loue which he beareth him but in suffering him to be brought vp in the pleasures and vanities of this life Truly he that is such a one ought not to be called a pitifull father but a cruel stepfather for no man wil denie me this but that where there is youth libertie pleasure and money there will all the vices of this world be resident Lycurgus the great king geuer of lawes and sage philosopher ordeined to the Lacedemonians that all the children whiche were borne in cities good townes should be sent to bringe vp in villages till they were .xxv. yeares of age As Liuius saith that the Lygures were which in olde time were confederate with those of Capua and great enemies to the people of Rome They had a lawe amongest them that none should take wages in the warres vnlesse he had bene brought vp in the fieldes or that he had bene a heard man in the mountaines so that through one of these twoo wayes their flesh was hardned their ioyntes accustomed to suffer the heate and the colde and their bodies more mete to endure the trauayles of the warres In the yeare of the foundation of Rome a hundred and fourty the Romaines made cruell warres with the Lygures against whome was sent Gneus Fabritius of the which in the ende he triumphed and the day folowyng this triumphe he spake vnto the Senate these wordes Worthy Senatours I haue bene these fiue yeares against the Ligures and by the immortall gods I swere vnto you that in al this time there passed not one weke but we had either battaile or some perilous skermiche And that whiche a man oughte moste to marueile at is that I neuer perceiued any feare or cowardlynes to be in those barbarous people whereby they were constrained to demaunde peace of the people of Rome These Lygures pursued with suche fearcenes the warres that oftetimes they toke awaye from vs all hope to winne the victory for betwene armies the great might of the one doth put alwayes the others in feare And I wyll tell you fathers conscript their brynging vp to the ende the Romaine youth should take hereby example When they are young they are put to be shepeheardes because they should accustome their fleshe in the mountaines to endure trauaile by the whiche custome they are so much maisters of them selues the countrey being alwayes ful of snowe Ise in the wynter also noisome through the extreame heate in the Sōmer that I sweare by the god Apollo in al this time of fiue yeres of those we haue not sene one prease to the fire in the winter nor couet the shadow in the sommer Do not ye thinke worthy Senatours that I was willing to declare vnto you these thinges in the Senate for any desire I haue that you should esteame any thing the more my triumphe but I doe tell it you to this ende that you may haue an eie and take heade to your men of warre to the ende they may alwayes be occupied and that you suffer them not to be idle For it is more perilous for the Romaine armies to be ouercome with vices then to be disconfited with their enemies And to talke of these matters more at large me thinketh they should prouide commaunde that riche men should not be so hardy to bring vp their children to delicatly for in the ende it is vnpossible that the delicate persone should winne with his handes the honour of many victories That which moued me to saye so muche as I haue sayed worthy Senatours is to the end you may know that the Ligures were not ouercome by the power of Rome but because fortune was against them And since in nothing fortune sheweth her selfe so variable as in the thinges of warre me thinketh that though the Ligures are nowe vanquished ouercome yet notwithstanding you ought to entertaine them in loue to take them for your confederates For it is not good councell to hazarde that into the handes of fortune which a man may compasse by frendship The authour of this whiche is spoken is called Iunius Pratus in the booke of the concorde of Realmes and he saith in that place that this captaine Gneus Fabritius was counted no lesse sage for that he spake then esteamed valiaunte for that he did In the olde time those of the Iles Balleares whiche nowe are called Maiorque and Minorque though they were not counted wyse yet at the least in bringing vp their children they shewed them selues not negligent Because they were brought vp in hardnes in their youth and could not endure all painefull exercises of the warres Those of Carthage gaue fiue prisoners of Rome for one sclaue of Maiorque Diodorus Siculus saith in those Iles the mother did not geue the children bread with their own handes but they did put it on an high pole so that they might see the bread with their eies but they could not reache it with their handes Wherefore when they woulde eate they should firste with hurling of stones or slinges winne it or elles faste Though the worke were of children yet the inuention came of a high wyt And hereof it came that the Balleares were esteamed for valiaunt mē as well in wrastling as in slinges for to hurle for they did hurle with a slinge to hit a white as the Lygures shoote nowe in a crosse bowe to hitte the prick Those of great Britayne whiche nowe we call Englande amongest all the Barbarous were men most barbarous but you ought to knowe that within the space of fewe yeares the Romaines were vanquished of them many tymes For tyme in all thinges bringeth such chaunge alteration that those which once we knew great lordes within a while after we haue sene them sclaues Herodian in his hystory of Seuerus