liues thenceforth When I Imprinted the Diall of Princes together with Marcus Aurelius and brought them to light I wanted not backbiters and detractors that beganne forthwith to teare me in pieces neyther shall I want at this present as I beleeue such as will not spare with venemous tongues to poyson my worke But like as then I little wayed their slaunderous speeches of me euen so much lesse do I now force what they can say against mee being assured they shall finde in the end they haue ill spoken of mee and my poore workes proceeding from them rather of a certaine enuie that gnaweth their heart then of any default they finde in my doctrine comforting my selfe yet in the assurance I haue that all their spight shall one day haue an end and my workes shall euer be found good and perdurable The end of the Argument THE FOVRTH BOOKE OF THE DYALL OF PRINCES COMPILED BY THE LORD ANTHONY Gueuara Bishop of Mondogueto CHAP. I. That it is more necessary for the Courtier abiding in Court to be of liuely spirite and audacity then it is for the Souldier that goeth to serue in the warres PLutarch Plinie and Titus Liutus declare that King Agiges one day requested the Oracle of Apollo to tell him who was the happiest man in the world to whom answere was made that it was a man they called Aglaon beknowne of the Gods and vnknowne of men This King Agiges making then search for this man through all Greece who was called Aglaon found at length that it was a poor Gardner dwelling in Archadia who being of the age of threescore and two yeares neuer went aboue a mile from his house keeping himselfe and his family continually with his onely labour and tillage of his Garden Now albeit there were in the world of better parentage and linage then he better accompanied of seruants and tenants better prouided of goods and riches higher in dignity and of greater authority then he yet for all this was this Aglaon the happiest of the world And this was for that he neuer haunted princes Courts neyther by enuy to bee ouerthrowne nor yet by auarice to be ouercome For many times it chanceth to men that when they would least giue themselues to acquaintance then come they most to bee knowne and when they make least account of themselues then cometh there an occasion to make thē to be most reputed of For they winne more honor that despise these goods honours and riches of this world then those do that continually gape and seeke after the same And therefore we should more enuy Aglaon with his little garden then Alexander the Great with his mighty Asia For true contentation consisteth not in hauing aboundance but in being contented with that little hee hath It is a mockery and worthily hee deserueth to be laughed at that thinketh contentation lyeth in hauing much or in being of great authoritie for such wayes are readier to make vs stumble yea and many times to fall down right then safely to assure vs to go on our way The punishment that God gaue to Cain for murdering of his brother Abel was that his body continually trembled and he euer after wandred thorough the world so that he neuer found where he might enhabite nor house where he might harbour And albeit this malediction of Cain was the first that euer God ordained I durst affirme notwithstanding that it remayneth as yet vntill this present day amongst Courtiers sith wee see them dayly trauell and runne into strange Countries dayly changing and seeking new lodgings Which maketh me once again to say that Aglaon was counted happy and for that onely hee neuer romed farre from his house For to say truly there is no misery comparable to that of the Courtier that is bound dayly to lye in others houses hauing none of his owne to goe to And he onely may bee called happy that putteth not himselfe in danger to serue others Iulius Caesar beeing counselled to wayre vpon the Consull Sylla to the end that by seruing or being about him hee might doe himselfe greate good and it might bee very profitable to him answered thus I sweare by the immortall Gods I will neuer serue any in hope to be more worth greater then I am For this I am sure of that where Liberty is exiled there might nor power can preuaile He that forsaketh his owne Countrey where he liued at ease in health and the place where hee was knowne and beloued the neighbours of whom hee was visited the friends of whome hee was serued the parents of whome hee was honoured the goods wherewith he maintained himselfe his wife and children of whom he had a thousand pleasures and consolations and that commeth to serue and dye in the Court I cannot say otherwise of him but that he is a very foole or that hee commeth to doe penance for some notable crime hee hath committed And therefore not without great cause was this name of Courte which in our tong signifieth short adhibited to the pallace of Princes where indeed all things are short only enuy and malice excepted which continue long He onely desireth to be a Courtier that as yet hath not tasted the sweetnesse and pleasure of his owne house nor hath yet proued and seene the troubles and pains of the Court For hee that knoweth them figheth when he is called to the Court and weepeth when he is kept long there I haue studyed in times past in the Vniuersities preached in the Courts praying in Religion and now I dwel vpon my Bishopricke teaching and instructing my Diocesians but I dare say of all these foure states recited there is none so streight and painfull as is to follow the Court. If I studyed at the Vniuersity I did it of free will to bee wiser but onely in the Court I spent my time to be more worth then I was But the greatest time I consumed in Religion was to say my prayers and to bewayle my grieuous sinnes In the Court I onely gaue my selfe to suspect my neighbour and inuented to build great Castels of wind with thought in the ayre And therefore I returne once again to say that it is a greater trouble and vexation for to become a Courtier then to bee a religious person For in religion it sufficeth to obey one but in the Court hee must serue all And in religion also they are apparrelled with lesse cost and charges and to the greater contentation of the person then they are in the Court. For a poore Gentleman Courtier is bound to haue more change and sutes of apparrell then the falcon feathers The religious persons goe alwayes to dinner and finde their meate on the Table ready prepared for them without any thought taken of their part what they shall haue but fine Courtiers many times rise out of their bed without euer a penny in their purse And albeit religious persons all their life take great paines in
Courtier in the ende hath not the meane nor commodiitie to spende as the Countrey-man hath that liueth at home at else in the countrey spendeth such commodities as hee brings into his house but the courtier consumeth in court not his owne alone but also that of others And therefore in Courte or elsewhere let euery wise man bee diligent to bring his affayres to ende but yet let him so moderate and vse his Expences as hee shall not neede nor be driuen to morgage and gage that hee hath For hee that feasteth and rowteth with others purse of that that is lent him cannot choose but in the ende he must breake and deceyue his creditours Therfore all worthiemen that loue their honour and feare reproache ought rather to suffer hunger colde thyrst care paine and sorrow then to be had in the checke-roule of ryotous and prodigall spenders trustlesse of theyr promises and suspected of their wordes There is yet another great trouble in the court of Princes and that is the exceeding dearth of victualls the vnreasonable want of houses and the great price of horses for many times they spend more for strawe and litter for their horse then they doe in other places for hay oats and bread And further if the Courtyer bee a poore gentleman and that he would feast and banquet his friends or companions he shall spend at one dinner or supper so much that he shal be constrained to faste a whole weeke after Therefore if the Courtyer will be well vsed in following of the Courte hee must not onely knowe and speake to also loue and inuite at times the Butchers Vittlers Fruitrers Keepers and Fosters Fishmongers and Poultrers and other purueyers of the same Of whom hee shall alwayes haue asmuch neede of his prouision as he shal haue neede of the iudges to shewe him Iustice when hee shall neede it For meate bread wine wood haye oats and strawe are commonly very deare it Court for fewe of all these things are to bee bought in Court but of others infinit things to be solde to profite and gayne the poore Courtyers that else had no shift to liue And yet is there a little more trouble in Court and that is that continually letters are sent to the Courtier from his Friendes to obtaine of the Prince or his Counsell his dispatch in his priuate affaires or for his seruants or tenants or other his friends And many times these sutes are so ill welcome to the courtyer that hee had rather haue pleasured his friend with a piece of mony then they should haue layde vpon him so weightie a matter And besides this there is yet another trouble that the bringer of this letter must needes lye at the Courtyers house attending his dispatch So that the Courtyer delaying his friends busines augmenteth his griefe and keeping the messenger there increaseth his charge And if perchance his busines be not dispatched and the suite obtained those that wrote to him will not thinke hee left it off for that hee would not do it or take paines therin but for that he wanted fauour and credite or at least were very negligent in following their cause And that that vexeth them throghly yet is that their parents and friends thinke which are in the countrey farre from Court that this Courtyer hath all the Courtyers at his commaundement that he may say and doe what he will there And therefore his Friendes when they haue occasion to employ him in Court and that they write vnto him touching their affayres and that hee hath now taken vpon him the charge and burden of the same seeing himselfe after vnable to discharge that hee hath enterprised and cannot as hee would satisfie his friends expectation then hee falleth to dispaire and wysheth hee had beene dead when hee first tooke vpon him this matter and that hee made them beleeue he could goe through with that they had committed to him beeing vnpossible for him hauing small credite and estimation ' amongst the Nobilitie and Councellours Therefore I would neuer councell him that hath Brethren Friendes or other neere Kinsfolkes in Court to goe seeke them out there albeit they had matters of great weight and importance on hope to be dispatched the sooner by their credit fauour and suite And for this cause for that in Court there is euer more priuate malice and enuie then in other places wherefore they cannot bee reuenged the one of the other but must tarry a time and when they see opportunitie they set in foote to ouerthrowe and secretly to put backe theyr aduersaries suite Now loe these things and other infinite plagues doe light vpon these vnfortunate courtiers incredible happely to anie but the olde and experienced Courtyer If the old and wise Courtier would count all the fauours and mischances the dearth and abundance the frendships and enmities the contentation and displeasures and the honor infamy hee hath endured in the Court I belieeue assuredly we should not be a little sorrie for that bodie that had suffered so much but much more for that heart that had abidden all those stormes and broyles When the Courtyer seeth that hee is not heard of the Prince nor spoken to of the beloued and fauoured of the Court and that the Treasurer doeth not dispatch him and the Cofferer keepe backe his wages it is a miserie to see him and on the other side a pleasure and pastime to heare what he sayes cursing the wretched life of this world And euen then in his heate and rage he teareth and blasphemeth GOD and sweares accursedly that thenceforth hee will forsake the vaine abuses of Courte and leaue also the Trompries of the deceitfull world avowing to enclose himself within precinct of Religious walles and to take vpon him also religious habite Alas if I fetched as many sighes for my sinnes as Courtyers doe for their mishaps and disgraces what a number would they come to For a Courtyer incontinent that hee feeleh himselfe sicke that hee is alone and reiected of his Friendes in Court hee becommeth so heauie and pensiue that with his deepe sighes he pierceth the heauens on hye and with his flowing teares he moystneth the Earth below So that a man might more easily number the troubles of the stout and hardy Hercules then those which the Courtyer daily suffreth And besides those manie wee haue recyted yet further these also we can recite that their seruaunts robbe them their Purse-bearers consume their money ieasters counterfait knaues lye euer vpon their reward women picke their purses and strumpets bawds spoile them of all But what shal I say more to you If the poore Courtyer be full of feathers euery man plumes him but if he want Winges there is no man hastie to plume him And to conclude in Princes Courts you shall finde no such trade of life whereby you may satisfie euery man For if the Courtier speake little they will say he is but a foole
then all others and otherwise to fall in disgrace and to make the Prince forget all the good seruice he hath don him his whole life time hee need but the least displeasure and fault he can commit Eusenides was maruellously beloued with Ptolomey who after Fortune had exalted and brought him to honour and that he was grown to great wealth sayde one day to Cuspides the Philosopher these words O my friend Cuspides tell mee I pray thee of thy faith is there any cause in mee to be sadde sith Fortune hath placed me in so great authoritie and honour as she can deuise to doe and that the King Ptolomey my Lorde hath now now no more to giue me he hath already beene so bountifull to me To whom the Philosopher aunswered saying O Eusenides if thou wert a Philosopher as thou art a beloued seruant thou wouldest tell mee an other tale then that thou tellest mee now For although King Ptolomey hath no more to giue mee knowest thou not that spightfull fortune hath power to take away from thee many things For the noble heart feeleth more griefe and displeasure to come downe one stayre or steppe then to clime a hundred Not many dayes after these words passed betweene Cuspides and Eusenides it happened that one day King Ptolomey found Eusenides talking with a Lemman or Curtesan of his which hee loued dearely whereat hee was so much offended that hee made her straight drinke a cuppe of poyson and caused him to bee hanged before his owne gates The Emperour Seuerus had one in so great fauour and credit which was called Plautius and he loued him so extreamely and trusted him so much that he neuer read letter but Plautius must reade it and hee neuer graunted commission or licence to any man but it must passe vnder Plautius Seale neither did hee euer graunt anything but at the request of Plautius nor did make warres or peace without the counsell and aduise of Plautius The matter fell out so that Plautius entring one night into the Emperours Chamber with a priuy coate his ill happe was such that a little of his breast before was open whereby was spyed the male which Bahhian seeing being the Emperours eldest Sonne sayde vnto him these sharpe words Tell me Plautius Doe those that are beloued of Princes vse to come into theyr Bed-Chambers at these howers Armed with yron-coates I sweare vnto thee by the immortall Gods and so let them preserue me in the succession of the Empyre That since thou commest with yron thou shalt also dye with yron Which presently tooke place For before hee went out of the Chamber they strake off his head The Emperour Commodus that was sonne of the good Emperour Marcus Aurelius had a Seruant called Cleander a wise and graue man olde and very pollitike but withall a little couetous This Cleander was oft times requested of the Praetorian company that is to say of the whole band of souldiers that he would commaund they might be payd their pay due vnto them and to perswade him the better to pay it they shewed him a bill signed from the Emperour to which he answered That the Emperour had nothing to do in the matter For althogh he were lord of Rome yet had he not to deale in the affayres of the Common-weale These discurteous and vnseemely wordes related to the Emperour Comodus and perceyuing the small obedience and respect of duty that Cleander shewed to him hee commaunded forthwith he should be slaine to his great shame and that all his goods should be confiscate Alcimenides was a great renowned King among the Greekes as Plutarch writeth of him and hee fauoured one Pannonius entirely well to whom only hee did not commit his person his trust but also the whole affaires and doings of the common weale and hee might dispose of the goods of the king at his will and pleasure without leaue or licence So that all the Subiects found they had more benefite in seruing of Pannonius then in pleasing of the King Therefore the King and the beloued Pannonius playing at the ball together they came to contend vpon a Chase and the one sayde it was thus the other sayde it was contrary and as they were in this contention the king commaunded presently those of his guarde that in the very place of the Chace where Pannonius denyed they should strike off his head Constantius the Emperour also had one whome hee liked very well and made much of called Hortentius which might well bee counted a Princes darling for hee did not onely rule the affayres of the common weale of the pallace of warres his goods and person of the Emperour but also hee was euer placed aboue all the Ambassadours at his table And when the Emperour went in progresse or any other iourney he euer had him to his bedfellow Thus things being in this state I tell you it happened that one day a Page giuing the Emperour drinke in a glasse the glass by mishappe fell out of the Pages hand and brake in pieces whereat the Emperour was not a little displeased and offended And euen in this euill and vnhappy howre came Hortensius to the king to present him certaine billes to the signe of hasty dispatch which was a very vnapt time chosen and the Emperour yet contented to signe it could neyther the first nor the second time because the penne was ill fauouredly made the inke so thicke that it woulde not write which made the king so angry that euen presently for anger he commaunded that Hortensius head should be strucken off But to the end wee may come to the knowledge of many things in few words I will shew you how Alexander the Great slew in his choller his deere accounted Cratherus and Pirrhus king of the Epirotes Fabatus his Secretary The Emperour Bitillion his greatest friend Cincinnatus Domitian the Emperour Rufus of his Chamber Adrian the Emperour his onely fauoured Ampromae Dâ—cclesian his friende Patritius whom he loued as himselfe and alwayes called him friend and companion Diadumeus Phamphilion his great Treasurer for whose death hee was so sorrowfull that hee would haue made himselfe a way because he caused him to be so cruelly slaine All these aboue named and infinit others also some were Masters some Lordes some kings and som of great authority and fauour about Princes by whose tragicall histories and examples wee may plainely see that they did not onely loose their goods fauor and credit but also vpon very light occasions were put to death by sword Therefore mortall men should put no trust in worldly things sith that of little occasion they become soone great and of much lesse they suddenly fall and come to worse estate then before And therefore king Demetrius asking one day Euripides the Philosopher what hee thought of humane debility and of the shortnesse of this life answered Mee thinkes O king Demetrius that there is nothing certaine in this vnstable life sith all men liuing
no man in this world was so free as he that neuer suffered Fortune to enter into his gates I haue been desirous to tell you of these things because that such as are in fauor and credit with Princes shold not reckon too much of their fauour neyther that those that are not in fauour with them should be sorie for it a whit For the great authoritie and credite that a man hath by the Court is in this mortall life in the ende nothing else then as a little worm in an apple a wizell in the corne and a magot in pease which without seem very good and within they are all rotten eaten Princes authoritie aboue all others is most supream for they are not subiect to the Censors and Iudges to reproue them of their wordes and sayings neither to magistrates to whom they should render vp any accounts of their doings whereof proceedes that as they haue free-will to loue so haue they a free libertie to hate and absolute power to punish Therefore those that are in fauor in Court and they that shall read this wrytings of mine must well consider what we meane by all those things we haue spoken whereby they shall easily know that Princes are no lesse apte to hate him to day they loued yesterday then to loue him to morrowe whom they hated the other day The first and chiefest point the Courtyer ought to obserue is to feare GOD aboue all and to follow the profession and life of a good Christian For in the ende they liue in Court with more safety hauing a good and pure conscience then with all the great credite and fauour they can haue And therfore let euery Courtyer belieue me as well in fauor as out of faour That it is the best surest way to obtaine the goods of this world as also for the preseruation of their soules to esteeme and make account of holie Scriptures Gods commandements And if hee doe otherwise it shall happen many times vnto him that in the dispatch of his weyghtiest affaires and needefull businessos euen when hee shall thinke his matters brought to a prosperous ende and that it is without all doubt of dispatch then steps in crooked fortune with her wonted poison against him and either makes him in a manner beginne his suite new againe or at least ouerthrow it quite For there are in Princes Courts many times certaine suites that haue a good and better end then looked for and contrarily many others that are at the point of dispatching and yet by sinister accident clean ouerthrowne and succeeding contrary to their assured expectation And yet notwithstanding it seemeth to the suiter that the cause hereof commeth eyther through the soliciters negligence and default and litle care to follow it or else through the malice and ill will of the fauoured of the Court that tooke vpon him the suite and yet neyther the one nor the other was cause of the disorder but onely the diuine prouidence of God to admonish vs that in all our actions and doings it little preuayleth vs to moue the King or his Officers in all our matters if we doe not deserue at Gods hands to obtaine it And therefore sayde the diuine Plato in his Timeon that those that haue honour and prosperity in this life haue as much neede of good counsell as the poore afflicted creatures haue of help and remedy And surely it was wisely and profoundly spoken of him For as neede and misery in this wretched life bringeth men to despayre so likewise we see prosperity induce men to forget themselues and their state And that which I haue hitherto spoken of and that I hope yet to speak none can vnderstand nor conceiue but such as once in their time in their Nauigation had a fortunate and prosperous Winde And afterwardes turning contrary euen at the Shore side haue cast them on Rockes and vtterly perished them To the end that those in reading my wrytings may yet lament and mourne for pittie where the others can but onely reade and goe no further If we compare and put together the Rich with the poore the sorrowfull with the merry the Fortunate with the vnfortunate the fauoured with the banished the vertuous and noble with the vicious and defamed wee shall finde without doubt the number of those farre greater that could rise againe beeing downe and had taken a fall then those that keepe themselues in the authoritie and fauour that Fortune had brought them to I haue not saide it a fewe times but euery moment I would returne to say it againe that this Trayterous worlde in all his doings is so deceytfull and Fortune in all that shee promiseth so doubtful that they make them belieue whom they make Rich beloued and raise to high estate that they doe it but to honour them and afterwards contrarily they spinne a thousand deceipts and trumperyes to make them sooner fall to the ground Surely I haue seene but fewe and I remember I haue read of none vnto whom Fortune euer shewed herselfe so benigne and curteous that euer put a man in his chiefest toppe of prosperitie and fauour but in fewe dayes after she tooke his life from him or at least in the ende of his iourney shee made him runne into some secret disgrace or mishappe And therefore I would that the Courtyer that obtayneth fauour in the Court and Riches in the Common-wealth that he should reckon and esteeme them as lent him but not giuen him And that he should so gouerne the things of fortune as hee would that man whom hee trusted not at all For as Seneca saith No man is afflicted with Fortune But hee onely that trusteth to her without feare or suspect at all of her For Courtyers and those that are in great fauor and authority ought to know that like as in the deepest seas soonest perish the shippes and as on the highest mountains the Sunne hath alwayes least force and power and as in the greenest boughs is soonest hidden the Fowlers little net to catch the silly Byrdes And as with the fullest bayts of meate the Fish are soonest taken that with great force the wind doth blow on highest trees and as the most prowd and stately buildings the Earth-quake doth most hurt and soonest ouerthrow them Euen so by this I meane that Fortune neuer stroue to throw downe anie but such as she had made great in honour and fauour For I doe not take it for great good lacke though all things succede to be fauoured of the Court better then hee looked for nor to see them brought by their friends to great estate and honour For albeeit fortune for a time dissemble with him it is not for that she hath forgoten him but afterwards to giue him a greater punishment Those that will maruell at that I will speake euen now it proceedes of nothing else but wanting wit and capacitie to vnderstand it There is no greater sicknes in this
Athens hee being not of the age of eightie fiue yeares asked what that old man was and it was answered him that it was one of the Philosophers of Greece who followed vertue and serched to know wherein true Philosophie consisted Whereupon he answered If Xenocrates the Philosopher tell mee that hee being now eightie fiue yeares old goeth to seek vertue in this age I would thou shouldest also tell me what time hee should haue left him to bee vertuous And hee sayde moreouer in those yeares that this Philosopher is of it were more reason we should see him doe vertuous things then at this age to goe and seeke it Truely we may say the very like of our new Courtier that Eudonius sayde of Xenocrates the Philosopher the which if hee did looke for other threescore yeares or threescore and ten to be good what time should remaine for him to proue and shew that goodnesse It is no maruell at all that the olde Courtiers forget their Natiue Countrey and bringing vp their Fathers that begate them their friendes that shewed them fauour and the seruants that serued them but at that I doe not onely wonder at them but also it giueth mee cause to suspect them is that I see they forget themselues So that they neuer know nor consider that they haue to doe till they come afterwardes to be that they would not be If the Courtiers which in Princes Courts haue beene rich noble and in authority would counsell with me or at least beleeue my writing they shold depart from thence in time to haue a long time to consider before of death least death vnawares and suddenly came to take execution of their liues O happy and thrice happy may we call the esteemed Courtier whom God hath giuen so much witte and knowledge to that of himselfe hee do depart from the Court before fortune hath once touched him with dishonour or laid her cruell handes vpon him For I neuer saw Courtier but in the end did complain of the Court and of their ill life that they ledde in Court And yet did I neuer know any person that would leaue it for any scruple of consciēce he had to remain there but peraduenture if any did depart from the court it was for some of these respects or altogether that is to say Eyther that his fauour and credite diminished or that his money fayled him or that some hath done him wrong in the court or that hee was driuen from the court or that he was denyed fauour or that his side faction he helde with had a fall or for that hee was sicke for to gette his health hee went into the Countrey So that they may say hee rather went angrie and displeased with himselfe then hee did to lament his sins If you aske priuately euery Courtier you shall finde none but will say he is discontented with the Court eyther because he is poore or afflicted enuied or ill willed or out of fauour and hee will sweare and resweare againe that he desireth nothing more in the World then to be dismissed of this Courtiers trauell and painefull Life But if afterwards perchance a little winde of fauour be but stirring in the Entrey of his chamber dore it will sodenly blow away all the good and former thoughts from his mind And yet that which makes mee to wonder more at these vnconstant Courtiers and vnstable braines is that I see many build goodly stately houses in their countrey and yet they neyther dwell in them nor keepe hospitality there They graffe and set trees plant fruites and make good Gardens and Orchards and yet neuer goe to enioye them they purchase great Landes and possessions and neuer goe to see them And they haue offices and dignities giuen them in their Countryes but they neuer goe for to exercise them There they haue their friends and parents and yet they neuer goe for to talke with them So they had rather be slaues and drudges in the court then lords rulers in their own countrey we may iustly say that many courtiers are poore in riches strangers in their owne houses and Pilgrimes in their Countrey and banished from all their kindreds So that if wee see the most part of these Courtiers backbite murmure complaine and abhorre these vices they see daily committed in Court I dare assure you that this discontentation and dislyking proceeds not only of those vices and errors then see committed as of the spight and enuie they haue daylie to see their Enemyes growe in fauour and credite with the Prince For they passe little of the vices of Court so they may be in fauour as others are Plutarch in his book De exilio sheweth that there was a Law amongst the Thebanes that after a man was fiftie yeares of age if he fell sicke he should not bee holpen with Physitians For they say that after a man is once arriued vnto that age he should desire to liue no longer but rather to hasten to his iourneys ende By these examples wee may know that infancie is till vii yeares Childhood to xiiii yeares Youth to xxv yeares manhood till xl and Age to three-score-yeares But once passed three-score me thinks it is rather time to make cleane the nettes and to content thēselues with the Fish they haue till now then to go about to put their nets in order againe to fish any more I grant that in the Courts of princes all may be saued yet no man can deny mee but that in princes Courts there are mo occasions to be damned then saued For as Cato the Censor saith The apt occasions bring men a desire to do yll though they be good of themselues And although some do take vpon them and determine to leade a godly and holie life or that they shew themselus ' great hypocrites yet am I assured notwithstanding that they cannot keepe their tongue frō murmuring nor their hart from enuying And the cause hereof proceedeth for that ther are very few that follow the Court long but onely to enter into credit and afterwards to vaxe rich and growe in great authoritie Which cannot bee without bearing a little secret hate and enuy against those that doe passe them in this fauour and authority and without suspect and feare of others which in 〈◊〉 are their equals and companions It were a good counsell for those that haue 〈◊〉 the Court or Princes till they be 〈◊〉 old and gray headed that they should determine and liue the rest of their yeares as good Christians and not to passe them as Courtiers so that though they haue giuen the world a meale yet they should in the end giue the brain to Iesus Christ I know euery man desireth to liue in Princes Courts and yet they promise they will not dye in Court And since it is so mee thinkes it is a great folly and presumption for such men to desire to liue long in such state where they would not dye for all the
their peace and to be as dumbe men By mine aduise I would haue them banished by general counsell out of all Colledges counsels chapters townes and Common-wealthes For wee see dayly by experience that let an apple haue neuer so little a bruise that bruise is inough to rotte him quickly if hee be not eaten in time Demosthenes the Philosopher was of great authority for his person graue in manners and condition and very sententious profound in his words but with these he was so obstinate wilfull and such a talker in all his matters that all Greece quaked for feare of him Whereupon all the Athenians one day assembled in their hall or common house and there they appointed him a great stipend of the goods of the Common wealth telling him that they gaue him this not that he should reade but because hee should holde his peace Also this great and renowmed Cicero that was so valiant and politicke in martiall affayres so great a friend to the Common weale of Rome and moreouer a Prince of Eloquence for the Latine tongue though he was cruelly put to death by Marke Antony it was not for any fact committed against him neyther for any wrong or iniurie hee had done him saue onely for that hee enuyed against him and spake euill of him Also the Noble and famous Poet Salust and famous Orator of Rome was not hated of strangers and not beloued of his owne neighbours for no other cause but for that hee neuer tooke penne in hand to write but hee euer wrote against the one and neuer opened his mouth to speake but hee alwayes spake euill of the other Plutarch touching this matter reciteth in his bookes De Republica that amongst them of Lidia in their publike weale it was holden an inuiolable Law that they should not put a murderer to death for killing of any but that they should onely execute and put him to tortur that would defame his neighbour or in any one Worde seeme to touch him in honour and estimation So that those barbarous Nations thought it more execrable to defame a man then to kill and murther him And therefore I say hee that burneth my house beates my person and robbeth me of my goods must needes doe me great dammage but he that taketh vpon him to touch my honour and reputation with infamy I will say hee offendeth mee much and that so greatlie as he may well stand in feare of his life For there is not so little an offence done to a man of stoute courage but hee carrieth it euer after imprinted in his heart till hee haue reuenged the villany done him euen so in Princes Courts there rise more quarrels and debates through euill tongues and dishonest reports then there dooth for any play or shrewde turnes that are done I know not what reason they haue to strike off his hand that first draweth sword and fauoureth and leaueth him vnpunished that draweth bloud with his il tongue O what a happy good turne were it for the Common weale if as they haue in all Townes and well gouerned policies penall lawes prohibiting for to weare or carry weapon they had like lawes also to punnish detractiue and wicked tongues Surely there can not be so great a blotte or vice in a Noble man Knight or Gentleman of honest behauiour and countenance as to bee counted and reputed a tatler of his tongue and therewithall a detractor of others But let not such deceiue themselues thinking that for their countenance or estates sake they bee priuiledged aboue others at their wills and pleasure to enlarge their tongues on whom they list in such maner but that their inferiours farre will as liberally speake of them yea as much to their reproach as they before had done of them repenting as much of their honesty and credite for their calling beeing in equiualent in estate or degree to them as they doe of their dignity and reputation At that time when I was a Courtier and liued in Princes Court there dyed out of the Court a worthy knight who at his noble funerals was commended of vs al to be a good and deuout Christian and chiefly aboue all his noble and heroicall vertues hee was onely lauded and renowmed for that they neuer heard him speake ill of any man So one of the company that was present hearing this great prayse of him tooke vpon him to say this of him If hee neuer spake ill of any then did hee neuer know what pleasur those haue that speake ill of their enemies Which words when we heard though wee passed them ouer with silence yet was there none but was greatly offended at them and good cause why For to say truly the first degree of malignity is for a man to take a felicity in speaking ill of his neighbour King Darius being at dinner one day there were put foorth of the Waighters and Standers by certain Arguments of the Acts and doings of Alexander the Great in which lispute one Mignus a Captaine of the King and greatly in fauour with him was very earnest against Alexander and went too farre in speech of him But Darius perceiuing him thus passioned sayde to him O Mignus holde thy tongue for I doe not bring thee into the warres with mee that thou shouldest infame Alexander and touch his honour with thy tongue but that thou shouldst with thy sword ouercome him By these examples wee may gather how much wee ought to hate detraction and ill speaking since we see that the very enemies themselues cannot abide to heare their enemies euill spoken off in their presence and this is alwayes obserued of the honourable graue and wise men that are of noble mindes For sure each noble heart disdaineth to bee reuenged of his enemy with his tongue for his iniuries done him if hee cannot be reuenged on him with his sword It is fitting for all in generall to be modest and honest in their speech but much more it is due for him that embraceth the fauour and credite of his Prince For it is his profession to doe good to helpe euery man and to speake ill of no man They haue such Centinels of spies vpon them continually which are officers in Court and about the Prince to marke what they speake and do that treading once awry how little soeuer it bee it is straight blowne into the Princes eares and they perhaps accused of that which they neuer thoght delighting and taking great pleasure to tell openly what they heard them say Such therefore as are dayly Courtiers attending vppon the Prince and in fauour with him must if they meane to continue that fauour and credite be gentle and courteous in their Wordes and bountifull to those that stand in need of them Also the esteemed Courtyer must beware hee doe not speake yll of no man but also that he be not too great a talker For commonly these great talkers besides that they are not esteemed bee also
his diuine power And of the superstition of the false and faigned goddes chap 9. fol. 20. How there is but one true God and how happy those Realmes are which haue a good Christian to be their King How the Gentiles affirmed that good Princes after their death were changed into gods and the wicked into Deuils which the Authour proueth by sundry examples chap. 10. fol. 23. Of sundry gods which the Ancients worshipped Of the offices of those gods How they were reuenged of such as displeased them And of the twentie elected gods chap. 11. fol. 26. How Tiberius was chosen Gouernour of the Empire and afterward created Emperour onely for being a good Christian And how God depriued Iustinian the younger both of his Empire and senses because he was a perfidious heretique chap. 12. fol. 29 Of other more naturall and peculier gods which the ancient people had and adored chap. 13. fol. 32 What words the Empresse Sophia spake to Tiberius Constantinus then being Gouernour of the Empire reprouing him for lauishly consuming the Treasure of the Empire gotten by her chap. 14. fol. 36 The answere of Tiberius to the Empresse Sophia Augusta declaring that Noble Princes neede not hoord vp treasures And of the hidden treasure which this good Emperour foundeby reuelation in the Palace where he remayned chap. 15. fol. 38 How the Captayne Narsetes ouercame many Battailes onely by reposing his whole confidence in God And what hapned to him by the Empresse Sophia Augusta relating the vnthankfulnesse of Princes towards their seruants chap. 16. fol 41 Of a letter which the Emperour Marcus Aurelius sent to the King of Scicille remembring the trauels they had endured together in their youth and reprooning him for his small reuerence to the Temples ch 17 fo 46 The Emperours prosecution in his Letter admonishing Princes to bee fearefull of their Gods And of the sentence which the Senate gaue vpon the King for pulling down the church ch 18 f. 49 How the Gentiles honoured those that were deuout in the seruice of their gods chap. 19 fol 52 Of fiue causes why Princes ought to be better christians then their subiects ch 20 fol. 55 What the Philosopher Bias was Of his constancy when hee had lost all his goods And of the ten lawes he gaue deseruing to be had in perpetuall memory chap 21 59 Questions demanded of the Philosopher Bias. fol. 61 The lawes which Bias gaue to the Prienenses 62 How God from the beginning punished men by his iustice and especially those Princes that despised his church how all wicked Christians are Parishioners of hel ch 22 63 Of twelue examples why Princes are sharply punished when they vsurpe boldly vpon churches and violate their temples ch 23 65 Why the children of Aaron were punished eodem The cause why the Azotes were punished eodem The cause why Prince Oza was punished 66. Why King Balthazar was punished 67 Why King Ahab was punished 69 Why King Manasses was punished cod Why Iulius Pompey Xerxes Cateline Germanicus Brennus were punished 70 How Valentine the Emp. because he was an euil Christian in one day lost both the Empire and his life ch 24 72 Of the Emp. Valentinian Gratian his son which raigned in the time of S. Ambrose and because they were good Christians were alwayes fortunate and how God giueth victory to Princes more by the teares of them that pray then thorow the weapons of thē that fight ch 25 76 Of the goodly Oration which the Em Gratian made to his Souldiers before hee gaue the battell ch 26 78 Of the Captaine Theodosius who was father to the great Emp. Theodosius died a good Christian Of the K. Hismarus and the Bishop Siluanus and the lawes which they made and established ch 27 60 What a happy thing it is to haue but one Prince to rule the publike weale for there is no greater enemy to the Common-weale then he which procureth many to commaund therein ch 28 84 That in a publike weale there is no greater destruction then where Princes dayly consent to new orders and make an alteration of ancient customs ch 29 f. 88 When Tirants began to raigne and vpon what occasion commaunding and obeying first began and how the authority which a Prince hath is by the ordināce of God chap. 30 91 Of the golden age in times past and worldly misery at this present ch 31 94 How K. Alexander the Great after hee had ouercome K. Darius in Asia went to conquer the great India and of that which hapned to him with the Garamantes and that purity of life hath more power then force of warre ch 32 96 Of an Oration which one of the Sages of Garamantia made vnto K. Alexander a good lesson for ambitious mē ch 33. 98 A continuation of the sage Garamants Oration and among other notable matters he maketh mention of seuen lawes which they obserued chap. 34 101 That Princes ought to consider for what cause they were made Princes What Thales the Philosopher was of 12 questions demāded of him his answer c. 35. 104 What Plutarch the Philosopher was Of the wise words he spake to the Emperour Traiane how a good Prince is the head of the publique-weale chap. 36. fo 108 As there are two Sences in the Head Smelling and Hearing So likewise a Prince who is the head of the Common-weale ought to heare the complaints of all his subiects and should know them all to recompence their seruices ch 37. fol. 111 Of the great Feast which the Romaines celebrated to the God Ianus the first day of Ianuary And of the bounty and liberality of the Emperour Marcus Aurelius the same day chap. 38 114 Of the answer which the Emperour Marcus Aurelius made to the Senatour Fuluius before all the Senate beeing reproued by him for the familiarity hee vsed to all men contrary to the maiesty and authority of the Romane Emperour wherein hee painteth enuious men ch 39 fol. 118 Of a Letter which the Emperour Marcus Aurelius sent to his friend Pulio declaring the opinion of certaine Philosophers concerning the felicity of man chap. 40. 124 Of the Philosopher Epicurus fol. 129 Of the Philosopher Eschilus 131 Of the Philosopher Pindarus 132 Of the Philosopher Zeno 133 Of the Philosopher Anacharsis 134 Of the Sarmates 135 Of the Philosopher Chilo 137 Of the Philosophers Crates Stylphas Simonides Gorgias Architas Chrysippus Antistenes Sophocles Euripides Palemon Themistocles Aristides and Heraclius 138. 139 That Princes and great Lords ought not to esteeme themselues for being fayre and well proportioned chap. 41 140 Of a letter written by the Emperour Marcus Aurelius to his Nephew worthy to be noted of all young Gentlemen chap. 42 146 How Princes and great Lords in olde time were louers of men that were wise and learned chap. 43 153 How the Emperor Theodosius prouided wise men at the houre of his death for the education of his two noble sonnes Archadius and Honorius chap. 44 158
that infamed Idoll and violated the sacred Temples For to God this is the most haynous offence to forsake the holy Catholike faith in his life and to despaire in his mercy at the houre of his death Would to God wee had so much grace to acknowledge our offences as God hath reason to punish our sins For if it were so then wee would amend in time to come and God would graunt vs a general pardon for all that is past I see one thing wherin as I thinke I am not deceiued which is this that the fraylties and miseryes which we cōmit wee thinke them naturall and in the satisfaction and amendment of the same wee say they are strange so that we admit the fault and condemne the paine which thereby we doe deserue The secret iudgements of God doe suffer it and our offences do deserue it I doe not denie but that the euill may holde and possesse this life at their pleasure but I sweare vnto them when they shall least thinke of it they shall lose theyr life to their great displeasure for the pleasures of this life are so vnconstant that wee scarce beginne to taste them when they fade out of our sight It is a rule infallible which both of the good and euill hath bin proued that all naturallie desire rather to abound then to want all that which greatly is desired with great diligence is searched and through great trauell is obtained and that thing which by trauell is attained with loue is possessed that which by loue is possessed with much sorrow is lost bewailed lamented For in the end wee cannot deny but that the watry eies do manifestly shew the sorrowfull harts To the fine wits and stout harts this is a continuall torment and endles paine and a worme that alway gnaweth to call to minde that he must lose the ioyfull life which he so entirely loued tast the fearfull death which so greatly he abhorred Therfore to proue this matter which I haue spoken of before it is but reason that Princes knowe if they doe not know that men as the diuine Prouidence exalteth them to high Estates they not deseruing them So likewise his rigorous iustice will bring thē to nought if they bee vnthankfull for his benefits For the ingratitude or benefits receiued maketh that man not worthy to receyue any moe The more a man throgh benefits is bound the more grieuous punishment if he be vnthankfull hee deserueth All wise men should finde if they apply their mindes therevnto that in chastising God calleth those offences first to his minde which are furthest from the thoughts of men For before the Tribunall of God our secret faults are alwayes casting out bloud to the end hee should execute on our person open iustice And further I say that in this case I do not see that the Prince is exempted more though hee liue in great felicitie then the poore labourer who liueth in extreame miserie And also we see it eft-soones by experience that the sudden Lightning Tempests and terrible Thunder forsaketh the small and lowe Cottages and battereth forthwith the great and sumptuous buyldings Gods will and determination is that foras-much as hee hath exalted them aboue all others so much the more they should acknowledge him for Lord aboue all others For GOD did neuer create high Estates because they should worke wickednes but he placed them in that degree to the end they should thereby haue more occasion to doe him seruice Euery Prince that is not a good Christian a seruent louer of the Catholike faith nor wil haue any respect to the Diuine seruice let him be assured that in this world hee shall lose his renowme and in the other he shall hazard his soule For that all euill Christians are the Parishioners of Hell CHAP XXIII The Anthour proueth by twelue examples that Princes are sharpely punished when they vsurpe boldly vpon the Churches and violate their temples Why the children of Aaron were punished IT is now time that wee leaue to perswade with wordes and reasons and to beginne to proue that which we haue sayd by some excellent histories and notable examples For in the end the hearts of men are stirred more through some little examples then with a great multitude of words In the first booke of Leuiticus the 10. Chapter is declared how in the time of Moses the sonne in law of Iethro the Priest that was of Media who was chiefe Prince of all the lynage of Seph with whom the brother of Mary the Leper had charge of the high Priesthood For among all the lawes where God at any time put his hands vnto hee prouided alwayes that some had the gouernement of ciuill affayres and others the administration of the diuine misteries This high Priest then had towe children whose names were Nadab and Abihu which two were yong and beautifull stout and sage and during their infancie serued their Father helped him to doe sacrifice For in the old law they suffered that Priests should not onely haue wiues children but also that their children should succeed them in their Temples and inherite their benefices There came a great mischance for the two children being apparrelled in white their bodies bound with stolles their hands naked in one hād holding a Torch and in the other the Sencer being negligent to light the new fire and contrary to that the law had ordayned and taking coales which were prohibited a maruellous thing was seene in the sight of the people which was that sodenly these two childrē fel flat on the earth dead and all their sacrifice burned Truly the sentence was maruellous but it was iust in ough For they well deserued to loose their liues sithence they durst sacrifice the coales of an other This thing seemed to be true for these young children saued theyr soules and made satisfaction of the fault with their liues but other wicked men God permitteth to liue a short time because they shall loose their soules for euer The cause why the Azotes were punished THe Realme of Palestine being destitute of a King at that time an honorable olde man gouerned the realme which was Father to two Knights named Albino and Phinides for at that time the children of Israel were not gouerned by Kings that did molest them by iniuries but by sage men which did maintaine them by iustice It chaunced that the Azotes made warre against the Palestines and were a kind of the Arabians stout and warlike the which fought so couragiously that the Palestines and Hebrewes were constrained to bring their Arke into the middest of the Battell which was a Relicke as a man should haue put the holie Sacrament to deuide a great multitude of people But Fortune shewed her countenaunce vnto them so frowningly that they were not onely ouer-come but also were spoyled of the Arke which was their chiefe relicke And besides that there were 4000. Palestines slaine The
Azotes carryed away the Arke full of Relickes vnto their temple in the Cittie of Nazote and set it by Dagon theyr cursed Idoll The most High true God which will not suffer any to be coequall with him in comparison or in anie thing that hee representeth caused this Idol to be shaken thrown downe and broken in pieces no man touching it For our God is of such power that to execute his Iustice he needeth not worldly helpe God not contented thus though the Idoll was broken in pieces but caused those to bee punished likewise which worshipped it in such sort that al the people of Azotes Ascalon Geth Acharon and of Gaza which were fiue auncient and renowmed Citties were plagued both man and woman inwardly with the disease of the Emerodes So that they could not eate sitting nor ride by the wayes on horse-backe And to the end that all men might see that their offences were grieuous for the punishment they receyued by the diuine Iustice he replenished their Houses Places Gardens Seedes and Fields full of Rats And as they had erred in honouring the false Idol and forsaken the true God So hee would chastice them with two Plagues sending them the Emerodes to torment their bodyes and the Rats to destroy their goods For to him that willingly giueth his soule to the diuel it is but a small matter that God against his will depriue him of his goods This then being thus I would now gladly knowe whether of them committed most offence Eyther the Azotes which set the Arke in the Temple which as they thought was the most holiest or the false Christians which with a Sacrilegious boldnesse dare attempt without anie feare of GOD to robbe and pill the Church goods to theyr owne priuate commoditie in this world Truely the Law of the Azotes differed as much frō the Christians as the offence of the one differeth from the other For the Azotes erred not beleeuing that this Arke was the Figure of the True God but we beleeue it and confesse it and without shame cōmit against it infinite vices By this so rare and seuere a sudden punishment mee thinks the Princes great Lords should not only therefore acknowledge the True God but also Reuerence and honour those things which vnto him are dedicated For mans lawes speaking of the reuerence of a Prince doe no lesse condemne him to die that robbeth his house then him which violently layeth hands on his person ¶ The cause why Prince Oza was punished IN the booke which the sonne of Helcana wrote that is the second booke of the Kings and the vi Chapter hee saith That the Arke of Israel with his Relikes which was Manna the rodde and two stones stood in the house of Aminadab which was the next neighbour to the citie of Gibeah the sonne of Esay who at that time was King of the Israelites determined to transpose the Relikes into his Cittie and house For that it seemed to him a great infamy that to a mortal Prince a house should abound for his pleasures to the immortall God there should want a Temple for his reliques The day therefore appointed when they should carrie the Relique of Gibeah to Bethlehem there met thirty thousand Israelites with a great number of Noble men which came with the King besides a greater number of strangers For in such a case those are more which come of their owne pleasure then those which are commaunded Besides all the people they say that all the Nobility of the Realme was there to the end the relique should bee more honoured and his person better accompanied It chanced that as the Lords and people went singing and the King in person dancing the wheele of the Chariot began to fall and go out of the way the which prince Oza seeing by chance set to his hand and his shoulder against it because the Arke where the Relique was should not fall nor breake yet notwithstanding that suddenly and before them all hee fell downe dead Therefore let this punishment be noted for truly it was fearefull and ye ought to thinke that since God for putting his hand to the Chariot to holde it vp stroke him with death that a Prince should not hope seeking the destruction and decay of the Church that God will prolong his life O Princes great Lords and Prelates sith Oza with such diligence lost his life what doe yee hope or looke for sith with such negligence yee destroy and suffer the Church to fall Yet once againe I doe returne to exclaime vpon you O Princes and great Lords sith Prince Oza deserued such punishment because without reuerence hee aduanced himselfe to stay the Arke which fell what punishment ought yee to haue which through malice helpe the Church to fall Why King Balthasar was punished DArius King of the Perses and Medes besieged the auncient City of Babylon in Chaldea whereof Balthasar sonne of Nabuchodonozar the great was King and Lord who was so wicked a child that his father being dead hee caused him to be cut in 300. peeces gaue him to 300. hawkes to be eaten because hee should not reuiue againe to take the goods riches from him which he had left him I know not what father is so foolish that letteth his Son liue in pleasures and afterwards the entralles of the Hauke wherewith the sonne hawked should be the wofull graue of the Father which so many men lamented This Balthasar then beeing so besieged determined one night to make a great feast and banquet to the Lords of his Realme that came to ayde him and in this he did like a valiant and stout Prince to the end the Perses and Medes might see that hee little esteemed their power The noble and high hearts do vse when they are enuironed with many trauels to seeke occasions to inuent pleasures because to their men they may giue greater courage and to their enemies greater feare He declareth of Pirrus King of the Epirotes when hee was besieged very straightly in the City of Tharenta of the Romane Captaine Quintus Dentatus that then hee spake vnto his Captaines in this sort Lordes and friendes bee yee nothing at all abashed since I neuer here before saw ye afraid though the Romans haue compassed our bodies yet we haue besiged their harts For I let you to know that I am of such a complection that the straighter they keepe my body the more my heart is at large And further I say though the Romanes beate downe the walles yet our hearts shall remaine inuincible And though there bee no wall betweene vs yet wee will make them know that the hearts of Greekes are harder to ouercome then the stones of Tarentine are to be beaten downe But returning to King Balthasar The banquet then being ended and the greatest part of the night beeing spent Belthasar the King being very well pleased that the banquet was made to his contentation though he
places are Arbours and Gardeins to wofull and heauie hearts A slaue hath nothing to care for but himselfe alone but you that be princes haue to satisfie and please all men For the Prince should haue a time for himselfe and also for those which are about him The diuine Plato said well that hee that should haue the least parte of a Prince and belonging to a Prince ought to be the Prince himselfe For to that ende the Prince should bee all his owne he ought to haue no part in himselfe Though a slaue work trauel in the day yet he sleepes without care in the night but you Princes passe the time in hearing importunate suites and the nights in fetching innumerable sighs Finally I say that in a slaue be it well or be it euill all his paine is finished in one yeare or is ended at his death but what shall a wofull Prince doe when he dyeth If he were good there is but a short memory of his goodnesse and if hee hath beene euill his infamy shall neuer haue end I haue spoken these things to the end that great and small Lords and seruants should confesse and acknowledge the true Seigniory to be onely vnto him who for to make vs Lords aboue became a seruant heere beneath CHAP. XXX When the Tyrants beganne to ratgne and vpon what occasion commaunding and obeying first begann And how the authority which the Prince hath is by the ordinance of God CEasing to speake any further of the Poeticall Histories and auncient faynings and speaking the truth according to the diuine Histories the first that did liue in this World was our Father Adam who did eate of the fruite forbidden and that not so much for to trespasse the commaundement of one as for not to displease his wife Eue For many now a dayes had rather suffer theyr conscience a long time to bee infected then one onely day to see theyr wiues displeased The first homicide of the worlde was Caine The first that dyed in the World was Abel The first that had two wiues in the World was Lamech The first City of the World was by Enoch built in the fields of Edon The first Musition was Tubalcaim The first which sayled in the World was Noe The first Tyrant of the World was Nembroth The first Priest was Melcrisedech The first King of the World was Anraphel The first Duke was Moyses The first which was called Emperour in the World was Iulius Caesar For vntill this time they which gouerned were called Consuls Censors and Dictators And from Iulius Caesars hitherto haue beene called Emperours The first battell that was giuen in the world as wee reade was in the wilde valleyes which now they call the dead and salt sea For a great part of that that then was the maine land is novv the dead sea The holy Scriptures cannot deceyue vs for it is full of all truth and by them it is declared that eighteene hundred yeares after the World beganne there was no battell assembled nor company that met to fight in the field for at that time when they had no ambition nor couetousnesse they knew not what battell meant It is reason therefore that in this writing we declare the cause why the first battell was fought in the world to the end Princes may thereof bee aduertised and the curious Reader remaine therein satisfied The manner was this that Bassa being King of Sodome Bersa King of Gomorrhe Senaab King of Adamee Semebar King of Seboime and Vale King of Segor were all fiue Tributaries to Chodor Lanmor King of the Elamites which fiue Kings conspired against him because they would pay him no tribute and because that they would acknowledge no homage vnto him For the realmes paying tribute haue alwayes rebelled and sowed sedition This rebellion was in the 13 yeare of the raigne of Chodor Laomor King of the Elamites and immediately the yeare following Anraphel king of Sernaar Arioch king of Ponte and Aradal King of the Allotali ioyned with Chodor Laomor All which together beganne to make warres to destroy Cities and Countries vpon their enemies For the olde malice of the warre is That where they cannot haue their enemies which are in the fault they put to sacke and destroy those which are innocent and guiltlesse So the one assaulting and the other desending in the end all come to the field they gaue battell as two enemies and the greatest part was ouercome of the fewest and the fewest remayned victorious ouer the greatest which thing God would suffer in the first battell of the world to the end Princes might take example that all the mishappes of the Warres come not but because they are begun of an vniust occasion If Chodor Laomor had helde himselfe contented as his Predecessors did and that hee had not conquered Realmes in making them subiect and had not caused them to pay tribute neyther they vnto him would haue denyed reason nor hee with them would haue waged battell For thorow the couetousnesse of the one and the ambition of the other enmities grew betweene the people This considered which wee haue spoken of Sygnorie and of those which came into contentions for signories Let vs now see from whence the first originall of seruitude came and the names of seruantes and Lordes which were in the old time and whether seruitude was by the discorde of vertuous men first brought into the World or else inuented by the ambition of tyrants for when the one commaundeth and the other obeyeth it is one of the nouelties of the world as the holy Scripture declareth vnto vs in this manner The holy Patriarch Noah had three sons which were Sam Ham and Iaphet and the second sonne which was Ham begot Cusn and this Cusn begotte Nimrod Nimrod made himselfe a Hunter of wilde beasts in the woodes and mountaines Hee was the first that beganne to play the Tyrant amongst men enforcing their persons and taking their goods and the Scripture called him Oppressor hominum which is to say an Oppressor of men For men of euill life alwaies commit much euill in a Common-wealth He taught the Chaldeans to honor the fire hee was the first that presumed to be an absolute Lord and the first that euer required of men homage and seruice This cursed tyrant ended his life in the golden World wherein all things were in common with the Common-wealth For the Auncients vsed their goods in common but their wils onely they reserued to themselues They ought not so thinke in a light matter for his persō to haue been a tyrant but they ought to think it a greater matter to haue beene a rebel in a Common-wealth much more they ought to esteeme it as an euill matter in him which hath beene as hee was a disturber of the good customes of his country but the most vniust of all is to leaue behind him any euil custom brought into the common wealth for if hee deserue great
thee I shall not follow my selfe and beeing thine I shall cease to bee mine Thou art come to haue the name of the Great Alexander for conquering the world and I haue attained to come to renowme of a good Phylosopher in flying the world And if thou dost imagine that thou hast gotten and wonne I thinke I haue not erred nor lost And since thou wilt be no lesse in authoritie then a King doe not thinke that I will lose the estimation of a Phylosopher For in the world there is no greater losse vnto a man then when hee looseth his proper libertie When he had spoken these words Alexander saide vnto them that were about him with a lowde voyce By the immortall Gods I sweare and as god Mars rule my hands in Battell if I were not Alexander the Great I would bee Diogenes the Phylosopher And hee saide further In mine opinion there is no other Felicitie vpon the earth then to bee King Alexander who commaundeth all or to bee Diogenes to commaund Great Alexander who commaundeth all As king Alexander was more familiar with some Philosophers then with others so hee esteemed some bookes more then others And they say he read oftentimes in the Iliades of Homer which is a booke where the story of the destruction of Troy is and that when he slept he layd vnder his head vpon a bolster his sword and also his booke When the great King Alexander was borne his father Philip king of Macedonia did two notable things The first was that hee sent many and very rich gifts into the I le of Delphos where the Oracle of Apollo was to the ende to present them with him and to pray him that it would please him for to preserue his sonne The other thing that hee did was that immediately hee wrote a letter to the great Philosopher Aristotle wherin he sayd these words The letter of King Philip to Aristotle the Phylosopher PHilip King of Macedonia wishes health and peace to the philosopher Aristotle which readeth in the Vniuersitie of Greece I let the vnderstand that Olympias my wife is brought to bedde of a goodly man childe whereof both she and I and all Macedonia do reioyce For kings and Realms ought to haue great ioy when that there is borne a sonne sueccssour of the natural prince of the prouince I render thankes vnto the immortall gods and haue sent many great gifts to the Temples and it was not so much for that I haue a son as for that they haue giuenhim vnto me in the time of so great and excellent Philosopher I hope that thou wilt bring him vp teach him in such sort that by heritage hee shall be Lord of my patrimony of Macedonia and by desert he shall be Lord of Asia to that they should call him my sonne and thee his father Vale foelix iterumque vale Ptolomeus father in law who was the eight king of the Aegyptians did greatly loue the Sages as well of Caldea as of Greece and this thing was esteemed for a great vertue in king Ptolome For there was as much enuy betweene the phylosophers of Greece and the Sages of Egypt as betweene the Captaines of Rome and the Captaines of Carthage This Ptolome was very wise and did desire greatly to bee accompanied with Phylosophers and after this hee learned the letters of the Latines Caldes and Hebrues for the which cause though the kings named Ptolomei were eleuen in number and all warrelike men yet they put this for the Chiefe and Captaine of all not for battels which hee wanne but for the sentences which he learned This king Ptolomeus had for his familiar a Philosopher called Estilpho Magarense who was so entirely beloued of this Prince that laying aside gentlenesse and benefits which hee shewed him hee did not onely eate with the king at his table but oftentimes the king made him drink of his owne cup. And as the sauours which Princes shew to their seruants are but as a watch to proue the malitious it chanced that when this king gaue the philosopher to drinke that which remayned in his cuppe an Egyptian knight moued with enuy sayde vnto King Ptolome I thinke Lord how thou art neuer satisfied with drinking to leaue that which remaineth in the cuppe for the Philosopher to drinke after thee To whom the king answered Thou sayst well that the Phylosopher Estilpho is neuer filled with that which I doe giue him For that which remaineth in my cup doth not profite him so much to drinke as the Phylosophy which remaineth in him should profite thee if thou wouldst take it The king Antigonus was one of the most renowmed seruants that king Alexander the great euer had who after his death enherired a great part of his Empire for how much happy the king Alexander was in his life so much hee was vnhappy at the time of his death because he had no children which might enherite his goods and that hee had such seruants as spoyled him of his renowme This king Antigonus was an vnthrist and excessiue in all vices But for all hee loued greatly the phylosophers which thing remained vnto him from king Alexander whose pallace was a schoole of al the good phylosophers of the world Of this ensample they may see what great profite ensueth of bringing vp of them that bee yong for there is none that euer was so wicked or inclined vnto euill but that in long continuance may profite somwehat in his youth This king Antigonus loued two philosophers greatly the which florished in that time that is to say Amenedius and Abio of which two Abio was wel learned and very poore For in that time no phylosopher durst openly reade philosophy as if hee were worth any thing in temporall goods As Laertius sayth and as Pulio declares it better in the book of the rulers and noble men of the Greekes The Schooles of the Vuiuersitie were so correct that the philosopher which knew most had least goods so that they did not glorifie of any thing eise but to haue pouertie and to know much of philosophy The case was such that the phylosopher Abio was sicke and with that sickenes he was so vexed that they might almost see the bones of his weake bodie The king Antigonus sent to visite him by his owne sonne by whom hee sent him much money to helpe him withall For hee liued in extreame pouertie as it behoued the professors of phylosophy Abio was sore sicke being aged and crooked and though he had made himselfe so leane with sicknesse yet notwithstanding he burned alwayes vpon the weeke of good life I meane that he had no lesse courage to despise those gifts then the king Antigonus had nobles to send them This Phylosopher not contented to haue despised those gifts in such sort sayd vnto the sonne of Antigonus who brought them Tell king Antigonus that I giue him great thankes for the good entertainement hee gaue me alwayes
complaint Therefore I desire thee now to haue as much patience to heare my aunswere as I haue had paine to heare thy demaund And prepare thy eares to heare my words as I haue listned mine to heare thy Follie. For in like matter when the tong doth apply it selfe to speake any word the eares ought immediately to prepare them to heare it for to make aunswere For this is most sure that he that speaketh what hee would shall heare what hee would not Before I tell thee what thou art and what thou oughtest to bee I will first tell thee what I am and what I ought to be For I will thou vnderstand Faustine that I am so euill that that the which mine enemyes doe report of me is but a trifle in respect of that which my Familiars and Friends would say if they knew me To the end the Prince be good hee ought not to be couetous of Tributes neyther proude in commaundements nor vnthankfull of seruices nor to be forgetfull of the Temples hee ought not to be deafe to heare griefes complaintes and quarrells nor cruell to Orphanes nor yet negligent in affaires And the man that shall want these vices shal be both beloued of men and fauoured of the Gods I confesse first of all that I haue bin couetous For indeed those which with many troubles annoy Princes least and with Money serue them most are of all other men best beloued Secondarily I confesse that I am proud For there is no Prince at this day in the world so brought vnder but when Fortune is most lowest he hath his heart very hanghtie Thirdly I confesse that I am vnthankfull for amongst vs that are Princes the seruices that they doe vnto vs are great and the rewardes that we giue vnto them are small Fourthly I doe confesse that I am an euill founder of Temples for amongst vs that are Princes wee doe not Sacrifice vnto the Gods very often vnlesse it be when we see our selues to be enuironned with enemyes Fiftly I confesse that I am negligent to heare the plaintes of the oppressed for the Flatterers haue towards theys Princes more easie audience by their Flattery then the poore pleading to declare theyr complaintes by truth Sixtly I confesse that I am carelesse for the Orphanes For in the Courtes and Pallaces of Princes the Rich and mightie are most familiar but the miserable and poore Orphanes are scarcely heard Seuenthly I confesse that I am negligent in dispatching Poore mens causes For the Princes oft times not prouiding in time for their affaires many great perills ensue to theyr Realmes Now marke here Faustine how I haue tolde thee what according to reason I ought to bee and what according to the sensualitie I am and maruell not although I confesse mine error For the man that acknowledgeth his fault giueth hope of amendment And let vs come to talke of thee and by that I haue spoken of me thou mayest iudge of thy selfe For we men are so euill conditioned that we behold the vttermost the offences of an another but wee will not heare the faultes of our selues It is a true thing my wife Faustine that when a woman is merry she alwaies speaketh more with her tong then shee knoweth in her heart For women light of tongue speak many things in companie the which they doe lament after when they are alone All the contrarie commeth to wofull men for they do not speak the halfe of their griefes because their heauy and wofull hearts commaundeth their eyes to weepe and tongs to be silent Vaine and foolish men by vaine and foolish words doe publish their vaine and light pleasures and the wise men by wise wordes doe dissemble their grieuous sorrowes For though they feale the troubles of this life they dissemble them as men Amongst the Sages hee is most wisest that presumeth to know least and amongst the simple he is most ignorant that thinketh to knowe most For if there be found one that knoweth much yet alwayes there is found another that knoweth more This is one difference whereby the wise men are knowne from those that be simple that is to say That the wise man to one that asketh him a Question answereth slowly and grauely and the simple man though he be not asked aunswereth quicke and lightly For in the house where Noblenes and wisedome are they giue riches without measure but they giue wordes by ounces I haue told thee all this Faustine because thy wordes haue wounded me in such sort thy teares in such wise haue compelled mee and thy vaine iudgements haue wearyed mee so much that I cannot say what I would nor I thinke thou canst perceiue what I say Those which wrote of Marriage wrote many things but they wrote not so many troubles in al their bookes as one woman causeth her Husband to feele in one day The auncients spake well when they reasoned of Marriages for at all times when they talked of Marriage at the beginning they put these words Onus Matrimonij That is to say the yoake of Marriage For truely if the man be not well maryed all the troubles that may happen vnto him in all the time of his life are but small in respect to be matched one day with an euill wife Doest thou thinke Faustine that it is a small trouble for the Husband to suffer ths brawlings of his wife to indure her vaine words to beare with her fond words to giue her what she requireth to seeke that she desireth and to dissemble with all her vanities Truely it is so vnpatient a trouble that I would not desire any greater reuengement of my enemy then to see him marryed with a brawling wife If the Husband be proud you doe humble him For there is no proude man whatsoeuer hee be but a fierce woman will make him stoupe If the Husband be foolish you restore him to his senses againe For there is no greater wisedome in the World then to knowe how to endure a brawling woman If the Husband be wilde you make him tame For the time is so much that you occupy in brawling that hee can haue no time to speake If the husband be slow you make him runne for he desireth so much your contentation in heart that the wofull man cannot eate in quiet nor sleepe in rest If the Husband be a talker you make him dumbe for the flouts and mockes that you giue him at euery word are so many in number that he hath none other remedie but to refraine his tongue If the Husband bee suspitious you make him change his minde For the Trifles that you aske at euery houre are such and so many and you therewith so selfe-willed that hee dare not tell what hee seeth in his owne house If the husband be a wanderer abroad you make him forthwith a bider at home for you looke so ill vnto the house and goods that hee findeth no other remedie but to bee alwayes at home If the
take paine and play I rest mee and am quiet where others speake I am silent where they laugh I am courteous and iest not For wise men are neuer knowne but among fooles and light persons When the Courtier shall vnderstand or heare tell of pleasant thinges to be laughed at Let him in any case if he can flye from those great laughters and fooleries that hee bee not perhaps moued too much with such toâ—es to laugh too lowde to clappe his hands or to doe other gestures of the bodie or admirations too vehement accompanied either with a rude and barbarous manner of behauiour then with a ciuill and modest noblenesse For ouer great and excessiue laughter was neuer engendred of wisdome neyther shal he euer be counted wise of other that vseth it There are also an other sort of Courtiers that speake so coldly laugh so drily and with so ill a grace that it were more pleasure to see them weep then to laugh Also to nouell or to tell tales to delight others and to make them laugh you must be as briefe as you can that you weary not and comber not the Auditory pleasant and not biting nor odious Else it chanceth oftentimes that wanting any of these conditions from iesting they come many times to good earnest Elius Spartianus in the life of the Emperour Seuerus sayth that the sayd Em-Emperour had in his Court a pleasant foole and hee seeing the foole one day in his dumpes and cogitations asked him what he ayled to be so sadde The foole made answere I am deuising with my selfe what I should doe to make thee merry And I sw are to thee my Lord Seuerus that for as much as I weigh thy life so deare possibly I study more the nights for the tales I shall tell thee in the morrow after then doe the Senators touching that they must decree on the next day And I tell thee further my Lord Seuerus that to bee pleasant and delighting to the Prince hee must neyther be a very foole nor altogether wise But though hee bee a foole yet hee must smatter somewhat of a wiseman and if hee bee wise hee must take a little of the foole for his pleasure And by these examples wee may gather that the Courtier must needs haue a certaine modesty and comely grace as well in speaking as hee must haue a soft sweet voyce in singing There are also some in Court that do not spare to go to Noble mens bords to repast which being in deede the vnseemely grace it selfe yet in theyr wordes and talke at the boorde they would seeme to haue a maruellous good grace wherein they are oft deceyued For if at times the Lordes and gentlemen laugh at them it is not for any pleasure they take in their talke but for the ill grace and vncomely gestures they vse in their talke In the banquets and feasts Courtiers make sometimes in the Summer there are very oft such men in theyr company that if the wine they dranke tooke their condition it should bee drunke eyther colder or hoter then it is CHAP. VI. How the Courtier should behaue himselfe to know and to visite the Noble men and Gentlemen that be great with the Prince and continuing still in Court THe Courtier that commeth newly to the Court to serue there must immediately learne to know those that are in authority and fauour in the Court and that are the Princes Officers For if hee doe otherwise neyther should he be acquainted with any Noble man or Gentleman or any other of the Princes seruants neither would they also giue him place or let him in when he would For wee bee not conuersant with him wee know not and not being conuersant with him we trust him not and distrusting him wee commit no secrets to him So that hee that will come in fauour in the Court must make himselfe knowne and be friend to all in generall And hee must take heede that hee beginne not so suddenly to bee a busie suiter in his owne priuate affayres or for his friend for so hee shall be soone reputed for a busie soliciter rather then a wise Courtier Therefore hee that will purchase fauour and credite in the Court must not bee carefull to preferre mens causes and to entermeddle in many matters For the nature of Princes is rather to commit their affayres into the hands and trust of graue and reposed men then to busie and importunate soliciters The Courtier also may not bee negligent to visite the Prelates Gentlemen and the fauoured of the Court nor to make any difference betweene the one and the other and not onely to visite their parents and friends but his enemies also For the good Courtier ought to endeauour himselfe the best he can to accept al those for his frends at least that he cannot haue for parents and kinsfolkes For amongest good and vertuous Courtiers there should neuer bee such bloudy hate that they should therefore leaue one to company with another and to bee courteous one to another Those that be of base mind doe shew their cankred hearts by forbearing to speake but those that bee of Noble bloud and valiant courage beginne first to fight ere they leaue to speake together For there is also an other sort of Courtiers which beeing sometimes at the Table of Noble men or else where when they heare of some quarrell or priuate displeasure they shew themselues in offer like Lyons but if afterwards their helpe be craued in any thing and that they must needs stand by their friend and draw on his his side then they shew themselues as still as Lambes and gentle inough to bee entreated Amongst other the new come-Courtier hath to be acquainted withall he must learne to know those the Prince fauoureth and loueth best on whome hee must wayte and attende vpon and doe all the seruice he can without grudge and disdaine For there is no King but farre off on him hath an other King that still contrarieth his minde and preuenteth him of his intent and pleasure And euer neere vnto him some whom hee loueth and fauoureth that may dispose of the Prince as hee listeth Plutarch writing to Traian sayde these words I haue O Traian great pitty on thee for the first day thou tookest vpon thee the Imperiall Crowne of the Romane Empire of a free man thou thraldest thy selfe to bondage For onely you other Princes haue authority to giue liberty to al others but neuer to graunt it to your selues saying moreouer that vnder the colour of royall liberty you shall remaine more subiect then your owne subiects that euer obey you For if you command many in their houses also one alone after commaundeth you in your owne Courte Now although many commanded the Prince or that he would follow the counsell but of a few or that hee loued one aboue an other or that hee consented one alone should gouerne him the good Courtier neede not once to open
of him hee is bound to giue it her straight if hee can and though shee frowne vppon him yet hee may not bee angrie with her so that the Courtyer must needes imploy his whole person and goods in seruing of her that hee loues For the Courtyer that is marryed surely it is not fit for him to loue any other woman then his wife neyther is it honest for the woman to be serued with any married courtyer For these manner of loues are to no other ende but for him to be merry with her and for her to get somewhat of him Let the Courtyer be very wise and beware that he doe not loue and serue such a gentlewoman whom he cannot obtaine to his wife For otherwise it should be a great corsiue to his heart and a more shame to see another before his eyes to enioy her and eate of that fruite which hee had now to his great coste and charges made now a fruitfull Orch-yard And if it happen that his Mistresse whom he serueth be nobly borne very fayre of complexion pleasant of condition of good grace and behauiour in her conuersation very wise fine in her doings hee may bee well assured hee shall neuer forget this griefe and sorrow and so much the more if hee did loue her with all his heart and vnfainedly There is great difference between that we lose and that wee haue For if the heart lament for the losse of that wee haue it bewayleth bitterly to lose that wee loue Also the Courtier must be aduised that hee tell not to any that his wife hath told him or any thing that hath passed secretly between thē For women are of such a quality that for any thing they doe they would neuer heare of it againe willingly and those secrets that another commits to them of trust they can neuer keepe them secret There is a Law common between women and their Louers for if they goe abroad their louers must attende vpon their persons and if they buy any thing in the streete as they goe they are bound to pay for it And if they be too late abroad they must prouide them of torches to bring them home with and when the Court remoueth frō place to place theirs is the charge to defray their expences by the way and if any doe them iniury they are bound to reuenge their quarrell If they fall sicke they must doe them a thousand pleasures and seruices if any challenge bee made in Court of tilt turney or barriers they must bee the first and best mounted and armed aboue others if they may possible with all not forgetting their Ladyes colours and deuise offering themselus nobly to performe the challenge giuing them to vnderstand that for their sakes they neyther feare to aduenture their liues nor spare for any charge to doe them all honour and seruice with out doubt wee may speake it truely that hee putteth himselfe to great perill and danger whatsoeuer hee bee that serueth women But when the wise Courtier is now become a seruaunt to any Lade hee must beware in any case hee entertaine or serue any other then his mistresse for if hee did it otherwise hee should raise a mortall hate and discorde betweene these women by reason whereof many slaunders broiles might ensue It is a naturall thing to all women that to hate any man a hundred will come to agree in one opinion but to loue him you shall not finde two of one minde The good Courtier must couet the best he can to be alwayes at the making ready of the King and at meat and that for two causes The one for that hee may be ready to doe him seruice and the other for that at such a time they shall haue an apt time to treate with the Prince in any thing hee will if he haue any occasion of busines with him And when the King is eyther at his meate or that hee bee putting on his apparrell let the good Courtier be circumspect he come not too neere the Table where he sitteth nor that hee touch the Kings apparell he weareth on for no man ought once to presume to bee so hardy to meddle with his meate or his apparrell vnlesse he be Shewer or Chamberlaine And if in this time of repast or making him ready there were present any Iesters or fooles that sayd or did any thing to make them laugh The good Courtier must take heede that hee laugh not too loud as in such cases many are wont to doe For in such a case the Prince would be better pleased at the modesty of the Courtier then at the knauery of the foole The honest Courtier must not haue a foole his friend nor his enemy for to make him his friend hee is too dishonest and to be his enemy hee is too vile and cowardly I wish the Courtier not to bee angry with him what soeuer he doth for many times it happeneth that the friendshippe of a wise man doth not so much benefite or pleasure as the enmity and displeasure of one of these fooles doth hurt And if hee will giue them any thing as he must needes let him beware he giue him not occasion to condemne his conscience and that hee stoppe their mouthes For the Courtier that is Christian shall giue as much more to the poore to pray to God for him as hee shall giue to others to speake well of him to the king When the King sneeses and that the Courtier bee present hee must straight put off his cappe and bowe himselfe in a manner to the ground but for all that hee must take heed he say not Christ helpe you or God blesse you or such other like For to doe any maner of courtesie or honor is pertinent onely to Courtiers But to say Christ helpe or God blesse you is the Country manner And if the King by chance should haue any hayre or feather to flye vppon his clothes or any other filthy thing about him none but the chamberlaine onely should take it away and none other Courtier should once presume to take any thing from his backe or to touch his garment neyther any other person vnlesse it were in case to defend him When the king is set at the table the Courtier may not come into the Kitchen nor much lesse leane vpon the surueying boorde For though hee did it perhaps but to see the order of the suruey and seruice of the Prince yet it may bee suspected of some hee meant worser matter and and thereby they should iudge ill of him If the Prince haue a felicity in hawking the Courtier must endeauour himselfe to keepe a cast or two of good Falcons and if in hunting then he must haue good Greyhounds And when hee is eyther a hawking or hunting with the King hee must seeke to serue him so diligently that day that he may both find him game to sport with and procure for himselfe also fauour at the Princes hand Many
is also a great trouble and daungerous for a man to practise with new Iudges and to put their matters into their hands who onely were called to the place of a Iudge being thought learned and fitte for it and so brought to rule as a Magistrate For many times these young Iudges and new Physitians although they want not possible knowledge yet they may lacke a great deale of practise experience which is cause that one sort maketh many lose their liues before they doe come to rise in fame the other vndoe many a man in making him spēd all that euer he hath There is yet besides an other apparant daunger to haue to doe with these new and yong experienced iudges for when they come to sit newly in iudgement with their other brethren the Iudges hauing the lawe in their mouth to serue all turnes they doe but onely desire and study to winne fame and reputation amongst men and thereby to bee the better reputed of his brethren And for this cause only when they are assembled together in place of Iustice to giue iudgement of the pleas layde before them they doe not only inlarge themselues in alleadging many and diuers opinions of great learned men and booke cases So that the Hearers of them may rather thinke they haue studyed to shew their eloquence and learning then for to open the decision and iudgement of the cases they haue before them And for finall resolution I say that touching Pleas and Sutes I am of opinion that they should neyther truste the experience of the olde Iudge nor the learning and knowledge of the young But rather I reckon that man wise that seeketh by little and little to grow to an agreement with his aduersarie and that tarieth not many yeares to haue a lingring yea and possibly an vncertaine ende Also I would in some sort exhort the poore Plaintise not to bee ouer-curious to vnderstand the qualities of the iudge as a man would say If he be olde or young if he be learned or priuiledged if he be well studyed or but little if hee be a man of few or manie words if hee be afflicted or passionate tractable or selfe willed For possiblie beeing too inquisitiue to demaund of any of these things it might happen though hee did it vnawares yet hee should finde them afterwards all heaped togethers in the person of the Iudge to his hinderance and dammage in decyding his cause The wise Suter should not onely not seek to be inquisitiue of the iudge or his conditions but also if any man would seeme to tell him of him hee should giue no eare to him at all For if it come to the Iudges eares hee enquireth after his manner of liuing and condition hee will not onely be angry with him in his minde but will be also vnwilling to giue iudgement in his fauour The poore Siuter shall also meete with Terrible Iudges seuere intractable chollericke incommunicable and inexorable and yet for all this he may not looke vpon his nature nor condition but onely to regarde his good conscience For what neede hee care if the Iudge be of seuere and sharpe condition as long as he may be assured that 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 skilfull head and iudgement in the Lawes For if he haue the one without the other hee may offend in malice and if hee haue that without the other hee may offend also in ignorance And if the suter come to speake with the Iudge and hee by chaunce finde him a sleepe hee must tarry till hee awake and if then hee will not or he cannot giue eare vnto him hee must bee contented And if he caused his man to say he were not within notwithstanding the suter saw him hee must dissemble it yea if the seruants giue him an ill answere he must take it in good worth For the wary and politike suter must not bee offended at any thing that is done or sayde to him till he see the definitiue sentence giuen with him or against him It is a maruellous trouble also to the suter to chuse his Counsellour for many times hee shall chuse one that shall want both law and conscience And some others shall chuse one that though on the one side hee lacke not Law yet on the other hee shall bee without both soule and conscience And this is apparantly seen that somtime for the gaine of twenty Nobles hee shall as willingly deny the truth and goe against his owne consciedce as at another time he will seeke for to maintaine Iustice It is true there are many other Counsellours also that are both wise and learned and yet notwithstanding they know the Law they can by no meanes frame it to his Clients case wanting deuice and conuayance to ioyne them together And so it happeneth many times that to compare it to his Clyants case hee conuaieth him so vnfitlie as of a plaine case it was before It is now made altogether a folde of infinite doubts I graunt that it is a great furtherance vnto the Clyants to haue a good and wise Counsellor but it is a great deale more for their profite if they can giue a sound and profound iudgement of his case For it is not ynough for the Counseller to bee able to expound the Law but it is behouefull for him to applie it to his purpose and to fit it to Time and Place according to the necessitie of his cause I haue knowne Counsellours my selfe that in their Chayres and Readings in their Halls haue seemed Eagles they haue flowne so high in their doctrine and interpretations but afterwards at the barre where they plead and in the face of their Court where they should best shewe themselues there they haue prooued themselues very capons And the onely cause of this is because they haue gotten by force of long trauell and continuall studie a knowledge to moote and read ordinarily their Book-cases in their chaires by common-practise and putting of them each to other But when they are taken out of common-trade and high beaten way and brought to a little path-way straighted to a Counsellers-room at the barre to pleade his Clyents strange and vnknowne case much contrarie to theyr Booke-cases before recited then stript of their common-knowledge and easie seate in chayre they stand now naked on their feete before the iudgement-seate like sense-lesse creatures voyde of reason and experience But now to supplye these imperfections of our rawe Counsellers and to further also our Clyents cause the better wee will that the Clyent be liberall and bountifull to his Counseller thereby the better to whette his wit and to make him also take paines to studie his ease throughly beeing true That the Counseller giueth Lawe as hee hath rewarde And that the Counseller also be carefull of his clyents cause and to goe through with that hee
to punish an iniurious word then to seeme to laugh at it For it is a thing more naturall and proper to women then men to desire to take reuenge of wordes with the like words againe sith the noble heart that esteemeth his honour must not haue his handes in his tongue but his tongue in his hands O how many haue we seene both out of Court and in Court the which for no other respect but to reuenge one onely silly word that touched them not much would put themselus their goods and fame in perill and yet in the end had not that reuenge which they desired but rather redoubled it against themselues in loosing their fond and vaine attempt Therefore to conclude those that will bee great in fauour and estimation in the Princes Court and those also that are now in fauour and credite with the Prince and that desire to continue and perseuer in his fauour still must not make account of any wordes spoken to him or offences done him for all that are in fauour haue neede to suffer and no occasion to report Till this present day I neuer saw any that receiued any hurt or detriment by being patient but being impatient I haue seen numbers cast thēselus away you must also know that in all places where troupes and companies of people be there is alwayes euer discords and diuersities in opinions and iudgements of men So that it happeneth many times in a common-weale yea and it meeteth sometimes in one house that all shal be of one bloud and kinred yet in priuate willes and affections mortall enemyes And therefore sure it is a thing worthy to be noted and no lesse to be wondred at to see the fathers with the sonnes the Vnckles with the nephews the graund-fathers with the children the sonnes in Law with their fathers in Lawe and Brothers with their brothers and sisters the one to be as farre different from the other as white and blacke and as much friends as the dogge and the cat And all this is caused only for that they are rather wedded to a selfe-will and opinion they haues then they are adicted to loue and affect that that nature bindeth them to We see also many young Courtiers that though they be vertuous and Noble hauing inherited and succeeded in Nobilitie of bloud their Ancestors by meanes whereof they are honoured and reuerenced and possessing also the greatnesse and abundance of their goods and riches which makes them wealthy and maintaines them honourably enioying the Noble parentage for which they are regarded hauing many friends and seruants that doe them great seruice and pleasure And all in respect of their Noble Ancestors and yet notwithstanding al these great things wee haue spoken they follow their owne inuentions and imaginations which their Ancestors knowing would haue fled and hate and mislike that they doubtlesse being aliue would haue followed And therefore it is rather a token of lightnesse then of good will for one to leaue to helpe and relieue his owne friends and kinsfolks to succour and doe good to strangers or others whom hee neuer knew nor can tell what they are For I assure you that one of the greatest losses and mishaps that can come to a Noble house is to haue new friendshippe and parciality with strangers and men vnknowne That Gentleman that giueth himselfe to follow such a one as pleaseth his fantasie best and that leaueth to leaue to those whom his Ancestors heretofore both loued and liked shall see those old friends not onely leaue and forsake him but cleane giue him ouer to his will and shortly after shall finde his substance and faculty consume and waste away besides the honour of his house to bee brought to vtter decay and obliuion And this we haue spoken onely to aduise the Princes Officers and such as haue credite and authoritie that they doe not with fauour support and ayde any partiall sect namely that that concerneth the state and body of Common-wealth for the esteemed of the Prince more easily and with lesse occasion doe vndoo themselues and lose the credite they haue wonne by reason of their partialiteis and factions they maintaine then they doe for their daily benefites and suits they importune the Prince in Wherefore the seruants and Officers of the Kings house although they bee in good fauour with the Prince and that it please him to like well of them yet they may not so hardly support any to doe hurt to others and so absolutely as if they were the Lords and Princes themselues For albeit it pleaseth the King to call them to honour and to enrich them with goods and possessions yet the King cannot nor will not like that they shall bee suborners of factions and quarels amongst their subiects in the Common-wealth And yet neuerthelesse it happeneth many times that those that see themselues onely in fauour aboue others will presume to doe violence and wrong to others trusting to their great fauour they are in that that shall suffice to cloke and hide any fault they shall commit which they neuer ought to think nor yet for any respect in the world to doe For such vnhaply might be the crime they doe commit that although it be in the Princes power to doe great things for them yet he could not at that time with his honor excuse their offence nor seeme to protect them in their lewdnesse without great murmour and discontentation of his subiects I know very well that in Court the mindes affections and opinions of Courtiers are so diuers and variable and notwithstanding the beloued of the Prince endeauour himselfe all hee can possible to please and content euery man in Court yet of all impossibilities it is a thing most impossible euer to attaine to it to winne all mens good willes Neuerthelesse hee must so trimly and wisely behaue himselfe in all his doings that those at least whom he cannot with all his pollicy and deuice make his friends haue not yet any iust occasion giuen them to bee his enemies I see there is no meane no reason no deuice nor pollicy of man fauour nor negligence that can defend the honoured and esteemed of Court from detraction and enuy Therefore I will boldly giue him this aduice with him that in matters of Iustice and other publike affayres he beare himselfe so vpright that notwithstadding they repine at his authoritie and credite yet that they haue no cause offered to complayne of him The Courtyer is forced to complaine when his owne familiar companyons and fellow-seruants of the Prince in his matters of contenion or quarrell step between them not to part them but rather to the contrary to contend with them and ioyne in demaund of that they striue for which the luckles Courtyer is very apt to know although hee dares not discouer it For many times he supposeth it lesse euill to suffer the persecution of the enemie then to fall into the disgrace of the beloued and
esteemed about the Prince For the reputed of the Prince commonly thinke they doe much for the Common-weale in bearing and fauouring some and in punishing and persecuting others For those that are of great authoritie professing honour and reputation and that feare shame would rather themselues to be defamed reiected then to see their enemies aduanced or prefered to the fauor of the Prince or of thē that be in fauor with the prince And the beloued or officers of the Prince may not thinke that the fauor they giue to one against an other can bee kept secret and that it cannot come to light for in so doing they are deceiued For in deed there is nothing more manifest or known in the Common-wealth then the doings practises of those that are in fauour and authority yea euen to the very words they speake Those that are agrieued and haue to complaine of some iniury done them or also those that are euen the familiars of the fauoured and that doe but aspire dayly to grow in greater credite with their Prince then others doe not see any thing saide or done to others that are in better credit then themselus be it in eating drinking watching sleeping in play beeing quiet or busie but they suddenly go report it and tell it to som other that is in fauour to enter and to encrease alwayes into greater fauour and trust with them If there happen any discention or enmity amongst the people in the cōmon weale or realme the esteemed of the Court must beware in any case they put not in their hand if they do at all that it be but to pacifie them and to make them good friendes againe and not to discouer thē worse then they were before For if he do otherwise all these quarrels in the end shall cease they being reconciled together and now made perfect friends and to him they wil all shew themselus open enemies And therfore it behoueth the fauored of Princes to behaue themselues so wisely towards them that are at discord and variance together that both the one side and the other should bee glad and well pleased to make him arbitrater between them to decide both their causes without any suspition that they haue of him be it neuer so little of partiality of eyther part The same day that the fauoured of the Court shall take vpon him to beare any priuate affection to any of the Common weale and that hee rather leane to one party or to an other the selfe same day and houre he shall put in great hazard his person and not without great danger to loose his goods together with the fauour and credit of his Prince And the secrete enemies he hath through the enuie they beare him should suffice him yea rather too much by reason of his fauour and credit without seeking anie new enemies for that he saith or doth Such as are great with the Prince and that flye the passions affections and partialities of the Common-weale may be assured they shall bee beloued serued and honoured of all but if they shall doe the contrary they may trust to it likewise that their enemies wil be reuenged of them because they did pursue them And their friends also will complaine of them because they did not fauour their cause as they ought Therfore let not the beloued thinke if he dare beleeue me that by hauing onely the fauour of the person of the Prince it is inough for him to gouerne and rule the whole Realme at his pleasure For although it cannot be denyed that to haue so great a friend as the person of a King it is a great aduantage and commodity and that he may do much yet wee must graunt also that many enemies are able to hurt vs and do vs great iniurie And therefore my aduise should be that euery wise man hauing one friend should beware to haue an other enemy CHAP. XII That the officers and beloued of the court should be very diligent and carefull in dispatch of the affayres of the Prince and Common-wealth and in correcting and reforming the seruants they should also bee very circumspect and aduised SVurely it is a great seruitude trouble to liue in court continually but it is far greater when it is enforced of necessity by reason of sutes and troubles and yet greatest and most intolerable whē they cannot obtain a short and briefe dispatch according to their desire for waying well the manner and conditions of the Court that Suiter may reckon himselfe happily dispatched euery time that he is quickly dispatchd although his dispatch bee not according to his mind And I speake it not without a cause that he may reckon himselfe well dispatched when he hath his answere For without comparison it is lesse ill of both for the poore Suiter that attends on the Court to be presently denyed his Suit then to continue him long with delayes as they they do now a daies the more is the pitty If the poore Suters that goe to the Court did know certainely that the delay made in their Suites were for no other occasion but for to dispatch them well according to their desire although it were not so reasonable yet were it tollerable the paines and trouble that they abide But if the poore miserable and wretched creatures haue great trouble in trauersing the Lawe and abiding their orders obtaining it neuerthelesse in the end with great labour and toyle yea and contrary to their expectation haue they not yet matter ynough trow yee to complaine of yes sure enough to make them despaire Whatsoeuer he be therefore that goeth to the Court to be a Suiter for any matter of import let him determine and thinke with himselfe he shal not obtaine his suite euen as he wold haue it For if he shall feed himselfe with certain promises made in priuat a thing common to Courtiers to promise much and performe nothing with other vaine and foolish thoghts the great hope he shall conceiue of their smokes of Court must needes giue him afterwards occasion to despayre when hee seeth the promise vnperformed The court is a Sea so deep a pilgrimage so incertaine that there wee dayly see nought els but Lambes swim with safety in the deepest chanel and elephants down in the shallowest foord To go sue to serue to trauell to solicite in the Court of Princes may aptly be likened and compared to those that put too many rich iewels to the Lottery in open market in which it happeneth very oft that hee that hath put in a 100. lots shall not happen perhaps of one and an other that only hath but in one fortune shal so fauour him that he shall euer after be made a rich man The like we may say to him that hath liued so long in Court that he hath not onely gotte him a beard but it is also now becom a gray beard and yet in all this long time of his seruice he hath not gotten
him any certainety or stay of liuing to liue honestly withall to maintaine his aged yeares in quiet and he may well say that all the lots haue beene vnfortunat to him which he put in aduēture It is true that to be called a good and vertuous man it sufficeth to haue a sharpe witte and good head but to become rich he must only haue good fortune And this is plainely seene in the Court that some in 4. monethes wil grow great like a Melon and some other in 40. yeares will neuer beare but little fruit like a palme tree We haue told you all these things to this end onely to remember those that goe to the Court of Princes to follow any fuite or to continue a Courtier still that in any case they carry a purse with them full of money and a heart armed with patience Oh what pitty is it euery way to see him that is a Suiter in the Court to bee long haled with a tedious suite and in the end not to obtain any partof his desire without a little pleasing winde of court for if he wil haue his suite go forward take good successe and haue it speedily granted he must first buy it of God with bitter tears and after of the king with hūble intercession of the Secretaries with promises and of the vshers with presents and of the beloued and in authority with infinit seruice so that to conclude far greater is the rewarde they craue then the value of the fauour or benefite they bestow If I haue discoursed vnto you sufficiently what the vnlucky Suters haue done and do you shall further know what they thinke and doe imagine as it falleth out true The sely soules they passe the nights in watch deuising continually not in what Church the next day they may heare the diuine Seruice but onely by what meanes they may procure to come to the Fauourites of the Court to speake one word vnto them The poore Suter vnskilfull of courtly practise belieueth that when hee hath once exhibited a bill or memoriall of his Sute to the Maister of Requests or that he hath spoken a word or two to any one in fauour with the Prince that straight-wayes without further delay he shall be dispatched of his Sute and that he shall not need to sue any more But alas they are deceiued preuented of their expectation For the vnhappie Suter shall bee no sooner out of his sight but they presently forget all that hath bin saide vnto them yea and peraduenture his minde so occupied that his bill of Memoriall is also torne in pieces and his Sute and bill committed to flying aire The affayres of the warres are done by force and necessitie and those of Friends by Good-will but those of the miserable Suters of the Court by money or great importunitie So that it followeth that hardly any man obtayneth the ende of his Sute bee his Right neuer so good without great diligence and painefull toyle And many times the poore Suter of the Court departeth from his owne house and goeth to the Court on hope and deliberation to be dispatched in two moneths and afterwards the poore miserable man shall spend aboue sixe moneths there without dispatch But all this is nothing to the griefe and displeasure hee shall feele in the ende if with better iudgement he measure and consider the pleasure and felicitie hee might haue had at home with the troubles and displeasures hee abideth in the Court. For making account with his purse hee shall perhaps finde all his money spent ere his sute in manner be begunne I tolde you but of a little wonder to tell you that all his yll consisted in the emptying of the purse For indeede I should haue saide better and more truely telling you that hee had solde his Nagge layde his Sworde in gage baratted his cote and cloke and of two shyrts he brought the one hee solde so that the poore-man hath no more left to chop nor sell And yet moreouer mee thinks I tell you little If I shew you not also that after he hath consumed all his Money that hee brought in his Purse solde chopped and layd to gage all the Apparell that hee had hee is notwithstanding all this enforced for debt to gage to his Host all that remains behind to satisfie him for his lodging So that when he commeth home to his own house he may say truely That hee commeth home weary ashamed consumed and all that he hath at gage Hee that determineth to be a suter at the Court is wont before he go from home to make account what hee will spend euery day ordinarily but what he shall spend extraordinarily against his will that he neuer reckons of And therefore I would counsell him for the best if he put ten crownes in his purse for ordinary charges let him also put ten crownes more for extraordinarie For it is impossible hee should euer keepe an order and measure in so great a disorder For many times courtiers are compelled for their honor reputations sake to inuite their hosts owners of the lodgings where they lie and besides the great charges they are at the way yet come there vnbidden to dinner and supper a company of Iesters players of Enterludes Minstrels and Musitians or other pleasant companions whom he cannot refuse and turne away for honesties sake but must needs make them eate and drinke besides the reward they looke for So that when hee hath made his account of ten or twenty shillinges charges for his dinner or supper let him looke in his purse and hee shall finde these mates haue pickt vp in rewards as much as the whole charges of his dinner or supper besides Moreouer they are dayly visited of their friends and kinsfolks and victuals are so deare and of so excessiue price that to make their prouision at the best hand they must send out postes and Lackyes into all partes to be their Puruayers And yet are they further recharged that many times their seruants robbe them of all their money and runne their way when they haue done and somtimes they must new array themselues all which things the Courtier in respect of his estimation is bound to do thorowly and with the best manner or else to sequester and banish himselfe from Court and Courtiers life It is true that a poore Gentleman or other Suiter that of necessity must follow the Court knoweth very well the cause that moueth him to bee a Courtier and attendant on the court but yet hee shall not know what his charge and expence will be about that suite If hee haue any fauour or credite in the Court hee may happilie obtaine a quicke and ready dispatch and so perhaps saue some part of his money in his purse he determined for to spend without which hee shall not onely be enforced to borrow but to send a new messenger to his house for more money O more is the pitty how
although it may be borne betweene men of like degree and coequalitie yet is it not tollerable between the prince the fauored of the Prince But rather euery day houre moment that the Fauoured Courtyer entreth into the Princes pallace or into his priuy-chamber hee ought euer to doe it with as great curtesie reuerence humilitie and honour and in speaking to the King as if hee had neuer spoken with him nor seene him So that hee should let all men see that though it please the Kings Majesty to make of him and to accept him into his fauour yet that hee leaue not to serue him and doe him that duety that all other seruants doe and are bounde to doe The safest and most certaine way to maintaine those that are sublimated and exalted in the Courtes of Princes and to raise vp and bring those to aucthority that are lowe and of base condition is that the esteemed repute himselfe euer a Seruant and that the seruant neuer vaunt nor boast himselfe to be fauoured or esteemed The familiars of Princes ought euer to beware that there come no complaints of them to the Princes care For as a drop of Water by Time and continuall Fall commeth to pierce the hardest stone so it might happen that the numbers of complaints might bee occasion for the prince to withdrawe his fauor and loue from the Courtier againe If his only seruices were sufficient to induce the Prince to fauor loue him so the number of his subiects coÌ„plaints against him were occasion enough to make him mislike him and and put him out of fauor clean changing his loue and fauor to hate and discredite For it is a certaine thing that when the Prince doth looke well into his owne doings he had rather be be loued of all then serued of one alone The honored Fauorite of the Court may not so much regarde the honour and credit he is called to by his prince as the basenes and pouertie he was in when it pleased the king to like of him and that he came first acquainted with the King For if he did otherwise it might so happen that like as Fortune had brought him to that high estate hee had So Pride might ouerthrow him againe and bring him as low as hee was before For I should haue saide more truely a great deale saying That it would haue made him fall downe right beeing the propertie of Fortune to suffer the baser sort whom she hath caled to honour onely to returne them to their meane estate calling they were of at first and neuer to leaue the fauored of the Prince and men of aucthoritie nor neuer satisfied till shee hath throwne them downe headlong into extreame misery neuer to rise againe Agathocles first the sonne of a Potter and afterwards made king of Scicilia whilst hee liued hee euer vsed this manner that in his treasurie or iewell house yea and also at his Table amongst all his cups and dishes of gold and siluer hee had also some of Earth amongst them and beeing asked the occasion why in so great a Treasurie and masse of golde and siluer he had so vile and base a thing as Earth Hee aunswered thus I drinke in golden cups and eate in Earthen dyshes to giue thankes vnto the Gods which of a Potters-sonne that I was brought mee to this Royall estate of a mighty King And I do it also to haue euer more cause to bee humble and lowly and to flye Pryde For it is an easier thing and more likelyer for a king to become a Potter then for a Potter to attain to the greatnes state of a king These wordes of Agathocles were euer worthie to bee noted and had in â—â—nory since we see plainly that to giue a man a fall a little stone sufficeth to make vs stumble and fall to the ground but to rayse vs vp againe wee must needes helpe vs with power of handes and feet It may well be that this braue Courtier and fauoured of the Court before hee came to this degree of honour was but of a meane house and bâ—fuly borne and besides that esteemed of few for his nobilitie of bloud of an vnknowne Countrey of poore parents of small substance and no better nor otherwise fauoured of fortune in his birth or linage of all which things he hath no cause to be ashamed but rather to glory praise God For hee shall euer bee more esteemed in the Court and wel thoght of to remember from whence hee came and to regarde his first estate then hee shall if he waxe glorious high minded by reason of the fauour he is at this present vtterly forgetting his first rising Titus Liuius reciteth that the renowmed Romane Quintus Cincinnatus before he came to bee made Captaine of Rome hee was taken out of the fields a labouring man plowing tilling the ground And this so noble a person beeing occupied in great affayres of the common weale eyther in prouisions or munitions or in expeditions of warre was wont to sigh before all the Captaines and say Alas who could tell me now any newes how my Beefes doe in my graunge my sheepe in the mountaines and whether my seruauntes haue prouided them of Hay and Pasture for to keepe them the next yeare Surely it is to be thought that whosoeuer speakes these wordes with his mouth must needes haue little pride in his heart And vndoubtedly hee proued his words true and shewed that hee spake as hee thought and in good earnest without intent of iest since afterwards returned home againe to follow the plough to plant his vines and to see his owne thinges gouerned leauing behinde him a perpetuall testimony of his noble and worthy doings And his common Weale also greatly enriched by his famous acts Saul was King of Israel and taken fot a God and was annointed of Samuel his Father a poore husbandman of the Countrey and hee from his youth brought vp in that trade for to holde the plough and yet when hee was King he neuer disdayned for to plough his ground to sow his oates and to driue his beasts now to pasture then home againe So that the good King did glory this day to holde the plough and to morrow to fight with his sword When Fortune therfore sheweth her selfe enemy to any and that from great dignity and high calling shee ouerthroweth him and bringeth him to low and meane estate It is then that he hath good cause to complain of fortunes cruelty and to bewayle his wretched happe ashamed to see his lothsome misery But when shee worketh contrarily and from mean estate brings him to great honour and credite that must needes be great honor and glory to him Therefore I say let them beware that beare rule and authority in the Court that they be not proud glorious high minded neither otherwise detected of any kinde of vice though they be neuer so much in fauour and estimation Sith Fortune sheweth most
and all things also that serue them endure dayly some clipse And hereunto replyed suddenly Demetrius and sayde O my good Euripides thou hadst sayde better that all things vegitiue and sensitiue and each other liuing thing doth not onely feele the Eclipses force and change from day to day but from houre to houre and minute to minute Meaning king Demetrius by these words hee spake that there is nothing so stable in this world bee it of what state or condition it will bee but in the twinckling of an eye is ready to runne into a thousand dangers and perils and albeit we bee all subiect of what state or degree so euer wee bee to sundry and diuers thrals and mishaps yet none so neere neighbours to them as those that are in highest authority and greatest fauor with Princes For there are many that shootes to hitte downe the white of their fauour but few that being down will once put it vp againe and restore it to his place For to liue a contented life a man had neede to want nothing neyther to haue any occasion to trouble him But the things that trouble vs in this vale of misery being so many and of such aboundance and those thinges contrarily so few and rare to come by that wee neede and want wee may iustly account this life wofull and miserable aboue all others For sure farre greater are the grieues and displeasures wee receyue for one onely thing wee want then the pleasures are great wee haue for a hundred others whereof we haue aboundance Besides that the familiars of Princes cannot thinke themselues so mighty and fortunate that any man may presume to call them blessed or happie For if some serue and honor them others there are that persecute them and if in their houses they haue that flatter them and make much of them there want not in the Court others that murmur at them and speake ill of them And if they haue cause somtimes to reioyce that they are in fauour so haue they likewise continuall trouble and feare that they shall fall and bee put out of fauour And if they glory to haue great treasure they sorrow also to haue enemies And if the seruices and company they haue doe delight them the continuall businesse they haue do vex them So that wee may say of them as of plastering houses which are neuer so fayre but they become blacke with some spotte in time and wormes and other vermine doe eate and wast them If there bee none that dare once admonish these great men in authority and tell them their faultes by wordes of mouth yet I will take vpon mee to doe it with my writing and say That they speake nothing but that it is noted their steps they treade are seene euery morsell of meate they eate is marked they are accused for the pleasures they take and all thinges that they haue are obserued All the pleasures that is done them is registred and all ill that they know by them is published And finally I conclude that the fauoured of Princes are a game at tables whereat euery man playeth nor with Cardes nor Dice but only with serpents tongue And therefore I haue sayde it and once againe I returne to say that all those that are accepted of Princes must liue continually very wisely and aduisedly in all their doings for it is true and too true that euery mans tongue runnes of them and much more if they had time and opportunity like as they defame them with their tongues so would they offende them with their hands Wee doe not speake this so much that they should looke to defend their life but to foresee that they may preserue their honour and goods from perill and to giue them by this precept a good occasion to looke about them For to put them in disgrace with the King all the dayes of their Life to their vtter vndoing and ouerthrowe the King neede but onely for to giue eare and attention to his enemies CHAP. XVI The Author admonisheth those that are in fauour and great with the Prince that they take heede of the deceipts of the world and learne to liue and dye honourably and that they leaue the Court before age ouertake them WHen king Aldericke kept Seuerine the Romane Consull Prisoner otherwise named Boetius that Consull complained much of fortune saying alas Fortune why hast thou forsaken mee in my age since thou diddest fauour mee so much in my youth and that I had serued thee so many yeares why hast thou left me to the hands of mine enemies To which complaints Fortune made answere thus Thou art vnthankeful to mee O Seuerius sith I haue vsed my thinges with thee in such manner as I neuer vsed the like with any other Romane And that this is true I tell thee Consider O Seuerius that I made thee whole and not sicke a man and no woman of excellent witte and vnderstanding and not grosse and rude rich and not poore wise and not foolish free and not bound a Senator and no Plebeian noble and valiant and not cowardly a Romane and no Barbarian or stranger borne in great and meane estate a graue man and no light nor vaine person fortunate and not vnlucky worthy of fame and not obliuion to conclude I say I gaue thee such part in the common weale that thou haddest good cause to haue pittie of all others and all others cause to haue spight and enuie at thee Againe replyed Seuerius to this answere and saide Oh cruell and spightfull Fortune how Liberall thou art in the things thou speakest and resolute in the thinges thou disposest sith alwayes thou doest what thou wilt and seldome that thou oughtest And thou knowest there is no such mishappe as to remember a man hath once beene Rich and Fortunate in his Time and to see himselfe now broght to extreame miserie Heare Fortune thou oughtst to know it if thou knowest it not that hee that neuer was rich scant knoweth his pouertie But alas for pittie he that was rich and had once all pleasures and ease doth sorrow much for the present extreamitie and bewayleth the fore-passed felicitie And I tell thee also and thou oughtest to belieue me that wee repute them more happy whom thou neuer exaltest nor gauest honor vnto then we do those whom thou hast called to high Honours and afterwardes hast ouer-throwne them and brought them lower and in worser state then before And as for mee Oh Fortune I tell thee truely I thinke no man fortunate but him that neuer knew what good-fortune meant And this was the discourse betwixt Fortune and the Consull Seuerius By which wee may perceiue and comprehend that truly none may be thought vnfortunate and miserable but such as haue been before in great honour and reputation and he cannot be thoght abased of his state or countenaunce if he were not before in prosperitie and fauoured of fortune So that we may well say That neuer
his euill hap hath made her his enemie which heretofore hee so entirely loued For any man that esteemeth his honour and reputation doth rather feare the euill tongue of such a woman then the sword of his enemy For an honest man to striue and contend with a woman of such quality is eueÌ„ as much as if hee would take vpon him to wash an asses head Therefore hee may not seeme to make account of those iniuries done him or euill words shee hath spoken of him For women naturally desire to enioy the person they loue without let or interruption of any and to pursue to the death those they hate I would wish therefore the fauoured of Princes and such as haue office and dignity in the court that they beware they incurre not into such like errors For it is not fitting that men of honour and such as are great about the Prince should seeme to haue more liberty in vice then any other neyther for any respect ought the beloued of the Prince to dare to keepe company much lesse to haue friendshippe with any such common and defamed women sith the least euill that can come to them they cannot be auoided But at the least hee must charge his conscience trouble his friends waste his goods consume his person and lose his good fame ioining withall these also his concubine to bee his mortall enemy For there is no woman liuing that hath any measure in louing nor end in hating Oh how warily ought all men to liue and specially we that are in the Court of Princes for many women vnder the colour of their authority and office go ofttimes to seeke them in their Chambers not onely as humble suiters to solicite their causes but also liberally to offer them their persons and so by colour to conclude their practises and deuises So that the decision and coÌ„clusion of proces which they faine to solicite shall not goe with him that demaunds there goods of them but rather with him that desires but their persons to spoyle them of theyr honour Now the Princes officers must seeke to be pure and cleane from al these practises of these commoÌ„ strumpets much more from those that are suters to them and haue matters before them For they should highly offend God and commit great treason to the king if they should sende those Women from them that sued vnto them rather dishonored and defamed then honestly dispatched of their businesse And therefore he bindeth himselfe to a maruellous inconuenience that falleth in loue with a woman suter for euen from that instant hee hath receiued of her the sweet delights of loue euen at the present hee bindeth himself to dispatch her quickly and to end all her suites and not without great griefe I speake these words There are many women that come to the Court of Princes to make vnreasonable and dishonest sutes which in the end notwithstanding obtaine their desire And not for any right or reason they haue to it saue onely they haue obtained it through the fauour and credite they haue wonne of the fauoured Courtier or of one of his beloued So as wee see it happen many times that the vniust furnication made her suit iust and reasonable I should lye and doe my selfe wrong me thinkes if I should passe ouer with silence a thing that hapned in the Emperours Court touching this matter in the which I went one day to one of the princes chiefe officers and best beloued of him to solicit a matter of importaÌ„ce which an hostes of mine should haue before him And so this fauoured Courtier and great Officer after hee had hearde of men the whole discourse of the matter for full resolution of the same hee asked mee if shee were yong and fayre and I aunswered him that shee was reasonable fayre and of good fauour Well then sayth he bid her come to mee and I will doe the best I can to dispatch her matter with speede for I will assure you of this that there neuer came fayre woman to my handes but shee had her businesse quickly dispatcht at my hands I haue knowne also many women in the Court so dishonest that not contented to follow their owne matters would also deale with others affayres and gaine in feliciting theyr causes so that they with theyr fine wordes and franke offer of their persons obtayned that which many times to men of honour and great authority was denyed Therefore these great Officers fauoured of Princes ought to haue great respect not onely in the conuersation they haue with these Women but also in the honest order they ought to obserue in hearing their causes And that to bee done in such sort that whatsoeuer they say vnto them may bee secret prouided also the place where they speake with them bee open for other Suiters in like case CHAP. XVIII That the Nobles and Beloued of Princes exceede not in superfluous fare and that they bee not too sumptuous in their meates A notable Chapter for those that vse too much delicacy and superfluitie THe greatest care regard that Nature laide vpon her selfe was that men could not liue without sustinance so that so long as wee see a man eate yea if it were a thousande yeares wee might bee bolde to say that hee is certainely aliue And hee hath not alone layde this burden vpon men but on bruite beasts also For wee see by experience that some feedeth on the grasse in the fieldes some liues in the ayre eating flyes others vpon the wormes in carring others with that they finde vnder the water And finally each beast liueth of other and afterwardes the wormes feede of vs all And not onely reasonable men and brute beasts liue by eating but the trees are nourished thereby and wee see it thus that they in stead of meate receiue into them for nutriture the heate of the Sunne the temperature of the ayre the moisture of the earth any dewe of heauen so that the sustenance for men is called meate and that of plants and trees increase This beeing true therefore that wee haue spoken we must needes confesse that to liue wee must eate and yet withall wee must vnderstand that the sin of gluttony consisteth not in that that wee eate for necessity but only in that that is eaten with a disordinate appetite and desire And sure now a dayes men vse not to eate to content nature but to please their licorous and dainty mouthes Hee that giueth him selfe ouer to the desire of the throate doth not onely offend his stomacke and distemper his body but hurteth also his conscience for all gluttons and drunkards are the children or the brothers of sinne And I speake but little to say that the mouth and sinne are câ—sin Germanes together for by their effects and operations me thinketh them so knit and combined together as the Father and the Sonne Sith burning Leacherie acknowledgeth none other for her mother but onely the infatiable and gurmand throate And