Selected quad for the lemma: cause_n

Word A	Word B	Word C	Word D	Occurrence	Frequency Band	MI	MI Band	Prominent
cause_n	day_n	young_a	youth_n	101	3	8.1088	4	false

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

companion to her husband only but indeed Ladye and mistresse ouer her house and familie And if for example the reports of fundry places might serue I would aboue all other willinglie perswade ye to this one That I being one day at Lions deuising priuately with a very faire and young woman as is the manner in this Citty heere we entred into talke concerning the braue fashion of a garment which one of his neighbours ware and hadde caused newly to be made When I gaue her councell to haue such another she began to sigh maruelouslie Now I knew her husband to be rich inough able to content her in a greater desire and not to giue her one but a doozen farre better wherefore Lady quoth I why speake ye not to your husband who can and will heerein satisfie ye She answered she durst not neither would she require it bicause she had not yet as so wel deserued but if it pleased God to fauour her so much as to sende her one or twoe sweet yong babes she shoulde haue the meanes to aske of him other thinges then a new gowne It happened according to her wishe that a yeere after she was deliuered of two male children at one burthen so soone as she saw her desire accomplished she who before had beene so kind and louing to her husband began to holde all her housholde in such subiection as the poore Gentleman had no better helpe but euen to forsake his house now beholde what fruite comes by this kind of domesticall increase As for the aduantages that ensue by barrennesse I finde so great a number of them as it is impossible for me to acquaint yee with them all First of all if thou haue a barren wife consider thou shalt not need to doe as many doe nursse other folks childrē It shall not displease thee to heare the stir she makes when thy wife is sicke with childe nor shalt thou abide the painefull trouble during the month of her downe-liyng nor shalt thou heare the cryinges and cradle-noise to waken thee out of thy first sleepe Thou shalt bee free from the strifes and perpetuall molestations of iniurious and vnnaturall nursses And to conclude thou shalt not feele that yikesome anguish in seeing them die by thee or in thy presence Witnesse heereof let serue the wise Solon who being one day gone to visite his friend Thales that then for more quietnes of studie was gone not far off frō the Citty of Myletum And seeing no children goe vp and downe before his house he maruelled greatlie thereat and conceiued but rudely of Thales that hee hadde no care of linage to ensue him Thales within few daies after would returne the like to his companion and came to visite him euen in his lodging And while they discoursed on many thinges there entred to them a yong Lad who before hadde beene instructed for the purpose by Thales he said that he was come from Athens to see the Phylosopher and to enquire if he would command him any thing thither for which cause only came nowe to salute him Solon dilligentlie enquired of him if hee knew any matter of newes and how all things fared at Athens The yong youth answered he knewe no other thing but the death of an honest wise yong man for whom all the Cittie mourned and lamented at his departing because he was saide to be the son of a wise Philosopher of that Cyttie who as then was absent and euery one accounted well of him but his name he had then vtterlie forgotten O poor and vnhappie father cried out Solon being mooued with feare and trembling Then afterwarde cariyng suspition of his owne sonne in his minde he could not forbeare from demaunding if perhaps the name of the dead childes father was not Solon he answered that it was Solon for so he heard him called Then the poore Philosopher began to weepe and to beate his head against the faire walles so that if he had not swouned in the place he was in danger had the doores beene open to haue runne into the fieldes and there haue raunged vp and downe as madde or frantike Thales seeing himselfe reuenged and that he had preuailed enough against him after he had dawned him to remembrance by the helpe of vinager and colde water he saide Now thou seest Solon the cause which hath with-held me so carefully from listening to the desire of children in that it can so easily offend the sence of such a man as thou art whome I esteemed the firmest and most constant in the worlde Afterward he let him vnderstand the fallacie to shew him whence proceeded his slender affection to haue any linage I would faine learne of him that is so earnestlie this way addicted how doth a woman knowe what her children will be when shee hath brought them foorth For but by the issue of women had euer the Romaine Empire beene tormented with such horrible monsters as were Caligula Nero Commodus and Bascianus Had they euer liued vppon the earth if Marcus Antonius Domitian and Septimius had not byn married or at least had met with barren women Augustus would often wish that of his wiues hee might neuer haue children and woulde many times call his daughter and Neece two horse-leaches that destroied and eate vppe his daies with great and extreame greefes The selfe-same words might poor Agripina haue vsed who was mother to the cruel and hated Nero. Likewise the good father to Phraates K. of Parthia when he beheld his sonne so cruelly slain and at length without any remorse of conscience the homicidiall sworde to be sheathed in his owne poore and ouer-wearied aged bodie Epaminondas a king of so high spirit and most noble wisedome liued a long time without marriyng when being one day reproched and bearded by Pelops as in the way of reprehension for making no regard of procreation of children for aide of the common wealth which already declined and fell to ruine he returned him this quicke answer Take heed that thou hast not doone worse than I for the Common wealth by such seed as thou shalt leaue behind thee Heereon they elected one of his sonnes who was of such an infamous and wicked disposition as he hoped for nothing more then to bring all thinges to confusion What shall I say of Mithridates who by desire to succeede in the kingdome of Pontus seeing the ambushes he hadde secretly prepared against his father sorted to none effect made open warre against him assailed him very dishonorably for to depose him And what may be said of Lotharius sonne to K. Lewes who hauing suspition that he was not so well beloued as his brother Charles found the meanes to imprison his father I might in this place produce the deede of C. Thuranius Antipater of Gal●en sonne to the Emperour Valerian and of infinite other homicides or rather paricides But I will not trouble yee with multitude of examples in a matter not to bee any way

see vnder him quick-sandes quag-mires downe-fallings and most fearefull deepe places when he shall meete to beard him his most mortall enemie when he shall see himselfe mocked scorned and railed at with all vnseemely gestures both of mouth and hands Poor eies of howe many euils are ye the cause through your owne curiositie How many follies doe ye deliuer to the most milde and simple spirit only to troble the gratious rest thereof What letters written or what wordes engrauen are by yee represented to the poore hart to fill him full of all bitternesse Howe many gests and motions doe yee shew to the natural sense which soone after are the cause that man liueth in no quiet in his conscience How many dissimulations do ye note aswell in the Court as elsewhere vnder a counterfeit smile with a calfe-like made courtesie an Italian reuerence a Iudas-like kisse and embracing and a bare voice offering seruice Do ye not then account them happy that haue beleeued and neuer seene any of these things Vpon these speeches and reasons produced on my behalfe I leaue ye Gētlemen to set downe such iudgement as to you shall seeme best assuring my selfe very confidently that after all considerations ye will not diminish any part of my due right or equity For the Foole. Declamation 5. That it is better to be a foole than wise ALbeit the like matter which I am now to proue and defende hath beene already by two excellent men deliuered in this honourable assemblie and by them deliberated on to their aduantage It may please ye yet not to thinke it strange if in regarde of the occasion which this day offers it selfe I come as now to gleane and gather after them gone before if so be I can finde any thinge by them left or omitted either as vnaduisedlie or else if perhaps they had not prooues sufficient readie at hand to exchange in the cause For the firste aduertisement I will vse the aduise and opinion of the auncient Philosophers which was that to liue securely in this world they thought it best to vse the counterfeit shadowe of a foole and they saide that euen as he who hath some meane to counterfeit well a Prince Lorde or Gentleman can doe no lesse for the whyle but enter into the same trauaile solicitude cares paines and greefes as the person he imitates is subiect vnto so hee that in this world will sometimes cunningly disguise himselfe with the masque of folly as one may perceiue nothing else by him but euen natural foolery cannot in so dooing but participate with the happy partes and conditions of a foole which are of such sort as the very richest and best pleased in this worlde are not in any thing like or to be compared to them Witnesse a braue Gentleman a younger brother who by mishap that his elder brother woulde not impart liuings reasonably with him became a foole during which Fortune he had this imagination that all the ships which daily arriued in the Port of Diepe were his owne By meanes of which perswasion so soone as he vnderstoode of their comming thither he would walke before them a mile and more on the land vsing such kinde and cheerefull gestures to thē as by his words he seemed to thinke and assure himselfe that all the marchandize on boorde in the Hauen appertained to himselfe The like woulde hee doe when any ships departed thence to Sea eyther for Flaunders Spaine Portugall England or any other countrey he would vaile his bonnet to them a farre of recommending them to God wishing them faire winde a good voiage and speedy returne His euill hap at length was such that his brother in this time of folly returning from the warres at Bologna and seeing his brother come thus before him with such new manner of salutations greeuing as I thinke at this his happy state of life hee deliuered him into the handes of the most skilfull Physitians he coulde finde in the countrey by whose industrie the happy foole returned to his former disposition of good sense which made him afterward offended with his brother because he had depriued him of so great recreation of spirit which he confessed he receiued in his pleasing folly whereof he yet hauing some small remembrance affirmeth that neuer before or since that time he liued more ioyfully nor better agreeing with his owne mind In like manner is it not a thing highly to be commended to see a man of meane and base condition among the inferiour and abiect sorte of people by vertue of this braue kind of folly to enter into such an humour as to weene himselfe to be a Pope an Emperour a King a Duke or some great Prince or Lord And withal to feele in his heart the self-same affections and contentment of mind as accustomablie are felt by such as truely are constituted in those high dignities Hereof may beare record the Lackey of a Gentleman of Aniou who by the aide and comfort of his fortunate folly imprinted in his minde the pontifical dignitie for the administration wherof at a certain hower of the day which he had obtained by licence of his maister he would locke himselfe apart into a chamber with his confederates and instructed companions who notwithstanding they mocked him yet tooke great pleasure therein and there after his owne mind would he appoint a Consistorie lyke vnto little children that in their pastimes doe counterfeit the actions of the very greatest personages dispatch Bulles giue benefices create Cardinals send embassades in briefe he would doe al that he imagined beseemed a Pope and when the houre was expired he would returne to his wonted seruice Thinke ye that he which walked thorow Paris notwithstanding he was all dirtie bedagled yet supposing himselfe to be a Cardinall or Legate deserued no esteeme in his owne conceit Hee that named himselfe to be a Prophet He that preached wrote himselfe the father of Caine He that saide he was of the lynage of Zabulon And another who with his Scepter Crowne of gold glistering thought himselfe to be an Emperour Thinke ye not I say that such as these are highly contented in minde more perhaps then if they were such as they ween themselues to be What thinke ye of Villemanoche whoe expected the kings daughter in marriage and would complaine in all companies where hee came what wrong was doone him in that they delaied his marriage so long Deeme yee not such fooles haue as much or rather more pleasure in these imaginations then such as rightlye are placed in those dignities They haue as much by these meanes in that they partake not in the molestations which ofte are found in the high estates of great personages being not trobled with gouerning the traine belonging to theyr huge houses I cannot well conceiue the cause why some are so suddenly waspishe when they are called fooles it may be said that they forget the number hath beene alwaies infinite wherby some haue dared

among the very wisest for it behoues them to haue so many discretions so manye respects so many considerations wherwith the happie foole neuer troubleth himselfe so that they are constrained oftentimes to submit themselues and continue like countenance and daily against theyr natures to seeme graue and seuere The Foole doth not repose any confidence in his owne wisedome neither hath recourse to the subtletie and deceits of this world He neuer rests himselfe on the support and fauour of other whereby anye harme may happen to him for God hath him in his custodie and safegarde Which is a worde whereat our Catoes at this day will easily enter into choller But they must lightly passe it ouer and by constraint of verity confesse it true if they will giue but neuer so little regarde to the holy Scriptures there they shall finde that the wisedome of this world hath byn more sharpely taxed and with more greeuous arrests condemned then folly And yet our bold ouer-weeners will goe contrary to this diuine word to take part with that which God the Creator not onelye hath reproued among men but likewise greatly hateth I finde that the very greatest and most renowmed Nations in Europe haue long while since gotten some title or marke of folly To beginne with the Gaules did not Saint Paule call them foolish Gallathians Albeit the prowesse and strength which they haue daily shewen in deedes of Armes may sufficientlie testifie from East to West yea euen to the Antipodes at the ende and limits of which regions hath their Ensignes beene most brauely displaied The Portugals by their haughtie enterprise who notwithstanding haue beene reputed foolish passed so farre as the Indiaes where with losse and damage of their men they conquered many places in those Countryes and got by these meanes the commoditie to traffique with many places before not inhabited This is it which makes them so proud in the trade of merchandise and brag of the excellencie of their Lishbone enritched with so faire a port of the sea also two so wel proportioned mountaines at the entrāce and the floud with golden sandes As for the Germaines it is well knowne that they haue a large share heerein especially they who in imitation of women or children so often change into many opinions and maisters seruices For this it may be saide that Caesar in his Commentaries did them not so much honour as to call them valiant champions or prudent in affaires of warre If we will passe so farre as into Italie we shall finde many goodly and noble Citties among the rest that serue as great or very faire Cages to fooles of all fashions and that they are in fauour of such an esteemed matter the most honourably scituated in al the Countrey and by the great number of fooles contained in them they are diuinely embellished and inritched with the very cheefest excellencies and noble priuileges that can be desired That this is true let vs consider the excellent scituation of auncient Sienna for the honest libertie wherof the King not many daies past so earnestlie trauailed You shall there beholde as a matter of antiquity to preserue fooles in health erected a pleasant beautiful building enuironed with the most sweet and gratious aire in the world garnished with rich and honourable lodgings villages neere hand of great receit naturall Bathes very pure and healthfull Moreouer as with men so is it well furnished adorned with Ladies gentle and courteous young people so well disposed as may be good musitians and Rhetoricians as any cittie else thereabout except the ancient Vniuersitie adioyning and the newe Academie of the Intronati who by the meanes of their so highlie fauoured folly do in time of peace thinges of incomparable pleasure and recreation What shall I say to ye of Parma where to maintaine fooles in pastimes is a very faire plaine of grasse rounded neighboured with many pleasant mountaines How fertile is it likewise of noble and puissant families and couragious souldiours whoe by vertue of their singular follye beeing assisted with the aide and succour of the French are redoubted and feared of all their neighbour countries I will hold my peace of the Parmesane cheese whereof notwithstanding that I haue tasted yet I cannot forbeare but say in my hart that if for that meate our Father Adam had transgressed in my conceit hee had beene somewhat excuseable nor should I after taste thereof haue any desire to the Nectar and Ambrosia of great Iupiter O how they of Verona Brescia and Venice were beholding to worthy folly when they made answere to K. Lewes the twelfth that they were wise inough whereby they constrained him to send them so many French-men as were accounted fooles because their wisedome and magnificence knew not how to resist th' others forse prowesse So were the fools of the saide king Regentes and maisters ouer the wise Venetians as before they had been ouer the Genewaies Millaineses as long time before that the fools that were led by the great Frenche Captaine were maisters ouer the mighty and wise Romaines Too long woulde the rehearsall be of fooles and Arch fooles that are to be found enclosed within the Citties of Italie Wherefore to finishe this discourse I will thus frame my conclusion that fooles ought to be singularlie esteemed and commended bicause God doth them so much fauour as hee hath chosen by them to confound and ouerthrow the wisdome of this world withall that the most noble Citties puissant Nations ought to be esteemed much more for folly then wisedome For him that hath lost his worldly Honours and Preferments Declamation 6. That a man ought not to be greeued though he be despoiled of his goods and honours I Am not a little abashed for what cause the noble men of our time make so much adoo and mooue such quarrell and contention for the losse of their fraile and slippery estats seeing it followeth vpon necessitie that one day they must needes be dispossessed and taken from them if not by force yet by the meanes of death who of his owne nature imposeth an ende on all things And I see no cause or reason why they being subiect to so many humaine passions and fortunes as euen the very poorest basest condition in the world shoulde presume and hazard themselues before so manye persons of greater valour perhaps then themselues for aduancement and superiority and yet they take scorn to be made of like mettall as they are to whom by right of nature they are altogither equall semblable An excellent Philosopher and of very great reputation in his time maintained that the rich hadde euer some occasion to contend with their riches and temporall goods as also beautifull persons with their bodilie graces But the greatest and most excellent contention that men ought indeed to haue among themselues were to striue who should surmount ech other in gentlenesse and honestie and the very highest preheminence that should bee

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