your owne possession and you haue as little néede of fortaine vertnes as the sea hath of the water of little riuers Héereupon I will leaue to be a further trouble vnto you but not to assure you that I desire to liue no longer than I shall desire To serue you Thankfull acknowledgement of kindnesse vnto ones Sonne SIr the fauours you haue latelie done me are of such effect and merit that I shall neuer be at quiet till I haue made some requitall of them I am ashamed you should be so troubled with this sonne of mine whom I haue charged to obey you in all things as my selfe and I pray you doe so much as haue an eye vpon him as if you were his Father I thanke you very kindly for the apparell you haue made him and the money you haue paied for him you may accommodate him with the rest of it as you shall thinke good For for my part I giue you all power ouer him séeing you are pleased to take the trouble vpon you and so wishing but to méet with some good occasion to acknowledge how much I am beholding vnto you I commit you to God A priuate taxation of the publike ingratitude of great persons toward such as haue best deserued of them SIr Wheras you think it strange that I write no oftner vnto the Lady you wot of I haue alwaies told you and now tell you again that which I was wont to say of great Lords at such time as they deserued it at my hands that I remember their greatnesse and reputation no longer than they are mindfull of my necessities Hée that makes no reckoning of me teaches me to neglect him he that looks vpon me with respect giues me occasion and desire to serue him so that I alwaies goe as others goe and no otherwise You may alledge the many commodities of their fauour and countenance and I may answer that it were an idle thing for me to trouble my head with a matter I am not sensible of Do vt des facio vt facias saies the loue of Lawers but hauing done so many seruices and neuer receiued so much as a taste of liberality is the composition of a water able to quench the fire of an hundred Aetnaes much more to discourage mée that otherwise am most readie by all offices of courtesie to kéepe the good will of such as please to honor me with the friendship of which number to you as to one of the most especial with all affection I commend mee and bid you farewell Excuse for not saluting a friend passing by vs endeuouring by the way to wipe away his imputation of pride and of forgetfulnesse SIr you told my Cosen that either I was growne proud or had forgotten you because I passed along by you the other day and did not speake Now this I perceiue was the cause why you came not along with the rest of the company to honour mée with your presence But you shall vnderstand that when I met you I was so farre out of patience with the ingratitude of a wicked friend which was newly parted from me that I continued a whole wéeke together without the remembrance not onely of you but my selfe which together with the knowledge you are to haue of my naturall humors may sufficiently excuse me to either of your opinions Besides I could not forget a Gentleman well deriued happily married liuing with all modesty of his owne a friend to euery man not medling nor making with any one that is contented with his estate loues vertue and the vertuous passeth away his time with choice of good companie is perfect in mind and memory but of body to my great griefe somwhat weak and indisposed Now iudge Sir whether I remember you or no and be no longer perswaded that either I am proud or forgetful of you whose many courtesies haue bound me to be alwaies Your affectionate friend and Seruant A sad commemoration of some worthy friend deceased To my singular good friend M. c. SIr the griefe of my kinsmans death hath gotten so much interest in my apprehension that the comfort I was wont to giue vnto others is not able now to doe my selfe any seruice Reason disswades mee from sorrow and sense prouokes mée to teares my power is small the frailty of the flesh great I desire to obey vnto the one the other I cannot resist so that in the sedition of so many contratiâ—ties I neither vnderstand nor sée any thing may content mée In regard of him I haue no cause to complaine he lead the life of a good man and died the death of the righteous for as the Romane Orator saith It is hard to liue well and dye ill But for my part I haue asmuch reason to lament as his vertues were without number and end Howbeit if for mine owne particular I should grieus wheras for his I am much to reioyce I shal be thought rather enuious of his good then a friend of his happines I assure my selfe also that you take no pleasure in the death of so curteons and worthy a Gntleman nor in the losse you haue made of one that for your owne good parts and my sake loued you as a friend and respected you as vertuous But not to bée a cause either of more trouble to you or heauinesse to my selfe I will cease to speake further of him and commending you to God very kindly take my leaue A gratefull acknowledgement of an especiall fauour from any great man To my very Honourable good Lord the Lord c. MY Lord I haue receiued the commendations you were pleased to send mee by my brother C. than the which there is no fauour I could more desire Henceforward I shall begin to think better of my selfe séeing so noble and honourable a person hath thought mee worthy of a place in his remembrance which intruth was more requisite for a continuance of your goodnesse then for any merit at all of mine Howsoeuer I giue your Lordship as humble thanks for it as possibly I may albeit I am perswaded that neither with words nor effects I shall euer bée able to satisfy so great an obligatiou This fauor hath cleared mee of some doubt I was in for that I receiued no answere to the letter I wrote not long since in congratulation of your Lordships so deserued aduancements together with an humble presentation of my seruices but now I perceiue the cause of it procéeded either from the fault of your Secretary or the negligence of the post being alwaies well assured that no greatnes whatsoeuer could elate your mind more then it would be deiected by any aduersity the worst of time could bring I haue nothing to adde hereunto but an humble entreaty that as you were pleased to remember mee with your commendations so you would vouchsafe to honour mee with your commandements thereby to giue action to the desire I alwaies haue of appearing vnto the world how much I
think nothing surely can be truer thē that which Tertullian saith to his wife That the pleasure which wee take in our children is full of anguish neither is it without cause that Saint Ierome hath discoursed very much in one of his epistles without any certaine resolution taken thereupon whether of the two were most expedient either to marry or not to marry For my part I beléeue this question may be concluded by that sentence of Martiall For doubtlesse hée that hath no children takes not so much pleasure as he that hath but withall hee endures not that trouble and vexation of mind the other doth A briefe recommendation of a Friend SIr I should rather merit reproch then reputation to recommend vnto you the affaires of M. G. the present bearer For to his knowledge your bounty is such that it extendeth euen to those you neuer sawe I leaue you then to imagin what assurance hee may haue of it that hath known you so long and that by his own vertues sufficiently commends himselfe and that is also commended vnto you by one of your most affectionate frends Touching the request he shall offer for my cause I will not presse you much in it beeing assured you wil not do your selfe that wrong to deny me for considering that by our ancient friendship we two are but as one the refusall you should make me would but shew the little regard you carry vnto your selfe And so very kindly for this time I take my leaue An acknowledgement of curtesies vndeserued I Receiue no letter from M. I. that is not accompanied with an expresse and singular mention of the many good Offices you continually doe for me which altogether procéeds from the goodnes of your owne disposition without any merit at all of mine and I were worthy to be ranked in the number of the most ingratefull that euer were if at the least I did not acknowledge it by letters vntill such time as I may méet with some happy occasion to deserue it better wherein I writ to employ my selfe with so good a will and affection that you shall neuer repent any pleasure you haue done vnto him that desires nothing more then to appeare how much he is Truely your friend A mild taxation for not writing and for some seeming negligence in prosecuting of a businesse SIr your slacknes rather deserueth blame then excuse in my behalfe and I am glad you are fallen into the same error whereof you haue so often accused me Your letters at all times would be very welcome but much more now being so desirous to vnderstand what successe hath followed my kinsmans businesse which not long since with such care I recommended vnto you I cannot doubt that you haue forgotten him the matter concerning him so much and hee a man so vnworthy and vnfit to suffer a neglect besides I haue many times heard you say that an iniury in that kind is a cause iust and sufficient enough to dissolue all friendship But to come againe to my first quarrell I know if you should be called in question before the God of respect for all your eloquence you would be condēnedeither for a negligent or an inconsiderate friend Neuerthelesse séeing you haue had no good opportunity to write I pardon this silence and as one that holds you deare will content my selfe with your best leisure and conueniencie I make no question but that you and the rest of our friends there looke for some great intelligence at my hands but I am not able to satisfie you with the least occurrence of note For matters of the state lye so déep buried in the graue of secrecy that no man can come to haue a sight of them but with the eye of reason which iudgeth wel enough of that which should bee but not of that which shall be Wherefore you must be therewith contented vntill the rest shall come to light And so I pray you continue me in your fauor whereunto with all affection I very humbly commend my selfe A witty excuse for long intermission of writing SIr I could fetch some color of excuse for this long intermission of writing from the many affaires wherein I am continually conuersant but it would be neither worthy your acceptance nor my affection For there is no employment either of body or minde that should interrupt any office appertaining to your pleasure or the satisfaction of my dutie Wherefore leauing this excuse which would bee more honest then iust I will séeke to cléere my selfe with the plaine truth and fréely tell you that I haue not written all this while because I had nothing to write and that I thought letters were neither necessary for my occasion nor your contentment If I had séen that to substantiate our auncient friendship there had héene neede of such triuiall complements I should haue thought it had beene grounded on a lesse firme and weaker foundation then it is That vertuous and honest disposition which euen from our youth and first acquaintance I alwaies found in you hath knit our affections so fast together that not the strength of any enemy enuie or other worldly accidents whatsoeuer shall euer bée able to vndoe it Wherfore I should much wrong your iudgement in beléeuing that you can be so carried away with the vulgar as to thinke that frequency of letters is precisely required for the fortification of a friendship I shall neuer be perswaded that any such heresie can take hold on you or that you more estéeme of verball ceremony then of action and the true entent of an honest will For my part I haue still béene more a friend of deeds then of words which most commonly little pleasure and lesse profit whereas the other beget them both My slacknes in writing shall be recompenced with a desire and endeuour to doe you seruice in euery occasion whereunto my poore but ablest meanes may extend whereof because I perswaded my selfe you make no doubt I will héere with my humble and kindest commendations giue end to the present A due acknowledgement of true friendship which especially in aduersity is more apparent then in prosperity SIr by your letters I perceiue you haue the same opinion of my loue I alwaies desired I am glad I haue not bene deceiued in the iudgement of your wisdome and good will And since that true and perfect friendship consists not in words or fair promises but in effects vertuous executions I must needs confesse that I haue found you of little speech and superfluous apparance in my behalfe so long as fortune fauoured me but assoon as my troubles and occasions began but to knocke at the gate of your assistance you haue euer well expressed the goodnes of your generous disposition and I may truly say I neuer met with any or very few such like Wherfore be assured that I wil serue respect and loue you as long as I haue breath to doe it and that too as farre from ingratitude as may
so vnto others of more vertue worth for so I should shew my selfe more a friend of mine owne profit then your reputation What could you offer to one that indeed were worthy if you thinke this but a trifle for me that am of so little valew Wee should so giue as wee may alwaies haue wherewithall to giue and so well manage the gates of liberality that they may neither be open nor shut to any With all thankfulfulnesse I accept of your gelding which comes verie fit for the iourney I haue in hand but the mony I haue returned back again to the fountaine of your bounty that there may not lacke water for those that deserue it better then I and that it may be are more athirst If you come not hither before my departure I will be with you assoone as conuenientlie I may to acknowledge some part of those manie fauours I continually receiue at your hands In the meane time I wish your fortunes answerable to your free and generous disposition An earnest disswasiue from a cruell and couetous course of life SIr the affection that I beare you is the onelie cause to make mee so desirous of your good as presently I am Reputation me thinks is one of the principall and chiefest happinesses we enioy in this world and as easie to get as hard to keepe With these few lines then I purpose to doe rather the office of a friend then of a flatterer and no whit to disguise the truth vnto you desiring you as from a true and honest friend to take this aduertisement which shall bring you if not much commodity at least wise much honor and credit and I doubt not if you haue that iudgement yet remaining which I haue promised to my selfe out of the ability of your spirit but you will acknowledge that euerie pettie honour is to bee preferred to the greatest profit It appertaines to the office not of a meane creature but of a cruell and inexorable man to follow that profession you doe by séeking the death of men and conuerting into their ruine that eloquence which nature for the good of the liuing hath so liberally imparted vnto you and I know it cannot bée done without great offence vnto God Who though hée bee very iustice it selfe yet as singular and vnspeakeable mercy he enclines more to pittie and pardon then to paine and punishment And how can you without offence of his diuine maiesty so often call into iudgement the life it may be of the innocent Retire your selfe from this course and applying your wit the gift of God and nature to a better vse make more account of reputation then wealth which indéed is the onely motiue that carries you thereunto For if you please you cannot want many other good meanes both for the one and the other I am constrained euen out of friendship hearing the bad and in famous report that goes of you euerie where that too accompanied with the danger of your life to write thus plainely vnto you I should bée very glad if it could draw you from so detestable a practise and restore you your wonted reputation Otherwise I pronounce you vnworthy of our friendship desire the world should know that I loued you no longer then I saw you walking in the way of vertue And so I bid you farewell An expostulation of vnkind misconceipts and iealousies in friendship SIr Your wisdome well known of al and approued vnto many with the experience I haue made of it would neuer haue suffered me to beléeue that which was often deliuered vnto me by the letters of my friends had I not vnderstood as much by the last I receiued from you more fraught with choller then reason I cannot imagine how a man of such knowledge and more iudgement brought vp in Court and continuallie employed in affairs should be carried to an opinion of me so far from truth and the bent of my disposition which hath euer béene most desirous to make good vnto the world in what estéem I haue alwaies held the friendship of so worthy a gentleman as your selfe You may be perswaded then I neuer committed any thing against you which might any way offend the reputation of an honest and vertuous man and thereof I wish no better testimony then mine owne thoughts Of all actions some be voluntary and some necessarie If my will shen haue neuer drawne me to offend you nor any necessity how great soeuer it were would euer permit me to wring our ancient friendship would you haue me giue credit to the perfidious and wicked impressions of men or by your fauour to some light and inconsiderate suspition that possesseth you rather then to mine owne conscience Nay sir be assured I am your friend and that I deserue you should be mine yet more then you are desiring you that héerin you will neither doe iniurie to the integritie of my nature nor your owne discretion vnlesse that weary of me and oppressed with my vnseruiceablenesse and inutilities you will make this an occasion to cleere your hands of me which at all times would appeare most vnworthy your iudgement and my desert Consolation for the death of a Brother or other friend GOod Sir I feare this Letter will worke effects contrarie to my desire and in stead of drying vp your teares raise vp new stormes of heauinesse in vs both vpon discourse of your brothers so vnexpected and much to be lamented death I haue put off the doing of this office vntill now as well in regard of the greatnesse of mine owne sorrow which would not suffer me to write as also in that I attended a conuenient time when as the extremitie of yours should be so qualified that it might giue way to that little comfort I desire to minister vnto you But how should I offer you comfort when as I haue as much or more neede of it then your selfe For if he were your brother he was my very deare and singular friend if hee were kinde to you he was much more to mee for his affection to you was deriued from nature and bloud but to mee out of election and will He alwaies embraced you with an extraordinarie respect because hee was thereunto bound but vpon me he conferred all offices of loue and liberalitie which I neuer deserued Let vs then with one consent lament our infinite losse and not only ours but euerie mans that delighted in vertue and honour Poore gentleman when hee was in greatest expectation of gathering the fruit which his vertues had promised him like a fresh and new blowen rose euen in the entrance to his best daies to bee cut off by the vnluckie hand of vntimely death Howbeit this is no little comfort that hee departed this world with the hope hee had giuen his friends of his vertues with the fruit whereof he was a debtor to his parents with the honour he expected from his Countrie and with the good he had promised al good men