is betweene Loue and Friendship because I will make no long processe I leaue here to speake of Of all which both Aristotle in his eight booke of his Ethickes Tullie in his booke of Friendshippe and Seneca in his nienth Epistle do largely and thorowly discourse I should also here declare how we shoulde behaue our selues in getting of friendes and hauing once gotte them howe to continue them Whereof Seneca intreateth in his 3. Epistle whyther for auoiding tediousnes I referre the Reader 2. Who can assoile the man that 's dread from care and deadly feare If any reason minde or witte in him that dreads appeare Esteeme and thou shalt be esteemed for feare is to the sense A griefe that cannot be exprest a deadly pestilence The Paraphrase IN this prouerbe the Marques his minde is to prooue by natural reason that which he hath written in the former prouerbe that is that men ought to be gētle and eurteous in their conuersations and that they ought not to doe anie thing by force or feare but rather by loue and gentlenes He also setteth down the inconuenience that foloweth to him that had rather be feared then loued saying Who can assoyle the man that is dread from care and deadly feare c. For if he that feareth haue not altogether lost his discretion and vnderstanding he wil not feare him that he feareth For he may esily vnderstand that he that liueth in dread will seeke by all the meanes to be deliuered of him that he feareth For feare as Aristotle saith in the 3. booke of his Ethiks is a continuall looking for the harme that shal happen According to which such as feare others do continually looke to receiue harme at the handes of those whom they feare or to escape the euill that they looke for They imagine how they may preuent in doing of euill them of whom they thinke to receiue euill And therefore in the speache that Thyestes the Sonne of King Pelops hath with his sonne Philistines where his sonne requireth him to forsake the place of his banishment and to come and gouerne and liue together with his brother Araeus as Seneca sheweth in his seconde Tragidie where Thyestes doth shew the reasons that moueth him rather to liue in a poore estate then to be a man of greate place authority saying While I liued in princely state and maiestie I was neuer free from fearing of those that feared me yea and many times I was afraide of the very sword that hung by mine owne side least in the ende I should come to be slayne with it And afterwarde Oh what a great happines is it not to be feared of anie to sleepe soundly vpon the grounde and to eate in safety the meate that is prouided Poison is presented in golden cuppes meaning that it is not geuen to the poore labourer that drinketh in earth or wood but to great estates that drinke in golde geuen by those that feare them and by such as they haue good cause to feare And therefore Tullie saieth in his booke of Friendship that in the life of Tyrantes which be such as gouerne by force and feare more then by loue there can be neither faith loue nor stedfast friendshippe To the Tyrant all thinges are suspicious and euerie thing ministreth vnto him occasion of sorrowe and care And it followeth Who can loue him whom he feareth or him of whō he knoweth he is feared With this agreeth that which Boetius in his third booke of Comfort writeth that such as are guarded with men of warre stand in dread of those whom they seeme to make affraide And therfore wel sayth the Prouerbe That feare is a deadly griefe vnto the sense Which is verified as well in the person that feareth as in him that is feared It is written of Dionisius as Boetius in his 3. booke of Comforte witnesseth that hee was a great Tyrant and such a one as by tyranny and crueltie subdued many countries and did manie harmes and mischiefes who as he sought to gouerne by tyrannie and force it is most like hee was rather feared then beloued It is written that a special friende of his comming to see him told him that he had great cause to thinke him selfe happie in that he had atteyned to so greate and so hygh estate as hee was in Dionisius made no answere at all but bad him to dinner where ouer the chaire where his ghest should sit he caused to be hanged by a verie smal thred a weightie and a sharp pointed sword in such sort as his friend being set the sword hung directly ouer the crowne of his head so as if the thred brake it was sure to run thorow him thus caused him to sitte down to dinner who al the while that he sat sweat for feare least the thread breaking the sword should fal vpō him destroy him Dionisius caused him with sundrie dishes to be deintily and delicately serued the borde being taken vp he asked his ghest if hee had not pleasantly dined Who answeared him what pleasure coulde I haue at mymeate seeing the swoorde by so small a stay hanging ouer my head and still looking for the losse of my life whensoeuer the thred should breake Loe saith Dionisius such is the life of all tyrantes who for the mischiefes and tyrannies that they have doon and for feare of those whom they haue offended and wronged doe liue continually in feare and in dread and doe looke euerie howre for eyther death or some great danger touching the which I haue made a more large discourse in my Commentaries vpon the Prouerbes of Seneca in the Prouerbe that beginneth He that alwaies feareth is euerie day condemned To the which because I wil not be long I referre the reader since the Marques hath well concluded in this Proueth where he sayth Esteeme and thou shalt be esteemed meaning that it lyeth in thine owne power to be feared or to be loued and that feare is a deadly grief to the sense of which euerie man will seeke to ridde him selfe with as much speede as he may 3. Great Caesar as the stories tell most cruelly was slaine And yet the woorthiest conquerour that in the world did raigne Who on the earth so mightie is that when he is alone Can of himselfe doe any more then can a seely one The Marques CAesar most woorthie prince he that is heere mencioned was called by the name of Iulius and of others Caius the selfe same that passed the Rubicon against Pompey as Lucan writeth in his booke of the Ciuill-warres who after the death of Pompey and Cato triumphing with great pomp in the citie of Rome and taking into his handes the common treasurie behaued himselfe with such pride and outrage towarde the Citizens that they coulde by no meanes abide him and as his hautinesse was thought of them intollerable they conspired to kill him which treason of theirs they did no long time delay The chiefe of this conspiracie were
Antigonus for whose sake a day and night you haue taken suche paines Now speake wel of him that hath made one amongest you and helped you in bearing part of your burdens this gracious answeare made the king to be a thousande times better beloued of his souldiours then he was before and therfore the Prouerbe saith Here well that the answeare shoulde alwaies be gentle since good woordes coste but a litle It auoideth quarrelling and fighting when any man falleth out with them In the Cronicle of the Philosopers wee read that one of Athens was alwaies quarelling and falling out with an honest quiet man one Anacharsis a Scithian which countrey was of all others of least estimation When the Athenian for the more despite called him a Scithian Anacharsis answering him gently again and smiling saide vnto him my countrey is a shame to me and thou art a shame to thy countrey The Prouerbe goeth farther and saith It litle doeth auaile with words thy wrath to wreake that is hee that threatneth with woordes and hath a will to be reuenged and to threaten shal be counted but for a vaunter and a pratler and if he haue a minde to reuenge he looseth the oportunity of it by his boasting and threatning In a Tragedie of Seneca Medea vitterly threatening Iason because he had cast her of and maried an other the Nurse reprehendeth her and blameth her telling her that it is not seemely for vs to be presumptious highminded nor enraged with those with whome wee deale neither oughte we on the other side so muche to abase our selues as we come therby to be counted for outcastes and persons of no value Among all the vertues and vices that Aristotle doeth entreate of in the fourth Booke of his Ethycks he speaketh of the vertue of Magnanimitie whiche is for a man to stand vpon his honour that he knoweth for his vertues and qualities he deserueth and to keepe his estimation in such sorte as it decay not and to this ende saith the Prophet My honor and my glory will I giue to no other This vertue hath two extremities and vices the one is as Aristotle saith for a man to be vaineglorious proude and disdainfull which is when hee taketh vpon him more then of right to him perteineth In the other extremitie and vice are thought to offend all such as by reason of their base minde are nothing accounted of nor esteemed and if they happen to come to any honor or preferment they behaue them selues like sheepe or mecockes Of this vertue and the vices the Marques speaketh in the Prouerbe where hee saith Let not vnwoorthy honors please thee For those that are therewith all delighted are vaunters vainglorious and foolish as Aristotle saith where he sheweth the inconueniēces that follow to thē that make more of them selues then there is cause why saying that such honor commeth quickly to the ground So that the man that taketh more vppon him then hee may is of others by great good reason soone put from it Of these proude and vaine vaunters speaketh Iob. The vaine man exalteth him selfe in his pride and thinketh that he is borne free from subiection as the Colte of a wilde Asse And before hee saith I would not haue thee so to throwe downe thy self as to be counted an outcast For this is not humilitie but basenesse and weakenesse of minde and this is it that Aristotle prooueth in the authoritie aforesaide And the Apostle saieth that forasmuch as hee was ordained the Apostle of the Gentiles hee would honor and esteeme his dignitie and office and yet for all that he left not to be humble and meeke for humilitie springeth not of basenesse and feeblenesse of mind but of vertue and noblenesse of nature And that which the Marques doeth heere disalowe is onely the basenesse and vilenesse of the minde in what sort the conuersation of men ought to be Isocrates in his Admonishments writeth in this sort Be not hautie nor disdainefull to those that bee in thy company for euen the very seruants will hardly away with their maisters that are proude and disdainful The modest and temperate behauiour is that which al men delight in that is neither to be to hautie nor to base to hie minded nor to abiect 7 Flee Taletellers and backbiters that striue to please the eare As greedy rauening wolues that seek the seelly Lambes to teare Whose traiterous traines and pathes do nothing else at all But serue for snares and subtle traps Where heedelesse men doe fall The Paraphrase IN the Prouerbe before the Marques hath shewed what order men ought to obserue in their speech in this and those that folowe he teacheth howe we should behaue our selues in hearing For as the tongue ought to be bridled in speaking so ought the eare to be temperate in hearing for such as are wise and vertuous ought not to giue eare to euery worde that they heare but only to suche as are good and honest For as Salomon in his Prouerbe saith The Prince that is contented to heare lies and tales shall haue his court replenished with naughtie persons For when the rest of his seruantes perceiue that he delighteth in a tatler or a taleteller the whole company will straight addict them selues to be liers and slaunderers picke-thanks for as saint Gregorie in the .xiiii. chapter of his booke of Moralls saith That suche as delight in hearing of slaunders accusations are counted to be eaters and deuourers of men as Salomon sayeth Be not present at the banquets of sinners nor eate thou with those that come togeather to feede of fleshe To come togeather to eate fleshe is as S. Gregorie saith To gather them selues togeather to speake euill of their neighbours And therefore the Prouerbe saith that we should flee taletellers as those that hurt anoy Innocentes For he that commeth to diffame or slaunder his neighbour commeth clothed with a sheeps skin but is in very deede a rauening Woolfe For his intent is to infect and mooue the minde of him that heareth him against him whō hee slandereth Valerius sheweth a way how to reiect rid away such slanders picthanks saith that there was 2 very deare friends hauing great enuy and seeking to set discorde betweene them came to the one of them and tolde him that he had heard his freend speake very euill of him Quoth the other I cannot beleeue it for hee is my frende and I knowe he will not speake euill of me The slaunderer beeing very earnest and the other not seeming to credite him hee confirmed it at last with a greate oathe that the thing was true that he had tolde him I now beleeue you quoth the other since you sweare that my freend hath spoken euill of me but be you well assured it was something that hee thought should benefite mee that made him to speake as he did With which aunswere the slaunderer was cleane out of countenance perceiuing that the partie
nor euill but giueth counsaile with out affection iustly and vprightly perswading alwayes to vertue and godlinesse of life and all the actions and doinges of such friends as are knit in this friendship doe ground them selues as the Prouerbe saith vpon goodnesse and honestie of life 86. And he that is thy friend I wish and warne in any case Thou keepe and vse him as a friend in euery time and place I speake not of the flatterer who vnder colour sweete Of sugred speeche and pleasant shewn with gift of gall doth greete The Paraphrase IN this Prouerb is mention made of the diuision of friendship before specified and it sheweth that the friendshippe that is vpon profit which is the dissembling and flattering friendship is not in very deede the true friendship For there is no perfect friendship but that which is grounded vpon vertue and honestie which friend aboue all others we ought to esteeme and of such a friend speaketh Aristotle where he sayeth What pleasure hath any man in his life though hee haue all the felicities in the worlde if he want a friende For to liue happyly and quietly it behoueth a man to haue one to whome he may safely open all his doings and with whom he may bee as bolde as with him selfe We reade in the Cronicle of the Philosophers that Aristotle beeing demaunded what hee accounted a friende to be made answere that it was one minde in two bodyes Of this assured and perfecte friende doeth the Prouerbe heere speake 87. If thou conceale thy thoughts and that thy minde in secret lyes Thou shalt be sure to be esteemde and taken to be wise Ofte haue I found my selfe by speache in thrall and trouble brought But neuer yet for keeping of my toung I suffred ought The Paraphrase CAto in his morrall Philosophie saith That the first and principall vertue that a man should haue is to haue a sober and a modest tongue for much is he in fauour with God that is able to holde his tongue when time and cause requireth Isocrates in his Oration sayeth that in two thinges onely speache is to bee preferred before silence the one is in speaking that which is to a publike commoditie the other in vttering that which necessitie forceth In all other thinges hee sayeth that silence is farre to bee preferred before speech but specially a man ought to keepe his owne secrets For as Seneca saith If thou art not able to keepe thyne owne secrets how canst thou require an other man to doe it And therefore the Prouerb saith Thou shalt be counted discrete and wise if thou kepest thy secrets to thy self and that a man bringeth him selfe in subiection by speech but shall neuer bee harmed by silence 88. But yet I would not haue thee heere to be so straightly tyed That from thy deere speciall friend thou shouldst thy doings hide For why it were to great offence t' abuse his friendship so And euen the redyest way it were to make thy friend thy foe The Paraphrase SEneca in his third epistle setteth downe the way and meane how to get freends and being gotten how to kepe them saying to Lucilius Way with thy selfe a long time the worthynesse of the partie whom thou doest choose for thy friend and when thou hast founde him to be meete for thy friendship commit all thy doings and all thy deuises vnto him and be as bolde of him as of thy selfe With thy friende saith Seneca imparte all thy cares and all thy thoughts and in so doeing thou shalt haue him faithfull vnto thee but if thou growest once into ielousie and hidest any thing from him thou giuest him cause to be vnfaithfull for diuers in fearing to bee deceiued haue taught others to deceiue and therefore the Marques saieth The readiest way it were to make thy friend thy foe 89. See thou thy life be alwaies such in deede and eke in showe As thou regardest not a whit though all the worlde did knowe Vnto thine honour and thy name haue alwaies speciall eye To shunne the thing thou oughtest to shunne and all offence to flye The Paraphrase SEneca in the aforesaid Epistle sayeth That he which dare not trust his friend as much as him selfe hee is greatly deceiued as one that knoweth not perfectly the force of freindship howbeit hee sayeth beside Liue thou in such sorte that thou committest nothing neither in deede nor thought that thou shouldest be ashamed to shewe thy friende meaning that a man mighte to haue no filthy nor dishoneste thoughts in his minde but such as can minister no cause of offence to any man not though it were to his very enemie The twelfth Chapter of Duetie to Parents 90. Great reuerence to the parents euermore we ought to giue And with obedience honor them as long as they doe liue The Lord him selfe hath promised assuredly that hee That doth the same with long happy life shall blessed bee The Paraphrase SEtting aside the lawes both of God and man we see that euen by very nature men are moued to honour loue feare their parentes and that we shun to offend them for the benefite of nature that by them we haue receiued as we are taught by the Ciuil law Besides our Sauiour Iesus Christe intreating of the Commaundements hath not promised long life for the fulfilling of any of them saue onely for this where he saith Honor thy father and thy mother that thou maist liue long many daies vpon the earth As it is also written in Ecclesiasticus He that honoreth his father shall receiue ioy and comforte of his owne children and shal liue a long and an happy life And againe The blessing of the father maketh stedfast the state of the children but the curse of the mother bringeth them to distruction Whervpon saith the Prouerbe The Lorde him selfe hath promised c. 91. By motherly perswasions Veturia did asswage And with her presence pacifie the Roman in his rage On th' other side the beastly lust of that same monster vile With incest and with murder did his hatefull hart defile The Paraphrase VEturia was an honourable Matrone of Rome and mother to Coriolanus a man of great wisedome and valure to whom for his great deseruings the common wealth of Rome was not a little beholding howbeit as it is no newe thing amongst men to haue their good deedes requited with vnthankfulnesse he was moste vnkindely vniustly banished by his owne Countrey men the cause why I finde not apparant for malice neuer mindeth reason neither doth euill will at any time regarde Iustice But to returne to the matter of Coriolanus beeing thus banished goeth straightwayes to the Volscians who at that time were in armes against the Romanes and as vertue in all places getteth estimation so was he receiued and interteined with great honour amongst them and for his valour within a very small time chosen to be their general Wherby it came to passe as Valerius writeth that euē him whose
for me to assemble my friendes and my kinsmen and to resist the officer vsing all the meanes I maye to saue my bodie and my goodes yea I may hurt the other in the defence of my goodes and the sauing of my credite For as the Doctours saye if I remaine in anie place and knowe that mine enemie is comming to doe me some mischiefe and that it shall bee greatly hurtfull and against my credite to go from the place that I neede not to depart but maye well tarie there and if the other assault mee if I kill him I am not to bee punished And the reason is that for the greate feare that I am in it is lawfull for mee to saue my selfe and my credite as well as I may And this is it that the Prouerbe meaneth that vertuous mindes in bondage brought And therefore hee sayeth Vertuous or good men because the iniurie is not so great that is done to a raskall or a lewde person as that which is done to a vertuous or a godly man And though such a man of a vertuous minde will beare as much as maye bee yet beeing vniustly wronged and euill dealt withall and put in feare hee slackes no time to trie by all the meanes and wayes he can to come to libertie 5. O sonne be milde and amiable lay loftie lookes aside The hautie and disdainfull man the Lorde can not abide Of wicked and malicious men auoide the companie For all their doings tende to strife and ende with villanie The Paraphrase IN this Prouerbe the Marques goeth aboute to beate downe all manner of hautinesse and pride of minde shewing the greate misliking that the Lorde hath of all such as are prowde and disdainfull As Dauid in his Psalme sayeth That the Lorde resisteth the prowde and giueth grace to those that bee humble and meeke And Solomon in his Prouerbes affirmeth that after pride commeth alwaies a fal he that hath an humble heart shal come to great honour this is it that the Prouerbe meaneth That euery man ought to be amiable That is gentle and lowly in his speach not hautie not proud nor disdainful It is writtē in a booke of the commendations of Caesar that he neuer said to any Gentleman get you away But come you hither And in the first booke of the worthie acts of Philosophers it is written that the great Caesar passing by a court of iudgement where haply was arrained an ancient Gentleman that had somtime serued him in his warres which Gentlemā when he perceiued the Emperour cried vnto him beseeched him to alight to helpe him that he might be deliuered frō his false accusers the Emperor willed a learned aduocate that stood by to take his cause in hande to do the vttermost he coulde for him for his sake The poore Gentleman seeing the matter so put of said with a loude voice Caesar when you were in the field like to be troden downe of your enimies I did not in your danger serue you by a Proctor but with the great hazard of my own life I fought for the defence of your person at which bāquet I receiued these wounds for you there withal shewed his woūded body Which words when Caesar had heard without any pride or disdain he presently alighted cōming himselfe to the barre defēded his cause For he thought it a part not onely shamefull but most vnthākful if he should not haue done as he did And when the whole assembly did greatly wonder at this noble worthy deed he said that the Prince that sought not to bee beloued of his subiects did neuer truly loue thē and to this end the Prouerb sheweth what great good it bringeth to be louing and not high minded how greatly God doth hate the proud and the disdainful who much displeaseth our Lord as is said before And Seneca in his first Tragedie saieth That the gracious righteous God doth alwaies hunt persecute the proude The Prouerbe saith Forth of wicked malitious men auoide the cōpany For al their doings tend to strife and ende with villanie There is nothing that more disquieteth and troubleth the cōpanie conuersation of one man with an other then a brauling or a contētious person neither doth any thing more alure men to company one with another thē curtesie and gentle behauiour and therfore Chilo that was one of the vii wise men of Athens demaūding whether of the twaine were best for a man to be wrangling and contentious or milde and quiet It was answered him that the better was he that was milde and quiet For the friends and neighbours of such a man did rather honour him then feare him 6. And let your answeres still be such as may procure good will As best beseemes a gentleman not froward rude nor ill O sonne howe little doth it cost at all times well to speake Howe little againe doth it auaile with wordes thy wrath to wreake The Paraphrase IN this Prouerbe the Marques sheweth the order that men ought to haue in their answeres when they be spoken to and that howsoeuer it goeth with vs we ought continually to bee curteous and gentle in our speach And it is one of the principall graces that men can haue of God as Dauid in his Psalmes witnesseth Thy mouth is full of grace therefore the Lord hath blessed thee And though a man fal out wrangle with thee yet if thou answerest him gently and mildly not proudly nor frowardly thou shalt a great deale sooner pacifie him For as Solomon in his Prouerbs saith A soft vorde wil breake the bone and a sweete peach doth pacifie wrath As Seneca in its first boke that he wrote of Anger Wrath shewing that great Princes ought to bee gracious gentle in their answeres bringeth for example the King Antigonus who hauing caused his men to march an vnreasonable iournie in a day when that they all weery and ouerlaboured were come to the place where they should encampe he made them without giuing them any rest euery man with great and heauy burdens to marche whiche was a great way farther close to the wall of a towne that he ment to besiege and as the poore men beeing ouerladen went rayling and curssing of the King because hee had made them to take such an vnreasonable iournie and after had caused them to marche with so extreame burdens not suffering them any whitte to rest the King perceiuing it chaunged his apparell and keepeing company with those that were scarse laden and those that did moste reuile him he helped them to carry their burdens and as the souldiers felt themselues greatly eased by his company they mused what he was that was amongst them and so busy to helpe them for the knewe him not by reason he had so disguised him selfe at the last being importunate with him to tel what he was You haue hitherto saith he cursed and rayled at the king
commit themselues to no hasard nor danger wherby they are vncapable of any vertue or honor For Honor as Aristotle in the fourth of his Ethicks saith is a reuerence that is giuen to men in rewarde and recompence of their vertues And therefore the Marques saith That whosoeuer is so valiant as not to regarde his life in any vertuous attempt shal be sure to receiue the crowne of Mars that is the renowme rewarde of a vertuous minde which he shall quickly attaine vnto if he represse feare And where as there are in the vertue of Fortitude two extreames or vices the one in ventering to farre the other in fearing to much the Marques hath not here said If thou restrainest boldnesse as hee sayeth If thou abandonest feare because as Aristotle in the thirde of his Ethicks affirmeth and as dayly experience teacheth the nature of man is more inclined to fearfulnesse then to boldenesse and therefore those that seeke to bee valiaunt and vertuous ought more to trauel in the repressing and abandoning of feare then in the restraint or temperaunce of boldenesse And therefore to good purpose sayeth the Marques in this Prouerbe If thou abandonest or forcest feare and not corrage and because as it is sayde abooue it is in euery mans power and will to bee vertuous it is heere well saide of the Prouerb Thou shalt not want the honour nor the state thou seekest to beare 57. Detest an euill life that 's led with foule reproch and shame And alwayes ready be to dye with honorable name For life cannot be lent for loane nor let from day to day Nor can the appoynted houre bee shund nor skaped any way The Paraphrase THE Emperours did in their lawes carefully prouide for the behoofe and good estate of their Subiectes to sette downe rewardes and encouragements for such as were honest and vertuous and to deuise punishments and corrections for suche as were wicked and euill disposed And it is very wel thought as hath been saide before that such as valiantly lost their liues either in defence of their faith or for the libertie of their countrie are rewarded with euerlasting life or if any man dye in the defence of his owne honesty he shall continually be well thought of and commended But such as cowardly forsake the feelde and run away from the warres the lawes haue appointed to dye and are accounted for wretches and villaines whether they dye or liue and their shameful and reprochfull life is more griefe to them then any death that can bee deuised especially an honest death this is the meaning of the Prouerbe Detest an euill life c. For as Aristotle in the 3. of his Ethicks saith A man is borne to honor libertie which two things we ought alwaies to keepe and maintaine and to couet by all meanes we can to diehonestly to liue vertuously The Prouerb saith further that life can not be borrowed For as Iob sayeth The Lord hath rated the dayes of our life which can not bee lengthened And therefore no man may shunne the appointed houre that God hath determined And herevpon ariseth the tale among the Poets of the three sisters of destinie whereof the one of them called Clotho carieth the distaffe the other named Lachesis spinneth and draweth out the threede which the thirde sister Atropos windeth vppe vpon the reele And as Seneca in his first Tragedie sayth These three sisters are so cruell and hard that it was neuer seene that the threede which they had once wounde vppe could euer bee got backe againe These sisters of the Destinie doe signifie in deede the posting time of our transitorie life whereof the day once past can neuer be called backe againe And therefore sayeth Seneca these three vnliberall Ladies doe rule by assured order and may neither shorten nor lengthē otherwise then is appointed Therefore ought euerie man to applie himselfe to die well since the time of his death can by no maner of meanes be altered 58. King Codrus rather chose to haue the conquest then to liue And neuer did his noble minde refuse his life to giue To saue a valiant companie of such as him did serue The life is alwayes well bestowed that doth such praise deserue The Paraphrase COdrus beeing as both saint Austine Valerius report the king of Athens when as he was to fight with Pelops duke of the Lacedemonians and had answere of his Idols to whom he sacrificed that the side whose captaine was slaine should haue the victorie preferrin glike a worthie gentleman the liues prosperitie of his poore subiects farre aboue his owne apparailing himselfe in a base and simple habite and rushing into the thickest of the enemies was presently slaine Of whom Virgil writeth that he chose rather to die with the victorie then to liue with the ouerthrow 59. Take no delight to heare thy deedes commended to thy face A thing that wisedome alwayes hath accounted for disgrace And if thou doest reprochfull wordes of anie man sustaine It is no commendation to to report the same againe The Paraphrase VNder the vertue of Fortitude is takē and included all maner of vertuous and godly actions that are done without respect of praise For a man ought not to look for the praise of the people as a recōpence for his good deed and specially if it be done in his owne presence which for two causes is to be disliked The one because that glorie nor praise is no perfect recompence or rewarde for anie vertue For as Boecius sayeth Praise or glory is nought else amongest the multitude but a tickeling and bewitching of the eares The other reason is that praises and commendations before the face doth rather seeme a kinde of flattering and clawing then a praise The Prouerbe saith further That if thou doest reprochfull wordes of any man sustaine It is no cōmendation to report the same againe The meaning of it is that no man that is of great minde or courage ought to speake of the iniurious and euill words that hath been offered him but shall rather bee counted both wiser and valianter if he dissemble them and seeme not to wey them as it is writtē in the third booke Of the liues of the Philosophers where a Philosopher being railed at and reuiled made this answer Thou quoth he hast learned to speake euill and I haue learned to make no accompt of lewd speech And more is he to be commended that beareth euill wordes then he that offreth them 60. Likewise the praising of thy selfe thine actes and speciall grace Doth neuer thee aduaunce but all thy doings doth deface For if the deedes that here thou dost be onely done for praise An errour great thou dost commit and walkst the croked wayes The Paraphrase SOlomon is his Prouerbes sayth Let a stranger cōmend thee and not thine owne mouth And Cato saieth Neither praise nor dispraise thine owne doings for thy praise in thine owne mouth is a great disgrace vnto
no more For thou shalt see from time to time if that thou watch therfore The loftie states and mightie powers come topsie-turuy downe And he that late a Miser was with ioy to weare the crowne The Paraphrase BOetius in his second booke of Consolation saith that nature contenteth her selfe with a very smal thing and yf you shal at any time ouercharge her with thinges that are superfluous the more you charge her the more hinderance hurt and displeasure you doe vnto her And therefore the Prouerb saith that we ought to seeke that which we may honestly and easily attaine vnto and no more For if wee will well marke it as Boetius in his first booke of Consolation saith We shall see a man in one houre hoysed vppe a lofte and in the selfe same houre caste downe againe and an other aduaunced in his place for solace and sorowe succeede one the other And as Seneca in his seconde Tragedie sayth haue their turnes And this is it that the Prouerbe saith That loftie states and mightie powers come topsey turuy downe c. 76 Trust not vnto the state of those that hastilie mount a hie But looke to see them fall as fast as euer they did flie For be thou sure the wicked man shall neuer long endure His happy fortune shall him faile when most he thinkes her sure The Paraphrase SOlomon sayth in his Prouerbes That the goodes which are hastilie gotten will as swyftly be gonne So that the sodayne rising aloft hath alwaies his fall and great mischiefe at hande For as Dauid sayth in his Psalmes Neuer trouble nor frette thy selfe at the prosperitie of the wicked nor at the aduauncement of the vnrighteous for they shall sodaynly be plucked vppe by the rootes and those that faithfully abide in the Lord shal inherite the land And againe I haue seene the wicked floorishing like the Cedar of Libanus and within a while after there was no remembraunce of his beeing And therfore saith the Prouerbe Be sure the wicked man shal neuer long endure 77 If that thou wilt abundance haue liue to thy selfe content With only that which nature findes to be sufficient I haue not seene men troubled much their liuing for to get But many for to mount alofte Their hartes asunder fret The Paraphrase SEneca saith in an Epistle to Lucilius that he is not poore that hath but a litle but he that desireth muche For great riches is it to nature to haue a litle with contentation and ioy for a very small thing doeth nature require and a litle suffiseth her And therefore the Prouerbe saith I haue not seen men take any great paine or trauaile to liue in the worlde but miserably doe they moile and toile and fret their hartes asunder that seeke to clime aloft 78 Then let vs well the matter waie what if thou doest possesse Great store of goodes obteined heere by fraude and wickednesse What great assurance hast thou nowe that thee may certifie Thou shalt not come by chaunce or hap to begge before thou die The Paraphrase TVllie saith in his Philippicaes that the goodes which are wickedly gotten will euil fauouredly be spent And therfore there is nothing that can assure a man of the cōtinuance of his state for a thousand misfortunes maye happen that may make a riche man a begger And therefore Seneca saith that we ought to possesse those riches we haue without care so as it may neuer greeue vs though wee loose all we haue taking them not for our owne but as straungers and thinges lent vnto vs and for the time that we haue enioyed them we ought as Boetius sayth to giue thankes that wee haue been benefited by them as by external goodes neither ought we to complaine yf we loose them And this is the effect of the Prouerb where it saith What great assurance hast thou nowe that thee may certifie c. 79 How many riche men haue we seene in litle time decay And from their great loftie states slipt downe and fallen away How many haue been laught to scorne For putting of their trust In this fonde fickle honour heere nowe tumbled in the dust The Paraphrase WIth great wisedome saith Dauid in his Psalms If riches happen to abounde set not thy hart vpon them least yf we fortune to forgoe them we shoulde sorowe and torment our selues for them For whatsoeuer happen vnto vs it is alwaies best to say with Iob The Lord hath giuē the Lorde hath taken away Blessed be the name of the Lorde for euer And so shall no man be scorned nor derided for any thing that he hath lost or may loose 80 And thus if I haue tolde the trueth In these preceptes of mine Seeke not for riches nor desire the thing that is not thine And if thou doest demaunde of me to whom they doe belong To fortune thus I answeare thee that list not to be long The Paraphrase OF goods there are two sortes outwarde and inwarde The outwarde goodes be such as fortune giueth and these be none of our owne according to the saying of Bias before alleaged but our owne goodes are those that be within vs which are the Morall vertues which are not subiect to anye change of fortune For when al the giftes of Fortune fayleth yet learning and vertue remaineth which neuer leaue nor forsake a man but mainteine and accompany him all his life time according to the opinion of Cato in his Philosophie This beeing as it is very true wee ought not so with carke and care to heape to regarde and scrape vppe riches which belong not vnto vs and may many waies be taken from vs doe what we can to keepe them And therefore our Sauiour hath warned vs that we shoulde lay vp our treasures in heauen where neither rust nor mooth can come and where no theeues can breake in to steale it This can we not doe with our goodes of the world but howsoeuer wee dispose them they are subiect to chaunce and casualties that may happen The nienth Chapter Of Enuie 81 Let not the enuious man in life a paterne be to thee Nor walke thou in his froward paths nor keepe him companie It is not for a vertuous minde such errour to commit Nor doth a noble hart beseeme so ill to vse his wit. The Paraphrase ENuie as Aristotle in the seconde of his Rethorikes sayeth is a sullennesse and griefe of that men haue to see either honour or any good thing to happen to anie that is of the same calling that they themselues are and it is one of the vilest natures that can be in a man so as manie times the enuious person without anie iust cause at all becommeth a mortall enemie to his neighbour according to the saying of Saint Gregorie in his Pastorall where hee sayeth That the enuious man beeing not able to cleare his hart from the venim that is there congealed discouereth himselfe and falleth to working of mischiefes openly Wherevpon our Sauiour Christ