For giftes do blind the eies and peruert the words of the righteous No magistrates therfore must presume to take gifts vnlesse they be to be eaten or drunke vp within three dayes at the furthest that not of suters for they giue them to the intent they may corrupt their authority and so speed of their owne pleas and pursuites Let them rather imitate Cicero who as long as he was Pretour of Cilicia would neyther himselfe receyue nor permit any of his company to take presentes no not that beneuolence which by the law Iulia was due vnto him At Thebes the images of iudges were put up without hands wherby is meant that they ought not to receyue any rewards that were offered them There is at this present time a publique law amōg the Switzers that magistrates vnder paine of death should not take any thing eyther directly or vndirectly for iudging The fourth Plant. Of the Education of Gentlemen Chap. 32. MAn is by nature a gentle creature who with his happy nature getting good education becommeth diuinely disposed but if hee lacke this education he waxeth the most wicked of all creatures that are borne vpon the earth Many drops of water as wee see falling vpon the hard marble stone do pierce and make it hollow And the ground being well tilled and manured beareth goodly corne So in like maner a man well brought vp acknowledgeth his duty towards his Maker knoweth how to conquer his owne affections Whereas contrariwise Gentlemen being euill nurtured cā neuer vnderstand how farre the power and abilitie extendeth that God hath giuen them For they neuer read it themselues neither are they taught by them that know it Nay few that vnderstand it are admitted to their presence and if one bee yet dare he not instruct them in it for feare of displeasure or if happily at any time hee put them in minde thereof no man will abide him or at least he shall be accounted but a foole peraduenture also it may be taken in il part and so turne to his harme Howbeit the vertuous must not abstain from their godly admonitions seeing that they cannot benefite the common-wealth more then when they teach and instruct young mē especially in those times wherein they are so corrupted that they must needes by all well disposed persons bee refrained and restrained of libertie One saith I am an heire borne to a thousand pound land Another sayth I haue a fat farme and a house well furnished What cause haue I to feare Let the world chance as it will Another againe craketh and breaketh his lungs wel-nigh with windie bragges because he is a Knights eldest sonne fetching his pedegree by a thousand lines and branches from some worthie Lord and because some neere kinsman of his is made Censour Maior Iustice of peace or Lieutenant of the Shire to whom he may say Good morrow Cousin Infinite are the fooleries of youth which by due correction and diligent exhortation must bee rooted out I will therefore comprehend their education vnder foure lessons The first is instruction vnder which are cōtained foure rules The 1. wherof is to teach children the feare and loue of GOD and to shew them that they must not glorie too much in worldly goods Secondly to teach them how to bridle their tongues to bee modest and to embrace vertue for education properly is nothing else but a bringing vp of youth in vertue Thirdly to shew them the facultie of exercise which serueth to the maintenance of health and strength by ordering the body with light and gentle exercises Fourthly familiarly to declare vnto them examples as well of good men as of wicked men that thereby they may learne how the good are rewarded and the wicked punished The second lesson appertaining to the instruction of youth is prayse that is to commende them when they doe well that thereby they may bee incouraged the better to goe forwardes For youth is like vnto moyst and soft clay and for that respect is to bee egged on to glorie in well doing The third is counsell which must bee giuen by their sage Vncles or auncient men concerning their dutie towards their parents elders and teachers The fourth poynt of instruction is threatning and correction which is to bee vsed when they offend and neglect to follow the aduice of their teachers and when they beginne to bee headie stubborne and selfe-willed This the diuine Philosopher verie well noted saying that a boy not as yet hauing fully and absolutely giuen himselfe to vertue is a deceitfull cruell and a most proud beast Wherefore he must be bound with a schoolemaster as it were with a strong bridle The causes why so fewe Gentlemen no we adaies be vertuously disposed Chap. 33. I Find that there bee foure causes why so few Gentlemen in this age attaine to the knowledge of vertue The first is the corruption of the whole world for now are the abominations of desolation These be dayes of vengeance to fulfil althings that are written The minds of men are so peruerse and barren that they will not receiue the seed of true wisedome Their cogitations are too much bent to the pompes and follies of this transitorie world The second cause proceedeth of counterfeit and vnsufficient teachers whose onely occupation is couertly to woo yong scholers that come guidelesse and headlesse into the Vniuersitie and 〈◊〉 gotten them into their nets they afterward let them runne at randon But 〈◊〉 iudgement such youths as suffer 〈◊〉 to be snatched vp for haukes meate in this or the like maner do therin imitate sicke folkes who refusing the good Phisician by some braine-sicke mans counsell doe commit themselues to the tuition of such a one as by ignorance killeth them The third cause is the niggardize of parents who continually labour to gather the drossie and vnconstant pelfe of this world and in the meane time make no reckoning of their children but permitte them to grow old in follie which destroyeth them both bodie and soule The fourth and last cause is the indulgence and fond loue of the parents who take their sonnes from the Vniuersitie as fruite from a tree before it is ripe or rather as pullets without feathers to place them at the Innes of Court where as I haue written in my Commentarie vpon Persius they gad to Stage-playes are seduced by flattering coni-catchers Whether youths ought to be corrected Chap. 34. A Good huswife knoweth how hard a thing it is to keepe flesh sweete and sauorie vnlesse it bee first poudred and put in brine So likewise it is impossible for parents to reape any ioye of their sonnes except they bee first corrected Roses must needes wither when they be ouergrowne with briers and thornes and children that are assailed and ouertaken by whole legions of affections must at last fall if they be not accordingly succoured * Hee that spareth the
or of flattâ—rers Fiftly let him compare his owne deeds with those of the holy meÌ„s in times past Sixtly hee must not enquire what the common people say of him Seuenthly let him take heed by other mens harmes and muse vpon the case of those men who desiring to eate some fruite regarded not the height of the tree whereon they grew but laboured to climbe vp to the toppe and so fel downe headlong by reason of the weakenes of the boughes Of Fortitude Chap. 28. THe meanes to discerne a valiaunt man be eight The first if he be not astonied in aduersity nor proud in prosperity but leading both the one the other within the square of Mediocrity Secondly he is a valiaunt man that is milde and courteous of nature Thirdly if he scornes priuily to ouercome his aduersary Fourthly if hee contemne to fight in a bad quarrell for fortitude without equitie is the fewell of iniquity Fiftly if hee giue not place to miseries but goeth the more couragiously agaynst them Sixtly he is a valiant man that sorroweth to die an inglorious death Seuenthly that feareth shame As Hector did when his friendes counselled him not to goe out of the city Eightly hee is a valiaunt man that will fight stoutly in his Countries defence and not feare to die Such a one was Captaine Diagio of Millan who in the yeere of our Lord 1400. beyng enuironed with fire and enemies not finding any means to defend his charge or escape honestly with life threw ouer the wall of the place where he was inclosed and where no fire as yet burned certaine clothes and straw and vpon the same his two children and sayd to his enemies Take you here those goods which Fortune gaue me but my goods of mind wherein my glory consisteth neyther will I giue them nor can you take them from mee The enemies saued the poore children and offred him ladders to conueigh himselfe downe safe But hee refusing all succours chose rather to die in the fire then receyue life from the enemies of his countrey What shall I speake of sir Philip Sydney sir Richard Greeneuil and sundry others of our owne countrymen who of late yeeres not vnlike to those of auncient times so highly commended willingly and valiauntly lost their liues rather then they would trust to the mercy of the Spaniards In briefe * commonly they that are most affrayd to offend the lawe are in the field most stout against their enemies and will shunne no perill to winne fame and honest reputation Of Foole-hardinesse Chapt. 29. FOole-hardinesse is the excesse of fortitude vsed for the most part of Caualeers and tosse-pots For seldome is it seene that they at any time haue fought in iust causes or haue obserued the circumstances belonging to true Fortitude Their properties rather are to flaunt like Peacockes to play the Braggadochians and to trust most impudently in the hugenesse of their lims and in their drunken gates Such are many of our yong Gentlemen who by their wise parents are sent so timely to learne wise fashioÌ„s at LoÌ„don Such are they I say who cary beehiues and commonwealths in their pates who iet now and then in the streetes with bushes of feathers on their Cockescombed sconces and goe attired in Babilonian rayments But the higher they exalt themselues the greater will be their fall In the forefront of these madde-cappes may the Duke of Guise appeare who in the yeere 1588. one day before he was slaine as he sate at dinner found a litle scrowle of paper vnder his trencher wherein was written that hee should looke vnto himselfe and that his death was prepared But hee in the same paper rashly with his owne hande wrote these wordes They dare not and so threw it vnder the table By whose example let men take heed how they persist in any thing rashly for although the Poetes say that Fortune helpeth an audacious man yet notwithstanding that helpe is quickly ouercast and broken by the wofull calamities of the body Wherefore wee must deeme it expedient to resist and turne backe foole hardinesse rather late then neuer Obiection An audacious Braggadochian being knocked runneth away therefore there is no difference betwixt a foolehardy man and a coward Aunswere Two things are to be respected in a foolehardy Braggadochian 1 Madhardinesse or rashnes which leadeth him into daunger 2 Weaknes of nature not agreable to his mind this is the cause why he trusteth sometimes vnto his heeles rather theÌ„ his hands Of feare and Pusillanimity Cha. 30. EVen as the foole-hardy Caualeer trauerseth vp and downe like a Lion so a fearefull man is a pusillanimous meacocke he feareth his owne shadow by the way as he trauelleth and iudgeth ech bush to be a rouer When he is among Gentlemen he holdeth his head downe like a dunce and suddenly sneaketh away like an vrcheon He is either by nature melancholike or by vse a niggard or a tenderling such a one was that Gentleman of Portingall who craued of king Sebastian in the yeere 1572. a protection against some who had sworne his death The king gaue it him Shortly after he came againe vnto the king and complained vnto him of the great feare he was daily in notwithstaÌ„ding his protection Whereunto the king wisely answeared from feare I caÌ„not protect you Farre more feareful then this Portingall was that yong Gentleman of Patauine who of late yeeres beyng in prison vpon some accusation heard by one of his frieÌ„ds that of certainty he should be executed the next day following Which newes so terrified chaÌ„ged him that in one only night he became white grai-headed whereas before there was no appearance thereof The cause of this so wonderfull an alteratioÌ„ was feare which grouÌ„ded vpon a false opinion of mischief seazed on his heart and consumed it like a pestilent canker according to that saying A suddaine alteration hath no great beginning And again Vsuall things are seldome feared For being long expected how can they chuse but fall out lightly To conclude it is the first and suddaine feare that bereaueth the mind of aduise but often consideration of it breedeth confidence and quite expelleth all maner of feare The sixt part Of Temperance and Continence Chapt. 30. ALl vertues do make a Common-wealth happy and peaceable but temperance alone is the sustayner of ciuill quietnesse for it taketh care that the realme bee not corrupted with riot and wanton delights whereby diuerse states haue beene cast away This is that vertue which hindreth dishonest actions which restrayneth pleasures within certaine bounds and which maketh men to differ from bruite beastes Moreouer this is that hearbe which Mercury gaue to Vlisses least he should tast of the enchauntres cup so with his felows be traÌ„sform'd into a hog this is that vertue which great men ought specially to embrace that by their example the common sort might become temperate For
this is the reason why so many now-adayes liue riotously like beastes namely because they see noblemen and magistrates that gouerne the common-wealth to lead their liues wantonly as Sardanapalus did Therefore let noblemen be temperate and spend lesse in showes and apparell that they may keepe better hospitality then they doe and benefit the poore Let them I say imitate those famous wights who voluntarily resigned vp their large portions in this world that they might liue the more contentedly A murath the second Emperour of the Turkes after he had gotten infinite victories became a Monke of the straightest sect amongst thē in the yeere of our Lord 1449. Charles the 5. Emperour of Germany gaue vp his Empire into the hands of the Princes Electours and withdrew himselfe in the yeere 1557. into a monastery The like of late did the tyrant his sonne king Philip of Spaine What shal I say of Daniel and his three companions Ananias Azarias and Misael did they not choose to sustaine themselues with pulse when as they f might haue had a portion of the kings meate seeing therefore by these examples wee perceiue howe great the force of Temperance is ouer the greedy affections of the minde let vs deuoutly loue her and through her loue obserue a meane in our pleasures and sorrowes Of Intemperance and Incontinence Chap. 31. INtemperaunce is an ouerflowing in pleasures desperately constraining all reason in such sort that nothing is able to stay him from the execution of his lusts For that cause there is a difference betweene it and incontinence namely that an incontinent man knoweth full that the sinne which hee commits is sin and had intended not to follow it but being ouermastered by his Lordly perturbations hee yeeldeth in a manner against his will thereunto whereas the intemperate man sinneth of purpose esteeming it a goodly thing and neuer repents him once of his wickednesse Wherehēce I conclude that an intemperate man is incurable and farre worse then the incontinent for the incontinent man being perswaded with wholesome counselles will bee sorie for his offence and wil striue to ouercome his passions But to make both aswell the intemperate man as the incontinent hatefull vnto vs Let vs call to minde howe they do nothing else but thinke on their present prouender and rutting Also wee must consider how that intemperance is that goggle-eyed Venus which hindereth honest learning which metamorphozeth a man into a beast and which transformeth simple wretches into tosse-potted asses wherefore I wish all men of what qualitie soeuer they bee to take heede of this vice least they either be accounted beasts or aliue bee reckoned among the number of the dead Of Lecherie Chap. 33. LEcherie is a short pleasure bringing in long paine that is it expelleth vertue shorteneth life maketh the soule guiltie of abominable sinne This vice I feare mee is too rife here in England for howe many Vrsulaes haue wee like that princely Vrsula who with eleuen thousand Virgins more in her companie being taken by the Painime fleete as they were sayling into little Britaine for the defence of their chastities were al of them most tyrannically martyred In steed of Vrsulaes I doubt we haue curtezans and whorish droyes who with their brayed drugs periwigs vardingals false bodies trunk sleeues spanish white pomatoes oyles powders and other glozing fooleries too long to bee recounted doe disguise their first naturall shape onely sophistically to seeme fayre vnto the outwarde viewe of tame and vndiscreete woodcocks Yet notwithstanding lette a man beholde them at night or in the morning and hee shall finde them more vgly and lothsome then before and I cannot so well liken them as to Millers wiues because they looke as though they were beaten about their faces with a bagge of meale But what enfueth after all these artificiall inuentions the vengeance of God Insteede of sweete sauour there shall bee stinke insteede of a girdle a rent insteede of dressing the haire baldnesse insteede of a stomacher a girding of sack cloth and burning insteede of beautie What shal I do thē asketh the honest mā how shal I discerne a chaste woman from a baudie trull a diligent huswife from an idle droane a If she be faire she is most commonly a common queane if shee bee foule then is shee odious What shall I doe This thou shalt doe O honest mā b Choose thee not a wife aboue thine estate nor vnder lest the one be too haughtie or the other displease thee rather hearken vnto a wittie virgin borne of vertuous and wittie parents correspondent vnto thee both in birth and degree and no doubt but with thy good admonitions thou shalt haue her tractable No woman is so flintie but faire words and good vsage will in time cause her to relent and loue thee as shee should aboue all others in fine respect not dowrie for * If she be good she is endowred well Of Gluttonie and Drunkennesse Chap. 34 OF Gluttonie there bee foure kindes The first hapneth when a man causeth his meate to bee made readie before due and ordinarie time for pleasure and not for necessitie The seconde when a man curiously hunteth after diuersities and daintie meate The third when hee eateth more then sufficeth nature The last when wee eate our meate too greedily and hungrily like vnto dogs Now to come to drunkennesse I find that there bee three sorts thereof The first when wee being verie thirstie not knowing the force of the drinke doe vnwittingly drinke our selues drunke and this can be no sinne The second when we vnderstand that the drinke is immoderate and for all that wee respect not our weake nature which vnawares becommeth cup-shot and this is a kind of sinne The third when we obstinatelie do perseuere in drinking and this certainely is a grieuous and intolerable sinne The discommodities of drunkennesse Chap. 35. THe discommodities of drunkennesse are many first c it displeaseth God secondly it is vndecent and filthie for doth not a drunken mans eies look red bloudy and staring doth not his tongue falter doth not his breath stinke is not his nose fierie and wormeaten are not his wits dead according to that When the ale is in witte is out doth not his bodie shiuer In breefe What doth not drunkennesse signifie it discloseth secrets it maketh the vnarmed man to thrust himselfe into the warres and causeth the carefull minde to become quite voyde of care The third discommoditie of drunkennesse is that it shorteneth life defaceth beautie and corrupteth the whole worlde For howe can it otherwise bee when GOD blesseth not the meate and drinke within our bodies Fourthly drunkennesse i◠the cause of the losse of time Fiftly Hell gapeth and openeth her mouth wide that the multitude and wealth of them that delight therein may goe downe into it For proofe whereof I will declare one notable example taken out of the Anatomie of Abuses About twentie yeeres
earnestly charge some of their most faithfull followers to admonish them of their ouersights at conuenient seasons Of Indulgence Chap. 48. INdulgence is a fond vaine foolish loue vsed most commonly of parents towards their children There is no vice so abhorred of wise men as this For they find by experience that mo youths haue bene cast away through their parēts indulgence then either through violent or naturall death Yea I haue heard sundry Gentlemen when they came to yeeres of discretion grieuously exclaime and bitterly complaine of their parents fondnesse saying Wee would to God that our parents had heretofore kept vs in awe and seuerity for now lacking that instruction which we ought to haue wee feele the smart thereof Vndoubtedly God wil one day demaund an account of them and examine them wherefore they respected not better their owne bowels Shall he blesse them with children and they through blind indulgence neglect their education Truly it is a miserable case In times past parents were wont to place their sonnes with wise gouernors requesting them not in any case to let them haue their owne willes But now adaies it falles out cleane contrary For parents in these times when they hire a scholemaster will first hearken after his gentle vsage and then they will question with him touching the small salary which they must pay him for his industry so that forsooth now and then to be mindfull of this vice Indulgence they accept of a sow-gelder or some pety Grammatist that will not sticke in a foole-hardy moode to breake Priscians pate With such a one they couenaunt namely that hee must spare the rodde or els their children will be spild Within a while after assoone as their indulgent Master hath taught them to decline Stultus Stulta Stultum as an adiectiue of three terminations they bring them out of hand into the Vniuersity and there diligently do enquire after a milde Tutour with whome their tender sonnes might familiarly and fellow-like cōuerse And what then Mary before a tweluemoneths end they send for them home againe in all post haste to visit their mammes who thought each day of their sonnes absence to bee a whole moneth There they bee made sucklings during the next twelue moneth Well now it is high time to suffer their ready dādlings to see new-fangled fashions at the Innes of Court Where being arriued they suite themselues vnto all sorts of company but for the most part vnto shriuers Caualeers and mad-cappes insomuch at the last it will be their friends hard happe to heare that their sweet sonnes are eyther pend vp in New-gate for their good deeds or haue crackt a rope at Tiburn This is the effect of Indulgence This is their false conclusion proceeding of their false premisses Now you must vnderstand that if the parents had not thus cockered 〈◊〉 their sonnes in their childhood 〈◊〉 caused them to be seuerely looked vnto they would not in the floure of their age haue come to such a miserable end In the Chronicle of the Switzers mētion is made of a certaine offendour whom vpon his arraignement his owne father was compelled to execute that so by the indulgent author of his life hee might come to his death Hither likewise may I referre that common story of a certaine woman in Flaunders who liuing about threescore yeeres agoe did so much pamper two of her sonnes that shee would neuer suffer them to lacke money yea shee would priuily defraud her husband to minister vnto them But at last she was iustly punished in them both for they fell from dicing and rioting to stealing and for the same one of them was executed by the halter the other by the sword she her selfe being present at their wofull ends whereof her conscience shewed her that her Indulgence was the onely cause This ought to be a liuely glasse to all parents to prouide for their childrens bringing vp and to purge them betimes of their wild and wicked humours least afterwards they proue incurable and of litle sprigs they become hard withered braunches In briefe O parents correct your childrē while they be young pluck vp their weedes while they beginne lest growing among the good seed they hinder their growth and permit them not so rathe of prentises to become enfranchised freemen In so doing you may be assured that they will easily be brought to study the knowledge of heauenly wisedome and to embrace ciuility the onely butte and marke wherat the godly vertuous do leuell especially for Gods glory for their owne commodity and for the goodnesse that thereby ensueth vnto the commonwealth in generall Of Pride Chap. 49. PRide is a bubbling or puffing of the minde deriued from the opinion of some notable thing in vs more thē is in others But why is earth ashes proud seeing that when a man dieth hee is the heire of serpents beasts wormes Who knoweth not that GOD closely pursueth proud men who doubteth that he thūdreth and scattereth them in the imaginations of their hearts that he putteth downe the mighty from their seates and exalteth the humble and meeke In somuch that he which is to day a king to morow is dead Wherefore O wight whosoeuer thou art that readest this booke lay aside thy Peacocks plumes and looke once vpon thy feet vpon the earth I mean wherehence thou camest though thou thinkest in thine heart that thou art equall with GOD yet thou art but a man and that a sinfull man In summe wish not lordly authority vnto thy selfe for hee that seeketh authority must forethinke how hee commeth by it and comming well by it how hee ought to liue in it and liuing well in it hee must forecast how to rule it and ruling discreetly hee must oftentimes remember his owne frailty Of Scurrility of Scoffing Chapt. 50. EVen as I greatly commend affability and pleasant iestes so I vtterly mislike and condemne knauery in iesting For toungs were not giuen vnto men to scoffe and taunt but rather to serue God and to instruct one another And as a litle fire may cōsume whole villages so in like manner the toung which is a kind of fire yea a world of calamity polluteth the whole body if it bee not refrained For which cause though there be some merry and conceited wit in a iest yet we must beware that we rashly bestow it not on them whom we afterwards would not for any thing offend Therefore the respect of time consideration of the person is necessary in lesting For we must not giue dry floutes at meales least we be accounted Ale-knights wee must not taunt cholericke men least they take it in ill part we must not deride simple felowes because they are rather to be pitied nor yet wicked persons for it behoueth to haue them rather punished then laught to scorne Whether Stageplayes ought to be suffred in a Commonwealth Chapt. 51. STageplaies fraught altogether with scurrilities and knauish pastimes are
so dutifull to please God except he be first throughly cleansed frō this sinne of Enuy. Repent therfore thou sensuall and enuious man and aske God forgiuenes from the very bottome of thy heart Repent I say and God will heale thy wound which Chirons hand can neuer do no nor Phoebus nor Aesculapius Phoebus his deare sonne no nor all the world besides Of Calumniation and slaunder Chapt. 63. EVen as they which lay siedge vnto cities do not inuade their enemies where they see the walles strong and massy but where they perceyue there is small resistance and where they see the place easie to be scaled so they that pretend to backbite slaunder others do note what is most pliable and weake in the hearers mind that thereto they may conueigh their artillery and bring in their weapons which are falshood craft and periury This done they tickle the hearers eares and rubbe them as it were with a pen so that most cōmōly the accusers are beleeued they that are accused are not called to giue answere But in my iudgement they that lend their eares to these curre-dogs barking are no lesse to be reproued then the barkers themselues because they winke at such imperfections will not exchange stripe for stripe I meane because they will not punish and correct such slaunderers Of this brood I reckon many of our raskall trencherknights who not onely wind themselues in by subtill deuices but also set their tongues to sale for a morsell fo pasty-crust and take a delight to sow dissention betwixt man and wife and betwixt brother and brother Examples I need not produce for our pillories beare euident witnesse of their slaunderous dealings Leaue therfore to accuse your brethren to snap honest men by the shinnes and to raile and scoffe at them that will not in any case intermeddle with you Be like vnto newe borne babes and couet the milke of loue that so you may not bee guilty of that sentence which the holy Ghost pronounced namely that whosoeuer hateth his brother is a man-slayer The eleuenth part Of the Intellectuall vertues Of Art and whether Art be better then Nature Chap. 64. THis name of Art hath foure significations First it is taken for the vniuersall perfection of Art which wee comprehend in GOD. So we say that the world and all that therein is were made by Gods art Secondly the name of Art is put for the similitude and shadow of that which shineth in beasts birds flies such like In this sence it is said that the spider shewed vnto vs the art of spinning The Bee taught vs to conforme things in order The fish learned vs the Art of swimming Thirdly the name of Art is extended to the general habit of the mind as farre forth as we do any thing by it that is seperated from nature So Grammar Rhetorick Musick Arithmetick Logick Geometry and Astronomy are called Artes. Likewise in this sence Prudence is named the art of composing mans actions Science the Art of discerning the truth Fourthly the name of Art is taken for that true forme of Art which is distinguished from the other habites of the mind as farre forth as it is defined an habit of the mind ioyned with true reason apt to effect In this signification I terme it here an intellectuall vertue Herehence ariseth that doubtfull question to wit whether Art be better then nature To this I aunswere negatiuely perswaded specially by these three reasons The first the essence of a thing is better then the accident of a thing Nature is an essence Art an accident therefore nature is better then Art The second nature worketh inwardly and altereth the inward habit of the mind but Art only effecteth outwardly chaungeth the outward forme therefore Art is not better then nature Finally nature is ioyned with God according to that common sentence God nature do make nothing in vaine but Art is ioined with man and by reason of mans weakenesse is subiect to innumerable errours therefore nature is farre better then Art Obiection That which is later in birth is first in excellency and perfection Art is in birth later then nature therefore it is more excellent in perfection Aunswere Your rule onely holdeth in corruptible things namely while that which is first stayeth for the next which followeth But when the essence is compared with the accident as now it is the essence is farre more excellent and by a consequence nature is better then Art and your sentence false Of Science or knowledge Chap. 65. THe name of Science is taken foure maner of waies The first it is vsed for euery certaine knowledge of a thing So wee say that the snow is white the crow black the fire hot The second the name of Science is taken for euery true habite of the mind separated from the knowledge of the sences in which signification Hippocrates proued Phisick to be a science The third it is vsed more properly for euery habit gotten by demonstration separated from the habit of actiō in this sence supernatural philosophy is named the chiefest science The fourth the name of science is takē more strictly for a habit gotten by demonstration separated from wisedome in which last signification Naturall philosophy the Mathematickes are called Sciences and supernaturall Philosophy is termed humane Diuinity The benefits that come by this intellectuall vertue are three First it aswageth mans mind beyng rude and barbarous and maketh it capable of true reason Secondly science setleth a mans mind in constancy and discretion that he may spend his life to the welfare and good estate of his countrey Thirdly it causeth a man to end his dayes honourably with an vndoubted beliefe of euerlasting life Of Vnderstanding Chap. 66. VNderstāding is an habit of the mind whereby as with an eye wee behold the principles aswell of practise as of contēplation I say with an eye because that the same which the sight is in the body vnderstanding is within the soule This vertue is the reward of faith the spirit of God y t sunne that giueth glorious light vnto all the world In a word this vertue is as it were the guide gouernesse of the soule And yet all mē are not endued therewith for now then it hapneth that we know more then we vnderstād And except we pray feruētly vnto God we cannot with all our paines worldly labours attaine vnto it Our eyes are blinded and must be opened Christ I meane must breathe on vs that we may receyue the holy Ghost The consideratiō of this moued Anaxagoras the Philosopher to affirme that vnderstāding was the cause of the world and of all order This likewise moued the Prince of Philosophers to proue the immortality of the soule by vnderstanding To be brief by the help of this vertue the soule seeth God and examineth the first causes of nature and vniuersall formes Of Prudence Chap. 67. ALl the
consequently to put a mart or market for the diuell O foolish Libertines and besotted with too much pleasure You know how to prize a fat bullocke howe to buy this tenement or that tenement of landes and hauing bought it you know how to marle it trim it and stocke it you knowe right well howe to defray your money to defraud your brethren of that which God hath allotted vnto them To bee short you know howe to winke at iniustice to receiue bribes to fawne and otherwhiles to pawne your credite for your priuate commodities yea which is worse you know holes crochets and quiddities whereby you may as you thinke redeeme or indeed infringe your pawned credite And yet notwithstanding for all this you make your selues so blinde that you list not to know where perfect goodnesse lyeth hidden Wherefore in fine repent a Cause your eares to hearken vnto wisedome and encline your hearts to vnderstanding for if you call after knowledge and crie for vnderstanding if you seeke her as siluer and search for her as treasures then shall you vnderstand the feare of the Lord and finde the knowledge of God The end of the first Booke THE SECOND Booke of the Golden-groue moralized The first Plant. Of a family and the diuision thereof Chap. 1. BEcause euery Commonwealth is composed of families the parts of a Familie bee those whereof it is immediatly compacted I will first declare what a Familie is and then lay down the diuision therof A Familie is a cōmunion and fellowship of life betweene the husband the wife the parents childrē and betweene the master and the seruant Now touching the diuision of a family I finde that it is diuided into foure parts whereof the first is matrimoniall that is of man and wife the second is fatherly to wit of parents and children the third part is masterly namely of masters seruants the fourth is the acquisitiue or getting facultie All which parts of a family I mean God willing to decipher There be foure kinds of matrimonie Chap. 2. VEry children knowe that there bee foure kinds of Matrimonie namely that of honour of loue of toyle and of griefe The matrimonie of honor is said to be tripartite The first is metaphysical and supernatural wherby God and mans nature do mystically meete together The effect whereof was in the incarnation of our Sauior Christ. The second degree of the matrimonie of honour is when God the soule are combined euen by grace and glorie The third is when God his Church meete together and are vnited in one mystical body The matrimonie of loue is when an honest man and an honest woman are linked together by God for the propagation of mankind The matrimony of toyle that which is most cōmon in this last rotten world is when men choose wiues not by the eares that is for their good report but by the fingers to witte for their large dowries not in hope of issue but in regard of their outward beautie which fadeth away like the lillies of the fielde The matrimonie of griefe is nothing else but the coniunction of the wicked and the reprobate this kinde of matrimonie was of late veeres put in vre and vse by the sect of the Family of loue The causes why Matrimonie was instituted Chap. 3. GOd hauing finished the workmāship of the world created of euery sexe two male female last of al he made man after his own image giuing him for a copartner a womā formed of the mans own rib whō coupling together in matrimonie he blessed saying Increase multiplie and replenish the earth The causes why he instituted matrimonie bee fiue the first for the lawfull generation of children in his feare euen in the time of innocencie before man had sinned The second for the auoiding of vnclean fornicatiō The third cause for the mutuall reciprocall consolation and succour which the one might minister vnto the other in distresses The fourth to be a token or type of the Ecclesiasticall marriage betweene Christ vs. The fift cause of the institution of Matrimonie is that aduersaries might be reconciled by meanes of it and made perpetuall friendes How excellent a thing Matrimonie is Chap. 4. AMong all the societies of this life there is none so naturall as that betweene man and wife For as wee see all other societies are accused of free will and election but matrimonie proceedeth not onely of election and free will but also of necessitie The excellencie of it appeareth by foure reasons First matrimonie is auncient as is manifest by the time and place where it was instituted and Euerie good is so much the more excellent by howe much the more auncient it is Secondly matrimony was sanctified by GOD and graced by his sonne our redeemer Iesus Christ his presence at Cana a Citie in Galilee where he wrought his first miracle in his humanitie by turning water into wine Thirdly marriage as Saint Paul writeth is honourable among all and euerie honourable thing is more eligible then that which is not honourable Fourthly matrimonie is excellent because two are better then one Fiftly matrimonie is notable because it carrieth with it a shew of grauitie and hath greater priuiledges as in Florence at this day he that is father of fiue children straightway vpon the birth of the fift is exempted from all impostes subsidies and lones Also heere in England a married man is not so soone prest into the warres as singlemen or batchelers In a worde nothing within the rounde circle of this world is comparable to matrimonie What a wonderfull marriage is between the Sunne and the earth the Sunne is the male and with his vegetatiue heat quickneth and nourisheth all earthly things the earth is the female and conceiueth trees and Plants If we behold metals we shall finde that gold and siluer are married I meane not in a niggards chest for if a leafe of gold be put to a leafe of siluer they will be so vnited that they can neuer bee seuered What more shall I adde to this induction He that shunneth marriage and auoydeth societie is to bee esteemed a wicked wretch as the Pope is or more then a man as hee whom Homer reprehendeth saying that hee was tribelesse lawlesse and houselesse After what maner the auncients solemnized Matrimonie Chap. 5. THe rites of matrimonie were diuers according to the diuersities of Nations The Grecians accustomed to burne before the doore of the newe married the axletree of that coach wherein she was brought to her husbands house letting her to vnderstand that she was euer after to dwell there Among the Romanes The future couple sent certaine pledges one to another which most commonly they themselues afterwardes being present would confirme with a religious kisse And when the mariage day was come the bride was boūd to haue a chaplet of flowers or hearbes vpon her head and to weare a girdle
Histories For which cause The Diuine Philosopher found great fault with his countrymeÌ„ the Graecians because their Noblewomen were not instructed in matters of state policie Likewise Iustinian the Emperour was highly displeased with the Armenians For that most barbarously they prohibited women from enioying heritages and bearing rule as though quoth hee women were base and dishonoured and not created of God In the right of succession the sisters sonne is equall to the brothers sonne Whereby is vnderstood that women are licensed to gouerne aswell as men Moreouer there be two forcible reasons that conclude women to be most apt for Seignories First there is neither Iew nor Graecian there is neither bond nor free there is neither male nor female for they are all one in Christ Iesus The minds and actions of men and women do depeÌ„d of the soule in the which there is no distinction of sexe whereby the soule of a man should bee called male and the soule of a woman female The sexe rather is the instrument or meanes of generation and the soule ingendreth not a soule but is alway permanent and the very same Seeing therefore that a womans soule is perfect why should she be debarred by any statute or salique law from raigning The body is but lumpish and a vassall to the soule and for that respect not to be respected Secondly vertue excludeth none but receyueth all regarding neither substaunce nor sexe What should I rippe vp the examples of sundry nations which preferred women before themselues And for that cause they did neyther reiect their counsels nor set light by their answeres Semiramis after the death of her husband Ninus fearing lest the late conquered Aethiopians would reuolt and rebell from her Sonne yet young of yeeres and ignorant of rule tooke vpon her the principality and for the time of his nonage ordered the kingdome so princely that shee passed in feates of armes in triumphs conquests and wealth all her predecessours Nicocris defended her Empire against the Medes who then sought the Monarchy of the world and wrought such a miracle in the great riuer of Euphrates as all men were astonished at it for shee made it contrary to mens expectation to leaue the ancient course so to follow her deuice to and fro to serue the citie most commodiously insomuch that she did not onely surpasse all men in wit but ouercame the elements with power Isis after the decease of her husband Osyris raigned ouer Egypt and tooke care for so much prouision for the common wealth that shee was after her death worshipped as a Goddesse Debora iudged Israel Iudith the Bethulians Lauinia after the death of Eneas gouerned Italy Dido Carthage Olympias Pirrhus his daughter ruled ouer Epire Aranea was queen of Scythia Cleopatra of Egypt Helena after the death of Leo the Emperour raigned in Constantinople ouer all Asia as Empresse Ioanna was queene of Nauarre marying with Philip Pulcher the French king made him king of Nauarre in the yeere of our Lord 1243. Margaret ruled ouer Flaunders in the yeere of our Lord 1247. And another Princesse of that name y e only daughter of Valdemare the 3. king of DeÌ„mark Norway gouerned those kingdoms after her fathers death in the yeere of our Lord 1389. she tooke Albert the king of Swethland captiue kept him in prison 7. yeeres Ioanna was queene of Naples in the yeer 1415. Leonora Dutchesse of Aquitaine was maried to Henry Duke of Gaunt and in despight of the French K. brought him Aquitaine Poiteaux in the yeere 1552. Queene Mary raigned here in EnglaÌ„d in the yeere 1553. What should I write of Elizabeth our gratious Queene that now is which by her Diuine wisedome brought three admirable things to passe First her Maiesty reformed religion that by the Romish Antichrist was in her sisters time bespotted Secondly she maintayned her countrey in peace wheÌ„ all her neighbour Princes were in an vprore Thirdly she triumphed ouer all her foes both domesticall and hostile traiterous and outlandish If a man respect her learning it is miraculous for shee can discourse of matters of state with the best Philosopher she vnderstandeth sundry kinds of languages and aunswereth forreine Ambassadours in their forreine tongues If a man talke of the administration of iustice all the nations vnder the heauens cannot shew her peere In summe her Princely breast is the receiuer or rather the storehouse of all the vertues aswell morall as intellectuall For which causes England hath iust occasion to reioyce and to vaunt of such a gratious mother To whome the Monarch of Monarches long continue her highnesse and strengthen her as he hath done hitherto to his perpetuall glory confusion of all her enemies and to our euerlasting comfort Of Tyraunts Chap. 9. SIr Thomas Smith termeth him a Tyraunt that by force commeth to the Monarchy against the will of the people breaketh lawes already made at his pleasure and maketh other without the aduise and consent of the people and regardeth not the wealth of his commons but the aduauncemeÌ„t of himself his faction kindred Also there be two sorts of Tyrants The one in title the other in exercise He is in title Tyrant that without any lawfull title vsurpeth the gouernment In exercise he that hath good title to the principality and commeth in with the good will of the people but doth not rule wel and orderly as he should And so not onely they which behaue themselues wickedly towards their subiects are called Tyraunts as Edward the second of this realme in the yeere of our Lord 1319. and Alphonsus of Naples that lawfully came to the crowne in the yeere 1489. but also they are named tyrants which albeit they behaue themselues well yet they are to be called tyraunts in that they had no title to the principality as Sâ—eno the King of Denmark that vsurped this realme of England in the yeere 1017. and Pope Clement the eight that now is who about two yeeres ago seysed on the Dukedome of Ferraria onely by pretence of a gift which Constantine time out of mind bequeathed to the papacy Furthermore there be sixe tokens to know a tyrant The first if hee sends abroad pickthanks talebearers and espies to hearken what men speake of him as Tiberius the Emperour was woont to do The second if he abolisheth the study of learning and burneth the monuments of most worthy wittes in the market place and in the assembly of the people least his subiects should attaine to the knowlege of wisedome As Alaricus king of the Gothes did in Italy in the yeere 313. and the great Turke in his Empire The third if hee maintaine schismes diuisions and factions in his kingdome for feare that men should prie into his doings As the Popes haue done alway from time to time and of late daies the Queene mother in Fraunce The fourth if hee trust straungers more then his
them Then in the succession of time raigned Saint Edward a right vertuous Prince who selected and enacted excellent good lawes but within a while after the Normans conquered this land and altered the estate thereof appoynting new lawes in their owne language as a people naturally inclined to sophisticall and doubtful sence whereby they wrested the lawes to all constructions Yet notwithstanding King Edward the third was enduced to abrogate many of the Norman lawes and in their stead to inuest new and wholesome lawes The method of which is at this day put in practise among our Sergeants and vtter-Sarristers Obiection That law which is of no antiquitie neither grounded vpon any good foundations nor vsed in any countrey but one cannot bee good such is the common law of England therefore it is of no effect Answere Our Common law of England I confesse is of no great antiquitie yet grounded vpon the law of Nature and approoued by the vniuersall consent of the Prince Nobles Commons in a generall Parliament In briefe necessity hath no reason Whether alteration of lawes be good in a commonwealth Chap. 48. THere was a law amōg the Locrensians that whosoeuer did intrude himself to make a new law should come with a halter about his necke insomuch that if his lawes were approued he went away safe as he came if reproued hee was presently hanged So in like maner when we alter our vsuall diet wee feele great innouations in our bodies and do perhaps fall into some sicknesse or other but when we be accustomed once vnto it then we recouer waxe more lusty then before we were Custome as they say is another nature But yet this custome may bee reduced into a better The alteration of lawes I confesse at the first seemeth rough and raw vnto our fraile and queizy natures But within a while they be better liked of Which moued the Diuine Philosopher to say that chaunge of lawes excepting those that be bad is perilous at all times This caused the Kentishmen to rise against king William the Conquerour of this land and priuily to enclose him round about in the woods that thereby hee might the sooner be compelled to cōdiscend to their petition which was that they might be suffered to enioy their ancient customes and liberties As for the deciding of this question I thinke that some lawes may bee altered and reduced into better Howbeit law-makers must aduise themselues wel in that behalfe take great heed therein for where there ariseth small good by innouations of lawes it is an euill thing Surely It is better to beare with the imperfections of lawes because the alteration of them will not do so much benefit as harme by vsing men to disobey And againe who is so dull-spirited which will not graunt that defects of lawes ought now and then to be winked at and dissembled Vpon which occasion all persons vnder the age of forty were heretofore forbidden to enquire whether lawes were well or ill made Ripenesse of yeares is a great meane to conserue people in their obedience And for that cause young men are thought vnfit to deale in matters of state and morall Philosophy Of Diuinity Chap. 49. THe auncient Philosophers accounted three kinds of speculatiue or contemplatiue Sciences to wit naturall philosophy the Mathematickes and Diuinity which is the first and chiefest beginning of all things which is the cement that soddereth the peeces of the building of our estate and the planke wherewith our ship is fortified Take away this beginning and the world will seeme a confused Chaos Take away this cement and our building is ruinous In a word vncaske the plāks of a ship it wil leake sinke into the sea Plant ye therfore religion in your kingdomes and let not the heathen rise vp against you at the day of iudgement The Romanes we read through the bare instinct of nature did so reuerētly thinke of Diuinity that they sent their childrē into Hetruria to learne it there And yet many of vs Christiās presume to iniure the ministers God albeit we know that nothing is hidde from him and that he is present and still accompanieth vs in the midst of our secrete cogitations God make cleane our hearts within vs and cause vs to regard his ministers and word better then wee do Otherwise let vs expect for nothing but fearfull alarums warres heresies pestilence and famine continually without ceasing to annoy and destroy both vs and our countrey Whether two religions may be tolerated in one kingdome Chap. 50. TWo religions cannot be suffered in one kingdome for diuersities cause factions garboiles and ciuill warres which neuer end but with the subuersiō of the commonwealth The tranquillity of all estates consisteth in the vnion and consent of the inhabitants Take away this vnion and it is but a denne for rouers and theeues The first foundations of kingdomes were built vpon the rock of one religion and the heathen themselues had neuer established their lawes if they had harboured pluralities of religions He that displaceth this stone shaketh all the building No man can serue two masters for eyther he must despise the one or loue the other Neither must Princes halt betweene two opinions If the Lord be God follow him but if Baal be hee then go after him In religion there is no mediocrity for a man must either be a Christian or els he must be an enemy of Christ that is an Antichristian according to our Sauiour Christes words He that is not with mee is against me and he that gathereth not with me scattereth I am the Lord saith God this is my name and my glory wil I not giue away to another neyther my prayse to grauen images Also it is written Thou shalt worship the Lord thy God and him onely shalt thou serue But how is it possible to obserue this commaundement as long as our Papists beleeue that the Pope is no man but Gods vicar and more expresly that hee is God Theodosius therefore is highly commended in that he made warre with the. Arrians and proclaimed one true religion 〈◊〉 be planted throughout all his Empire in this likewise England may faithfully glory that beyng welnigh drowned in the sea of Popish superstition she is now saued and restored to the true and Apostolicall doctrine the which God of his goodnesse maintaine from heresies and schismes Of Simony one of the chiefest ouerthrowes of religion Chap. 51. SImony is a deliberatiue will eyther of buying and selling or els of posting ouer and exchaunging some spirituall thing or some thing annexed to the spirituality as aduowsons presentations and such like This vice is called after the name of Simon Magus by reason that he offred the Apostles money that they might giue him the power that on whomsoeuer he layd his hands he should receyue the holy Ghost For which his execrable proffer hee had this answere of
notwithstanding at last he loseth all so may put his winnings in his ere yea and which is worse hee hazardeth his soule which hee ought to hold more deare then all the world But because I haue largely confuted this vice in other places I will proceed to the other cause of the alteration of commonwealths Of superfluitie of apparell another cause Persi. of the alteration of Kingdomes Chap. 58. IN the beginning of the world men were clothed with pelts and skins of beasts wherby is to be noted that they were become as beasts by transgressing the cōmandement of God touching the fruit in Paradise Apparell was not giuen to delight mens wanton eies but to preserue their bodies from the cold and to couer their shame They had no Beuer hats sharpe on the top like vnto the spire of a steeple nor flatte crownde hats resembling rose-cakes They wore no embrodered shirtes nor garments of cloth of gold They knew not what meant our Italianated Frenchified nor Duch and Babilonian breeches They bought no silken stockins nor gaudie pantoffles Their women could not tel how to frizle and lay out their haire on borders They daubed not their faces with deceitfull drugs wherewith hiding the handi-work of God they might seeme to haue more beautie then hee hath vouchsafed to giue them They imitated not Hermaphrodites in wearing of mens doublets They wore no chaines of gold nor ouches iewels bracelets nor such like They went not clothed in veluet gownes nor in chamlet peticotes They smelt not vnto pomanders Ciuet Muske and such like trumperies And yet for all that they farre surpassed vs in humanitie in kindnesse in loue and in vertue Their onely cogitations were bent to decke the inward mind not the outward body which is nothing els sauing a liuing sepulcher They knew that if the mind were humble and lowly the raiment for the body must bee euen so Euerie seede bringeth forth herbes according to his kind as time seed bringeth foorth time and tare seede tare Such as the heart is such is the body if the heart bee proude the fruit thereof will be ill weedes and proud attires But why is the earth ashes proud to what end will our fine apparell serue when death knocketh at out doores and like a theefe in the night surprizeth vs vnawares Our yong gallants when they hire a chamber in London looking daily to bee sent for home by their parents will neuer trouble themselues with any charges or garnishing it as otherwise they would doe if they were assured longer to continue in it And what I pray you is the body but a chamber lent to the soule wherehence it expecteth continually to bee sent for by God our heauenly father and as Saint Paul speaketh to bee loosed and to be with Christ For what cause doe wee take such care to apparell the body seeing within a while after it must putrifie and returne to the dust of the earth from whence it came what reason haue wee to neglect the soule which neuer dieth why do we not follow King Henrie the sixt of this Realme who when the Earle of Warwicke asked him wherefore hee went so meanely apparelled answered It behooueth a Prince to excel his subiects in vertue and not in vesture Let vs call to remembrance the wife of Philo the Iewish Philosopher who wisely answered one of her gossips that demaunded of her why she went not as other matrons attired in pretious garmēts Because quoth shee I thinke the vertues of my learned husband sufficient ornaments for me Whereto consenteth that of the Comick z In vaine doth a woman goe well attired if shee be not also well manered But what neede I spend time in producing of examples when our Sauiour Christ scorned not to weare a coate without a seame Which kinde of apparell if a man now-a-dayes vsed heere in England presently one of our fine Caualeers would laugh at him and prize both him and his apparell scant worth a hundred farthings Oh what a shame is it that euerie seruing-man in England nay euerie common Iacke should flaunt in silkes and veluets and surpasse Gentlemen of worship I haue knowne diuers who would bestow all the money they had in the world on sumptuous garments and when I asked them howe they would liue heereafter they would answere A good marriage will one day make amends for all thereby implying that they hoped to inueigle and deceiue some widow or other Which pretence of theirs being frustrate they will bee driuen to commit burglaries and murthers In respect of which inconueniences I exhort euerie man to liue according to his vocation and to obserue her Maiesties decrees and proclamations whereby Caualeering groomes and dunghilled knaues are straightly prohibited to weare the same sutes and apparell as Gentlemen Obiection God hath created al things which are in this world for mans vse therefore any man may weare cloth of gold siluer or such like Answere True it is that God made all things in this world to be vsed of mā but herein I must distinguish men some men be noble some ignoble There is no reason why cloth of gold permitted onely to Noblemen should be equally permitted to earth-creeping groomes And again God hath appoynted men not sole cōmanders but bailies of his goods creatures with condition that they giue an account of the vtmost farthing of the same And in this regard Noblemē may gorgeously attire themselues so long as they clothe the needie and distressed members of Christ. But if Noblemen on the contrary clothe themselues sumptuously without reseruing meanes to furnish the poore members of Christ then will the Lord at the great day of iudgement pronounce this fearefull doome against them Depart frō me ye cursed into eternal fire for I was naked ye clothed me not To knit vp this briefely I say that God created al things for his owne glorie and to take occasion to extoll him but not for our pride to abuse them The seuenth Plant. Of the conseruation of a common-wealth Chap. 59. THere be many means to preserue a commonwealth but aboue the rest these ten are of most efficacy The first and chiefest is to liue vprightly in the feare of God The second to make no delay in executing of attainted and condemned persons The third to suffer euery man to enioy his owne and not lauishly to spend rake the priuat inhabitants goods The 4. to haue a great regard of mischiefs euils at the first budding how small soeuer it be for the corruptiō that creepeth in by little little is no more perceyued then small expenses be the often disbursing wherof vndoeth the substance of a house And as great rayne horrible stormes proceed from vapours and exhalations that are not seene so alteration changes breed in a commonwealth of light and trifling things which no man would iudge to haue such an issue The fift means is that Magistrates behaue themselues
warre yet notwithstanding I wil by forcible reasons maintaine the contrary First it is written that the Israelites should warre against their enemies and not faint nor feare nor be amazed nor a-dread of them Secondly lawfull warres are named the battels of the Lord. Thirdly the Lord himselfe is a maÌ„ of warre Fourthly Saint Iohn Baptist confirmeth the lawfulnesse of warre in these wordes which he spoke vnto the souldiers Do no violeÌ„ce to any man neyther accuse any falsly and be content with your wages Fiftly Cornelius a Captaine was so fauoured of God that he receyued the holy Ghost Sixthly the Magistrate carieth not the sword in vaine Seuenthly it is lawfull for any man to defend himselfe For reason teacheth that it is lawfull to repell force offred to our liues and to our persons with force To conclude it is lawfull for one people to assault another so that it it bee either to get their owne againe or els to punish reuolters Howbeit neuerthelesse I counsell warre to be practized as a last and desperat medicine which without very vrgent occasion ought neuer to be applied What warres be most lawfull Chap. 65. THose warres be most iust whereto we are constrained and with good coÌ„scieÌ„ce may we take armes when there is no safetâ—â— for vs but in armes To this an anciet Bishop subscribeth saying That fortitude which defendeth a mans countrey from forrayne enemies or sustaineth the desolat and oppressed is perfect iustice Moreouer the holy Ghost by many testimonies of Scripture declareth such warres to bee lawfull The iniury which is done to Ambassadours ministreth lawfull cause for Princes to take armes in hand Therefore K. Dauid made war with the Ammonits for that they villanously misused the messengers which he sent to comfort the youÌ„g king of AmmoÌ„ for his fathers death Most iust likewise was that warre which king Richard the first of this Realme made with the Infidels for the recouery of the holy land And surely it is a meritorious and religious deed that Christian Princes should vnite their forces together and proclaime warres against the Trukes who to their great shame haue now welnigh conquered all Hungary are at the very gates of Germany and consequently or all Christendome this peril how long soeuer it is deâ—ferred doubtles is like to happen Suppose our Christian Princes could do no other good but keepe back the Turkes forces from further inuasions would not this be a meanes to restore and reuiue the dismembred estate of ChristeÌ„dome Yea certainely To that end I constantly auerre that it is lawfull to warre prouided still that the determination be not to put to death any that will be brought to the true knowledge of the Gospell For it is not with swords but with words not with constraint but with coÌ„ference that misbeleeuers are become conuerted That before we begin warres preparation is to be made of sufficient necessaries thereto belonging Chap. 66. TO the execution of warres three things are needfull prouision men and adnice Vnder prouision I comprehend armour money victuals Touching armour I would haue an indifferent company of weapoÌ„s prepared both for horsmen and footmen as artillery powder bullets billes pikes launces bowes and arrowes plated doublets iackets of male and such like Next money must be gotten without the which nothing can be done as it ought to be And if they fight with siluer speares they will conquer all Money being gotten it is meete that victuals be prouided seeing through want thereof souldiers will bee ouercome without stroke Against other euils there are cures but there is no striuing against hunger herehence proceed mutines despaires infectious sicknesses and innumerable kinds of calamities Hauing forethought of prouision it is also necessary that men should bee mustered and chosen out For if there be a mighty hoste of men in the field what towne or countrey is not willing to welcome them In like maner the Captaine generall must forecast whether horsemen would serue his turne better then footemen This question being well discussed the Generall must take aduice with his chiefe and wisest Lieftenaunts concerning the successe of the warres For what King going to make warre with another King sitteth not downe first and taketh counsell whether he be able with ten thousand to meete him that coÌ„meth against him with twenty thousand or els while hee is yet a-great way off he sendeth an ambassage and desireth peace The dueties of a Generall Chap. 67. IN a Generall seuen things are required First that he be religious and deuout for theÌ„ if he with Iosuah say Sunne stay thou in Gibeon and thou Moone in the valley of Aialon the Sunne wil abide and the Moone will stand still vntill he be auenged vpon his enemies Secondly a Generall must be a man of authority by reason that nothing is more auailable in the ordering of battels then authority Thirdly he ought to be temperate for how can he gouerne others that cannot rule his owne affections Fourthly he must be well experienced that he may see how the enemy lieth what way is best eyther to prouoke the enemy or to defend himselfe Fiftly a Generall must be witty and well spoken because souldiers minds will be sooner inflamed to fight by sweet exhortations then by all the trumpets in the world Sixtly he must be couragious and valiant that he may giue the first onset when any bickering is at hand and shew the way to others Lastly a Generall ought to be very well seene in Philosophy specially in Geometry otherwise he will neuer be able either to incampe himselfe to find out the enemy or to coÌ„ceiue the scituation of places as for example how the champion fields are couched together how the valleys hang how broad the marishes be how the mountaines are lift vp Of the choyse of Souldiers Chap. 68. THere be six notes to discerne a good souldiour The first is that he be an honest maÌ„ The second that he be stroÌ„g and valiant The third that he be constant patient The fourth that if it be possible he be a Gentle-man borne the reason is because most commonly he is more easily trained for the warres and will scorne to yeeld himselfe vanquished to the enemy The fift marke of a souldier is that he be nimble actiue and not of a fat or grosse body lest like a carters iade he founder and fal downe The sixt a souldier ought to be chosen from seueÌ„teene yeeres old to sixe and forty But in my opinion elderly souldiers are more apt fit to go to the warres then young men by reason that they are lesse mutinous and better able to endure Whether the straunger or the home-borne subiect ought to be preferred Chap. 69. IF we coÌ„sider the cause froÌ„ wheÌ„ce proceeded the late destructioÌ„ of Italy we shall find that the calling in of the Switzers and Frenchmen to aide it turned