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A00358
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A treatise perswadynge a man patientlye to suffre the deth of his frende; De morte declamatio. English
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Erasmus, Desiderius, d. 1536.
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1531
(1531)
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STC 10476.3; ESTC S2113
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11,664
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42
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Demetrius doth better whiche correctynge the sayenge of Euripides sayth that the lyfe of man shulde rather be called the Minute of an houre But Pyndarus saythe beste of all whiche callethe the lyfe of man the dreme of a shadowe He ioynethe two speciall thynges of nothynge to gether to th entent that he wolde declare howe vayne a thynge this lyfe is Nowe howe wretched and myserable the same lyfe is on euery behalfe the aun cient poetes semed to perceyue it passinge well the whiche demed that a maÌ„ coude nat more truely nor more better name mortall creatures than surname them very miserable wretches For the fyrste age or formeste parte of mans lyfe the whiche is rekened the best is ignorant The middell parte of the lyfe is assayled with trouble and care of manyfolde businessis and yet all this while I speake but of them that be moste luckye and fortunate Therfore who is he which of very ryghte wyll nat approue the sayenge of Silenus the best is neuer to be borne the nexte is moste swyftly to be clene extincte who wyll nat allowe the ordinaunce of the Thraciens the which customa bly vse to receyue them that be borne in to this worlde with lamentation and mournynge and agayne whan they departe heÌ„ce they be very glad and demeane great ioye And he that by hym selfe considerethe inwardlye those thynges that Hegesias was wonte to declare to his herers he wolde rather desire his owne dethe than abhorre hit and wolde farre more indifferently take in worthe the dethe of his frendes But nowe your fatherly sorowe coÌ„methe forthe and saythe He died er his day he dyed in his childehode he died so passyng a good childe yea and so towardlye disposed vnto vertue that he was worthye to haue lyued many many yeres your fatherly forowe coÌ„playneth that the course of Nature is subuerted seinge that you his father an olde man shulde ouer lyue your sonne a yonge man But I prey you for the loue of god tell me what ye call before his day as though euery day of a mans lyfe coude nat be his laste daye One before he come in to this worlde and whaÌ„ vnneth it hath any shappe of a creature reasonable â–ª is strangled and diethe euen vnder the handes of nature workynge and fourmynge of it An other diethe in the byrthe An other crienge in the cradell is snatched awaye by dethe An other in the flowrig youth dieth whan scarsely as yet it hath any taste of the lyfe Of so many thousandes of people to how fewe is it gyueÌ„ as Horace nameth it to steppe vp on the gryce of olde age without doubte god hath vnder suche a lawe constituted the soule in the garrison of this littell body that what so euer day or what so euer moment he wyll commaunde it to departe thence it muste by by nedes go Nor there is none that can of ryghte thynke hym selfe to be called forthe before his day coÌ„siderynge that there is no man that hath a day certayne to hym appoynted but that only is his laufull day whiche so euer he our souerayne capitayne wolde shulde be his last day If we wyll worke wysely we shulde so abyde euery day as it were our very last I prey you what maketh hit matter seinge the life is so shorte and fugitiue whether we dye betymes or tary some what longer For it skylleth no more thaÌ„ it doth whan many be broughte to execution whiche of them shuld be fyrst heeded or haÌ„ged It is all one whiche is the fyrste the thirde or the eight And what other thinge els is the lyfe it selfe but a certayne perpetuall course vnto dethe Sauyng that their chance is more coÌ„modious the which froÌ„ so laborious an exercise of the lyfe are dispatched be tymes But as it is a touche of a braynles felowe to departe away froÌ„ the army and breke the array without the capitaynes coÌ„maundement So hit is a foliss he poynte and great ingratitude whan leaue is quickelye gyuen of the capitayne nat gladly to take it And most specially if he that hath now liceÌ„ce to go may deê‘te his waye home with laude and preyse to hym no rebuke nor shame Nor it is nat coÌ„uenient that one shulde sitte and reken howe many yeres he hath lyued The age shulde be estemed accordynge to the noble dedes And he as Homere sayth is nat reputed to haue lyued that hath poystered the erthe and made a nombre but he the whiche sad sobrely passynge forthe his lyfe leaueth behynde hym an honest remeÌ„braunce to them that come after Do ye complayne that god sente you forthwith suche a childe as ye wolde desire to haue had many yeres to come what pardie your soÌ„ne died nat so soone he was nowe come to the age of .xx. yeres at the whiche age after myne opinion it is best for to die for so moche as than lyfe is mooste swete Nowe was he to his countrey very bountifull nowe was he to his father very lowely and gentyll nowe was he amoÌ„ge his felowes a very merye companion and nowe had he a good and a perfecte mynde to godwarde He decessed ignorant of vicis and whan he had nat tasted but littell of the calamities and miseries of this worlde But what be shulde haue knowen haue felte if he had lyued longer it is vncertayne No doubte we se very often tymes that the latter age dothe bothe infecte the clene conuersation of yonge age with more greuous vices and spottethe and defileth the felicitie of youthe with manyfolde myserable grefes From all these iuels and perils deth quickely withdrewe hym Nowe may you safe and surely reioyce and be glad that you haue had so good and so vertuous a sonne ye or rather haue But be it as you do suppose that you had hym and that nowe ye be depriued and haue loste hym whether of very ryghte oughte you rather to tourment vexe your selfe for that ye haue forgone hym or els reioyce and be gladde that ye hadde suche a sonne Take you hede that it be nat a poynte of vnkyndnes that ye shulde remembre the requeste of the gyfte to be restored agayne and nothynge to mynde the gyfte No doubte a childe of a good disposition is a great gyfte but yet is he so gyuen that ye shulde take and haue pleasure with hym for a tyme and nat that he shulde be yours for euer You that be a perfecte wyse man coÌ„sider this by your selfe yea let vs both to gether consider on this wyse If a great prince shulde lende vs a tabull of an excedyng great price and of an excellent workemanshyppe to passe our tyme with whether ought we whan so euer pleasethe hym to demaunde or call for it with a glad chere ye and more ouer gentylly thaÌ„kynge hym to delyuer it agayne or els with heuy and sorowfull countenance shall we complayne to hym on this wyse O cruell prince of howe precious a gyfte haste thou spoyled
for vs that be christiens to be of them ouer comen Call nowe to your remembrance thilke sayenge well worthye to be enrolled in writynge of Telamon and Anaxagoras I wyste well I begotte a mortall creature Thynke vpon Pericles the duke of Athens the whiche is no lesse renowmed for his eloquence than he is for his force and manlynes al be it that he within iiij dayes space lost his ij soÌ„nes that were endewed with ryght noble qualities he nat onelye neuer changed his chere but also he beinge crowned as was the gyse thaÌ„ spake reasoned amoÌ„ge the people of matters concernyng theyr coÌ„mon welthe ⧠Haue in mynde also Xenophon the worthy scholer of Socrates to whom tydynges was brought as he was doinge sacrifice that his sonne was deed he made no more to do but put of his crowne forthwith dyd put it on agayne as sone as he vnderstode that his sonne was maÌ„ly slayne in batayle Remembre Dion of Syracuse the whiche on a tyme as he was secretly talkynge with his frendes sodaynly harde a great noyse and rumblynge in his house And whan he had inquered what the matter mente and was enfourmed that his sonne had fallen from on highe and was deed he beinge therwith nothing amoued coÌ„maunded the corps as the maner was to be delyuered to women to burye For he sayde he wolde nat leaue of his pretensed pourpose for that matter whom Demosthenes folowyng the vij daye after the dethe of his onely and most entierly beloued daughter beinge crowned arrayed in a faire white garment he came forth abrode amoÌ„ge the people Of whiche dede the accusation of his foo Aeschyâ—ies bothe confirmethe the trouthe and setteth out the glorie Thynke also vpon the kynge Antigonus the whiche whan he herde tydynges that his owne sonne was slaine in a disordred skermisshe pausynge a lyttell and beholdynge them well that brought him the tydinges with a stoute and a constante mynde he sayde O Aleynonen that was his sonnes name all to late thou perisshest that woldest so folisshely cast thy selfe away amonge thy foes nothynge regardyng thyne owne helth nor my monitions and wordes If ye delite more to here the examples of Romanes beholde Puluillus horace to whom as he was dedicatynge the capytoll tydynges was broughte that his sonne was deed he neyther drewe awaye his hande from the poste nor tourued nat his chere from religioÌ„ to priuate sorowe Consider howe Paulus Aemilius whan he had within the space of vij dayes loste his ij sonnes he came forthe abrode amonge the people of Rome and there shewed them that he was very gladde that by the lamentation of his householde which was but a priuate sorowe he had redemed the enuye of Fortune bente towarde them all Thynke also howe Q. Fabius Maximus whan he was consul and had loste his sonne that was than a man in hyghe rowme and dignitie and greatly renowmed for his noble actê he came forthe abrode amonge the people gethered to gether and there to them he recited the coÌ„mendation of his sonne Thynke on also whan Cato Censorius his eldest sonne died the whiche was a yoÌ„ge man of singlar witte and highe prowesse and therto electe and chosen to be Meyre yet was he nothynge so amoued with that chance that he wolde in any thynge more slackelye endeuour hym selfe aboute the nedes and busines of the coÌ„mon welthe Ye shulde remeÌ„bre Marcius whose surname was kynge whan his sonne of ryghte noble disposition and that stode highly in the fauour and good opinion of the people and therto beinge his only sonne was deed he toke the losse of hym with so constaunt a mynde that forthwith euen from the buriall of hym he caused the Senatours to asseÌ„ble to gether to ordeyne lawes coÌ„cerning their coÌ„mon welthe Ye shulde nat forget Lucius Sylla whose valiaunt and moste fierce courage towarde his ennemies the deth of his sonne coude nothynge abate nor cause that he shulde seme falsely to haue vsurped or taken vpon hym to be called by this surname Felix that is to say luckye or welthy whan Caius Cesar that was Sylla his felowe in rowmeth had inuaded Britayne and bad tidynges that his daughter was deed yet er thre dayes were fully ended he wente about his imperiall busines whaÌ„ Marcus Crassus in the warre that he made agaynst the ParthieÌ„s behelde his sonnes heed the whiche his ennemyes in skorne and derision had sette vp on a morispikes ende the more to exasperate and augmeÌ„t his calamitie they approched nere to his armie with wordes of reproche and blame they shewed it vp he toke in worth all that doinge with so constant a mynde that sodaynelye he rode forby all his batayles and saide to them with a loude voice that that was his owne priuate harme but the helthe and saluation of the common weale stode in the sauegarde of them his men of warre But nowe to ouer passe the manyfolde examples of Galba Piso Sceuola Metellus Scaurê° Marcellus Aufidius remeÌ„bre whan Claudius Cesar had loste hym whom be bothe begotte and moste entierely loued yet for all that he his owne selfe in the coÌ„mon pulpit lauded and praysed his sonne the cors beinge present all only couered with a littell veyle and whan all the people of Rome wepte and bewayled his sonnes dethe he his father wepte nat a teare And surely lyke as it is a right good ly thyng to folowe do as these men dyd euen so were it a right shamfull thynge if men shulde nat be founde as stedfast and as stoutely mynded as women haue ben in suche case Cornelia sawe and behelde her two sonnes Tit. Graccus and Caius Graccus slayne and vnburyed and whan her frendes comforted her and sayde she had a wretched chaunce I wyll neuer saye quod she that I am vnlucky or vnfortunate that haue borne suche two children But wherto do we now repete these examples out of auncient cronicles as though we sawe nat dayly before our face sufficient exaÌ„ples Beholde your neighbours beholde your kyns folke and alies howe many yea sely women shall ye finde the whiche verye moderately take in good worthe the dethe of theyr children This matter is so plaine that there nedeth no great helpe of philosophie therto For he that wolde coÌ„sider well in his mide how wretched on al sides this our life is to how many pils to how many sickenessis to how many chauÌ„ces to howe many cares to how many incoÌ„modities to how many vices and to howe many iniuries it is endangered howe littell howe small a portion therof we passe forth I will nat saye in pleasure that is nat attached with some maner greffe and displeasure and than farther to coÌ„sider howe sweftely it vanissheth rolleth away that we may in maner reioyce be glad of them that ben departed out of this worlde in theyr youthe The shortnes of our lyfe Euripides sadly expresseth whiche callethe the lyfe of mortall creatures one lyttell daye But Phalereus