shee represented her selfe before me remembring that she liued I was sorry to remember her death Life was so grieuous vnto me that I would haue reioyced to haue beene put in the graue with her For truly hee feeleth assuredly the death of another which alway is sorrowfull and lamenting his owne life Remembring therefore the great loue which my sister Milena bare vnto me in her life and thinking wherein I might requite the same after her death I imagined that I could not by any meanes doe any thing that was more acceptable for her then to bring thee vp thou which art her childe and left an Orphane so yong For of all trauells to a woman this is the chiefest to leaue behinde her children to bring vp My sister being dead the first thing I did was that I came to Rome and then sent thee to Capua to be brought vp there in the which place hard at my nose they gaue thee sucke two yeares For thou knowest right well that the mony which by reading Rethorike I gate scarcely satisfied for thy dayly feeding but that in the night I reade some extraordinare lecture and with that I payed for the milke which thou suckedst on the dugge so that thy bringing vp depended vpon the labour of my life After that thou wert weined and and brought from the teate I sent thee to Bietro to a friend and kinsman of mine named Lucius Valerius with whom thou remainedst vntill fiue yeares were fully accomplished where I found both him and thee all things necessary For he was in great pouertie and a great blabber of his tongue in such sort that he troubled all men and angred me much For truely a man should as willingly giue mony to cause him to be silent which is talkatiue as to giue a wise man to heare him to speake The fiue yeares accomplished I sent thee to Toringue a citie of Campaignia to a Maister which taught children there called Emilius Torquates of whom to the end hee should teach thee to reade and to write three yeares I tooke a sonne of his whom hee gaue mee to reade to him Greeke foure yeares so that thou couldest not haue any profite in thee without the increase of great trauell and augmenting paine to my heart And after thou wert seuen yeares old that thou couldest reade and write wel I sent thee to study in the famous city of Tareth where I kept thee foure yeares paying to the masters a great summe of money Because now a dayes through our euill fortunes there is none that will teach without great stipend Without lamenting I doe not tell thee that in the time that Cincinos which were after the death of Quintus Cincinatus vntill Cyna and Catulus the phylosopher and maisters were by the sacred Senate payde and none ceased to study for lacke of money For in those dayes they which would apply themselues to vertue and sciences were by the common treasure maintained As our fathers were well ordered in their things so they did not deuide offices by order onely but also by order they payed their money in such sort that they paide first with the common treasure the priests of the Temples Secondly the maisters of schooles and studies Thirdly the poore widowes and Orphanes Fourthly the strange knights which of their owne free wills voluntarily were made citizens of Rome Fiftly all the old souldiesr which had serued 35. yeares continually in the warres For those which were retired home to their owne houses were honourably found of the common-wealth The twelue yeares past I my selfe was in Tarenthe and carryed thee to Rome where I read vnto thee Rhetorike Logike and phylosophy and also the Mathematicall sciences keeping thee in my house in my company at my table and in my bed and further more I had the in my heart and in my minde The which thing thou shouldest esteeme more then if I gaue thee my house and al my goods For the true benefites is that onely which is done without any respect of profite or interest I kept thee with meanes in this sort in Laurence in Rhodes in Naples and in Capua vntill such time as the gods created me Emperor of Rome And then I determined to send thee to Greece because thou shouldest learne the Greeke tongue and also to the end thou shouldest accustome thy selfe to worke that which true phylosophy requireth For the true and vertuous phylosophers ought to conforme their workes to that they say and publish their words with their deeds There is nothing more infamous then to presume to be sage and to be desirous to be counted vertuous principally for him that speaketh much and worketh little For the man of a pleasant tongue and euill life is hee which with impostumes vndoeth the commonwealth When I sent thee to Greece and withdrew thee from Rome it was not to exile thee out of my company so that thou hauing tasted of my pouertie shouldest not reioyce at my prosperitie but it was that considering thy youthfull disposition and lightnesse I was afrayde to vndoe thee in the pallace chiefely least thou wouldest haue presumed to haue bin too bold and familiar because thou wert my nephew For truely Princes which take pleasure that their children be familiar with them they giue occasion that men shall not count them wise and cause also the young men to bee esteemed for light I haue tolde thee that I did for thee in Italie I will now let thee know what thou hast done and doest in Greece so that I will shew thee to bee notorious that is to know that thou taking and esteeming thy selfe to bee well disposed in thy youth thou hast forsaken thy study and despised my counsayles thou art accompanyed with vaine and light men and hast most viciously employed the money which I had sent thee to buy books All the which things to thee being hurtfull are to me no lesse dishonor shame For it is a generall rule when the childe is foolish and ill taught and the blame and fault is layd on the masters necke who hath taught him and brought him vp It greeueth me not for that he brought thee vp neither for that I haue taught thee to reade and cause thee to study neither likewise to haue kept thee in my house to haue set thee at my table nor also to haue suffered thee to lie with me in my bed neither it greeueth mee to haue consumed so much on thee but with all my heart it greeueth me that thou hast not giuen me occasion to do thee good For there is nothing that greeueth a noble Prince more then not to find persons able of capacity to do them any good They tell me that thou art well made of thy body and faire in countenance and that thou presumest also in those things wherefore to enioy the pleasures of thy person thou hast forsaken Phylosophy wherewith I am not contentented For in the end the corporall beautie carely or
weale iustice in theyr owne house the king troth in their mouthes and fidelity in their hearts the good and honest men grace in their fauour and that the ill and wicked boast themselues no more of their authority and office and that the poor shall praise them for their good works and the King also finde them faithfull seruants I will at this present with mine owne hand giue them such faith and assurance that they shall neede neuer to feare that God will forsake them nor that men can hurt them that they shall neuer bee detected of any infamy ouerthrown by any misfortune neither put out of fauour and credit with their prince at any time HERE FOLLOWETH CERTAINE OTHER LETTERS WRITTEN BY Marcus Aurelius Selected out of the Spanish Copie not written in the French Tongue CHAP. I. Of the huge Monster seene in Scicilie in the time of Marcus Aurelius and of the Letters hee wrote with bloud vpon a gate IN the yeare of the foundation of Rome 720. and xlii of the age of Marcus Aurelius and two yeares before hee tooke possession of the empire the twenty day of August about the going downe of the Sunne in the Realme of Scicill in the City of Palermo a port of the sea there chanced a thing perillous to them that saw it then and no lesse dreadfull to those which shall heare it now Whiles they of Palermo were celebrating a great feast with much ioye that they had vanquished the Nauy of the Numedians the Pirates diuiding their bootie were preuented by the Magistrates of the City who cōmaunded the whole spoyle to be laide vp till the warres were finished for such was the Law of the Isle And truly it was a iust law for oftentimes the onely let why the peace is not made betweene Princes is because there wanteth riches to satisfie the damage done in wars When all the people were returned home vnto their houses to Supper for it was in the Summer there appeared an huge Monster in the Citie in this forme Hee seemed to be of the length of three cubites his head was balde so that his skul did appeare Hee had no eares saue onely two holes in the necke whereby men iudged that hee heard he had two writhen hornes like a Goate his right arme was longer then his left his hands were much like the feete of horses without throte his shoulders and his head were both of one height his shoulders shone as doeth the scales of fishes his brest was all rough of haire his Face in all things was much like vnto a man saue that hee had but one Eye which was in the middest of his fore-head In his Nose there was but one nosethrill From the middle downwards there was nothing seen because it was all couered he sate on a charyot with fowre wheeles which was drawn with fowre beasts That is two Lyons before and two Beares behind No man can tell of what wood the Charriot was made In fashion it differed nothing from those which other men do accustomably vse Within this Chariot stood a great Chauldron with eares wherein the Monster was wherefore it could not be seene but from the middle vpward It wandred a great space in the Cittie from one gate to another casting out sparkes of fire The feare and terror hereof was so great throughout all the Cittie that some Women with childe were with great daunger deliuered and others beeing weake and fainte hearted fell downe dead And all the people both men and women great and small ranne to the Temples of Iupiter Mars and Februa with dolefull clamours and cryes making their importunate prayers At the same time all these Rouers were lodged in the Gouernours Pallace of the Cittie whose name was Solyno borne at Capua where also the riches was kept After the Monster had beene in all patts of the Cittie or in the most part thereof it came to the pallace where the Pyrates were and cut one of the Lyons eares off and with the bloud therof wrote these Letters vppon the pallace gate which was shut R. A. S. P. I. P. These Letters were of diuers men diuersly interpreted so that the interpretations were moe then the letters And in the end a woman-prophetesse greatly esteemed for her science vnto whome God had giuen this secrete knowledge opened the true meaning of these Letters saying R. signifieth Reddite A aliena S sivultis P. propria I. in Pace P. possidere Which altogether is to say Render vnto others that which is theirs if you in quyet will possesse your owne Truly the pyrates were wonderfully afrayd of this sudden commaundement and he Woman was highly commended for her exposition This being done the Monster went the same night out of the City vnto a high hill called Iamicia there stood for the space of 3 dayes in the sight of the City the Lions with terrible voyces roaring the Beares with no lesse fearefull cries raging and finally the monster most dreadful flames casting During all this time there was neither bride seene in the aire nor beast in the fields And the people offered such great sacrifices vnto their Gods that they brake the veines of their handes and feet and offered the bloud therof to see if they coulde appease theyr wrathes These three dayes being passed there appeared in the Element a maruellous darke cloud which seemed to darken the whole earth and therewith it beganne to thunder and lighten so terrible that sundry houses fell to the ground and infinite men ended their liues And last of all there came such a flame of fire from the Monster that it burned both the Pallace where the Rouers were and all other thinges that were therein so that all was consumed with fire yea the very stones themselues The tempest was so great that there fell aboue two thousand houses and there dyed more then tenne thousand persons In this place where this Monster was on the toppe of the Hill the Emperour edified a sumptuous temple to the God Iupiter in perpetuall memory of the same Whereof afterwards Alexander Emperour hauing warre with the people of the Isle made a strong Castle CHAP. II. Of that which chaunced vnto Antigonus a Citizen of Rome in the time of Marcus Aurelius AT the same time when this woefull chaunce happened in the Isle there dwelled a Romane in the same City called Antigonus a man of a noble bloud and well strucken in age who with his wife and daughter were banished two yeares beefore from Rome The cause of this banishment was this There was an olde laudable custome in Rome instituted by Quintus Cincinnatus the Dictator that two of the most auncient Senators should go with the Censour newly created in the moneth of December to visite al Rome and to examine seuerally euery Romane declaring vnto him the 12. Tables and also the particular Decrees of the Senate demaunding of of them if they knew any man that had not obserued these lawes and if they
and of the Senate best fauoured to whom they committed the charge of the most cruell and dangerous warres For their strife was not to beare rule and to be in office or to get money but to be in the Frontiers to ouercome their enemies In what estimation these foure Frontiers were wee may easily perceyue by that wee see the most noble Romanes haue passed some part of their youth in those places as Captaines vntill such time that for more weighty affaires they were appointed from thence to som other places For at that time there was no word so grieuous and iniurious to a Citizen as to say Goe thou hast neuer beene brought vp in the wars and to proue the same by examples The great Pompey passed the Winter season in Constantinople The aduenturous Scipio in Colonges the couragious Caesar in Gades and the renowmed Marius in Rhodes And these foure were not only in the Frontiers aforesaid in their youth but there they did such valiant acts that the memory of them remaineth euermore after their death These thinges I haue spoken to proue sith wee finde that Marcus Aurelius father was Captain of one of these 4. Frontiers it followeth that he was a man of singular wisdome and prowesse For as Scipio sayd to his friend Masinissa in Affrike It is not possible for a Romane Captaine to want eyther wisdome or courage for thereunto they were predestined at their birth Wee haue no authenticke authorities that sheweth vs frō whence when or how in what countries and with what persons this captaine passed his youth And the cause is for that the Romane Chroniclers were not accustomed to write the things done by their Princes before they were created but onely the acts of yong men which from their youth had their hearts stoutly bent to great aduentures and in my opinion it was well done For it is greater honour to obtaine an Empire by policy and wisdome then to haue it by discent so that there be no tyranny Suetonius Tranquillus in his first booke of Emperours counteth at large the aduenturous enterprises taken in hand by Iulius Caesar in his yong age and how far vnlikely they were from thought that he should euer obtaine the Romane Empire writing this to shew vnto Princes how earnestly Iulius Caesars heart was bent to win the Romane Monarchy and likewise how wisdom fayled him in behauing himselfe therin A Philosopher of Rome wrote to Phalaris the Tirant which was in Cicilia asking him Why hee possessed the realme so long by tyranny Phalaris answered him againe in another Epistle in these few wordes Thou callest mee tyrant because I haue taken this realme and kept it 32. yeares I graunt then quoth hee that I was a tyrant in vsurping it For no man occupyeth another mans right but by reason he is a tyrant But yet I will not agree to be called a Tyrant sith it is now xxxii yeares since I haue possessed it And though I haue atchieued it by tyranny yet I haue gouerned it by wisdome And I let thee to vnderstand that to take another mans goods it is an easie thing to conquere but a hard thing to keepe an easie thing for to keepe them I ensure thee it is very hard The Emperour Marcus Aurelius married the daughter of Antoninus Pius the 16. Emperour of Rome and she was named Faustina who as sole Heyre had the Empire and so through marriage Marcus Aurelius came to be Emperour This Faustine was not so honest and chast as shee was faire and beautifull Shee had by him two sonnes Commodus and Verissimus Marcus Aurelius triumphed twice once when he ouercame the Parthians and another time when hee conquered the Argonants He was a man very well learned and of a deepe vnderstanding Hee was as excellent both in the Greeke and Latine as hee was in his mothers tongue Hee was very temperate in eating and drinking hee wrote many things full of good learning and sweete sentences He dyed in conquering the realme of Pannonia which is now called Hungarie His death was as much bewayled as his life was desired And hee was loued so deare and entirely in the City of Rome that euery Romane had a statue of him in his house to the end the memory of him among them should neuer decay The which was neuer read that they euer did for any other King or Emperour of Rome no not for Augustus Caesar who was best beloued of all other Emperours of Rome Hee gouerned the Empire for the space of eighteene yeere with vpright iustice and died at the age of 63 yeeres with much honor in the yeere Climatericke which is in the 63. years wherein the life of man runneth in great perill For then are accomplished the nine seuens or the seuen nines Aulus Gelius writeth a Chapter of this matter in the booke De noctibus Atticis Marcus Aurelius was a Prince of life most pure of doctrine most profound and of fortune most happy of all other Princes in the world saue only for Faustine his wife and Commodus his sonne And to the end we may see what Marcus Aurelius was from his infancy I haue put here an Epistle of his which is this CHAP. II. Of a letter which Marcus Aurelius sent to his friend Pulio wherein he declareth the order of his whole life and amongst other things he maketh mention of a thing that happened to a Romane Censor with his Host of Campagnia MAreus Aurelius only Emperour of Rome greeteth thee his old friend Pulio wisheth health to thy person peace to the common-wealth As I was in the Temple of the Vestall Virgins a letter of thine was presented vnto me which was written long before and greatly desired of me but the best therof is that thou writing vnto me briefly desirest that I should write vnto thee at large which is vndecent for the authority of him that is chiefe of the Empire in especiall if such one be couetous for to a Prince there is no greater infamy then to be lauish of words and scant of rewards Thou writest to me of the griefe in thy leg and that thy wound is great and truly the paine thereof troubleth me at my heart and I am right sorry that thou wantest that which is necessary for thy health and that good that I do wish thee For in the end all the trauels of this life may be endured so that the body with diseases be not troubled Thou lettest me vnderstand by thy letters that thou art arriued at Rhodes and requirest me to write vnto thee how I liued in that place when I was yong what time I gaue my minde to study and likewise what the discourse of my life was vntill the time of my being Emperor of Rome In this case truly I maruell at thee not a little that thou shouldest aske me such a question and so much the more that thou didst not consider that I cannot with out great trouble and
end count they well or euill all passeth amongst men because they are men but what shall the vnhappy Princes doe which shall render no account but to God onely who will not bee deceiued with words corrupted with gifts feared with threatnings nor answered with excuses Princes haue their Realms full of cruell Iudges to punish the frailetic of man they haue their courts full of Aduocates to plead against them that haue offended they haue their Pallaces 〈…〉 and Promoters that note the offences of other men They haue through all theyr Prouince Auditours that ouersee the accounts of their routs and besides all this they haue no remembrance of the day so strict wherein they must render an account of their wicked life Me thinkes since all that which Princes receyue commeth from the hands of God that the greatest part of the time which they spend should bee in the seruice of God and al their trade in God and they ought to render no account of their life but vnto God then sith they are Gods in authority which they haue ouer temporall things they ought to shew themselues to resemble God more then others by vertues For that Prince is more to be magnified which reformeth two vices among his people then hee which conquereth ten Realmes of his enemies But we wil desire them from henceforth They presume not any more to bee Gods on the earth but that they endeuour themselues to bee good Christians in the Commonwealth For all the wealth of a Prince is That hee bee stout with strangers and louing to his owne Subiects Fiftly Princes ought to bee better Christians then others For the prosperity or aduersity that chanceth vnto them commeth directly from the hands of God onely and none other I haue seene sundry times princes which haue put their whole trust and confidence in other Princes to be on a sodaine discomfited and for the contrary those which haue litle hope in men and great confidence in God haue alwayes prospered When man is in his chiefest brauery and trusteth most to mens wisedome then the secret iudgement of God soonest discomforteth him I meane that the consederates and friends of Princes might helpe and succour them but God will not suffer them to be holpen nor succoured to the ende they should see their remedy proceedeth not by mans diligence but by diuine prouidence A Prince that hath a Realme doth not suffer any thing to bee done therein without his aduice therefore since God is of no lesse power in Heauen then Princes are on the earth it is reason that nothing bee done without his consent since he taketh account of all mens deedes and as hee is the end of all things so in him and by him all things haue their beginning O Princes If you knew how small a thing it is to bee hated of men and how great a comfort to be beloued of GOD I sweare that you would not speake one word althogh it were in iest vnto men neyther would you cease night nor day to commend your selues vnto God for God is more mercifull to succour vs then wee are diligent for to call vpon him For in conclusion the fauour which men can giue you other men can take from you but the fauour that God will giue you no man can resist it All those that possesse much should vse the company of them which can doe much and if it bee so I let you Princes know that all men cannot thinke so much together as God is able to doe alone For the crye of a Lyon is more fearefull then the howling of a Wolfe I confesse that Princes and great Lords may sometimes gaine and winne of them selues but I aske them whose fauour they haue neede of to preserue and keepe them we see oftentimes that in a short space many come to great authority the which neyther mans wisedome sufficeth to gouerne nor yet mans force to keepe For the authority which the Romanes in sixe hundred yeares gained fighting against the Gothes in the space of three yeares they lost Wee see daily by experience that a man for the gouernment of his owne house onely needeth the counsell of his friends and neighbours and doe Princes and great Lords thinke by their own heades onely to rule and gouerne many realmes and dominions CHAP. XXI What the Philosopher Bias was of his constancy when hee lost all his goods and of the ten lawes hee gaue worthy to bee had in memory AMong all nations sorts of men which auaunt themselues to haue had with them sage men the Grecians were the chiefest which had and thought it necessary to haue not onely wise men to reade in theyr schooles but also they chose them to bee Princes in their dominions For as Plato sayeth Those which gouerned in those dates were Philosophers or else they sayde and did like Philosohers And Laertius writeth in his second booke De antiquitatibus Graecorum That the Grecians auaunted themselues much in this that they had of all Estates persons most notable that is to say Seuen women very sage seuen Queenes very honest seuen Kings very vertuous seuen Captaines very hardy seuen Cities very notable seuen buildings very sumptuous and seuen Philosophers very well Learned which Philosophers were these that follow The first was Tales Milesius that inuented the Carde to sayle by The second was Solon that gaue the first lawes to the Athenians The third was Chilo who was in the Orient for Ambassadour of the Athenians The fourth was Pittacus Quintilenus who was not onely a Philosopher but also Captaine of the Mitilenes The fifth was Cleobolus that discended from the ancient lynage of Hercules The sixt was Periander that long time gouerned the realme of Corinth The seuenth was Bias Prieneus that was Prince of the Prieneans Therefore as touching Bias you must vnderstand that when Romulus raigned at Rome and Ezechias in Iudea there was great warres in Grecia betweene the Metinences and the Prieneans and of these Prieneans Bias the Philosopher was Prince and Captaine who because hee was sage read in the Vniuersity and for that hee was hardy was Chiefetain in the warre and because hee was wise he was made a Prince and gouerned the Common-wealth And of this no man ought to maruell for in those daies the Philosopher that had knowledge but in one thing was little esteemed in the Common-wealth After many contentions had betweene the Metinenses and Prienenses a cruel battell was fought whereof the Philosopher Bias was Captaine and had the victory and it was the first battell that euer any Philosopher gaue in Greece For the which victory Greece was proud to see their Philosophers so aduenturous in wars and hardy of their hands as they were profound in their doctrine and eloquent in their tongues And by chance one brought him a number of women and maides to sell or if hee listed to vse them otherwise at his pleasure but this good Philosopher did not
Azotes carryed away the Arke full of Relickes vnto their temple in the Cittie of Nazote and set it by Dagon theyr cursed Idoll The most High true God which will not suffer any to be coequall with him in comparison or in anie thing that hee representeth caused this Idol to be shaken thrown downe and broken in pieces no man touching it For our God is of such power that to execute his Iustice he needeth not worldly helpe God not contented thus though the Idoll was broken in pieces but caused those to bee punished likewise which worshipped it in such sort that al the people of Azotes Ascalon Geth Acharon and of Gaza which were fiue auncient and renowmed Citties were plagued both man and woman inwardly with the disease of the Emerodes So that they could not eate sitting nor ride by the wayes on horse-backe And to the end that all men might see that their offences were grieuous for the punishment they receyued by the diuine Iustice he replenished their Houses Places Gardens Seedes and Fields full of Rats And as they had erred in honouring the false Idol and forsaken the true God So hee would chastice them with two Plagues sending them the Emerodes to torment their bodyes and the Rats to destroy their goods For to him that willingly giueth his soule to the diuel it is but a small matter that God against his will depriue him of his goods This then being thus I would now gladly knowe whether of them committed most offence Eyther the Azotes which set the Arke in the Temple which as they thought was the most holiest or the false Christians which with a Sacrilegious boldnesse dare attempt without anie feare of GOD to robbe and pill the Church goods to theyr owne priuate commoditie in this world Truely the Law of the Azotes differed as much frō the Christians as the offence of the one differeth from the other For the Azotes erred not beleeuing that this Arke was the Figure of the True God but we beleeue it and confesse it and without shame cōmit against it infinite vices By this so rare and seuere a sudden punishment mee thinks the Princes great Lords should not only therefore acknowledge the True God but also Reuerence and honour those things which vnto him are dedicated For mans lawes speaking of the reuerence of a Prince doe no lesse condemne him to die that robbeth his house then him which violently layeth hands on his person ¶ The cause why Prince Oza was punished IN the booke which the sonne of Helcana wrote that is the second booke of the Kings and the vi Chapter hee saith That the Arke of Israel with his Relikes which was Manna the rodde and two stones stood in the house of Aminadab which was the next neighbour to the citie of Gibeah the sonne of Esay who at that time was King of the Israelites determined to transpose the Relikes into his Cittie and house For that it seemed to him a great infamy that to a mortal Prince a house should abound for his pleasures to the immortall God there should want a Temple for his reliques The day therefore appointed when they should carrie the Relique of Gibeah to Bethlehem there met thirty thousand Israelites with a great number of Noble men which came with the King besides a greater number of strangers For in such a case those are more which come of their owne pleasure then those which are commaunded Besides all the people they say that all the Nobility of the Realme was there to the end the relique should bee more honoured and his person better accompanied It chanced that as the Lords and people went singing and the King in person dancing the wheele of the Chariot began to fall and go out of the way the which prince Oza seeing by chance set to his hand and his shoulder against it because the Arke where the Relique was should not fall nor breake yet notwithstanding that suddenly and before them all hee fell downe dead Therefore let this punishment be noted for truly it was fearefull and ye ought to thinke that since God for putting his hand to the Chariot to holde it vp stroke him with death that a Prince should not hope seeking the destruction and decay of the Church that God will prolong his life O Princes great Lords and Prelates sith Oza with such diligence lost his life what doe yee hope or looke for sith with such negligence yee destroy and suffer the Church to fall Yet once againe I doe returne to exclaime vpon you O Princes and great Lords sith Prince Oza deserued such punishment because without reuerence hee aduanced himselfe to stay the Arke which fell what punishment ought yee to haue which through malice helpe the Church to fall Why King Balthasar was punished DArius King of the Perses and Medes besieged the auncient City of Babylon in Chaldea whereof Balthasar sonne of Nabuchodonozar the great was King and Lord who was so wicked a child that his father being dead hee caused him to be cut in 300. peeces gaue him to 300. hawkes to be eaten because hee should not reuiue againe to take the goods riches from him which he had left him I know not what father is so foolish that letteth his Son liue in pleasures and afterwards the entralles of the Hauke wherewith the sonne hawked should be the wofull graue of the Father which so many men lamented This Balthasar then beeing so besieged determined one night to make a great feast and banquet to the Lords of his Realme that came to ayde him and in this he did like a valiant and stout Prince to the end the Perses and Medes might see that hee little esteemed their power The noble and high hearts do vse when they are enuironed with many trauels to seeke occasions to inuent pleasures because to their men they may giue greater courage and to their enemies greater feare He declareth of Pirrus King of the Epirotes when hee was besieged very straightly in the City of Tharenta of the Romane Captaine Quintus Dentatus that then hee spake vnto his Captaines in this sort Lordes and friendes bee yee nothing at all abashed since I neuer here before saw ye afraid though the Romans haue compassed our bodies yet we haue besiged their harts For I let you to know that I am of such a complection that the straighter they keepe my body the more my heart is at large And further I say though the Romanes beate downe the walles yet our hearts shall remaine inuincible And though there bee no wall betweene vs yet wee will make them know that the hearts of Greekes are harder to ouercome then the stones of Tarentine are to be beaten downe But returning to King Balthasar The banquet then being ended and the greatest part of the night beeing spent Belthasar the King being very well pleased that the banquet was made to his contentation though he
noble courages Of Antisthenes the Philosopher ANtisthenes the Philosopher put al his felicity in renowne after his death For sayeth hee there is no losse but of life that flitteth without fame For the Wise man needeth not feare to die so he leaue a memory of his vertuous life behinde him Of Sophocles the Philosopher SOphocles had al his ioy in hauing children which should possesse the inheritance of their Father saying that the graft of him that hath no children surmounteth aboue all other sorrowes for the greatest felicity in this life is to haue honour riches and afterwardes to leaue children which shall inherite them Of Euripides the Philosopher Euripides the Philosopher had all his ioy in keeping a fayre woman saying his tongue with wordes could not expresse the griefe which the hart endureth that is accombred with a foule woman therefore of of truth hee which hapneth of a good vertuous woman ought of right in his life to desire no more pleasure Of Palemon the Philosopher PAlemon put the felicity of men in eloquenee saying and swearing that the man that cannot reason of all things is not so like a reasonable man as he is a brute beast for according to the opinions of many there is no greater felicity in this wretched world then to be a man of a pleasant tongue and of an honest life Of Themistocles the Philosopher THemistocles put all his felicity in discending from a Noble lynage saying that the man which is come of a meane stocke is not bound to make of a renowmed fame for truly the vertues and prowesses of them that are past are not but an example to moue them to take great enterprises which are present Of Aristides the Philosopher ARistides the Philosopher put all his felicity in keeping temporal goods saying that the man which hath not wherwith to eate nor to sustaine his life it were better coūsell for him of his free will to goe into the graue then to do any other thing For he onely shall bee called happy in this world who hath no neede to enter into an other mans house Of Heraclitus the Philosopher HEraclitus put al his felicity in heaping vp treasure saying that the prodigall man the more begetteth the more he spendeth but he hath the respect of a wise man who can keep a secret treasure for the necessitie to come Thou hast now sufficiently vnderstood my friend Pulio that 7. moneths since I haue been taken with the feuer quartaine and I sweare vnto thee by the immortall Gods that at this present instant writing vnto thee my hand shaketh which is an euident token that the colde doth take mee wherefore I am constrained to conclude this matter which thou demaundest mee although not according to my desire For amongst true friendes though the workes doe cease wherewith they serue yet therefore the inward parts ought not to quaile wherwith they loue If thou doest aske mee my friend Pulio what I thinke of all that is aboue spoken and to which of those I doe sticke I answere thee That in this World I doe not graunt any to bee happy and if there be any the gods haue them with them because on the one side chosing the plaine and drye way without clay and on the other side all stony and myerie wee may rather call this life the precipitation of the euill then the safegard of the good I will speake but one word onely but marke well what thereby I meane which is that amongst the mishaps of fortune wee dare say that there is no felicitie in the World And hee onely is happy from whom wisdome hath plucked enuious aduersity and that afterwards is brought by wisedome to the highest felicitie And though I would I cannot endure any longer but that the immortall Gods haue thee in their custody and that they preserue vs from euill fortune Sith thou art retired now vnto Bethinie I know well thou wouldest I should write thee some newes from Rome and at this present there are none but that the Carpentines and Lusitaines are in great strife dissention in Spaine I receiued letters how that the barbarous were quiet though the Host that was in Ilium were in good case yet notwithstanding the Army is somwhat fearefull and timorous For in all the coast and borders there hath beene a great plague Pardon me my friend Pulio for that I am so sickly that yet I am not come to my selfe for the feuer quartane is so cruel a disease that he which hath it contenteth himselfe with nothing neyther taketh pleasure in any thing I send thee two of the best horses that can be found in al Spaine and also I send thee two cups of gold of the richest that can bee found in Alexandria And by the law of a good man I sweare vnto thee that I desire to send thee two or three howers of those which trouble mee in my feuer quartane My wife Faustine saluteth thee and of her part and mine also to Cassia thy olde mother and noble Widdow we haue commended Marcus the Romane Emperour with his own hand writeth this and againe commendeth him vnto his deere friend Pulio CHAP. XLI That Princes and great Lords ought not to esteeme themselues for being fayre and well proportioned IN the time that Ioshua triumphed amongst the Hebrewes and that Dardanus passed from great Greece to Samotratia and when the sons of Egenor were seeking their sister Europe and in the time that Siculus raigned in Scicil in great Asia in the realme of Egypt was builded a great City called Thebes the which K. Busiris built of whom Diodorus Siculus at large mentioneth Plinie in the 36. Chapter of his naturall history and Homer in the second of his Iliades Statius in al the booke of his Thebiade doe declare great maruels of this City of Thebes which thing ought greatly to bee esteemed for a man ought not to thinke that fayned which so excellent authours haue written For a truth they say that Thebes was in circuit forty miles and that the walles were thirty stades hie and in bredth sixe They say also that the City had a hundred gates very sumptuous and strong and in euery gate two hundred Horsemen watched Through the midst of Thebes passed a great riuer the which by milles and fish did greately profite the City When Thebes was in his prosperity they say that there was two hundred thousand fires and besides all this all the Kings of Egypt were buried in that place As Strabo sayeth De situ orbis when Thebes was destroyed with enemies they found therein seuenty seuen Tombes of Kings which had bin buried there And here is to bee noted that all those tombes were of vertuous kings for among the Aegyptians it was a law inuiolable that the King which had beene wicked in his life should not bee buried after his death Before the noble and worthy Numantia
But of those two the worst is too soone For if by determining late a man looseth that which he might haue gotten by determining too soone that is lost which is now gained and that which a man might haue gained To men which are too hasty chance daylie manie euills and daungers as saith the old prouerbe The hasty man neuer wanteth woe For the man being vnpacient and hauing his vnderstanding high afterwards come quarrels and brawlings displeasures varieties and also vanities which loseth their goods and putteth their persons in danger Sith all naturally desire to bee happie hee alone amongst all others may be called happie of whom they may truely say Hee gaue good doctrine to liue lest good example to dye These and many other sentences of Phalaris the Tyrant wrote in his Letters whereof Cicero profited much in his works and Seneca also in his Epistles and manie other writers besides For this Tyraunt was verie briefe in wordes and compendious in Sentences This Phalaris being in his Cittie of Agrigentine a Phylosopher of Greece wrote him a taunting Letter charging him with Tyrannie to which he made answere with this Letter following The Letter of Phalaris the Tyrant to Popharco the Phylosopher PHalaris Agrigentine wisheth vnto thee Popharco the Phylosopher health and consolation through the comfortable Gods I receyued thy Letter heere in Agrigentine and though it sauoured somewhat Satyr-like I was not agrieued therewith For of Phylysophers and Sages as thou art wee should not bee grieued with the sharpe wordes you tell vs but onely to consider the intention whervpō you speake them Quarrellers malicious persons will haue the words by weight and measute but the vertuous and patient men do not regard but the intentions For if wee should goe about to examine euery word they speake vnto vs wee should giue our selues to much paine and we should alwayes set in the Common-wealth debate I am a Tyrant and as yet am in tyrannie but I sweare vnto the immortal gods whether the words were good or bad I neuer altered it For if a good man tell it mee I take it for my pastime Thou writest vnto me that all Greece is offended with mee there but I let thee vnderstand that all Agrigentine is all edified with thee here And thereof thou maist praise mee For if the Tyrants were not so much dispraysed the Phylosophers should not be so well loued Thou art counted for good and art good and I am counted for euill and am euill But in mine opinion thou shuldst not be proud for the one neither I should dispaire for the other For the day of the life is long and therein Fortune doth many things and it may wel be that from a tyrant I shall be a Phylosopher and thou from a phylosopher shalt be a tirant See my Friend that the long time maketh oftentimes the Earth to be turned to siluer and the siluer and Gold becommeth nothing worth I meane that there neuer was a tirant in any realme but that first he had bene brought vp in the studie of Greece I will not denie that all the renowmed Tyrants haue not bin nourished in Scictle but also thou shalt not deny me that they were not borne in Greece Therefore see and beholde to whom the faulte is from the mother which bare them or from the Nurse which gaue them sucke I doe not say that it shall bee but I say that it may well be that if I were there in Greece I should bee a better philosopher then thou and if thou wert heere in Agrigentine thou wouldest be a worser Tyrant then I. I would thou shouldest think that thou mightest be better in Greece where thou art that I might be worse in Agrigentine where I am For that thou dost not so much good as thou mightest do and I doe not so much euil as I may doe The cunning man Perillus came into these parts and hath made a Bull wherin he hath put a kind of torment the most fearfullest in the world and truely I caused that that which his malice had inuented should be of none other then of himselfe experimēted For there is no iuster law that when any workmā hath inuented Engins to make other men die then to put them to the torments by them inuented to know the experience in themselues I beseech thee hartily to come see me and be thou assured thou shalt make me good For it is a good signe for the sick when he acknowledgeth his sicknes to the phisitian I say no more to thee but that once againe I returne to solicite thee that thou failest not to come see mee for in the ende if I doe not profite of thee I am sure thou shalt profite by me if thou winnest I cannot lose CHAP. XLVII How Philip K of Macedonie Alexander the great the K Ptolomeus the K Antigonus the K Archelaus Pirrus K of the Epirotes were all great louers and friendes of the Sages IF Quintus Curtius deceiue me not the great Alexāder sonne to k. Philip of Macedonie did not deserue to bee called great for that hee was accompanied with thousands of men of Warre but onely hee wanne the renowne of Great for that hee had more Phylosophers on his Counsell then all other Princes had This great Prince neuer tooke vpon him Warres but that first the order of executing the same should before his presence be examined of the Sages and wise Phylosophers And truely hee had reason for in affayres where good counsells haue proceeded they may alwayes looke for a good ende These Hystoriographers which wrote of great Alexander as well the Grecians as the Latines knowe not whether the fiercenesse wherewith he strooke his Enemyes was greater or the humanity wherewith hee embraced his counsel Though the sage philosophers which so accompanyed the great Alexander were manie in number yet notwithstanding amongst all those Aristotle Anaxarcus and Onesichrates were his most familiars And heerein Alexander shewed himselfe very wise For wise Princes ought to take the counsell of manie but they ought to determine and conclude vpon the opinion of fewe The great Alexander did not content himselfe to haue Sages with him neyther to send onely to desire those which were not his but oftentimes himself in person would go see them visite them and counsell with them Saying That the Princes which are the seruants of Sages come to be made Maisters and Lordes ouer all In the time of Alexander Magnus Diogenes the philosopher liued who neither for intreatie nor yet for any promises that were made would come for to see Alexander the Great Wherefore Alexander the Great went for to see him and when hee had desired him that hee would goe with him and accompany him Diogenes answered O Alexander since that thou wilt winne honour in keeping of men in thy company it is not reason then that I should loose it to forsake my studie For in following of
so woful that each wise man without comparison would haue greater pleasure to bee in the wars of Affricke then in the peace at Rome For in the good war a man seeth of whom he should take heed but in the euill peace no man knoweth whom to trust Therefore my children since you are naturall of Rome I will tell you what Rome is at this present I let you know that the Vestall virgins are now dissolute the honour of the gods is forgotten the profite of the Common weale no man secketh of the exercise of chiualrie there is no memory for the orphanes and widdowes there is no man doth answer to minister iustice they haue no regard and the dissolute vices of the youth are without measure Finally Rome that in times past was a receite of all the good and vertuous is now made a denne of all theeues and vitious I feare me I feare me lest our mother Rome in short time will haue some sudden and great fall for both men and Cities that fal from the top of their felicitie purchase greater infamie with those that shal come after then the glory that they haue had of them that be past Peraduenture my children you desire to see the walles and buildings of Rome for those things which children see first in their youth the same they loue and keepe alwayes in memory vntill their age As the auncient buildings of Rome are destroied and the few that are now built So would I you should lose your earnest affection to come to see them For indeede the noble hearts are ashamed to see that thing amisse which they cannot remedie Do not thinke my children though Rome be made worse in manners that therefore it is diminished in buildings For I let you vnderstand if you know it not that if a wall doth decay there is no man that doth repayre it If a house fall there is no man that will rayse it vppe againe If a streete bee foule there is no man that will make it cleane If the Riuer carry away any bridge there is no man that will set it vp againe If any Antiquity decay there is no man that will amend it If any wood be cut there is no man that wil keepe it If the Trees waxe olde there is no man that will plant them a new If the pauement of the streetes bee broken there is no man that will laye it againe Finally there is nothing in Rome at this day so euill handled as those things which by the common voyces are ordered These things my children though I doe greatly lament as it is reason yet you ought little to esteeme them all but this all onely ought to bee esteemed and with droppes of bloud to be lamented That now in Rome when the buildings in many places fall downe the vices all wholy together are raysed vp O wofull mother Rome since that in thee the more the wals decay the more the vices encrease Peraduenture my children since you are in those frontiers of Africke you desire to see your parents here in Rome And there at I maruell not for the loue which our naturall Country doth giue the strange country cannot take away All those which come from those parties doe bring vs no other certaine newes but of the multitude of those which die and are slaine in Affricke therefore since you send vs such news from thence looke not that we should send you any other then the like from hence for death hath such authority that it killeth the armed in the warres and slayeth the quiet in peace I let you know that Licia your sister is dead Drusio your vnckle is dead Torquatus your neighbour is dead His wise our cosen and her 3. daughters are dead Fabius your great friend is dead Euander and his children are dead Bibulus which read for me in the chaire the last yeare is also dead Finally there are so many and so good with all that be dead that it is a great shame and pitty to see at this present so many euil as do liue know ye my children that all these and many others which ye left aliue full high in Rome are now become wormes meat full low vnder the earth and death also doth summon me vnto the graue If you my children did consider what shall become of you hereafter truely you will thinke it better to weepe a thousand yeares with the dead then to laugh one houre with those that be aliue Remembring that I bare yee in great paine and haue nourished you in great trauel that yee came of my proper entrailes I would haue you as children about me for the comfort and consolation of my paines but in the end beholding the prowesses of these that are past that bindeth their heires I am content to suffer so long absēce your persons onely to the end you may gette honour in chiualrie for I had rather heare tell you should liue like knights in Affricke then to see you vtterly lost here in Rome My children as you are in the wars of Affricke so I doubt not but that you desire to see the pleasurs of Rome for there is no man in this world so happy but at his neighbours prosperity had som enuy enuy not the vicious neyther desire to bee among vices for truly vices are of such condition that they bring not with thē so much pleasure as they leaue sorrow behind them for the true delight is not in pleasure which suddenly vanisheth but in the truth which euer remaineth I thanke the gods for all these things first for that they made me wise and not foolish for to a woman it is a smal matter to be called so fraile that indeed she bee not foolish The second I thank the gods because in all times of my troubles they haue giuen me patience to endure them for the man onely in this life may be called vnhappie to whom the gods in his troubles giueth not patiēce The 3. I thanke the gods for that those 65. years which I haue liued I neuer hitherto was defamed For the Woman by no reason can complaine of her fortune if in none of her troubles shee hath lost her honour The fourth I thanke the Gods that in this fortie yeares I haue liued in Rome and remained widow there was neuer man nor woman that contended with mee For since we women little profite the commonwealth it is but reason that shee which with euill demeanors hath passed her life should by iustice receiue her death The fifth I giue the Gods thankes that they gaue me children the which are better contented to suffer the trauells of Affrike then to enioy the pleasures of Rome Doe not count me my Children for so vnlouing a Mother that I would not haue you alwaies before mine eyes but considering that many good mens children haue been lost onely for being brought vp in the excessiue pleasures of Rome I doe content my selfe with your absence For
more sure when by white hayres they seemed to bee olde when they retired to the Aultars of the Temples Oh what goodnesse Oh what wisedome what valiantnesse and what innocencie ought the aged men to haue in the auncient time since in Rome they honoured them as Gods and in Greece they priuiledged those whyte haires as the temples Plinie in an Epistle he wrote to Fabarus saith that Pyrrus king of the Epyrotes demaunded of a phylosopher which was the best citie of the world who aunswered him thus The best Citie of the world is Molerda a place of three hundreth Fyres in Achaia because all the walles are of blacke stones and all those which gouerne haue hoary heads And further he saide Woe bee vnto thee Rome Woe be vnto thee Carthage Woe be vnto thee Numantia Wo be vnto thee Egipt and woe bee vnto thee Athens Fyue Cittyes which count themselues for the best of the Worlde whereof I am of a contrary opinion For they auaunte themselues to haue whyte Walles and are not ashamed to haue young Senatours This phylosopher saide very well and I thinke no man will say lesse then I haue saide Of this word Senex is deriued the name of a Senatour For so were the gouernours of Rome named because the first King that was Romulus chose an hundred aged men to gouerne the Common-wealth and commaunded that all the Romane youth should employ themselues to the warres Since wee haue spoken of the honour which in the old time was giuen to the auncient men it is reason wee know now from what yeares they accounted men aged to the end they should reuerently bee honoured as aged men For the makers of lawes when they hadde established the honours which ought to be done to the Aged did as well ordain from what day and yeare they should beginne Diuers auncient phylosophers did put six ages from the time of the birth of man vntill the houre of his death That is to say Childe-hood which lasteth vntill seuen yeares Infancie which lasteth vntill seuenteene yeares Youth which continueth till thirtie yeares Mans estate which remaineth till fiftie and fiue yeares Age which endureth till three-score and eighteene yeares Then last of all Crooked-age which remaineth till death And so after man had passed fiue and fifty yeares they called him aged Aulus Gelius in his tenth booke in the 27 Chapter sayth that Fuluius Hostilius who was King of the Romanes determined to count all the olde and yong which were amongst the people and also to know which should be called Infants which yong and which old And there was no little difference among the Romane Philosophers and in the end it was decreed by the King and the Senate that men till seuenteene years should bee called Infants and till sixe forty should be called young and from sixe and forty vpwards they should be called olde If wee will obserue the Law of the Romanes wee know from what time we are bound to call and honor the aged men But adding hereunto it is reason that the olde men know to what prowesses and vertues they are bound to the end that with reason and not with fainting they bee serued for speaking the truth if wee compare duty to duty the olde men are more bound to vertue then the young to seruice Wee cannot deny but that all states of Nations great small young and old are bound to bee vertuous but in this case the one is more to bee blamed then the other For oftentimes if the young men doe offend it is for that hee wanteth experience but if the old man offend it is for the aboundance of malice Seneca in an Epistle sayde these words I let thee know my friend Lucillus that l am very much offended and I doe complaine not of any friend or foe but of my selfe and none other And the reason why I thinke this is that I see my selfe old in vices so little is that wherein I haue serued the Gods and much lesse is that I haue profited him And Seneca sayeth further Hee which prayseth himselfe most to bee aged and that would bee honoured for being aged ought to bee temperate in eating honest in appartell sober in drinking soft in words wise in counsell and to conclude he ought to be very patient in aduersity and far from vices which attempt him Worthy of prayse is the greate Seneca for those wordes but more worthy shall the olde men if they wil conforme their workes according to these words For if wee see them for to abandon vices and giue themselus to vertues we will both serue them and honour them CHAP. XVIII That Princes when they are aged should be temperate in eating sober in drinking modest in apparrell and aboue all true in communication IT is consonant to the counsell of Seneca that the aged should bee temperate in eating which they ought to doe not onely for the reputation of their persons but also for the preseruation of theyr liues For the olde men which are drunke and amorous are persecuted with their owne diseases and are defamed by the tongues of other That which the ancient men should eate I meane those which are noble and vertuous ought to bee very cleane and well dressed and aboue all that they doe take it in season time for otherwise too much eating of diuers things causeth the young to bee sicke and enforceth the olde to die Young men though they eate dishonestly very hastily and eate speaking we can doe no lesse but dissemble with them but the olde men which eate much and hastily of necessitie we ought to reproue them For men of Honour ought to eate at table with a great grauitie as if they were in any counsell to determine causes It is not mine intention to perswade the feeble olde men not to eate but onely to admonish them to eate no more then is necessarie We doe not prohibite them to eate delicate things but to beware of superfluous things We doe not counsell them to leaue eating hauing need but to withdraw themselues from curiositie For though it bee lawfull for aged men to eate sufficient it is not honest for them to eate to ouercome theyr stomacks It is a shame to write it but more shame ought they to haue which doe it which is that the goods which they haue wonne and inherited by their predecessours they haue eaten and drunken so that they haue neyther bought House not vyne nor yet marryed any Daughter but they are naked and their poore children goe to the Tauernes and Innes and the miserable Fathers to the Hospitalles and Churches When any man commeth to pouertie for that his house is burned or his shippe drowned or that they haue taken all from him by Lawe or that hee hath spent it in pleading against his enemies or any other in conueniēce is come vnto him me thinketh we are all bound to succor him and the hart hath cōpassion to behold him
vpon the needle and thrust it into her breast whereby the mother dyed Gneus Ruffirius which was a very wise man and also my Kinsman one day combing his white hayres strake a tooth of the combe into his heade wherewith hee gaue himselfe a mortall wound so that in short space after his life had end but not his doctrine nor memory How thinkest thou Domitius By the immortal Gods I do sweare vnto thee that as I haue declared to thee this small number so I could recite thee other infinite What mishappe is this after so many fortunes what reproch after such glory What perill after such surety what euill lucke after such good successe what darke night after so cleare a day what euill entertainement after so great labour what sentence so cruell after so long processe O what inconuenience of death after so good beginning of life Being in their steade I cannot tell what I would but I had rather chuse vnfortunate life and honorable death then an infamous death and honourable life That man which will bee counted for a good man and not noted for a brute beast ought greatly to trauell to liue well and much more to dye better for the euill death maketh men doubt that the life hath not bin good and the good death is the excuse of an euill life At the beginning of my Letter I wrote vnto thee how that the gowte troubleth mee euill in my hand I say it were to much to write any longer and though the Letter bee not of my owne hand these two dayes the loue that I beare thee and the griefe that holdeth me haue striued together My will desireth to write and my fingers cannot hold the penne The remedy hereof is that since I haue no power to doe what I would as thine thou oughtest to accept what I can as mine I say no more herein but as they tell mee thou buildest now a house in Rhodes wherefore I do send thee a thousand sexterces to accomplish the same My wife Faustine saluteth thee who for thy paine is sore grieued They tell vs thou hast beene hurt wherefore she sendeth thee a weight of the Balme of Palestine Heale thy face therewith to the end the scarres of that wound doe not appeare If thou findest greene Almonds new nuts Faustine desireth thee that thou wilt send her some By another man shee sendeth a gowne for thee and a kirtle for thy wife I conclude and doe beseech the immortall Gods to giue thee all that I desire for thee and that they giue me all that thou wishest me Though by the hands of others I write vnto thee yet with my heart I loue thee CHAP. XXXV That Princes and Noble men ought to bee aduocates for widdowes Fathers of Orpnans and helpers of those which are comfortlesse MAcrobius in the 3. booke of the Saturnals sayeth That in the noble Citie of Athens there was a temple called Misericordia which the Athenians kept so well watched and locked that without leaue licence of the Senate no man might enter in There were the Images of pittifull Princes onely and none entered in there to pray but pittifull men The Athenians abhorred always seuere and cruell deeds because they would not be noted cruell And thereof commeth this manner of saying that the greatest iniurie they could say vnto a wan was That hee had neuer entred into the Schoole of the Philosophers to learne nor into the Temple of Misericordia to pray So that in the one they noted him for simple and in the other they acused him for cruell The Historiographers say that the most noble linage that was at that time was of a King of Athens the which was exceeding rich and liberall in giuing and aboue all very pittifull in pardoning Of whom it is written that after the great Treasures which he had offred in the temples and the great riches he had distributed to the poore hee tooke vpon him to bring vp all the Orphans in Athens and to feede all the widdowes O how much more did that statute of the sayde pittifull King shine in that Temple who nourished the Orphanes then the Ensignes which are set vp in the Temples of the Captains which had robbed the widows All the auncient Princes I say those that haue beene noble and valiant that haue not had the name of Tyrants though in some thinges they were noted yet they alwayes haue beene praysed esteemed and commended to be mercifull and gentle so that they recompenced the fiercenesse and cruelty which they shew to their enemies with the mercy and clemency which they vsed to the Orphans Plutarch in his Politiques sayeth that the Romanes among themselues ordained that all that which remayned of banquets and feastes which were made at mariages and triumphs should bee giuen to Widdows and orphanes And this custome was brought to so good an order that if any rich man would vse his profite of that which remayned the Orphanes might iustly haue an action of felony against him as a thing robbed from them Aristides the Philosopher in an Oration hee made of the excellency of Rome sayth That the Princes of Persia had this custome neuer to dine nor suppe but first the Trumpets should blow at their gates the which were more loude then harmonius And it was to this end that all the Widdowes and Orphanes shoulde come thither for it was a Law amongst them that all that which was left at the royall tables should bee for the poore and indigent persons Phalaris the Tirant writing to a friend of his sayde these wordes I haue receyued thy briefe Letter with the rebuke likewise which thou gauest me therein more bitter then tedious And admit that for the time it grieued mee yet after I came to my selfe I re ceyued thereby great comfort For in the ende one louing rebuke of his friēds is more worth then a fayned flattery of his enemie Amongst the things whereof thou accusest mee thou sayest that they take mee for agreat tyraunt because I disobey the Gods spoyle the Temples kyll the Priestes pursue the innocents robbe the people and the worst of all that I doe not suffer mee to be entreated nor permit that any man be conuersaunt with mee To that they say I disobey the Gods in very deede they say true For if I did all that the Gods would I should doe I should doe little of that men doe aske mee For as much as they say I robbe the Temples there vnto also I graunt For the immortall Gods doe demaund rather of vs pure hearts then that wee should buylde their Temples For that they say I kill the priests I confesse also that it is true For they are so dissolute that I thinke I doe more seruices to the Gods to put them to death then they doe in doing their Sacrifices while they liue For that they say I robbe the Temples I also confesse it For I defending it as I doe
and so curious to buye that that which hee taketh shall be of great measure and that which hee selleth vs shal want much weight CHAP. XLI ¶ Of a Letter which the Emperour Marcus Aurelius wrote vnto his friend Torquatus to comfort him in his banishment which is notable for all men to learne the vanities of this World MArcus Emperour of Rome companion in the Empire with his Brother Annius Verus to thee Torquatus of the citie of Gaietta wisheth all health to thy person and strength against thy euill Fortunes I beeing in the Temple of the Vestall virgines about three moneth since I receyued a Letter of thine the which was in such sorte that neyther mine eyes for that time could make an ende to read it or since I haue had the heart to answer it For in the incoÌ„nueniences of our friends if we haue no facultie nor might for to remedie it at the least we are bound to bewayle it Thy sorrow maketh me so heauie thy paine doeth trouble mee so much I am so carefull of thy anguish so tormented with thy griefe that if the Gods had giuen power to wofull men to imparte theyr sorrowes as they haue giuen to rich men to imparte their goods by the faith I owe to God I sweare that as I am the greatest of thy Friendes I would bee hee which should take the most parte of thy griefes I know right well and as well as he that hath proued it that asmuch difference as there is betweene the baâ—ke and the tree the marow and the bone the corne and the straw the gold and the drosse the trueth and the dreams so much is there to heare the Trauells of another and to taste his own Notwithstanding comfort thy selfe my friend Torquatus for where the friends bee true the goods and the euills are common betwixt them Oftentimes with my selfe I haue maruelled to what ende or intention the immortall Gods haue giuen Trauell and torments to men since it is in their powers to make vs liue without them I see no other thing why the mishaps ought paciently to bee suffered but because in those wee know who are our faithfull friendes In battell the valiant man is knowne in tempestuous weather the Pylot is known by the Touch-stone the gold is tryed and in aduersitie the true Friende is knowne For my friende doth not enough to make me merrie vnles also he doth take part of my sorrow I haue heard say here and now by thy letter I haue seene how they haue banished thee from Rome and confiscated thy goods and that for pure sorow thou art sicke in thy bed wherof I maruel not that thou art sicke but to be as thou art aliue For saying to thee the Trueth where the heart is sore wounded in shorte space it hath accustomed to yeelde vp vnto the bodie I see well that thou complaynest and thou hast reason to complain to see thy selfe banished from Rome and thy goods confiscate to see thy selfe out of thy countrey without any parentage yet therfore thy sorrowes ought not to be so extreame that thou shouldst put thy life in hazzard For hee alone ought to haue licence and also is bounde to hate life which doeth not remember that hee hath serued the Gods nor hath done any profite to men If the affayres of the Empire did not occupie me and the Emperiall Maiestie did not withdraw me I would immediately haue come to comforte thy person where thou shouldest haue seen by experience with what griefe I feele thy troubles And therefore if thou takest mee for thy friende thou oughtest to belieue of mee that which in this case I would of thee which is that as thou hast been the most entier Friend which I had in Rome So is this the thing that most I haue felt in this life Tell me my friend Torquatus what is it thou sufferest there that I do not lament here It may be that sometime thou laughest but I alwayes weepe sometimes thou comfortest thy selfe but I am alwayes sad It may be that thou lightnest thy paine but I am in sighing It may bee that sometimes thou castest from thee sorrow but for mee I cannot receyue consolation It may bee that thou hopest remedie of long life but for mee I finde no remedie more healthfull then present death Finally I say that here I feele all that thou feelest there and furthermore I suffer all that which as a friend I ought to suffer here so that both our paynes are made one moste cruell sorrowe wherewith my woefull life is tormented I would greatly desire to come and see thee and to help to disburden thee of this charge And since it is vnpossible that thou shalt finde some comfortable wordes For thou knowest that if the true Friendes cannot doe that which they ought yet they doe accomplish it in doing that they can If my memory deceyue me not it is well two and thirty yeares since we two haue known together in Rome during the which Fortune hath made here betweene vs diuers alterations in the which time I neuer saw thee one day contented For if thou were sad nothing did make thee merrie but wert as a man without taste and if thou were ioyfull thou esteemedst it little as a man being troubled Therefore if the trueth be so as indeed it is that in trauells thou were loden with sorrows and in prosperities thou wert euill content so that of nothing in the world thou takest any taste why is it my friend Torquatus that now again thou art in despaire as if thou camest new into this world Thou didst reioyce thy selfe xxxii yeares with the Triumphes and prosperitie of Rome and thou complainest onely of three moneths that Fortune hath been contrary vnto thee O Torquatus Torquatus dost thou knowe that the wise men in whome wisedome raigneth haue more feare of two vnhappie dayes in this life then of two hundreth of prosperous Fortune Oh how many haue I seene go out of their prosperities with the charges of another man and theyr owne proper vices so that the vaine-glory and the fayling prosperities endured fewe dayes but the griefe of that they haue lost and the enmities which they haue recouered endure many yeares The contrary of all this commeth to vnfortunate men which escape out of their tribulations spoyled of vices enuironed with vertues persecutors of euills zealous of good friends of all and enemyes of none contented with theirs and not desiring others Finally they are escaped wisely from the snare and haue gathered the Rose not hurting themselues with the prickes What wilt thou that I say more vnto thee but that the most Fortunate ate vanquished in peace and the vnfortunate are conquerors in warre One of the Sentences which moste haue contented me of those which the Auncients haue spoken is this of the diuine Plato That those which are in prosperity haue no lesse need of good counsell then the vnhappy haue of remedie For
as little for though a Prince haue treasures in aboundance yet if hee want friends hee hath great want of treasures Thou thinkest also my sonne that I leaue thee to bee obeyed of all and that none dare againe say thee Truly it ought not to bee so for it is more meete for the Prince which deserueth to preserue his life and augment his honour to bee conformable to the will of all then to desire that all should bee agreeable to him For thou my sonne that knowest not what truth is lyes will not grieue thee for as much as thou knowest not what rest is the broyles and motions of the people shall not vex thee For that thou knowest not what friends meane thou shalt esteeme it little to haue enemies for if thou wert patient reposed true and a louing man thou wouldest not onely refuse the Empire of Rome but also thou wouldst curse the father which would leaue thee such inheritance I would know if thou knowest it not that in leauing thee the Empire I doe leaue thee not riches but pouerty not rest but trauel not peace but war not friends but enemies not pleasures but displeasures Finally in peace I do leaue thee where alwayes thou shalt haue somwhat to bewayle though thou wouldest thou shalt not laugh I aduertise admonish and also exhort thee my son to think all which I leaue thee is vanity lightnes folly and a disguised mockery And if thou beleeuest it is in mockry henceforth I know thou art deceiued I haue liued longer then thou haue read more and with pain haue gon further then thou And in the end I find my selfe mocked hopest thou to liue surely and escape without fraude when thou shalt think to haue the Empire in rest then shall arise a prouince in Africa or Asia the losse should come to great damage to recouer it great charges wold ensue When thou thinkest to recouer Friends then shall strange enimies inuade thee So that in flattering and reioycing our Friendes wee can not keepe them and in flying and reiecting them wee cannot defend our selues When thou shalt thinke to be in greatest ioy then shall some care oppresse thy hart For Princes which haue and possesse much the newes which giue them pleasure are very seldome but the things which annoy them come hourely When thou shalt thinke to haue libertie to doe what thou wilt then shalt thou bee most restrayned For the good and well ordered Princes ought not to goe whither their wanton desires moueth them but whither it is most lawfull and decent for the honour of their Estates When thou shalt thinke that none dare reproue thee for that thou art Emperour then oughtst thou most to beware For if they dare not threaten euill Princes with wordes they haue the hardinesse to sell them by Treason If they dare not punish them they dare murmour at them and these which cannot bee their friends doe procure to bee their enemies Finally if they lay not hands on their persons they let their tongue runne at large to prate of their renowme When thou shalt thinke to haue satisfied thy Seruaunts then will they demaund recompence for their seruices For it is an olde custome among Courtyers to spend freely and to couet greedily Therefore if thou dost credite these things I knowe not who is so foolish that for his enheritance desireth such sorrow For admit that any man come to the Empire without comparison the rest is more worth which the Fmpyre taketh from him then all the pleasures which it giueth him If the Empyre of Rome were as well corrected and ordered as in olde time it was accustomed to be though it were great paine to gouerne it yet it were more honour to keepe it but it is so rooted in vices and so many Tyrants are entred therein that I would take them more wise to iudge it is a mockery then those which embrace it as an honour If thou knewst what Rome is worth what Rome hath what Rome may and what Rome is I sweare vnto thee that thou wouldest not labour much to be lord thereof For though Rome with walls be strongly compassed yet of vertuous Citizens is greatly vnprouided If the inhabitants be great the vices are without number Finally I say that the stones which are in the buyldings in one day may be counted but the euills which are therein in a thousand yeares cannot bee declared By the faith of a good man I sweare vnto thee my sonne that when I began to reigne in three yeares I repayred the decayed walles that were of Rome fallen and one onely streete to liue well in twenty yeares I could not reforme The diuine Plato sayd verie well That much more ought the great cities to glorifie to haue vertuous Citizens then to haue proud and sumptuous buildings Beware beware my sonne that the inconstancie of youth and the libertie which thou hast to possesse and gouerne the Empire cause thee not to vndo thy selfe For he is not coūted free which in liberty is borne but he that dieth in libertie O how many I haue read heard and also seene which are borne slaues and afterwards haue died free and this for that they were vertuous And how many I haue seene die slaues beeing borne free onely for being vitious so that their libertie remaineth where noblenesse is resident Princes which haue great Realmes of necessitie shall haue occasion to punish many excesses wherfore it is requisite that they be couragious And beleeue mee my Sonne that they ought not to take courage vpon them because they bee mightie and puissant but because they are vertuous For to punish these excesses of others that good life is more requisite then is the great authortitie of the Empire A vertuous Prince ought to leaue no vice vnpunished For the good to follow good and the euill for feare of his correction dare not commit any offence in the Common-wealth He that liueth like a wise man is hardy to giue punishment but hee that liueth in feare dare not almost speake For the man which dare bee so hardie to punish an other for the selfe same faulte and transgression for the which hee deserueth to be punished of the Gods hee is iustly hated and of men despised Let Princes take it for an assured thing that they shall neuer haue the loue of the people the libertie of the Common-wealth the order of their house the contentation of their Friendes the subiection of their enemies and the obedience of their people but with manie Teares shed on the earth and with manie prowesses of his person To a vertuous Prince all doe render and against the vicious Prince all the earth doth rebell Now if thou wilt bee vertuous heare what thing vertue is Vertue is a Castle which neuer is taken a Riuer which is not passed ouer a Sea which is not sayled a Fire which neuer is quenched a Treasure that neuer is wasted an Armie that neuer is
golde in the world I haue liued in the Court manie yeares and at this present I haue forsaken it quite wherefore I dare boldly say that if once a man come to enioy a qui life and reposed rest I am assured he would for euer hate and dislike to be a Courtier longer But like as these senseles Courtiers remember not the Life for to come but onely account of theyr vaine and Courtly Life present reputing that the most blessed and happie of any other So God seeing theyr folly and their fond addicted minde to the vanitie of Court to plague them and scourge them there withall withtheir owne rodde doth great them no other nor better rest then that they onely enioy in Princes Courts and so feedes them with their owne humour And therefore it is very truely sayde That rest and contentation neuer endeth into a 〈◊〉 house O you worthy and Noble Courtiers O you blessed and fauoured Courtiers I will remember you yea and againe remember that you presume not to cut or pull off the winges of Time since you neyther shall haue time nor meane to plucke one feather from him much lesse the least knowledge how to doe it And therefore it is sayde Ill cutteth the knife if the edge bee broken and ill can hee gnaw bones that lacketh his teeth And if hee seeme good vnto you and me also That to day it is Time to gather the fruit of the vine of our youth Let vs go now againe to seeke it about by the meanes of our amendment And if the Pipe or Caske wherein wee shoulde put our Wine bee fusty with the malignity and peruersnesse of our wicked doings Let vs season them with new and better Wine of good and holy desires And now to conclude if to sequester themselues from Court it be a wholesome Counsell for Courtiers much more wholesome and necessarie it is for such as beare sway and reputation about the Prince For other Courtiers doe dayly liue in hope to enlarge theyr countenance and credite and to grow in fauour and authority But these Darlinges and Beloued of Princes are continually afrade to fall and vtterly to bee put out of fauour CHAP. XVII Of the continency of fauoured Courtiers and how they ought to shunne the company and conuersation of vnhonest women and to bee carefull quickly to dispatch all such as sue vnto them TItus Liuius and Plutarch writeth that the Romanes had in such veneration those men that liued chaste and those women also that professed virgins Life that they erected statues of them in the Senate house carrying thē thorough the City in triumphant chariots recommending themselues to their deuout prayers and giuing them great gifts and presents and finally adored them as gods and this was their reason in that they honoured them as gods for that they being of flesh and liuing in flesh did leaue to vse the workes and instinct of the flesh which they helde a thing more diuine then humane Filostratus sayeth that Appoloneus Thianeus was borne without any pain or griefe to his mother in all her travell And that the gods spake to him in his eare that hee raysed the deade to life healed the sicke knew the thoughts of men diuined of things to come how hee was serued with Princes honoured of the people and followed of all the Philosophers yet they did not make so great a wonder of all these things spoken of him as they did for that hee was neuer married and moreouer neuer detected with the knowledge of any woman liuing much lesse suspected Whilest Carthage was enuironed with siege on each side a Virgine of Numidia taken prisoner was presented to Scipio and she was very fayre which Scipio notwithstanding would not onely not deflower but set her at liberty and married her very honourably Which act of his was more apprised of the Roman writers then was his conquest of Numedia the restoring of Rome her liberty the destruction of Carthage the succour and reliefe giuen to Asia and the enobling of his Common wealth For in all these enterprises hee still fought against others but in the effects of the flesh hee fought against himselfe And therefore hee must needes be maruellous wise and of good iudgement that can subdue the desires and motions of the flesh For wee doe as much couet to follow these carnall desires as wee are apt to our meate when wee are hungry Cruell and bitter are the assaultes of the flesh to the spirite and wonderful is the paine the Spirite abideth to resist the motions of the same which by no meanes can be ouercome but by eschewing the occasions thereof As in brideling the desires punishing the flesh liuing with spare dyet increasing learning giuing himselfe to tears and altogether shutting the gates of our desires O if this vice of the flesh came of aboundance of heate or rage of bloud we might soon remedy it with letting our selues bloud If it were any sicknesse of the heart it should be cured by interiour medicines If of the liuer wee would refresh it with ointments If of Melancholy humour wee would wash away al the Opilations If of choler wee would procure easie purges But alas it is a disease so farre from pitty that it misliketh wee should call for Physitians and cannot abide wee should offer it any remedy It cannot bee denyed but that ciuill warre is most grieuous and dangerous in a Common-wealth But much more perillous is that at home betwixt the husband and the wife but most ieoperdious of all is that a man hath within himselfe For wee cannot reckon any other our enemy but our owne desires I remember I saw once written in a Courties house these wordes which truely deserued to bee written in golden Letters and the words were these The dreadefull Warves that I alas sustaine Where blinde desire becomes my mighty foe Against my selfe perforce my selfe doth straine The wreckfull Gods vouchsafe it doe not so Surely hee that wrote this for his word wee thinke hee was no foole nor euill christian sith hee neither sought for money nor by sleight of witte procured to deceiue or beguile neither he called his friendes to helpe him to withstand his enemies but only craued remedy against his vnhonest and vain desires And vndoubtedly he had reason for a man may easily absent himselfe it is an impossible thing And therfore me thinks it is a thing more to be lamented then written to see that a multitude of corporall enemies cannot vanuquish vs and yet notwithstanding when wee are alone and thinke nothing of it this only vice of the flesh dooth not alone make vs stumble but fal downe on the groūd for neither to becom religious a frier nor to dwell in churches nor to be shut vp in cloysters to sequester our selues from the world nor yet to chaunge state and condition For all this I say I see none of al these things helpe vs mortall men to defende vs from this
the Sunne shineth hotest and at the beginning there was found one Woman with one birde called the Phenix which birde was created on the Water and the woman engendered by the great heat of the Sunne and of the powder of trees in this wise There was a tree sore eaten with wormes and vpon a time a blast of Lightning set it on fire and burnt it so as among the ashes of that rotten tree the first woman was made and found Although I bee a Romane Philosopher yet can I not disallow the opinion of the Greeke Philosopher Of a truth ' ye amorous Dames you haue your tongues of the nature of fire and your conditions like the powder of a rotten tree According to the diuersity of Beasts so Nature hath in diuers parts of the body placed their strength as the Eagle in her byll the Vnicorne in the horne the Serpent in the tayle the Bull in the head the Beare in his pawes the horse in the breast the dog in the teeth the Bore in the tuske the Doues in the winges and the women in their tongues For of a truth the flight of their loue is not so high as the fantasie of your foolishnesse is vaine the catte scratcheth not so sore with her nayles as yee doe scratch the foolish men with your importunities The dogge hurteth him not so much that hee runneth after as ye do the sorrowful Louer that serueth you the life of him is not in so much danger that catcheth the Bul by the horns as is the fame of him that falleth into your hands To conclude the Serpent hath not so much poyson in his tayle as ye haue in your tongues I accept the Romane Ladies apart for there are many very noble whose liues are not touched with complaint nor good fames had in suspect Of such neyther my Letter speaketh ought nor my penne writeth but of those women I speake that bee such as all the venemous beasts in the world haue not so much poison in their bodies as one of those haue in their tongues And sith the Gods haue commaunded and our fate doth permit that the life of men cannot passe without women I aduise the youth and beseech the aged I wake the wise and instruct the simple to shunne women of euill name more then the common pestilence Reading the auncient Lawes of Plato I finde written this We command that all women openly defamed bee openly banished the City to the entent that others seeing the sinne punished may abhorre the same for feare to fall in the like paine The same Law sayde further Wee commaund that they pardon a woman for all her faults shee committeth boldly in case yee see amendment likewise in her but wee will that no fault bee pardoned committed by the tong For actuall sinne done is the frailety of nature the tongue onely of malice O diuine Plato Master and measure of all knowledge and science and prince of all philosophers when thou in the golden world madest such Lawes In which time there was such scarcitie of those women which were euill and so great plentie of them that were good In this case what should wee doe now in Rome where there bee so many euill openly and none good in secret Women ought naturally to bee shamefast in their face temperate in their words wise of wit sober in their going honest in their conuersation pittifull in their correction warie in their liuing auoyding companies faithfull in their promises constant in their loue Finally shee that will be counted honest let her not trust to the wisedome of the Worldly-pretended-wise nor commit her Fame vnto the wanton youth Let euery wise woman take heede what hee is that promiseth her ought For after the flames of Venus be set on fire and Cupid shotte his arrowes the Rich offereth all that hee hath and the poore all that hee may The wise man will euer be her friend and the simple-man for euer her seruant The wise man wil lose his life for her and the simple will accept his death for her The old men say they will be friends to their friends and the yong men will say he wil be enemy to theyr enemyes The aged promising to pay her debts the other to reuenge her jniuries Finally the one because to hide their pouerty and the other to publish their beautie leade these fooles losing their liues and bringing their fame to ende I will leaue to speake of the good Women for I minde not to charge them with ought I aske you amorous Ladyes if Plato was amongst you when ye made a play of my life and drewe my picture about Rome No surely for that I see in your acte now I doe suspect that to be true which hath been saide of others for there are fewe in Rome that execute the paines of Platoes Law One thing yee cannot denie if I were the worst of all men at the last ye see the end of my transgressing but this you cannot denie that she which is least euill of all you the naughtines of her life I could not sufficiently set out in my life It is great perill to wise women to be neighboured with fooles it is great perill to the shamefast to bee with the shameles it is great perill to the chast to be with the adulterers great perill it is for the honourable to be with the defamed For there is no slaundered woman but thinketh euery one defamed or at the least is desirous to haue them so procureth to haue them slaundered or saith they bee infamed And in the end to hide their infamie they slaunder all the good It is long sith I knewe you amorous Ladyes and you mee If I speake I speake if you knowe I knowe If yee holde your peace I am still if ye speake openly I will not talke in secrete Thou knowest well Auilina thou diddest compasse the ieast of mee that Eumedes solde Calues deâ—rer in the Butchery then thou diddest innocent Virgines in thy house And thou Toringa knowest well that before mee thou couldest not recount all thy Louers on thy fingers but diddest desire to haue a bushell of peason Thou knowest well Lyuia Fuluia when thou wert thou knowest with whom at Bretus we made agreement with thy husband thou tookest him aside and sayedst Vnles I may lye out of my house one Night in a weeke thou shalt not lie quietly in thy house Thou knowest well Rotoria that in thy youth thou werte two yeares on the Sea and diddest compound with the pirate that no woman shold serue the 100. soldiers but thou alone in a gally Thou knowest right wel Enna Curtia that when the Censor came to take thee hee found v. mens apparrell the which thou warest in the night season and but one womans attire wherewith thou wert clothed in the dayetime Thou knowest well Pesilana Fabricia that Alluines Metelles and thou beeing married demaunded openly what thou haddest gotten in his house with thy friendes in secret Thou