Selected quad for the lemma: conscience_n

Word A	Word B	Word C	Word D	Occurrence	Frequency Band	MI	MI Band	Prominent
conscience_n	duty_n	good_a	note_n	1,053	5	9.6415	5	false

Text snippets containing the quad

ID	Title	Author	Corrected Date of Publication (TCP Date of Publication)	STC	Words	Pages
A68475	Essays vvritten in French by Michael Lord of Montaigne, Knight of the Order of S. Michael, gentleman of the French Kings chamber: done into English, according to the last French edition, by Iohn Florio reader of the Italian tongue vnto the Soueraigne Maiestie of Anna, Queene of England, Scotland, France and Ireland, &c. And one of the gentlemen of hir royall priuie chamber; Essais. English	Montaigne, Michel de, 1533-1592.; Florio, John, 1553?-1625.; Hole, William, d. 1624, engraver.	1613 (1613)	STC 18042; ESTC S111840	1,002,565	644

restore th' old bellowes with their rust A wondrous trust to be in Chronicles related And should with sacrifice as strange be expiated And never was there time or place wherein more assured and great reward was proposed vnto Princes for goodnesse and iustice The first that shall bee advised by these meanes to thrust himselfe into favour and credit I am much deceived if in part of paiment he get not the start of his fellowes Force and violence can doe very much but never all Weesee Merchants countrey-Iustices and Artificers to march cheeke by joll with our Nobilitie in valour and military discipline They performe honourable combates both publike and private They batter and defend Townes and Cities in our present warres A Prince smoothereth his commendation amid this throng Let him shine over others with humanitie with truth loyaltie temperance and above all with iustice markes now adaies rare vnknowen and exiled It is only the peoples will wherewith he may effect what he pleaseth And no other qualities can allure their will so much as they as being the profitablest for them Nihil est tam populare quam bonitas Nothing is so popular as goodnesse is By this proportion I had beene a rare great man As by that of certaine ages past I am now a pigmey and popular man In which it was common if stronger qualities did not concurre withall To see a man temperate in his revenges milde in revenging of offences religious in keeping of his word neither double nor over tractable nor applying his faith to others will or to every occasion I would rather let all affaires goe to wrake than breake my word for their availe For touching this new-found vertue of faining and dissimulation which now is so much in credit I hate it to the death and of all vices I finde none that so much witnesseth demissenesse and basenesse of heart It is a coward and servile humour for a man to disguise and hide himselfe vnder a maske and not dare to shew himselfe as he is Thereby our men addresse themselves to trecherie Being trained to vtter false words they make no conscience to breake them A generous minde ought not to belie his thoughts but make shew of his in most parts There all is good or at least all is humane Aristotle thinkes it an office of magnanimitie to hate and love openly to iudge and speake with all libertie and never though the prise of truth goe on it to make esteeme either of the approbation ot reprobation of others Apollonius said it was for seruants to lie and for freemen to speake truth It is the cheefe and fundamentall part of vertue Shee must be loved for her owne sake He that speaketh truth because hee is bound to doe so and for that hee serveth and that feares not to tell a lie when it little importeth another man is not sufficiently true My mind of her owne complexion detesteth falshood and hateth to think on it I feele an inward bashfulnesse and a stinging remorce if at any time it scape me as sometimes it doth if vnpremeditated occasions surprise me A man must not alwaies say all he knowes for that were follie But what a man speakes ought to be agreeing to his thoughts otherwise it is impietie I know not what benefit they expect that ever faine and so vncessantly dissemble except it be not to bee beleeved even when they speake truly That may deceive men once or twice but to make a profession to cary it away smoothly and as some of our Princes have done to boast that if their shirt were privie to their secret and true cogitations they would burne it which was the saying of ancient Metellus Macedonicus And that he who cannot dissemble cannot raigne serves but only to warne those who have to deale with them that what they say is but vntruth and dissimulation Quo quis versutior callidior est hoc invisior suspectior detract à opinione probitatis The finer-headed and more subtle-brained a man is the more is he hated and suspected if once the opinion of honestly be taken from him It were great simplicity for a man to suffer himselfe to be misled either by the lookes or words of him that outwardly professeth what he is not inwardly as did Tiberius And I know not what share such people may challenge in the commerce of men never producing any thing that may be taken for good paiment Hee who is disloyall to truth is likewise false against lying Such as in our daies in the establishing of a Princes dutie have only considered the good and felicitie of his affaires and preferred the same before the respect of his faith and conscience would say something to a Prince whose affaires fortune hath so disposed that with once breaking and falsifying of his word hee might for ever confirme and establish them But it goeth otherwise A man may more than once come to such a bargaine A man during his life concludeth more than one peace or treatie The commoditie or profit that enviteth them to the first disloyaltie and daily some offer themselves as to all other trecheries sacrileges murders rebellions treasons are vndertaken for some kinde of profit But this first gaine brings ever infinite losses and dangers with it casting this Prince from-out all commerce and meanes of negotiation by the example of this ●●fidelitie Solyman of the Ottomans race a race little regarding the keeping of promises or performance of covenants at what time hee caused his Armie to land at Otranto I being then but a childe having knowen that Mercurin of Gratinara and the inhabitants of Castro were detained prisoners after the Towne was yeelded contrary to that which by his Captaines had beene capitulated with them hee sent word they should be released and that having other weighty enterprises in hand in that countrey such disloyaltie although it had apparance of great and present benefit yet in time to come it would bring a distrust and reproch of infinite prejudice As for mee I had rather be importunate and indiscreet than a flatterer and a dissembler I allow a man may entermingle some point of fiercenesse and wilfulnesse to keepe himselfe so entire and open as I am without consideration of others And mee seemeth I become a little more free where I should be lesse and that by the opposition of respect I grow earnest It may also bee that for want of Art I follow mine owne nature Presenting to the greater sort the very same licence of speech and boldnesse of countenance that I bring from my house I perceive how much it inclineth towards indiscretion and incivilitie But although I be so fashioned my spirit is not sufficiently yeelding to avoid a sudden question or to scape it by some winding nor to dissemble a truth nor have I memorie able to continue it so fained nor assurance sufficient to maintaine it and I play the Braggard through feeblenesse And therefore I apply my selfe

and permission of the Senate with mony purchased their libertie at the hands of L. Sylla The matter comming in question againe the Senate condemned them to bee fineable and taxed as before and the mony they had employed for their ransome should bee deemed as lost and forfetted Ciuill warres doe often produce such enormous examples That we punish priuate men for somuch as they have beleeved vs when wee were other then now wee are And one same magistrate doth laie the penaltie of his change on such as cannot do withall The Schoolemaster whippeth his scholler for his docilitie and the guide streeketh the blind man he leadeth A horrible image of justice Some rules in Philosophie are both false and fainte The example proposed vnto vs of respecting priuate vtilitie before faith giuen hath not sufficient power by the circumstance they adde vnto it Theeves have taken you and on your oath to pay them a certaine sum of money haue set you at libertie againe They erre that say an honest man is quit of his worde and faith without paying beeing out of them handes There is noe such matter What feare and danger hath once forced mee to will and consent vnto I am bound to will and performe boing out of danger and feare And although it have but forced my tongue and not my will yet am I bound to make my worde good and keepe my promise For my part when it hath sometimes vnaduisedly ouer-runne my thought yet haue I made a conscience to disavowe the same Otherwise wee should by degrees come to abolish all the right a third man taketh and may challenge of our promises Quasi verò forti viro vis possit adhiberi As though any force could be vsed vpon a valiant man T' is onely lawfull for our priuate interest to excuse the breache of promise if wee have rashlie promised things in them selves wicked and vnjust For the right of vertue ought to over-rule the right of our bonde I have heretofore placed Fpaminondas in the first ranke of excellent men and now recant it not Vnto what high pitch raised hee the consideration of his particular dutie who never slew man hee had vanquished who for that vnvaluable good of restoring his countrie hir libertie made it a matter of conscience to murther a Tyrant or his complices without a due and formal course of lawe and who judged him a bad man how good a cittizen soever that amongest his enemies and in the furie of a battle spared not his friend or his hoste Loc here a minde of a riche composition Hee matched vnto the most violent and rude actions of men goodnesse and courtesie yea and the most choise and delicate that may bee found in the schoole of Philosophie This so high-raised courage so swelling and so obstinate against sorow death and povertie was it nature or arte made it relent even to the vtmost straine of exceedeng tendernesse and debonaretie of complexion Being cloathed in the dreadfull liuerie of steele and blood hee goeth on crushing and brusing a nation inuincible to all others but to himselfe yet mildely relenteth in the midst of a combat or confusion when hee meets with his host or with his friend Verily this man was deservedly fit to command in warre which in the extremest furie of his innated rage made him to feele the sting of courtesie and remorse of gentlenesse then when all enflamed it foamed with furie and burned with murder T' is a miracle to be able to joine any shew of justice with such actions But it only belongeth to the vnmatched courage of Epaminondas in that confused plight to joine mildnesse and facilitie of the most gentle behaviour that ever was vnto them yea and pure innocencie it selfe And whereas one told the Mamertins that statutes were of no force against armed men another to the Tribune of the people that the time of justice and warre were two a third that the confused noise of warre and clang of armes hindred him from vnderstanding the sober voice of the lawes This man was not so much as empeached from conceiving the milde sound of civilitie and kindnesse Borrowed hee of his enemies the custome of sacrificing to the Muses when hee went to the warres to qualifie by their sweetnesse and mildnesse that martiall furie and hostile surlinesse Let vs not feare after so great a master to hold that some things are vnlawfull even against our fellest enemies that publike interest ought not to challenge all of all against private interest Manente memoria etiam in dissidio publicorum foederum privati iuris Some memorie of private right continuing euen in disagreement of publike contracts nulla potentia vires Praestandi ne quid peccet amicus habet No power hath so great might To make friends still goe right And that all things be not lawfull to an honest man for the service of his King the generall cause and defence of the lawes Non enim patria praestat omnibus officijs ipsi conducit pios habere cives in parentes For our countrey is not above all other duties it is good for the countrey to have her inhabitants vse pietie toward their parents T' is an instruction befitting the times wee need not harden our courages with these plates of iron and steele it sufficeth our shoulders be armed with them it is enough to dippe our pens in inke too much to die them in blood If it be greatnesse of courage and th' effect of a rare and singular vertue to neglect friendship despise private respects and bonds ones word and kindred for the common good and obedience of the Magistrate it is verily able to excuse vs from it if we but allege that it is a greatnesse vnable to lodge in the greatnesse of Epaminondas his courage I abhorre the enraged admonitions of this other vnruly spirit dum tela micant non vos pietatis imago Vlla nec aduersa conspect● fronte parentes Commoveant vult us gladio turbante verendos While swords are brandisht let no shew of grace Once moove you nor your parents face to face But with your swords disturbe their reverend grace Let vs bereave wicked bloodie and traiterous dispositions of this pretext of reason leave wee that impious and exorbitant iustice and adhere vnto more humane imitations Oh what may time and example bring to passe In an encounter of the civill warres against Cinna one of Pompeyes souldiers having vnwittingly slaine his brother who was on the other side through shame and sorrow presently killed himselfe And some yeeres after in another civill warre of the said people a souldier boldly demanded a reward of his Captaines for killing his owne brother Falsly doe wee argue honour and the beautie of an action by it's profit and conclude as ill to thinke every one is bound vnto it and that it is honest if it be commodious Omnia non pariter rerum sunt omnibus apta All things alike to all

poetae confugiunt ad Deum cùm explicare argumenti exitum non p●ssunt As Poets that write Tragedies have recourse to some God when they cannot vnfold the end of their argument Since men by reason of their insufficiencie cannot well pay themselves with good lawfull coyne let them also employ false mony This meane hath beene practised by all the law-givers And there is no common-wealth where there is not some mixture either of ceremonious vanitie or of false opinion which as a restraint serveth to keepe the people in awe and dutie It is therefore that most of them have such fabulous grounds and trifling beginnings and enriched with supernaturall mysteries It is that which hath given credite vnto adulterate and vnlawful religions and hath induced men of vnderstanding to favour and countenance them And therefore did Numa and Sertorius to make their men have a beter beliefe feede them with this foppery the one that the Nimph Egeria the other that his white Hinde brought him all the counsel she tooke from the Gods And the same authoritie which Numa gave his Lawes vnder the title of this Goddesses patronage Zoroastres Law giver to the Bactrians and Persians gave it to his vnder the name of the God Orom●zis Trismegistus of the Aegyptians of Mercurie Zamolzis of the Scithians of Vesta Charondas of the Chalcid onians of Saturne Minos of the Candiots of Iupiter Lycurgus of the Lacedemonians of Apollo Dracon and Solon of the Athenians of Minerva And every common wealth hath a God to her chief all others falsly but that truly which Moses instituted for the people of Iewry desceded from Aegypt The Bedoins religion as saith the Lord of Iovinuile held among other things that his soule which among them al died for his Prince went directly into another more happy body much fairer and stronger than the first by means wherof they much more willingly hazarded their live for his sake In ferrum mens pronavir●● animaque capaces Mortis ignavum est rediturae parcerevitae Those men sword minded can death entertaine Thinke base to spare the life that turnes againe Loe-heere although very vaine a most needefull doctrine and profitable beliefe Everie Nation hath store of such examples in itselfe But this subject would require a severall discourse Yet to say a word more concerning my former purpose I doe not counsell Ladies any longer to call their duty honour vt enim consuetudo loquitur id solum dicitur honestum quod est populari famâ gloriosum For as custome speakes that onely is called honest which is glorious by popular report Their duty is the marke their honour but the barke of it Nor doe I perswade them to give vs this excuse of their refusall in payment for I suppose their intentions their desire and their will which are parts wherein honor can see nothing forasmuch as nothing appeareth outwardly there are vet more ordred then the effects Quae quia non liceat non facit illa facit She doth it though she doe it not Because she may not doe 't God wot The offence both toward God and in conscience would be as great to desire it as to effect the same Besides they are in themselves actions secret and hid it might easily be they would steale some one from others knowledge whence honor dependeth had they no other respect to their duty and affection which they beare vnto chastity in regard of it selfe Each honorable person chuseth rather to loose his honour then to forgoe his conscience The seuenteenth Chapter Of Presumption THere is another kinde of glorie which is an over-good opinion we conceive of our worth It is an inconsiderate affection wherewith wee cherish our selves which presents-vs vnto our selves other then wee are As an amorous passion addeth beauties and lendeth graces to the subject it embraceth and maketh such as are therewith possessed with a troubled conceite and distracted Iudgement to deeme what they love and finde what they affect to bee other and seeme more perfect then in trueth it is Yet would I not have a man for feare of offending in that point to misacknowledge himselfe nor thinke to bee lesse then hee is A true Iudgement should wholy and in every respect maintaine his right It is reason that as in other things so in this subject hee see what truth presenteh vnto him If hee be Caesar let him hardly deeme himselfe the greatest Captaine of the world We are nought but ceremonie ceremonie doth transport vs and wee leave the substance of things wee hold-fast by the boughs and leave the trunke or body We have taught Ladies to blush onely by hearing that named which they nothing feare to doe Wee dare not call our members by their proper names and feare not to employ them in all kinde of dissolutenesse Ceremonie forbids vs by words to expresse lawfull and naturall things and we believe it Reason willeth vs to doe no bad or vnlawfull things and no man giveth credite vnto it Heare I find my selfe entangled in the lawes of Ceremonie for it neither allowes a man to speake ill or good of himselfe Therefore will wee leave her at this time Those whom Fortune whether wee shall name her good or bad hath made to passe their life in some eminent or conspicuous degree may by their publike actions witnesse what they are but those whom she never emploied but in base things and of whom no man shall ever speake except themselves doe it they are excusable if they dare speake of themselves to such as have interest in their acquaintance after the example of Lucilius Ille velut fidis arcana sodalibus olim Credebat libris neque si malè cesser at vsquam Decurre●s ali● neque si benè quo fit vt omnis Votivâ pateat veluti descripta tabellâ Vita s●nis He trusted to his booke as to his trusty friend His secrets nor did he to other refuge bend How ever well or ill with him his fortune went Hence is it all the life is seene the old man spent As it were in a Table noted Which were vnto some God devoted This man committed his actions and imaginations to his paper and as he felt so he pourtraied himselfe Nec id Rutili● Scauro citra fidem aut ob●rectationifuit Nor was that without credit or any imputation to Rutilius or Scaurus I remember then that even from my tenderest infancy some noted in me a kind of I know not what fashion in carrying of my body and gestures witnessing a certaine vaine and foolish fiercenesse This I will first say of it that it is not inconvenient to have conditions so peculiar and propensions so incorporated in vs that we have no meane to feele or way to know them And of such naturall inclinations vnknowne to vs and without our consent the body doth easily retaine some signe or impression It was an affectation witting of his beauty which made Alexander to bend his head

receiued vnder one so many bastinadoes were redoubled vpon the poore Asles backe Id maxime quemque decet quod est cuiusque suum maxime that becomes euery man especially which is his owne especially I will not depriue cousinage of her ranke that were to vnderstand the worlde but ill I know it hath often done profitable seruice it supporteth yea and nourisheth the greatest part of mens vacations There are some lawfull vices as many-actions or good or excusable vnlawfull Iustice in it selfe naturall and vniuerfall is otherwise ordered and more nobly distributed then this other especiall and nationall iustice restrained and suted to the neede of our pollicie Veri iuris germanaeque iustitiae solidam et expressam effigiem nullam tenemus vmbra imaginibus vtimur Wee haue noe liuely nor life-like purtrature of vpright law and naturall iustice wee vse but the shaddowes and colours of them So that wise Dandamys hearing the liues of Socrates Pythagoras and Diogenes repeated in other thinges iudged them great and woorthy men but ouermuch subiected to the reuerence of the lawes which to authorize and second true vertue is to decline very much from his naturall vigor and not onely by their permission but perswasions diuerse vicious actions are committed and take place Ex Senatus consultis plobisque scitis scelera exercentur Euen by decrees of counsell and by statute-lawes are mischiefes put in practise I follow the common phrase which makes a difference betweene profitable and honest things terming some naturall actions which are not onely profitable but necessarie dishonest and filthie But to continue our examples of treason Two which aspired vnto the kingdome of Thrace were falne into controversie for their right The Emperor hindred them from falling together by the eares the one vnder collour of contriving some friendlie accorde by an enterview inuiting the other to a feast in his house emprisoned and murthred him Iustice required that the Romanes should be satisfied for this outrage some difficulties empeached the ordinarie course What they could not lawfully doe without warre and hazard they attempted to accomplish by treason what they coulde not honestlie archieue they profitably compassed For exployting whereof Pomponius Flaccus was thought most fitte who trayning the fellowe into his Nettes by fained wordes and sugred aslurances in liew of the fauour and honour hee promised him sent him bound hand and foote to Rome One traytour ouer-reached another against common custome For they are all full of distrust and t' is very hard to surprize them in their owne arte witnesse the heauie and dismall experience wee have lately felt of it Let who liste bee Pomponius Flaccus and there are too-too many that will bee so As for my parte both my word and faith are as the rest pieces of this common bodie their best effect is the publike seruice that 's ever presupposed with mee But as if one should command mee to take the charge of the Rolles or Recordes of the Pallace I would answere I have noe skill in them or to bee a leader of Pioners I would say I am called to a worthier office Even so who would goe about to employ mee not to murther or poyson but to lye betraye and forsweare my selfe I would tell him If I have robbed or stolne any thing from any man send mee rather to the Gallies For a Gentleman may lawfully speake as did the Lacedemonians defeated by Antipater vpon the points of their agreement You may impose as heauie burdens and harmefull taxes vpon vs as you please but you loose your time to commaund vs any shamefull or dishonest things Euery man should give himselfe the oathe which the Aegyptian Kings solemnlie and vsuallie presented to their judges Not to swarue from their consciences what commaund soever they should receive from themselues to the contrarie In such commissions there is an evident note of ignominie and condemnation And whosoever giues them you accuseth you and if you conceave them right giues you them as a trouble and burthen As much as the publike affaires amend by your endeuours your owne empaireth the better you doe so much the worse doe you And it shall not bee newe nor peraduenture without shadowe of justice that hee who setteth you a worke becommeth your ruine If treason bee in any case excusable it is onely then when t' is employed to punish and betraye treason Wee shall finde many treacheries to haue beene not onely refused but punished by them in whose fauour they were vnder taken Who knowes not the sentence of Fabritius against Pyrrus his Physition And the commaunder hath often severely revenged them on the partic hee employed in them refusing so vnbridled a credite and power and disavowing so lewde and so vile an obedience Iaropelc Duke of Russia sollicited an Hungarian Gentleman to betraye Bol●slaus King of Polonia in contriuing his death or furnishing the Russians with meanes to worke him some notable mischiefe This gallant presently bestirres him in it and more then euer applying himselfe to the Kings seruice obtained to bee of his counsell and of those hee most trusted By which aduantages and with the opportunitie of his maisters absence hee betrayde Vicilicia a great and rich cittie to the Russians which was whollie sackt and burnt by them with a generall slaughter both of the inhabitants of what sexe or age soever and a great number of nobility there abouts whom to that purpose he had assembled Iaropelc his anger thus asswaged with revenge and his rage mitigated which was not without pretext for Bol●slaus had mightily wronged and in like manner incensed him and glutted with the fruite of treason examining the vglinesse thereof naked and alone and with imparciall eyes behoulding the same not distempred by passion conceaved such a remorse and tooke it so to hart that he forthwith caused the eyes of his instrumentall executioner to be pulled out and his tongue and priuie partes to be cut of Antigonus perswaded the Argyraspides soldiers to betray Eumenes their generall and his adversarie vnto him whom when they had deliuered and hee had caused to be slaine himselfe desired to be the Commissarie of diuine justice for the punishment of so detestable a trecherie and resigning them into the hands of the Gouernor of the Prouince gave him expresse charge in what manner soever it were to rid himselfe of them and bring them to some mischieuous end Whereby of that great number they were not one ever after sawe the smoake of Macedon The better they serued hit turne the more wicked hee iudged them and the more worthie of punishment The slave that betraide the corner wherein his maister P. Sulpicius lay hid was set at libertie according to the promise of Syllas proscription But according to the promise of common reason beeing freed hee was throwne head-long from off the Tarpeyan rocke And Clouis King of France in liew of the goldenarmes he had promised the three servants of Cannacre caused them to be hanged

and the onely payment neuer faileth vs. To ground the recompence of vertuous actions vpon the approbation of others is to vndertake a most vncertaine or troubled foundation namely in an age so corrupt and times so ignorant as this is the vulgar peoples good opinion is iniurious Whom trust you in seeing what is commendable God keepe mee from beeing an honest man according to the description I dayly see made of honour each one by himselfe Quae fuerant vitia mores sunt What earst were vices are now growne fashious Some of my friendes have sometimes attempted to schoole me roundly and sift mee plainely either of their owne motion or envited by me as to an office which to a well composed minde both in profit and lovingnesse exceedeth all the duties of sincere amity Such have I euer entertained with open armes of curtesie and kinde acknowledgement But now to speake from my conscience I often found so much false measure in their reproches and praises that I had not greatly erred if I had rather erred then done well after their fashion Such as wee especially who live a private life not exposed to any gaze but our owne ought in our hartes establish a touchstone and thereto touch our deedes and try our actions and accordingly now cherish and now chastise our selues I haue my owne lawes and tribunall to iudge of mee whether I adresse my selfe more then any where els I restraine my actions according to other but extend them according to my selfe None but your self knowes rightly whether you be demisse and cruel or loyall and deuout Others see you not but ghesse you by vncertaine coniectures They see not so much your nature as your arte Adhere not then to their opinion but hold vnto your owne Tuo tibi iudicio est vtendum Virtutis viciorum graue ipsius conscientiae pondus est qua sublata iacent omnia You must vse your owne iudgement The weight of the very conscience of vice and vertues is heauy take that away and all is downe But where as it is said that repentance nearely followeth sinne seemeth not to emplye sinne placed in his rich aray which lodgeth in vs as in his proper mansion One may disavowe and disclaime vices that surprise vs and whereto our passions transport vs but those which by long habite are rooted in a strong and ankred in a powerfull will are not subiect to contradiction Repentance is but a denying of our will and an opposition of our fantasies which diuerts vs here and there It makes some disauow his former vertue and continencie Quae mens est hodie cur eadem non puero fuit Vel cur his animis incolumes non redeunt genae Why was not in a youth same minde as now Or why beares not this minde a youthfull brow That is an exquisite life which euen in his owne priuate keepeth it selfe in awe and order Euery one may play the jugler and represent an honest man vpon the stage but within and in bosome where all thinges are lawfull where all is concealed to keepe a due rule or formall decorum that 's the point The next degree is to bee so in ones owne home and in his ordinary actions whereof we are to giue accoumpt to no body wherin is no study nor arte And therefore Bias describing the perfect state of a family whereof saith hee the maister be such inwardly by himselfe as hee is outwardly for feare of the lawes and respect of mens speaches And it was a worthy saying of Iulius Drusus to those worke-men which for three thousande crownes offered so to reforme his house that his neighbours should no more ouer looke into it I will giue you sixe thousand said hee and contriue it so that on all sides euery man may looke into it The custome of Agesilaus is remembred with honour who in his trauaile was wont to take vp his lodging in churches that the people and Gods themselues might pry into his priuate actions Some haue beene admirable to the world in whom nor his wife nor his seruant euer noted any thing remarkeable Few men haue beene admired of their familiars No man hath beene a Prophet not onely in his house but in his owne country saith the experience of histories Euen so in things of nought And in this base example is the image of greatnesse discerned In my climate of Gascoigne they deeme it a iest to see mee in print The further the knowledge which is taken of mee is from my home of so much more woorth am I. In Guienne I pay Printers in other places they pay mee Vpon this accident they ground who liuing and present keepe close-lurking to purchase credit when they shall be dead and absent I had rather haue lesse And I cast not my selfe into the world but for the portion I draw from it That done I quit it The people attend on such a man with wonderment from a publike act vnto his owne doores together with his roabes hee leaues-of his part falling so much the lower by how much higher hee was mounted View him within thereall is turbulent disordered and vile And were order and formality found in him a liuely impartiall and well sorted iudgement is required to perceiue and fully to discerne him in these base and priuate actions Considering that order is but a dumpish and drowsie vertue To gaine a Battaile perfourme an Ambassage and gouerne a people are noble and woorthy actions to chide laugh sell pay loue hate and mildely and iustly to conuerse both with his owne and with himselfe not to relent and not gaine-say himselfe are thinges more rare more difficult and lesse remarkeable Retired liues sustaine that way what euer som say offices as much more crabbed and extended then other liues doe And priuate men saith Aristotle serue vertue more hardly and more highly attend her then those which are magistrates or placed in authority Wee prepare our selues vnto eminent occasions more for glory then for conscience The nearest way to come vnto glory were to doe that for conscience which wee doe for glory And me seemeth the vertue of Alexander representeth much lesse vigor in her large Theater then that of Socrates in his base and obscure excercitation I easily conceiue Socrates in the roome of Alexander Alexander in that of Socrates I cannot If any aske the one what hee can doe hee will answere Conquer the world let the same question bee demaunded of the other he will say leade my life conformably to it 's naturall condition A science much more generous more important and more lawfull The woorth of the minde consisteth not in going high but in marching orderly Her greatnesse is not excercised in greatnesse in mediocritye it is As those which iudge and touch vs inwardely make no great accoumpt of the brightnesse of our publique actions and see they are but streakes and poyntes of cleare Water surging from a bottome otherwise slimie and full of mud So