Alas I am now an agâ—d wyght Reason Lament not for it thou hast fulfilled an hard charge thou hast passed through a rough and ragged iourney and finished an vnpleasant Comedie And therefore now after the maner of such actions thou shouldest clap thy handes and crie plaudite Sorowe I am an olde man. Reason Hast thou forgotten how that of late dayes one that was very familiar with thee expressed the effect hereof ex tempore not as a new saying but as comparable vnto any in tymes past For when a certaine freende of his sayde vnto hym I am sory for thee for I perceiue thou waxest olde I woulde thou were in as good estate as when I knewe thee fyrst he answered suddenly Seeme I not vnto thee foolysh enough but that thou must wysh me more foole then I am Take no care for me I pray thee for that I am olde but rather be sorie for me that euer I was young O how much vnderstanding is there conteined in this short answere whiche none can conceiue but he that hath tasteth the commodities of this age and remembreth the miseries of the other Reioyce therefore in thine owne felicitie although it be also true that often tymes good hapneth vnto men against their wylles and euyll vnwished for Doubtlesse vnto a good man that loueth veriue hateth fond affections one whole day of this age which thou mislikest of is more acceptable then an whole yeere of retchlesse youth Sorow Alas I am aged Reason If thou continue in this mind it may be truly sayd of thee which is verified of the common people that thou art not so much wretched now thou art old as that thou liuedst miserable that so fondly thou complaynest thereof now at the very ende of thy life Leaue of your complaints now at length you whining generation and willingly yeelde to the necessitie of nature since there is nothing to be lamented that her immoueable lawe hath determined For what is more natural for a man that is borne then to lyue vntyl he be old and when he is olde to dye But you being forgetfull of your estate doo eschew them both and yet of necessitie you must taste of the one or of the both And yf ye woulde escape them both then must you haue abstained from the third and beleeue me not haue ben borne at all As soone as your bodyes are growen into yeeres let your mindes waxe olde also and let not the old Prouerbe be euermore verified in you to wit That one minde is able to consume many bodyes Suffer without grudging your body and your mind to continue together to the ende as they came in so let them depart out of the worlde together and when the one draweth forwarde let not the other drawe backwarde Your dallying is but in vayne you must needes depart and not tarrie heere and returne no more whiche may seeme vnto you but a small matter in consideration of the immortalitie of your soules and resurrection of your bodyes whiche you looke for aboue suche as eyther looke for but the one or for neyther In vayne I say ye stryue agaynst the streame and goe about to shake of the yoake of mans frayltie whiche ye vndertooke when ye were borne Sorowe I am olde and the strength of my body is decayed Reason If the force of thy minde be encreased it is well and thou hast made a good exchange For there is no man ignorant vnlesse he lacke a minde that greater better exploites may be atchieued by the strength of the minde then of the body But yf the strength of the minde as oftentymes it hapneth be deminished through slouthfulnesse then hast thou I confesse lyued vnprofitably whiche is thine owne fault and not thine ages Sorowe I am olde and I cannot follow my businesse Reason Yf there be any thing to be done by the minde by so muche the better an olde man may doo it by howe muche he hath the more experience and knowledge in thynges and is lesse subiect to passions and his minde more free from all mischiefes and imperfections as for other matters olde men can not deale in them neyther becommeth it them to busie them selues that way who haue alredie layd all bodyly labour asyde But yf they continue in it and wyl not be withdrawen then doo they renue the auncient rid culus example of a Romane olde man who beyng commaunded by the Prince to surceasse from labour for that his impotent olde age at the one syde and his great ryches on the other requyred the same he was as heauie and sorowfull as yf he had mourned for some freende that was dead and caused all his housholde semblably to mourne A strange old man that abhorred rest as a certaine resemblance of death when as in deede there is nothyng more conuenient for an olde man then rest and nothyng more vnseemely then a labouryng and carkyng olde man whose lyfe ought to be a patterne of all quietnesse and tranquilitie Thou mayest learne moreouer of the Philosophers what and howe pleasaunt a thyng it is for vertuous olde men to lyue as they tearme it in the course of theyr forepassed lyfe whiche notwithstandyng the greatest number neuer accomplisheâ—h but dyeth before Sorowe My yeeres are quickly gone and I am become old Reason Your beautie health swiftnesse strength yea all that euer ye haue passeth away but vertue remayneth neuer geuyng place to olde age nor death In this most assured good ye ought at the beginning to haue stayed your selues whiche at the ende to doo I confesse is more difficult but there is no age that refuseth the studie of vertue whiche the harder it is so muche the more it is glorious Many haue scarce learnâ—d of long tyme in their olde age to be wyse and knowe them selues and yet better late then neuer whiche although it be but smally profitable now at the last cast of the lyfe and at the very poynt of death yet doo I iudge it well bestowed vppon that one houre to be passed without horrour and fearefulnesse yf so be it were not exerc sed in all the whole lyfe tyme before For neyther was he borne in vayne that dyeth wel nor liued vnprofitably that ended his lyfe blessedly Sorowe I am olde and at deathes doore Reason Death is at hand alike vnto all men and manie tymes nearest there where he seemeth furthest of There is none so young but he may dye to day none so olde but he may lyue another yeere yf nothing els happen vnto him but old age Sorowe I am throughly olde Reason Thou art rather throughly rype If Apples coulde feele and speake woulde they complayne of theyr ripenesse or rather woulde they not reioyce that they are come to the perfection for whiche they were made As in al other thinges so likewise in age there is a certayne ripenesse whiche is tearmed olde age the same that thou mayest see truely to be so the age and death of
seconde for that it is more tollerable to excuse an errour then to commende it But I reiecte them both because as for to answere when a man is called to obey with reuerence is prayse woorthie euen so without licence of the General to depart from the watch keeping of the body is to be counted hygh treason woorthie to be punished eyther with cruel banishment or with extreame torment Of purpose I repeate some thynges againe and agayne to the ende they may take the deeper roote for all these matters as I suppose are sufficiently discoursed in our communication going immediatly before Sorowe I dye Reason Rather thou payest tribute of thy fleshe and yeeldest thy duetie vnto Nature and anon thou shalt be a free man and therefore doo that willingly which of force thou art constrayned to doo and as one that is a verie good exhorter vnto death sayth Haue a desire to doo that which thou must needes doo There is no counsayle more profitable yea there is none other counsayle at all in tyme of necessitie Whatsoeuer a man doeth wyllyngly is made the more easie and tollerable and yf a wyll be adioyned it surceasseth longer to be a necessitie Sorowe Loe I dye Reason Loe the Lorde tarrieth for thee Make hast vnto hym doo neyther stumble nor stay lay away all dread suspition thou art not more deere to thy selfe then thou art to him and who wyl distrust when he is called by his freende and louer Perhappes hereafter thou wylt merueyle why thou fearest that whiche rather thou oughtest to haue wyshed for Now when thou art at libertie thou shalt knowe many thynges which when thou wast in prison thou couldest learne by no studie Insomuche that vnto them that are desirous to knowe the secretes and misteries of thynges whereunto your eyesyght can not pearce by meanes of the mortall vayle wherewith you are compassed round about for such verily is the naturall desyre of man but woorking most feruently in the studious and learned sort there is nothing as I iudge better then death nor that bryngeth a man more compendiously vnto his wyshed purpose Sorowe I dye Reason Nay rather thou sleepest and beyng wearie of this lyfe as I suppose thou takest now thy rest Sorow I dye Reason Depart into euerlasting rest for now thou beginnest to lyue A good death is the beginning of lyfe Of Death before a mans tyme The Cxx. Dialogue SOROWE BUT what sayest thou vnto it that I dye before my tyme Reason None dyeth before his tyme but all haue not one tyme limitted them alyke but rather as the noble Poet writeth Eche mans day stands prefixt vnto which when he is come then hath he attayned to the ende And because men can neither returne agayne nor stay where they are they must needes passe away Sorow I dye before my time Reason That myght be true yf thou dyddest owe a death agaynst a certayne day but the good and pure detter oweth it euery day and therefore let hym looke euery day for his creditours callyng vpon hym and alwayes haue that in a redinesse which he oweth For he is continually in det as long as he hath a mortal bodye he neede not to borowe nor to take vpon vsurie he hath that at home whiche he must pay Yea whyther so euer he goeth he carrieth with hym and hath that as it were in his hande wherwith to discharge hym selfe whiche when he hath payde he is then no longer indetted to Nature nor to any of the heauenly bodyes as the Poet Virgil sayeth Therefore leaue of this complaynte that can not be required before the day which is due euery day but rather geue thankes for that for the payment of this det thou needest neyther intreating nor yet to haue great riches of thine owne nor pawne nor vsurie which were the last woordes that euer that valiant vnknowen Spartane is reported to haue spoken most woorthie in deede to haue been knowen euen at that time when he was led to execution wherevnto he went without feare and couragiously by the losse of his lyfe to satisfie Lycurgus lawes Sorowe I dye before my tyme. Reason I vnderstand not what it is to dye before your time vnlesse it be ment as the common speech is before it be lyght or before the day breake which is a time most fit for the exercises of the minde soule which now thou art geuing ouer But in any other signification who is he that dyeth before his time when as in deede that is euery mans day wherein he dyeth and none other Sorowe I dye before my tyme. Reason Neyther before thy tyme nor after thy tyme but euen in thy very tyme shalt thou dye vnlesse thou take that for thy tyme which thou thy selfe not Nature nor Fortune hath prescribed But in trueth as thou canst not dye before thy tyme so canst thou not lyue after it Sorowe I dye before my tyme. Reason Who is he vnlesse he were madde that wyll complayne that he is loosed from his fetters and discharged out of prison before his tyme Truely he had more cause to reioyce in mine opinion yf this hapned sooner then his expectation but certaynely it hapneth not nor it can not happen so for euery thyng hath it owne tyme This was the appoynted tyme of thyne ende there dyd he constitute thy boundes who brought thee into the race of this lyfe If thou complayne of this ende thou mayest lykewyse as well complayne of any other Sorowe I dye soone Reason Thou wast soone borne he dyeth not soone that hath lyued tyll he is olde And yf thou haddest not lyued vntyll thou wast olde then remayned there another part of complaint Howbeit yf olde age be the last portion of a mans lyfe he must needes be fyrst olde whosoeuer dyeth But when I speake of olde age I meane it as the common people vsually take it for an heapyng vp of many yeeres together whiche not as other ages hath no ende but death onely Concernyng the beginnyng whereof there is great varietie of opinions but in consideration of the strength of those that growe olde and in respect of their bodyly health and the abilitie of their mindes easie enough to be reconciled To be short this is the conclusion of all that eyther thou surceasse to fynde fault with the hastinesse of death or to mislyke the troubles of a long lyfe whiche come by the deferryng of death But you beyng at contention within your selues are neyther willing to dye nor to waxe olde when as ye must needes doo both of them or at the leastwyse one of them Sorowe I myght haue lyued longer Reason Nay truely thou couldest not for yf thou myghtest verily thou haddest lyued longer but thou wouldest say I woulde fayne or I hoped to haue lyued longer for the mindes of mortall men are so desirous of lyfe and so readie to hope that in eyther I easily agree with thee But if thou wylt say I shoulde or
ought to haue lyued longer for that perhappes thou seest some that haue lyued longer in deede as though of duetie thou myghtest claime longer continuance also I can not yeelde vnto thee For some dye late and many moe soone but none at all that dye neuer betweene these there is no meane appoynted but all men are generally subiect vnto one lawe and all owe obeysaunce to the soueraingtie of death albeit some are taken away by one meanes and some by another and that at diuerse tymes and ages thus of one thyng there are manyfolde meanes and sundrie tymes And therefore let euery one with indifferencie attende his owne kinde of death and dying day and not through the greedinesse or lothsomnesse of lyfe doo as the vnskylfull and ingratefull sort are woont complayne and be disquieted about the lawes of Nature Sorowe I haue lyued but a smal time Reason There was neuer any lyued so long that thought not that he lyued but a small tyme and truely it is but a short tyme in deede that men lyue heere And therefore yf ye be desirous to lyue long seeke after that lyfe wherein ye may lyue for euer which although it be not heere yet is it purchased heere Sorowe I haue lyued but a short tyme. Reason Admit thou haddest lyued longer haddest thou then lyued any more then a short tyme The tearmes of this lyfe are vnequall and vncertaine but this one thyng is common to them all that they be al short Put case a man haue lyued eyghtie yeeres what hath he more I pray thee then he that hath liued but eyght yeeres Examme thy selfe diligently and looke into thine owne estate and let not the madnesse of the common multitude deceiue thee what more I say hath he that hath lyued longer vnlesse perhappes ye account cares and troubles paynes and sorowes weerisomnesse for a vantage Or what more should he haue yf he lyued eyght hundred yeeres There is somewhat more in deede I confesse in hope and expectation but when both tymes are expited beleeue mee thou shalt fynde nothyng whereby thou mightest make account that thou hast lyued more happily Sorowe I dye when as I thought to haue done good Reason What dydst thou thinke to haue done somethyng which thou hast not done So perhappes thou wouldest alwayes haue thought haddest thou liued neuer so long There be some that alwayes thinke to doo well but they neuer begin But yf thou haue begun once to doo well doubt not to goe forward although death preuent thy woorke before it be brought to a wished ende which although peraduenture in the blinde iudgement of men it may seeme to be some preiudice vnto thee neuerthelesse it is to be despised for that in the syght of the vnfallible surueyer of all thynges thou loosest nothyng but thy reward shal be full and whole as well of thy deedes as of thy thoughtes Sorowe In the middes of all my preparation I dye Reason This fault is not in death but in them that dye who then begyn to weaue the most short web of their lyfe when it is a cutting of which vnlesse it were so men should not so often be preuented by death not hauing fyrst accomplished the dueties of lyfe but rather when they had fulfylled and accomplished them woulde then begin to liue than which truely there were no lyfe more sweete Which sweetenesse notwithstanding not so much the shortnesse of lyfe as the slouthfulnesse of them that lyue taketh away from men who therefore count no lyfe long because how long soeuer the tyme be they neuer lyue but are euermore about to lyue And when they be once come to be olde men wauering among newe deuices how to lyue with a swift ende they preuent their slow beginning Sorowe I dye euen whyle I am preparing great matters Reason This hapned vnto many greatmen and almost to all Men are deceyued in many thinges specially in death which there is none but knoweth that it wyll come but they hope of the deferring of it and imagine that to be farre of which God knoweth is hard by them which both the shortnesse of lyfe and swyftnesse of tyme and the power of fortune and the varietie of humane chaunces wherewith they are beset round about needily constrayneth to be so And O most woonderfull blindnesse for that what ye ought to hope of your selues at leastwyse ye learne at length by others But thus the case standeth your mindes hardly can enter into bitter cogitations and therefore while euery one promiseth him selfe very long lyfe and either the age of Nestor or as Cicero sayth the fortune of Metellus and finally whyle euery one supposeth him selfe to be dame Natures whyte sonne whyle they be busie about the beginning the end commeth vpon them and while they are in consultation of many thinges death setteth vpon them at vnwares and cutteth them of in the middes of their endeuours Sorowe I dye in my greene age Reason If there be none other commoditie herein at leastwise there is prouision made hereby that thou shalt not languish in thine old yeeres For although that old age be not greeuous as Lelius sayth in Cicero and we also haue disputed before neuerthelesse it taketh away that greenesse wherein he sayth that Scipio flourished at that time and thou likewise reportest now the like of thy selfe Hereafter perhaps many shal wish for thee but none shal be weery of thee which thing in a long life although it be gouerned by vertue is an hard matter to be found Sorowe I die a young man. Reason Thou knowest what thou hast suffred alredy in thy life time but what thou were like to suffer hereafter thou knowest not and beleeue me whoso in this so variable and rough kingdome of Fortune dyeth first deceiueth his companion Sorow I am hyndered by death so that I can not ende the thynges that I beganne Reason And tustly in deede For ye be euermore a dooyng the thynges that ye ought to haue doone and yet there is nothyng finished this is the cheefest thyng that maketh your death greeuous and miserable vnto you but yf the thynges that thou begannest were suche that without any negligence in thee thou couldest not finishe them it suffiseth thee that thou hadest a good wylt hervnto But if through slouthfulnes thou hast put them of from time to time let it displease thee that thou hast neglected them If this peraduenture be the pretended cause of thy lamentation yet in trueth there is nothyng but a vayne lengthening of lyfe and a deferryng of death wyshed for thereby although it wyll not be long but at length though late thou wylt be ashamed of this vulgare wyshe But O ye mortall men how greedie soeuer ye be of lyfe hearken vnto mee I demaunde of you the exercise of Vertue beyng layde asyde what is this lyfe other then a slack and vnprofitable tariance which how long so euer it is can not be other then very short Wherefore I
also hope for thyne One of you must needes be deceyued How many olde men may there be found that looke for the death of young men And truely there is none so olde but he may lyue one yeere longer and none so young but he may dye to day Hope I hope for the inheritaunce of a chyldlesse olde man. Reason Thy sonne may better hope for it A more likely hope hath deceyued a younger Hope The inheritaunce of a childlesse olde man shal fal vnto me Reason How knowest thou whether thyne shall fall vnto hym Claudius succeeded Caius and Galba Nero and Nerua Domitian and Pertinax Commodus and the lyfe of a man is ful of suche successions Hope I tarie for the inheritaunce of a childlesse olde man. Reason Whom cannot he deceyue of them that are willing to be deceyned that hath deceiued him whom he woulde not willingly haue deceiued Whom may not he suruine that hath suruiued his owne sonne Hope A childlesse olde man hath alredy in writing appoynted me his heyre Reason Hath he engrauen it in tables of Diamond from whence thou canst not be blotted out Dooest thou not knowe vpon howe light occasions olde men do alter their wylles Many haue mislyked of that at the very ende of theyr lyues whiche before they lyked well of all theyr lyfe tyme. Hope A chyldlesse olde man wyll haue me be his heyre Reason But it may chaunce that hereafter he wyl not For there is nothyng that a riche chyldlesse olde man taketh in worse part then to see his goodes loued and him selfe not regarded for then al is marred Hope I am promised the inheritaunce of a chyldlesse olde man. Reason I could wyshe there were that vpryghtnesse and trust in men that they would neuer promise any thyng but that whiche is honest and would also perfourme that which they haue promised But now there is neither measure in promising nor regarde of breache of promise whiche men thynke they may most lawfully doo in inheritaunce and bestowyng possessions And for this cause the lawes call the willes of Testatours whyle they lyue walkyng Wylles I wyll not trouble thee with examples the thyng is well knowen Thou hast read I take it vnto whom in hath hapned that not only they were promised the inheritaunce of the lyuyng but also receyued kysses and ringes and the last embracinges of the partie whiche lay a dying whiche vnto them was an vndoubted token of succession when as in the meane whyle there were other heyres appoynted and no mention at all made of them in the Wyll thus bolde is vnfaythfulnesse euen in the middes of death Doest thou thynke then that thou art free from the deceites of them that are alyue when as thou readest in what sort great and noble personagies haue been deluoed by the craftes of them that haue lyen a dying And not to stay vpon many The most honourable Gentleman Lucius Lucullus suffered some tyme this kynde of mocke and reproche and also a greater state then he was Augustus the Emperour An horrible and most strange delyght in deceyuyng which wyll not forsake the miserable and wretched soules no not in the very poynt of death but this is your maner and thou reposest thy trust vpon a promised inheritaunce whereof thou mayest be disappoynted both by the longer lyfe and shorter fayth of the testatour although yf these doo thee no harme he may haue most iust cause to change his purpose to wit an heyre of his owne and young issue borne to an old man For Cato begate a chylde when he was aboue fourescore yeeres old and Masinissa when he was more neere to ninetie The lyke also happeneth now adayes vnto your olde men who I woulde they were as lyke vnto those anncient fathers in strength of mynde as they are to force of engendryng whiche beyng so truely the lawfull heyre hyndreth the intruder and cutteth of his foolyshe hope Hope I am named Heyre in an olde mans Testament Reason But perhappes he is yet lyuyng and lyke to lyue As for the Testamentes and Wylles they are made in the lyfe time and confirmed in the death thou thynkest vpon the Carcas and Buriall and Wolfe may be weeried with expectation and hunger Hope An Inheritaunce shall come directly vnto mee Reason As the Testatour so also is the inheritaunce subiect to casualties that a man can not alwayes haue that heyre whiche he woulde and an inheritaunce many tymes is nothyng but a vayne name yea sundrie tymes a small inheritaunce is very deerely bought when a man maketh hym selfe seruiceable and subiect to a tatter olde foole and vseth flattering wordes vnmeete for a man Surely there is no commoditie to be compared with the losse of honestie and that whiche is decent Hope The Inheritaunce shall fall vnto me without contradiction of Lawe or Fortune Reason Whereby knowest thou that seeyng that saying of the most auntient and wyse Father Marcus Cato is true I haue heard oftentymes sayth he that many thynges may happen betweene the mouth and the morsell But admitie nothyng happen betweene but that thyne expected inheritaunce fall vnto thee it wyll not tarrie with thee but departe from thee to others Worldly goodes are roullyng and money men say is of purpose made rounde that it may alwayes be runnyng Thou hast gotten an inheritaunce for thy successour thou beyng perhappes sadde for hym that wyll reioyce thou beyng carefull for hym that is negligent and looke howe thou hast hoped of another so wyll other hope of thee Of Alchimie The Cxi Dialogue HOPE I Hope for good successe in Alchimie Reason It is strange thou should est hope for that which neuer hapned effectually to thy selfe nor to any man els yf report go that it euer hapned to any man that report was made by suche as it was expedient to beleeue them Hope I hope for good successe in Alchimie Reason What successe meanest thou other then smoke ashes sweate sighes woordes deceit and shame These are the successes of Alchimie wherely we neuer sawe any poore man aduaunced to ritches but many ryche men fall into pouertie And yet ye haue no regarde hereof so sweete a thyng it is to hope and be deceyued wherevnto ye be pricked foorth by couetousnesse and dryuen headlong through madnesse that ye thinke that to be true whiche you hope for and false whiche you see Thou hast seene some that in other matters are wyse yet in this behalfe to be madde and some very ryche men vtterly consumed with this vanitie and whyle they couet to become rycher and gape after filthie lucre to consume theyr wel gotten goodes and hauyng spent all theyr reuenue in vnprofitable expences at length to haue wanted verie necessaries and other some forsakyng the Citie wherein they dwelt haue passed foorth the residue of theyr lyues in sorowe and heauinesse beyng able to thynke vpon nothyng els but Bellowes Tongues and Coales and beyng able to abyde to keepe companie with none but of theyr owne disposition
not what it is to leese a father vnlesse thou haddest had a sonne Of the losse of a mother The xlvii Dialogue SOROWE I Haue lost my mother Reason Thou hast yet another mother whom thou canst not leese if thou wouldest from the first thou camest and vnto this thou shalt returne The first gaue thee houséromth the space of a few monethes the other shal giue thee lodging the space of many yeeres The one of these gaue thee thy body the other shal take it away Sorowe My most milde mother is dead Reason But a most hard mother remayneth who wyl keepe thee and thy mother whom thou bewailest in one besome in whose wombe she shal rest with thee and as we beleeue bryng you both foorth agayne at the last day Sorowe My good mother hath forsaken me Reason She made hast fearyng to be forsaken and likely it is that her death was acceptable vnto her because she would not see thine prouiding for her securitie in that whiche alwayes she most feared Sorowe My good mother is dead Reason She is happily dead thou being a lyue whiche beyng otherwyse such are the affections of women she would haue died in sorowful lamentation Sorowe My mother is dead Reason Shee must haue died and thou also neyther canst thou complaine of death nor of the order therof Of the losse of a sonne The xlviii Dialogue SOROW. BUt I haue lost my sonne Reason Say rather and better I haue sent hym before me for thou shalt folowe hym quickely and perhappes to day and howe know we whether this same houre There is no trust in lyfe since there is so great certentie in death shalt folowe hym sayde I Nay rather thou doest folowe hym I woulde haue sayde for thou folowest hym continually it is not permitted vnto a man at any tyme to stay his course in this lyfe but euermore he steppeth foorth one step vnto death a strange matter to be spoken whether he be bound or at libertie sicke or whole walkyng or sitting awake or sleepyng he is caryed foorth toward his ende much after the manner of them that sayle in a shyp or sitte and ride in a wagon and are carried foorth a pace Sorowe I am greeued with the lacke of my sonne whom I haue lost Reason Qiuet thy minde for thou shalt finde hym whom thou desirest ere it be long not to be able to suffer the want of a short tyme is the part of a childe or a woman for vnto a man there is no short thing difficult Thou knowest I thinke by what woordes Socrates in Plato and Cato and Lelius in Cicero do comfort suche desires and wantes Although men surpasse in vertue and glory yet in this hope do some farre surpasse other Thou knowest moreouer of what minde Paulus Emilius Cato hym selfe Pericles and Zenophon that was scholer vnto Socrates and scholefelowe with Plato and his equal and other innumerable were for the death of their chyldren neyther art thou ignorant howe he that was both a prophet and a king wept for his chylde whyle it was sicke but not when it was dead thinkyng that to lament and weepe for thinges vnrecouerable is rather a poynt of vayne madnesse then of true affection Among the number of whiche manly examples the Spartane woman shuffeleth her selfe whose name is not set downe by wryters nor her saying semblably commended who hearyng that her sonne was slayne in battayle therfore sayd she did I beare hym that he shoulde not be afrayd to dye for his countrey The vertue of Linia and the elder Cornelia is nothyng inferiour vnto this but their names muche more famous of whom the first layde downe her mournyng so soone as her sonne of most honourable byrth and that was lyke to haue aspired vnto the hyghest degree of Empire was once layd into the ground but neuer left of the remembrance of hym The other hauing lost many chyldren yea al that she had whereof some she behelde slayne by the people and lying abrode vnburyed when as other women accordyng to the manner of that sexe rued her state and pitifully weepyng bewaled her woful case she answeared that she was not infortunate but happie for that she had borne such sonnes A woorthy woman that was not surprised with the present miserie but counted her selfe happie for that whiche was past who contrary to the common opinion and custome of them that are in miserie comforted herselfe with her forepassed felicitie and the remembrance of her prosperitie wherin shee had somtime liued and tooke it indifferently although she had then lost it for that cause only was woorthie to haue bad good children Now she being a woman remained wholy not once touched with the greeuous and sharp woundes of fortune and thou beeyng a man art ouerthrowne by one only doest thou lament so childishly Sorow I haue lost my sonne Reason If he were a duetiful sonne there is no cause to feare his estate for he is well But yf he were wicked thou art rydde of one that counted vpon thy death and encreased the infirmities of thine olde age Sorowe I haue lost my sonne Reason If he were vertuous reioyce that thou haddest hym but yf he were vnthryfty be glad that thou hast lost hym and in eyther case acknowledge the benefite of nature eyther for geuing thee suche a one or for takyng hym a way Sorowe Death hath taken away my sonne before his tyme. Reason That is not done before due tyme whiche may be done at al tymes Death hath directe entrances into al ages but into youth innumerable Sorowe I haue remayned without a sonne Reason And without trouble and feare Now hast thou none for whose cause thou shalt spend the nyghtes without sleepe and the dayes in care for whose sake thou shalt enter into long and inextricable hope that shall thinke vpon thy hory heares and wryncles examine thy lyuing fynde fault with thine expences and blame the staying of thy death thou art in securitie and quietnesse on euery side both which are a great commoditie although it be made more bitter by the name of death Sorowe I am cast downe by the geeuous death of my sonne Reason Hast thou not hearde what Anaragoras sayth Hast thou forgotten that thou begattest a mortal creature Or doest thou perhappes lament that he is gone before that should haue folowed And although the lyfe of man in many other thinges be disordinate and out of course yet death keepeth his ordinarie custome crooked olde men stagger and young men make hast and chyldren runne headlong infantes at their first entrance into lyfe are drawen to their ende one man more slowly another more speedily one more ripely another more vntimely but euery man must die this is the conclusion of al. And in whatsoeuer age of this lyfe a man die be it gently or sharpely he hasteth vnto death Sorowe I weepe for the death of my sonne Reason If thou wouldest haue wept at his death thou shouldest also
haue wept at his birth for then he began to die but nowe he hath done But do not thou lament for thine owne and his most excellent estate he left behind him a perilous way to passe but thou hauing him alwayes before thine eyes who now is in securitie hast no farther regarde of thy sweete burden as Virgil speaketh or of any other Sorowe Al my delite to lyue is extinguished Reason A good sonne I confesse is a great comforte vnto his father but notwithstanding careful greeuous And many times the sweetest things do offend vs and the dearest do hinder vs and the most precious do oppresse vs And perhappes this thy sonne was some let vnto thy minde that would haue aspired vnto greater matters And now although thou art become more heauie yet since thou art at more libertie be of good cheare to gather good out of euyl is the part of a wise man. Sorowe The death of my lonne hath made me heauie Reason But spende the residue of thy lyfe that remayneth in iolitie thou diddest lyue for hym now lyue for thy selfe Of the miserable fal of a young child The .xlix. Dialogue SOROWE I Lament the miserable fal of my young child Reason A man ought to lament for nothing that may happen vnto mankinde al thinges should be premeditated before if they haue not hapned alredie lament not thy childes fal but thine owne vnskylfulnesse the forgetfulnesse of thine owne condition Sorow I complaine of the miserable death of my young childe Reason There is no death miserable which the death of the soule doth not folow from which daunger thy young child is free Sorowe My childe is dead by breaking his necke Reason What skylleth it after what sort a man dye so that he die not dishonourably he can not die dishonourably that dieth without offences Sorowe My chylde is peryshed by breakyng his necke Reason But Archemorus by the biting of a serpent other some by suckyng milke of a nurse being with child other by sickenesse the which for the more part happen more commonly then than in old age Sorowe My young child is perished by breaking his necke Reason Sodeyne death is to be wished of the innocent and to be feared of the guiltie Sorowe My chylde is dead of a fal from an hygh Reason Unto them that dye languishingly death often times seemeth the sharper the panges the longer for al paine the shorter it is the more tollerable it is Sorow My chylde is dead by breakyng his necke Reason To stumble and fal is proper to that age Thy chylde hath done that which al doo although al peryshe not by casualtie but do thou suffer hym to peryshe for he must needes peryshe one day and he is the more happily dealt withal for that he hath peryshed before he was intangled in the euylles of this lyfe whiche howe manyfold they be those that haue prooued and diligently obserued can tell There is none that prooueth not in part and they that obserue them not leade foorth their liues as it were in a dreame whiche so soone as they awake they haue forgotten Thyne infant died an innocent who perhappes if he had lyued had dyed a very hurtful person Lament not that he is safe he hath escaped al the threates of fortune and hath preuented death whiche being deferred would haue preuented hym Sorowe A woolfe hath deuoured my chylde Reason This nowe is the woormes complaynt Sorowe A woolfe hath carried away the body of my poore chylde into his denne Reason But the angels haue caryed vp his blessed soule into heauen Of a sonne that is found to be another mans The .l. Dialogue SOROWE ANd moreouer that whiche is more greeuous then death he whom I thought had been my sonne is another mans Reason If you had a respect to the common father then would you by the counsel of the Comical Poet thinke that there is no humane thing but may happen vnto you Sorowe I haue fostred another mans chylde a great while for mine owne Reason Nature wylleth a man to foster his owne and charitie to foster another mans so that thou repent thee not after the deede but delite in it Sorowe He that was counted my chylde appeareth to be another mans Reason There is opened vnto thee a way vnto a great and singuler merite if as thou hast hytherto done so thou continue hereafter to keepe hym as thyne owne Truely that were a very gracious and acceptable deede before god For chyldren are woont for the more parte to contemne the mayntenance of theyr parentes as a thyng due vnto them by ryght and moreouer it were a poynt of wickednesse to loue thy chylde that is borne of thee and not to loue man that is created of god Thus euery way both before God and men thou shalt purchase vnto thy selfe singuler commendation and vertue through another mans wickednesse Sorow I haue nooryshed one for my chylde that was not so Reason Thou nooryshedst hym as thy chylde and so nooryshe hym styll yf not as thy chylde yet as thy brother For of al the people that are or euer shal be or haue been heretofore there is one father and one gouernour Doo not dissemble through insolencie or through enuie and hatred breake of the sacred bond of nature for you be brethren one to another Sorowe He whom I thought to haue been as I heare is not my sonne Reason Take heede of whom thou hearest it and whom thou trustest For many beyng pricked foorth by wicked prouocations doo of set purpose deuise false rumors and other some by a certayne slypprynesse and vnbridled affection of the tongue doo aswell babble foorth the thynges that they knowe as that they knowe not and with lyke impudencie vtter whatsoeuer commeth in theyr mynde Howbeit to determine precisely of a mans chylde whether it be his owne or not is an harde case Sorowe I heare say that he that was called my sonne is another mans Reason Why dooest thou herein beleeue other rather then thyne owne wyfe since none knoweth it more certaynely then she Truely she hath geuen thee a chylde whom other goe about to take from thee Thou hast heard I thinke howe that within the remembrance of our fathers there was a certaine noble man who had to wyfe a gentlewoman of equall beautie and parentage but of whose honestie the report seemed some what to doubt By her he hadde one moste beautifull sonne whom when his mother vppon a tyme helde in her lappe and perceyuyng that her husbande syghed and was carefull she demaunded of hym what was the cause of his heauinesse Then he syghyng agayne I had rather sayde he then the one halfe of my landes that I were as sure that this boy were myne as thou art that he is thyne Whereunto she aunsweared neyther in countenance nor mynde any whit moued Truely sayde shee the matter shall not cost so great a price but geue me an hundred acres of pasture whereon I
such a death as thou oughtest to wyshe for but suche an one as thou mayest wel endure For this is a cleare case that vnto a wyse man and one that foreseeth a far of al thynges that are lyke to ensue there can nothyng happen vnlooked for Whereupon it foloweth that death cannot come vnto hym vnprouided for whose lyfe was alwayes prouident for how should he be negligent in the greatest thinges that was wount to demurre in small yea the least thynges And in al worldly thynges what canst thou shewe me that is greater then death or comparable vnto it Sorowe I dye most speedily Reason So that the death be not vnthought vpon the speedier the easier it is and yf there be any payne in it it is very short and the speedinesse thereof preuenteth the feelyng of it and so that is taken away from death whiche is most greeuous in death to wyt the feare of death Of one that is sicke out of his owne countrey The .cxxiiii. Dialogue SOROW. I Am sicke in a strainge countrey Reason What skylleth it whose countrey it be the sickenesse thou art sure is thine owne Sorowe Thou mockest me I am sicke out of mine owne countrey Reason He that is out of his owne countrey is surely in some other for none can be sicke or whole out of al countreyes Sorow Thou seekest delayes in wordes but I am sicke out of my countrey Reason In this miserie thou gainest this one commoditie that thou hast none to trouble thee nor to lye vpon thy bed not thine importunate wyfe nor thy sonne who woulde both be careful for them selues and carelesse of thee Howe often thinkest thou hath the wyfe to her husband and the sonne to the father and one brother to another when they haue lien in extremitie of death throwne a pillowe ouer their mouthes and holpen to set them packyng whiche a stranger would not haue done nor haue suffered to be done by others Many tymes there is most loue where it is lesse looked for and there none that are about thee wylbe glad of thy sickenesse or wyshe for thy death And shall I tel thee the cause why There is none there that looketh for thine inheritance none commit any wickednesse but they are moued thereunto by hope or desire which quietnesse wherein thou art nowe would not haue hapned vnto thee in thine owne countrey For many vnder the colour of goodwyl woulde flocke about thee and gape after thy burial whiche conceit vnlesse I be much deceiued is a seconde sickenesse to him that is sicke alreadie when he shal perceiue himselfe beset rounde about at the one side with woolfes and at the other with rauens whiche in their mindes come to pray on the carcase Sorowe I am sicke out of my countrey Reason Howe knowest thou that Perhaps thou returnest nowe into thy countrey for the readiest and shortest way for a man to returne into his countrey is to dye Sorowe I am sicke out of my countrey Reason O the needelesse alwayes and vayne cares of men and fond complayntes as though out of a mans owne countrey his ague were fiercer or his gout more intollerable Al this whiche seemeth euyl consisteth in your owne wyl and lyeth in your owne power lyke as other plagues and mischeefes do whatsoeuer a false opinion hath engendred in your mindes Of one that dyeth out of his owne cuntrey The .cxxv. Dialogue SOROWE I Dye out of my natiue countrey Reason Doth this happen vnto thee beyng a traueiler or a banished man For whether thou madest thine aboade in this countrey for studie sake or for religion thou hast cause to reioyce that death hath taken thee in an honest deede or in a iust condemnation and thou oughtest to take it not onely valiantly but also willingly For the wyckednesse of an vnryghteous person is by no meanes better purged then by wyllyng and patient suffryng of punishment But yf it be long of the iniurie of some mightie enimie neuerthelesse thou must not be sorie for it and as for banishment I suppose we haue disputed sufficiently of it alreadie Sorowe I dye out of my countrey Reason This I sayd euen nowe is to returne into thy cuntrey there is no streighter path nor readier way Hast thou forgotten hudemus of Cyprus that was familiar with Aristotle of whom Aristotle hymselfe and also Cicero wryteth Who on a tyme beyng very sicke in Thessalia dreamed that he should recouer very shortly and after fiue yeeres expired returne into his countrey that the Tyrant of the same citie where at that tyme he soiourned whose name was Alexander Phaereus shoulde dye shortly But when after a fewe dayes beyng restored vnto his despaired health and the Tyrant slayne by his owne kinsfolke thinking his dreame to be true in al poyntes at the tyme limitted he looked also to returne into his Countrey at the ende of the fyfth yeere he was slayne in fyght at Syracuse and this sayd the Interpretours of dreames was the meanes of the returnyng into his Countrey that there myght be no part of the dreame false What myne opinion is concernyng dreames I haue declared elsewhere alreadie and nowe I haue vttered what came into my mynde of this returnyng into a mans Countrey Sorowe I am compelled to dye out of my Countrey Reason When I entreated of exile then sayd I which nowe I repeate agayne that eyther none or all dye out of theyr Countrey The learned holde opinion that euery part of the worlde is a mans Countrey specially to hym that hath a valiant minde whom any priuate affection hath not tyed to the liking of this place or that and othersome call that a mans Countrey where he is wel and lyueth in good case And contrariwyse some say that a man hath heere no speciall Countrey at all The fyrst is a common doctrine but this last a poynt of hygher Philosophie Sorowe I dye farre from my Countrey in which I was borne Reason But that is more truely thy Countrey where thou dyest The same shall possesse thee longer and not suffer thee to wander abroade but keepe thee within it for a perpetuall inhabitaunt for euer Learne to lyke of this Countrey that wyll enfranchize thee into it selfe wheresoeuer otherwyse thou were borne Sorowe I must dye and be buried farre out of myne owne Countrey Reason Those heauenly and diuine men lykewyse whom one age and the selfe same middle part of the worlde brought foorth are dispersed ouer all partes of the worlde as well in theyr deathes as burialles Ephesus keepeth one and Syria another and Persis another and Armenia another and Aethiopia another and India another and Achaia another and Rome othersome and the farthest part of Spayne another neuerthelesse it is reported that some of them after theyr death were carried away and translated from the places where they dyed vnto certayne Cities of Italy I speake of the earthly part of them but as for theyr spirituall part doubtlesse it is long since that
yeeres and there you appoynt the ende vnto whiche who so doth attayne theyr lyfe is but payne and trauayle vnlesse he aduaunce your hope a litle further who sayth The dayes of a mans lyfe are many tymes an hundred yeeres vnto which age how few do attayne we see but admit that it happened vnto al which happeneth but to fewe notwithstandyng I pray you howe muche is it Ioy. Very much truely For the lyfe of young men is more assured and farther of from olde age and so from death Reason Thou art deceiued for although there be nothing safe to a man notwithstandyng that is the most daungerous part of his lyfe whiche to muche carelesnesse maketh vnaduised There is nothyng neerer to other then death is to lyfe when they seeme to be farthest a sunder then are they neerest togeather alwayes the one passeth away and the other draweth nygh whyther soeuer ye flee away death is at hande and hangeth ouer your heades Ioy and Hope Wel at the leastwyse youth is now present and olde age is absent Reason Nothyng is more flytting then youth nothyng more deceyuable then olde age Youth stayeth not but in delightyng she slyppeth away olde age immediatly folowyng after softly in darkenesse and silence striketh men at vnwares and when she is thought to be farre of then standeth she at the doore Ioy. My age is in rysing Reason Thou trustest to a most deceitfull thing This rysing is a goyng downe this short lyfe this vnstable tyme stealeth away yea without makyng any noyse with the feete euen whyle we sleepe and make merie And O that this swiftnesse of tyme and shortnesse of lyfe were as well knowen in the beginning as it is in the ende whiche to those that enter seemeth infinite and nothyng when they goe out and are scarce so many minutes as they appeared to be hundredes of yeeres So then at length deceypt is knowen when it can not be auoyded whereby it commeth that many tymes counsell is geuen in vayne vnto those yeeres they are both vnbeleeuyng and vnskylfull disdainefull of anothers counsell and wantyng of their owne And therefore there is nothyng that discouereth the errours of youth although they be innumerable and greeuous and yet notwithstandyng hyd and vnknowen to those that committed them better then olde age doth and layeth them foorth before their eyes who sometyme dissembled them and winked at them Neither doo ye sooner perceyue what ye ought to be then ye be made that whiche ye woulde be and then ye can possibly be none other then ye be But yf there were any that coulde vnderstande these thynges in tyme or by hym selfe or beleeue when he is taught surely hym woulde I accompt a woorthy and happie youth among many thousandes he shoulde not passe his lyfe through so many difficulties whose onely course lyeth safe and straight through vertue Ioy. Myne age is nothyng spent Reason Howe is that vnspent whiche since the tyme it first beganne is euery day wasted and whyle it is geuen is also taken away by very small portions For Heauen turneth about with perpetuall motion minutes consume houres and houres the day That day thrusteth foorth another and that the next day folowyng and there is neuer any ceassyng So doo monethes passe away so yeeres and so dooth an whole age make hast and runne and as Cicero sayeth fleeth away And as Virgil sayth It neuer waggeth the swifte winges So lykewyse they that fare by Sea they are caried away in the shyppe and feele not howe and many tymes are at their viage ende before they be ware Ioy and Hope An age that beginneth is far from the ende Reason Within the space of a short lyfe nothyng is farre of Ioy and Hope But there is no part farther from the ende then is the beginnyng Reason None in deede but this shoulde be truely sayde yf all men lyued lyke space of time Howbeit euen the very fyrst age falleth sundrie wayes into death whereby it chaunceth many tymes that he that seemed farthest of is nearest his ende Ioy and Hope Truely I am of a most floorishing age Reason Although fewe do marke it yet there is some change wrought since we beganne to speake and in the drawyng foorth of euery sillable there is some part of lyfe passed away and some peece of transitorie flowre of youth decayed And I pray you what hath this deyntie and gallaunt young man more then that rough and riueled olde man besides this short and transitorie flowre whiche fadeth euery day wherein what shoulde be so pleasaunt and delectable I doo not finde since he knoweth that almost sooner then a man can speake it he shall hym selfe be suche an one as this olde man nowe is or els is mad yf he knowe it not vnlesse of twayne whiche are led togeto be put to death he is to be accompted the happier whiche is commaunded last to lay downe his necke vppon the blocke to be cut of who truely seemeth vnto me in a maner in the more miserable state for the deferryng of the death Howbeit the condition of these men and of the other of whom I spake before is not all one insomuche as this man may haue some entreatie or meanes made for hym in the meane whyle to escape his fellowes execution and to lyue Onely death can preuent a young man that he shall not lyue vnto olde age To be short there consisteth no great felicitie in a small processe of tyme and vnto loftie mindes there is nothyng that is short accompted acceptable Awake ye that sleepe it is now tyme open your dimme and slumbring eyes Accustome your selues at length to thynke vpon eternal thinges to loue them and to desire them and therewithal also to contemne transitorie thinges Learne to depart from them willingly which can not continue with you long and to forsake them in hart before by them ye be forsaken Ioy and Hope My yeers are stable and greene Reason They lye whiche say that there is some age I knowe not which stable There is nothyng more swift then tyme and tyme is the charret of al ages to carrie them away in And doest thou then imagine that it is permanent O vanitie there is nothyng durable for euen at this present thou art violently drawen away c. Of the goodly beautie of the body The seconde Dialogue Ioy. THE beautie of my body is goodly Reason It is no more permanent then the tyme that commeth with it with whiche also it flitteth away Stay the tyme if thou canst and so perhaps thou mayest stay beautie Ioy. The beautie of my body is singuler Reason Thou restest vpon a brittle foundation The body it selfe passeth away like a shadow and doest thou thinke that a transitorie accident of the body wyll continue Accidentes may perishe the subiect remaynyng but when the body perisheth they must needes decay And among all the qualities whiche passe away with this mortall body there is none swyfter then beautie whiche
so soone as euer it hath shewed it selfe as a pleasant flowre it vanisheth euen in the sight of them that woonder at it and prayse it it is quickely nipt with the least frost and beaten downe with a smal winde and eyther suddenly pinched of with the nayle of some enimies hande or ouerthrowen with the heele of some sicknesse passing by To be short vaunt and reioyce as muche as thou list behold he commeth apace that wyl couer thee in a thin veile How much the beautie of a liuing man is to be esteemed death declareth and not death only but olde age also and the space of a few yeeres yea one dayes fit of a sudden fetter Last of all to admit that no outward extremitie do happen by continuance it consumeth of it owne accord turneth to nought neyther dyd it bryng so muche delyght when it came as it procureth griefe when it departeth The same yf I be not deceyued dyd the beautiful Romane Prince Domitian prooue sometyme to be true who writing vnto a certayne friende of his Vnderstand sayth he that there is nothyng more acceptable then beautie nor more brittle And although it were durable and a gyft of nature that continued yet do I not see what there is in this glitteryng beautie whiche is no sounde thyng and which resteth only vpon the vppermost part of a man that shoulde be so muche desired whiche couereth many fylthy and horrible thyngs flatteryng the senses and deludyng them with a simple and sleight ouercastyng of the skin And therefore it is better to take pleasure in true and permanent good thyngs then in such as are false and transitorie Ioy. The beautie of my body is most excellent Reason Thou hast a veyle before thyne eyes a snare before thy feete byrdlyme vpon thy wyngs thou canst not easesily eyther discerne the trueth or folow vertue or mount aloft with thy mynde Beauty hath hyndred many from atchiuing honest exploites and turned them to the contrary Ioy. The beautie of my body is woonderfull Reason You say wel to call it woonderful for what is more woonderful then this vanitie From howe many delectable thinges doo fayre young men absteyne what trauayles doo they susteine how muche doo they punyshe them to the ende they may I say not be but appeare the more beautiful that only to set foorth theyr beautie not thynkyng vpon eyther theyr good health or pleasure How much tyme therewhile is there spent in eating and drinking how many honest profitable and lastly necessarie businesses are there neglected And therfore kepe vnto thy self this short and transitorie good vaine ioy that without enuie Thou hast thyne enemie at home and that which worse is a delectable and pleasant one thou hast that which wyl take away thy quietnesse and spende thy tyme and is a perpetual torment thou hast the occasion of payne and trouble a plentiful matter to minister dangers a maynteyner of lustes letcherie an entrance no lesse to purchase hatred then to procure loue Perhaps thou shalt be amorous to women but odious to men or peraduenture suspected For ielousie in wedlocke is by no meanes more kyndled then by bodyly beautie And nothyng is more ardently coueted then beautie nothing moueth the minde more forcibly therfore nothyng is suspecied more vehemently Ioy. The beautie of my body is great Reason The same is wont to enforce foolish young men to that which is not expedient for them while they thynke that euen as they lust so also it is lawfull for them to vse theyr present commoditie not regardyng what is meete and conuenient whiche thyng many tymes hath been the cause of a sharpe and shameful ruyne to many Ioy. The beautie of my body is alowable Reason It shal be so but a very short tyme seeyng that this coomlynesse colour of thy face shal be chaunged These yellow lockes shal fal away the other that remayne shal waxe hoarie the skalie wrinkles shal plowe the lothsome furrowes vpon thy tender cheekes and glysteryng forehead a sorowfull cloude shall couer the cheereful beames and shynyng starres of thyne eyes rotten raggednesse shal consume and fret away the smooth and whyte iuorie of thy teeth not changyng them only in colour but disorderyng them also in place thyne vpright necke nymble shoulders shal waxe croked thy smooth throte shal waxe curled thou shalt thynke that those drie handes and crooked feete were neuer thyne owne What neede many woordes the day wyl come in whiche thou wylt not knowe thy selfe in a lookyng glasse Of al these thynges whiche thou thinkest to be farre from thee to the ende that when they come thou shalt not be astonied at suche monstruous bugges say not but that thou hast ben forewarned And nowe I pronounce vnto thee that yf thou lyue these thynges wyll come vpon thee almost sooner then it can be spoken and if thou do now beleeue me thou shalt then lesse wonder to see howe thou art transfourmed Ioy. In the meane whyle my beautie is noble Reason What can I say more briefly then that saying of Apuleius Mandarensis Stay a litle whyle and there shal be no such thyng Ioy. Hitherto the beautie of my body is excellent Reason I had rather the beautie of thy mind were excellent For the beautie of the mind is a thyng far more precious pleasant and sure then is the beautie of the body consisting lykewyse of semblable lawes cumlinesse of order with apt and due disposition of the partes It is a woorthie matter to wish for that beautie and to imploy a mans trauayle in pursuyng the same which neyther length of tyme shal consume nor sicknesse extinguyshe nor death it selfe ouerthrow But now you haue mortal thynges in admiration Ioy. Truely at the leastwyse nowe my beautie is rare Reason In this as in many other thyngs a mediocritie is to be wyshed But yf thou neyther please thy selfe with this thy beautie neither endeuour to please others but with that which is comely conuenient shalt vse it chastly soberly and modestly thy commendation therby shal not be smally aduaunced Ioy. A beautiful face honesteth the mynd Reason Nay rather it prooueth it and oftentymes draweth it into daunger And why shouldest thou glory of that since it is neyther thyne owne neyther canst thou keepe it long which was neuer glorious vnto any to haue had it but vnto many to haue cast it of I let passe to speake of other Spurina was renowmed not for her natural beauties sake but for her procured deformitie Ioy. I doe indeuour that vertue of the mynde may be ioyned with the beautie of my body Reason If thou bryng that to passe then shal I say that thou art truely and in al respectes fortunate then shal thy beautie appeare more excellent and thy vertue more acceptable And although Seneca doo write that he seemeth vnto hym to be deceyued who sayth And vertue founde in body fayre the greater grace it beares yet
For theyr rysing is slow but theyr fallyng is sodayne This strength also whereof thou vauntest when it shall leaue to encrease wyl not continue but fyrst wyll priuily begin to decay and afterwarde at length wyl openly fal Al mortal thyngs do equally flyt away except the mynd only but the signes and footesteps of theyr departure doo not appeare alike vnlesse a man wyl say that those lyuyng creatures do go lesse or slowest which eyther go in the dark or make no noyse in their creeping and put out the prynt of theyr goyng with the pressing of theyr tayles Ioy. I boast in the strength of my body Reason What wouldest thou then do in thyne owne Thynke how great thyne owne strength is for this is not thyne but the strength of thy harborow or Inne or rather thy pryson It is a vayne thyng for thee beyng thy self weake to glory of thy strong dwellyng or to speake more aptly of a strong aduersarie Ioy. I reioyce in my strength Reason What other shal I say then that saying of the Poet Thou shalt not reioyce long and in steede of myrth complaintes shall come in place Dooest thou remember howe he that was so strong of whom I made mention twyce erewhyle complayneth of his strength in olde age Of swiftnesse of the bodye The syxth Dialogue IOY BVt I am very swyft Reason Tel me whyther thy runnyng â—endeth Many haue ben destroyed through their owne swyftnesse Ioy. My swyftnesse is wonderful Reason Run ye mortal men whither ye lust the swiftnes of heauen outrunneth you and leadeth you vnto olde age and death The one of these wyll take away your runnyng the other your mooueyng Ioy. My swyftnesse is very great Reason It tendeth thyther where it shal haue an ende Ioy. My swiftnes is sâ—eâ— as â—he lyke hath not been heard of Reason It tendeth thither where there shal be great slownesse Ioy. My swiftneâ—â— is infinite Reason Be it as great as it list it shal haue no place where to exercise it selfe for the whole earth is as is were a smal pricke or poynt Ioy. My swyftnesse is inestimable Reason This coÌ„mendation is due vnto wit vnto which the seas and heauen and eternitie the spaces of nature the hydden places and secretes of al thynges lye open As for this body which is circumscribed and compassed about with a prick and smal moment of space whyther wyl the swiftnesse thereof bring it and where wyl it leaue it Admit this space were very wyde great eyther in respect of tyme or of place notwithstandyng whyther soeuer it turneth it maketh hast to the graue This narrowe roomth and place of necessitie is knowne without Astrologicall coniecture or Geometrical demonstration So then ye runne thyther where in deede there is no runnyng at all Ioy. My swyftnesse is incredible Reason Although thou excel al men yet thou art not able herein to match an Hare Ioy. My swiftnesse is marueilous Reason The same accompaniyng many vpon hanging hilles and broken mountaynes sydes hath disapoynted them of the playne grounde and many also that woulde runne or as it were flie by vautyng or otherwyse vppon the walles and battlementes of towres vpon the tacklynges of ships vpon the cragges of hilles without hurtyng them selues shortly after by some litle tripping or slyding of the foote haue in this outrage been found dead in the hygh wayes by fallyng It is a dangeâ— us thyng and agaynst the course of nature that there should be such lightnesse in heauie bodies and the practise thereof wil make a man not to be nimble long For although he escape without hurt yet he shall soone leaue it of through weerynesse for the strength of a man is but short and his swiftnesse shorter Ioy. I am nowe very nymble Reason An Asse also is nymble in his youth a Parde waxeth slow with age In tyme nimblenes wyl waxe styffe The first age hath spurres the last hath bridles whatsoeuer thou art thou shalt not be long if thou desire to be good indeuour to be so Only vertue is not afrayde of old age Of wit. The .vii. Dialogue IOY MY wit is also quick Reason I pray God it be vnto vertue Otherwyse look how much the quicker so much the nearer to destruction Ioy. I haue a redy wit. Reason If it be also appliable vnto good artes it is a precious furniture of the minde If otherwyse it is burdensome perilous and troublesome Ioy. My wit is very sharpe Reason It is not the sharpenesse but the vprightnesse and staiednes of the wit that deserue the true and perpetual commendation The sharpnesse of some wittes is rebated with smal force and wil faile at the first encounter and the most strongest thinges if they be stretched foorth to the vttermost become feeble and so likewise weakenes ouercommeth all strength Ioy. I haue a most sharpe wit. Reason There is nothing more odious vnto wisdom then to much sharpnes Nothing more greeuous vnto a Philopher then a sophist for that cause in old time the auncient fathers feigned that Pallas could not abyde spyders whose curious worke and fine webs are brittle serue to no purpose Therfore let the edge of the wyt be lyke the edge of a weapon that it may not only pearse but also stay from going further Ioy. My wyt is prompt and redy to euery thyng Reason This was sometyme attributed vnto Marcus Cato Censorius that he was as redy and apt to learnyng as to the warres to matters concernyng the fielde as the citie and also to the exercise of husbandrie whiche thyng in part the Gretians doo ascribe to theyr countreyman Epaâ—inundas and the Persians to theyr Cyrus Take herde whereunto this thy redie wit be enclined that it be not craftie and that it be not only not quicke and pliant but rather lyght and inconstant For it is one thyng to be able to stay and another to be able to go whyther soeuer a man lust Ioy. My wyt is excellent Reason It skilleth much in what kynd a man do excel For the signification of that woorde is vncertayne and true it is that a mans wit is of force if he do throughly bende it And therefore geue me rather a good wit then an excellent for the one cannot be conuerted to euill the other is flexible vnto many thinges For Salust writeth that Lucius Catiline was a man of notable courage but of a corrupt naughtie wit and disposition Ioy. My wit is great Reason I requyre a good and a modest wit the greatnes only is suspected For a great wit hath many tymes ben the beginnyng of great euylles And seldome were there any great errours but they sprang from great wittes Of Memorie The .viii. Dialogue IOY MY memorie is very great Reason Thou hast then a large house of loathsomenesse and a gallery ful of smoky images among which many thinges may displease Ioy. My memorie conteyneth many thinges Reason Among many thynges there be but fewe that do delight
but weake and thou mayest also sing to thy selfe this verse of Virgil The destinies shall onely shewe hym to the earth but not suffer hym to liue longer Ioy. I reioyce in my young Chyld Reason Reioyce so as yf thou shouldest be sory eyther for that as I haue said it may chaunce he may die or which is much more greeuous and hapneth very often of a most pleasant chylde become a most vnthankefull and disobedient young man. Ioy. I ioy much in my young chylde Reason There is no husband man so foolysh that wyl reioyce much in the flowre the fruite is to be looked for and then he ought to reioyce moderatly In the mean while tempestes hayle and blastinges are to be feared and the ioy must be moderated with dreade Of the excellent fauour of Chyldren The Lxxii Dialogue IOY MY Children fauour is excellent Reason If thou haue learned by mine instruction not to regarde thine owne fauour then thou knowest how much thou hast to esteeme of anothers Ioy. The fauour of my children is great Reason A thing verie dangerous for the male kinde but much more for the female For beautie and chastitie dwel seldome togeather they wyl not and againe if they would they can not seeing al humane thinges especially honestie can yf or kept in safetie now adayes chiefely if it be ioyned with an excellent beautie There be some whose beautie is enuied at but that enuie keepeth it selfe within it owne boundes some are sory some angry with their beautie as much as may be possible many haue waxed olde continuing vndefiled among the hatred of many some haue shewed perpetual and vnquenchable tyrannie How many saylers do passe euery day vpon the calme sea how many Merchantes do trauayle through the desartes with their wares safe neither Pyrate meeteth with the one nor the Theefe with the other But what beautiful woman canst thou name vnto me that hath not been assayed Although she be chast she shal be tempted and ouercome What womans minde is able to resist so many corrupters The scaling ladders of sugred woordes are set to the walles the engines of giftes are planted and the secret moynes of deceites are cast vp vnder the grounde If these meanes wyll not serue then force is violently offered If thou require proofe call to thy remembraunce the most famous rauishmentes Beautie hath tempted many and caused many to be tempted some it hath ouerthrowen and driuen them into wickednesse or to death Among the Hebrues Ioseph was an example of vehement temptation but the prouidence of God turned the danger into glory Among the Grecians Hippolytus and Bellerophon and among you Spurina to the ende she woulde not be tempted defaced her selfe with her owne hands Among the fyrst was no Thamar among the seconde was not the Greekish Penelope among the thyrde was not the Romane Lucretia safe Finally among all sortes the most part haue been commonly eyther tempted or ouerthrowen These be the fruites of this transitorie and brittle beautie whiche many tymes haue not onely ouerthrowen whole houses but great Cities and mightie Kyngdomes Thou knowest histories Truely yf Helen had not been so beautifull Troy had stoode safe yf Lucretia had not been so fayre the Romane kingdome had not ben so soone ouerthrowen yf Virginea had not ben so beautiful the auctoritie of the ten men had not so soone fayled neyther Appius Claudius beyng so great a law maker among the Romanes beyng vanquished with lust had lost his fame at the barre and his lyfe in prison Finally there haue been innumerable who if they had not been so fayre as they were there shoulde not haue been so many that beyng forced and deceyued haue fallen out of the castle of chastitie into so great reproches and ruine of their soules and therefore vtter what good effectes thou hast founde in beautie that they may be compared with their contraries Ioy. My Chylde is passing beautifull Reason This beautie hauing enflamed the lust of one called Messalina choose whiche thou haddest rather of these twayne eyther to deny and so to be slayne at the louers commaundement eyther to agree and to perysh by Claudius swoorde Thus at one side by chastitie death is purchased by adulterie there is nothing but only a litle deferring of death procured and this is the effect of this noble and excellent beautie In this therefore as in al other thinges the mediocritie is commendable and if any of the extremities were to be wished beautie is more delectable but deformitie is more safe Ioy. I haue a most beautifull Daughter Reason Be careful of treason and beware of force Doest thou thinke that there is but one Iason or one Theseus or one Paris Yes there be a thousand To haue a Daughter is a care and trouble if she haue beautie there is feare which thou canst not auoyde but by death or olde age for by marrying her into another house thou shalt but translate thy feare and not extinguishe it Ioy. I triumphe and reioyce in the singular heautie of my Children Reason For young folke to glorie and reioyce in theyr beautie it is a vayne thyng but common but for an olde man to reioyce in the beautie of his Chyldren whiche vnlesse he doated he woulde perceyue to be full of vanitie or subiecte to daungers it is more follie and next coosen to madnesse Ioy. My Chyld hath an heauenly beautie Reason Thou hast read I thinke the foure and twentie booke of Homers Iliades where Priamus speaking of his sonne Hector He seemed not sayeth he to haue ben the sonne of a mortal man but of a god This sayd Priamus but Achilles shewed that he was the sonne of a mortall man and not of a God and remember thou likewise that this heauenly beautie of thy chylde whereof thou speakest may be taken away and blemished and so long as it continueth whatsoeuer accompt be made of it it is but an vncertayne thyng Howbeit the immoderate loue of fathers whiche is enimie to vpryght iudgement bringeth foorth these errours and trifles Ioy. I haue a passyng fayre Daughter Reason If nothyng els chaunce thy house must be most sumptuous Of the valiencie and magnanimitie of a Sonne The Lxxiii Dialogue IOY I Haue a valient Sonne Reason The more valient he is the more it behoueth thee to be fearefull For Fortune layeth more dangers vpon none then those that contemne her that is to say Valient men And not without good cause for other men hyde them selues and seeke to auoyde her force but these lay themselues open to her furie Recall forepassed ages to memorie and thou shalt perceyue in a maner all the most valient men consumed by violent death Ioy. My Sonnes valiencie is exceedyng great Reason Fortitude is a most excellent vertue but accompanied with sundry chaunces and therefore see thou haue alwayes teares and a coffin in a redinesse Death is at hande to all men but nearest to the valient Ioy. My Sonne is a most
moles heapes of stones rubbish throwen into the rough and deepe sea hard rockes cut in sunder plaine fieldes throwen vp into hilles toppes of hilles made leauel with plaine fieldes to the one earth added from the other earth taken away and that so suddenly that the strangnesse of the wonder was nothyng inferiour to the violence done vnto nature to wit when death was the rewarde of delaying the woorke by which meanes hauing within one yeeres space consumed the great treasure of his predecessour Tiberius and all the riches of the whole Empire he was driuen to extreame pouertie and most shameful rapine Among these thinges I do not recken how that he had determined in his minde to make a cut through Isthmus the hyl of Corinth which although it woulde haue ben a woorke of great charges yet had it been profitable for sea faring men whereby the two seas had been made one and they that had passed from Brundusium to Athens or Chalcis or Byzantium shoulde haue auoyded the great crooke of Achaia Next followeth Nero matche and superiour vnto him in madnesse whose disordinate expences had no measure specially in building wherein he surpassed all prodigal fooles and him selfe also He was not more â—â—â—â—ful in any other thing then in this and therfore I wyll touch on◠〈…〉 numerable follies He buyided an house which reached froâ— the hyl 〈…〉 vnto â—sguiline and stretched also ouer a greâ—â—â—â—â—art of the citie so that not vnwoorthily among the tauntes reproches wherwith the people with most free indignation girded hym home this also was cast against him All Rome shal be one house ye Romanes depart ye to the Vehi yf so be that this house doo not also streatch vnto the Vehi This house he commaunded to be called the golden house not vnfitly declaring the price by the name For the house was seeled and knotted with precious stones and of such height that at the entraunce 〈◊〉 of stoode a Colossus an hundred and twentie foote high Within was a Gallerie and Hal seeled about with pendentes of Golde Iuorie and vpon the top deuises of strange workemanshyp with motions after the maner of heauen by litle and litle of their owne accord turning about day and nyght without intermission Also a Ponde like the Sea adorned round about vppon the shoare with buyldinges after the maner of a Citie Moreouer fieldes and pastures and vineyardes and woods replenished with al kindes of liuing thinges The middest of this house as far as could be coniectured was that place which is coÌ„monly called Colosseum whose ruines do yet at this day astonish the beholders and the more to augment the wonder of the matter all these thinges were in the very middes of Rome So that notwithstanding he seemed to him selfe not only not to haue exceeded but not yet to haue answeared the greatnesse that ought to be in an Emperours house insomuch as when he dedicated the house he made no greater wonder at it but said this much onely Nowe at length I begin to dwell lyke a man. I omit these trifles that he neuer ware one garment twice that he neuer went iourney with lesse then a thousande Charrets that his Mules were shod with shooes of siluer that he fished with a golden Net that his roapes cordes were made of sine Purple silke with many suche other matters exceeding credite and breedyng tediousnesse But who wyl not wonder at these thinges that readeth of them but more wonder if he beheld them the remnantes and tokens whereof remayne to this day The Fishponde that was begun from the bridge Misenus and should haue reached to the â—ake Auernus compassed and couered with wonderful galleries and the dytch that was cast from Auernus to Hâ—stia◠〈◊〉 so long distance of way and through so many sâ—â—lles wâ—â—â—e bringing the sea into it and sayling in it without the accidentes â—â—â—t happen on the sea he might auoyde both the toyle of traueyling by lande and the weerisomnesse of faring by water the length whereof as now the inhabitantes of those quarters doo accompt it is well knowne vnto al men but as Tranguillus reckneth is an hundred threescore mile the breadth was such that two Gallies might meete and one not touch nor hinder another Which woorke if he 〈◊〉 finished he had beggered al Italy and the whole Common wealth but that death onely prouided a remedie for so great mischiefes of the world After him followeth Aurelius Verus who that I may let passe other thinges made suche a supper that yf he woulde haue made the lyke dynner I knowe not whether the Romane wealth would haue ben sufficient Whiche thing when his brother Marcus Aurelius vnderstoode beyng as great a friend to modestie as this was enimie is reported to haue lamented taking compassion vpon the Common wealth and the Empire decaying I leaue others for these are too many and I knowe that there be some of you that wyll thinke these examples to be longer then neede and the remedies shorter then promise But sometime it delighteth a learned man or one that loueth learning and honestie to heare the madnesse of fooles whiche may be a warning for him to followe the contrarie and with al myght and mayne to eschew the lyke All these thynges tende to this ende that thou mayest recompt with thy selfe what it is wherein thou hopest to haue treasure answerable to thy charges For as good husbandrie and modestie require no great treasures so neyther treasures nor whole empires are sufficient for prodigalitie and riotousnesse And this cause hath not onely constrayned men of meane callyng but almost all Princes those I meane that haue followed the vayne of these latter times of necessitie to fall to rapine and extortion whiche hath geuen occasion vnto many of an hastened and miserable death Ioy. Are not so many Cities sufficient to beare one mans charges â–ª Reason Let these aunsweare thee of whom I haue spoken so muche and others innumerable whom the lyke plague hath brought to lyke confusion To conclude this most deepe denne of expences that I may so tearme it lyke as that gapyng pitte of Curtius in olde tyme can not be filled with any ryches but may be restrayned by vertue and specially by modestie Wherein it auayleth to remember that it is others goodes which thou wastest and in this poynt also it is profitable to cal often to minde the saying of the Emperour Hadriane which as it is read he was wont many times to repeate in his speaches vnto the people in the Senat That he would so gouerne the Common wealth as knowing that it was the peoples commoditie and not his owne A fytte saying for so worthy a Prince Ioy. I reigne and reuenge is mine Reason Truely it is not thine for he lieth not that sayd Reuenge is mine And verily if thou be a true King nothing is lesse thine then reuenge and nothing more then mercifulnesse I coulde wyshe that nature had denyed
the skarres and newe reparations that are done in olde walles Neither is this true in other things onelie but we suffer it also in our owne whilest euerie mans opinion and iudgement is contrarie to him selfe according to the saying of Horace the Poet He plucketh downe and buildeth vp and chaungeth that which was square into rounde By which it may more manifestlie appeare which of vs it is than canne agree with another man or with him selfe Now the manner and fashion of our apparell continueth three whole daies in our cities and likewise the actes and lawes of certeine Municipies or freedomes haue bene such and of so small continuance that they haue perished with their authours Againe what disagreement and contrarietie is there among Captaines about ordering a battell and among Magistrates for making of lawes and among saylers for counsell and taking aduisement And as for this that I spake of last I haue learned to be true manie times to my great daunger whilest the sea and heauen threatning death the darke night and cloudes ouerspreding the lande and starres of the skie the ship leaking and halfe full of water the saylers in the most daunger and middest of death fel most obstinately at contention with contrarie endeuours and opinions Adde herevnto the contention which is without an aduersarie what battails haue Shriueners with parchment with inke with pennes with paper what smithes with hāmers with tonges with the anduile what plowmen with their coulter share and the cloddes furrowes and the oxen themselues what the souldiers I say not with their enimie but with their owne horses and armour when as the horses rebell and waxe obstinate and their armour troubleth them and wayeth them downe what businesse haue they that speake and those that write at the mouth of another whilest earnest intention constraineth the one to speake manie things vnperfect and on the one side ignorance and vnskilfulnes at the other side a flitting and vnconstant wit alwayes thinking on some thing else than it hath in hand hindreth them to conceiue the things that are perfect But what speake I of euerie seuerall thing There is no handicrast that is voyd of all difficulties As for all other as they haue some knowne sweetnesse so haue they also great store of secret bitternes and of all the thinges that doe delite there is none without strife Nowe what conflictes haue infantes with falles what contention haue children with their bookes and learning most sowerly sowing that which they shall reape most sweetlie Moreouer what strife haue yong men with pleasures yea I will speake more trulie what warres haue they with themselues and what contention is there among their affections There is altogether no strife with pleasures but a consent and agreement which is worse than any contention I suppose and speake vpon experiēce that there is no kinde of men nor age that tasteth more strife or that sustaineth more inextricable painfull trouble no kinde of men that seeme more merrie and none in deede more miserable and sorowfull And lastlie in what difficultie and great danger are women in their childe bearing What contention and wreastling haue men continuallie with pouertie and ambition what great carking for more than is needefull for liuing And finallie what euerlasting warre haue old men with old age sicknesses when death draweth nigh and all other things and persons with death also and that which is more grieuous than death it selfe with the continuall feare of death I might dilate this discourse with a thousand argumentes of sundrie matters but if as it was thy pleasure in the first booke thou wilt nowe likewise haue this epistle to stande in the steade of a preface to be part of this booke I well perceiue nowe how much this preface exceedeth the measure of the booke and therefore my curiositie is to bee bridled and stil to bee stayed And therefore to conclude all thinges but specially the whole life of man is a certeine kinde of contention and strife But in the meane while omitting this externall strife wherof we entreated erewhile which I would God it were lesse therefore lesse knowne to all men how great is the internall contention not only against an other but as I haue saide against our owne kinde not against an other particular person but against our selfe and that in this bodily outward couering which is the most vile and base part of our selues and euerie one hath continuall warre with him selfe in the most secret closet of his minde For as touching this our bodie with how contrarie humours it aboundeth and is troubled enquire of those that are called naturall Phylosophers but with how diuerse and contrarie affections the minde striueth against it selfe let euerie one enquire of none other than him selfe and answere him selfe with how variable and vncerteine motion of minde hee is drawne sometime one way some time an other he is neuer whole nor neuer one man but alwayes dissenting deuided in himselfe For to speake nothing of other motions to will to nill to loue to hate to flatter to threaten to mock to deceiue to feigne to iest to weepe to pitie to spare to bee angrie to bee pleased to slide to bee cast downe to bee aduanced to stumble to stande vp to goe forwarde to turne backe to begin to leaue of to doubt to erre to bee deceiued to be ignorant to learne to forget to remember to enuie to contemne to wonder to loath to despise and to haue in admiration and such like than whiche truly there can bee nothing imagined more vncerteine and with which the life of man ebbeth and floweth vncerteinly from the beginning to the ending without intermission For what tempests and madnesse is there in these foure passions to wit to hope or desire and to reioice to feare and to bee sorie whiche trouble the poore and miserable minde by driuing him with sodeine windes and gales in course far from the hauen into the middes of the dangerous rocks Which passions some one way and some another yea diuersly diuerse haue expressed in lesse than in an whole verse And as Saint Augustine writeth the Poet Virgil hath comprised in a most knowne veritie of which passions truly I am not ignorant that more and lesse may bee said on both sides As for me I haue not much studied for shortnesse nor copie but I haue set downe in writing such matter as in order hath offered it selfe to me out of the common course of mans life that I might not werie the Reader either with scarcitie or tediousnesse And let not the name of Fortune grieue thee which is repeated not onely in the superscriptions and tytles but also in the woork For truly thou hast often heard mine opinion concerning fortune But when I foresawe that this Doctrine was most necessarie specially for such as were not furnished with learning I haue vsed in their behalfe the common and knowne woord not being ignorant what other men
generally most briefly S. Hierome thinketh of this matter where he sayth that there is neither Fortune nor destinie so that the common sort shall acknowledge and perceiue here their manner of speaking as for the learned which are but scarce they will vnderstand what I meane and shall not bee troubled with the vsuall woord Of the one part of this twoofold woorke concerning passions and fortune wee haue saide alredie what wee thought good of the other we will now speake what wee shall see conuenient Of deformitie of the bodie The first Dialogue Sorowe and Reason Sorowe I Complaine that Nature hath dealt verie hardlie with mee in making me euill fauoured Reason O howe manie fire brandes hath she quenched howe manie flames hath she repressed Sorowe Nature hath made mee deformed Reason She hath not giuen thee that which might delite thee if shee haue giuen thee that which may profit thee it is sufficient and therefore leaue thy complaintes Sorowe Nature hath not giueÌ„ me the grace of good fauour Reason Shee hath giuen thee nothing that sicknes might deface old age take away perhaps she hath giuen thee that which death it selfe dareth not touche Sorowe Nature hath denied me the fauour of the bodie Reason If she haue giueÌ„ thee the good fauour of the minde thou art much beholden to her contemne that repulse with a valiant minde and comfort the offence of the looking glasse with the vprightnesse of thy conscience Sorowe Nature hath enuied me the fauour of the bodie Reason She hath not enuied it thee but she is ashamed to giue thee that which is dailie diminished and wasted True liberalitie is perceiued by a coÌ„tinuing gift Rotten and transitorie giftes couetous persons do giue good fauour which is a fraile and transitorie gift of Nature is giuen vnto fewe for their profit vnto manie to their destruction but vnto none to their safetie and true glorie Sorowe Bodily fauour is denied vnto me Reason Excellent fauour of the bodie and honestie do verie seldome dwell together vnder one roofe It is wel with thee if the worse being excluded thou retein the better geast with thee Sorowe I haue no part of the comelinesse of good fauour Reason Why art thou sorie for that or what holie or godly matter doest thou reuolue in thy minde For what cause doest thou thinke the good fauour of the bodie to be necessarie for thee or not rather altogether burdensome and hindering Good fauour hath made manie adulterers but none chast Manie hath it ledde through the slipperinesse of pleasures vnto an infamous death who if they had been euill fauoured might haue liued without shame and danger What say I manie Yea it hath brought innumerable into trouble but all welnigh into blame Sorowe Why hath nature made me deformed Reason To the ende thou shouldest adorne and make thy selfe well fauoured with that fauour which may remaine with thee in thine old age in thy bedde â–ª in thy beere in thy graue and that which may be thine own commendation not the prayse of nature nor of thy parentes It is more beautifull to be made beautifull than so to be borne For the one commeth by chaunce the other by studie Sorowe Much deformitie of bodie oppresseth me Reason This deformitie of some is counted a part of vnhappinesse and miserie Beleeue thou me the minde is not defiled by deformitie of the bodie but the bodie adorned by the beautie and fauour of the mind Then it is not this that oppresseth or dishonesteth thee but it openeth the way and layeth foorth the matter and meane to honest the minde and to rise aloft through vertue Sorowe Nature hath brought mee foorth deformed into the world Reason If she had brought forth Helen euill fauoured or to speake of Men if Paris had been borne without good fauour perhappes Troy had stoode to this day Sorowe I complaine that I was borne euill fauoured Reason But fewe good men haue loued the comelinesse of the bodie none haue desired it manie haue reiected it for doing of which that Tuscane youth is commended who of his owne accorde mangled and defourmed the excellent beautie of his well fauoured face which he perceiued to be suspected of manie and enimie to his owne good name and hurtfull to the honestie of other farre vnlike vnto thee who wishest for that whereof he dispoiled him selfe and which fewe did euer enioye without hurt Sorowe I want good fauour Reason It is more safe to want that by meanes whereof thou mayest often fall into a doubtfull and painfull experiment of thy selfe Comelinesse beautie hath hurt manie it â—â—th troubled all manie aâ—â—â—r sundrie conflictes it hath made effeminate and made them easie to be ouercome and thrust them ouerthwartlie into blame and reproofe Sorowe My stature is deformed and to lowe Reason This discommoditie is not as thou supposest to bee complained of the lowe stature is more comelie light and nimble Sorowe My stature is verie short Reason Who can gainesay that as a bigge man dwelleth in a litle house so may a valiant courage in a small bodie Sorowe My bodie is small Reason Thou lamentest for that thou art not a burden vnto thy selfe but light and dapper and actiue vnto all things Sorowe My bodie is verie small Reason Who euer complained of a small burden Thou hast a iust cause truelie to be sorie for that thou art not oppressed with the greatnes of the bodie but onelie hast a bodie neither art a burden to thy selfe but an vsuall necessarie Sorowe I am of a contemptible stature Reason As nothing is glorious but vertue so nothing is contemptible but vice Vertue respecteth no stature Sorow The stature of my bodie is smal Reason Vertue requireth not the stature of the bodie but of the minde If this be long right large magnifical or comelie whatsoeuer the other be it skilleth not not only not at home but not so much as in the field at warfare vnlesse it seeme to be more hurtful Thou knowest how the most noble captaine Marius chose tough stroÌ„g not tall souldiers Which thing how wiselie and with howe fortunate successe he attempted his often and great conquestes do testifie As for the heigth tallenesse of the bodie it carieth more maiestie with it but lesse force Sorowe My stature is short Reason The same hindreth thee not but that thou mayest notwithstanding be a good and valiant man yea if neede were and fortune so serued a King or an Emperour For although that Scipio Africane were tall of bodie and Iulius Caesar of a loftie stature notwithstanding Alexander King of Macedonia and Augustus Caesar â—ere but lowe neither did their shortnessed 〈◊〉 bodie hinder their greatnesse of minde nor deâ—â—act anie thing from their fame â—â—â—owe I woul◠〈◊〉 â—â—â—r and greater Reason Arise 〈…〉 â—â—â—e and thou shalt bee greater and â—aâ—â—er 〈…〉 more profitable and easie encrease Sorowe I deâ—â—e to bee well fauoured Reason Learne to loue and wishe for that
may feede my cattayle and I my selfe wyll resolue thee in this matter Then he answeared that it was impossible But she sendyng for such Noble men and Gentlemen as dwelt neere hande and causyng hym to geue his woorde for the perfourmance of his promyse helde vppe her young sonne in her armes and Is this my chylde in deede myne sayde she And when they all answeared yea she stretched foorth her armes and delyuered hym vnto her husbande and heere sayde she take hym I geue hym thee freely and nowe be assured that he is thyne Then al that stoode by brake foorth in laughter and gaue iudgemente on the womans syde and condemned the husbande by all theyr verdictes Such contentions and lamentations are thereto often among men they be hastie to marriage yea slipperie and headlong you thynke you shall neuer see the day wherein you shal be husbandes that is to say men as though otherwyse you shoulde neuer be men Then beyng resolued in ioyes or to speake more truely in madnesse the fyrst dayes of your marriage you spende in reuel route feastyng and daunsing among your weddyng solemnities with pastimes and songes and minstrelles and the residue of your lyfe you spende in suspition and braulyng In both you are to blame For neyther ought you in suche sorte to loue so doubtful a thyng neyther to abhorre so inseparable a thyng nor to hate so louely a thyng and by deceiptfull coniectures so to confounde the moste sacred lawes of the diuine and humane house and dissolue the moste entyre bondes of this lyfe Sorowe Yea my wyfe her selfe hath confessed that he is none of myne Reason Thou tellest me this as yf it were some syngular matter but it is common some confesse so muche whyle they are lyuing and some when they lye a dying among whom some haue wylled to haue it imparted vnto theyr husbandes after theyr departure Sorowe Myne owne wyfe hath conâ—essed vnto me that he is 〈…〉 my sonne Reason Olimpias that was wyfe vnto the renowmed kyng Phillip of Macedonie confessed as muche vnto her husbande whiche myght haue tended vnto the destruction of her valiant sonne and yet we reade neyther of teares nor sighes nor complayntes among them all Nowe hearken to a meery tale but not vnfyt for our purpose Not far from the Ocean Sea shore whiche lyeth right ouer agaynst Britaine not very many yeeres agoe report goeth that there was a certayne poore woman fayre and well fauoured but a notable Harlot who had twelue small chyldren by as many seuerall men one of them but a yeere elder then other But beyng sicke when she perceyued that the houre of her death was come she caused her husband to be called vnto her and this is no tyme sayde she nowe to dissemble any longer there is none of all these chyldren thyne but the eldest only for the first yeere that we were married I lyued honestly It chaunced that at the same time al the children sate on the ground about the fire eating according to the maner of the countrey At which woordes the good man was amazed and the children also that hearde their mothers communication whose fathers she reckoned al by name as they were in order of yeeres Which thyng the youngest of them all hearyng who was then but three yeeres olde immediatly layde downe his bread which was in his ryght hande and the Rape roote whiche he had in his left vppon the grounde besyde hym and tremblyng with feare and holdyng vp his handes after the maner of them that pray Now good mother quoth he geue me a good father And when in the ende of her speache she had tolde who was father to the youngest to wit a certayne famous ryche man takyng vp his bread and meate agayne in his hand That is well sayde he I haue a good father Of the losse of a brother The Lj. Dialogue SOROWE I Haue loste my brother Reason Yet I heare no cause why thou shouldest be very sory For Ouid sayth to true that there is seldome agreement betweene brethren Sorowe I haue lost my brother Reason It may be that thou hast at once lost both a brother and an housholde enimie Loe see then what thou hast lost an yll thyng couered with a good name Sorowe I haue lost a brother Reason Perhappes thou hast lost hym that hath wyshed thee lost and that alwayes resisted thyne attemptes Brothers hatred hath hyndred many from the entraunce vnto great commendation Sorowe I haue lost a brother Reason Thou hast lost peraduenture an heauie yoke as oftentymes we haue seene it fal out vnto the tender yeeres of thy chyldren thou hast lost also the enuier of thy lyfe the hynderer of thy glory and also which is euident the partner of thy patrimonie Sorow But I haue lost a vertuous and louyng brother Reason But a mortall one Vertue is no defence to the body but an ornament to the mynde and a procurer of immortall glory but as for the body she cannot exempt it from the power of death but rather thrusteth it forwarde many tymes thereunto before due tyme but yf he be left vnto nature good and had doo perysh a lyke and most commonly we see the best men weakest and the woorst long lyued but none immortall Sorowe I haue lost a good and gloryous brother Reason If thy brother be dead the glory vertue soule remaineth in safetie which only excepted death consumeth and destroyeth all other worldly thinges with lyke violence These therfore embrace thou as yf they were so many sonnes of thy brother with these immortal good things requite the mortal euil but if he haue sonnes liuing vnfeigned duetifulnes shal make them thine Sorowe I haue lost a good brother Reason Thou shouldest haue employed hym diligently which if thou diddest necligently his death is not to be blamed but thyne owne slouthfulnes Death hath exercised his power but thou hast slacked thyne oportunitie Sorow Death hath deceiued me for I thought not that he woulde haue died so soone Reason All thinges that happen vnto them that are vnwillyng seeme to come quickly but if they be wished for they come but slowly Sorowe I scarce thought that he could haue died Reason Vehement loue beareth with it selfe in al things and promiseth it selfe euery thyng vnpleasant thoughtes whatsoeuer is noysome vnto cast it escheweth insomuche as whosoeuer is in loue imagineth vnto hym selfe that his pleasures are in a maner euerlastyng thou since thou knewest that thy brother was borne oughtest also to knowe that he was mortall and therefore yf thou bewayle his tymely death as some sodaine matter thou art much deceyued but if as it were vntymely thou wast in a wrong opinion Sorowe I knewe that he was mortall but I thought not vpon his death Reason Vnwysely doone but this is your dissimulation beyng mortall ye thynke neuer to dye when as you may chaunce to dye euery day and needes you muste dye one day Yea rather it is the
as are certaine people vnder the South and North poles therefore among the Scithians as thou seest it is written there is no offence more greeuous then theft And the reason is this that if men there myght robbe freely among the woods what should remaine to the owner Sorowe Theeues steale my goodes Reason They would haue them be theirs and thou forbiddest not thynke therfore that thy necligence is punished and that by this losse thou art taught to keepe thine owne profitable matters are not taught for naught Sorowe Theeues doo very muche trouble me Reason Truely they are an importunate kynde of men worthyly hated of all that are vertuous not only as pestilent but also as vyle persons And knowe this that it proceedeth of none other then a great basenesse of mynde that any man is drawen vnto so vyle a wickednesse And therefore not without good cause Aurelius Alexander who was a young but a vertuous Prince fell so much in hatred of theeues that as Helius Lampridius writeth of hym if he had seene any such he had his fynger redy to plucke out one of his eyes Suche was his hatred agaynst those that were infamous for Theeuery that yf by chaunce he sawe any of them his spirite was so inuaded agaynst them that immediatly he was prouoked to vomite out choler his face being so enflamed that he coulde not speake a woord Truely a notable disdaine of a valiant mind and a shameful filthinesse in the theeues whiche was able so sodenly to moue the stomacke of so high and excellent a prynce vnto lothsomnesse and vomiting Yea moreouer when as on a tyme a certayne noble man being accused of theft at lengh through great fauour of certaine Ringes that were his freendes had obteyned to be sent foorth to warfaire and was immediatly taken with theft agayne for they that are geuen to that vice through custome are neuer able to leaue it Alexander demaunded of the kynges which had preferred hym what punishment there was for theeues in their countreyes Whereunto when they answeared hangyng he caused hym forthwith by theyr iudgment to be hanged Sorowe I am molested with theeues Reason Circumspection and diligent heede takyng are good remedies agaynst theeues but the best of al is pouertie As long as a man hath any thing that they do lyke of he can not wel escape their handes or eyes Wouldest thou be out of the feare of theeues be poore then Of robberies The .lxi. Dialogue SOROWE I Am spoyled by theeues Reason Although as I suppose it be written in the ciuile lawe that there is no theefe woorse then he that taketh away a thing by force yet notwithstanding priuie pilferers be woorse in my opinion These theeues do woorke by craft but those by open violence And therfore after the opinion of Cicero these are likened to foxes and those to Lions And moreouer these theeues do spoyle men of their goods but they leaue suspicion behinde them But to be robbed by good felowes suffiseth in a maner they leaue no suspicion behinde thē Sorow I haue fallen into the hands of theeues who haue left me naked Reason Iulius Caesar fel into the hands of theeues also by whom he was not onely spoyled but also taken prisoner and set at a great raunsome for his delyuerie euen he that was afterwarde lorde of al the world although the reuenge whiche shortly folowed comforted hym muche in this aduersitie whiche is no smal aswagement of iniuries Regulus that was so often a conquerour fel into the hands of his enimies who put him to a most cruel death to the great and greeuous losse and daunger of your whole Empire Likewise Valerianus the Emperour fel within the daunger of his enimies who to the great dispargement of the whole Empire constreyned hym to leade foorth his olde yeeres in most silthy and shameful seruitude Thou yf thou be nothyng but robbed geue thankes to fortune and the theeues that robbed thee for leauing vnto thee thy lyfe and libertie For theeues haue no greater benefite then that which Cicero maketh mention of in his Philippikes for that they can say they haue geuen them their lyues from whom they haue not taken them Take thou therefore this thy fortune in good part which is common vnto these notable personages and many other famous men whiche yf it were compared with theirs would appeare much more easie and to be wished and desire not to be more happie then they that are called the most happie of al men Of Coosinage and deceit The .lxii. Dialogue SOROW. I Am deceyued by coosiners Reason Doest thou marueyle at it I shoulde rather marueyle if by keeping company with men thou couldest escape vnhurt For what man is he that deceiueth not another Trustinesse is bannished and deceit beareth the soueraintie and is this the first tyme that thou hast consydered this Not with so great studie do the hunters lay suares for wylde beastes nor the foulers set ginnes to take byrdes as craftie coosyners seeke meanes to deceyue the simple Whiche if it were euer true now is it most true in this your age A man may poynt with the finger vnto maisters of craft and he is counted the wysest that is most cunning in deceyuing Wouldest thou therefore not be deceyued Dye then or auoyde the companye of men Sorow I am craftily circumuented whereas I neuer feared it Reason If thou haddest feared it perhappes thou haddest not been so easily deceyued and now think with thy selfe whether thou also euer deceyuedst any man For ye be al of you for the most part prone to deceyue and reason woulde thou shouldest take that with more indifferencie at another mans handes whiche thou thy selfe hast done before to another But you consider not what ye do to others and cannot abide that which others doo vnto you so that in al thynges ye be most vniuft iudges Sorow I haue suffered a losse through the deceite of my freende Reason Herein as in many thinges els thou art abused for in freendshyp there is no deceit And in this poynt also ye be commonly deceyued supposing them to be freendes that are not and by experiment ye easily fynde that freendshyp is a most inestimable holy thing so ouer curious ye are in trifles that by once banketting or communing togeather you get a freende whom so soone as you haue gotten ye loose hym yf that may be called lost whiche you neuer had And then afterward ye complayne that ye are deceyued by your freendes and bryng this slaunder vpon freendshyp that is giltlesse of any suche deede Sorow I am damnified by deceyte Reason It hath done many good that they haue been deceiued hereafter thou wylt be the waryer some by the losse of a small thyng haue auoyded the daunger of greater matters Sorowe A vyle coosiner hath deceyued me Reason Nay rather he hath awaked thee and sharpened thy wyt and hath taught thee to trust none but suche as thou hast tryed and persons of
very fewe among many are able to say so for of so many thousand thousandes as are borne howe many are there that atteyne to olde age And of them that do howe many lyue out the lawful tyme that they may be called old Sorowe I am very olde Reason It is a myracle to meete with a verie old man specially if a man thinke with hym selfe with how many dangers on steppes he hath passed to that age The great rarenesse of olde folke is a great argument of the manyfolde chaunces of this mortal lyfe Sorowe I am olde Reason Thou hast runne an hard and daungerous race it were marueyle but that by this tyme beyng weerie and desirous to rest thou were glad to see the ende so nigh Sorowe I am soone waxen olde Reason The course of your lyfe is sometyme short sometyme very short neuer long alwayes hard rough and vncertayne the last part whereof is olde age and the ende death what cause hast thou here to complayne alone Art thou waxen old By this time then thou oughtest to haue fulfilled the dueties of life and now rest thy self seing thou art come to the end thereof That traueiler were worse then mad that being weerie and weakened with his long iourney woulde be content to goe backe agayne There is nothyng more acceptable to them that are weerie then their Inne Sorowe I am aged Reason The toyles of thy lyfe haue been pleasant vnto thee belike if thou be sorie thou hast passed them Sorowe I am an olde man. Reason If thou haddest a delyte to lyue loe thou hast lyued what needes thou must do thou hast fulfilled And who is so mad that wylbe sorie for the doing of that whiche he wyshed vnlesse he perceyue that he wyshed a misse or reioyceth not that that is done alredy that might not be left vndone nor be done without great trauayle And therefore on euery side thou hast cause to reioyce whether thou hast obteyned thy wyshed desire or accomplyshed thy necessarie and payneful duetie Sorow I am in yeeres and olde age hath chased away the delites of the body Reason Enioy the pleasures of the minde which are as many and truely more permanent and do neuer depart but when the soule departeth to her they cleaue her they folowe But bodilye pleasures when they come they bring offence and when they depart they leaue behinde them cause of repentance shame and sorowe Reioyce that thou art discharged and free from them and geue thankes to thy deliuerer for bringing thee out of the handes of thine enimies and causing thee do folowe thy duetie which thou haddest deferred and neglected Sorow I am olde and want mine accustomed pleasures Reason Accustome thy selfe then to new for olde age hath it proper pleasures whiche when thou hast tasted thou wylt loath those whiche thou hast lost if thou mightest euen rufe to returne vnto them Sorow I am olde and gray headed Reason The reuerende hoarie heares of a vertuous olde man carie with them not onely more aucthoritie but also honest delite then al the filthy pleasures of young men neyther be thou greeued at the changyng of their colour For whose senses are so corrupted or iudgment blynded that he woulde not rather beholde baskets ful of white Lilies then hutches full of blacke coales And yf he were to be transfourmed had not rather be made a whyte swanne then a blacke crowe Sorowe I am olde and the filthy wrincles haue furrowed my face Reason The forrowed lande bryngeth foorth the ranker corne and the lyfe that hath been wel instructed yeeldeth the ryper and pleasanter fruite in olde age If the wrincles of thy face offende thee frame the countenance of thy minde vnto more comlinesse whiche wyll neuer be deformed with wrincles nor altered with yeeres but rather encrease by continuance and to be short wyl do thee more honour if thou neglect it not Sorowe I am olde and become so wrincled and euyl fauoured that I scarce knowe my selfe Reason I tolde thee at the begynning of this Nowe thou wylt haue lesse desire to looke in a glasse lesse please thine owne perhaps but much lesse the eyes of wanton women whom to haue a desire to delite I cannot easily determine whether it tast of greater vanitie then lasciuiousnesse But they that séeke for trustinesse for constancie for grauitie for wysedome do hope more assuredly to fynde them among these wrincles then where the forehead and cheekes be playne and smoath and soft Sorow I am aged and the sweetest part of my lyfe haue I left behynd me Reason Nay surely the sowrest for those thynges that are most wyshed for are not alwayes best Many haue desired their owne hurte which they would not do were not the saying of the Satirike Poet true There are but fewe that can discerne the true goodes Sorowe I am olde and my pleasant dayes are past Reason The dayes in al tymes are muche one and lyke but mens mindes do varie yea one minde disagreeth from it selfe Hereof it commeth that the madnesse of youth on the one side and the impaciencie of olde age on the other haue in such sort disturbed the iudgement of this lyfe that that is counted good whiche is euyl and that most excellent whiche is woorst of al. As for the dayes they are of them selues al good for asmuch as the kyng and creatour of al worldes is good And although some dayes be hotte and some cold some drye and some moyst some cloudy and some cleare some troublesome and some calme yet yf thou haue a respect vnto the beautie of the whole worlde and the course of nature they be al good But yf they be referred vnto you and your iudgement they are almost al of them euyl sorowful doubtful heauie troublesome careful bitter plaintile lamentable ful of aduersitie Among these thou tellest me a tale of certayne pleasant ones I knowe not what whiche whiles they were present were heauie and not without their complaintes and nothing maketh them now seem pleasant but that they are past and the desire thou hast that they shoulde returne maketh them deare vnto thee and the rather for that perhaps they haue caried away with them some thynges whereby thou settest no small store A foole commonly loueth nothyng but that he hath lost Sorowe I am waren old but O that my young dayes woulde returne agayne Reason O no lesse foolyshe then vayne wyshe as thou meanest but yf thy vnderstandyng were of hygher matters then were it not voyde for it wyl surely come agayne one day and according as it is written Thyne youth shal be renewed as is were the youth of an Eagle Sorowe I am olde and my good tyme is past Reason As euery age is good to the good so is it euyl to the euyll liuers vnto both sure it is but short and very neare to the ende when as the godly shal be rewarded for their vertue and the wycked punished for their sinnes Which is then
fortune that they myght seeme to be vnmindfull of their Empire and ryches and conquestes and so many and great commodities and yet to remember that they were men for whom in this lyfe to looke or hope for perfect and sounde felicitie is but a meere madnesse To mingle the sweete with the sowre is a peculiar medicine agaynst the gout and a common remedie agaynst all diseases which thou shalt fynde to be very effectuall and wylt confesse to be good and vertuous counsayle if thou followe the aduice of that godly olde man who once attayned vnto great prosperitie and afterwarde tasted extreame aduersitie who by meanes of the benefites which he receyued at Gods handes learned to take all affliction in good part although that same hand can neyther make nor geue any euyl but he had only a respect vnto the common opinion of men Sorow The gout keepeth me downe in my bedde as yf I were bounde with knottes that can neuer be vndoone Reason Whyle thou lyes thy minde may stande vp and suruey the whole heauen earth and sea Of Scabbes The Lxxxv. Dialogue SOROWE I Am greeued with paynefull Scabbes Reason I maruel now no longer if thou take in yl part those that be greefes only seeing thou also bewailest that wherewith there is some sweetenesse mingled Sorow I am vexed with the greeuous scab Reason Some say that it is holsome to be scabbed But for that I wyl not cal so woful a thyng by so good a name I tearme it a token of health or the way leading to health It is but a gentle thing for that it is not long in comming foorth whose issuing is somtime ioyned with no small tickling Sorow The dry scab molesteth me Reason Thou needest now no clock nor watch for the same wyl awake thee in the night and cal thee vp vnto thy necessarie honest affayres For there is none so slouthful whom the payneful scab wyl not styr vp and make wakeful Sorow I am vexed with scabbes Reason A base disease but which hath a noble cure labour paine heate bathes watching diet these are medicines against scabbes If these wyl do no good thou must flee to the remedie of pacience which in al diseases is the most profitable salue Sorowe I am troubled with the paynefull and fylthie scab Reason I denie neither of them And whereas Publius sayd that the sore feete of one that had the Gout were a paynefull rest so on my woorde mayest thou say that a payre of scabbed handes are a greeuous businesse But what wylt thou say to this The loathsommer the disease is the comlier is the patience And how yf out of a small discommoditie thou reape great profite This is one of the thinges that especially engender a contempt of this body then whiche is nothing more necessarie for mankind Sorow I am al ouer infected with scabbes Reason That thou art al scabbed I thinke it be too true and I stande in great feare thereof But perhaps this is more then thou wouldest haue sayd For thou meanest it of thy whole body but there is an other kind of inuisible scabbe in your mindes to wit couetousnesse and sensualitie and a certaine vehement uching to reuenge and complaine which the more it is scratched the more it rageth This itche ye neyther feele or craue to haue cured so muche is your care lesse ouer your soules then ouery our bodyes Of watching The .lxxxvi. Dialogue SOROW. I Cannot sleepe Reason Watch then and reioyce that the ryme of thy lyfe is prolonged For betweene sleepe and death there is small difference but that the one lasteth but for a tyme the other is perpetual And therefore I cannot tel whether it be not sayde properly enough that sleepe is a short death and death a long and euerlasting sleepe Sorowe I haue lost my sleepe Reason It must be prouoked agayne not by force but by fayre meanss If thou thinke to procure it it wyl not be constrained Goe some other way to woorke geue rest to thyne head and trouble not thy minde with cares and it wyll come vnlooked for when the minde is loose and the body weerie sleepe wyl came stealyng on Sorowe My sleepes are often broken of Reason Do as it is sayde Augustus Caesar was woont to do when thou wakest out of sleepe haue some about thee to renue it agayne by readyng or tellyng of tales But if it be long of earnest and vrgent cares lay them aside and sleepe wyl come of whiche sort of cares Virgil speaketh where he sayth that good cares do breake sweete sleepes Sorowe I can take no rest in sleepe Reason Neyther shalt thou then be terrified with dreadfuldreames nor surprised with suddeyne feare in the night And although Aristotle hold opinion that the visions whiche wyse men see in their sleepe be good true in deede it is Neuerthelesse the one of these who was nothing inferiour vnto hym in wit but of greater aucchorine the other in al respectes his equal in holinesse and pacience whom I mentioned erewhyle endured great extremitie and trouble in their dreames What others haue fealt and suffered euery one is priute vnto hymselfe and can cal his owne bed to wytnesse of the illusions and troubles whiche he hath susteynâ—d Truely the one of these was woont in his latter dayes to be terrified in his dreames as it is wrytten of hym The other I made mention of not long since where I entreated of rest and quietnesse who among other troubles of this lyfe complayneth of his suddayne frightyng in sleepe and the terrour of his visions and drcames Sorowe I slepe not so wel as I was woont Reason Then thou lyuest longer then thou wast woont for thus the learned say that as sleepe is death so watchyng is lyfe Sorow Sickenesse hath dryuen away my sleepe Reason Then health wyl bryng it agayne Sorowe Loue hath bannished my sleepe Reason Thou speakest one thing twyse For loue is a sickenesse and the greatest sickenesse that is Sorowe Feare hath bannished away my sleepe Reason Securitie wyl reuoake it Sorow Olde age hath taken away my sleepe Reason Death approchyng wyl restore it Of the vnquietnesse of dreames The .lxxxvii. Dialogue SOROW. I Am disquieted with dreames Reason If that be true whiche a certayne wyse man sayth that dreames doo folow great cares whiche is also confirmed by your wryters then cut of the cause of the mischeefe abandon cares and dreames wyl vanish away To what purpose serue your manyfold cares whiche are to none effect in so short a lyfe whereof in the begynnyng I promised to entreate and to declare that it is bootlesse to forment it and make it troublesome and through your owne follie to disquiet your rest with dreadâ—full dreames Wyl ye ouercome gods prouidence with your owne counsel and do ye not perceyue howe your madnesse and cousultations of that tyme whiche is not onely beyond your iudgement but also your knowledge are laughed at from an high Neyther
tyme the diuinitie and Godhead humbled hymselfe to woorke your saluation although he coulde yet woulde he not take vppon hym any other then the body and soule of man neyther woulde he impart the vnion of his Godhead vnto the shape of the Angelles but of men to the ende that thereby thou myghtest vnderstande and reioyce howe deerely thy Lorde and GOD loueth thee For by this meanes as S. Augustine sayth notably hath he reuealed vnto those that are in the fleshe whiche are not able in mynde to discerne the trueth and are altogether lead by the bodyly senses howe hygh a place mans nature possesseth among al creatures Yea ouer and besydes al this he who by this marueylous and mercifull vouchsafeing preferred you before the Angels set Angels also ouer you to keepe and defende you that by all meanes he myght declare your excellencie aboue all other creatures For S. Ierome sayth That your soules are of suche estimation that euery one at theyr first creation hath an Angell appoynted vnto hym for his defence and safegarde Truely GOD hath a fatherly and more then a fatherly care ouer you and a litle to wrest the saying of the Satyrike Poet He loueth man more dearely then his owne selfe What place for sadnesse and complayntes is there lefte among these blessinges Wherefore it is not your nature but your fault that maketh you heauie and complaynyng Sorowe The basenesse of my byrth the frayltie of my nature and nakednesse and pouertie and hardnesse of fortune and shortnesse of lyfe and vncertentie of my ende doo make me heauie Reason Of purpose ye seeke matter to make your selues sadde when as ye ought otherwyse to endeuour to the contrarie that ye myght reioyce in honest gladnesse But I knowe your custome ye be verie dilygent to procure your owne harmes And therefore concernyng the basenesse of thy byrth or deformitie of thy bodye whatsoeuer is amplified vppon that ground by the witte and inuention of any when as the generall resurrection shall come whiche men of vpryght fayth doo vndoubtedly looke for shall not onely be taken away by the woorthynesse of the gloryfying of the bodyes but also be diminished by the present beautie and the singuler Maiestie wherewith GOD hath endued man aboue all the woorkes of his handes For wherein can the basenesse of byrth disparage the dignitie of man Doo not tal and spreadyng Trees whiche growe vppon filthy rootes couer the greene fieldes with their pleasaunt shadowe Doo not the rankest Corne spryng from most filthie dunge and yet so vile an encrease of so excellent a thyng is not contemned You are the corne of GOD that must be clensed vppon the floore of his iudgement and be layde vp in the barne of the great Maister of the housholde although your originall come from the earth and in some part it be excellent and of an heauenly nature but let it be what euer it wyll and be the encrease neuer so difficult yet the last restyng place thereof is Heauen What shall we say vnto the nakednesse and imbecilitie of the bodye and the pynchyng want of many thynges whiche are ascribed vnto the reproche of mans estate Are they not supplyed by the assistaunce of sundrie artes and manifolde prouisions so that they may be rather applyed vnto the glorie of man then to his miserie Whiche appeareth to be true in that dame Nature hath prouided for all other lyuyng creatures that want the vse of Reason a thycke hyde clawes and hayre to couer them withall but vnto man she hath geuen onely vnderstandyng to be a meane to fynde out all other thynges withall to the ende that the bruite beastes myght be in safetie by meanes of an outwarde defence but man by his owne inwarde purueyance and the fyrst shoulde haue as muche as was borne with them and no more but man as muche as he coulde by experience of lyuyng and meditatyng with hym selfe compasse by his witte In lyke manner yf a Maister geue any vaintie meate vnto his Seruantes and Hindes he deuideth vnto euery one his portion by hym selfe but vnto his wyfe and chylde he geueth none so that the Seruauntes must haue no more then that whiche was geuen them but the other may take as much as they lyst thus is the one sort stinted and the other are at theyr libertie Thus then when these other creatures waxe bald eyther by meanes of olde age or manginesse or haue sore eyes or fall lame we see they haue none other remedie but that which is mnistred vnto them by men but man beyng of himselfe naked is clothed and beautified and yf neede require is also armed with his witte and yf he chaunce to fall lame or be weake then he rideth vppon an Horse or sayleth in a Shyp or is carried in a Couche or leaueth vpon a Staffe To be short he assayeth all meanes to helpe and ease hym selfe yea though he haue lost some lym he practiseth to make him selfe legges of Wood handes of Iron nose of Waxe and prouiding against all mishaps yf he waxe sicke he helpeth hym selfe with medicines and with diuers sauces he quickneth his dull taste with medicines for the eyes he cleareth the dulnesse of theyr syght in whiche thyng ye haue deuised more wysely then dyd your forefathers who Anneus Seneca writeth vsed to occupy vessels of Glasse full of water whiche is a game very delectable vnto nature who is a pleasaunt and sweete mother in that she restoreth that vnto her chylde whiche she tooke from hym and when she hath made hym sorie she comforteth hym agayne Yea ouer and aboue this the Horse the Oxe the Elephant the Camel the Lion the Tyger the Parde and all other beastes of what strength so euer they be when they are once olde are no longer regarded and when they be dead they are no more hearde of they yeelde vnto olde age and geue place vnto death onely vertue whiche is proper vnto man alone maketh hym that is indued therewith honourable in his olde age and gloryous at his death and not beyng able to extynguyshe hym transporteth hym ouer vnto felicitie To be short there are some lyuyng creatures stronger then man some swyfter some quicker of sense none more excellent in dignitie none in lyke sorte regarded of the creator Vnto the head he hath geuen a Sphericall figure and as it were the forme of a Starre And whereas all other lyuyng creatures looke downe towardes the grounde he made man to turne his face vpwardes and to behold the heauens and to lyft his countenance towardes the starres as it is notably sayd of Ouid. although it were spoken before by Tully He gaue hym eyes he made hym a foreheade in the whiche the secretes of the minde shoulde shyne he hath geuen also reason and speache he hath geuen weeping he hath geuen laughing whiche are significations of secrete and hidde affections although some doo drawe them to an argument of miserie because hastie weeping is late laughing For
as soone as he is borne he weepeth by and by and laugheth not before fourtie dayes are expired that thing especially this wise creature doth proue which is skylful of thynges to come not the end whiche I accompt happie through the gouernance of vertue but rather difficult for that he is entred into trauel and the garboyle of present paynes To conclude whatsoeuer strength is in all other creatures whatsoeuer swiftnesse whatsoeuer oportunitie whatsoeuer commoditie it wholly serueth to the vse of man He bringeth the wilde headed Oxen to the yoke forceth the fierce Horse to be bridled The Beares that are to be feared for their clawes Boares for their tuskes and Hartes for their hornes he hath made them to garnyshe mans Table The Linx the Foxe and an infinite number moe creatures of that sort because they were not to be eaten he hath reserued for the vse of their skins and hide He searcheth the seas with nettes the wooddes with Dogges and the skies with foules and with whom hath man nothing to doo He hath taught such beastes to vnderstand mans voyce to be obedient vnto hym Thus of euery naturall thyng there is some commodity gotten Thou hast not the strength of an Oxe yet thou makest hym to drawe Thou hast not the swyftnesse of an Horse and yet thou makest hym runne Thou canst not flye so well as a Gosehauke and yet thou makest hym flye for thee Thou art not so bygge as an Elephant or a Camell yet thou makest the one of them to beare a Turret and the other a burden Thou hast not the skynne of a Bucke nor the pelt of a Lambe nor the case of a Foxe yet these haue them for thee Is this answeare then of a certayne Romane Captaine improper vnto them that say you are destitute of these thynges to witte That a man would not haue these thinges but had rather gouerne them that haue them And thus muche haue I spoken breefely partly like a Philosopher and partly like a Catholike Touching the greefe of the minde for so the Philosophers doo tearme it the better to expell it and purchase tranquilitie thereunto it auayleth to knowe what Tullie hath disputed of the fyrst in his disputations vppon the thyrde daye in his Tusculans and of the seconde Seneca in his booke whiche he wrote of the tranquilitie of the minde For whilest I make haste vnto other matters and drawe towardes an ende I shall not haue tyme to comprehende all thynges that I woulde For the present it is sufficient that I haue bounde vp the wounde and shewed thee the Phisitions of the minde whose helpe thou mayest vse yf these thynges be not sufficient Nowe as touchyng those three thynges whereof thou complaynedst laste I haue not thought them woorthie the answearyng for as muche as of the roughnesse of Fortune wherein the greater part of this our seconde booke of talke hath been and shal be spent both the very shortnesse thereof ought to mollifie and diminishe the sharpenesse it selfe and nature also doth appoynt an vncertayne ende of lyfe that it may seeme alwayes to be at hande or not verie farre of Of the Toothache The XCiiij Dialogue SOROWE I Am tormented with the Toothach Reason Thou mayst see what trust there is to thy intrayles when as thy bones doo fayle thee Sorowe My teeth beginne to be loose Reason What hope is there in the softe since that thy harde and strong limmes doo quaile Sorowe I am sicke in my teethe Reason Man is a feeble and frayle creature in whom suche thynges as seemed to be most strong are weake Sorow I am troubled with a great payne in my teeth Reason And those thynges whiche are appoynted for the ornament and cheefe strength of the mouth thou seest them to be turned into a cause of greefe that thou mayest perceyue howe long the conioynyng of this mortall frame wyll remayne Sorowe I haue nowe loste a toothe or twayne Reason Now mayest thou then consyder howe muche thou art bounde vnto GOD for so many great good gyftes since to lacke the fewest or the least thereof thou wouldest thynke it a great greefe and a lamentable losse a right woorthy punishment for thine ingratiude A seruant that hath refused his maisters present lyberalitie when the tyme is once past he is sorowful and that whiche he would not perceyue for his gayne it is meete he vnderstand to his losse Sorowe I am quite vnarmed of my teeth Reason Beyng nowe vnarmed thou shalt wrestle with pleasure thou shalt eate lesse thou shalt laugh lesse thou shalt byte more bluntly at an other mans good name The closure of the teeth beyng broken wyl cause thee to brydle thy tongue being redy to speake And if chastitie cause not thy olde wanton affection to restrayne from vnlawful kisses then let shame restrayne it Sorowe Nowe hath olde age broken my teeth Reason She hath vsed her libertie geue now thankes vnto nature who hath suffered thee to vse that her gift tyl thou were olde for that she taketh it away many tymes from them that are young as from one amongst you of late dayes the myghtiest of al kynges who euen in his lustye youthful yeeres lacked almost al his teeth but though he suffred this great infirmitie of youth yet afterward as he reported hym selfe he was comforted with a notable sharpenesse of sight in his olde age and also whereof he maketh no mencion with a wonderful quickenesse of wyt and courage whiche is a profitable example vnto al men that are affected with any discommoditie eyther of nature or age that they lament not al thynges or terme euery slackenesse of gods lyberalitie an iniury but aswage the greefe of benefites lost with them that art saued sharpe thynges with the gentle sower with the sweete Sorowe Olde age hath taken away my teeth Reason If age should not take them away death would Looke into the graues ful of dead bones where thou shalt see teeth sticking in drye rotten skulles whiche at the first do shewe terrible pale gryn fearefully but yf thou plucke them a litle thou shalt finde them loose and easie to fal out and in this case neyther the number nor the strength nor comlinesse of them auayleth any whit at al. We reade that the daughter of Mithridates king of Pontus had double rowes of teeth aboue beneath Prusias sonne to the king of Bithinia in steede of the rowe of his vpper teeth had only one tooth that is to say one bone that was matche with his neither teeth reachyng from the one side of his iawe vnto the other which strange thing was neither vncomly nor vnprofitable But Zenobia the queene of the East amongst al other commendations of her beautie is commended exceedingly for the surpassing comlinesse of her teeth for that when she eyther spake or laughed it seemed that her mouth was ful rather of bright pearles then of white teeth But yf thou searche nowe the graues of these also thou shalt
endeuour neuerthelesse with all diligence that thou encrease thy strength euery day somewhat and abate thy burden Of great dulnesse of witte The C. Dialogue SOROWE BVT I am heauie and dull witted Reason This griefe is something troublesome but it may be muche diminished yf thou applie thy selfe diligently therevnto Sorowe But I am of a slow and dul witte Reason What thynkest thou that thou art able to helpe this griefe with repynyng and mournyng this matter is to be remedied farre otherwyse Thou must abstayne from too muche sleepe from letcherie from meate from wine from vayne fables and tales from takyng occasion of excuses and yeeldyng too muche vnto sluggyshnesse which thorowe thy faulte is nowe growen into nature But thou oughtest rather to watche to muse to sigh to blowe to stryue to contend to ryse to styrre vp the strength of the mind to aduaunce thy courage to put away heauinesse to abandone stouth to abstayne from pleasures and earnestly to applye thy booke There is nothyng so heauie but that earnest applying wyll lyfte it vp nothyng so harde but it wyll make it softe nothyng so dull but it wyll make it sharpe nothyng so slowe but it wyll pricke it forwarde to be short there is nothyng so deepely hydden nor so secretely layde vp but it wyll fetche it foorth nor so deadlye a sleepe but that it wyll make it Sorowe I am slowe of witte Reason Suche as say that quicknesse of witte is a commendation I am sure wyll affirme that slowenesse of vnderstandyng is an infamie Yet had I rather haue a slowe witte and a modest then one that is hastie and furious for as in the one there is no hope of great glorie or of abundance of ryches so in the other there is daunger of greeuous errours and feare of shamefull reproche For it is a great deale more tollerable for a man to become inglorious then infamous Sorow I am slowe of witte Reason That whiche men wont to complaine of in rydyng of dull Horses prouide thou for thy selfe to witte spurres and reignes and herein thou shalt take no occasion of excuse but rather thou hast matter ministred vnto thee of labour There are some that thynke a thyng shoulde be left of yf it wyll not come to passe by and by but doo thou stay be earnest and doo thy endeuour Difficultie doth prouoke a couragious mind and labour nourisheth it therein doth it contende cheefely esteemeth of that thyng most wherein it findeth most resistance Thou readest how Socrates was made wyse by studie and Demosthenes eloquent by industrie the lyke hath chaunced vnto many there are not many that attaine to a notable name report of thinges done commonly is lesse then the desart Sorow I am dul of wit. Reason Therefore thou hast no hope left thee of profityng but hast founde the neede of diligence It is so muche the more glorious to be aduaunced by learnyng then by nature by howe muche it is better to doo good of sette purpose then by chaunce Sorowe I am altogether dull and weake witted Reason If thou canst not studie for learnyng yet applie vertue There is none but haue wytt enough to attayne vnto her wherein there is no sharpnesse of vnderstandyng required but onely a good wyll To the gaynyng whereof some haue supposed that learnyng profiteth nothyng yea some holde opinion that it hyndereth not a lytle And therfore certayne forsakyng theyr studies haue withdrawen them selues into Wyldernesses and their ignoraunce in learnyng hath stande them in the steede of excellent knowledge of whose sentence it is harde to geue iudgement But of this whereof we are assured accept this my last counsayle Let no man deceyue thee neyther the woonderyng of the common people nor the voyces of fooles mooue thee for it is a hygher matter and of more safetie to be ennobled by vertue then by learnyng And therefore experience teacheth that the one of these is alwayes to be wyshed and the other most tymes to be feared But when the lyght of learnyng is added vnto the vertue of the minde that truely is an absolute and perfect thyng yf there be any perfection at all to be accounted of in this worlde Of a slender and weake memorie The Cj. Dialogue SOROWE BVT I haue a slender and weake memorie Reason This is also an other infamie of olde age as false as the residue which thou mayest correct by the meanes of studie Sorow My memorie fayleth Reason Take heede lest it decay vtterly and helpe it whyle it is faylyng with continuall exercise Vse it as men doo Walles that are readie to fall downe make Buttresses in places where there is neede and defende the weake sides by adding plentie of strong shores Sorow My memorie is slippery Reason Binde it fast with diligence and cunning industrye helpeth al defaultes of wyt and memorie Diligence suffereth nothyng to peryshe nothyng to be diminished This is that whiche can preserue Philosophers and Poetes beyng very olde men in a freshe floryshyng wyt and stile this is it also which manteyneth in the auncient Orators a strong voyce and valiant sides and a firme memorte Whiche yf it were not so Solon had neuer waxen olde and yet learned somethyng daylye and beyng at the very poynt of death when as his freendes sate talkyng about hym seemed in a manner vnto them to be rysen from death to lyfe Neyther had Chrisippus finished in his extreame olde age that wyttie and profound volume whiche he began beyng but a very young man Neyther had Homer at those yeeres set foorth that same his diuine and heauenly woorke Neyther yet Simonides of the age of fourescore yeeres with suche youthiy feruencie of mynde but with aged rypenesse of discretion descended into that his Pyerial contention Nor Scocrates in the fourescore fourteenth yeere of his age accomplished that his feruent and wonderful woorke Nor Sophocles wel neare an hundred beyng the flower of all tragicall wryters had finished his tragidie called Oedipus Nor Cato that was aboue fourescore and tenne yeeres olde with no change of voyce or alteration of strength or default of memorie eyther would haue defended hym selfe in an haynous accusation or accused most famous Orators of his owne accorde in open iudgment Sorowe I haue an vntrustie memorie Reason Then trust it not call it often to an accompt whatsoeuer thou hast committed vnto it requyre it speedely and that which thou shouldest doo to morowe doo it to day it is not good to defer and thus yf thou canst wrest good out of euyl The fayth of a felowe brcedeth flouthfulnesse and falshood procureth diligence Sorow I haue almost no memorie at al. Reason Suche is the state of mans condition that he whiche remembreth fewest thinges hath the lesse cause of complayntes in whiche case there is no amendment nor place of profitable repentance what els remayneth then then the helpe of obliuion Of lacke of eloquence The .cii. Dialogue SOROW. I Lacke eloquence Reason Thou
but be reprochful and ignominious for that it is contrarie to the commaundement of the most hygh Lorde agaynst whiche nothyng can be wel done Sorowe I had rather dye then to see the thynges that are lyke to happen shortly Reason It is not the part of a man not to be able with open eyes to behold both faces of fortune it is the part of a woman to turne away the eyes in feare What is the thyng that troubleth thee so muche that nothyng can helpe thee but death only Is it thine owne or thy freendes or perhaps the aduersitie of thine afflicted countrye As for the first two they are but gentle for fortune is not so strong but vertue is able to withstand it the thirde is godly but the loue thereof is fainte and slouthful For the bondage and captiuitie of a mans countrey and the gouernement thereof in manner of a Tirannie is rather to be repelled by death then auoyded by steppyng a side For the first is the part of a man but this tastest of womanyshe imbecillitie Whiche thyng notwithstandyng the same Seneca doth woonderfully extol in the death of Cato in that same his peculiar opinion whereof I spake erewhyle But Cicero thinkyng it sufficient to excuse him only abstaineth from commending him For he sayth that vnto Cato that was a man of such wonderful grauitie and perpetual constancie of nature it was better to dye then to looke the Tyrant in the face whom Brutus notwithstandyng behelde and thought it better to make hym away by kyllyng hym then by kyllyng hym selfe Whiche how wel or ill it was done I do not now dispute But so in deede he did As for Cicero whyle he excuseth Cato he forgetteth his owne more commendable opinion whiche long before he had set downe in his sixth booke De republica of a common-wealth whiche is after this manner folowyng whiles that he bringeth in Publius Scipio Affricanus the younger dreaming howe that he talked in heauen with his father and graundfather and hearyng them speake of the immortalitie of the soule and the felicitie of the other lyfe made hym desirous to dye and brought in his father by and by reprouing the same his fonde and vnprofitable desyre in these woordes It may not be so quoth he for vnlesse God whose churche al this is which thou beholdest doo loose thee out of these bondes of thy bodye thou canst haue none entrance hyther For men were created for this cause that they shoulde beholde the globe whiche thou seest in the middest of this temple whiche is called the earth Wherefore good sonne Publius both thou and also al vertuous men ought to keepe your selues within the custodie of this your bodye and not to depart out of the lyfe of man contrarie vnto his commaundement by whom that lyfe was geuen vnto you least happely ye seeme to forsake the vocation whereunto God hath called you Doo not these woordes of Cicero sufficiently reprooue Cato that is excused And truely yf thou were appoynted by some earthly Prynce or Captayne to keepe a place by defence of armes thou wouldest not dare to depart from thy charge without his lycence whiche yf thou shouldest doo doubtlesse he woulde take it in ill part Howe then woulde the heauenly Emperour take it thynkest thou vnto whom so muche the more obedience ought to be geuen by howe muche God is greater then man There was of late dayes one Stephanus Columnensis a gentleman of auncient vertue who yf lie had lyued had not onely been famous in this age but also in remembrance of al posteritie The same Stephanus beyng besieged by a mightie enimie of his vnto whom he was in power far vnequal committed the defence of one turret wherein there seemed to be most danger vnto one of his captaynes of whose trust he was assured This turret being vndermined and secretly shaken by the enimies so that it was in danger of fallyng when as the residue of the garison perceyuing so much forsooke it and perswaded hym also to come downe and prouide for his safety since it was bootelesse to tarrie but vnto him selfe very dangerous or rather present death I wyl not come downe sayde he vnlesse he cal me away who set me here Which being reported vnto Stephanus who also was very careful for the gentleman came running in bast to cal hym away the turret beyng shaken at the very foundation fel downe immediatly with great noyse Thus that trustie defendant was miserably slayne whom his lord and maister beyng scarcely able to finde out among the rubbishe and ruynes of the turret buryed hym with great sorowe and lamentation and whyle he lyued had a dutiful care ouer hym and in his common speeche alwayes aduaunced his fayth with worthy commendation What I meane by these wordes I thinke thou knowest Suche a keeper oughtest thou to be of thy body whiche is committed vnto thy keepyng by God as he was of his turret which was commended to his charge by his lorde and maister Notwithstandyng I am not ignorant howe that the death of Cato was muche commended by many of that age wherein he lyued and very glorious in the common opinion of men And that saying of Iulius Caesar is wel knowen who beyng conquerour and making hast vnto Vtica where Cato had slayne hym selfe and hearyng report of his death Cato quoth he enuyed my glory and I enuie his death Doubtlesse it seemed some excellent thyng whiche so great and glorious a personage enuied at Sorow Then what shoulde let me to folow the death of a wyse man that was enuied at by so great a person and excused and commended of the wyse and to eschewe the innumerable distresses of lyfe by a voluntarie death Truely I had rather dye Reason Beware that thou be not caryed away with the vayne hope of hynges For there be some inferiour in eloquence but superiour in sense whiche neyther commend nor excuse this death of Cato but sharpely reprehende it Among whom Sainct Augustine a most sharpe searcher after the truth disputeth that this was not the cause of the hastenyng of his owne death because he woulde not lyne vnder the empire of Caesar togeather with his sonne forasmuche as he hym selfe was the cause that his sonne fledde to Caesar and in hope of safetie submitted hymselfe to his mercy wherein he was not deceyued Whiche yf he had thought to haue been a shameful thyng would he not haue delyuered his sonne from it as wel as hym selfe eyther by poyson or by sword or by some other kynde of death whatsoeuer Seeing that Manlius Torquatus is commended for killyng his owne sonne for that he had geuen battel to his enimies and vanquished them but contrarie to his fathers commaundement Neyther can it be sayde that it is a more shameful thing to be conquerour ouer a proude enimie then to be subiect to an arrogant conquerour Why then dyd he thinke Caesar woorthy to graunt lyfe to his sonne who thought hym vnworthie
and enuied at hym that he should graunt lyfe vnto hymselfe And to conclude he findeth that only enuie was the cause of his death whiche Caesar hym selfe did not dissemble as we sayde erewhyle For what coulde he other feare or why could he not abyde hym to be his prince by whom not long before he was banyshed the senate and committed to pryson So that he that slue not hym selfe in so great and present an iniurie why shoulde he nowe slaye hym selfe for a vayne feare or false opinion of pryde or crueltie What terror was there expressed in Caesars face that he shoulde seeke to auoyde the same by death who not only of all men but of al Tirantes and Prynces was the most gently and mercifull For although Cato had neuer seene any more myghtie yet truely in that age had he seene many more cruel but truely neuer sawe he any more merciful And therefore ryghtly sayeth another excellent wryter famous both for credite and eloquence It seemeth vnto me sayth he that Cato sought an occasion to dye not so muche to escape Caesars handes as to folowe the decrees of the Stoykes whom he immitated and by some notable deede to leaue his name famous vnto posterytie What harme woulde haue happened vnto him if he had lyued I do not perceyue For suche was the clemencie of Caius Caesar that in the greatest heate of the ciuile warres he would seeme to do nothing els but to deserue wel of the common wealth prouiding alwayes for the safetie of Cicero and Cato Loe behold another cause of his death beside enuie to wit a vayne follie both which were farre vnwoorthy of the person of Cato and yet neyther of them sufficient to preuent a mans owne death Sorowe I had rather dye then lyue thus Reason Howe knowest thou whether this lyfe whiche seemeth greeuous vnto thee be desired of many or enuied of the most But your impatiencye maketh all thynges more greeuous Sorow I desire to dye Reason As from the feareful to force the feare of death so to wreast from the desperate the hatred of lyfe is a hard matter Neuerthelesse this is the effect of our remedie to beare this lyfe with indifferencie and to looke for death valiantly Of Death The .cxix. Dialogue SOROWE I Dye Reason Now thou art come to the last cast nowe canst thou neyther feare death nor wyshe for it of both whiche thou hast alredie wearied me in many discourses next before written Hereafter thou shalt neyther be in sorowe nor in paine neyther be subiect to the defaultes of the body nor minde neyther shalt thou be wearied with the tediousnesse of any thing nor with sickenesse nor with olde age nor with deceites of men nor with the varietie of fortune al whiche yf they be euyl then is the ende of euyl good Not long since thou complaynedst of al these and nowe thou findest fault with the ende of them beware that thou seeme not iniurious for beyng sory for the begynning of a thing and the endyng of the same Sorowe I dye Reason Thou shalt walke the way of thy fathers or rather the broade and worne way of thy predicessors haddest thou rather that there shoulde happen vnto thee some peculiar accident I wote not what Goe forward on thy way thou needest not be a frayde of goyng amisse thou hast so many leaders and companions of thy iourney Sorowe Alas I dye Reason If there be any that hath cause to weepe when he dyeth he ought to be ashamed to haue laughed when he lyued knowyng that he had cause at hand and alwayes hanging ouer his head ful soone to make hym weepe whose laughter doubtlesse was not farre disioyned from weeping Sorowe I dye Reason He is not to be suffred that be waileth the estate of his owne kynde Thou shouldest not dye vnlesse thou were mortal But if thou be sorie because thou art mortal thou hast no cause to complayne when thou surceasest to be that which thou wast agaynst thy wyl Thou shouldest haue lamented at the begynnyng when thou beganst to be that whiche thou wouldest not but now thou oughtest to reioyce for that thou begynnest to be immortal Sorowe I dye Reason Al these that lately stoode about thy bed and moreouer al that euer thou hast seene or heard or read of and as many as euer thou wast able to knowe since thou wast borne as many as euer heretofore haue seene this lyght or shal hereafter be borne in al the worlde and to the worldes ende either haue or shal passe through this iorney Beholde in thy minde as wel as thou canst the long troupes of them that are gone before or of those that shal folowe hereafter and also the number not small of thy companions and coequales in yeeres who dye with thee euen at this presente and then I thinke thou wylt be ashamed to bewayle a common case with thy pryuate complayntes when as among so many thou shalt not finde one whom thou mayest enuie at Sorowe I dye Reason This is to be impassible and to goe about to shake of the yoake both of fortune and death a double great good whiche no prosperitie can geue vnto any lyuing creature Thinke with thy selfe howe many and howe great cares howe many paynefull traueyles there were remayning yet vnto thee yf thou lyuedst I say not an infinite lyfe but the space of a thousand yeeres when as there is alotted vnto thee a lyfe but onely of one dayes space wherein yf thou make an indifferent estimation thou shalt perceyue the toyles and wearisomenesse of this short transitorie and vncertayne lyfe and also thine owne greefes and vexations whiche thou hast susteyned Sorow I dye Reason In suche forte ye bewayle death as though lyfe were some great matter whiche yf it were then were the flyes and emmotes and spyders partakers of the same If lyfe were alwayes a commoditie then were death euermore a discommoditie whiche sometyme is founde to be a great benefite when as it delyuereth the soule from intollerable euyles or dischargeth or els preserueth the soule from sinne that is to come whiche is the greatest euyl of all But as vertue is onely a great thyng among you so yf this lyfe be considered by it selfe as it is it is the stoare house of innumerable miseries for the shuttyng vp whereof whoso is sorowfull the same taketh it not well that euyles doo surcease and hateth quyetnesse and he that coueteth the same it must needes be that he couet the ende of a payneful and troublesome lyfe Then yf there be noneother ende of toyles and euyles why doest thou weepe for it That day is nowe at hande which yf it were prolongued thou wouldest wyshe for it and perhaps suche is the worlde the power of fortune so great and her chaunces so variable that thou hast oftentymes alredie wished for it Sorowe I dye Reason Nay rather thou departest out of an earthly and transitorie house vnto the heauenly and euerlastyng habitation
shewe themselues willing to learne and not forsake them vnto their olde yeeres and crooked age no not to their death and graue God is the hope vnto man when he is borne and not his father though he were a king It is not good buylding vpon the sand but vpon the rocke for al hope in man is short and transitorie And therefore thy children being deceiued by the hope which they reposed in thee wil put their trust in God only sing with the Prophet Dauid My father my mother haue forsaken me but the Lord hath taken me vp The seedes sparkes of good nature vertue that haue appeared in many children haue been quite extinguished by their parentes to muche cockling lyke as on the contrary side losse of parentes and pouertie haue oftentimes driuen away the childrens deintinesse Feare What wyl become of my ryches Reason They wyl returne from whence they came that is to say vnto fortunes handes and from thence they shal be dispersed from one to another and neuer tarrie long with any For they are of a flitting nature and cannot abyde in one place And that not without a mysterie For some haue thought that mony cannot tarrie in a place because of the roundensse the rollyng forme of the coyne whiche some merily haue sayd to be a token of the slipperinesse thereof whiche partly I cannot deny But I am of opinion that if it were three or foure square it woulde tunne away as fast I meane concernyng the continuall passing of ryches whose nature is alwayes to slyp and flye away to hate coffers that haue but one locke to be delited with sundry and often possessours eyther to the intent to auoyd rust or els by their currantnesse and runnyng about to circumuent very many or lastly to contend with their owners in vnconstancie Seeyng therefore tha thou lyest nowe a dying cast of that care whiche vnto the lyuing is superfluous But rather yf thou dye ryche acknowledge howe that there is seldome any rust founde in fortune and nowe that thou art departyng out of this lyfe flye ryches whiche are not profitable for thee nor necessarie for any But yf thou be poore depart foorth vpon thy iourney lyght without burden whether thy ryches be very great or indifferent or very small or none at al heretofore they belonged very litle vnto thee but hencefoorth they shall apperteine vnto thee nothyng at al but this much onely that thou mayest perceyue that he that was poorer then thou lyued in more quietnesse then thou seeing that these troublesome and paynefull helpes of lyfe or whether thou list rather to terme them tormentes doo make thy death more carefull Feare What shal become of my children Reason Thy name shall lyue in them if they be good and if that be any comfort in death thou shalt not seeme wholy to be dead For in their countenances actions gesture thy freendes wyl thinke and also reioyce that thou art restoared vnto them But if they be euyl thou hast cause willingly to forsake them those whom thou thyselfe couldest not correct nor tame thou shalt deliuer them ouer vnto the worlde and fortune to be corrected and tamed And do not thou nowe dying lament for them that wyl nothyng at al be grieued at thy death and perhaps are sorie that thou diedst not sooner Sorowe But what shal become of my goodes Reason Fearest thou that when thou hast left them they shal fynde no owner They are looked for they are wyshed for they are valewed alreadie neyther oughtest thou to be afeard so muche for the neglecting of them as for the striuing for them But this is one thyng they shal nowe surceasse to be thy goodes any longer but whose they shal be next why doest thou looke vpon thy chyldren It cannot possibly be knowen nor it must not it suffiseth thee to knowe that they were once thine yf euer they were thyne indeede and not rather hers that is the lady and mistresse of goodes that passe away and generally of al wordly thynges whose name is Fortune But hauing been thine so long that is to say beyng but a short tyme in thy disposition it is nowe hygh tyme for thee to depart and to leaue them to others Let them nowe learne to be at others commaundement awhile and to keepe their accustomed chainge vnlesse thou wylt dye so ambitiously as some fooles haue also done the lyke and haue thy monie buried with thee in thy graue whiche may one day redownd to the commoditie of them that dig graues hereafter But rather nowe at length cast from thee al care of the earth and metalles and repose thy cogitations vpon heauen and thine owne estate Feare My goodes flye from me Reason Diddest thou thinke that they woulde tarie when thy lyfe passed away and when thou thyselfe wast continually carried hence Feare What shal become of my goodes when they leaue of to be myne Reason What dyd they before they were thyne Feare Leauing behynde me so great ryches as I doo I depart naked Reason Naked thou camest into the worlde and naked thou must depart agayne whereof thou hast no cause to complayne but rather to geue thankes In the meane tyme thou hast had the vse and occupiyng of an others goodes there is nothyng taken from thee that was thine owne but only the goodes of another required agayne at thy handes when thou mayest occupie them no longer For honest guestes when they are departyng away doe willingly restoare the vessel and stuffe whiche they borowed of their host Feare Alas of al my ryches I carie not thus muche away with me Reason Carie away as much as thou broughtest or yf thou lust as muche as any kyng doth Feare What wyl my young chyldren do Reason If they lyue they wyl growe vp and wax olde and walke their owne wayes and trye their owne fortune and passe through their owne troubles in the meane tyme they shal abide in Gods protection and perhaps when thou wast young thou liuedst lykewyse without a father Of one dying that is careful what his wyfe wil do when he is dead The .cxxviii. Dialogue FEARE WHat wyl my welbeloued wyfe do when I am dead Reason Perhaps she wyl marrie agayne what is that to thee Feare What wyl my deere wife do Reason Beyng discharged from thy yoake eyther she wyl yeelde her necke to another or liue at large or els rest herselfe after her wearinesse seeke only how to passe foorth her lyfe quietly Feare What wyl my most louing wyfe do Reason Doest thou aske what she wyl do when she hath escaped from thee and knowest not what she dyd when she was vnder thy subiection The greater sort of mortal men beyng ignorant what is done at home in their owne houses hearken what is a dooing in heauen and the farthest partes of the world Truely what shall become of thy wyfe after thy departure let her selfe or her next husbande looke to that
Schoolemaister Eod. Of a notable Scholler Folio 104. Of a good Father Folio 105. Of a most Louing Mother Eod. Of Good Brethren and Louing and Fayre Systers Folio 106. Of a good Lorde Folio 107. Of the Clearenesse of the Ayre Folio 109. Of Fortunate Saylyng Eod. Of wyshed Arriuing at the Haune Folio 110. Of commyng foorth of Pryson Eod. Of a quiet State. Folio 111. Of Power Folio 113. Of Glorie Folio 114. Of Benefites bestowed vpon many Folio 115. Of Loue of the people Folio 116. Of Inuadyng a Tyrannie Folio 117. Of a Kyngdome and Empire Folio 119. Of a furnished Armie Folio 123. Of a wel apppoynted Nauie Folio 124. Of engyns and Artillarie Folio 125. Of Treasure layde vp in store Folio 126. Of Reuenge Eod. Of hope to Wynne Folio 129. Of Victorie Eod. Of the death of an Enemie Folio 130. Of hope of Peace Folio 131. Of peace and Truce Folio 132. Of the Popedome Folio 133. Of Happynesse Folio 134. Of good Hope Folio 136. Of expectation of Inheritance Folio 138. Of Alchimie Follo 139. Of the promises of wyse men and Soothsayers Folio 140. Of Glad tydynges Folio 143. Of Expectyng a mans sonne or farmer or wyfe Eod. Of Lookyng for better tymes Folio 145. Of the hoped comming of a Prynce Folio 146. Of hope of fame after Death Folio 147. Of Glory hoped for by buyldyng Folio 148. Of Glory hoped for by keepyng company 149. Of Manyfold hope Folio 150. Of hoped quietnesse of Mynde Eod. Of the hope of lyfe Euerlastyng Folio 151. The Table of the matters conteyned in the second Booke of this woorke OF the deformitie of the Bodye Folio 162. Of Weakenesse Folio 164. Of Sycknesse Folio 165. Of a base Countrey Eod. Of Basenesse of Stocke Folio 166. Of a shamefull Byrth Folio 169. Of Bondage Folio 171. Of Pouertie Folio 174. Of Damage susteyned Folio 175. Of Thynne fare Folio 178. Of Originall pouertie Folio 180. Of the heauie burden of many Chyldren Eod. Of Money lost Folio 183. Of Suertishyppe Folio 187. Of Losse of tyme Folio 188. Of Vnfortunate pâ—aâ—ing at Tables Folio 190. Of Her vnto whom one was assured iudged vnto another Eod. Of the losse of a mans Wyfe Folio 191. Of a Shrewyshe Wyfe Folio 193. Of the stealyng away of a mans Wyfe Folio 194. Of an vnchaste Wyfe Eod. Of a barren Wyfe Folio 197. Of an vnchaste Daughter Folio 198. Of Shame commyng from an other Folio 199. Of Infamie Folio 200. Of Shame procured by meanes of vnwoorthy commendation Folio 202. Of Vnthankfull Freendes Folio 203. Of Vnthankfull persons Folio 204. Of Euyll Seruauntes Folio 206. Of Fugitiue Seruauntes Folio 107. Of Importunate Neyghbours Folio 208. Of Enimies Folio 209. Of occasion lost to reuenge Folio 210. Of the peoples Hatred Folio 211. Of Enuie Passiuely Eod. Of Contempt Folio 212. Of Long expectyng a promised Rewarde Folio 213. Of Repulses Eod. Of an vniust Lorde Folio 215. Of an Vnlearned Schoolemaister Folio 216. Of an Vnapt and proude Scholer Folio 217. Of a Stepdame Folio 218. Of the hardnesse of a Father Eod. Of a stubburne Sonne Folio 220. Of a contentious Brother Folio 221. Of the Losse of a Father Folio 222. Of the Losse of a Mother Eod. Of the losse of a Sonne Eod. Of the miserable fal of a young Chylde Folio 224. Of A sonne that is founde to be another mans Eod. Of the losse of a Brother Folio 226. Of the death of a Freend Folio 227. Of the absence of Freendes Folio 228. Of greeuous Shyp wracke Folio 230. Of Burnyng Eod. Of Great labour and Trauayle Folio 231. Of A payneful Iourney Folio 232. Of One yeeres Barrennesse Folio 234. Of An euyl and proude Bayliffe Folio 235. Of Theft Folio 236. Of Robberies Folio 237. Of Coosynage and deceite Eod. Of A streyght and narrome dwellyng Folio 238. Of A Pryson Folio 239. Of Tormentes Folio 240. Of Vniust Iudgement Folio 241. Of Banyshment Folio 242. Of A mans countrey Besieged Folio 245. Of A mans countrey Destroyed Folio 246. Of the feare of loosyng in warre Folio 247. Of A foolyshe and rashe felowe in office Folio 248. Of an vndiscreete and hastie marshal of the Feelde Eod. Of vnfortunate successe in battayle Folio 249. Of Ciuile warre Folio 250. Of the disagreement of a waueryng mynde Folio 251. Of a doubtful State. Folio 253. Of Woundes receyued Eod. Of a kyng without a Sonne Folio 254 Of a kyngdome Lost Folio 255. Of Treason Folio 257. Of the losse of a Tyrannie Folio 258. Of Castles lost Folio 260. Of olde Age. Folio 262. Of the Gout Folio 267. Of Scabbes Folio 268. Of Watchyng Folio 269. Of the vnquietnesse of Dreames Eod. Of Importunate renowme Folio 270. Of Sorowe conceyued for the euyl manners of men Folio 272. Of Smal greefes of sundry thynges Folio 273. Of an Earthquake Folio 279. Of the plague farre and wyde ragyng Folio 280. Of Sadnesse and miserie Eod. Of the Toothache Folio 284. Of payne in the Legges Folio 285. Of Blyndnesse Folio 286. Of the losse of Hearyng Folio 289. Of the loathsomnesse of Lyfe Folio 290. Of Heauinesse of the body Folio 291. Of great dulnesse of wyt Eod. Of a slender and weake Memorie Folio 292. Of lacke of Eloquence Folio 293. Of Losse of the tongue and speeche Folio 294. Of want of Vertue Folio 296. Of Couetousnesse Folio 297. Of Enuie and Mallice Eod. Of Wrath. Folio 298. Of Gluttonie Folio 299. Of sluggishenesse of the Mynde Eod. Of Leâ—cherie Folio 300 Of Pryde Eod. Of Agues Folio 301. Of the 〈◊〉 e of the guttes and Traunce Folio 302. Of Sundry paynes and greefes of the whole body Folio 303. Of Madnesse Folio 309. Of Poyson Folio 310. Of the feare of death Folio 311. Of Voluntarie murtheryng a mans owne selfe Folio 315. Of Death Folio 319. Of Death before a mans tyme Folio 322. Of a violent Death Folio 324. Of a shameful Death Folio 326. Of a sodayne Death Folio 327. Of one that is sicke out of his owne Countrey Folio 328. Of one that dyeth out of his owne Countrey Eod. Of One that dyeth in sinne Folio 332. Of One dying that is careful what shal become of his inheritance and chyldren Folio 334. Of One dying that is careful what his wyfe wil do when he is dead Folio 335. Of One dying that is careful what wyll become of his countrey after his deceasse Folio 336. Of One that at his death is careful of his fame and good report Folio 337. Of One that dyeth without chyldren Folio 338. Of One dying that feareth to be throwen foorth vnburyed Folio 340. FINIS