did neuer desire eyther tenne Aiaxes or ten Diomedes knowing very well how greatly the good councell of Nestor did serue him to purpose and how much profite and commoditie it alwayes brought vnto hym in all his affaires to preuent anye thing present or to come when he did receiue the same and followed it Phillip of Macedonia father to Alexander did so muche bewaile the death of a deare friend of his called Hipparcus that he was almost dead with care And when his friendes did séeke to comfort him and to put him out of his minde alledging that it was time for him to dye considering his many yeares and that death was more necessary for him than lyfe if he had good regard of his old age it is true said he but certainly it is great griefe to me that I haue not recompensed his wholesome councels and the long and paynfull seruices which I haue receiued of him in tymes past wherefore perceiuing very well I cannot now acquite the same thys my vnthankefulnesse shall be a burthen to me and my honour for euer And now hauing brought forth by the testimonye of many prophane histories as well Greekes as Latines how necessarye it is for a Prince that wyll gouerne his people well to haue some wise and sage men about him by whose councell his Realme shall be better ruled and gouerned it nowe resteth to confirme the same by the testimonie of the holy and sacred Scriptures Moyses the great lawe geuer to the Hebrewes when hée complayned to the Lord his God that he could not gouerne such a multitude of people as he had considering the murmures and seditions that they continually raysed agaynst him he was commaunded by the Lord that he should choose out .lx. men which he knew to be most auncient wyse and of the greatest estimation and credite amongest the people and he shoulde leade the same to the gate of the Tabernacle of wytnes to the end they might assist and ayde him And after the Lord said vnto him that he would take of the spirit which he had giuen him and put vpon them that they should beare mutually togethers the charge of the people Lykewyse king Assuerus beyng contemned of the Quéene Vasti his wyfe would not punish her of his own authoritie but he gathered together the wisest and sagest of his Prouince after whose aduise he dyd determine of her fact Romulus the first founder of Rome knowing how difficult a thyng it was to rule the common wealth he ordayned an hundred Senatours of the most wyse and auncient men of Rome to helpe hym in the administration of hys common wealth Let therefore Kynges and Princes take it for a certayne truthe that for the conseruation of theyr mightynesse and the preseruation of their Realmes they must aboue all thynges deliberate and moderate all theyr doynges and enterprises wyth counsell and good aduise not runnyng headlong thereunto wythout all order and reason For there is nothing more enimy to Veritye Iustice and Equitie than ouermuche rashnesse Quintus Curtius in the lyfe of Alexander doth recount that as he vpon a tyme was sorrowing with him selfe that he had rashly passed certayne affayres whereof he dyd repent hym afterwardes he tooke in hand to intreate of Vertue amongest certaine of his seâ—â—untes that he was most affectionated vnto to whom afâ—â—r many exhortations and other documentes he declared that a Kyng ought to premeditate thrée times vpon euery thing that he shall doe before he put it in execution For when the Prince sayd he committeth any offence he must thinke he doth it in a Theatre where all the whole world shall sée hym and marke hym and that more is his offence and fault is almost incorrigible bicause it floweth spreadeth it self amongest al the people The wise man likewise desiring to represse those first and sodayne motions that are in men doth say in his Prouerbes that he which moueth his féete to fast often times stumbleth and doth with his ouermuche haste bring with hym repentance Afterwardes he addeth in his sayde Prouerbes My sonne do nothing without councell and then thou shalt not haue cause afierwardes to repent Beholde lo how by the lessons and instructions before sayde Kinges and Princes may gather that learning and knowledge are thinges very profitable and commodious for the dignitie royall and doth maruellously deck and adorne the same And likewyse they may learne in them not rashly and without aduisement to passe ouer their affaires but alwayes call vnto them wyse and sage councell to decide all their actions and doinges And now for conclusion for as much as we haue entreated of councell it is necessary that we do somewhat exhort them that they do very rare or seldome accept the councell of yong men and specially of such as haue bene delicately brought vp and that do rather followe most willinglye the swinge of their vnbridled wyls thaÌ„ the way of vertue And this is most chiefly recounted vnto vs by Aristotle Prince of the Philosophers who forbiddeth expresselye that they shall be made the chiefe or head of any Prouince or Councell for their counsell is to be suspected But to the contrary that the Prince shall alwayes haue about him suche as be stayed in age and sober in councell and that haue great experience in all thinges conioyned with integritye of lyfe and vertuous maners such as commonlye is founde in olde men which as S. Ierome writeth are féeble in all the powers of their bodyes but increased in wysedome and councell Which thing is wyselye taught also by Plato in hys Simpose where he sayth that although the corporall eyes begin to be weakened and léese their puissance and strength yet the eyes of the mynde do sée more clearer and be made more subtiller and sharper Aristotle in a certaine place demaunding a reason wherfore olde men bee commonlye more fearefull than young men aunswereth and sayth amongest other thinges that the great experience that they haue of the mischiefes past doth make them to be in such feare But such consideration cannot enter into the myndes of young men beyng lustye and whote in all theyr actions and doynges bicause they haue not yet proued the rigour of Tyme nor force of Fortune Plutarche that worthy Philosopher doth teache vs howe that a Citie is more happely gouerned by the councell of old men than by the force and strength of young men and antiquitie also hath attributed so much to number of yeares that if there ryse question to put any thing in execution of importance alwayes old men by common vsage allowed by Nature are preferred thereunto Titus Linius Prince of the Latine Historians doth write that when the Romaines had determined their punike warres they chose the most auncient of the people to make their Legates and Embassadors into Affrique And it is written in the booke of the Machabees that King Antiochus sent an auncient man
Persians the Meedes the Grekes nor of the Romanes who were called the Garramants and he béeing very ambitious of suche matters minded to visite them in his iourney and when he arriued in their Prouince he commaunded that the wysest and sagest amongs them should come and speake with him that he might vnderstande the maners customes and order of liuing of those people who séemed vnto him to be men farre estraunged from the fashions and dooings of the common vsage of other men whereof when the Garramants were aduertised without any more deliberation sent vnto hym presently an olde man frée and franke in words and stoute in his countenaunce and one that had neuer ben feared for the presence of any Prince Emperour or Monarche who béeing arriued afore him after that he had made his due reuerence began to beholde him with a Philosophers eye and knowing very well Alexanders humor that he was not come into their countrey for any other intente but to make him selfe Lorde and Prince thereof firing his countenaunce immoueable vppon his face lyke a man that had ben halfe in an extasie sayde to him Tell me I pray thee O thou Alexander what wouldest thou haue what is thy meaning what is thy will and purpose doest not thou sufficiently giue knowledge to the face of the whole world that thou arte possessed with an insatiate greedynesse and an inordinate couetousnesse which for a transitory ambition that vanisheth away as the smoke arte not afearde to pouerishe many to make thy selfe onely riche nor arte not ashamed of the complayntes and lamentations of the poore widows and of an infinite nuÌ„ber of wretched myserable people which thou hast dispossessed of their lands to make thy selfe vniuersall Monarche of the whole earth nor hast thou no regard of the effusion of the bloud of so many poore Innocents but thus with infamy to make thy name euerlasting and immortalize thy selfe for euer yet if thou couldest by thy cruel battels bloudie victories enioy the lyues of them which thou doest kill to increase prolong thyne owne lyfe as thou doest inherite their goods to augment thy renowne although it were wicked yet it were tollerable But to what purpose serueth it thée to take away their liues when thou thy selfe lookest euery houre that the Gods shall take thyne Oh Alexander yet if thy desire had any ende and that it were bordered and limitted as the kingdomes bee which thou doest conquere thou wouldest then giue some hope to the people of thy amendemente to come but know thou oh Alexander to what ende this will come vnto the Gods shall giue for a penaunce vnto thée and to all suche ambitious hearts as thine is which are neuer satisfied nor contented that assoone as death is ready to close vp your mouths and when you are at the last poynt of life you shall haue so great an vnquietnesse of conscience for those things which you haue so vniustly heaped gathered togithers that it shall be more gréeuous and harder for you to digest than if ye should suffer a thousand deathes togithers And so this old man hauing ended al his discourse stoode still immoueable for a space before Alexander aspecting some answere of him but Alexander féeling him selfe touched inwardly was tossed with many imaginations at the reasons of that wise sage philosopher and in such sort that this spirits were ouercome and vanquished not able to vtter the effect of his minde to make him any answere by reason whereof béeing confounded and condemned in him selfe for his enterprises he returned from thence immediately without hurting or any wayes annoying the Garramants The Emperour Tiberius a cruell man in all his doings was not moued when it was told him that many did murmure and speake euill of his cruelties and tyrannies but answered to them that perswaded him to bée reuenged vppon those that so murmured agaynst him that he coulde very well occupie him selfe otherwise and saide that mens tongues ought to be frée in a frée Citie Moyses that great law giuer of the Lorde hath lefte vs also maruellous testimonies of pacience modestie who although he was many times tormented vexed with his people yea euen that they were ready to stone him to death yet whatsoeuer assaults these sturdy people did make against him they could neuer driue him from his humilitie nor put him out of pacience but to the contrary he dyd by his continuall prayers which he made to the Lorde appease the malice and furie which they had vniustly conceyued agaynst him The Historiens doo wryte that two olde women dyd addresse them selues to a king and an Emperour the one to king Demetrius the other to the Emperor Adrianus praying theÌ„ instaÌ„tly that they might haue iustice ministred for a certen violence which one had don to them But these Princes being occupied with other affayres did aunswere them that they must for a time deferre the matter for that they could not intende it at that present whereat the women beeing gréeued sayd vnto theÌ„ that then they ought to giue vp their Empires to others for princes muste sayde they be at all times of the day ready to protect defende the afflicted and euer willing to render iustice and righte to eche one and with that charge yée doo receiue your dignities and kingdomes And yet notwithstanding al these words neither of these Princes were moued or angrie and they perceyuing the earnestnesse of these matrons began to smile and presently gaue them audience and did them iustice And Ioseph that great Patriarke beeing so cruelly handled at his brothers hands in stéede of reuenging him selfe he delyuered them from famine which did oppresse them so muche that they knew not where to haue any succour or helpe Denis the Tyraunt king of Siâ—ilia by force who hath borne a gret name of crueltie amongs others and a man hated almoste of all persons vsed neuer the lesse curtesie towards an old woman suche as foloweth As he was vppon a time aduertised that she prayed vnto the Gods dayly for hys long lyfe and health where to the contrary he knew that all the rest of the people wished his death and ouerthrow as the very pestilence of their common wealth did commaunde hir to be called before him and he dyd earnestly require hir to tell him for what cause she prayed so often to the Gods for his lyfe seeing that he knew very well that all the rest of the people desired his death This olde woman who knew not how to counterfeyte did discouer vnto him hir meaning therein and sayde My soueraigne Lorde when I was a yong woman this Prouince was gouerned with a cruell Tyraunt whose life was so noysome to me that I did continually wishe his death and to the ende my desire might take place I prayed hartely to the Gods in the Temple that they would deliuer the people from the bondage of that Tyraunt and that they would sende
comforte vs and maketh vs to disgeste the more easily the incommoditie of our carefulnesse if wée goe to the warres she alwayes beholdeth vs with the eyes of hir minde and dothe honour vs and desire vs béeing absent and séemeth as though she were transformed into our selues if wée bée vppon our returne she receyueth vs and entertayneth vs with all the delicates and daynties she can deuise in suche maner that if wée should say the truthe it séemeth certaynly that the woman should bée a gyfte and comforte sente from heauen aswell to assuage the heate and lustinesse of our youthe as for a comforte and laste refuge of our age And where Nature can not giue vs but one father and one mother marriage doth present vnto vs many children who doo reuerence and honour vs and wée holde them as deare vnto vs as our owne fleshe who when they are yong and little ones doe with their pratlings in learning to speake and others their toyes and fantasies giue vs such pleasure and contentation of minde that it seemeth nature hathe giuen them to vs as things to deceiue the time and to passe ouer parte of this our miserable liues If we be asséeged with olde age a thing that is common to all men they doe comfort and relieue vs therein vntill death come and then they render vs to the earthe from whence we came they be our bones our fleshe and our bloud and séeing them we behold and sée our owne selues who do make the memorie of vs neuer to die and do as it were make vs immortall And further they do procreate and engender others after vs as do twigges that are cut off from any trée and grafted vppon an other bring forthe the like Some nice persons will allow very well of mariage that it is holy commendable and profitable for the conseruation of our liues so farre foorthe as it be well accomplished in all pointes and that nothing goe a wrie but if it chance the woman to be vnhonest the children vnhappie and out of order with suche other incommodities which oftentimes accompanie the marriage what rage what furie what Roses among thornes what Worm wood with Honey what pleasantnesse mixed with bitternesse is there then say they But I do fully answere such nice Gentlemen that be so curious in their affections so delicate in their pleasures and that thinke nothing well excepte it be seasoned with the sauce of their owne appetites that such Eclipses and infirmities that continually folow in mariage doe not procéede of the cause of marriage it selfe but often times of mannes naughtinesse according to the olde Prouerbe whiche sayth an euill man maketh an euill woman which Cato a very seuere man in al his doings but yet iust and right in this dothe confirme saying that it is a more harder thing to finde a good husbande than a good Senator Bicause that the most part of women that are become vitious are commonly infected and made naughte by the wanton liues and euill examples of their husbands who ought to be as lampes that should shine vnto them by the well ordring their manners For if they be spotted or defiled with any maner of vice or crime it is very contagious and dangerous for their wiues Behold loe how often times we doe accuse matrimonie that is pure and neate in it selfe which if it had a tung and coulde speake wold complaine of vs Petrark a great reuerencer of chastitie in his Dialogue of the remedie of aduerse fortune wryteth that it is very seldome seene a wanton husband to haue a chaste wife as contrary a wise and chast husband an vnchaste wife which thing Plutarch confirmeth in his connubial precepts when he saythe that the husbands that is giuen to be common and that giueth himself in pray to other womē he setteth an ensigne and marke at his gates to conuey others to do the like to his owne wife S. Augustine that greate Father of the Churche in his Booke De ciuitate Dei exhorteth men to be the same to their wiues that they woulde haue their wiues to be to them if you desire sayth he to haue your wiues modest chaste and sobre you which are the heades and chéefe must giue the first testimonie and example in your selues and yet he concludeth that very hardely any chaste man shall bridle a vicious and an impudente woman or a wise and discrete man a foolishe woman bicause oftentimes God dothe punishe the one of them by the other which lesson Seneca the moste vertuous of the Ethnicke Philosophers did not forgette to haue in remembrance when he wrote to Lucillus who prayed him he woulde teache him to make a drinke and the certaine receipte therof without any poyson therein which should haue vertue to cause him to be beloued of his wife without vsing any sorcerie or inchantment Wilt thou be beloued and honored of thy wife sayd he loue hir and intreate hir courteously and gently for I doe assure thée there is neither charme sorcerie nor any other medicine more méete or apt to win hir than to vse such measure of loue towardes hir as thou doest couette to receiue of hir againe Notwithstanding al these aucthorities afore rehersed yet I am well assured that many wil not be satisfied nor answered in those things for there are some that stand so much in their owne foolishnesse that thinke they shall win themselues great fame to inuey against mariage who for the better proofe of their mater wil alleage many wicked marriage and vnluckie matches greatly displeasing God wherin ther hath ben foūd some women so dissolute so far out of order in their liues that they haue not thought it inough to violate and breake the matrimoniall honor but also as women rooted in all mischeefe haue poisoned killed murthered their owne husbands yea and embrued their handes in the bloud of their naturall children a thing so detestable that the Historiographers haue had in horror and greatly feared to put the same in wryting But I will desire suche curious gentlemen that folow the nature of Serpents turning all that they touche into venime that they will put in ballance against these monstruous marriages whiche they speake of an infinite numbre of other mariages so wel matched accomplished in al things that it séemed that heauen nature did take great paine to frame them for a testimonie of their worthinesse and that in suche sorte that neither death nor time it selfe that putteth all things in forgetfulnesse cannot take away the memorie of them amongs mē As for example the loue of Alcestes with hir companion the loue of Iules with his Pompey Parcia with Cato Artemisia with hir spouse Hipsicrates with the great king Mithridates and many others rehearsed in the holy Scriptures which haue bene so ioyfull to them that they haue not onely triumphed and reioyced in the sorowe and tormentes hapning vnto them for the same but euen in deathe it selfe
people and persuade them so well that they receiued his false Doctrine for truth the meanes wherto was this In the beginning he did not communicate his false doctrine but to those of his owne houshold next to his neighbors afterwards to to the common people specially to such as were the moste grosse witted and to carnal men for he doth permit in his law all the vices of the fleshe with all libertie of the which kinde there was at that time a greate numbre thorowoute the worlde and perceiuing him selfe riche and greatly fauoured of Fortune he gathered togithers a great companie of his owne secte and religion And when he sawe him selfe well appoynted and strong he assailed his neighboures and so made him selfe Lorde of many Nations and Prouinces These things were a doing about the yeare of our Lord sixe hundreth Eracleus being then Emperoure of Rome and holding his seate at Constantinople and Bonifatius the fifthe then also Pope Mahomet seeing his affaires prosper so well yet somewhat dispairing his successe did forbidde that any man shoulde dispute vppon the manner of his Lawe and so by this meanes he made it to be obserued by force Afterwardes he went to assaile the Countreys of Romaine Empire he entred into Syria conquered the Noble Citie of Damasco and all Egypte and Iuda persuading the Sarazens people of Arabic that the lande of permission appertained to them of good righte as the lawfull heyres and successoures of Abraham After he had Conquered diuers Prouinces and Regions he was poysoned and dyed about the age of foure and thirtie yeares and in the yeare of oure Lorde sixe hundred thirtie and two after the accompte of Sabellicus And bicause he alwayes vaunted him selfe that after his Deathe he shoulde ascende into Heauen his Disciples kepte his bodie stinking vppon the earthe certaine dayes after he dyed vntill it was corrupted as his soule was Afterwardes he was entombed with a Tombe of yron and caryed to Meque aforesaid a towne in Persia where he is at this day honoured of all the people of the Easte yea euen of the greatest parte of the worlde and this is for oure sinnes and wickednesse and we may therfore easily be persuaded and beleeue that he was sente as a scourge euen by the permission of God to chasten the Christians as he did send long sithens an Antiochus a Cyrus and a Nabuchodonozor to oppresse his peculiar people the Jewes This is therfore no new thing that the Lorde dothe execute his iustice against his owne by such tirants and wicked men as Mahomet was the Lord hath geuen vs to vnderstād the same by the Prophet Esay where he sayth I haue called my mightie and strong men in my wrathe I haue called them my holy ones to the ende they shall glory in my name the Prophet pronouncing these woords spake of King Darius and Cirus Marke loe how he calleth the Medes and Persians his holy ones who were neither good nor holy but onely the executers of his will and pleasure to chastise Babylon he speaketh the like in Ezechiel where he saith I wil guide and lead my seruaunt Nabuchodonosar bicause he did serue me faithfully at Tire and I will giue him also Egipt yet he was not for all that the seruaunt of god Totilla King of the Goathes being demaunded wherefore he was so cruell and extréeme against the people answered with a maruellous faithe therein what thinkest thou that I am other than the very wrath and scourge of God sent vpon the earthe as an instrument to chasten the offences and wickednesse of the people We may euidently therefore knowe by these things that God doth for the most part correct and chasten vs by the wicked who neuerthelesse doe not cease to be wicked still and deserue them selues plagues for according to the word of the Lord and sauioure it is necessary there come slaunder but curssed be he by whome slaunder shall come Behold lo the attempts and furious assaults that Sathan and his complices haue framed against the Church of Iesus Christe his Doctrine for there is no religion that he hath persecuted so cruelly frō the beginning of the world as he hath done ours and although he hath vttered all his suttleties craftes malices and inuentions to ouerrun it and suppresse it yet it remaineth stil perfect by the goodnesse and aid of our sauior Iesus Christe who dothe represse and bridle the malicious and poysoned rage of his enimie and although he hath procured the death of some members of the Church that of the most auncients and greatest clarks as Abel Esay Zacharie Ieremie Iesus Christ the Apostles many holy Bishops as Polycarpus Ignatius and many .1000 of Martyrs and others yet he could not ouerthrow the same For it is wrytten that the gates of Hel shal not preuail nor stand against it and althoughe by continuance and reuolution of time it hath bene shal be put in great danger and peril and that it hath bene and is turmoiled and tossed as a ship by the rage and violence of the tempests yet Iesus Christ wil neuer abandon or leaue his espouse but he wil alwayes assiste hir as the heade dothe the body he watcheth for hir he kéepeth preserueth and maintaineth hir as the promisse by him made dothe witnesse where it is said I wil not leaue you as Orphanes I will be with you euen vnto the consumption of the world And in Esay it is saide I wil put my woords into thy mouthe and I will defend thee with the shadowe of my hand and in the .59 chapter he saith this is my alliance that I haue made with thée sayth the Lord my sprite which is in thée and my woords which I haue put in thy mouth they shall not departe nor goe out of thy mouth nor oute of the mouthe of thy séede from hence forthe for euer Seeing then oure religion onely to be true and pure and that it hathe bene sealed with the bloud of so many Prophets Apostles and Martyrs and specially sealed with the seale of the blud of Iesus Christ our sauior wherof he hath left vnto vs the very marke Carrecte and witnesse in his death and that al the other be vnlawful and bastardes inuented deuised by the deuil or men his instrumēts to the confusion of oures I wold wish that Princes who are Gods lieuetenants vpon the earth for as much as they be called the children and nursses of the Church by the Prophet Esay and that they be the pillers and strength that it oughte to be stayed by I would wishe I say they shuld imploy themselues to maintaine it defende it conserue it confirme it and amplifie it that they might at the latter day whē they shall appéere before the maiestie of God say that which that good King Dauid saide Lord I haue hated those that thou haste hated and haue bene angry with them that
that was prepared for thē in this miserable world We reade the like of the Indiens Cesiens Cautiens Gymnosophists Brokmans and Thracians who did praise that day of the death of those that haue liued vertuously and not the day of their natiuitie as the Greke Poet doth shewe vnto vs in his Boke of Epigrams as foloweth Aboue all lawes and orders of olde dayes Whereof the mynde to this day is not worne The Thracian worlde J most commende and prayse That bad men weepe when children there were borne As token true of woe in lyfe to come But on that childe whom once the graue had wonne They bad men ioy when suche a one was ded As witnesse iuste that all his wo was fled Plato the moste worthyest of all the Ethnike Philosophers vnderstanding the little affinitie that the body hathe with the soule doth call it the Sepulchre wherein the soule is buried and sayth that death is nothing else but the very porte of immortalitie who did so well dispute of the miseries of this transitorie life and of the felicities that are prepared for vs in the other that many reading his Bookes of the immortalitie of the soule did maruellous willingly séeke their owne destructions some casting them selues downe headlong from a highe rocke into the sea to the ende they might taste and enioy the celestiall riches which are promised for them in the seconde lyfe as it is confirmed by a Greeke Epigram of Cleombrotus Cleombrotus that from a highe Mountayne Threw him selfe downe to breake his necke thereby What was the cause but that he thought it playne Myserie to liue and happie life to dye Grounding him selfe on Platos minde and skill That sayes the soule abides immortall still Adding hereto that Socrates had taught How that this life is to be set at naught But these matters would not sée no vnto vs any thing straunge nor maruellous if wee would consider how that S. Paule béeing stirred vp with a Spirituall affection desired to bée dissolued from this terrestriall prison to triumph in heauen with Iesus Christe his Captayne and redeemer And that great prophet Ionas who prayed the Lord that he would separate his soule from the body bicause sayth he that death séemeth better to me than lyfe Marcus Aurelius Emperour of the Romanes no lesse to be accounted a Philosopher than he was a worthy Emperour hauing proued al the passions rigours and calamities wherevnto the whole life of man is subiect did confesse frankely of him selfe that in 50. yeres which he had liued he neuer found any thing in this world wherwith he was satisfied or cōtent saith thus I will confesse this one thing although it shal be some infamie vnto me but peraduenture hereafter profitable to some others that in 50. yeres of my life I haue tasted all the wickednesse and vice of this world to see if there had bene any thing that could satisfie the humane malice affection And after that I had proued al I found that the more I did eate the more I did hunger the more I slept the more desirous I was to sleepe the more I drunke the thirstier I was the more I rested the more I brake the more I had the more I desired the more I searched the lesse I found and in conclusion I neuer desired any thing but hauing it once in my possession I found my selfe maruelously anoyed withal and incontinently wished some other thing so that this our lyfe séemed vnto me so piteous and miserable that as I thinke if any old man that doth leaue this transitore life wold make vnto vs a whole discourse and rehersal of his life past from the time that he passed out of his mothers wombe vntil the houre of his death and the body should recount all the sorowes that it hathe suffered and the soule discouer all the assaultes of fortune that it did abide bothe the Gods and men would maruell at the body that had endured so muche and at the harte that did dissemble the same This doctrine vpon the miserie of mans life thus alleaged by vs is not vnprofitable for it may serue as a myrrour or example to beate downe the hautinesse and high minde of Princes and great Lords when they feele them selues stirred or prouoked to vayne glory for if they would consider the common beginning of all the firste matter whereof we are made and how we bee all continued of lyke Elements bought all with one bloud hauing one common enimie I meane Sathan nourished and fed all with like Sacraments al incorporated in one Churche fighting all vnder one Captayne which is Iesus Chryst trusting in one onely rewarde all subiect to vices and passions and all indifferent to death they would then thinke there is no difference betweene the most vilest creatures of the earth and them selues but only in a litle dignitie caducall transitorie which shall vanish away as the smoke And let vs now mark how the prophet Ozeas doth condemne the insolencie and pride of them that do magnifie and exalte themselues of their mightinesse and great birth Their glory sayth he is all vppon their mothers womb of their conception and birth And the prophet Malachie sayth haue we not al one father are we not created of one Lord and God wherfore is it then that eche one contemneth his brother willing to let vs vnderstande by this their doctrine that this name of noblenesse is a vayne title giuen to men the desert wherof is of none account in the sight of god The wise man writeth in the booke of wisdome in this sort Beeing borne into this world sayth he I receiued the lyke ayre that other men did I was cast vpon the earth hauing the same voyce cry that others had and I was nourished and brought vp in the like paynes and sorowes and there was neuer king or prince vpon the earth that had euer any other beginning in his natiuitie we haue then one beginning one ende S. Iohn Chrysostome one of the most renoumed Doctors among the Grekes vpon thexplication of these words Our father which art in heauen trauelling to pull vp by the rootes these smal sparkes of glory which reigne amongs these great lords princes by means of the glory that they haue in their noblenesse and birthe exhorteth them in this maner Hearken sayth he you ambitious men how the Lord doth name him selfe our Father not father in particular of this man or that mā but willing to introduce one common charitie amongs all men and to conioyne vs all in a celestiall noblenesse had no regarde herein either to riche or poore master or seruant iudge or minister king or man at armes Philosopher or vnlearned wise man or foole but called him selfe father of vs all And S. Augustine vppon the Sermon made of the Mountayne confirming this authoritie sayth that we are admonished by this our cōmon prayer that beginneth
it vnto him and retaineth it in suche sorte that when a man shall take it away it seemeth to suffer some passion This maruellous puissance of amitie séemeth to extende likewise to Metalles which we see manifestly that Mercurie is so affected to Gold that if he be neere it he plungeth incontinently into it as if he were rapt and caryed away with some extreeme loue I dare well adde vnto this a thing more maruellous but to the euerlasting coÌ„fusion and slaunder of man that euen the very Diuels and wicked spirites themselues by whose malice the first aliance and concorde betweene God man was broken haue a certaine amitie and confederacie togither in such manner that they do exercise their rages and tyrannies againste vs by a mutuall consent and accorde But Oh immortal God man to whome peace is more necessary than to all other creatures only doothe despise and contemne the same And yet if you wil compare man with other beastes and behold and note him well from the head euen to the foote you shall not finde any marke or token in him that doth not promise peace And as for brute beastes nature hath prouided to the contrary apt armor to defend theÌ„ in their kinde as to Buls he hath giuen hornes to Lions nailes to wilde Bores furious teethe to Elephants long snoutes to Dolphins sharp prickes poynted like spurres to Crocodiles harde skinnes impenitrable with greate and strong nailes to Serpentes venime which doth supply the want of other defences Bisides all this Nature hathe giuen to some beastes a hideous forme to some flaming eyes to others some a fearfull crie and terrible manner of lowing but to man shee hath not giuen nor prouided other armor but wéeping wailing and therfore it is farre vnmeete that he should be borne for war who assoone as he is brought forth vpon the earth knoweth none other meanes to demaunde any succor or aide but by weeping and crying Let vs marke his figure in whom the very Caracter of God is Imprinted and we shall not perceiue it hideous or fearfull as other Beastes be but meeke gentle pleasant and amiable euen very marks and tokens of perpetual amitie and concord Marke his eyes you shal see them to be two faire lights and messangers of the soule which shew not so furious or burning as other beastes do but pleasant and delectable alwayes lifted vp towards heauen from wheÌ„ce he tooke his beginning the beames wherof haue suche puissance in all creatures that it seemeth it should be some charme that Nature hathe giuen to man to pierce into the very depthe profound partes of our harts shee hathe giuen man also armes to embrace one an other and to him only is giueÌ„ the delite of kissing for a more ample testimonie and seale of amitie To man only is giuen laughing the very token of mirthe and pleasantnesse To man only is giuen teares which be faithfull messengers of clemencie and mercie and dothe sometimes stande vs in steade of spunges to drie vp little fumes of choller that doe nowe and then rise amongs vs. Likewise shee hathe giuen man a voice not sharpe and shirle as shaée hathe done to other beastes but swéete pleasant and harmonious And yet nature not thinking it sufficient to garnishe him with all these giftes but shée hath giuen him the vsage of reason and spéeche a thing of an incredible force and puissance to nourishe amitie and good will amongs men Further shée hath ordained to man a companable felowship to driue away all carefulnesse and sorowe and to make him the better estéemed shée hathe induced him also with knowledge and learning wherby he shal be able to bridel the moste hautiest and barbarous Tirant vpon the whole earthe And further to bring him to his full and entier perfection shée hathe grauen in him certaine sparkes of godlinesse and vertue that euen withoute any precepts or teaching only guided by Nature he can discern the good from euill And bisides all these giftes and fauours of Nature for the more increase of amitie shée hathe so appoynted and ordered all things that one hathe néede and helpe of an other euen from the greastest to the leaste And shee hathe not so ordained and appoynted that any one prouince shall bring foorthe all things that are necessary for the vse of man but shée hathe disposed all things in suche order that one shall borowe and as it were desire some one thing of an other the better to tie and confederate vs firmely togithers And thus loe you sée howe Nature a gratious mother to mankinde hathe lefte vnto vs many meanes and wayes whereby we may encrease amitie and concord And further if we will searche diligently through all the state of our life we shall perceiue that without a mutual peace and loue which dothe maintaine and conserue vs togithers the memorie of mankinde should remaine wholly buryed and extincte for euer For firste of all if it were not for the loue that is in Matrimonie amitie which is moste noble moste excellent and most holy and for desire of procreation mankinde should perishe immediatly after he is brought forthe into this world And if it were not also for the loue and diligence of Nurses and Midwiues by whose succour and ayde we are defended and nourished our feeblenesse and imperfection is suche as we should bee deuoured of wylde beasts and serue as meate for them And let vs note the great loue of the fathers and mothers towards their children which is of suche force that they loue them before they see them beeing yet in their entrailes a loue certayne that returneth agayne from the chyldren to their parents whom they doe likewise nourish and sustaine in their ages euen vntill death call for them and after deathe render them againe to the earth from whence they came and they make them also liue agayne beeing dead for as of a tree béeing cut therâ— groweth and springeth foorth other branches that continueth the kynde from time to time so these children whom they haue procreated doo make their names euerlasting and as it were to lyue for euer from age to age And to bee shorte nature dothe stirre and pricke vs forward by so many meanes and with so many instruments of hir infinite prouidence to make vs loue togithers that we ought to be ashamed so to shed the bloud one of an other of vs But oh vnhappie and miserable wretches that we are I am ashamed to confesse that I muste needes that although peace was sente from aboue for the onely vse of man and that he should embrace the same yet it is so wée may see at this present day that the Pallaces and publike places sounde of nothing else but of dissentions and debates yea and suche as the Ethnikâ—s haue not had the lyke for although the moste parte of Europe bee not replenished with Proctors Procurators and Aduocates yet in no place there
adultery with his wife wherein they did consider the iuste gréefe of the husbande to sée his wife defiled Truely a law very seuere and strayte for we are not permitted to vse suche violence to them that would kill our owne persons as if a man would say the offence were more greater to violate the wife of any man than to take away from him his owne proper lyfe which is a certayne testimonie and true argument to let vs vnderstande how excellent and precious a thing marriage is which béeing polluted and violated is pourged by the effusion of mans bloud and aucthorised thervnto by Iustice But why doo we repose our selues so muche vppon the testimonie of the lawes written séeing that we haue the very proper law of nature to confyrme the same which is not written in any Table of Brasse or mettall but in grauen and printed in the inwarde partes of our hearts whervnto if wée doo not obey and giue place wée shall seeme so muche vnworthy the name of good Citizens as we thereby deserue not to bée called men For if it bée as the Stoikes doo say very subtilly in disputation that to liue well is none other thing but to folow the course of Nature what is more agreable to Nature than mariage what is more conformable to the nature not onely of man but also of al other beasts thā to cōserue their kind in their béeing it is then a thing very ignomious to man and deserueth great infamy to sée beastes that are without reason to obey to the lawes of Nature and he onely breake it and striue agaynst it and we if we will marke well with Iudgement shall finde in all the workes of Nature a certayne printe Image and purtracte of marriage And Plinie the great searcher of the secretes of Nature doth write in his naturall Hystorie that there are many trées and Plantes whereof there is bothe the Male and the Female which of a very instinction of nature and a secret and mutuall loue that is amongs them do loue one an other and take strength and encrease of the one with the other in such sorte that if the male should not alwayes spred the bowes and braunches of the female as it were by a naturall embracing the females should become barren would beare no fruite The Philosophers write also the like of many precious stones which are so well tied confederate togithers by the strayte bonde of nature that if ye separate the male from the female they can not exercise nor worke their naturall operations And do wée not sée how that the heauen in his continuall motion hath the earth in subiection as a wife and companion which he maketh fruitfull fertill in all things by his strenght and influence doing therin the office of a faythfull spouse and husbande And thus if we should folow an infinite number of suche like examples which nature doth represent in hir works we might make a great volume therof but we haue brought foorth these few to shew you as it were at the eye that by the ayde solace comfort fauor of this matrimoniall societie all things are mainteined conserued continued as to the contrary if men were restrayned frō the same al things shold be destroyed made ruinate and decayed and there is not at this day any nation vnder the face of the heauens so cruell barbarous or so far estraunged from humanitie that dothe not reuerence honor mariage The Thracians Sarmates Indians Greke and Latinis yea euen those that dwell in the extreme parts of the world do receiue it honor it commend it and that onely bicause that nature the father and mother of all things knowing our necessitie therin hath determined it and engrauen it in our harts yea it is of such force that it taketh place not onely amongs the Turtles Doues who are of nature amorous but further it vrgeth and constrayneth the most furious cruel beasts vpon the earth to obey thervnto The Lions be louing gentle to their females the Beares and Elephants do not onely loue them but are subiecte withall to that extremitie which we call gelousie The Tygers fight combate for the defence of their yong Faunes The Asses which be of nature melancolie be so earnest defenders of their yong ones that the philosophers write they will passe through the fire to defend and succour them and as that man therfore is not to bée estemed a good laborer that doth onely content him selfe to continue and preserue the tées which he hath found planted by his aunceters except he also endeuer him selfe to plante others to serue his posteritie So in lyke maner he is not to be iudged a good and profitable Citizen that dothe thinke the people that are in the common wealthe where he inhabiteth to be a number sufficient excepte he doo enforce him selfe to augment and encrease the same for the tyme to come and to yéelde to hys posteritie by Nature that which he hath receyued of hys Aunceters And also if we will enter into our selues and iudge indifferently of things what shall wée finde in this caducall and transitorie worlde more meeter for man than a woman what is there more pleasaunt and profitable to mans contentation béeing subiecte to many myseries and calamities than to communicate dayly at his owne libertie and pleasure and that with mutuall good wyll with his faythfull wyfe the kéeper of all hys secretes and faythfull treasourer of all hys passions and sorrowes and as touchyng other humayne frendeshippes for the moste parte they bée full of guyles dyssimulations and periuries and oftentymes when Fortunes dothe frowne vppon vs suche friendes become lyke vnto Swallowes which take their flight in the winter and if it happen a man to finde a faythfull frende oftetimes the frendship dothe not continue betwéene them tyll deathe for mens natures are so diuers that commonly they embrace a new frende and leaue the olde but the frendship and loue of Matrimonie is not broken or infected by any Hypocrisie or dissimulation nor is neuer taken away nor extincte by the furious assaults of aduerse fortune but it continueth euen vnto the graue yea oftentimes it endureth for euer But what more greater testimonie of feruent amitie can there bée than to leaue the father and mother brother and sister and generally all the race she is descended off yea and euen to become enimie to hir selfe to folow his husbande whom she honoreth and loueth and haue all other things in misliking and depende wholly of him If wée bée riche she kéepeth our goods if wée bée poore she employeth all hir force and indeuor that Nature hath giuen hir to enriche vs if wée bée in prosperitie our felicities are doubled in hir to sée hir partaker of our wealths if wée bée in aduersitie she comforteth assisteth and serueth vs if wée will remayne solitarie in our houses she then dothe continue with vs to