soundly slepte hee tasted the pleasantest part of life meaning as I thinke that euery pleasure that we take by our sences hathe in it more displeasure then sweetenes And therefore there could be nothing better then to lack y knowledge of theym But common opinion hath compared death to slepe rather theÌ„ trauayle or destruction therfore Homer doth call it brasen slepe Virgil yron slepe either of which importeth forgetfulnes of al thinges the allay of cares dulnes of sences careles mynde of hap to come Betwixt slepe and death this only difference there is that in death y time of quiet is longer Diogenes beinge sicke sleaping was asked of his phisicion how hee fared to whom he answered wel for quod he one brother enuieth an other Such was the securitye of hys mynde as euen at point of death he feared not to iest In like maner did Cosmas Medices a wise man in our age who being nerse death closed hys eyes whiche his wife seinge asked whye hee so dyd hee answered that hee did it to bringe his eyes in custome For in dede the eyes of dead men are neither broade open nor close shutte And so I thinke the Poet did wel knowe sayinge Is not our sleape O foole of death an Image playne For fatall course shal bring a rest that euer vvill remayne But if thou compare death to long trauayl and that the soule beinge let lose from prison of the bodye seeth al thinges and walketh euerye where Than what can be consydered more happye For the soule being burdened with the body is neither free nor rightly knoweth any thinge but beyng ouerladen with cares doth beholde only the fygure of thinges and as it were throughe a webbe or clothe gesseth a syghte and certainlye knoweth nothing but beinge free doth not only cast of all hyndraunce but also beholdeth all thinges without interruption whiche beinge true who is hee that willingly woulde eschewe deathe yea who is hee that woulde not rather doe as Theombrotus Ambrociota did who hauinge red Platoes booke of the immortalitye of soules cast himselfe headlong downe from a wall not feelinge any offence or other naturall sickenes but onely for desyre of such heauenlye happynesse as spirites were partakers of Therfore men saye that Socrates being by Crito perswaded to flye frome prison aswel for sauinge hymselfe as his frendes and kinsfolkes refused to doe it answerynge wiselye O Crito my chyldren shal be left in charge to God which gaue them As for friendes I am going into those partes where I am assured to fynd as good or haply better then they be And at length I doubt not but you wil also offer me your company meaninge thereby that the lyfe of man was of small continuance Such were the wordes of Socrates thynking that death necessarilye myght be compared to one of these three and most lyke of al to trauayle whych may also be coniectured by dreames For there is nothing that doth better or moore truely prophecy the ende of lyfe then when a man dreameth that he doth trauayle and wander into farre countries and chiefly if he imagineth hym selfe to ryde vppon a whyte horse that is swyfte and that he trauayleth in countries vnknowen wythout hope of retourne in such sort naturallye deâ—yninge of that shortlye wyll come to passe in dede But if death be resembled to destruction which as is all ready proued is moost impossible yet can it no wayes bee accompted euyll Because what so euer is not can not be euyll els we should lament for them that neuer were born nor neuer were at all and they that are not can nothinge suffer But if thou bewaylest thy chaunge sure it is that Death dooth take away more euylles then it bringeth and those more certayn And although Death were euyll and brought wyth it but one onely commodity whyche Epicharinus spake of because the partinge from Lyfe was painfull yet by death art therof delyuered for in all euilles to haue escaped is a greate comforte If then death be euyll to be dead is to escape but if it bee good thou haste no cause to lament And that the one or the other is who doubteth I remember nowe that longe synce happened to my selfe neither do I thinke to digresse from the purpose that albeit the twentye and seuenth yeare of myne age I became sore sicke of a syngle Tercian after Seuen fyttes I â—ounded and lay for dead In whych tyme althoughe euery member was almoste depriued of his vertue yet felt I neither griefe nor payn other then a certayn ticklinge throughout my whole bodye euen such as we feele in vsing venery Therfore as I sayde beynge in suche estate I feeled nothinge worse then that this tickelinge where in was not so greate pleasure as in Venus Sporte And there with all a certayne Feare leaste in deede I shoulde dye and truely as touchinge Sence or Strength I founde small dyfference thoughe the peryll were greate Afterwardes askinge of manye that hadde beene neare Death whether therein they felte any greate euill or not who aunsweared that in the Headeache and in euerye other sicknesse of the Bodye was greater Griefe I founde that in myne opinion of Death conceyued I dyd not erre at all That proofe maye also bee had that althoughe Children and women be moste fearfull to receiue all sortes of Medecines and yelde to Cuttinge of vaynes yet being ready to dye do neither complayn nor lamente but rather are offended if wee seeke to preserue their liues Who cannot therfore coniecture that in death there is either none euyll at al or very litle seynge those paynes whiche we feare most are in dyinge not regarded Thys is also worthy to bee noted that they that hope of no lyfe to come do no lesse valiantly dye theÌ„ they that beleue the soule immortal As Cassius who hauing killed Caesar with the same dagger that Caesar was slayne aspecting no messenger of death slewe himselfe so dyd Marcus Antonius and Sardanapalus king of the Assyrians did cast into the fyre not only hym selfe but also his bed and his concubines but that he belieued no lyfe after death is knowen by these verses Novve eate novve drinke novve make good sport For sith thy felfe on earthe a mortall man do see Take here thy fill of earthly ioyes no ioyes hereafter be Therfore albeit it were that with the body y soule did perishe yet death could not be eyther euyl greuous or any wayes to be feared yea such as so beleue are in greatest security for not beinge subiect to iudgement and free from all suspicion of mynde either of punishment or reward which thing doth most torment men that are ready to take leaue of lyfe But thou shalt beleue al rather then this that the soule perysheth with the body For as it is not altogether certaine what dothe presentlye folowe death so is it moste assured that the soule of man doth neuer dye wherof althoughe none other profe were then the consideracion of
from his birth did neuer see then hath he 〈◊〉 to complayne according to the common saying That the eye seeth not the hart rueth not For in that we knowe not we neyther delight nor fynd offence Al be it we see many things we take pleasure in yet of theym that doe discontent vs the nomber is greate One only perfyte eye we haue whiche is the spyryte and that more liuely is in the blynde then in them that can see by reason the outwarde eyes is there vnto a hynderaunce For which reason wee fynde that the blinde men both in wit and memorye excell all others And as they say of Tyresia For God â—ris face did hyde and 〈◊〉 vvithin the breast he set Meaninge that the blynde man did in mynde see the moste And therfore in olde tyme suche menne were honoured for prophecyinge thinges to come When Antonius the holye comforted Didimus the Philosopher he sayde vnto him let it suffise that styll thou enioyeste thy celestiall eyes thoughe the other be lost Diodorus the Stoike a companion to Cicero was blynde yet in Philosophye Musicke and Geomatrys excellent Caius Drusus was so cunninge in the Lawes Ciuil althoughe he were hymselfe blynde yet helped hee many that could see Some say Democrites for the enuy his Cittizens did bear him put our his own eyes Ascâ—epiades the Philosopher in his blindenes was wont to playe sayinge the wante of syghte was nothinge els but as thoughe a chylde should doe some thynge to an other whereby hee mighte fynde a wante But amonge other commodities blyndenes doth make death the moore tollerable Because deathe is feared for nothinge so muche as that wee loose the comforte of lighte and come into darckenes when if thou be blinde before thou shalte feele the lesse alteracion that whiche tormenteth others moste in dyinge thou shalt as it were dye vnwares Some perhappes there are so grosse as will discommonde olde age forgettinge that who so is now olde hath beene in tymes paste younge But for tryall here of let Sephalus or Spurinna be called in question of whome we may enquire whether old age not abused be better then lustye youth The vertue and strength of Iacobus Philippê° Sacchi whoÌ„ Franciscus Sforza did those to be prince of the Senate doth sufficiently shewe Wherfore syth in all these Calamities aforesaid nothinge is euyll let vs consyder whether in common miseries we ought to lament as in plagues famine and destruction of countries which because they are common doe seeme the moore pacientlye to bee suffered But if they were euyll woulde be of all other moste intollerable because they are most hardlye amended Wee see therfore that the discontentacion of men growethe rather vppon opinion then cause And seeinge it is vniuersall let vs followe the golden age in whyche tyme was more fidelitye more frendly conuersacion more easy lyfe y men better mynded and their maners the lesse corrupte that their fortune was so euyll In that age they lyued only vpon frute if they had gotten bread â–ª they accompted themselues happy but thou that wantest neither bread wyne bedde nor other prouision doeste notwithstandinge complayne It is enuy therefore no pleasure superfluity no necessity that doth torment vs For if our desires were reasonable wee should at all tymes haue lyke wishes And knowinge with howe fewe bace thinges nature is contented we shoulde not fynde so infortunate ende of our doinges But seinge in that miserable tyme men lyued so contented this can not be sayde any myserye at all For he is onely in misery y is enforced to hate his own lyfe yet in coÌ„mon calamities no man hateth his owne lyfe but moste paciently beareth all aduersityes For nothinge seemeth dishonourable that is common Euerye euylle of mannes lyfe dothe consyste in reproche death except And euery thing that is good in glorye The reason thereof is that as at the beginninge I sayd verye good or euyl was not to be found among mortall men But to return to the purpose our countrye perisheth and there in our frendes kinred reputacion and substance I graunt but dost thou accompt those only thy neighboures that inhabite thy couÌ„try Surely we are al disceÌ„ded of one line and if we loke backe to our grandfathers great great grandfathers oure affinitye is muche It is good maners y getteth frends vertue y wiÌ„neth reputacion which if thou want it is not reputation but rather ambicion and crafte In pouertye thou haste manye Companions so as for thyne error thou nede not be ashamed for want of company thou cannot bee weary And in pouertye as erst I sayde there are many wayes to reliefe as hospitalles kinsfolke charitable persons all good men Also the vniuersalitye of the misery taketh away al reproch And though many through slouth and lothenes to labour do fall into beggery yet a mynde industrious and armed with vertue is seldome subiecte thereunto Albe it the hole cittye of Siracusa was taken spoyled and sacked yet Marcellus preserued Archimedes Also when Megara was taken by Ptolomeus after by Demetrius son of Antiochus yet Stilpho the Philosopher was saued and at the kinges handes receiued both honour and rewarde for the one desyred his company the other became his scholer When Rhodus was besieged by Demetrius Protogenes the painter being found in the suburbes was by him honored though the other cittezens remained scant in surety Vertue is alwayes accompanied with Nemesis who sufferethe none to beg sauing men from coÌ„mon calamities Socrates remayned in Athens healthy when y plage was there at the greatest Crates escaped harme at the saccage of Thebes A man of greate vertue ought not to hazarde himself in common calamyties Now remayneth it onely somwhat to say of manye miseries assembled togethers And as Diogenes said I am hee vpon whom all misfortune is cast no house I haue no towne in exile a vagabond and begger Yet to counteruayle all these miseries he thought the vertue of minde of force enough If therfore being olde thou art sicke pore and banished whether doth the encrease or deuide thy miseries Calamities are not according to this number but the greatnes to be measured It commeth to passe in these as it doth in greifes of y bodie one Calamity driue than other awaye Exile taketh awaye the dishonor of misery when thou liuest amoÌ„g people vnknowen And as erst I sayd ther is nothing saue death that a man desyreth more to eschewe Whether had thou rather be Philota when he was persecuted of Alexander hauinge youth beauty strength grete byrth ryches then in seruitude sicke and in thine old estate Truelyâ— the condicion of man is lyke vnto a garment whiche the more rich beautifull it be the more a sport doth disgrace it and the lesse beauty it hath y lesse hurt the garment ther by receiueth It is also to be considered that no man is al his lyfe in miserye for sleape causeth forgetfulnes of sorow and is as pleasant to men in sorow as to those that be most happie Also the delights of our sences be to al meÌ„ almost alyke comon as tast venery sight heariÌ„g and smellinge So all things that be delectable to man do not togethers decay If therfore at one instant all mortall men did sleape then for that time none should be more happye then other But wee are most assured not onely to sleape but also dye and as long to lyue we cannot so how far we are from death is to vs vnknowen Wherfore to bear euery thinge resolutely is not onely the parte of a wise man but also of a man wel aduised seinge y there is nothing in this life that may iustly be said to be against vs Therefore Homerus fayned Aten the Goddes of Calamitye to barefooted as one that could not touch any thing sharpe or hard but walked lightly vpon the heades of mortall men Meaninge that Calamity durst not come nere anye but such as were of base minde simple subiecte to effeminacy But among such as were valiant and armed with vertue shee durst not come Wherfore lift vp thy mynde to heauen where an euerlastinge and most pleasaunt life is prepared for thee Men in this worlde are lyke trees some slender some great some florishing some bearing frute some witheringe some growinge some blowen downe and some frutefull which in one harueste time are brought togeathers and laide vppon one stacke Neither is there afterwardes sene any difference among them what they be or haue bene al at one time be cut downe neuer more to growe agayne Euen so al pryde ambicion ryches aucthoritye children frendes and glory doe in shorte space grow olde and perishe neither dothe it make matter whether thou were Irus or vile Galba Antaxerles or noble Hercules Onelye honestye and vertue of mynde doth make a man happy and onely a cowerdlie and corrupt conscience do cause thine vnhappines Because the worste that the good man can feare is the best that the euyll can wishe for whyche is the destruction of the Soule in death But as he ought not to hope thereof so should not the other feare it For God the eternal father hath sent vs into this worlde as children and heyres of hys kingdome and secretly beholdeth how wee fighte and defend our selues against our sences y world and the Deuyll And who so in this battell valyantly fighteth shal bee called and placed amonge the Princes of heauenlye kingedome And who so slothfully or cowerdly behaueth himself as a slaue in featnes shall for euermore be bounde This worldly stage was purposely prepared that God the father might secretly beholde vs Such foolishe children then as in his sighte wantonlye slouthfully and sediciouslye lyue shoulde they not thinke he doth beholde them Whenso euer therefore thou haste taken that laste leaue of Life thy soule like vnto a louer embracinge his death shall enioye that swetenes and security whiche we can neither wryte of nor conceiue For sith these worldlye louers amongest whom be many mislykings without assuraÌ„ce or eternity can scarcely expresse their ioyes in loue Happy yea thrise happy is this heauenly louer who forgettinge all others wythe his one loue is vnited For within this kingdome he loueth and liueth in the sight of him that can do all thinges and therefore lyke a good sonne to his father is euer readye to do his pleasure FINIS
after the maner of Heraclites is continually to be bewailed as Palladas sayth Al vveeping vvas I borne all vveeping must I dye my vvhole life in vveeping haue bene consumed O lamentable life of man remayninge on earth in sicknes sorrovv and continuall miserye Therefore if at any time we must take leaue of lamenting thē ought y same either euer or neuer to be done for life is eyther euer to bee lamented or neuer Among other myseries what I pray you cā be greater then whē a man riseth frō bed in the morning to be incertaine of his returne to rest againe or being in bed whether his life shall continue tyll he ryse besydes that what labour what hazard care are men constrained to abyde with these our brittle bodies our feeble force and incertayne lyfe so as of no nacion I thinke a man better or more fytlye named then of the Spaniard who in their language do terme a man shadow And sure ther is nothing to be found of lesse assurance or soner passed then the lyfe of man no nor y may more rightlye be resembled to a shadow Somtime I consider with my selfe and thinke yf the chrystian lawe were therunto consentyng that the soules of som wicked deuils were entred into the bodies of men as torments for synnes and so after death none other hell or punyshment to folow So greate is the masse of worldly miseries as this lyfe is eyther for wicked folke or by some wicked god appoynted But when I duly consyder al I leaue this cōmon opynion as altogether vntrue perceiue that in this lyfe ther is nothing found y may iustly be called good or euyll do allow of those phylosophers as wyse who thought that al thinges consysted in opynion For what custome what law or what iudgement is so certein as is not encoūtred with contrary opinions and surely beleue me y the philosophers wold not so long haue contended amōg themselues if the matters of theyr contentiō had not rested only in opynyon what man is so mad as wyl say the swan is blacke or that the rauen is in colour whyte when the matter is otherwise to be iudged by cōmon sence But what is good or euyl O lord how much speach how great disputation and howe longe contencion hath beene The blynd man sekes a mote How can it be other thē discention when the thing dyffreth from it selfe the philosophers do disagre among themselues as of that that no wher is to be found And here vpon cōmeth to my memory a certayn fable written by an aūcient poet whych doth lyuely in my iudgement set forth mans lyfe It is told that when myghty Iupiter had made the heauens the earthe the seas the beastes and men he soberly consydered that vnlesse he allotted both punishment reward for mens desertes it should so come to passe as they would not only approue al kynd of dysorder but also dysdayne the gods theym selues for whych consyderation the greate Ioue cōmaunded Vulcan to frame two brasen tunnes the one to receyue all that was good the other to conteyn the euyl and made both good euyl thinges wynged to th ende they myght more fytlye be sent amonge mortall men accordinge to the quality of theyr desertes But Pandora being a busy goddes and gredie to loke into the vessels dyd open them sodēly both the good the euyl brake forth flewe theyr wayes the good houered vp to heauen the euyll made speee to the hel and in y barel of euyl remayned only hope in the vessell of good was founde suspycion as that wherw t they were maynteyned which newes when Iupiter hard as he is an angry god toke the empty vessells and in a rage threwe them down whych mortal men seing desyrous of newes drew nere embraced the emptye barrels some of the good and some of the euyll But they that layd hold of the empty tonnes dyd neuerthelesse persuade thē selues to haue gotten both good and euyl and yet in dede neyther good nor euyl fel to any mortal man sauing that they y hapned vpon the better barrel found in themselues opiniō of good with suspicion the other opinion of euill with some hope And so it came to passe not vnlyke as when men in darke nyghts walkyng in Arabia do happelye treade vppon some piece of yron or other cold thing are sodenly affrighted with feare leaste they haue hapned vpon a venemous serpent yet haue not euen so the only suspicion of good and evyll is that that perplexeth al mortal creatures because al that is good is ascended to heauen and al that is euyl gone down to the infernall sprytes And therfore euer synce the great Iupiter haue disdained to take acompt of mortal mens deseruings Truly although this be a fayned fable yet doth yt aswel declare the originall both of good and euyll as yf it had bene set forth in the learned scholes But as these earthly ioyes are vayne and instable so in the world to come al thyngs are certain assured euerlasting whether throughe sufferance of these afflictiōs whych we call euyls the godly loue doth cal vs according to the sayinge of y prophet because thou were accepted by god it was expedient y temptacion should try the for the almighty God not vnlyke a father that entierly loueth hys chyldren doth bring them vp in all contynencye sober lyfe restrayning their pleasures not suffring them without chastisement to exercise any euyl or vngodly lyfe And contrary wyse such as hee estemeth not and that lyue lyke chyldren destened to perdiciō wythout regard he doth suffer to pursue their dronken and disolute maner of lyuing Shal we therfore say the life of such seruauntes is more happy or more to be wished for then those sonnes For none are admitted to heauēly ioyes but those that in all good lyfe and perfection do deserue the same for as gold is fyned in the fornace so the life of a iust man by aduersity in this world is tryed And yet if al eyther good or euyl should be compared to y heauenly hope yt were no more then one grayn to a hole heape S. Paule therfore sayd that al we suffer in this worlde was not meritorious enough to gayn the glory of y world to come who so euer then that fyrmely embraceth thys faythe should he not in aduersyty reioyse in prosperitye lament and amids his miseries persuade himselfe that god doth make tryal of hys fayth after tryall to cal him among the number of his chosen If in getting worldly glory thou doest so much reioyse the reward therof being smal the cōtinuance short and mortal what should we do for this heauenly glory which is euerlasting great assured So great is this comfort y if ther were not manye y swerued in fayth the holy office of cōforting were al ready finished who wold not chaūge this short life with that life euerlasting this frayl with
at the handes of a gentlewoman in Padoa wyth poyson procured his owne death One other in oure Cittye hauinge sustayned losse by the pryce of corne willinglye hanged himselfe One other and hee also of our Nation finding he could not with commoditye paye his dettes threw himselfe into a water and so drowned I my selfe did see a womaÌ„ who for verye sorrow that she had committed adultrye askinge God forgiuenes for her offence sodenlye dranke poyson Cleopatra although she might haue liued in honor yet because she would not be caried about in tryumphe caused a Serpent to bite her bodye thereof willingly dyed Porcia the daughter of Cato and wyfe to Brutus in honest life farre eâ—celling Cleopatra hearing that her husband was slayne didde eate burninge Coales and thereof died For cause more iust dyed Democles a Boy of notable beauty in Athens He being by the king watched when he should enter naked into a bath and knowing the king ment to abuse him caste himselfe into the bottome of the whot water and so presently dyed The death of Lucretia is wel knowen who violently bereft of hir honor sticked hir selfe The wante of successe and not will was cause that Alexander the greate escaped voluntarie death for hauing in dronken mode stain his frend Clitus he would presently in the house haue murdered himselfe from whiche doinge in space of three daies both by force sute he could scaÌ„tly be entreated to refrayn and afterwards being at y siege of Sudracarus a citie in India he leaped from the wall into the towne of purpose to dye For by meane therof he did both fal farre and alone among his enemies but fortune woulde not permit that successe he desired This booke would not receiue the nuÌ„ber of ensamples of such as for feare loue griefe anger other occasions of no waight haue sought theyr owne deathes Besides whom we reade of hole legions that haue offered themselues to apparant destruction As they did that were with Leonida against the PersiaÌ„s and fought nere vnto Thermopile What woulde these people haue aduentured for great cause or if death were a great euyl that vpon so light occasion did not refuse to dye From whiche determinacion no respect of age sexe or honor could feare them But I se what thou wilt say death I doe not feare for as it is not euill so is it necessarye and to feare that is of necessitye were vaine cowerdlye and hurtefull Yet woulde I dye easelye and olde suche a death as Augustus desired and did obtaine For by lyuinge olde I shall not onelye gaine a longer life but also a more easyer death Aristoteles in his Booke De Respiratione thincketh that verye olde men dyed not onelye withoute payne but also withoute anye feelinge of deathe because the heate of their bodyes was quenched whiche maye appeare by this example If thou goe aboute to drawe a tothe that is not loose thou feelest great paine but if of it selfe it were loose before withoute anye griefe at all it commeth awaye Euen so greene youthe wyth extreeme paine do yelde to death but olde folke in dying feele no griefe almost at al As the tragicall Poet sayth In slomber svveete the aged sprite departeth How can it be other theÌ„ that death is greuous to yonge men when as sleepe against nature is offensiue Oft times it happeneth that such as vppon custome seeke sleepe at vntimelye houres become thereby drye pyned and slouthfull so as in steede of delight they get disease Theophrastus beinge readye to dye thoughe he were an olde maÌ„ complayned of Nature because she had ordayned so longe life in Staggs Rauens al most vnprofitable beastes and to maÌ„ being the most noble wysest creature allowed so shorte a terme to 〈◊〉 in What may they say then that dye in y flower of theyr youth haue they not iust cause to lament Surely no. But here the reason why nature hath not among other creatures made man of longest lyfe and then that he that dyeth in youth doth suffer nothing more greuous then they that lyue old For fyrst it is doubted of manye and chiefelye of Aristotle whether anye creature the Elephant excepte doth liue more longe then man Because he maketh no mentioÌ„ either of the Phenixe the Crow the Rauen or the Stagge nor affirmeth them to be of longest life But let vs confesse that whiche is imputed in Virgill though it doth little importe to the matter where he speaking of men sayth A life more longe nyne times the cacklinge Crovve doth lyue But confessing with Aristotle that y Elephante doth liue more longe then man why neede we coÌ„tende whether man be of one or more creatures in longe lyuinge excelled Omittinge also that the holye Scripture affyrmeth lyfe more long to man then other lyuinge creatures let vs now dispute that that alreadye is taken in hande that is to say for what cause some beasts be of longer life then maÌ„ The reason is this seinge all creatures are made eyther for the vse or honour of man â–ª they were framed accordinge to the descretion of Nature at which time she made theyr minds as wel for their bodyes as theyr bodyes for their mindes were therefore made simple with fewe instruments as plaine thinges to enduer longe But the bodye of man being made onely for his minde neded many more instrumentes to th ende that the vnderstanding might the more fitlye do his office Therfore although Nature hath made for man the best proportion of bodye yet could she not geue therevnto the longest lyfe by reason of exceeding concauities and subtilnes of the members which if they were great besides that we should be al Giants they woulde bee troublesome eche one to other Which is wel proued in y no creature hath so infinite members or part of meÌ„bers which were of necessity made smal slender to y end they might the rather be fit to yeld so the breath an instrumeÌ„t of the soule became y more subtil Wherfore nature hath not in this behalfe omitted any parte of her duty â–ª but rather with such dilligence helped our life as for the length thereof wee haue no cause to complaine which is nowe wel proued in y people of India latest founde where men liue commonlye a hundreth and thirty yeres because there the ayre is good and the people without cares But wee coÌ„tinuing incares riot vntimely labour chosing ayre for profit not health yea altogether forgetting the length of life wee cast oure selues into extreame sickenes discoÌ„modities of body and preseÌ„t death without cause accusing nature for the shortnes of oure liues Howe muche better were it to know which way to vse the benefit of nature if so deare pleasaÌ„t a thing thou doest accompt this life what is y cause that Philosophers and Hermits haue liued so verye long yet theyr to great stinens and earnest contemplacion hindered their health vnlesse it were because they liued voide of care and
temperatly How much were this rule of lyuinge to attaine long life more delicate then to feede vppon fleshe and honye But in this age mē continue carefully in labours and care watching the halfe night baskinge in Venus bathe abyding in cloudye Regions and not in good ayre drinkinge boyled wynes do notwithstandinge complaine of short life And howsoeuer in deede oure liues be short it is opinion that doth make it so to appeare The people called Garamantes do not liue aboue fortye yeares I omit to speake of the Pigmeians as people rather fayned then in deede but wee if we dye before fyftye or threscore do thincke that iustlye we lament and yet who so dwelleth in those countryes do highly thanke God if he attayneth fortye yeares and thou lyuinge muche elder do neuerthelesse complayne Surelye euerye lyfe is long that is continued till death sith at the beginning the terme is destined and as sayth the Poet. In birth vvee breede our death our ende on first beginning hangeth Reade we not in holye Scripture that y nomber of dayes and monthes is appointed by God he hath set the terme which cannot be passed The lyfe of man therefore is ended wyth olde age for old age is the last part of life Olde age is also the necessitye of death wheresoeuer therefore death is necessary old age draweth neare Whoso dyeth in youth in this onelye is the more happye that he escapeth the discommoditye of old age will thou make life to seme long or short by comparison A kinde of beastes ther be called Ephemera which are made in the morning and before sonne settinge do dye If happelye they dye at noone theyr lyfe is called shorte but if they continue till nighte they accompte it longe and yet it exceedeth not twelue houres Wee maruaile at flees for theyr long life if they liue two Sommers and at flees that continue three monethes Yet whiche of these is thoughte any thinge towardes mans life we call dogges olde that passe a leuen yeares of age but a man passeth all these in longe lyuinge thoughe hee dyeth in youth But the life of mā must not be accompted longe or shorte in respecte of his yeares The life of all mortall men is but shorte because wyth death it shal be most certainlye ended It is vertue worthy actes that maketh the life longe and idlenes that shortneth thy dayes Alexander thoughe hee liued not aboue thirtye three yeares dyed an old man through the greatnes and nomber of his noble exploytes Argantonius hauinge lyued a hundreth and twentye yeares maye bee sayde to haue dyed in youth because besydes the rarenes of his age in all his life he neuer did anye thing that deserued memorye It ought also worthelye to be noted that for the most parte all notable men haue dyed in theyr youth Amonge the kinges none almoste continued to olde age Hercules Athilles Castor Pollux Aiax Iason Amonge the Poetes Lucanus Catullus Tibullus neyther was Vigill long liued neyther Demostenes nor Cicero howe true yea to true is the sayinge of the Poet. Their liues are short and age is rare vvhere life doth lacke good rule IVLIVS CAESAR Seuerus Alexander Probus Aurelianus Claudius the seconde of that name dyed in youth which men a I thincke liued the lesse the more honest they were because being deare to the Gods were the souer called vnto them Whervppon grew that saying from the Poetes whom Iupiter and Apollo do loue do neuer attaine to old age This is also to be noted that choise is to be loked for wher wil may anye wayes auayle but in thy power it is not to make thy life eyther more long or more shorte Yet if thou cā do it there is none offence at al but if thou cānot thou lamentest thy shortnes of life for no greater reason then thou may thy mortality And that care of thinges impossible is vayne onelye proper to fooles But admit thou maye continue thy life and become olde arte thou not therby the more vnhappye because thou losest that singuler commodity which by God almightye is gauen to men for the allaye of sorrow which is ignorance of time While wee continue yonge wee liue meerelye because wee imagine death is not at hande But how can olde menne thincke that death is farre awaye when alreadye they are entred the laste ende of life Howe true and worthye memorye is that sayinge of S. Austen A yonge manne maye soone dye but an olde manne cannot liue longe And yet no couse there is why thou should not be sorrye seing a yong mā maye also dye sone Syth th ende of life is vnknowē a yong man neuer ought to dispayre whether he laboureth of deadly diseases or be cast into cruell tormentes and prison The chaunces of mortal creatures do shew that men are subiect to law of nature and fortune so as withoute cause they loue certainties for most incertēties of al. But admit thou doest attaine to old age it selfe how manye euils commeth therby labour griefe ▪ sadnes losse of sences disdaine y which is almost worst of all as Caecilius doth well discribe therby thou shalte see they companye of all men eschewed vnwelcome are olde menne to their children vnwelcome to frendes disdayned of yonge men and odious to their owne familiars Theyr sences serue not theyr bodyes theyr bodyes obeye not theyr mindes they passe the nighte withoute sleepe and eate without all tast They lothe themselues how shoulde they be pleasant to others We reade that when Zeno Citieus could not dye with age he strāgled himselfe What dilligence and trauayle did Cicero take to perswade olde age to be pacientlye borne but if of it selfe it had beene good or as riches frends children and learning had apparance of good there shoulde haue beene not cause for him to haue taken such trauayle A mockerye it were to perswade that health or honour were pacientlye to be suffered and wee agree that olde age is sufferable but not to be wished for Howe manye olde men haue beene for whom it had beene better to haue died in youth Priamus for example not for myracle in historye is resited Not longe since Baccus Valor being olde and readye to take leaue of life before his eyes behelde his owne sonne beheaded a yonge man of singuler hope The next yeare before two other olde men I sawe that behelde the like fortune in theyr owne children Wherefore I wonder muche at the greate wysedome of Theramenes woo onelye escapinge when his house fell downe sayde before his frendes that reioysed for his life O fortune to what ende hast thou me preserued neyther did he aske in vaine for within fewe dayes after by the malyce of tyrantes he was taken and put to death Therfore such is the condition of men as althoughe beinge olde thou mighte returne to youth againe as the fable telleth of Aeson sayinge And as tvvise tvventye yeares bypast so novve my force I finde Myne aged yeares are vvorne
avvay I feele my youthful minde Yet who art thou so madde or greedye of lyfe as would take vpon thee such a condition wherin there is nothinge but sicknes cares contempte peril lothsomnes and sorrow So as I see not for what reason thou seekest to liue And if in lustye youth when strengthe sences beautye wit auctoritye were all in thee thou were notwithstanding oftentimes wearye of life what shalt thou doe at this age when thou hearest thy selfe called olde wretche and dootinge olde foole death doth neuer come so muche to sone to a yonge man as to late to them that be olde But if feare of deadlye paines do offende thee sicknes resembleth death and in sicknes by little and little the life is taken awaye Or art thou loth to dye alone Be of good cheare thou shalt finde more deade then are left aliue and those also shall or longe followe As the Poet sayth For eyther soone or late in order as men saye The vvretched flocke of vvordly folke to death do take their vvay Neyther doth GOD suffer any to deferre his destined tune The destines do driue all men and remayne as lawe for euer they are y happyer sort that are sonest dispatched of paynes And as amonge condempned folke the Lawe executeth those first that haue least offended to th ende that the greate offenders shoulde beholde the terror of death Euen so God doth first take those away whom hee loueth because they shall not be lokers on but messengers sente before vnlesse in consideration of profitte eyther to theyr frendes or the worlde hee suffereth such menne to tarrye more longe To conclude then seing in thinges that be euil there is nothinge more greuous then dailye and certaine expectatiō old age when it commeth hauinge in it both the one and the other doth force a manne to wyshe that in his youth hee had dyed I my selfe beinge a childe doe remember mine owne mother Clara Michera then a yonge woman was notwithstanding wonte to wishe that in her infancye she dyed beinge growen to greater age for euer more she continued y speach I asked the cause whye shee soe sayde where vnto this she aunsweared Loe now I know I shall dye and that with greater perill besydes that in the meane time who so doth marke it well shall see there is nothing that doth not bring with it greater griefe then pleasure because pleasure beinge passed doe chaunge to sorrowe And that deseruingly What is it in this life that can delighte dailye trouble to apparell and vnapparell thy selfe hunger thyrste sleepe not so plentiful nor quiet as dead mē haue heate in Sommer colde in Winter disorder of time terrour of warres controlemente of parentes cares of wedlocke studye for children slouthe of seruaunts contention of sutes and that whiche is moste of all the condition of time wherein honestye is disdayned as follye and crafte is honoured as Wysedome Artisans for theyr cunning not accompted of but for apparaūce and opinion of people preferred So as it is necessarye eyther to displease God or els to liue amonge men in miserye oppressed and disdayned I omitte all euils onely that which is cōmon to dead men is not euil all other thinges which wee do not accompte euil are worse then those which deade men suffer It is nowe requisite that somewhat be sayde of the diuersityes of death hytherto it hath beene deferred because they are many of diuers men thoughte worthy consideration For death doth seeme greuous to yong men both for that it is painful for that minde to leaue the body dishonourable and certen al which in common iudgement are ioyned to gethers And some cowardlye yonge men haue beene compelled to dye a knowen death but syth I see diuers of the common people pacientlye enough do take their deaths I know no cause why other should be greatly comforted considering that not the maner of death but the qualitye of the offence maketh death dishonorable For if thou respect only the maner of death thou shalt find that the greatest nomber of men put to vile death were those that antiquity prayseth and our age doe honour notwithstanding they fel into the handes of Tirantes in whose power it was to appointe the time and maner of death though innocencye be in them that suffer Neither can a publike death bee dishonorable if his life so dyinge be voide of foule vice because publike death without offence is not onely a signe but also a triall of vertue We fynde in the new law how Christ did first gayne the glorye of innocent death and after him followed innumerable martirs and prophets and the moore good and holy they were the more cruelly forced to dye Esayas cut with yron by commaundement of king Manasses Hieremias by the people stoned to death Iohn Baptist beheaded and fynally manie other cruelly murdered neither was the fortune of other Good menne muche better at the handes of heathen Kinges and in their Citties for Zeno Eleates when quietly he might haue liued in his house he conspired against the Tirant Nearcluis but his entent was discouered and he hanged yet at his deathe he perswaded the people to stone the Tyraunt to death When Lysymachus the kinge threatned Theodorus Cyreneus to hang him he answered thus what matter is it whether on the earth or hanging high my carkcas do stinke When Socrates myghte with sylence haue escaped death being condēpned only in a pecuniall paine did prouoke them y dyd condempne him to procure his death And when his wife Zantippe complained that vniustly he suffered he aunswered An mallet iuste senciens non esse malum preter culpam The dishonour therfore is not in dyinge but in the cause of death which procedeth of thine own euill doinge But as for paines youth and certaine knowledge of dying they add none encrease of grief to death nor make it moore greuous because the knowledge of that is not euill cannot be euil after and onely death after torments is most pleasant And torments either they can not be great or not long Christe for ensample to al men died that for ensample it might remaine Besides this seldome shalt thou finde any innocēt to dye of great torment no scantly once vnlesse it be at chaunge of lawes when innocentes are forced to suffer the insolency of nocentes as in hystories it appeareth most rarely is also founde example of violency in giltlesse men yf wilfulnes be not the cause for such as so murder good men do seme to do it of very will. But how easy a thinge death is eyther publike or by sword examples do beare witnes When Iulius Caesar was in the murdering and felte the daggers of diuers men stubbed into his body he sought neither to saue himselfe nor cryed for helpe but falling kept hidden his secrete partes Such memory hee had of comlines notwithstanding his woundes and readynes to yeld vppe his ghost And as Lucanus saith his sonne in lawe in such sort dyed He
vnhappy excremeÌ„t which being lost in dreames as often it hapneth thou carest not at all but what matter is it howe it be lost I meruayle the lesse of Aristippus that disdayned his sonne so much as he cast him away Other likewise I heare distroyed them as Lauis did Oedipus Priamus Paris Neither do thou thinke this custome only of kinges obserued but also of priuat men which lawe by Romulus of infamous memorye and happy successe in Italy fyrst was ad nulled Hereupon were erected almose houses y children shoulde no more bee brought vp by wilde beastes But this perhappes thou wilt saye My sonne was now become lyke vnto me I had speÌ„t much mony care and payn vpon him and so was likely to haue ben noble but these coÌ„plaints were more meete for mothers because if thou lamentest thy losse of mony theÌ„ hadst thou more nede to be cured of thy couetise then comforted for losse of thy sonne And hereof be most assured that children do not take three maners and condicions of their Parentes and they will follow the condicions of none lesse then of theym which is the reason why the children of pore men are more lyke to their parents then the children of the rich because pore men are both fathers maisters of their childrens lyfe but rich men not so Whye shouldeste not thou then make an other mans childe thine For hee is moste lyke the in condicions that is of thine owne bringinge vp Quintilianus telleth how Alexander had certain imperfections of Lionida his Tutor which he kept styll beinge come to mans estate For though we eschewe the immitation of vices yet in vertues we seeke to folow them Therfore if he that is dead was loued for vertue we commend thy meaninge but yet O Lorde how pleasant how happy is that life where vnto from this obscure darckenesse thy sonne is gone yea how swete was that trauayle Neither do I thinke it nedeful to declare those ioyes pleasures which our soules hauing forsakeÌ„ these earthly pleasures do possesse for while the soule is loden with that heauy burden it coÌ„prehendeth immortall thinges with the mortall Scantly it can be expressed how much force dignitie and glorye the soule beinge at libertie hath For the conceiuyng and not the teachinge wherof all be it a man in this lyfe be neuer so excellent he is notwithstanding imperfect because he is onely a man complete that vnderstandeth which the soule beinge closed within the bodye cannot doe Therefore what meruaile is it that the soule so slowly and painfullye departeth froÌ„ the bodye Lykewise with greate labour and much difficulty a man is from his mother brought forth to thys vale of misery In consyderacion of all these the bitternes of sorowe for thy sonnes deathe should be the lesse wayinge the glory whych he now hath and the reputacion of his youth together with the weary abode hee made in hys mothers wombe Nature hath ordained that al greate encrease of felicitye is attayned through harde labour With the same reason shalt thou be coÌ„forted yf thy sonne be an infant and thyne only sonn I omytte to tel what hee maye hereafter be but now he hath hit the marke for which he was borne For is there any other end whereto we were born then death as the body for the soule and as sleaping for watching so was lyfe geuen vnto vs for death wherefore as sleape is necesary for all men some more and some lesse so is life for the Soules wherfore if thou want meane to get an other son then choose thou some other one of thine affinitie and bringe him vp in learning honest disciplyne hardly shalt thou fynd such a sonne made by hys parents If such a one by education thou makest thou gainest thanks of God whose children we al be of thy couÌ„try which is mother to al men Neither in dutye shalt thou fynde him inferior to other children It is not my meaning to wish the death of children but that paciently men should beare it neyther will I that the childe of an other shoulde be preferred before our owne but rather that thy sonne be so brought vp as he may deserue to be preferred before others yet if we consider succession we shall fynde that excellent Maisters haue hadd notable scholers noble fathers vyle children And to omit all others Socrates was not estemed of his sonnes but by Plato his scholer was praysed to the skies Did not Theophrastus commende Aristotle more then Nichomachus The auncient examples do showe that the scholars haue proued not only more worthy then sonnes but also more thankful what sonne was euer so fauourably to his father as would yelde him the glorye due to himselfe as Plato woulde haue done to Socrates Besydes that men of notable vertue haue not only wanted children but also neuer sought for any As Thales Zeno Plato Apeâ—les Diogenes Galenus Virgilius and Homer and to some they haue come as it were againste their willes as to Alexander and Iulius Caesar And no meruaile y noble men haue seldome vertuous children Surely I think for some great respects it commeth to passe that of some noble parents vile children should discend which was very well and pleasantlye witnessed of Spartianus whose wordes are these Remembring vvith my selfe O Dioclesian Augustus that almost none of these great men haue lefte any sonne very good or proffytable It appeareth then suffyciently that worthye men haue either died without children or haue bene without And fyrst let vs begin at Romulus he left no children Neither hadd Numa Pompilius any that could proffit the common weale What had Camillus were his children lyke him What had Scipio What had the two Catoes that were called the great Then what should I speake of Homer Demosthenes Virgilius Crispo Tâ—rentius Plautus with diuers others What of Caesar or Tullius to whome alone it had bene better to haue bene childelesse What of Augustus who though he had the choise of all could not adopt one good Traianus was also deceiued in the election of hys heyre But omitting adopted childreÌ„ let vs speake of babes begotten by Antonius pius and Marcus the goddes of the common wealth What man hadd bene more blessed then Marcus had hee not lefte behynde hym his heire Commodus Or who had ben more happy then Seuerus Septimius had he not gotten Bassianus What doe we learne other by these ensamples then that Children do not take theyr myndes of their Parentes but of God otherwise they should be like to theim Nor in dede we cannot call theym oures but children of God the common father and they ought to be imbraced for their vertue not vertue for theym which if men in worldly procedinges did marke they should be like to Gods and leade a blessed lyfe But nature hath labored somewhat to deceiue vs in the Loue of children that is to say y euery man do so much care of that as for that we fail not to forget y loue of
themselues into the water whych noyse whē the hares hard they studyed to know the cause fynding that for feare of them the frogs were fled chaunged their entent because the frogs more vnhappy than they sought notwithstandinge to preserue theyr lyues and by y meanes the hares haue tyl thys day bene preserued Surely the aduersity of others did neuer make my miseries seme the lesse but the necessyty of euyl whyche is knowen by other mens misaduentures hath geeuen me greate allay of my pryuate greues For when a man shal truly consyder hys myshaps to procede of natures necessytye and not iniuriouslye then wyl he yelde himselfe to suffer al vnlesse that altogether he bee voyde of iudgement symple and foolyshe A wyse man therfore foreseinge the necessyty of many my seryes and wel remembring the frailtye and instabilitye of euery condition of mankynde doth paciently loke for al sortes of mysaduentures when they come it is therfore mete he shew himselfe armed with fortitude least changed by reasō of their comming he may seme to forsake his honest determinacion or els be vnprouided It is also to be cōsydered that time is a medicine to all sorowes yt taketh away mourning it bredeth forgetfulnes of iniuries yt remoueth the memory of misaduentures and fynally bringeth forgetfulnes and disdaine of al sortes of calamities What man hath beene so impacient in fatherlye affection as doth take care for the death of his son thirty yeares synce departed or his goodes lost so long agoe Such is the condicion of tyme as fyrst it deminisheth som part of extreame sorow or ioye next it weareth awaye al feruency of affection and lastly doth clerely rote it out of memorye Therfore sith y couetise of time doth in the moste symple worke this effecte whye shouldst not thou do the same to thy self and loke what benefyte time in short space should geue the the same may thou throughe fortitude learninge modesty and good example geue vnto thy selfe Perswade thy selfe that thy displeasant dayes bee neare passed and hope that better hap is at hande Call to memory how many worthy men haue vndeseruingly cruelly by fortune bene cast downe and patiently suffered her most extreme disgrace There is nothing more requisite in a wyse man then modesty to suffer both fortunes For who so knoweth not how to do in prosperitye forgetteth hee is mortall there is no greater argumente of wisedome then when a man doth that presentlye which others by benefyte of time haue learned Be not therfore burdenouse to thy selfe though thou art chaunced into this shadow of calamitye yet cast not thy selfe downe into very misfortune Thinke assuredlye that some bee free frome euerye euyl and that tyme bringethe wyth all the moste certayne and sure consolacion Not that we haue all ready spoken of but that which Auerroes other philosophers haue written When soberlye thou consyder that the lyfe of manne compared to the eternall worlde is not a moment and in that short tyme al to be vayne incertaine and by assured lawe of nature shorte so as it makethe no matter at all what a one thou haste beene or shalte bee And when wythe my selfe I ymagine of this matter I remember that whiche in bookes of common fables wee reade where some are fayned riche men some mightye kinges and some so stronge as for strengthe surpassed Hercules what difference there should be betwixte these fayned men and Caesar or Pompey tyll this daye I coulde neuer learne vnlesse that eyther for oure learninge an historye is made differente from a fable or that we haue consideration of soules that lyue for euer For otherwise when thou shalte no more bee it skillethe not at all what thou haste beene Onlye Follie of man hathe founde oute this inuention that we should perswade oure selues to be happy or vnhappye not onelye in this worlde but also after in the opinion of others Some I see mooste carefull that after deathe they maye leaue behynde theim riches or fame And entysed withe suche desire Herostratus burned the Temple of Diana ▪ that thereby thoughe for wicked doinge hee might gaine eternal fame But who was this Herostratus by what father begotten or of what mother was hee borne In what countrye dyd hee dwell what was hys parson or whiche waies did hee lyue what doe we knowe hereby other then either to knowe nothinge or a fayned man And admitte thou gayne this desired glorie what shall it auaile thee after three hundrethe yeares whether thou were happie or vnhappie And if no glorie bee within fiftie yeares after deathe what difference shal bee betwixte a kinge and a Carle Betwixte Lucullus and Irus betwixte Xenophon and Cleon betwixte flaues and fremen betwixte happie and vnhappie But least perhappes thou lyue in doubte that time doth styll abyde and the course of heauens be staide or that the lyfe of man dothe not of necessitie and speedelye decaie beholde that one stone where in was graued three Faces a Childes a Mans and an Olde mans So sodeine are the chaunges and so nere as the Poet doth not vnfytlie call our age Fleinge Consider what nomber of yeares since the beginninge of the worlde and thyne age haue passed so shalte thou learne that no shaddowe more swiftelye fadethe awaie Imagine assuredlye that all tyme were passed and so shall perceiue that all wyll retourne to nothynge Not vnlike to theym that wythe certayne Hope of deliuerye remayne in Prison whoe thoughe in misfortune yet doe but lyttle lament chieflye if they be of valiant mynde So men that in this troublesome lyfe syth they looke for and abyde one equality in respect of death I cā not conceiue why happy folke should not bee more sorowful then those that be vnhappye For if euen now it were proclaymed as it was in the time of Licurgus that al lands goods should equalye amonge al sortes of men be deuided whether doest thou thinke that beggers or riche men would be moste sory Surelye I thinke no man thinketh the rich men would reioyce and the porer sort be sorye If therfore law of lyfe is so equalye made as there is none that can auoyde I see no cause but that euery man here lyuing in misery ought willyngly to embrace the benefite of so iust a decree What care I praye thee shalt thou haue two hundred yeares hence whether thou dyed hauinge children or childelesse olde or younge rich or pore bounde man or free in thy bed or on the gallowes or whether in aucthority or without honor thou lyued or dyed But follye hath broughte in these opinions by which we onely become happye or vnhappy Because follye enduseth forgetfulnes of reason it maketh Pigmeans to seeme Gyantes somtimes oure euyls somtimes oure good it cloketh it multiplyeth it maketh them obscure it cloketh it encreaseth darkneth hideth euen as it pleaseth of vs determineth But if in this lyfe ther be any thing good or euill or any differēte of pleasure or sadnesse the same
for agreing wyth the people they spake those thinges which be in the opinion of the ignoraunte For no man denyes that wyse men be few and the common people contayneth the most part of men thopinions therefore of the Poets and the common people in which they disagree wyth the Philosophers be all false and vnprofitable Certes it is of necessitye that the opynion of the common sort is false it the iudgemeÌ„t of wise meÌ„ be true but who doubteth whether wyse mens sayings be true otherwyse trulye they should be no wyse men But if in any thinge at al the Poets deserue small credite no wher lesse then in those thinges which coÌ„serne maners and vertues Neyther is it any maruayle though Archilochus a passing good Poet but so much worse Philosopher was compelled of the Lacedemonians the very same houre that hee came into towne to be packinge awaye agayne for wrytinge this sentence Better it is to want armes then suffer death Verilye manye tymes lewde talke corrupteth honest maners Therefore seinge wee wyll speake of sorrowe and death it seemeth necessarye firste to examine whether in our owne death or in the death of our frendes there be any euil and if there be whether the euil maye bee ouercome by good or rather the losse by gaine That shal be easye to discerne if â—irst we distinguishe and diligentlye vnderstande this whether after wee be deade there remaine anye thinge of vs besyde the bodye Or all the whole dye awaye together wyth the bodye In whiche cause althoughe wee haue alreadye spoken many thinges in the booke De Areanis aeternitis minds to speake in the bookes of Deathe yet is not this question in this place meete to be shadowed wholye wyth sylence But as in this Booke chiefelye we followe the truth and euery where briefenes so one onelye reason of the reasonable soule shall suffyce vs for the knowing of his nature For seinge man hath vnderstanding hee is endued with many habites of knowledge That is to say Science as Geometrye Philosophye and Logicke Artes as Saylinge Husbandrye Phisicke Intelligence which is of principles as that the whole is greater then any part thereof alone and equal to all his partes together Prudence whereby hee consydereth and disposeth all thinges that he hath to doe And Sapience wyth these by which hee knoweth GOD and embraceth Religion And some menne do more excel in some one or other of these or in manye of them whereby it comes to passe that man doth so vse his vnderstanding and reason in his owne arte as though in other thinges he may seeme rude yet in that one thing he exceedeth right notable men Some though they haue neyther learninge nor arte yet by reason of exercise proue very wyse That it may plainly appeare that mans vnderstaÌ„ding is in all men alike and differeth onelye in exercise we perceiue in the barbarous vplandishe men Wherefore I woÌ„der at the doltishnes of some which professe wysedome who thincke that onely learned men be reasonable others differ little from beastes Worthelye therefore it commeth as they say commonlye that the cleane contrary falleth out that is to saye that these learned men besyde their Booke knowe nothing at all and may easely be beguiled of any vnlearned soule For if they would waye wyth themselues that all men vnlesse they bee hindered with some disease haue the vse of reason and vnderstandinge and that so muche the more in one kinde of exercyse howe muche further they bee from another they shoulde well perceyue themselues to be ouercome of them What a nomber leauing theyr vile occupations haue proued famous Philosophers Simon Coriarius when Socrates came often vnto his shoppe hauing talke wyth his prentices became a perfit Philosopher and left vnto his posteritye no small nomber of monumentes So he that was a curryer onely by exercise is stertt vp to be a Philosopher The cunning therefore of artisanes and others that want learning is not to be despised as boyde of vnderstanding But as it is wont to be sayde Howe farre Megara is from Athens so farre is Athens from Megara So howe farre a learned man passeth an artysan in speakinge so farre doth an artisan passe a learned man in his facultye Of both then the reason is alike the vnderstandinge a like and nature all one differinge onely in endes and vse But seing there is in other lyuing creatures an excellencye aboue that is in man as memorye in horses strength and life as in the Elephant power of sight as in the Eagle hearing as in the boare touchinge as in the spider swiftnes as in the hare and yet of those habites of knowledge no other lyuing creature is any whit partaker much lesse able to go beyonde man in anye of them It is then most apparant that mans minde is seuered from all corporal or bodelye matter Verilye whereas man in all those thinges which depende of the bodye maye be ouercome of some lyuinge creature and in these vertues of the minde no lyuinge creature is partener no not of the lest part it is not possible at all that the vertue of vnderstandinge shoulde not be both seperable and vnmixt and euerlasting Neyther yet remayneth it naked and bare For whereas of all other lyuinge thinges the Dogge the Marmyset and the Elephant be with out controuersye endued wyth most wit though a man would spende his whole life he shal neuer teach them the least rule of any Arte or wysedome besydes that which of nature is bred in them And surelye to speake of the easyest thinge if you trauayle to learne them to vndoe a knot they keepe in memorye how they maye drawe and slake and so fynallye loose the knot but if you chaunge the knot neuer so little they shal neuer know how to vndoe it vnlesse it be mere chaunce so as you may well perceyue they be vtterlye deuoyde of reason Likewise foules learne to speake and as the Poet sayth so well that the Pye wyth him braggeth saying If thou shouldest not see mee thou wouldest denye that I am a fowle Neuer yet shal you plainly teach her what she should saye or any coupled sentence to make a showe of any printe of reason And the nerer they seeme to attayne vnto man in speakinge so much surelye is it well knowen that they be able to conceaue no vnderstanding In like maner also dogges know theyr owne names are by teachinge learned to hunt fowles but all these things they keepe by memorye and trulye cannot tell how to put or chauÌ„ge any thing more then they be taught what occasion soeuer they haue Neyther is it to be supposed they knowe moe thinges whiche for want of speache they cannot vtter seinge the aptest foules to learne among which is the Popingeye althoughe they can learne well to speake as men be neuer more fit to any vse of reason Brute beastes therefore be able for one onelye arte by nature and for all thinges vniuersallye onlye by memorye
life muste nedelye be the cause yet hereof whye is thy care so greate or what happines haste thou that mightest make thy lyfe so desyred doest thou alone possesse anye delight that we haue not tasted of whyche mighte make thee wyshe for longer life For euery of vs haue seene that starres the Heauen mountaynes seas ryuers lakes fieldes gardeines Cittyes and townes we haue also had sport dalliauÌ„ce musicke songes banquets venerye loue maskerye finally euery sort of earthlye folly neyther haue we wanted commendable exercise and indifferent skill of science and besydes that we know the manner of contentions disputacions publicke Orations Yea for our condition we haue borne dignitye and office we haue satisfyed the honest desyres of our children frends kinsefolkes and together wyth them liued in glorye moneye apparell and other necessaryes of life we haue enioyed and in euery of them find greater offence then pleasure so as we maye say with the Prophete Vanitas vanitatem omnia vanitas Yet if any man hath founde a more noble felicitye or can teache a waye more straight to happines or newe delight I know not but for my part in euerye thinge haue felte more griefe then pleasure But I thincke it happeneth to these men y luste so muche after life as it doth to those that laboureth alteration of mettals who fynde euerye thinge soner then that they seeke for besydes that they make neyther goulde nor siluer y little which they haue is also consumed Euenso such as with greatest care do seeke for felicitye not findinge it do wyth losse of theyr laboure also departe wyth quietnes of minde and become most vnhappye Wherefore sith this exceding desire of lyfe helpeth nothinge yea though life were good yet were it better without trouble to laye by his masse of cares and lyke a faithfull man restore that thou haddest borowed But if perhapps thou in vayne torment thy selfe what doest thou win thereby other then to consume in dyinge that lytle lyfe which is remayning seinge what soeuer time is spente in thinking of death may iustlye be so called Howe much were it better to follow the counsel of Agathius who right wel commeÌ„ded death saying that it did not onlye remoue sicknes al other grieues but also when al other discommodities of lyfe did happen to man often it neuer woulde come more then once Neither can death bee accompted anye extreme euil considering it commeth of most light occasions and is on euery side at hand Such thinges as we take for hurtful be also rare not lightlye founde but ther is nothing more commonnor more quickly had then death For death is takeÌ„ by ayre wynd thonder water fire earthquakes wild beastes fishes foules dust smoke serpents meate drinke bed trees sleape sorowe ioy laughter company anger discorde and fynallye of innumerable other occasions death doth procede Philomenes seing his Asse eating raysons said vnto his boy seeing thou hast lefte the Asse raysons to eate geeue him also wine to drinke fell into a great laughter and not being able to stay him selfe coughing hee dyed Coma the brother of Diogines y notable thief beinge by Rutilius the Consul taken and examined touching outlawes fled he required time to think of his answere putting down his head betwixt his knees he stopped his owne breathe and in the handes of his keeper dyed so quietlye as none of them perceiued when he toke the last leaue of lyfe Seing therfore with such ease men dye what should we accompt of death to be resembled to any thyng better than sleape for as in sleape and wakyng be we neuer so hedeful yet fele we not when yt cometh euen so when froÌ„ lyfe we passe towardes death our sences declyning without all sence at last we dye When Socrates had drunk poyson delyuered hys garment to hys seruant ready to dye dyd notwithstanding iest with Crito saying I pray the remeÌ„ber to sacrifyce a cocke to Asculapius for that was the auncient custome when anye man hadde drunke a holsome potion Doest thou then think he felte any extreame gryefe surelye no for in extreame pangues ieastynge is neuer seene nor the mynd knoweth not it selfe Thys is also greatly to be meruayled at that though euery man semeth to feare and flye death yet seke they to eschewe nothing lesse but rather follow euery thyng that bryngeth death withall Neither seme they lesse carefull to seke death then to shun yt The lecherouse man wythout regarde of lyfe preferreth hys pleasure the irefull reuenge the eater hys glotony the ambycious honour the couetous ryches the souldier spoyle the mother chyldren the marchaÌ„t traffycke the studient learninge and in somme there is nothyng that doth not occasion forgetfulnes of death So we plainly see that we both shoÌ„ and seeke for death but not wythout good cause for that there is nothynge that hathe in yt lesse euyll and they are therfore worthy prayse that do disdayne to dye yf those thynges for whych they neglect lyfe be eyther honest or necessarye and yet for lyght causes to seeke death is no token of courage but rather a sure sygne of an abiecte mynd Therefore the contempte of lyfe ys not so commendable as intemperancye is reprochfull and yet as the feare of death is not to be praysed so not to dye chyeflye at necessarye occasyons and tymes is moost reprochefull cowerdly and exceadeth all other vylety of mynde But some percase do allow the sayinge of Epicarinus Dye I would not but to be dead I care not As though that which followeth death is neither pleasaunt or not greatlye euyll Alas what euyll can it be to want honger thyrst gryefe labor â–ª sadnesse feare and fynallye the whoole heape of euylles whych the soule beynge parted from the bodye we must of necessitye want and seinge it dyeth not but in stede of these troubles enioâ—eth heauenly ioyes why should we not acoumpte thys chaunge good and most delectable Therefore Socrates was wont to say that death might be resembled eyther to sound sleape a longe iorney or destruccion as is the death of bruit beastes If the soule doth lyue and after death feeleth nothinge then is it lyke vnto a sound sleape because therein we rest without eyther felinge or vnderstanding and after a whyle return to the same exercyses Mooste assured it is that such sleapes are moste sweete as be most sound For those are the best where in lyke vnto dead men we dreame nothinge The broken sleapes the slomber and dreames ful of visions are commonly in them that haue weake and sickly bodies Whereupon Horacius sayth Vayne are the dreames of sickly folkes But quiet and sound slepes and such as weary men commonly haue are accompted sweetest So Homer â—doth cal those sleepes the beste that be moste lyke to deathe And Virgil. The svvete and soundly slepe vvhich death resembleth most I remember my father Faucius Cardanus while he lyued was wont to say that he euer desired death because whyle he
lyfe and death yet death is paciently to bee suffered because there is nothing more hard or miserable then this life Besydes that by warning of god we are therof assured Also al wise men haue so thought and in thinges ineuitable the best is euer to be chosen To return therfore to the beginninge what is our lyfe other then a continual toyle euermore bound to abyde y discommoditie of so many necessities so muche labour so many suspicions and peril There is no delight in man that repentance foloweth not I am reuenged then beware I haue eaten my fyll fulnesse doth offend me I haue lightlye dyned myne appetite is not satisfyed I followe Venus sporte manifold repentance sadnes and in the ende sycknesse doth ensue And finallye eyther thy desyre is not satisfyed and there by thou styll discontented or els with saciety repentance and discomoditye doth torment thee So the only way is to keepe that meane For what cause haue all the Godds of the gentiles preferred death before the lyfe of man Vnlesse it were the worldlye miserye was to theÌ„ most apparantly knowen Pindarus telleth y when Agamedes and Trophonius had builded the teÌ„ple of Apollo they desired of the Gods this reward that where as Apollo had willinglye promysed to returne within seuen dayes that they in the meane tyme mighte continue in banquetinge and ioyfull lyfe but in the end of those days in a sound slepe they dyed wherby Apollo playnly taught that for mortall men there was no greater reward then death after that time the same â–ª God confyrmed y meaninge vpon Pindarus who being by the Boâ—tian Ambassadour asked what thinge it was that best coulde happen to man Pithius aunswered that Pindarus do prooue true whyche alreadye he hathe wrytten of Agamedes and Trophonius whiche if hee doeth he hymselfe muste shortlye followe In whiche aunswere the Poete did meane that he shoulde looke for Death where in hee was not deceiued for within a few dayes he dyed in deede Plutarchus in an Epistle of Comforte written to Apollonâ—us telleth this historye When Midas had in Huntinge taken Silenus this Silenus was of the Satyres stocke nourished by Bacchus who was also called Silenus Surnamed Satyrus of whome manye discended hee wrote as Plyny tellethe of wantonnesse and there in fayned thre Sileni Hee asked of him what was mooste to bee desyred of man Whereunto hee aunsweared not but at length enforced by the importunacie of the Kinge brake forthe in this sorte O you tormented Deuils the seede of one daye why constrain you me to speake that which were better for you if you neuer knewe it That is that the ignoraunce of your owne euyls is the onelye pleasure of mannes lyfe But seinge you knowe your own euils the beste were not to be born and nexte to that not to lyue longe And your condicion is such as you are partakers of no part of those goode thinges whiche nature hathe made this spake Silenus The sentence of the Philosophers doe also here vnto agree and Aristotle prince of the Peripatetian secte doth call those mooste effeminate that murder theim selues and those valiaunt which can abyde Trauaile Payne Misfortune and all sortes of myserie which opinion the Poet folowed sayinge In fortunes high disgrace each man may death disdayne But he most valiaunt is that can in vvretched state remayne But Plato chiefe of the Academian Sect saythe that a man ought not to yelde to Death because we are ignoraunt whether it be good or euil meaninge that in respecte of punishment or Ioye that folowed it was euill or good because deathe was the end both of good and euill Therfore euen in the whole scripture death is not accompted other then sleape and to dye is saide to sleape What maruayle is it then though for Hope of Life to come we ought not to shunne to dye We finde that Sainct Paule wished to dye and goe to God which desyre ought to be not only in Holy men but also in all good men For three sorts of euills there be that may happen to men The firste within vs and our mindes with which temperancy do mete The second without vs and they by wisedome are preuented The thirde are those that al be it they be in deede without vs yet are they vneuitable and against them none other defence we haue then fortitude And I pray you to what purpose should fortitude serue if to feare death were either goode or necessarye As therfore temporaunce and Wysedome are proffytable for Man So is also fortitude yet what profite coulde proceede therof if necessarily we feared death or if that feare were eyther good or honest syth of necessitye death must come to man one tyme or an other one of these three must necessarilie folowe eyther that lyke vnto beastes we should be ignorant of death which cannot be eyther that with willyng minde we will dye or els that we torment our selues Were it not more naturall to man and the rather seing that bruit beastes with ignorance escheweth the feare of death that he wiselye in place of ignorance shuld vse fortitude geueÌ„ him by God against the necessitie of death Neither can wee thinke that God hath more fauourablye forsene for bruite beastes then men yet they without al care do yelde to dye So we armed withe fortitude oughte not to feare any death What profyte can we procure to our country or friendes or what good can vertue bringe if we dysdayne to dye Callicratides the Lacedemonian captain hearing the Soothsayer pronounce victorye to the Lacedemonians and death to himselfe aunswered Sparta by losse of me shall nothing at al be weakened How noble were the dedes of men that feared no death how happy was their liues how commeâ—dable were their endes how glorious was their fame and in briefe whâ— refuse we to yelde to that equality wherin a common parson is like a kyng a monster lyke a most semely man a tyrant like the symple most harmlesse soule The huge armye of Xerses neyther the treasure of Tyberius nor the crueltye of Antonius agaynst death did any thyng preuayle All men are subiecte to one equallitye exceptinge true vertue there shal be no difference and thereinto without disdayne hate enuye or wronge to nature by destenye we shal be all called thoughe no man is expert in that iorneye Onelye false opinion of man hath made death to be accoÌ„pted a feareful thing not vnlike as those that haue not the experience of trauayle studye or concurse of kinges do make of them great admiratioÌ„ when others that are acquainted wyth such things do know them without maruaile at all And some we see without experience haue disdayned death for lighte causes killed themselues Of which nomber was Dioxippus the Champion who through enuye of the Macedonians falsely accused of thefte before Alexander protesting the iniurye with his owne sworde slewe himselfe we haue also seene a scholler a couÌ„try maÌ„ of ours for not beinge requited in loue
discribeth Pompeius deathe in this wise In hast he stayde his vvofull voyce and vvould no vvord complayn Least vveping teares might so vnvvares his heauenly fame disdain And vvhâ—â—â—is noble side vvas pearst vvith fearce Achilles blade No sigâ— no sob no careful cheare no sorovving sound he made but in disdaine of crueltye Cato VticeÌ„sis determined to dye ordered his goods wiselye forseinge the good of others though he neglected his owne which done reading Plato of the immortality of soules layd himselfe down slepte so souÌ„dly as he snored after being awaked sticked himselfe And when throughe weakenes of his hand the wounde was not mortal suche as were by saued him tyl at length violently he brake lose dyed Such was his gredy desyre of death Otho themperoure a yong man of thirtye seuen yeares of al men accompted soft and effeminate after hee had won thre battels of the Vitelli for the sorow of one lost gaue his mony and substance to his frendes and willed his familiar companion to shewe himselfe to the souldiers lest that after he should be suspected and in the night with two daggers murdered himselfe And yet neither dispayred hee of the holding of the Empire nor wanted the loue of the Senate or his souldiers but onlye for that nether in victory or victored he would hinder the commoÌ„ wealth Caius Iulius by Caius themperour condempned to dye â–ª obteyned ten dayes pardon all whiche time careles he consumed in sleape and table play and when the hangeman came in to warne him y his tyme was euen at hande hee tolde what aduauntage he had in the game and willed his play felow that after his death he should not boast of winning and called the hangman to record who led him towardes death accompanied with a philosopher Vpon the way being asked whaâ— he mused of He aunswered I determined to obserue what at the last instant my soule shal feele when it parteth away to the ende that after I may aduertise my frends Aratus knowing he had taken a lingering poyson at the handes of Philippus the Macedonian kinge speaking one secrete worde to his familier frend passed the rest of his life so pleasantly as semed not to haue any such griefe or assurance to dye The seuen brothers called Machabei al yoÌ„g men and sonnes of one mother by the commaundement of king Antigouns one after an other and in sondry sorte together with their Mother killed themselues Tectamenes condempned to dye went his way laughinge and being asked whether hee disdayned the lawes answered no but by dyinge I must pay that I neither asked nor borrowed of any Which example although vnder the person of one vnknowen was much praysed of Cicero yet in wise iudgements such behauiour argueth In Tectamenes rather vanity theÌ„ fortitude for a man condempned specially for wicked doing naturally can not loue death neither was it our entente to proue that death should be desired or sought for But as it is the condicion of a faithlesse man not to restore y he boroweth so is it also an vnfreÌ„dly and vnthankefull parte not to kepe that hee boroweth As therfore death is not to be fled or lameÌ„ted â—o ought it not to be sought for But as y Poete sayth Do neyther seke nor shonne the ende of thine ovvne lyfe Yet happely Craton may holde such opinion and though it be not mainteined by reason yet for the meruaile gaineth reputation among the common sort The example therfore of Theramon is more honest and more couragious For he beinge vniustly by thirty Tyrantes condempned tooke the poyson saying according to the auncient maner of Athens Critus I drinke to the for so was the greatest Tyrant and worse then Theramines called that done whatsoeuer remayned in the cuppe he threw vpon the ground The death of Phocion was more noble he seing his frend desyrous to drinke poison didde stay him after findinge that which was not left to suffise did buy more saying that in Athens a man was forced to buy his own death But why do I labor to enduce more ensamples of men when whoole Nacions may be called to recorde As the Galathians did so little regarde Deathe as they feared not to fighte Naked So did also manye noble Romaines and Germaines that nedelesse it wer to resyte their names I do therfore thinke best in fewe words to declare that men were made mortall for three causes First because there shoulde be some ende of their offences This life is displeasant and the nerer age the moore troublesome and therefore the Gimniophista as men say answered Alexander well askinge whether death or life wer stronger Liâ—e quod hee because it beareth so many calamities The second cause is that goodmen without enuy might be honoured and euil Men without feare coÌ„dempned and that riches and aucthority for whiche menne commit greate wickednesse might not be regarded Yf those thinges whiche mortall men haue were iustly wayed they shoulde as Cares and Euilles be reputed Yet if death were not Menne would muse onlye vppon Thefte and Violence while in this short space that now they lyue they thinke so much thereof The third reason is for that men might receiue rewarde of good and euil according to the quality of their deserts For after death such as haue passed a godly life shall liue not only with their brethren kinsfolke but also accoÌ„panied withal honest and learned men and aboue y starres receiue ioy and euerlasting felicitye So contrary wise the wicked in darkenesse and solitarye places shal be tormented Therfore for wicked folke only death can bee thought euill and yet is not but Good men not vnlike the Swanne who only at his death do synge may boldly reioyse and be gladde Some there are so ambicious that the care of their funeralles doth trouble them muche who are not to bee comforted but for their follye to be reprehended what is the body of man when the Spirite is passed awaye It is no moore accompted as parte or member of him but rather a Carckcasse vnprofytable stinckinge and horryble Seneca therfore didde well deuise that the same should be buried not in respect of the Dead but the liuinge least they by sauour and sight therof might be offended Where vppon in sundrye nacions hath growne sundrie customes of buryinge the Deade The Grecians were wonte to wrye them in the earthe The Romaines dyd burne them in fyre The Nathabeians did burye them in their dungehilles Yea their Kinges had none other Sepulchre The Ethiopians do cast them into the ryuers to be deuoured of Fishes The Magi did geeue them to wilde Beastes Hercani to Doggs But the Massageti most meruailouslye do eate them The Egiptians with their owne Nayles doe burie them The Persians doe wrappe theym in Waxe So incertayne is the reason where is no reason at all Alas good Foole doest thou not heare the Poete sayinge To vvant a tombe the lacke is neuer great What doth it preuayle the to lye in marble aboue the ground
or in the bowelles of the earthe doest thou take care for want of a workeman There is no cause of feare at all The Heauen doth hide hys bones that can no coffyn fynde as sayth the Poet. Who so were wise would not with one hafepeny spence buy this felicitie The fyrste inuentoure of names for these stately building for buriall of stinkynge bodies what did hee other then make tryall of an insolente and vayne ambicious mynde that euen in deathe woulde declare the same But this care caughte beginninge at Silla that Deade Menne should bee buryed Hee was the fyrste that at the Deathe of Cornelia caused burninge and not burying to be vsed because he feared to be digged vppe and suffer shame which he had care of in the buryinge of Marius But howe much better did Diogenes Cenicus lyinge vnder a tree sicke and readye to dye aunsweared them that asked where he woulde be buryed sayinge I praye you let me alone whereto they replyed that then the beastes woulde teare him in peeces whye then quoth hee geeue me a staffe naye sayde his frendes that were to none vse when the life is gone Then Diogenes not vnwiselye reproued them saying what harme can I haue when I shal be senceles and feele nothinge it maketh also to purpose to knowe that it is incertaine what doth become of mens carcases cast awaye sometimes it was thoughte they gayned an opinion of deuinitye as it came to passe of Cleo the Lacedemonian kinge whose body hanging whole vppon the gallouse ther appeared in it a Serpent that broughte forth deuouringe byrdes Whereof grewe a religion as though the Gods were keepers of innocent mens bodyes which foolishly the people honoured It is sayd that Ctesias found the carcasse of Clearchus not vnlike to the other out of which grew a woode and became to be honoured for a god Yea at this daye this superstitious opinion remayneth of them that lye vnburyed that theyr sprites should walke So great force hath y memorye of aunciente error and the feare which men haue in walkinge alone But nowe let vs leaue these vnprofitable matters and as at the beginninge was determined turne out talke to sorrowe And fyrste let vs speake of Parentes because not only Loue but also Pitye was wonte for them to moue teares Neyther can we with moore honesty lament any then theym of whome we came into the Worlde This is the dutye of Loue Charity and Pitie and if any whitte the teares of Children can preuayle to their good sure lye then ought we weepe But seing no weping or Sorrowe doth helpe let vs consider whether honestly or reasonably we ought to do it VVherein first commeth to memory the vniuersall reason of all theym that by Deathe haue bene called awaye For either we muste lament in fauour of theym that be deadde or ells in respect of our selues But if in consideracion of theÌ„ we Lament eyther we beleue that their Soules doe liue or ells together with their Bodies they are perrished And if thou thincke that booth the Soule and Bodye be perrished then so thincking and lamenting the Death of an other thus thou Complaynest Alas alas hencefoorthe thou shalt not be Thirssty Hongry Colde Not Painfull Sicke subiect to iniuries and Calamity yea that is moost of all hencefoorth thou shalt not dye as I shall but I know thou wilt saye I were to bee laughed at iâ— so I should lamente neuerthelesse all this thou doest and though thou confesse it not yet wylte thou know that so it is Surely there is no doubt that dye we muste Death as thou thinckeste is Euill Whie art thou then sorry for him that is paste it and not for thy selfe that by no meanes can auoide it But if it be superfluous to lamâ—t thyne owne Condition because in cases necessarye wepinge helpeth not To what purpose doest thou be wayle his Death whiche is the moore necessarye that he is already deadde But if thou beleeue his Spirite doth lyue then of necessitie thus must thou lament Alas alas froÌ„ a mortall man thou arte become immortall frome Paynefull Quiet from Miserable Happie from Sadde pleasaunt and from obscure noble VVho is hee that heareth the in this sorte complayne though he were of the dead mans bloud but should fal vnto laughinge Neither doe then thinke I tel the an vntrothe and therfore whiche I had almost forgotteÌ„ though thou alledge y for his cause thou mournest Seinge then there is almoost no manne so vnwise as dare saye hee complayneth in respect of him that is deadde whether his Soule dooth remaine or not so euery manne sayth he doth lament the want of his fryend whiche if thou acknowledge the eternitie of his soule cannot so be because for so much as is 〈◊〉 he is not with the and thou shalt shortly 〈◊〉 to him But take thou heede to 〈◊〉 that thou bewaylest thine owne Calamitye thoughe he 〈◊〉 not with thee To vayne and Enuious thou 〈…〉 thy selfe if for thy proffite thou can not 〈…〉 this benefite for as with 〈…〉 to preferre their Children to Seruice of Kinges in hope of Fauour and Reward that will come therof notwithstanding the mindes of Princes 〈◊〉 times inconstante the 〈…〉 faithfull and generallye 〈◊〉 Good 〈…〉 as serue little 〈…〉 will ought we 〈…〉 we 〈…〉 use Hate Ambition not Disdayne The mynde of that Prince is neither 〈…〉 nor ignoraunt of any thinge There is place with out perryll Felowshippe without 〈…〉 without doubte and 〈…〉 And would thou for thine owne commodiâ—te denye him of these Ioyes God forbidde But besydes this thou maye perhappes seeme iustlye to complayne 〈◊〉 thy Commodities by 〈◊〉 of 〈…〉 which 〈…〉 reason yet of thou consider at 〈…〉 to 〈…〉 enduce reason worthye thy consideration And first seinge in respect of thy selfe 〈…〉 thinke that one other may be found euer 〈◊〉 to him for Frendshippe Conuersacion or necessitye But admitte that coulde not bee or that such a man were not redely founde yet withe all remember what paynes thou haddest taken for thy deadde frende howe often for him thou were called in question how often than 〈◊〉 lesse how burdenous he was to thee and fynally how hee hadde bene towardes thee thou cannot certainly knowe and what hereafter he would haue beue 〈…〉 Alas how often haue some men beue 〈◊〉 by their owne Kinsfolke 〈◊〉 Children and Frendes of whome in times paste they were helped Cassius and Brutus didde aide Iulius Caesar in fighte against his countrye but beinge made Emperour they slewe him Full foolishly didde Antoniâ—s committe his counsell to Octauius where in hee discouered his freendes trustinge to him whome oftetimes in doubtful Fortune he hadde receiued help yet then throughe his feare he was enforced to voluntary Deathe Alexander while hee liued was faithfull serued of his Souldiers but being dead his Children Kinsfolkes and Friendes were all by theym distroyed and yet at the deathe of one of theym hee felte so great Sorrowe as searce lye he could euer after
age When Cicero lost his daughter Tulliola being to him most dere did repose the chiefest parte of his consolation in the affayres of Caesar yet he liued vnder a milde prince in a Cittye plentifull Cicero himselfe of Caesar beloued frended of the greatest wāted neither wealth honour nor reputacion Then cōpare time with time that security with this priuate peril the goodnes authoritye of Cicero with thine the lenitye of Caesar with the seuerity of other Princes and then consider whether thou ought to wishe for childrē whē Cicero did not much sorrow the losse of his The life of men wythout childrē is ful of pleasure ful of lybertye ful of security they haue no cause to frare eyther iniuryes seruitude disdaine or daunger of others in peace they are free in warres not carefull And beleue mee that in common calamities ther is no greater care then to thinke vppon thy kinsefolke In time of plague no place thou hast to flee to in time of war thou mayest not remoue in time of famine thou art vnprouided whither to go Cōsider wel these discōmodityes see whether they are comparable to the want of children But now let vs returne to our principall proposition Why complaynest thou thy want of children when for thy child thou ought neither to lamēt who eyther feleth nothīg or is in ioy neither for thy self whose condition is best in respect thou arte childlesse syth thereby thou hast chaunged peril for security toyle for quiet bondage for libertye and yet complaynest This other day I harde certaine poore olde womē complayning wyshing the death of theyr childrē and had it not bene better for them to haue beene childlesse then to become in such myserye as to wishe the death of theyr owne children Marke well the prayers of poore people consider howe carelesse they are of theyr children and so shalt thou finde I tell none vntrothe But thou art riche no sure they are onelye riche that do dwel in common weales And thoughe thou liuest nowe vnder a king his successour maye be a tyrante one onely night may make this chaunge And in a cōmon weale whyle thou fearest not one thou must lye in wayghte and take heede of manye If thou want riches there can be no comforte in children Euerye man most assuredlye is poore and no mā rich wher is no security how canst thou be happy yet this is one most certaine condition of mortal men That as some are subiect to the warres of diuers vnder one all is wholye at his deuotion Remember Heliogabalus themperour that sought togethers the children of al Italy what did Astiages commit vppon Harpagus or what did Cambises to the Persians◠and chiefelye to Prexaspes Suche is the condition of men as better it were to liue in feare of warre by sondrye Princes then of one that maye at his will commaunde all One Octauius Augustus was a good Prince because in ciuil warres mercifullye enough he shedde the Romayne bloud but what beastes did continuallye succede him As Tiberius Caligula Nero Claudius What mischiefe coulde be more hardlye suffered then these monsters But admit thou liue in happye tymes yet of them do I receiue no proofe considering I wrote this booke to serue my selfe in harde chaunces not onelye in respect of the vayne opynion of some mortal men touchinge priuate aduentures but also that vnloked for euentes mighte more paciently be borne which thoughe they be not worse then other that are priuate yet by reason of theyr sodennes do cōmonly trouble men most Yet sith wythout mine assente this Booke maye come to handes of posteritye I maye happelye be reproued for hauinge attributed to muche blame to some one time and dispayred of better wherefore let the blame of tymes be left to theyr place and as meete it is oure talke be turned to comforte Thy sonne is dead what can more easelye be recouered none age but the laste no sicknes excepte the consumption that hindereth child getting which being so we ought not to be so careful of children as of our selues Aristotle concludeth that at threscore yeares of age or threscore ten a mā liueth to get children yet is it manifest that some haue gotten children after fowerscore yeares and though fauoure and force were decayde And among diseases both the gout and consumption do suffer generation These only are thought insufficient to get children y wants their stones or are depriued of their vertue Or els those whose vaynes behinde their eares be cut For such men as saith Hipocrates be all barren How wel therfore dooth Nature prouide y what a man most dispaireth of the same by quicke occasion is supplied There is nothing that can moore easlye or soner come or happen to man then the ryches gotten of thy father because thy winninge of Glorye and Freendes asketh longe time but a childe is gotten in a moment What losse can then the death of thy Sonne be and though it were the greatest yet because so easlie and of euery mā may be supplied it ought not to be accompted of But beinge poore to get riches is very hard For as the sayinge is Novv riches are not geeuen but vvhere as riches do habound But thou shalt see a man now childles and olde yet or thou see him next he is become riche If anye member be cut of it groweth not againe yf the father dye or borther their liues are neuer called back if thy fame be perished harde is thy reputation recouered but the losse of children is so easlye shortly and fully supplied as in this respecte onlye is not worthy any comfort no though thou were assured he were thy sonne in dede And how incertaine that is O Lorde who knoweth not thy beliefe must do it beliefe is therein nedefull Only the fidelitie of thy wife doth make him thine other assurance hast thou none But if a man doe happen to mourne for the death of an other mans childe for by coniecture Bastardes dye sonest by reason they were gotten with feare and most vnquietnes of mynde then looke what Laughter yt prouoketh But now thine owne Chylde a thing vnknowē but only to his mother is taken away what part of him was thine his soule I neuer found any so wicked as would be of that mynde his body howe can that bee when he is made of his fathers seede which is the superfluous noryture of the thirde concocktion as the donge fyrst the vrine second yf whatsoeuer commeth of superfluitie be ours then so shall wormes and Lyce bee ours and worthy our loue Remember how much seede in tymes past thou hast consumed in waste eyther vpon harlots or vpon thy wife being withe childe all that is loste and thou complaynest not what is more in thy sonne then the effusion of thy seede wilt thou then so muche lament a vyle and disdained thinge wherof is no reason If thou respect the beginninge thou shalt fynde that thou lamentest none other then a litle
passe Likewise didde the Romaines when Silla hadde resigned the Offyce of Dictator and liued in priuate state notwithstandinge hee had greuously offended the people yet did they suffer him to passe without hurt thinking that reuenge is to be vsed vpon mighty men those that beare rule vpon those that were by law or assent dismoūted from authority courteously cōpassionately to entreate thē was a signe of a good man. Therfore there is no greater argument of felicity no redier waye to glorie nor better meane to quiet then to disdayne iniuries Beholde the dogs which be of many other beasts the most improfytable yet are much more made of then eyther Oxen or Horse onlie because they suffer all iniuries their maysters do offer vnto them If thou Stryke theym they fawne If thou dryue theym awaye frome thee they retourne vnto thee if thou chide them they flatter Finallye he is much worse then any beast that cannot disdayne iniuryes No brutishe beast is mindefull of offence done vnto him Therefore that man that seeketh reueng is not wyse loued of God nor lōge happye If thou suffer a whyle thou shalt see thy wronges reuenged by nature by chaunce or by some other meane And him whom wyth extreme care trauayle and hazard of thy selfe thou sought to offende shal be wythout thyne euill or myserye destroyed The liues of all euill men that do perturbe the quiet of the good are short or at least wise that happines of small continuance If therefore forbearing iniurye no man is myserable then is it better for all men whether they can or not not to be reuenged because it is manifest that before reuenge of iniurye no mā is in mysery The offence that men in these dayes do thincke the greatest is the infidelity of wyues But in so dishonest a matter not to trouble the eares of good men I meane nothing to speake notwithstandinge I call to remembrance that Pompeius for adultry cast of his wife Metia and for the like faulte did P. Caesar put awaye Pompeia both excellente men and amonge the Romaynes inferiour to none for auctoritye deserte wysedome All which notwithstanding eyther the importunacy◠of adulterous or the wantonnes of women did make theyr beddes defiled Septimius Seuerus and Antonius the Philosopher had dishonest wyues yet canst thou not fynd any better or more worthye men in that common weale When a frende of Antonius did wyshe hym to put away his dishonest wyfe he aunsweared saying euen so I may do and therewithall loose her dowrye which dowyre was the Romaine Empyre because Faustina was daughter of Pius Antonius the Emperor Therfore though Antonius wittīgly or Seuerus vnwittingly kept theyr aduoulterous wiues I cannot thincke it was preiudiciall to theyr reputatiō vertue or felicitye Neyther do thou thincke that this blot doth blemish the reputation of common persons more thē these most noble personages for seing the fault is in others the dishonoure cannot appertayne vnto thee Therefore a Cittizē of Sparta finding an adulterer a bed wyth his euil fauoured wyfe sayd alas vnhappy man what necessity hath driuen the to do this deede To cruel it were to impute that to thine owne follye whiche by no pollicye can be preuented as though thy vertue estimation were stayned by y default of another Yet nowe a dayes this reproche is cast vppon the man So did not Salethus Prynce of Crotona who made an ordinaunce more harde then the Lawe Iulia which was that cockould makers should be burned quicke Supposyng that none offēce was more wicked Yet when afterwards hee hymselfe had defyled hys brothers wyfe and was taken he made so wyse an Oration as he people were cōtent to punishe his offence wyth exile onelye Notwythstanding knowing the greatnes of the fault willinglye he cast himselfe into the fyer and was burned Thus we fynde hee desyred not pardon though his words were to such effect but rather sought to shew that none offence could be so greate but might deserue to be pardoned Therfore this iniurye cōmeth not of the wyues defaulte but the imperfection of tyme wherin we being vxorious the reproch is cast vppon men the periury vppō God neither shal this plague cease till that as men say Polipus haue eaten out himself the power of Mahumet hath stayed theyr slaunder But of iniuryes we haue now enoughe sayde let vs therfore speake of other calamityes among which imprisonment seemeth the chiefe In prison is darckenes vncleanenesse lacke of companye fetters and fynallye as it seemeth all sortes of myserye which prouoked Boetius to crye out sayinge You mourning Muses reache vvherof I should endight And bathe ▪ my face in bitter teares vvhervvith my vvoes I vvright Alas good frende what is this lyfe other then an imprisonment of mynde much worse then that of the body would God this quiet might chaūce to me which so manye worthy men haue desyred Amongest whom Demostenes that excellent Oratour to the end he might be enforced to kepe the house cut of the one syde of his bearde Where is truer contemplacion then in solitary life what place is more fit for studye then wher is quietnes neither did Boetius write any worke better then y he inuented in prison did not Aesopus long time lurke within a tub Democritus willingly inhabite the dennes of dead men studying wrytinge And the more their eyes were darckened the more theyr mindes were lightned Plato telleth y Anaxagoras while he remayned in prison wrote the booke De Circuli quadratura To whom could imprisonment be more greuous then to Socrates when the end was death the time long and incertaine yet neuerthelesse he slept swetely studyed Philosophye and wrote Verses So as Socrates gaue more light to the pryson then the prison gaue darcknes to Socrates PAVLVS the Doctoure of the worlde sent the greater parte of his epistles from pryson as to the Ephesians to Timothe and Philemon For like reasō is seruitude pacientlye to be borne seynge nature hath not more liberally bestowed her gyftes on the mayster then the seruaunte They are equallye wyse equallye beutifull equallye healthfull and finally in body minde therin excelleth his seruaunt And for quietnes of mynde the seruaunt hath the aduauntage For he seeketh onelye to content one whych is his mayster for whiche doinge hee is prouided for of meate drincke apparell and all other necessaryes But a mayster must not onelye be careful of himselfe but also of others Euerye losse is hinderance to the mayster but to the seruaunt not so Therefore if it were lawfull more men woulde commit themselues to seruitude thē desyre to become free Who so doth consyder well shal see that when we thincke oure selues most free wee serue maysters more seuere as Princes God necessities lawes and pleasure which bee also common to seruauntes yet there withall they haue foode apparel and houses which the maysters haue not It is the lesse maruayle why some bondmen haue refused to be made free