worst God did not couer nor hide the truth vnder a Mountaine to the ende that none but such as toyled for her might finde her but as with the heauens hee hath enuironed the earth and the hells so hath hee couered the truth with the vaile of his charitie which whosoeuer will knock at the heauenly dore might enter in The end of Grammer is to speake aptly and agreeably and the ende of speach society of Rethorick to carry all mens minds to one opinion of Logicke to finde a truth amidst many falshoods all other Arts doe likewise tend to truth Speech is but the shadow of effect which as Euripides sayeth agreeing with the truth is single plaine without colour or counterfait Pharamonde the first King of Fraunce was named VVarmond which signifieth truth Truth feareth nothing more then to be hid shee careth for no shadowing but is content with her owne light Truth is a vertue that scaleth the heauens illumineth the earth maintaineth iustice gouerneth common-weales kils hate nourisheth loue and discouereth secrets Truth is a sure pledge not impaired a shield neuer pierced a flower that neuer dyeth a state that feares not fortune and a port that yeelds no danger Cicero Truth is health that is neuer sick a life that hath neuer end a salue that healeth all sores a sunne that neuer setteth a moone that is neuer eclipsed an hearb that is neuer withered a gate that is neuer lockt and a voyage that neuer breeds wearines Truth is such a vertue that without it our strength is weakenes our iustice tyrannous our humility trayterous our patience dissembled our chastity vaine our liberty captiue and our piety superfluous Truth is the Center wherein all things repose the card whereby we sayle the wisedom whereby we are cured the rock whereon we rest the lampe that guideth vs and the shield which defendeth vs. Truth is the ground of Science the scale to Charity the tipe of eternity and the fountaine of grace By truth the innocent smyleth before the Iudge and the traytor is discouered before he is suspected Truth is a good cause and needs no help of oratory and the least speach deserues the best credite Qui veritatem occultat et qui mendacium prodit vterque reus est ille quia prodesse non vult iste quia nocere desider at August Non boue mactato coelestia numina gaudent Sed quae praestanda est et sine teste fides Of Conscience Defi. Conscience generally is the certaine and assured testimony which our soules carry about with them bearing witnesse of what we speake thinke wish or doe it is to the wicked an accuser a Iudge a hangman and a rope to the godly a comfort reward and ayde against all aduersities A Guilty conscience is a worme that biteth and neuer ceaseth The conscience once stained with innocent blood is alwayes tyed to a guilty remorse Conscience is a worme that fretteth like the Seres vvooll secretly and deepely easily gotten and hardly worne out VVhere the conscience is drowned vvith worldly pompe and riches their wisedome is turned to foolishnes He that frameth himselfe outwardly to doe that which his conscience reproueth inwardly wilfully resisteth the law of God Plato writeth that many when they are in health doe thinke all but toyes which is spoken of hell but at the point of death when their conscience pricketh thē they are troubled and vexed out of measure calling their former life into minde The conscience is wasted where shipwrack is made of faith A good conscience is the onely liberty The conscience is a booke wherein our daylie sinnes are written A good conscience is a continuall quietnes Although the consciences of many seeme to be seared with an hote yron as if it were voyde from all feeling of sinne yet at the point of death it is awakened yea and it driueth the miserable soule to desperation VVe shall carry nothing with vs out of this life but either a good or a bad conscience Discerne discreetly and practise reuerently those thinges that are good that thine owne conscience may be cleere and others by thy dooings not offended A cleere conscience needeth no excuse nor feareth any accusation None is more guilty then hee whose conscience forceth him to accuse himselfe To excuse ones selfe before he is accused is to finde a foule crack in a false conscience Conscience beareth little or no sway where coyne brings in his plea. The conscience loaden with the burthen of sinne is his owne Iudge and his own accuser VVhereas any offence is cōmitted through ignorance or any other violent motion the causes that increase the same beeing cut off penitence and remorse of conscience presently followeth The Philosophers account those men incurable whose consciences are not touched with repentance for those sinnes which they haue committed There is no greater damnation then the doome of a mans owne conscience The conscience of the wicked shall tremble lyke the leafe of a tree shaken vvith euerie wind but the conscience of a good man shall make him bold and confident The violence of conscience commeth from God who maketh it so great that man cannot abide it but is forst to condemn himselfe The Furies which Poets faine to reuenge euils figure the torments of euil consciences A wicked conscience pursueth his Maister at the heeles and knoweth how to take vengeance in due time Nulla paena grauior paena conscientiae vis autem nunquam esse tristis bene vire Isodorus Heu quantum paenae mens conscia donat Sua quemque premit terroris imago Of Prayer Defi. Prayer as some Diuines affirme is talke with God crauing by intercession and humble petition eyther those things necessarie for the maintenaunce of this lyfe or forgiuenesse of those things which through frailety we daily commit THe iust mans prayer appeaseth the wrath of GOD. Prayer must be freely giuen neuer sold. Prayer is the oblation of a thankful hart the token of a contrite and penitent mind Prayer is not to be attempted with force violence of heart but with simplicity and meekenes of spirit Augustine Happy is that man whom worldly pleasures cannot draw from the cōtemplation of God and whose life is a continuall prayer Prayer kindeleth inflameth and lifteth vp the hart vnto God and the incense of meditation is pleasing in his eyes The prayer of the poore afflicted pierceth the clouds Prayer is the wing wherewith the soule flyeth to heauen and meditation the eye wherby we see God Prayer is a vertue that preuaileth against temptation and against all cruell assaults of infernall spirits against the delights of thys lingering life and against the motions of the flesh Bernard Praier engendereth confidence in the soule confidence engendereth peace and tranquility of conscience Fayth ioyned with prayer maketh it more forcible but humility coupled with it maketh it benificiall and effectuall Vertuous and godly disposed people doe daily pray vnto God for the clensing of the
diligence in his studies made him prooue so rare and perfit an Orator Labour in youth waxeth strong with hope of rest in age Diligence is the Mistres of learning vvithout which nothing can eyther be spoken or done in thys lyfe with commendation and without which it is altogether impossible to proue learned much lesse excellent in anie Science Docilitie gotten by industry though it bee hard in conceiuing yet once obtained it is sildome forgotten Too much diligence breedeth suspition Carefulnesse diligence are the two keyes of certaintie The God which is immortall dooth as it were sell all things vnto vs for our labour trauaile Cic. VVithout care and diligence no estate can prosper Those studies which seeme harde and troublesome in youthfull yeeres are made right pleasant rests in old age There is nothing so hard but diligence and labour may make it seeme easie Nothing causeth a man more diligently to doe his duty then to thinke what hee would require of him that is his seruant As to euery studious man diligence is a mother so negligence is a stepdame to all learning Boetius There is nothing that sooner maketh a horse fatte then the watchfull eye of his master nor any thing maketh a Land more fertile then the diligent labour of him that oweth the same By danger dread doubtfulnes diligence is greatly hindered Quistudet optatam cursu contingere metam Multa tulit fecitque puer sudauit et alsit Si quid feceris honestum cum labore labor abit honestum manet si quid turpe cum voluptate turpitudo manet voluptas abit Cicero Of Gladnes Defi. Gladnesse or pleasure is properly called that delight which mooueth and tickleth our sences which quickly slideth and slippeth away and for the most part leaueth behind it occasions rather of repentance then of calling it againe to remembrance OVr pleasures are inductions to our griefs Oft hath a tragick entrance happy end Gladnes with griefe continually is mixt Sorrow fore-going gladnes graceth it Immoderate desires delights and hopes haue made doe make and will make very many fooles There is nothing more to bee reioyced at then a good and quiet conscience vvhich at the latter day shall be a witnesse to iustifie not to condemne vs. The gladnesse of the hart addeth length to our life but sorrow of lyfe hastens death Bee gladde of that day wherein thy tongue hath not mis-said and thy hart hath repented thy sinnes Disordinate laughter causeth death and violent pleasures mighty dangers All men are glad to see their riches increase but fewe men are diligent to amplifie theyr vertues All worldly gladnes rideth vppon the wings of Time and but in heauen no perfect ioy is found Be not gladde of thine enemies fall for hee that sitteth surest may be ouerthrowne It is better to enter the house of mourning then the habitation of gladnesse Origen The gladnes of contemplation is the sweetest solace Sith ioyes are short take gladnesse when it comes for sorrowes headlong follow one an other Couer thy gladnes in thy hart least thy delights be discouered Pleasures while they flatter a man they sting him to death After the delectation and pleasures of the body followeth the destruction of the flesh Mar. Aur. Pleasures vnbrideled carrieth a man headlong into all licentious lyuing Pleasures bring losse and dammage to the party that too much delighteth in thē they ingender in his minde sorrow sottishnes forgetfulnes of wisedome and insolencie The sweete and simple breath of heauenlie gladnes is the easier to bee altered because it hath not passed through worldly wickednes nor feelingly found the euils which euill carrieth with it S. P. S. Hee that is giuen to pleasure iudgeth all things not according to reason but according to sence Gladnesse is the booke of all euils quenching the light of the soule hindring good coūsaile and turning men aside from the way of vertue Pleasure is a cruell beast making men her slaues chaining them with golden chaines Pleasure is so much more odious by hovve much more she hideth her venom vnder the garment of good liking Pleasure is a certaine exultation or an exceeding reioycing sprung of the euents of things desired Pleasure amongst vertues is like a harlot amongst honest women for by her flatterie shee destroyeth man Cic. Pleasure is of two sorts one is said of honest and good things the other of dishonest In respect of honest thinges it is called Voluntas in respect of dishonest it is called Voluptas Bodily pleasure is extreame miserie Antisthenes The companion of pleasure is payne A wise man ought not to be puffed vp with pleasure for it is the foode of filthines it kylleth the body weakeneth the iudgement and taketh away our vnderstanding Hee is not worthy the name of a man that spendeth a whole day in pleasure Qui minus deliciarum nouit in vita minus timet mortem Gaudia principium nostri sunt saepe doloris Gaudia non remanent sed fugitiua volant Of Libertie Defi. Libertie is that freedome and happinesse which bringeth the soule to his contentment and satisfaction after the troublous pilgrimages tauailes and bondages of this worlde Or otherwise to lyue as a man list THrough too much libertie all things run to ruine and confusion Libertie in the minde is a signe of goodnes in the tongue of foolishnes in the handes of theft in our life want of grace Nothing corrupteth more then libertie for it maketh the sonne despise hys Father the seruaunt his maister and the cittizen his magistrate Hee is to be counted free that serues no loosenes or infirmitie No man trulie liueth at libertie but he that liueth vertuously The wise man that hath the raine of his own wit restrained in the handes of his discretion is onely free Liberty is the benefit of old age There is a naturall discord betweene tyrannie and libertie Demost. He enioyeth the sweetest libertie that hath a quiet conscience Greg. VVhom pouerty cannot depresse libertie may not corrupt Vertue onely yeeldeth men libertie sinne yeeldeth shame and seruitude If the libertie of the Commons bee not restrained the Common-wealth will bee destroyed A mans minde may bee at perfit libertie though his body be fettered with yrons Hee is most at libertie that hath least infelicitie Life lost for libertie is a losse ful of pietie It is better to die a miserable life being at liberty then to liue a magnificent slaue in cōtinuall bondage Too much liberty is a little bondage and too great bondage hastens speedy libertie Slaues and bondmen haue onely thys libertie to vse a proude countenaunce because they be shamelesse A constrained will seeketh euer opportunitie to slyp his head out of the coller No man lyues happily if hee want the freedome of libertie Hope is bondage but mistrust is libertie Death ought to be preferred before seruile slauery and bondage A Tyrant neither knoweth true friendshyp nor perfit liberty It is a hard thing to moderate a
esse sui Ouid. Omnibus qui patriaÌ„ conseruauerint adiuuerint auxerint certus est in caelo et definitus locus vbi beati aeuo sempiterno fruuntur Cicero Of Hope Defi. Hope is that vertue whereby the spirit of man putteth great trust in honest waightie matters hauing a certaine and sure confidence in himselfe this hope must be strong ly grounded vppon a sure expectation of the helpe and grace of God without which it is vaine and imperfect TO be cleane without hope is a hap incident to the vnhappy man He that will loose a fauour for a hope hath some wit but small store of wisedom Fortune may take away our goods but death cannot depriue vs of hope Hopes aboue fortune are the fore-poynters of deepe falls If thou chaunce to loue hope vvell vvhatsoeuer thy hap be That which is most common is hope Hope is a waking mans dreame Pyndarus To put our confidence in the creature is to dispaire of the creator Grego Vaine is hope that doth not feare God Gre. This mortall life is the hope of the life immortall Aug. They onely hope vvell who haue a good conscience Aug. Hope is the companion of loue Hope cannot be without fayth Aug. Hope is the God of the wretched Bernard Hope grounded on God neuer faileth but being built on the world it neuer thriueth Hope apprehendeth things vnseene and attaineth things by continuance Plato The euenings hope may comfort the mornings misery Hope is the fooles God the Merchant-mans comfort the souldiers companion and the ambitious mans poyson Hope of life is vanity hope in death is life and the life of hope is vertue Hope waiteth on great mens tongues and beguileth beleeuing followers Sweet words beget hope large protestations nourish it and contempt kils it He that supposeth to thriue by hope may happen to beg in misery Bion. The apprehention of hope derideth griefe and the fulnes of hope consumeth it As all mettalls are made of Sulphur so all pleasures proceede from hope As the one part laboureth for the conseruation of the whole body so hope for the accomplishment of all desires Sadnes is the punishment of the hart hope the medicine of distresse Crates Hope is a pleasant passion of the minde vvhich dooth not onely promise vs those things that we most desire but those thinges also which we vtterly dispaire of Our high hopes haue oftentimes hard fortunes and such as reach at the tree commonly stumble at the roote To hope for requitall of benefits bestowed may rather be counted vsury then vertue A cowardly louer without hope shall neuer gaine faire loue with good fortune To hope against all hope is the excellence of a mighty resolution In a little place is hid a great treasure and in a small hope a boundlesse expectation Confidence except it be guided by modesty and proceed from iudgment may rather be called arrogancy then hope Hope of all passions is the sweetest and most pleasant and heereof it is said that hope onely comforteth the miserable Hope is the Gouernour of men Symonides Perdicas seeing Alexander largelie bestovve many benefits vppon his friends asked him what hee would leaue for himself he aunswered hope A good and vertuous man ought alwaies to hope well and to feare nothing Hope is the beginning of victory to come and doth presage the same Pyndarus Sola spes hominem in miserijs consolari solet Miserum est timere cum sâ—eres nihil Of Charity Defi. Charitie is the indissoluble band of God with vs whereby wee are inflamed with the loue of him for that which we owe vnto him and therby also are induced to loue our neighbours for the loue of God CHaritie is the scope of all Gods commaundements Chris. Charity delayd is halfe lost Charitie raunsommeth vs from sinne and deliuereth vs from death Charitie increaseth fayth begetteth hope and maketh vs at one with God As the body without the soule enioyeth no life so all other vertues without charity are cold and fruitlesse Charity is a good and gracious affect of the soule whereby mans hart hath no fancy to esteeme any thing in this world before the study to know God Hermes The charitable man is the true louer of God Seuerus As the sunne is to the vvorld and life to the body so is charity to the hart Charity resembleth fire vvhich inflameth all things it toucheth Erasmus Charitie in aduersitie is patient in prosperitie temperate in passions strong in good works quicke in temptations secure in hospitalitie bountifull amongst her true chyldren ioyfull amongst her false friends patient Charitie in midst of iniuries is secure in hart bountifull in displeasures meeke in concealing euills innocent in truth quiet at others misfortune sad in vertues ioyfull Charitie in aduersity fainteth not because it is patient and reuengeth not iniuries because it is bountifull Hee that truely loueth beleeueth and hopeth Aug. By charitie one seeth the glorious light of God Aug. Hee alwayes hath to giue that is full of charitie Bernard To loue with all the soule is to loue wisely to loue with all the strength is manfully to suffer for truth to loue with all our hart is to prefer the loue of God before all things that flatter vs. Aug. The measure in louing of God is to loue him without measure Bernard Charity is the way of man to God and the way of God to man Aug. If any man waxe drunke vvith the loue of God he is straightwayes apt and ready to all good he laboureth and is not weary hee is weary and feeleth it not the malicious mock him and he perceiueth it not Bernard The loue of God hath power to transforme man into God Charity maketh a man absolute and perfect in all other vertues Neither the multitude of trauailes nor the antiquity of seruice but the greatnes of charity increaseth the reward God is charity vvhat thing is more precious he that dwelleth in charity dwelleth in God what thing is more secure God in him what thing is more delectable The nature of charity is to draw all things to it selfe and to make them participate of it selfe Lactan. There is no vertue persit without loue nor loue without charity Charity is neuer idle but worketh for him it loueth The greatest argument of godly loue is to loue what God loueth Charitable loue is vnder no rule but is Lord of all lawes and a boundlesse Emperor There is true charity where two seueral bodies haue one vnited hart Of charity mixed with mockery followeth the truth of infamy Pythag. Charity is the child of faith and the guide to euerlasting felicity All charity is loue but not all loue charity Augustine The filthy effects of bribery hinder exceedingly the works of charity Plato Charity causeth men to forsake sinne and embrace vertue Charitie is a word vsed of many and vnderstood but of a few Cicero By charity with God we learne what is our duty towards man By charity all men
by reason of their age and weaknesse of theyr strength are subiect to sundry imperfections and molested with many diseases Pacunius Gray hayres oft-times are intangled vvith loue but stailesse youth intrapped with lust Age is more to be honored for his wisdom then youth commended for his beauty The mind of an old man is not mutable his fancies are fixed his affections not fleeting he chooseth without intention to change neuer forsaketh his choyce till death make challenge of his life The olde Cedar tree is lesse shaken with the winde then the young bâ—amble and age farre more stayed in his affaires then youth Old men are more meet to giue counsaile then fit to follow warres Bias. Though young men excell in strength yet old men exceede in stedfastnes Though all men are subiect to the suddaine stroke of death yet old men in nature seeme neerest to their graue Age is a crowne of glory when it is adorned with righteousnes but the dregs of dishonor when it is mingled with mischiefe Honorable age consisteth not in the terme of yeeres neyther is it measured by the date of mans dayes but by godly wisedome and an vndefiled life Age is forgetfull and gray hayres are declining steps from strength Age is giuen to melanâ—hollie and manie yeeres acquainted with many dumps Age speaketh by experience and liketh by tryall but youth leaneth vnto vvit vvhich is voyde of wisedome He that will not be aduised by age shall be deceiued by youth Old age is the fore-runner of death Age and time are two thinges which men may fore-thinke of but neuer preuent Men of age â—eare and fore-see that vvhich youth neuer regardeth Olde folkes oft-times are more greedie of coyne then carefull to keepe a good conscience Bias. Age may bee allotted to gaze at beauties blossoms but youth must clime the tree and enioy the fruit Nature lendeth age authority 〈…〉 nes of hart is the glory of all yeeres VVhilst the haires be hidden craftily age bewrayes it selfe Children are compared to the spring-time striplings to sommer-season young-men to autumn and old men to winter An olde man ought to remember his age past and to bethinke himselfe hovv hee hath spent his time if he finde himselfe faulty in neglecting such good deedes as hee might haue done he ought forth-with to be carefull to spend the remainder of his life in liberality towards the poore Old men are commonly couetous because their getting dayes are past It is a great shame for an olde man to be ignorant in the principles of religion An old man ought to be reuerenced for his grauity sooner then for his gray haires If young men had knowledge and old men strength the vvorld vvould become a nevv paradice A man aged and wise is worthy double reuerence Infancie is but a foolish simplicity full of lamentations and harmes as it were laid open to a maine Sea without a sterne Youth is an indiscreete heate outragious blind heady violent and vaine Mans estate is trouble vexation of mind full of repentance and plunged in care Non est senectus vt tu opinaris pater Onus grauissimum sed impatientius Qui fert sibi ipse est author illius mali Patienter at qui sibi quietem comparat Dum dextere eius moribus se accomodat Nec ille solum detrahit molestiam Accersit aliquam sed voluptatem sibi Si nauig andum sit quatuor per dies De comeatu cura nobis maxima At se in senectam quid licet comparcere Non instruemus nos eo viatico Of Death Defi. Death is taken three maner of wayes the first is the seperation of the soule from the bodie with the dissolution of the body vntil the resurrection the second is the death of sinne sith he is sayd to be dead which lyeth sleeping in sin the third is eternall death vnto which the wicked shall bee condemned in the day of generall iudgement DEath is the law of nature the trybute of the flesh the remedy of euills and the path eyther to heauenly felicitie or eternall misery Heâ—â—clit Destenie may be deferred but can neuer be preuented An honourable death is to be preferred before an infamous life That man is very simple that dreadeth death because he feareth thereby to be cutte off from the pleasures of this life Death hath his roote from sinne August Death is the end of feare and beginning of felicitie There is nothing more certaine theÌ„ death nor any thing more vncertain then the houre of death No man dyeth more willingly then he that hath liued most honestly It is better to die well then to liue wantonlie Socrat. Death it selfe is not so painfull as the feare of death is vnpleasant Death is the end of all miseries but infamy is the beginning of all sorrowes Plut. VVhile men seeke to prolong theyr lyfe they are preuented by some suddaine death VVhile wee thinke to flie death wee most earnestly follow death VVhat is he that being lustie and young in the morning can promise himselfe life vntill the euening Many men desire death in their misery that cannot abide his presence in the time of their prosperitie An euill death putteth great doubt of a good life and a good death partly excuseth an euill life The death of euill men is the safety of good men liuing Cicero Hee that euery hower feareth death can neuer be possessed of a quiet conscience Nothing is more like to death then sleepe who is deaths elder brother Cicero There is nothing more common then suddaine death which beeing considered by the great Phylosopher Demonax hee therefore warned the Emperour Adrian and such other as lyued at theyr pleasure and ease in no wise to forget how in euery short moment they should be no more Nature hath giuen no better thing then death Plinie To men in misery death is most welcome Death deadly woundeth without eyther dread or daliance Sith death is a thing that cannot be auoided it ought of all men the lesse to be feared By the same vvay that life goeth death coÌ„meth Aurelius The most profitable thing for the worlde is the death of couetous and euill people Death is lyfe to the godly minded man whose meditation is on diuine matters and whose hope is heauen Death is common to all persons though to some one way and to some another If we liue to die then we die to liue All things haue an end by death saue onely death whose end is vnknowne Death is metaphorically called the end of all flesh Aristot. The last curer of diseases is death Death despiseth all riches and glory and ruleth ouer all estates alike Boetius None neede to feare death saue those that haue committed so much iniquitie as after death deserueth damnation Socrat. VVisedome maketh men to despise death it ought therefore of all men to be imbraced as the best remedy against the feare of death Hermes So liue and hope as if thou shouldest dye immediatly Plinie Non
property of a Seruant to feare his Maister with hatred but a Sonne feareth his Father for loue Ambrose Neyther strength nor bignesse are of anie value in a fearefull body They that desire to be feared needes must they dread them of whom they be feared VVhom many feare they doe hate and euery man whom he hateth he desireth to see him perrish Feare is the companion of a guiltie conscience A Maister that feareth his Seruant is more seruile then the Seruant himselfe It is a deadly feare to liue in continuall danger of death It is meere folly for a man to feare that which he cannot shunne It is a naturall thing in al men to leaue their liues vvith sorrow and to take theyr deaths with feare It is better to suffer that vvhich wee feare then by feare to liue in coÌ„tinuall martirdom To demaund how many and not where the enemies be is a signe of cowardly feare Feare followeth hope wherefore if thou wilt not feare hope not Aâ—sculapius It many times happens that the parties not willing to ioyne in loue doe consent agree together in feare It is farre better to feare thy choice then to rue thy chaunce He that feareth euery tempest is not fit to be a trauailer The sword dispatcheth quicklie but feare tormenteth continually Feare standeth at the gates of the eares and putteth back all perswasions Plato The more a man feares the sooner he shall be hurt Too much feare opens the doore to desperation He that through his cruelty is much feared of other men vvalketh in small assurance of his owne life The feare of death to a wicked person is of greater force to trouble him then the stroke it selfe Cic. A fearefull man neuer thinks so well of any mans opinion as hee dooth of his owne conceite and yet he will be ready to aske counsell vpon euery trifling cause It is a lamentable thing to be old with feare when a man is but young in yeares It becoÌ„meth nor a Commaunder in Armes to be a man of a fearefull disposition Hee is woorthy to be counted a valiant and couragious minded man in whom the feare of an honest death can strike no signe of terror It is the property of a wise man with a quiet minde patiently to beare all things neuer dreading more then he need in aduersity nor fearing thinges not to be feared in time of prosperity but those things which he hath he honestly inioyeth and those things which he possesseth not he doth not greatly couet It becommeth a wise-man to be heedefull but not to be feareful for base feare bringeth double danger It is requisite for all men to knowe God and to liue in his feare But such as worship God for feare least any harme should happen vnto them are like them that hate Tyrants in their harts and yet study to please them because they would in quiet keep that they possesse Multos in summa periculamisit Venturi timor ipse mali fortissimus ille est Qui proÌ„ptus metuenda pati sicoÌ„minus instent Et differre potest Nos an xius omnia cogit Quae possunt fieri facta putare timor Of Famine Defi. Famine is a vehement hungrie desire of eating as thirst is of drinking which as Galen saith in his third booke of naturall Faculties stifleth and châ—aketh the stomacke with euill and noy some humors and dissolueth destroyeth the strength thereof it begetteth lothsomnes filleth all the body full of outragious and filthy diseases BArraine Scithia is Famines Country and the place of her aboade the sterill fruitlesse top of mount Caucasus Famine and dearth doe thus differ dearth is that vvhen all those things that belong to the life of man for example meate drinke apparrell lodging other things are rated at a high price Famine is when all these necessaries before named are not to be got for money though there be store of money God is the efficient cause of famine and sinnes the impulsiue or forcing causes which the holy Scripture setteth downe to be these Atheisme Idolatry coÌ„tempt of Gods word priuate gaine periury and oppression couetousnes cruelty pride drunkennes and surfetting aud neglect of tyth-paying There was a generall dearth throughout all the world in the dayes of Claudius Caesar according to the prophecie of Agabus because the world was then like vnto the Emperour giuen ouer to all impiety drunkennes and ryot Famine and the pestilence are such fellow-like companions that the Grecians distinguish them but by one letter calling the pestilence Loimos and the famine Limos Famine is more intollerable then the pestilence or the sword therefore when God gaue Dauid his choice of these three euils he chose the pestilence as the easiest to bee endured After famine commeth the pestilence In the yeere 1438. Thuringia was oppressed with so great a famine that throughout al the Region the streetes in Citties and Villages lay full of deadbodies through putrefaction of which a plague followed whereby many thousands perished Eusebius in his ecclesiasticall history vvriteth that vvicked Herod King of the Iewes ended his wretched life as well by famine as the lousie euill Erisicthon for his impious sacriledge vvas plagued with such miserable extreame famine that hee vvas constrained to eate his owne flesh In the time of famine mice dogs horses asses chaâ—â—e pels hides sawdust haue beene vsed for good sustenance at the last mans flesh yea that which is not to bee spoken without trembling the mothers haue beene constrained through hunger to eate theyr owne children as in the siege of Samaria in the first siege of Ierusalem vnder Nabuchadnezzer and in the last vnder the Emperour Vespasian and his sonne Titus Famine caused Abraham to flie from Canaan into Egipt from Gerar to Abimeleck It caused Iacob in his old age to flye to his son Ioseph in Egypt It caused Elimelech with his wife and children to leaue Israell and to flie into Moab and the Sunanitesse vvoman to leaue her owne Country The people of Egipt in Pharaobs time wheÌ„ the great samine was were vrged to offer vp themselues in bondage and all that they had for Corne. Vrspergensis writeth that the great famine which befell in the yeere eyght hundred and ninety-eyght made men to eate and deuour one another Pliny sayth in his eight booke chapter 57. that when as Hanniball besieged Cassilinum a Citty in Italy in the Citty by reason of extreame scarsitie a mouse vvas solde for two hundred peeces of money and yet hee that sold it dyed for hunger and the buier liued Calagmiam a Citty in Spayne where Quintilian vvas borne beeing besieged of Cneus Pompeius endured such a samine that when there was no other liuing creature left in the Citty the inhabitants eate theyr owne wiues and children Fate for biddeth famine to abide wher plenty dwelleth Famine is like to the eating and deuouring Vlâ—er called Estiomenus called of Courtiers who commonly more then others are subiect thereunto the VVoolfe
his power ayde sufficiently to make what he will right Polion He whose owne ayde makes his own cause makes it too much to make it more thē sure Feare casteth too deepe and is euer too vvise if it be not ayded by some resolution One man is borne to helpe another as farre as his abilitie will serue To helpe the weake is charitie and to ayde the mightie presumption Greg. A doubtfull minded man can neuer endure to be ayded by any vsuall meanes The ayde of the Spirit is fayth by which a man is deliuered from a second death The grace and lawe of the Spirit furnished with the ayde of God iustifieth the wicked reconcileth the sinfull and giueth life to the dead VVisedome learning are the two chiefe aydes to vertue and good conditions Lawe is the Queene of immortalitie aide the Lord which restores the oppressed VVise men are not ayded by the Lawes of men but by the rules of vertue Euill ayde and inconstant loue is like the shadow of a cloude which vanisheth as soone as it is seene Honest assistance is without hurt vvithout hate and without penury The ayde of a friend in lawe is halfe an end to the law He is rash witted that presumeth too much vpon his owne power Anaxag God giueth his wrath by weight mercy without measure Erasmus To try the ayde of friends is to prooue the hope of fortunes Two crafty men can neuer agree vvell together for Fortune to the one is mother to the other a stepdame to neither of them a certaine ayde He is a monstrous foole that will presume to flye with the ayde of waxen wings Homo homini quicunque sit ob eam ipsam causam quod is homo sit consulere debet Nil habet alicuius fortuna melius quā vt possit nec natura quam vt velit seruare plurimum Cicero Of Meane Defi. Meane is the mediocritie and best part of any action and must be vsed in all things it containeth the full effect of prudence touching gouernment and tranquilitie concerning the soule THE dyfference of good or badde consisteth in mediocritie or a meane in all things Curiositie and extreamitie banished man from the first modestie of his nature Nothing too much nothing too little preserueth a meane in all things The meane estate is the best estate indifferent equality is safest superiority Hee that starueth for drinke by a fountaine side hath no meane in his misery The meane loue is the surest loue to loue extreamely procureth eyther death or danger Of two euills the least is to be chosen for that is the meane to well choosing Meane gyfts are most acceptable because they are not corrupted with prodigalitie The more men are threatned the greater meanes they seeke for theyr safetie First to become a seruant is the best meane to become a maister Hidden thoughts may be discouered and meane estates highly erected As stormes wither flowers so pride confounds meane callings All men must till sowe before they can reape and the meaner man the more painful in his labour The smallest hayre hath his shadow and the meanest estate his rising and down-falling Fire is neuer without smoake nor extreamitie without crosses Mountaines hauing too much heate of the Sunne are burnt Valleys hauing too lyttle heate thereof are barraine but such places as hold a meane are most fruitfull Meane thoughts without extreamities gather both beauties and vertues together Of all the parts in musicke the meane is the sweetest Hee which keepes a meane in his dyet shall neuer surfeit Rage is the mother of repentance but mild dealing sheweth loue The increasing of passion multiplieth complaints Extreamity harbours where meane is not kept Cruell men haue cruell deaths where temperate persons out-liue nature Meane thoughts excell ambitious deeds VVise men temper their actions to the time and hold a meane in all matters Bias. The fairest flower may wither the highest hopes decline by misfortune The meane cottage of a swaine standes in more safety then the pallace of a Prince Standing water is worse then the running riuer idle ambition more dangerous then meane industrie The Mouse which hath but one hole is easily taken and he that hath but one meane to resist harme is quickly ouerthrowne VVhere there is no meane there is no order and where proportion is not kept there is speedy confusion Ere mischiefe come the meanes to preuent it ought to be prouided Est modus in rebus sunt certi denique fines Quos vltra citraque nequit consistere rectum Suus cutque modus est tamen magis offendit nimium quam parum Of Labour Defi. Labour is or ought to be the honest recreation of the minde and that industrious worke-maister which buildeth our knowledges and makes them absolute hy exercise of good Letters and continuall trauaile in the Sciences IT is not freedome to liue licentiously neither is it liberty to lyue without labour Labour is a mortall enemy to loue deadly foe to fancie Great labours require sometimes to be eased with honest pastimes That which is doone slowly is neuer doone vvillingly Take good aduisement ere thou begin but the thing once determined dispatch vvith all diligence Labour is the father of a good name Labour is a burden that man vnder-goeth with pleasure Cic. A man that dooth all he can doe doth what he should doe Man is borne to labour though not created to labour By diligent and laborious examination of things past we may easily fore-see things to come Diligence is the searcher out of truth Labour armeth subiects to all vertuous enterprises He that endureth labour shall tast the fruit of his trauaile Aginip Publicola was blessed in his indeuours got fame by his industrie wonne battailes by hys forwardnesse and dyed fortunatly through lyuing laboriously As nothing mounteth swifter then fire so nothing atchiueth sooner then labour He that endeuoureth attaineth hee that neglecteth repenteth Philotis by labour ouer-came the Latines and by his study and policie got that victory which the Romaines detracted by their feare The stuttering in Alcibiades dyd not so much hurt him as his industrie in warres renowned him All errors by labour are cured huge mountaines leuelled and weake wits refined The hope of a good rewarde is a great incouragement to labour Immoderate labours doe weaken the body but a temperate kinde of exercise conserueth the same in health As the sweetest Rose groweth vppon the sharpest prickles so the hardest labours bring forth the sweetest profits As brightnes is to rustinesse so labour excelleth idlenesse Thales No worthy act can be accomplished vvithout payne and diligence No profit is denyed to the painfull person By vse and labour a man may bee brought to a newe nature Demost. The industrious man by his diligence oftentimes excelleth him to whom nature hath beene most beautifull If Demosthenes had seene any Cittizen vp before him and at worke it woulde greatly haue greeued him His continuall labour
to complaine vpon God for the shortnes of their life when as they themselues as short as it is doe through ryot malice murthers care and warres make it much shorter both in them selues and others Theophrastus hoc est Viuere bis vitâ posse priore frui Est nostra vno vita quam sâ—millima Acescit est quem reliqua parua portio Of the Soule Defi. The soule is a created substance inuisible incorporall immortall resembling the image of her Creator a spirit that giueth life to the body where-vnto it is ioyned a nature alwaies mouing it selfe capable of reason and the knowledge of God to loue him as beeing meet to be vnited to him through loue to eternall felicity THE greatest thing that may be said to be contained in a little roome is the soule in a mans body An holy vndefiled soule is like heauen hauing for her Sunne vnderstanding the zeale of iustice and charity for the Moone fayth and her vertues for the starres Euery soule is eyther the spouse of Christ or the adultresse of the deuill Chris. The minde is the eye of the soule The soule is compounded of vnderstanding knowledge and sence from which all Sciences and Arts proceede and from these she is called reasonable The soule is deuided into two parts the one spirituall or intelligible vvhere the discourse of reason is the other brutish which is the sensuall will of it selfe wandring where all motions contrary to reason rest and delighting onelly to dwell vvhere euill desires doâ— inhabite The actions of the soule are vvill iudgement sence conceiuing thought spirit imagination memory vnderstanding The incomparable beauty of the soule is prudence temperance fortitude iustice All the felicity of man as well present as to come dependeth on the soule Clement The soule is the organ and instrument of God whereby he worketh in vs and lifteth vs vp to the conteÌ„plation of his diuine power and nature The sweetest rest and harbor for the soule is a conscience vncorrupted The Philosophers set downe foure powers to rule in the soule reason will anger and concupiscence in which they lodged foure vertues to euery one one prudence iustice fortitude and temperance The soule payeth well for her hire in the body considering what she there suffereth The soule of the iust man is the seat of wisedome August The body is the sepulcher of a dead soule The soule is the breathing of God Ambr. If thy soule be good the stroke of Death cannot hurt thee for thy spirit shall liue blessedly in heauen Basil. As they that haue healthfull bodies easily endure both cold and heat so they that haue a stayed and setled soule haue the dominion ouer anger greefe ioy and all other their affections Plato It is not death that destroyeth the soule but a bad lyfe A sound soule correcteth the naughtines of the body All mens soules are immortall but the soules of the righteous are immortall and diuine Socrates It is good to haue a regard to the health of the mind that the body thereby may be preserued from danger The power of the minde is two-fold one part is in the appetite the other in reason which teacheth vvhat is to be followed and vvhat to be eschewed By this reason commaundeth and appetite obeyeth The diseases of the body are easie to be cured but for the malady of the minde no medicine can be found The pleasure of the minde excelleth the pleasures of the body By vvhat other name canst thou call the soule then God dwelling in a mans body It is as great charity to edefie the soule as sustaine the body Bernard The nobility of the soule is alwayes to be thought vpon The soule in the flesh is as amongst thorns Bernard The soule is the naturall perfection of the body Aurel. The body considereth nothing but what is present the minde conceaueth vvhat is past and what is to come The soule of man is an incorruptible substance apt to receaue either ioy or pain both heere and else where Solon The soule despiseth all worldly busines and being occupied onely about heauenly matters she reioyceth greatly vvhen she is deliuered from these earthly bands VVhile the soule is in the company of good people it is in ioy but vvhen it is among euill men it is in sorrow and heauines As the body is an instrument of the soule so is the soule an instrument of God The body vvas made for the soule and not the soule for the body Looke hovv much the soule is better then the body so much more greeuous are the diseases of the soule then the greefes of the body Diogenes By the iustice of God the soule must needs be immortall and therfore no man ought to neglect it for though the body dye yet the soule dieth not The delights of the soule are to knovv her Maker to consider the works of heauen and to know her owne state and being Tres vitales spiritus creauiâ— Omnipotens vnum qui carne non tegitur alium qui carne tegitur sed non cum carne moritur â—â—eâ—tium qui carne tegitur et cum carne moritur Primus AngeloruÌ„ secundus hominum tertius brutorum est Anima dum viuificat corpus anima est dum vult animus dum scit mens dum recolit memoria dum rectum iudicat ratio dum spirat spiritus dum aliquid sentit sensus est Of the Sences Defi. Sences are the powers of the soule body in number fiue seeing hearing smelling tasting and touching Of Seeing THe eyes vvere giuen to men to be as it were theyr vvatch-towers and sentinels the guiders and leaders of the body Of more validitie is the sight of one eye then the attention of ten eares for in that a man seeth is assurance and that he heareth may be an error The piercing power of the sight is able to reade Homers Iliads though they were written in the compasse of a nut-shell The sight the affection and the hands are instruments to gather bribes Sight increaseth compassion and compassion calleth vp care S. P. S. VVhat can saying make theÌ„ beleeue whom seeing cannot perswade S. P. S. Sight is the riches which nature graunteth to the poorest creature S. P. S. A wanton eye is the messenger of an vnchast hart Aug. Marcus Varro was surnamed Strabo for his quicke sight that from Libaeum a prouince in Sicilia he could tell the number of the saile of shippes vvhich came out of the Hauen of Carthage Hee that is borne blinde is wiser then the deafe or dumb Arist. Blindnes it selfe commends the excellency of sight Aug. The eyes are the iudges seat of the mind The eye is the most precious part of the body and therefore it is saide I vvill keepe thee as the apple of mine eye The eyes are the windowes of the body or rather of the soule which is lodged in it The sight is the chiefest sence and the first Mistresse that prouoked men forward to
of pleasure and reward wherefore such as suffer in it aduersity shall in another world be recompenced with ioy Hermes He which delighteth in the world must eyther lacke what he desireth or els loose what he hath wonne with great paine He that is enamoured of the worlde is like one that entereth into the Sea for if hee escape perrils men will say he is fortunate but if he perrish they will say hee is vvilfully deceiued He that fixeth his minde wholy vppon the world looseth hys soule but he that desireth the safetie of his soule little or nothing regardeth the world After the olde Chaos vvas brought into forme the Poets faine that the vvorld vvas deuided into foure ages the first vvas the golden age the second vvas the siluer age the thyrd the brazen age and the fourth the yron age all which may bee more largelie read of in the first booke of Ouids Metamorphosis The worlde in the foure ages thereof may bee compared vnto the foure seasons of the yeere the first resembling the spring-tyme the second sommer the third autumne and the fourth winter Perdicas Hee that yeeldeth himselfe to the vvorlde ought to dispose himselfe to 3. things which hee cannot auoyde First to pouerty for hee shall neuer attaine to the riches that hee desireth secondly to suffer great paine trouble thirdly to much businesse without expedition Solon Mundus regitur numine deorum estque quasi communis vrbs et ciuitas omnium Cicero Mundus magnus homo homo paruus mundus esse dicitur Of Beginning Defi. Beginning is the first appearance of any thing and there can be nothing without beginning but onely that Almightie power which first created all things of nothing EVill beginnings haue most commonlie wretched endings In euery thing the greatest beauty is to make the beginning plausible and good It is better in the beginning to preuent thē in the exigent to worke reuenge That thing neuer seemeth false that dooth begin with truth The preface in the beginning makes the whole booke the better to be conceiued Nature is counted the beginning of all things death the end Quintil. To beginne in truth and continue in goodnesse is to gette praise on earth and glorie in heauen The beginning of superstition was the subtiltie of sathan the beginning of true religion the seruice of God There is nothing wisely begunne if the end be not prouidently thought vpon Infants beginne lyse with teares continue it with trauailes and end it with impatience A foolish man beginneth many things and endeth nothing The beginning of thinges is in our owne power but the end thereof resteth at Gods disposing Stobaeus Neuer attempt any wicked beginning in hope of a good ending The most glorious and mightie beginner is GOD who in the beginning created the world of nothing Small faults not hindered in the beginning amount to mighty errors ere they be ended A worke well begun is halfe ended Plato In all workes the beginning is the chiefest and the end most hardest to attaine The beginning the meane and the end is a legacie which euery one enioyeth Sodaine changes haue no beginning Nothing is more auncient then beginning That which is betweene the beginning and the end is short Greg. The feare of God is the beginning of wisedome Sirach The beginning of all thinges are small but gather strength in continuaunce The beginning once knovvne vvith more ease the euent is vnderstood Begin nothing before thou first call for the helpe of God for God whose power is in all things gyueth most prosperous furtherance and happy successe vnto all such acts as vvee doe begin in his name Take good aduisement ere thou begin any thing but being once begun be careful speedily to dispatch it He that preuenteth an euill before it begin hath more cause to reioyce then to repent Take good heede at the beginning to what thou grauntest for after one inconuenience another will follow Begin to end and ending so beginne As entrance to good life be end of sinne Principijs obsta seró medicina paratur Cum malaper longas inualuere moras Principij nulla est origo nam ex principio oriuntur omnia ipsum autem nulla ex re alia nasci potest Of Ending Defi. The ende is that whereto all thinges are created by GOD which is the glory of his Name and saluation of his Elect albeit the order which hee obserueth the cause reason and necessitie of them are hid in his secrete counsaile and cannot bee comprehended by the sence of man THE end of thys worlde is a good mans meditation for by thinking thereon hee preuenteth sinne Basil. The end of trouble bringeth ioy the end of a good life euerlasting felicitie VVhat thing soeuer in this world hath a beginning must certainly in thys world haue also an ending The last day hath not the least distresse Felicitie is the end and ayme of our worldlie actions which may in this life be described in shadowes but neuer truly attained but in heauen onely Nothing is doone but it is doone to some end Arist. The end of labour is rest the end of foolish loue repentance The end is not onely the last but the best of euery thing Arist. The end of euery thing is doubtfull Ouid. The end of warre is a iust Iudge Liuius As there is no ende of the ioyes of the blessed so is there no end of the torments of the wicked Greg. The end of this present life ought to haue respect to the beginning of the life to come Bernard The end we hope for is euer lesse then our hopes VVhat was doubtfull in the beginning is made certaine by the end therof Hugo Seeing the euent of things doe not aunswer to our wils we ought to apply our wils to the end of them Arist. The end of a dissolute life is most cōmonly a desperate death Bion. Our life is giuen to vse and to possesse but the end is most vncertaine and doubtfull The end of sorrow is the beginning of ioy At the end of the worke the cunning of the work-man is made manifest Good respect to the ende preserueth both body and soule in safety Before any fact be by man committed the end therof is first in cogitation Many things seeme good in the beginning which prooue bad in the end Exitus acta probat careat successibus opto Quisquis ab euentu facta notanda putat Multi laudantur in principio sed qui ad finem prefeuerat beatus est Of Day or Light Defi. The word Dies which signifieth day is so called quod sit diuini operis it is Gods faire creature and the cheerefull comfort of man who by his word made the light thereof to beautifie it to the worlds end THose children which are borne betweene the foure and twenty houres of midnight and midnight with the Romans are said to be borne in one day Numa Pompilius as hee deuided the yeere into Moneths so hee deuided the
that man that knoweth not to be a man but by his wickednes is far otherwise then he should be Hee that intendeth not to doe good should refraine from dooing euill but it is counted euill if we refraine to doe good Purifie thine owne vvickednes then prate of others sinnes All things are tollerable except extreame wickednes The wickednes that is done by the permission of a Prince shall be reckoned vnto the Prince for his sinne The wicked man in a monstrous kinde of pride neuer heard of before glorieth boasteth of his euill deeds Nothing maketh men more miserable then wickednes and impiety A man shall bee meruailouslie mooued to goodnes if hee doe but remember the pleasures comming from the same to be continuall not transieory and againe if he remember the pleasures springing from vvicked things he shall find them mingled with griefe and vexation the pleasure passeth but the paine endureth VVhen a man doth subiect himselfe to the wicked affections of his owne minde he doth weaken and cut in sunder the strings of vnderstanding Cicero VVicked counsaile is most hurtfull to the giuer In good things nothing is eyther vvanting or superfluous vvhich made the Pythagorians say that wickednes could not be comprehended but godlines might The wayes to wickednes are many plaine and common but to goodnes are not many but one and that same is hard to find because it is but little troden Non ob â—â— solum incommodo quae eueniunt improbis fugienda est improbitas sed multo etiam magis quod cuius in animo versatur nunquam sinit eum respirare nunquam acquiescere Si impietas improbé molita quippiaÌ„ est quamuis occulté fecerit nunquam tamen confidet id fore semper occultum plerumque enim improborum facta primo suspicio insequitur deinde sermo atque fama tum accusatoruÌ„ iudex multi etiam se iudicant Of Infamie Defi. Infamie is the liuory of badde desarts in this world and that which for our malignities and euill dooings staineth our names and our successions with a perpetuall disgrace through the report of our misdeedes and vniust attempts SHame and dishonour are the greatest preuentors of mishap Infamie galleth vnto death and liueth after death Infamie and shame are inseparable sequels of adultery That man is very vvicked and vnhappie vvhose life the people lament and at vvhose death they reioyce Solon There is no greater infamy then to be lauish in promise and slack in performance Begging is a shamefull course and to steale is a great blot of dishonor Hee that hath borne saile in the tempest of shame may euer after make a sport of the shipwrack of his good name Infamy is so deep a colour that it will hardly be washed off with obliuion Such as seeke to climbe by priuy sinne shal fall with open shame They that couet to swim in vice shall sink in vanity Crates Greater is the shame to bee accounted an harlot then the prayse to be esteemed amiable The infamy of man is immortall Plautus It were great infamy to the person and no small offence to the Common-weale to behold a man basely toyling that deserueth to gouerne and to see him gouerne that deserueth to goe to plow Shame is the end of trechery and dishonor euer fore-runnes repentance VVhat is once spotted vvith infamie can hardly be worne out with time Aurel. VVhen the string is broken it is hard to hit the white and when a mans credit is called in question persvvasions can little preuaile An honorable man should neuer die and an infamous man deserueth not to liue The infamous man is onely miserable for good men will not beleeue him bad will not obey him no man accompany him and few befriend him As beautie adorneth vvealth maintaineth honour and countenance so infamy woundeth all The occasions and greatnes of infamie are better vntried then knowne The tongue is the readiest instrument of detraction and slaunder Euery inferior doth account that thing infamous wherein hee seeth his superiour offend It is infamie to seeke prayse by counterfaite vertue It is infamie to disprayse him that deserueth well because he is poore to commend the vnworthy because he is rich He that by infamie slaundereth his friend is most monstrous To be praised of wicked men is as great infamy as to be praised for wicked doing Pride is the cause of hatred and sloth of infamie The life of a noted infamous man is death Cicero inueighing against Cateline saith thy naughty and infamous life hath so obscured the glory of thy predicessors that although they haue been famous yet by thee they will come to obliuion Dyonisius as long as hee perceiued himselfe to be wel reported of he was a good man but when the priuy talke to his defamation came to his eares he forsooke all goodnes and became a most cruell tyrant If a mans good name bee not polluted although hee haue nothing else yet it standes him in more sted then the possession of very great riches Emori praestat per virtutem quam per dedecus viuere Quis honorem quis gloriam quis laudem quis vllum decus tam vnquam expetit quam vt ignominiam infamiam contumeliam dedecus fugiat Of Dishonesty Defi. Dishonestie is an act which ingendereth it owne torment from the very instant wherein it is committed and with the continuall remembrance therof filleth the soule of the malefactor with shame and confusion HE that is disposed to mischiefes will neuer want occasions Dishonestie ruinates both fame and fortune Shame is the hand-mayde to dishonest attempts Crateus The insatiate appetite of gluttony doth obscure the interior vertues of the mind Hee that feares not the halter vvill hardly become true and they that care not for suspect are sildome honest It is a dishonest victory that is gotten by the spoyle of a mans owne country Cicero There neuer riseth contention in a Common-weale but by such men as vvould lyue without all honest order The euill inclination of men may for a time be dissembled but being once at liberty they cannot cloke it Many times the wicked beare enuy vnto the good not because the vertuous suffer them to doe well but for that they vvill not consent with them to doe euill Many bee so malicious and peruerse that they take more delight â—o doe euill vnto others then to receaue a benefit vnto themselues If hee be euill that gyueth euill counsaile more vild is he that executeth the same Nothing is profitable which is dishonest Tully Then is mischiefe at the ful ripenes when as dishonest thinges be not onely delightfull in hearing but also most plesant in practise and there is no remedy to be hoped for vvhere common vices are counted vertues A man giuen to dishonesty can neyther be friend to himselfe nor trusty to another The ouer-throvv of a Common-wealth is the dishonesty of the Rulers Dishonestie is the serpent of the soule which spoyleth men of theyr ornaments and
inter euersae vrbis manubias varia sub specie migrauit ad graecos Of Couetousnes Defi. Couetousnes is a vice of the soule wherby a man desireth to haue from all parts with out reason and vniustly with-holdeth that which rightly belongeth vnto another body it is also a sparing and niggardlinesse in giuing but open-handed to receaue whatsoeuer is brought without conscience or any regard whether it be well or ill attained THe property of a couetous man is to liue like a begger all dayes of his life and to be founde rich in money at the houre of his death Archimed Gaynes gotten vvith an ill name is great losse Couetous men little regard to shorten their lyues so they may augment their riches Treasures hoorded vp by the couetous are most commonly wasted by the prodigall person Gold is called the bait of sinne the snare of soules and the hooke of death which being aptly applyed may be compared to a fire whereof a little is good to warme one but too much will burne him altogether The chariot of Couetousnes is carried vppon foure vvheeles of vices Churlishnesse Faint-courage contempt of God forgetfulnes of death Drawn by two horses called Greedy to catch and Holdfast the Carter that dryueth it is Desire to haue hauing a whip called Loth to forgoe A couetous man is good to no man and worst friend to himselfe The couetous man vvanteth as vvell that which he hath as that which he hath not He that coueteth much wanteth much There is greater sorrowe in loosing riches then pleasure in getting them Publius Couetousnes is the roote of all euill from whence doe proceed as from a fountaine of mishap the ruine of Common-weales the subuersion of estates the wrack of societies the staine of conscience the breach of amity the confusion of the mind iniustice bribery slaughters treasons and a million of other mischeeuous enormities Aurel. All vices haue theyr taste saue onely couetousnes The gaine of golde maketh many a man to loose his soule A couetons man passeth great trauailes in gathering riches more danger in keeping them much law in defending them great torment in departing from them The excuse of the couetous man is that he gathereth for his children Apollonius The couetous minded man in seeking after riches purchaseth carefulnes for him-selfe enuy for his neighbours a pray for theeues perrill for his person damnation for his soule curses for his chyldren and lavve for his heyres A couetous rich man in making hys testament hath more trouble to please all then himselfe tooke pleasure to get and possesse all A couetous mans purse is called the deuils mouth Dionisius comming into a Temple vvhere Images were couered in costly coates of siluer and gold These garments quoth hee are too heauie for sommer and too colde for vvinter and so taking them away with him hee cloathed them in Linsey-wolsie saying these are more light for sommer and cooler for the winter VVee feare all things like mortall men but wee desire all thinges as if wee were immortall Seneca Couetousnes in olde men is most monstrous for what can be more foolish then to prouide more money and victuals vvhen he is at his iourneyes end Couetousnes is a disease vvhich spreadeth through all the vaines is rooted in the bowels and being inueterate can not be remooued Tully To fly from couetousnes is to gaine a kingdome Publius Gold guides the globe of the earth and couetousnes runnes round about the world Most couetous is hee vvhich is carefull to get desirous to keepe and vnwilling to forgoe By liberality mens vices are couered by couetousnes layd open to the world Aug. A couetous mans eye is neuer satisfied nor his desire of gaine at any time suffised The gluttons minde is of his belly the leacher of his lust and the couetous man of his gold Bernard The couetous man is alway poore August Ardua res haec est opibus non tradere mores Et cum tot Croesos viceris esse Numam Vsque adeo solus ferrum mortemque timere Aurinescit amor pereunt discrimine nullo Amissae leges sed pars vilissima rerum Certamen mouistis opes Of Vsurie Defi. Vsurie of the Hebrues is called byting it is an vnlawfull gaine gotte by an vnlawfull meane and that cruelty which doth not onelie gnaw the debter to the bones but also sucketh out all the blood and marrow from them ingendering mony of money contrary to nature and to the intent for which money was first made VSurie is compared to fire vvhich is an actiue and insatiable element for it burneth and consumeth all the wood that is laid vpon it so the Vsurer the more hee hath the more he desireth and lyke hell gates hee is neuer satisfied A vsurer is a filching and corrupt Cittizen that both stealeth from his neighbours and defraudeth himselfe The intent of vsury bewraies the crime Vsury is the nurse of idlenes idlenes the mother of euils Vsurie makes the noble man sell his land the lawyer his Iustinian the Phisition his Gallen the souldier his sword the Merchant his wares and the world his peace Vsury is an auntient mischiefe and cause of much ciuill discord A litle lewdly come by is the losse of a great deale well gotten Vsurie is like a vvhirle-poole that swalloweth what soeuer it catcheth Crateus He that with his gold be gets gold becomes a slaue to his gold Inordinate desire of vvealth is the spring of vsurie and vsurie subuerteth credite good name and all other vertues Couetousnes seeketh out vsurie and vsurie nourisheth couetousnes An vsurer can learne no truth because hee loatheth the truth Vsurie taketh away the tytle of gentry because it delighteth in ignobility Vsury oftentimes deceiues the belly altogether liues carelesse of the soules safety As the greedy Rauens seeke after carren for their food so doth the couetous vsurer hunt after coyne to fill his coffers Philo. Plutarch sayth that no kinde of people in the world are so notorious lyuers nor vse so much to falsifie theyr fayth in all practises as vsurers Appian in his first booke of ciuill wars writeth that by an auncient Law at Rome vsurie was forbidden vpon very great paine As he which is stung vvith an Aspe dyeth sleeping so sweetly doth hee consume himselfe which hath borrowed vpon vsury A vsurer is more dangerous then a theefe Cato Vsury is most hated of those whom she doth most pleasure Vsury maketh those that were free-borne bondslaues Publius Vsury is the manifest signe of extreame impudencie Chrysost. To be a vsurer is to be a manslayer Cato Vsurers were not suffered to enter the temple of sparing and well ordered expence Asellius was slayne for making a law against vsurers Appian By vsury money is brought forth before it be gotten Vsurie is the daughter of auarice and ambition turpia lucra faenoris et velox inopes vsura trucidat Nō sunt facienda mala vtinde eueniant bona Of Deceit Defi. Deceit or
Empedocles because he could not learne the cause of the burning Aetna leapt into it Aristotle for that hee could not giue the reason for Euripus flowing drovvned himselfe As he which without licence breaketh a prison procureth his owne death so in the world to come shall hee be perpetually punished which contraâ—y to the will of God will set the soule at liberty Plato Vincitur haud gratis iugulo qui prouocat hostem Qui nil potest sperare desperet nihil Of Deuils Defi. Deuils are our temptours to sinne blasphemie and all other euills they that standing in feare of God take pleasure in that which displeaseth him THe deuill labours to deceaue men and greatly enuies that any should be saued The deuill was the first author of lying the first beginner of all subtile deceites and the cheefe delighter in all sinne and wickednes Philo. Diuers spirits were wont to deceaue people eyther by misleading them in theyr iourneyes or murdering them in theyr sleepes Psellus The more the deuills increase in theyr boldnes the more increaseth theyr punishment The deuils not able to oppresse GOD in himselfe assault him in his members Aug. The deuill intangleth youth with beautie the Vsurer with golde the ambitious vvith smooth lookes the learned by false doctrine The deuills oft-times spake truth in Oracles to the intent they might shadowe theyr falseshoods the more cunningly Lactan. The deuill vvith false miracles beguileth the world The deuills as being immortall spirits and exercised in much knowledge seeme to worke many thinges which in truth are no miracles but meere works of nature All the great power of deuills proceedeth from the iust indignation of God vvho by such whyps chastiseth the wicked and exerciseth the good The deuils haue diuers effects the one troubleth the spirit the other molesteth the body some insinuate steale into our harts where depraued desires are ingendered or els into our vnderstanding to hinder the vse and office of reason The power of God and not the deuill is to be feared Greg. The inuisible enemy is ouer-come by faith The deuils haue will to hurt but they want power Augustine The deuill is ouer-come by humilitie The deuill is strong against those that entertaine him but weake against those that resist him Aug. From euill spirits proceedeth Art-magick whereby the slauish practisers of that damnable Art by many false miracles deceiue the simple and confound themselues God many times suffereth the deuill to tempt the godly that by temptation theyr fayth might be tryed He that giueth his word to the deuill breaketh his bond with God Luther The deuill temptation and sinne vvere the occasions of mans fall He that makes a God of the world and vanitie is a deuill in the fight of heauen wisedome The harts of the rebrobate containe as many deuils as vnchast thoughts Greg. The deuill is to some a Lyon to some an Ant. Gregory The deuill ceaseth to tempt them whom he hath already wonne The worlde the flesh and the deuill are three powerfull enemies to prouoke men to wickednesse The deuill is the Father of lies the chiefe author of all deceit The deuil tempteth the righteous one way and the wicked another way Greg. The deuill presents before vs many vaine delights to the intent hee might the better keepe our minds from godly meditation VVhat sinne soeuer hath beene by man at any time committed was first by the deuill inuented The deuill first accuseth vs of our euill words next of our euill works lastly of our euill thoughts Greg. Vt cum princeps vult hospitari in aliquo domo praemittit nuncium et vbi ille recipitur ibi descendit Dominus sic diabolus praemittit malas cogitationes vt ei preparent hospitium vt vbi recipiuntur illuc declinat Christus Leo dicitur propter fortitudinem Agnus propter innocentiam Leo quod inuictus Agnus quia mansuâ—tus Ipse Agnus occisus vicit Leonem qui circuit quaerens quem deuoret diabolus leo dictus feritate non virtute Of Hell Defi. Hell is in all things contrary to heauen it is a place of torment misery and desolation where the wicked shall endure the endlesse iudgement of paine for their offences ZEno the stoick taught that the places of the reprobate were seperate from the righteous the one beeing pleasant delectable the other darksome and damnable Hell is the hold of horror distresse and misery the Cell of torment griefe and vexation The losse of heauen is to the damned more grieuous then the torments of hell Chriso Hell is the land of darknes Greg. In hell all torments are not alike Aug. VVoe be to him that by experience knoweth there is a hell Chrisost. Hell is in the center of the earth remote from all comforts replenished with endlesse horror where desolation raigneth no redemption may be expected Hel is the place of punishment which God hath reserued for the reprobates In hell is no order but a heape and Chaos of confusion The wretches in hell haue an end without end a death without death a defect without defect for theyr death liueth continuallie the end beginneth alwayes the defect can neuer faile Eternall death is the reward of sinne the plague of sinne hell and damnation Hell is euery where where heauen is not The torture of a bad conscience is the hell of a lyuing soule Caluine Good men haue theyr hell in thys worlde that they may knowe there is a heauen after death to reward the vertuous and vvicked men escape torments in this worlde because they shal finde there is a iudgement to come wherein the wicked shall haue punishment according to the number of theyr offences Lactan. They that beleeue in Christ haue alreadie ouer-come sinne and hell To them that are enamored of the worlde the remembrance of hell is bitter The image of our sinnes represent vnto vs the picture of hell Hell like death is most incertaine a place of punishment most assured Hell that is knowne no where is euerie where and though now neuer so priuate yet in the end it will be most publique Hell is compared to the Laborinth vvhich Dedalus made whose entrance is easie but beeing once in it is not possible to rerurne If thy minde bee not mooued with the fire of heauen take heede least thy soule feele the flames of hell Infernus lacâ—s est sine mensura profunditas sine fundo plenus ardoris incomparabilis plenus faetoris intolerabilis ibi miseriae ibi tenebrae ibi horror aeternus ibi nulla spes boni nulla desperatio mali Noctes atque dies patet atri ianua Ditis FINIS A Table of all the principall matters contayned in the former Treatise A. A Boundance 2. vide riches Absence 124 62 Abstinence vide Temperance Acts 125 94 Actions 4 6 42 91 103 113 182 228. Action 48 92. Accusation 153 Admonition 17 41. 64. Admiration 52 48 168 Aduise vide Counsell Aduersity 6 114 vide
offence and from the iust hee takes away the occasions of his sinne Epirus King of Arcadia for breaking vp of Neptunes Temple was strooken blind Mardorus spoyling Circes temple was strooken mad with all his souldiers Alexanders souldiours seeking to spoile the Temple of the same Goddesse vvere slayne with lightning The Sibarites desirous to know frō Apollo howe long their prosperity should last were aunswered that so soone as they beganne to prefer men before God theyr state should be destroied Brennus the captaine of the French entring the Temple of Apollo and spoiling it was strooken with madnes and slew himselfe Scipios souldiers that robbed the Temple at Tolossa dyed all myserably As it is impossible with one the same eye to behold heauen and earth so it is as impossible with one disordinate wil to loue God the world Like as God surmounteth all other creatures so the remembrance of him surmounteth all other imaginations God is hie if thou lift thy selfe vp vnto him he flieth from thee but if thou humblest thy selfe vnto him he commeth downe to thee Gods doctrine is the rule of prudence his mercy the worke of iustice and his death the standard of patience Bernard The Resurrection of Christ to the deade is lyfe to the Saints glory to sinners mercie Simonides the more hee studied to knowe what God was the harder still it seemed vnto him If God helpe hee is mercifull if not vvee must not thinke hym vniust Diuinitie cannot be defined The operation of God is threefold creation formation consumation God is eternitie and therefore not founde but of such as continually seeke him God although he be omnipotent could neuer make a creature equall to himselfe The Lorde of hosts is called God the Father the Sonne is the image of the Father The Father the Sonne knowne the goodnesse of them both which is the holy Ghost is made manifest Augustine Iupiter est quodcunque vides quocunque moueris Quae Deus occulta esse voluit non sunt scrutanda quae autem manifesta fecit non sunt neganda né et in illis illicité curiosi et in istis damnabiliter inueniamur ingrati Of Heauen Defi. Heauen is generally taken for that part of the world which is ouer our heads a place full of diuine residence and that Land where the faithfull after this lyfe expect their portion and inhearitance HEauen is the seate of GOD and the Earth is his foote-stoole Heauen is the seate of glory the habitation of Angels the resting place of the faythfull fayre beyond thought and glorious beyond report VVe deeme it hard to knowe the things on earth and finde the obiects of our eyes wyth toyle but who can search the secrets of the heauens Heauen is neither infinite in forme nor figure but one in nature Heauen as it had his creation of nothing so it shal be dissolued to nothing The disposition and places of the Heauens are not of power to expresse our good or bad fortunes No man knoweth the property of the fixed starres neyther their natures therefore no man can iudicially speake of their effects Neither hath the eare of man heard the eye seene nor the tongue able to expresse vvhat ioyes the Elect possesse in heauen As Hell is the place of all horror so Heauen is the Hauen of all rest Heauen is the habitation of the Elect the throne of the Iudge the receit of the saued the seat of the Lambe the fulnesse of delight the inhearitance of the iust and the reward of the faythfull From Heauen our soules receiue their sustenance diuine Heauen is the church of the Elect the soule of the iust field of the faithfull Hee is most myserable that is denyed to see the Sunne shine and hee is most accursed to whom God denyeth his heauenly fauours It is hard to liue well easie to die ill hard to obtaine Heauen easie to keepe from thence None knoweth better how great is the losse of Heauen then they that are iudged to lyue continually in Hel. A good lyfe begetteh a good death and a good death a glorious inhearitance in heauen The way to heauen is narrower thē the way to hell In gloria caelesti mira serenitas plena securitas aeterna felicitas Esque Dei sedes nisi terra et pontus et aer Et coelū et virtus superos quid querimus vltra Of Angels Defi. Angels are indeede nothing els but the diuine messengers of the will of God for so much the word signifieth ANgels at all tymes and in all places behold the face of our heauenly Father Selfe-loue the ruine of the Angels is the confusion of men Angels are carefull of mens actions protectors of their persons lightners of their soules and conductors in theyr iourneyes Angels were created of God immortall innocent beautifull good free and subtile of the essence of God hymselfe Angels haue theyr habitation in Heauen theyr eyes fixed on the maiestie of GOD theyr tongues formed to his prayses and themselues onely in him The Angels exceed not in desire desire not because they want not vvant not in beholding theyr Creator Ambr. Angels intende two thinges the first is the glory and seruice of God the second is the health and saluation of hys Chyldren Angels are the comforters instructers and reformers of men Angels are Tutors of the Saints Herralds of Heauen and Gardiants of our bodyes and soules The Angels haue charge to conduct men wisedome to instruct men and grace to preserue men Angels vvere the first creatures that euer God made Angels wheresoeuer they are sent doe alwayes behold the face of God There are nine orders of Angels Angels Archangels Vertues Powers Principalities Dominations Thrones Cherubins Seraphins Tho. Aqui. Angels vvere of the light created with the light ordayned to serue God who is the Lord of light Angels Sunne Moone starres and other celestiall motions confirme and approoue a superior Dietie The diuine nature of Angels suffereth neyther change nor end for they are immutable and diuine All the world is the Temple of God and all Angels his ministers Euery true Minister is a true Angell and their tongues bear the embassage of the most high God The loue of men is written on the bosoms of Angels Angeli sic foris exeunt vt internis contemplationis gaudijs non priuentur Apostatae Angelo similis efficitur homo qui hominibus esse similis dedignatur Of Vertue Defi. Vertue is a disposition and power of the reasonable part of the soule which bringeth into order decencie the vnreasonable part by causing it to propound a conuenient end to it owne affections and passions whereby the soule abideth in a comly and decent habit executing that which ought to be done according to reason briefely it is a proportion and vprightnesse of lyfe in all poynts agreeable to reason HE that desireth to be called vertuous it is first requisite that he be good therfore in the account of reputation it is
of a iust man to haue his soule free from perturbations Heroicall vertues are made perfit by the mixture of temperance and fortitude which seperated becomes vicious A temperate man which is not couragious quickly becometh a coward faint harted Temperance is the mother of all dutie and honestie It is the propertie of iustice not to violate the right of any man and of temperance not so much as to offend him In temperance a man may beholde modestie without any perturbation of the soule Temperance compelleth men to follow reson bringeth peace to the minde and mollifieth the affections with concord and agreemeth He is woorthy to be called a moderate person which firmely gouerneth and brideleth through reason the vice of sensualitie and all other grosse affections of the mind Nihil reperiri potest tam eximium quam istam virtutem moderatricem animi temperantiam nō latere in tenebris neque esse abditam sed in luce Cic. Non potest temperantiam laudare is qui ponit summum bonum in voluptate est enim temperantia libidinum inimica Of Innocencie Defi. Innocencie is an affection of the minde so well framed that it will hurt no man eyther by word or deede a tower of brasse against slaunders and the onely balme or cure for a wounded name strengthening the conscience which by it knoweth his owne puritie THere can bee no greater good then innocencie nor worse euill then a guilty conscience The innocent man is happy though hee be in Phallaris Bull. Great callings are little worth if the minde be not content and innocent The hart pricked with desire of wrong maketh sick the innocencie of the soule Riches and glory are broken pillers but innocencie is an vnmouing colomb Innocencie and Prudence are two anchors that cannot be torne vp by any tempest Innocencie to God is the chiefest incense and a conscience without guile is a sacrifice of the sweetest sauour Aug. As God wil not suffer a murderer to escape without punishment so will hee not let the wrong of the innocent goe to the graue with out reuenge Innocencie beeing stopped of the malignant taketh breath and hart againe to the ouerthrow of her enemies Cic. As fire is extinguished by water so innocencie doth quench reproch Of all treasures in a common-wealth the innocent man is most to be esteemed Archias was stoned to death for murdering innocent Archilocus Hasdruball for killing without cause an innocent was killed of his seruaunt Innocencie is in some sort the effect of regeneration Innocencie is an vprightnes of lyfe agreeing with reason Religion is the soule of innocencie mouing in an vnspotted conscience Innocencie is built vpon diuine reason Humane happines consisteth in innocencie of the soule and vncorrupt manners All innocencie consisteth in mediocritie as all vice doth in excesse Innocencie is a good which cannot bee taken away by torment Mar. Aur. Innocencie is the most profitable thing in the worlde because it maketh all things else profitable Innocencie Palme-like groweth in despight of oppression Beauty is a flower soone withered health is soone altered strength by inconuenience abated but innocencie is diuine immortall Innocencie is an assured comfort both in lyfe and death As length of tyme diminisheth all things so innocencie and vertue increaseth all things The fear of death neuer troubleth the mind of an innocent man Age breedes no defect in innocencie but innocencie an excellence in age Innocencie makes kingdomes florish more then armes Innocency being most honest must of necessity be most profitable and therefore most desired Nature reason and vse are three necessary things to obtaine innocencie by Vt nepenthes herba addita poculis omnem conuiuij tristitiam discutit it a bona mens insita nobis omnem vitae solicitudinem abolet A calumnia non defendit innocentia Of Kings Defi. Kings are the supreame Gouernours and Rulers ouer states Monarchies placed by the hand of God to figure to the world his almightie power if they be vertuous they are the blessings of their realmes if vicious the scourges allotted for theyr subiects iniquities THe maiestie of a Prince is like the lightning from the East and the threats of a King like the noyse of thunder Kings haue long armes and Rulers large reaches A Prince ought onely to will that vvhich lawfully hee may The life of a Prince is the rule the square the frame and forme of an honest life according to the which theyr subiects frame the manner of theyr lyues and order theyr families and rather from the liues of princes doe subiects take theyr patterne and examples then from theyr lawes Subiects follow the example of theyr Princes as certaine flowers turne according to the sunne Princes are neuer without flatterers to seduce them ambition to depraue them desires to corrupt them Plato It belongs to him that gouerneth to bee learned the better to know what he dooth wise to find out how he ought to doe it discreet to attend and take the opportunitie resolute in the action of iustice without corruption or feare of any It is vnprofitable for that prince to haue the victory of the war which by malice is begun and by pride and fiercenesse is pursued It is necessary for Princes to be stout also rich that by their stoutnes they may gather theyr owne and by their riches represse their enemies It is better for a Prince to defend his owne Country by iustice then to conquer anothers by tyrannie That Prince who is too liberal in giuing his owne is afterwards thorowe necessitie compelled to be a Tyrant and to take frō others theyr right As Princes become Tyrants for want of riches so they become vicious through abundance of treasure Plut. VVhen an vnwoorthy man is preferred to promotion he is preferred to his own shame The Prince that is feared of many must of necessity feare many The vniuersall schoole of all this worlde is the person the house and Court of a King Couragious noble Princes esteeme nothing so precious as to haue men valiant to defend their frontires also wise to gouerne their Common-weales Princes must not measure things by report but by the way of conscience Socrates It behoueth a Prince or Ruler to be of such zealous and godly courage that hee alwayes shewe himselfe to bee as a strong wall for the defence of the truth The princes pallace is like a common fountayne or spring to hys Cittie or Countrey whereby the common people by the cleanenesse there of bee long preserued in honestie or by the impurenesse thereof are with sundry vices corrupted A King ruleth as he ought a Tyrant as hee list a King to the profit of all a Tyrant onely to pleasure a few Arist. There neuer was any Prince in the world so wise in all his actions but necessity hath cōstrained him at one time or other to alter his minde from his first determinate purpose A King ought to refraine the companie of vicious persons
behooueth that the Generall be alvvayes lodged in the midst of his Campe. A Generall or Captaine in danger ought to change his habite or attire Ferdinando The death of a Generall or his beeing in danger must be dissembled for â—eare it procure the losse of the battaile A good General should euer be like a good shepheard looking into the wants of his souldiours and prouiding all things necessary to comfort them Basil. Valour in a Generall must not spring from custome and experience of warres but from his first creation insuing infancie for such was Themistocles who at his Nurses breastes gaue signes of honours sparks Let a Generall giue honour to a renowned buriall in how meane a person so euer it dyd inhabite for honour after death encourageth as much as wealth in lyfe Let not a Generall bee mercinarie to his country but warre for honor not for coyne so did Timotheus whose riches was onelie the repetition of his deedes past so did Themistocles whose pay was vndeserued banishment and so did Pausaniâ—s whose gracious conquests were clothed with scorne and dysgrace A Generall shoulde not bee vnexperienced in Mechanicall trades both for society exercise for so was Laertes in planting graffing Vlisses in building of shyps and Achilles in cookerie which himselfe often practised at the entertayning of the Grecian Embassadors and other his companions If thou best a Commaunder in Armes despise not the poorest for honours birth istueth from the wombe of desert The whole scope of a Generalls thoughts should be to win glory amplifie renowne loathing to be a plague or scourge of affliction seeking by conquest to erect not by victory to confound Caesar. The Trophie of a Generall is his own conscience his valour is his tombes treasury Commaunders in Armes should not bee chosen for theyr age or riches but for theyr wisedome and valour A Generall or chiefe Gouernour must bee wise to commaund liberall to rewarde valiant to defend Hee must be learned in the liberall Arts in Geography for the Countrey in Arithmetike to place his Armie in Geometrie for his leuels in Astronomie for euents There are eyght conditions that a Generall ought to haue to auoide vniust wrongs to correct blasphemers to succour innocents to chastise quarrellers to pay his souldiours to defend his people to prouide thinges necessarie and to obserue â—ayth with enemies Ducis in consilio posita est virtus militum Optimus ille dux qui nouit vincere et victoria vti Of Policie Defi. Policie is a word deriued of the Greeke word Politeia which is the regiment of a cittie or Common-wealth and that which the Grecians call politicall gouernment the Latines call the gouernment of a CoÌ„mon wealth or of a ciuill societie This word Policie hath beene taken amongst the auncients somtimes for a Burgesie which is the enioying of the rights and priuiledges of a Towne somtimes for the order and manner of life vsed by some politicall person and sometimes the order and estate whereby one or many Townes are gouerned and pollitique affaires are managed and administred POlicie is a necessary friend to prowesse The warre cannot be prosperous where enemies abound and money waxeth scant No man ought to giue that treasure to anie one in particuler which is kept from the preseruation of all It is greater commendation to obtaine honour by policie and wisedome then to haue it by discent That country may aboue all other be counted happy vvhere euery man enioyeth hys owne labour and no man liueth by the sweat of another body Polion Of right that Common wealth ought to be destroyed which once of all other hath been counted the flower of vertue and after becommeth the filthy sinck of vice There can be no greater danger to a Common wealth nor no like slaunder to a prince as to commit the charge of men to him in the fielde which will bee first ready to commaund and last ready to fight There are many that see the beginning of troubles and miseries which arise in realmes but there are fewe that consider the end and seeke to remedy the same VVhat power policie cannot compasse gold both commaunds conquers Aristi Hee that getteth by conquest doth much but he that can well keepe what he hath gotten doth more The meanest Sparrow hath his neb the Lions whelpe his clawe the weakest thorne hys prickle and the poorest man his policie Money and souldiours are the strength and sinnewes of the warre Agesil It is better to preuent an inconuenience by breaking an oath then to suffer iniurie by obseruing promise VVarlike feares are better learned in the bloody fields of Affrick then in the beautiful schooles of Greece It is better to haue men vvanting money then money wanting men If the expence of a Common weale bee not moderate afterward it shall not faile to want wherewith to withstand the enemie The authoritie of a Common wealth is impaired when the buildings be ruinated In proofe of conquest men ought to profit themselues as much by policy as by power There are no Common-weales more loose then those where the common people haue most libertie Cic. A policie is soone destroyed by the pryde men haue in commaunding and libertie in sinning In Common-weales such shoulde be most honoured vvho in time of peace maintaine the state in tranquilitie in the furie of war defend it by their valour and magnanimitie Kingdoms well gouerned of necessity haue vertuous successions A Monarke is best in a well gouerned state A certaine man vrging the popular estate to Licurgus was thus aunswered by him first ordaine thou such a gouernment in thyne owne Common-weale Because many cannot â—itly gouerne therefore it is most necessary that one should bee made soueraigne Homer The Oracle of Apollo at Delphos being demaunded the reason why Iupiter shoulde bee the chiefe of the Gods sith Mars vvas the best souldiour made thys aunswere Mars is valâ—ant but Iupiter is wise Concluding by thys aunswere that policy is more of force to subdue then valour One Nestor is more to be esteemed theÌ„ ten such as Aiax Strength wanting wit and policie to rule ouerthroweth it selfe Horace Publica res ad priuatuÌ„ comodum trahi potest dummodo status publicus non laedatur Cic. Diu apparanduÌ„ est belluÌ„ vt vincas caelerius Of Courage Defi. Courage is a fierie humor of the spirits kindling the minde with forwardnesse in attempts and bearing the bodie through dangers and the most hardest aduentures COurage and curtesie are the two principall poynts which adorne a Captaine Courage consisteth not in hazarding without feare but in being resolutely minded in a iust cause The talke of a souldiour ought to hang at the poynt of his sword The vvant of courage in Commaunders breeds neglect and contempt among souldiours Faint-harted cowards are neuer permitted to put in plea at the barre of loue Courage conquers his enemy before the field be fought Fortitude is a knowledge instructing a man
for pouertie sith no man lyueth so basely as he was borne Salust It is giuen onely to a wise man to bee content in pouerty Suffer that with patience which thou canst not auoyde be not displeased at thy poore estate The beggars crutch serueth him both to leane vpon and to fight withall Patiently should that bee borne vvhich no strength can ouer-come nor counsell auoid whether it be pouerty to pinch the body or aduersity to crosse the minde It is better to suffer necessitie then to borrow of him whom a man may not trust Pouerty possessed in safetie is better then great riches enioyed with much feare VVhen a man is plagued with pouerty and sicknesse both ioyned together without any succour or easement then riseth in him an intollerable griefe a fire not able to be quenched a sorrow without remedy a tempest full of wracks Pouerty is a vertue of it selfe Diog. Hee liueth in most wretched estate of beggery that is not indued vvith any good qualitie Si ad naturam viuas nunquam eris paâ—per si ad opinionem nunquam eris diues exiguum natur a desiderat opinio immensum Seneca O vitae tâ—ta facultas Paâ—peris angustiquelares ô munera nondum Intellect a Deum Of Banishment Defi. Banishment is a putting away or driuing out of any man eyther from the place where he ought and should inhabite or from thence where he tooke delight desired to dwell FOr sinne was man thrust into the world therfore his life in it is banishment No banishment is sweete but the banishment of a righteous soule from the prison of a world wearied body Stebeus Banishment is there where is no place for vertue Cic. The banished man without a house to dwell in is like a dead body without a graue to rest in It is better for a man to bee banished his country with wise men then to liue there still amongst fooles He that denieth himselfe to his Country is in banishment already VVheresoeuer a man liues well there is his Country Cic. In exile calamity wee know friends from aduersaries A chast eye exileth licentious lookes To exile a true friend is to loose a persit soule To banish hope is to call home dispaire Good fortune attends not euerie great estate nor euill chance euery exild person To stuffe thy coffers with coyne is to commit thine honour to exile True happines is neuer had till after death nor exile welcome but in death There was neuer foule loue nor faire prison welcome death nor desired banishment It is a needlesse question to aske a sick man if he be willing to haue his health or an exile if he would be called from banishment There is nothing better then a contented minde nor any thing worse then the name of a fugitiue There is more sorrowe in loosing a mans owne Countrey then in conquering a world of other nations Death banishment come soone enough if slow enough In time custome becomes a second nature and long banishment breedes loath in delightfulnes The ayre is neuer vvithout some vvind or some clowde nor a banished man vvithout some crosse or trouble Sweet is rest after long pilgrimage great is the comfort a banished man takes at the tidings of his repealement It is the nature of man to loue those things deerest which are banisht farthest from him Hee that in the morning is proude of his possessions may happen ere night to be banished from his pleasures Seneca Beauty and youth once banished neuer repeale The comfort of fugitiues is that there bee many fugitiues Care followeth a fugitiue person euen as a shadow followes the body Exilium terribile est ijs quibus quasi conscriptus est habitandi locus non ijs qui omnem orbem terrarâ—â— vnam vrbem esse dicunt Cic. Priuari patria magnum malum est sed maius ve quam sermone Of absence and presence Defi. Absence is the departing or losse of a friend or anie other obiect wherein wee take delight and presence is the continuall companie of the partie with whom wee desire to be most conuersant THe presence of the minde is to be preferred before the presence of the body VVee neuer know how profitable the presence of a friend is vntill vvee haue felt the want of his absence for a time Absence in loue makes true loue more firme and constant The absence of friendes is the presence of griefes As contraries are knowne by contraries so the delight of presence is knowne by the hell of absence Man seperate from money is like a soule seperated from a body The griefe of vnwished absence is vvorse then the wound of a stubborne launce The diuorce of sorrow is slow-footed and lasie A teadious presence decayes loue a long absence forgets true familiarity The absence of couetousnes is the prosperitie of present estates Trauaile not to gaine absence for society is the strength to happines Absence puts off happines and time alters resolutions VVhen thought absents it selfe from truth the soule presents her selfe to sinne Demost. The euills got by absence wisedome recureth Take heede of speaking ill of the absent The solitary man is either a God or a beast Much absence is a signe of small loue Life and faith once absented neuer returne The fayrest presence is but a dunghill couered ouer with white and purple VVhilst the presence of power by pleasures gets acquaintance vertue is vnknowne and liues in absence Infamy is neuer absent from arrogancy Men gaine theyr desires by trauaile sustain them by thought and are absent from them by anoyance Aristip. The presence of one day blameth the absence of another but the last shall giue iudgement of all that is past Absence from euill cleeres vp of euill The absence of punishment is no pardon for transgressions Absence is death death is rest absent death is deaths rest Non vna eademque molestia est rerum praesentium et absentium Euripides Distantia locinon seperat amicitiam sed operationem Aristotle Of Acts. Defi. Acts are the monumentall deedes of our liues and our actions are the Ensignes by which are knowne the perfectnes of our good or euill lyuing ALl the praise of inward vertue consisteth in outward action An action without reason a reason without an action are both alike imperfit Action is the ready entrance into contemplation A silent deede is better then an vnperformed word Crates Neyther can good words colour a bad action nor badde vvordes depraue from a good action Shape beautifies an image good actions commends a man Actions are by so much more manifest then words by how much the eyes are surer witnesses then the eares It is an argument of too much weakenesse to remember what should haue been doone Action is the life of contemplation and the tongue of conceit In action a man doth not onely benefit him selfe but profit others S. P. S. God would neuer haue deliuered a soule into the body which hath
increaseth and preserueth it selfe by a naturall facultie NAture in despight of Tyme will frowne at abuse Nature hath a certaine predominant power ouer the minde of man The man that lyueth obedient to nature can neuer hurt himselfe thereby Actions wrought against nature reape despight and thoughts aboue nature disdaine As Art is a helpe to nature so is experience the triall and perfection of Art As nature hath gâ—uen beautie and vertue giuen courage so nature yeeldeth death and vertue yeeldeth honour It is an old plague in mans nature that many men for the most part leaue the amendement of theyr liues farre behind them to sette theyr honors the more before them Nature is aboue Art in the ignorant and vertue aboue all thinges is esteemed of the vvise It is hard to straighten that by Art which is made crooked by nature Perian Nature is pleased in the eye reason in the minde but vertue in them both Consider what nature requires not howmuch affection desires That which is bredde in the bone vvill neuer out of the flesh and vvhat nature hath made Art cannot cure Nature guideth beastes but reason ruleth the harts of men VVhere in one man doe meete incertaintie of affection and malice of nature there is no other hope in him then distrust periurie words and reuenge Such as lyue according to nature are neuer poore and according to the opinion of men they are neuer rich because nature contenteth herselfe opinion doth infinitly couet Phillip King Alexanders Father falling vpon the sands and seeing there the marke print of his body sayd how little a plot of ground is nature content with and yet we couet the whole world The God vvhich is God of nature dooth neuer teach vnnaturalnesse S. P. S. Nature is higher prised then wealth and the loue of our Parents ought to be more precious then dignitie Fyre cannot be hid in the straw nor the nature of man so concealed but at the last it wil haue his course In nature nothing is superfluous Arist. Cineus the Phylosopher was of thys opinion that when the Gods framed Nature they went beyond theyr skill in that quoth hee the maker was subiect to the thing made VVhere nature is vicious by learning it is amended and where it is vertuous by skyll it is augmented There is no greater bonde then duty nor straighter Lawe then nature and where nature inforceth obedience there to resist is to striue against God Better is seueritie in nature then contempt in nature Liberall Sciences are most meet for liberall men and good Arts for good natures Nature without learning and good bringing vp is a blinde guide learning without nature wanteth much and vse vvithout the two former is vnperfit Nature beeing alwayes in a perpetuall motion desireth to be driuen to the better part or else shee suffereth herselfe to bee wayghed downe as a ballance to the worser Nature is our best guide whom if we folow we shall neuer goe astray Arist. Nature friendly sheweth vs by many signes what shee would what she seeketh and what she desireth but man by some strange mean waxeth deafe and will not heare what shee gently counsaileth Nature is a certaine strength and power put into things created by God who gyueth to each thing that which belongeth vnto it To striue against nature is lyke the monstrous broode of the earth to make warre against the Gods in heauen Quod satiare potest diues natura ministrat Quod docet infraenis gloria fine caret Hoc generi hominum natura datum vt qua infamilia laus aliqua forté floruerit hanc feré qui sunt eius stirpis quod sermo hominum ad memoriam patrum virtute celebretur cupidissimé persequantur Of Lyfe Defi. Life which we commonly call the breath of this worlde is a perpetuall battaile and a sharpe skirmish wherein wee are one while hurt with enuie another while with ambition and by and by with some other vice besides the suddaine onsets giuen vppon our bodies by a thousand sorts of diseases and floods of aduersities vpon our spirits LIfe is a pilgrimage a shadowe of ioy a glasse of infirmitie and the perfect path-way to death All mortall men suffer corruption in theyr soules through vice and in theyr bodyes through wormes Mans life is more brittle then glasse It is a miserable life where friendes are feared and enemies nothing mistrusted VVhose death men doe wish his lyfe they alwayes hate It is better not to lyue then not to knowe how to lyue Salust It is hard for a man to liue vvell but verie easie to die ill In lyfe there is time left to speake of the incombrances of fancie but after death no possible meanes to redresse endlesse calamitie If a good man desire to lyue it is for the great desire he hath to doe good but if the euill desire to lyue it is for that they woulde abuse the world longer The chyldren of vanitie call no time good but that wherein they liue according to their owne desire doe nothing but follow theyr owne filthie lusts Mans lyfe is like lyghtning which is but a flash and the longest date of yeeres is but a bauens blaze Men can neither inlarge their lyues as they desire nor shunne that death which they abhorre Menan A detestable life remoueth all merrit of honourable buriall It is better to lyue in meane degree then in high disdaine By lyfe grovveth continuance and by death all things take end Life and death are in the power of the tong The man that desireth life feareth death ought carefully to gouerne his tongue Life is short yet sweet Euripides Life to a wretched man is long but to him that is happy very short Menander Mans life is a warfare Seneca The mortall life which we inioy is the hope of life immortall Aug. An vndefiled life is the reward of age Aug. No man is so old but thinketh he may yet liue an other yeare Hierom. The breath that maintaineth life endeth it A good lyfe is the readiest vvay to a good name Aurel. Better it is to be carefull to liue vvell then desirous to liue long A long lyfe hath commonly long cares annexed with it Most men in these dayes wil haue precepts to be ruled by theyr lyfe and not theyr lyfe to be gouernd by precepts Mans life ought to be lyke vnto an image that hath euery part persit in it Our lyfe ought not to depend vppon one onely hope no more then a shyppe is to be stayed with one anker Fooles vvhen they hate theyr life will yet desire to liue for the feare vvhich they haue of death Crates Mans life is lent him for a time and he that gaue it may iustly demaund it when he will They liue very ill vvho alwayes thinke to liue To a man in misery lyfe seemeth too long but to a worldly minded man liuing at pleasure life seemeth too short Chilo VVhat a shame is it for men
Saint Augustine reproueth Varro Pontifex Scaeuola vvho were of opinion that it vvas very expedient men shoulde bee deceiued in Religion because that there is no felicitie or certaine rest but in the ful assurance thereof and in an infallible truth without diuinitie and the doctrine of GOD none can take any principle at all in the discipline of manners Polybius vvriteth that nothing so much aduaunced the Romaines as theyr Religion albeit it were not pure The VVorde is a medicine to a troubled spirit but being falsely taught it prooueth a poyson Bern. Religion is like a square or ballance it is the canon and rule to liue well by and the very touch-stone vvhich discerneth truth from falshood The auncient Fathers haue gyuen three principall markes by which the true Religion is known first that it serueth the true God secondly that it serueth him according to his VVord thirdly that it reconcileth that man vnto him which followeth it The true worshyppe of God consisteth in spyrit and truth Chrisost. VVhere religion is Armes may easily bee brought but where Armes are without religion religion may hardly be brought in There can bee no surer signe of the ruine of a kingdome then contempt of religion There can bee no true Religion vvhere the word of God is wanting Those men are truly religious which refuse the vain transitory pleasures of the world and wholy sette theyr mindes on diuine meditations Hee which is negligent and ignorant in the seruice of his Creator can neuer be careful in any good cause Religion doth linke and vnite vs together to serue with willingnes one God almighty It is the guide of all other vertues and they who doe not exercise themselues therein to withstand all false opinions are like those souldiers which goe to warre vvithout weapons The Romaines allowed the seruice of all Gods and to that end builded a Temple to all Gods called Pantheon yet woulde they neuer receiue the true God to wit Iehouah the Lord God of the Hebrues The principall seruice of God consisteth in true obedience which the prophets call a spirituall chastitie not to swarue there-from nor to thinke that whatsoeuer wee find good in our owne eyes pleaseth him The knowledge of true religion humilitie and patience entertaineth concord August If men dyd knowe the truth and the happinesse which followeth true religion the voluptuous man woulde there seeke his pleasures the couetous man his wealth the ambitious man his glory sith it is the onely meane which can fill the hart and satisfie theyr desire it serueth vs also for a guide to leade vnto God whereas the contrary dooth cleane with-hold vs from him No creature is capable of religion but onelie man Basil. The first precept that Socrates gaue to the Prince Demonicus was Tima ton Theon feare God The first law that should bee giuen to men should be the increase of religion and pietie The chiefest oath that the Athenians tooke was this In defending religion both alone with others will I fight against my foes The auncient Romaines through the instinct of Nature dyd so reuerently thinke of Religion that the most noble men of Rome sent theyr sonnes into Hetrurio to learne the manner of seruing God It is a very hard matter to change religion VVhere no religion resteth there can be no vertue abiding August True Religion is to be learned by fayth not by reason Religion is in truth not in falshood Religion is the stay of the weake the Mayster of the ignorant the phylosophie of the simple the oratory of the deuout the remedie of sinne the counsaile of the iust and the comfort of the troubled Pure religion vndefiled before God the Father is thys to visite the fatherlesse and widdowes in theyr aduersity and for a man to keepe himselfe vnspotted of the world Philosophia pernosci non potest siue Christiana veraque religione quam prelucentem si tollis fateor ecce et clamo ludibrium illa vanitas delirium Oportet principem anté omnia esse deicolam Country or Commonweale Defi. Our Country is the region or clime vnder which we are borne the Common mother of vs all which wee ought to holde so deere that in the defence thereof wee should not feare to hazard our liues THere can bee no affinitie neerer then our Countrey Plate Men are not borne for themselues but for theyr Countrey parents kindred friends Cicero There is nothing more to be desired nor any thing ought to bee more deere to vs then the loue of our Country Children parents friendes are neere to vs but our Country challengeth a greater loue for whose preseruation wee ought to appose our liues to the greatest dangers It is not enough once to haue loued thy Country but to continue it to the end Plut. VVhere soeuer wee may liue well there is our Country The remembrance of our Country is most sweet Liuius To some men there country is their shame and some are the shame of theyr country Let no man boast that he is the Cittizen of a great Citty but that he is worthy of an honourable Country Arist. VVe ought so to behaue ourselues towards our Country vnthankful as to a mother The profit of the country extendeth it selfe to euery Citty of the same Stobaeus Our Country saith Cicero affoordeth large fields for euery one to runne to honor So deere was the loue of his Country to Vlisses the he preferred his natiue soyle Ithaca before immortality Our country first challengeth vs by nature The whole world is a wisemans country Necessity compelleth euery man to loue his country Eurip. The loue which we beare to our country is not pietie as some suppose but charity for there is no pietie but that which we beare to God and our Parents Many loue theyr Countrey not for it selfe but for that which they possesse in it Sweet is that death and honourable which we suffer for our Country Horace If it be asked to whom we are most engaged and owe most duty our Countrey and parents are they that may iustly challenge it The life which we owe to death is made euerlasting beeing lost in the defence of our Countrey Giue that to thy country which she asketh for nature will constraine thee to yeeld it Happy is that death which beeing due to nature is bestowed vpon our Country Happy is that common-wealth where the people doe feare the law as a tyrant Plato A cōmon-wealth consisteth of two things reward and punishment Solon As the body without members so is the common-wealth without lawes Cicero Peace in a common-wealth is like harmony in musick Aug. Men of desert are least esteemed of in their owne Country Erasmus Coriolanus beare vnkinde Armes against his Countrey Plut. Nascia was most woorthily renowned for the defence of his Country Appian Q. Mutius Scaeuola Curtius deserued euerlasting memory for louing their country Nescio qua natale solum dulcedine cunctos Allicit et memores non sinit
moneth into dayes and called them Festos profestos and Intercisos the first dedicated to the gods the next to men for dispatching of theyr busines the last as common for theyr Gods as men A day natural hath twenty foure houres a day artificiall hath twelue houres The day beginneth vvith the Egyptians at sunne-setting and vvith the Persians at the sunne-rising The Athenians count all the time from the setting of the sunne till the setting of the sun againe but one day The Babylonians count their day from the sunne rising in the morning till the sun rising the next day The Vmbrians an auncient people in Italy count theyr day from noonetide till no one-tide next following The vvicked and euill-liuing man loueth darknes and hateth the light One day taketh from vs the credite that another hath giuen vs and the last must make reckoning of all the rest past By daily experience we wax wiser wiser Hee that refuseth to amend his life to day may happen to be dead ere to morrow Aure. Let no day be spent without some remembrance how thou hast bestowed thy time Vespasian thought that day lost vvherein he â—ad not gotten a friend One day the hardy broode Of Fabius sent to fight Thus sent one day Did see them nobly dead ere night The Romans called Iupiter Diespiter which signifieth the father of the day or light Light is some-times taken for day and darknes for night No day commeth to man wherein he hath not some cause of sorrow Quintil. The entrance of adolescencie is the end of infancie mans estate the death of youth and the morrow dayes birth the ouer-throw of this dayes pride Light is the Queene of the eyes Aug. GOD in the beginning made tvvo great lights one for the day another for the night Day is the image of life night of death Aug. The pleasure of the day is the sunne called of the Philosophers the golden eye and hart of heauen The light of learning is the day of the minde Aug. Euery day that passeth is not to be thought as the last but that it may be the last Seneca The sunne melteth wax and hardneth clay Abbreuiare dies poteris producere nunquam Abbreuiare tuum est sed prolong are tonantis Optima quaeque dies miseris mortalibus eui Prima fugit subeunt morbi tistisque senectus Et labor et durae rapit inclementia mortis Night or Darknes Defi. Night is the houres of rest and peace after labours beeing commonly that part of the day naturall in which the sunne is hidden from vs cheering the Antipodes THe longer the night is in comming the more it is desired of the oppressed yet no sooner seene then wisht to be departing Night is the benefit of nature and made for mans rest Liuius Suspition and feare are nights companions This our life is as it were night Aug. Darknes is not euill but in comparison of the light Aug. Euery light hath his shadow and euery shadow of night a succeeding morning The darknes of our vertues and not of our eyes is to be feared Aug. It is not darknes but absence of the light that maketh night Darknes cannot be seene Aug. The breath wee breathe in the morning is often stopt and vanished before night Night followeth day as a shadow followeth a body Arist. Night is more comfortable to the miserable then the day Night is the cloake to couer sinne and the armour of the vniust man Theophr Night which is the nurse of ease is the mother of vnquiet thoughts Night which is all silence heares all the coÌ„plaints of the afflicted The deeded of the night are lothsome to the day neyther hath light to doe with darknes Night is warres enemy yet is it the onely finder out of martiall stratagems A darke night and a deadly resolution begets cause of the dayes lamentation Night vvhich is most foule begets day vvhich is most faire a contrary of a contrarie Night begets rest and rest is the refreshing of tired spirits VVhat euer is ouer-wearied by the dayes exercise is as it vvere nevve borne by the nights rest and quiet Tully Night and sinne hold affinitie and ioyntly ayde each other It is impossible to weare out the day in trauaile if some part of the night be not spent in rest Vt ingulent homines surgunt de nocte latrones vt teipsum serues non expergisceris Horatius Interiores tenebrae caecitas mentis exteriores infernus Of Wickednes Defi. VVickednes is any sinne vice or euil committed or imagined in the whole course of our liues and the meane by which we loose Gods fauour and expose our selues to the danger of hell fire THe prosperity of euill men is the calamitie of the good VVhen wicked men reioyce it is a signe of some tempest approching It is the corruption of the good to keepe company with the euill Reioyce as often as thou art despised of euill men and perswade thy selfe that their euill opinion of thee is most perfit praise Ill men are more hasty then good men be forward in prosecuting their purpose Hee that worketh wickednes by another is guilty of the fact committed himselfe Bias. It is better to destroy the wickednes it selfe then the wicked man Vnexperienced euils doe hurt most The remembrance of euill thinges is to be obserued by the contemplation of good matters Phillip K. of Macedon assembled together the most wicked persons and furthest from correction of all his subiects and put them into a Towne which hee builded of purpose calling it Poneropolis the Citty of vvicked persons Continuance of euill doth in it selfe increase euill S. P S. A wicked life is the death of the soule Chris. VVho can be more vnfortunate then hee which of necessity will needs be euill VVho soeuer hee be that spareth to punish the wicked doth thereby much harme to the good Anachar It is a praise to the godly to be dispraised of the wicked and it is likewise a dispraise to be praised of them Sinne blindeth the eyes of the wicked but punishments open them Greg. The wicked man is daily drawne to punishment and is ignorant therof The minde of an ill disposed person is more vnstable then the superficies of the water VVhen wicked men be in the midst of all theyr iollitie then some misfortune comes knocking at the doore VVhen the euill man vvould seeme to be good then is he worst of all He is euill that doth willingly associate him selfe with wicked men VVicked men are the deuils shadowes Vertue is health but vice is sicknes Plato The wicked man attempteth thinges impossible Arist. The wicked man is euer in feare Plato Hee vvrongeth the good that spareth the wicked A good sentence proceeding from a wicked mans mouth looseth his grace The progeny of the wicked although it be not wholy infected yet it vvill sauour something of the fathers filthines As vertue is a garment of honour so vvickednes is a robe of shame Cursed is
craft is the excesse of prudence it is that which leadeth a man through wilful ignoraunce to oppose hymselfe agaynst that which he knoweth to be dutifull and honest causing him vnder the counterfeite name of prudence â—o seeke to deceiue those that will beleeue him this vice is the cheefest cause of ambition and couetousnes which most men serue in these dayes but aboue all things it is an enemy to iâ—stice and seeketh by all meanes to ouerthrow the true effect therof CRaft most commonly is repayed vvith craft and hee that thinketh to deceiue another is many times deceiued himselfe Tis more wisdome sometimes to dissemble wrongs then to reuenge them The difference betweene craft and wilines is the one is in dexterity of wit naturall the other is gotten by experience A mans looke is the gate of his minde declaring outwardly the inward deceit which the hart contriueth Liuius He that neuer trusteth is neuer deceiued Our negligence makes subtile shyft presume vvhere diligence preuenteth false deceite The serpent hidden in the grasse stingeth the foote a deceitfull man vnder show of honesty oft-times deceiueth the simple There is nothing that sooner deceiueth the minde then hope for vvhilst our thoughts feede on it wee suddainly and assuredly loose it The man most deceitfull is most suspectful It many times falls out that vvhat the hart craftily thinketh the lookes deceitfully betrayeth Leosthenes The deceitfull are like the Camelion apt to all obiects capable of all colours they cloake hate with holines ambition with good gouernment flatterie vvith eloquence but whatsoeuer they pretend is dishonesty Deceits are traps to catch the foolish in VVhen there is a shew of some lyke-lihood of truth in a lye then are vvee soonest deceiued by subtilty Light heads and sharp wits are most apt to deceiue others by false tales It is a poynt of dishonestie in a man to make shew of one thing and to doe another Pope Alexander the sixt neuer did vvhat he sayd his sonne Borgia neuer said what he ment to do pleasing themselues in countersaiting and dissembling to deceaue and falsifie their faith VVhen the Duke of Valentinois had caused certaine Princes to be murthered contrarie to his oath his father the Pope told him that he had plaied a right Spaniards part but they themselues dyed both miserably the one was poysoned and the other slaine The Lawyers call that couin vvhen to deceaue another a man maketh semblance of one thing and yet notwithstanding doth the cleane contrary Fredericke the Emperour desired that his Counsailers vvould at the entering in of his Court lay aside all deceit and dissembling Speech is but a shadow of deedes and there ought to be such an vnitie that there bee found no difference at all for it is a great deceite to speake otherwise with ouritong then we meane with our hart Pacunius The Emperour Pertinax vvas surnamed Chrestologus that is to say well speaking but ill dooing Homer vvriting of Vlisses sayth that vvhatsoeuer he spake proceeded from his hart The Lacedemonians banished Chesiphon because he boasted that hee could discourse a whole day long of any theame that vvas put vnto him Fortunes gifts are meere deceits Seneca VVonder not that thou art deceaued by a wicked man rather wonder that thou art not deceaued Demosth. It is no deceit to deceaue the deceauer Falshood hath more witte to deuise then truth Plinius He is not woorthy to finde the truth that deceitfully seeketh her Hierom. It is more impious to be deceitfull then to conceale the truth Hierom. Deceit is a dangerous enemy to truth Alexander sayd to Antipater that outwardly he did weare a white garment but it was lyned with purple The deceitfull mans speeches may be likened to the Apothicaries painted pots which carry the inscription of excellent druggs but within them there is either nought auailable or els some poyson contained Hipocrates All deceits are propper to a base and badde mind but to be detested of an honest man Alexander beeing counsailed by Parmenio to seeke the subuertion of his enemies by craft and subtilty aunswered that his estate would not suffer him so to doe but if hee were Parmenio he would doe it The aunswers of the Oracles were alwayes doubtfull and full of deceit Hee is woorthy to be abhorred which beateth his braines to worke wickednes and seeketh by subtiltie to bring other men into misery Sic auidis fallax indulget piscibus hamus Callida sic stultas decipit esca feras Graue est malum omna quod sub aspectu latet Of Lying Defi. Lying is a false signification of speech with a will to deceiue a sicknesse of the soule which cannot be cured but by shame and reason it is a monstrous and wicked euill that filthily prephaneth and defileth the tongue of man which of GOD is otherwise consecrated euen to the truth and to the vtterance of his praise TAke heede of a lyar for it is time lost to be ledde by him and of a flatterer for it is meere deceit to beleeue him As certaine it is to finde no goodnes in him that vseth to lie as it is sure to find no euill in him that telleth truth Thou canst not better reward a lyar then in not beleeuing what he speaketh Arist. VVithin thy selfe behold well thy selfe and to know what thou art giue no credite to other men It is the propertie of a lyar to put on the countenaunce of an honest man that so by his outward habite he may the more subtillie deceiue Bias. Lying is contrary to nature ayded by reason and seruaunt or handmaid to truth As the wormes doe breede most gladlie in soft and sweet wood so the most gentle and noble wits inclined to honor are soonest deceiued by lyars and flatterers Through a lye Ioseph was cast into pryson and S. Chrisostome sent into banishment All kind of wickednes as Chilo sayth proceedeth from lying as all goodnes doth proceede from truth The Egyptians made a Lawe that euerie lyar should be put to death The Scithians and Garamants followed the same lawe condemned them to death that prognosticated any false thing to come The Persians and Indians depriued him of all honor and further speech that lyed Nicephorus wryteth how the very vvormes dyd eate the tongue of Nestorius in hys lyfe time Artaxerxes caused one of his souldiers tongs to bee nayled to a post with three nailes for making of a lie The Gabaonits for lying lost their libertie Cyrus told the King of Armenia that a lye deserued no pardon The Parthians for lying became odious to all the world There is no difference betweene a lyar and a forswearer for whomsoeuer saith Cicero I can get to tell a lye I may easilie intreate to forsweare himselfe An honest man will not lie although it bee for his profit Munster vvriteth of Popiel a King of Poâ—ogne who had euer this word in his mouth â—f it be not true I would the Rats might eate â—e and shortly after
aut scientia superbire ô superba praesumptio ô praesumptuosa superbia August Cum non sit nostrum quod sumus quomodo nostrum est quod habemus Stultitiae genus est vt cum alijs debeas vitae beneficium tibi adscribas ornamenta virtutum Of Treason Defi. Treason is that damned vice hated of God and man where-with periured persons being bewitched feare not to betray themselues so they may eyther betray others or theyr Countrey it is the breach of fayth and loyaltie with God theyr Gouernours and Country THey are deceaued that looke for any reward for treason Curtius The conflict with traytours is more dangerous then open enemies Liuius Traytors are like moaths which eate the cloath in which they were bred like Vipers that gnaw the bowels where they were born lyke vvormes which consume the wood in which they were ingendered Agesilaus Trecherie hath alvvayes a more glozing shew then truth and flattery displayes a brauer flag then fayth No place is safe enough for a traytor Amb. Once a traytor and neuer after trusted Liuius VVho will not with Antigonus make much of a traytor going about to plesure him but hauing his purpose who will not hate him to the death Such as are traytors to their Prince periured to God deserue no credit with men Trechery ought not to be concealed and friends haue no priuiledge to be false Such as couet most bitterly to betray first seeke most sweetly to entrap Phillip Traytors leaue no practise vndone because they will not but because they dare not Victory is not so earnestly to be sought as treason is to be shunned Scylla did betray her owne Father vnto Minos but he rewarded her accordingly Ouid. A Schoolmaister among the Falerians hauing the charge and bringing vp of all the youth in the Cittie hoping to recouer the fauour of the Romaâ—s betrayed all the Cittizens children into the hands of Camillus but Camillus louing iustice caused him to bee stript and his hands to be bound behind him and gaue the children rods whips to beate him home to the Citty A good vvarrior ought to commit the fortune of his vvarre to the trust of his ovvne vertue not to the impiety and treason of his enemies Tarpeias daughter betrayed the Castle of Rome to the Sabines for lucre sake Many men loue the treason though they hate the traytor Many conspire valiantly but ende wretchedly Traytors haue continual feare for their bedfellow care for their coÌ„panion the sting of conscience for their torment Manlius A light head an ambitious desire a corrupt conscience ill counsaile soone breede a traytor VVhere the peoples affection is assured the traytors purpose is preuented Bias. There are many Traytors in Common-weales whom it is better to forbeare then to prouoke Of rash hopes proceede perrillous ends of execrable treasons damnable successe Traytors about the thrones of Princes are like wolues about the foulds of sheepe One skabd sheepe will infect a whole flock and one traytor subuert a whole Monarchy Caesar rewarded those that betrayed Pompey with death Those that murdered Caesar in the Senate-house neuer prospered Tully sayth that no vvise-man at any time will trust a Traytor Ne colloquiorum de praetextu pacis proditiones vrbium tententur fiantque interlocutores maximé cauendum est Proditores vrbium saepé né ipsi quidem proditionem euadunt sed ab hoste trucidantur Of Desperation Defi. Desperation is a sorrowfulnes without all hope of better fortune a vice which falsely shrowdeth it selfe vnder the tytle of fortitâ—de and valure and tickling the vaine humors of the vaine-glorious carry them to ignoble and indisereet actions to the vtter losse of soâ—les and bodies DEsperation is a double sinne and finall impenitency hath no remission It is better to be counted a dastardly coward then a desperate caitife Let no man dispaire of grace although hee repent in his latter age for God iudgeth of a mans end and not of his life past Benard Desperation springeth from the ignorance of God Aug. Idlenes is the root of desperation Theod. Better it is to lyue pinched vvith a few momentary passions then with desperate death to destroy both soule and body It is vaine to be stout and desperate where none of both will preuaile It is better to prolong our lyfe in miserie then to hasten our owne death without hope of mercy Lactan. Loue wanting desire makes the mind desperate and fixed fancie bereft of loue turneth into fury Desperate thoughts are fit for them that feare shame not for such as hope for credit Sighes are the emblazers of thoughts and melancholy the messenger of dispaire There is no offence so great but mercy may pardon neyther is there any thing so desperate which time cannot cure Dispaire is the fruite of disordinate sinne vvhich becomming his owne Iudge proues his owne exexcutioner The feare of ineuitable punishment is the cause of desperation Stobaus Nothing doth more torment a man then forsaken hope Quintilian Desperation preferreth profit before honestie Erasmus Let no man dispaire of that thing to be effected which hath beene done already Extreame feare danger makes cowards desperatly aduenturous and what perswasion could not make constant misery hath made desperate Resolution is grounded on honour desperatenes on danger He is foolishly desperate that engageth his honour for beauty and aduentureth the halter for a lye Diog. Fortune desperatly attained is as desperatlie lost and dispaire suddainly entertayned is a token of a wretched conscience If thou wilt be accounted valiant let neyther chaunce nor griefe make thee desperate Dispaire comes of the feeblenes of courage and the lack of wit To him that is subiect to passion dispayre is euer attendant He that is desperatly inclined to his ovvne will is euer most neere to the wrath of God Despaire leadeth damnation in chaynes and violently layes clayme to the vvrath of God Bernard Despayre and reuenge depriue men of the mercy of God and cleane blotteth out the memory of their former good deeds There can be no greater wonder then to see a wise-man become desperate Of all the perturbations of mans mind dispaire is the most pernicious Liuius If he be a wicked homicide which killeth a man then is he the same vvhich killeth himselfe because he killeth a man Many reading Plato his booke of the immortalitie of the soule haue layde violent hands vpon themselues Hee that through the burthen of his sinnes breakes forth into desperation wilfully refuseth the mercy of the Almighty VVhen hope leaueth a man feare beginneth to conquer him Plato The soules first comfort is to auoyde the fault the next not to dispaire of pardon Desperation is a certaine death Aug. The desperate ambitious build theyr houses vpon others ruins afterwards fall them selues by like practises S. P. S. Brutus and Cassius after the death of Caesar desperatly flew themselues Anthony when he heard that Cleopatra had killed her selfe sayd dye Anthony what lookest thou for