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death_n	day_n	die_v	see_v	6,945	5	3.3693	3	false

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ID	Title	Author	Corrected Date of Publication (TCP Date of Publication)	STC	Words	Pages
A42291	Spanish letters: historical, satyrical, and moral; of the famous Don Antonio de Guevara Bishop of Mondonedo, chief minister of state, and historiographer royal to the Emperor Charles V. Written by way of essay on different subjects, and every where intermixt with both raillerie and gallantry. Recommended by Sir Roger L'Estrange, and made English from the best original by Mr. Savage.	Guevara, Antonio de, Bp., d. 1545?; Savage, John, 1673-1747.; L'Estrange, Roger, Sir, 1616-1704.	1697 (1697)	Wing G2182A; ESTC R216443	91,517	200

at Court we are not to Hope upon any Merit nor Despair upon any Defect I would not have you think I say this to be excus'd from serving you but rather that you may not be disturb'd when disappointed nor concern'd if your Business goes amiss for where Matters of Honour require the greatest Grief our Estate may be prejudic'd with more indifference No more but God preserve you and give me Grace to serve Him Burgos Ian. 30 1523. LETTER X. To Don Hernando de Toledo Concerning what the Egyptians were wont to do for their Dead Friends Magnificent and Discreet SIR IF my Answer to yours be short impute the fault wholly to my Cursed Gout which as it suffers me neither to Walk nor Sleep has also absolutely deprived me of the Use of my Fingers nay more has left me nothing sound in my Body except my Heart wherewith I Sigh and my Tongue with which I Complain Our common Compliment to one another when we meet is How do you do How do you find your self How have you done a great while and the like all which are highly commendable and never to be forgot for he that has a Real to spend and Health to enjoy has neither cause to be afflicted nor reason to be offended Your noble Brother my Lord Duke of Alva came the other day to visit me and afterwards sent me a precious Ointment for which I pray God both to preserve his Person and Enlarge his Fortune since his Unction gave me a great deal of Ease and his Presence afforded me no less Comfort Sir I give you abundance of Thanks for the Letter you sent and the Money you order'd me altho it be true that where you design'd it to buy Books the greater part must be expended on Doctors and Apothecaries Moreover your Bounty has been so very liberal upon this Occasion that you have not only enabled me to pay my Debts and cure my Ailments but also furnish'd me wherewithall to regale my self when well wherefore I cannot but Promise that in me your Family shall never want a faithful Friend nor your Vertues a lowd Herald You say Sir that having heard me Preach the other day before the Emperor in his Chapel You now desire I would repeat with my Pen what I then utter'd with my Tongue which I will endeavour to comply with tho it be both contrary to my custom and repugnant to my inclination The Text was in the 19th of Levit●c●s the 27th and 28th Verses where God Commands the Israelites neither to round the corners of their Heads nor Mar the Points of their Beards To make any Cuttings in their Flesh nor Print any Marks upon it on account of the Dead For the clearing of which Command it is to be understood the Children of Israel liv'd so long in Egypt that they contracted m●ny ill Habits from those People who were all naturally Negromancers Magicians Wizards and A●t●ologers Of all Nations none we read of made so much ado about their Dead as the Egyptians who whenever a Friend died always shew'd h●m far more respect than while he liv'd ins●much that if a Father lost a Son a Son a Father or one Friend was depriv'd of another they us'd to shave off half their Hair as a Hieroglyphick to demonstrate they had parted with half of themselves And therefore 't was God commanded the Israelites neither to shave their Heads nor mar their Beards and this that they might not become like the Egyptians Also the Egyptian Women when their Husbands Children or Relations died were wont to tear their Flesh and flaw their Faces with their Nails and therefore 't was God forbid his People disfiguring themselves that they might not be like to them Likewise the lesser Priests at the Funerals of the greater were accustom'd to mark their Flesh with red hot Irons either on their Hands Arms or Breasts to the end that whenever they beheld those Scars they might immediately be dispos'd to lament their Loss In like m●nner they had a Custom that whenever a King or Prince died all his Officers were instantly oblig'd to lash themselves with Kniv●s in some visib●e part of their Body insomuch t●at he who was observ'd to have most Wounds was always look'd upon to b● the greatest Mourner And hence it is that God forbad the Israelites both Marking and Cutting their Flesh all which Ceremonies being i● themselves superstitious and no doubt invented by the Devil for that they were not only a damage to the Living but also no advantage to the Dead Gods Prohibiting these and many things more in the old Law such as Not to Plow with an Ox and an Ass Not to Sow Wheat or Barley in the same Ground Not to Couple an Ass and a Mare Not to Wear Linnen and Woollen and the like let no Man think were frivolous and trifling but on the contrary highly Mysterious for these Ceremonies being customary among the Egyptians God would by no means have his People to make use of ' em Nevertheless we must not hereby understand that he forbad 'em lamenting their Dead after another manner since shaving their Heads flawing their Faces marking their Limbs and wounding their Bodies was wholly in their Power to do or let alone when a Decent Sorrow for the loss of a Friend was not possible to be avoided As a Man is to be known by his Heart so God made him with a Heart that is gave him liberty to be sad and forbad him not to Complain the Heart of Man being in it self tender and not able to part with any thing it loves without Concern Moreover Experience teaches us every day even in Brutes that take away one and the other will be sure to mourn which is demonstrable in that the Lyon roars Wolf howls Cow lows Sheep bleats Hog grunts Dog Barks and Cat Mews either for the absence or death of their Companions or Young We being therefore of a far superior condition why may not we be allow'd to shed Tears and lament over the Graves of our Friends Mimus the Philosopher was wont to say A Man dy'd as often as he saw his Friend buried which was true in that being but one while they liv'd it is iust they should continue the same when one dy'd This Sir is what I preach'd to his Majesty in his Chapel which if inferior to what I then utter'd I hope you 'l excuse on account of my Gout for if I have not now the use of my Hands to Eat how can it be expected I should take any great pleasure to Write No more but God Bless you and give me Grace to serve Him Burgos March 6. 1523. LETTER XI To Dr. Coronel his familiar Friend in Answer to some Demands Good DOCTOR YOur Servant brought me Orders lately to take care of your Business with the Chancellor which I immediately set about and have so far succeeded in that he professes himself ready to do any thing for your Good as I to continue

The difference between which was that the Meridones were hardy Gaditani resolute Saguntini fortunate but the Numantians both hardy resolute and fortunate all together None of the Roman Generals who waged War in Spain for a Hundred and eighty years could ever subdue the Numantians or so much as cared to fall out with them Of all the Cities in the Worlds this only never acknowledged Superior nor admitted Lord. Numantia stood somewhat high and was but half fortified had no Towers was not very populous and had no riches yet none durst make her their Enemy but all rather chose her for their Friend and the reason was because the Fortune of the Numantians was still superior to the Power or Policy ôf the Romans During the Wars between Rome and Carthage and the Factions of Rome among themselves there was no King or Kingdom but ingaged on one side or other except the haughty Numantia only which always answer'd those that solicited her Assistance That she was not to be made a Party under any Head but rather they to follow her as Supream In the first Punick Wars the Numantians could never be brought to follow the Carthaginians or assist the Romans for which reason or rather without any the Romans resolv'd to make War upon Numantia and that not through any fear of their Power but meer envy of their Fortune The Romans besieged Numantia the space of Fourteen years without intermission during which the Numantians sustain'd great damage and the Romans lost several brave Commanders such as Caius Crispus Trebellius Pindarus Rufus Venustus Escaurus Paulus Pilius Cincinnatus and Drusus Nine Consuls of very great Note as also Experienc'd Generals These Nine and many other Romans being slain it happen'd the Twelfth year after this Siege that Anneus Fabricius a Roman General concluded a League and Amity with 'em and agreed upon a Truce till the Articles could be Ratified from Rome But the Senate perceiving this Capitulation tended altogether to the Honour of their Enemies and was a perpetual Disgrace to them caused the Prudent Consul to be immediately put to Death and the War as instantly continued The next year which was the Thirteenth of the Siege they sent Scipio their Consul with a fresh Army against Numantia The first thing he did was to banish the Camp all useless Men and debauch'd Women saying That Pleasures allow'd are more dangerous to a great Army than known Enemies Scipio besieg'd this City a year and seven months in all which time he never gave any assault or made the least attack but only busied himself to cut off their Relief and Provisions One of Scipio's Officers one day asking him Why he never attack'd them within the Town nor fell upon those that came out he answered Numantia is so fortunate and the Numantians so very successful that we may well hope to tire out but must never expect to conquer their Fortune The Numantians made frequent Sallies on the new-come Romans and one day of all the rest the Fight continued so long and bloody it might well have been term'd a pitch'd Battle and the Romans were so hard put to it that had not the Fortune and Conduct of Scipio been on their side that day the Glory and Power of Rome had undoubtedly ended in Spain Scipio therefore perceiving the Numantians grew bold and the Romans slackned drew back about a mile and half from the Town to the end that he might not be so subject to surprize so that the distance being greater he might thereby receive the less damage The Numantians thus having lost many of their Men and Provisions growing short at length unanimously made a Vow to their Gods never to break Fast unless on Roman Flesh nor drink Wine or Water till they had tasted of their Blood It was monstrous then to see as it is still to hear how they every day sallied to hunt Romans as if they had been going to shoot Rabbets and how they did afterwards as savourily eat and drink their Flesh and Blood as if it had been Beef or Mutton Then it was the Consul Scipio daily sustained very great Losses for besides that the Numantians prey'd on the Romans like Wild Beasts they likewise fought no longer like Enemies but as Men in despair No Numantian ever gave Roman Quarter nor so much as suffer'd 'em to be Buried but as soon as any were kill'd they immediately carried 'em where they were flea'd quarter'd and weighed out in the Market so that with them a Dead Roman was then more worth than a Live one Scipio was often perswaded intreated and importuned by his Officers to raise the Siege and return home but he was always so far from consenting that he would not so much as endure to hear it propos'd And this because as he came from Rome a Priest had bid him not be discouraged or desist tho' he should run great hazards for that the Gods had decreed the end of the fortunate Numantia should be the beginning of his Glory How Scipio took Numantia Scipio perceiving he could neither gain the Numantians by fair means nor subdue 'em by force caused a vast Trench to be made round the Town which was seven Fathom deep and five in breadth so that no Relief could possibly come to 'em neither could they make any Sallies He often courted 'em to try the Clemency of the Romans and rely upon his Word But they always answered That having lived free Three Hundred Thirty three Years they were resolv'd not to die Slaves The Clamours of the Women in the City were sent up to Heaven the Priests called upon their Gods and all the Men cried out to the Consul Scipio to suffer them to come out and fight like Men and not to be shut up and starved like Beasts Also the more to move him they said Is it becoming you O Noble Scipio who are a Roman Youth Brave and Resolute to keep us here pen'd up like Sheep which is only a Stratagem of Policy when it would rather redound to your immortal Glory if you let us come out and overcame us in Fight When the Numantians saw themselves thus miserably inclosed and their Provisions daily consuming The ablest among 'em met and Killed all the old Men Women and Children then gather'd the Wealth of the Town and Temples into one great heap in the Market-place and having themselves first taken Poison immediately fired every corner of the City so that the Riches Houses Temples and Inhabitants of Numantia perished altogether in one Day Prodigious were the Actions of the Numantians in their Lives and no less wonderful at their Deaths for they left not Scipio any Riches to Plunder nor so much as a Man or Woman to Triumph over During all the time this Famous City was Besieged no Numantian was ever made Prisoner by the Romans for they all chose rather to die than take quarter Now when Scipio saw the City on Fire and entring it found all the Inhabitants Dead

of your little Bitch as I concern'd for the loss of my dear Sister Donna Francisca A Child when new-born knows neither how to Walk Eat nor Talk yet is presently able to Cry therefore the Crime lies not in that we Mourn but what we Mourn for Our first Mother Eve lamented her Son Abel Iacob griev'd for Ioseph David for Absalom Anna for Tobias Ieremias Mourn'd over Ierusalem Mary Magdalen lamented her Sins St. Peter his Apostacy our Saviour his Friend Lazarus and you Madam Mourn for your little Bitch Tears being as drops of Blood distilling from the Heart thrô the Eyes I hold him as kind that sheds a few such on a dead Man's Tomb as that gave him an Estate whilst living The Office of the Feet is to Walk of the Tongue to Speak of the Hands to Work but of the Heart only to Mourn for the Eyes are but as it were Limbecks that distill Tears from thence and as it 's Grief is lock'd up in the very center of the Body it can neither make use of the Hands nor Feet but the Tongue must declare its Wrong and the Eyes demonstrate its Misery We may be confirm'd by the Eyes of the Afflictions of the Heart for if the one did not Mourn the other would never Weep I say this Madam that you must needs love that Spaniel exceedingly well since you have shew'd so great concern for the loss of it for to consider a thing one either loves or hates regard must rather be had to the Eyes than Tongue for this can only reveal what we commonly think when Tears discover the deepest Affection Whence it follows that Words may be feign'd but Drops from our Heart must be sincere What Men commonly say of Women that their Tears are fictitious is not true but nevertheless they may weep for one thing and say they do it for another but to Cry in jest is neither in their power nor ought any body to believe it To lament for one thing and pretend it for another I neither commend nor condemn for in a generous and brave Soul nothing ought to be more conceal'd than what we love most I thought fitting to say this in defence of your Sighs and to favour your Tears both which I am apt to believe you bestowed with less devotion than affection since I am inform'd your Fever does not at all increase and yet you still keep your Bed To confess the truth Madam I don't wonder you lament but am offended at the cause of it since it would be more both for your Honour and Interest to Mourn your Sins than the Death of a trifling Mongrel You being descended from so noble a Family and having the Character of so good a Liver great an Estate Beauteous Complexion and Wise Conversation I cannot have patience to see you fix your love so low as upon a despicable Bitch for a Plato prudently says Such is the Lover oftentimes as is the Beloved Love is of so great force that both Parties commonly become alike by its power so if I love a Rational Creature I am Rational but if a Brute a Brute Whence we may infer you do not at all differ in this from your Lap Dog I have been much asham'd I could almost say angry at this Action of yours which has not only been admir'd at by many but also complain'd of by a greater number and for my part I think they had reason for we ought not to place our Affection but only where it may be both well employ'd and well receiv'd The best part of the Body is the Heart and the best affection of the Heart is Love therefore if this be not advantagiously bestow'd the Person must be very unhappy that admits it it being impossible he should ever know how to live that knows not how to Love Also I cannot imagine what pleasure you could take in loving such a Creature or what returns it could make you unless it were to fill your Cloaths with Hairs dirty your Rooms sleep upon your Squab load you with Fleas trouble you to wash her frequently in Summer and lie upon your Petticoats all the Winter steal when you were out of sight and snarl at the Maids for chiding at her beastliness But yet for all this you did not content your self with giving her the best bit out of your Mouth and furnishing her with wrought Collars and Silver Bells but would also take it extreamly ill if any offer'd either to strike or steal her so that she was both troublesom to you and a plague to every body else Of you two I know not whether was greater the Bitches Fortune in being so well beloved or your Misfortune in doting on so inconsiderable an Animal Nevertheless I am satisfied to keep a Monkey Dog Cat Parrot or Thrush has no harm in it self so long as we employ our Eyes only to observe the one and our Ears to hear the other sing but the Heart is never to be made use of on so contemptible an Occasion To make so much ado about a worthless Bitch is neither the part of a Gentlewoman nor Chri●tian for a Christian's Tears must rather be employ'd for Offences than Losses If the Death of your little Bitch and the Merits of your Life were to be brought before the Governor of Zaratan I believe he would determine the one to be laughed at as the other lamented and which neither you nor I ought to take amiss because we are both sensible of what we lose but not enough concern'd for the Sins we commit It is much greater reason you should remember God that made you than a Bitch that died with you since God gave you a Soul to enjoy and an Understanding to know him but your triflng Favourite had nothing but a Tongue to bark at you and Teeth to bite you The greatest concern you ought to have for your Bitch is because you did not give her an honourable Burial by calling the Frier-Mendicants to your Assistance for then she might have had the advantage both of their Absolution and Prayers We read of Alexander the Great that he buried his Horse Augustus a Parrot Nero a Thrush Virgil a Mosquetto Comodus a Monkey and Heliogabalus a little Bird all whose Obsequies were perform'd both with Prayers and other Ceremonies And I do not at all doubt had you either heard or read of these Passages you would soon have bu●ied your Bitch with the like Pomp tho' to tell you truth I am of Opinion you did worse to shed so many Tears than they to bestow so great Magnificence on their Animals Another oversight you committed in not calling the Midwife Galliarda to your Bitches Labour nor going on Pilgrimage to St. Christophers for thereby she might have saved her Life and you your Tears But setting aside all farther Raillery I earnestly entreat you to grieve no more on such an account but at length begin to be Wise for otherwise I shall think you rather fit

I must inform you what my Steward the other day told me that from October to April I had spent above 140 Ducats in Wood and Coal and the reason was because this City of Medina is rich in Holidays but poor Woods in a manner that here our Fires almost stand us in as much as our Feasts There are other things to be had at a much easier rate such as dreadful Lies ridiculous News Debauch'd Women Feign'd Friendship continual Envy Ungenerous Malice Vain Words and false Hopes all which we have in so great Plenty that we might even set up a Fair on their single account You likewise ask whether Matters are easily dispatch'd at Court you having occasion to sollicit something I answer that in regard all things here are either Weighty Irksom Prolix Costly Intricate Unfortunate Hunted after Wish'd for Lamented or Disorder'd Of Ten you shall get well dispatch'd you shall find above Ninety nine succeed otherwise Then you would know if our Fair be extraordinary Why in good Faith as I am a Courtier and deeply engag'd in Law I have neither Merchandize to sell nor any Money to buy and therefore where I cannot commend I find no occasion to blame But however I sometimes walk a turn or two among the Shops and observe so many rich things that as I have a kind of pleasure in the bare sight so I must needs own I have no ordinary uneasiness in not being able to purchase ' em The Empress was pleas'd the other day to honour it with her presence but as a most wise Princess would carry not so much as one of her Ladies along with her well knowing their Sparks to be so very poor and Inclinations so fervent that where it might be proper to a●k a Fairing they would infallibly be oblig'd to pay for it themselves You next enquire whether the Court be healthy or not Why truly as to Corporal Infirmities we are pretty well in health except the Licentiate Alarzon only who talking the other day earnestly in Councel dropt down dead of a sudden whose death tho it frighted all yet reform'd none But as to Spiritual Maladies we have good store such as Anger Envy Lust Malice Pride Covetousness Gluttony Villany Perjury and what not all which are not only damage to the Body but also pernicious to the precious Soul I have often had recourse to your Letter to consider whether I had answer'd it fully or not and find there is nothing left but to tell you it seem'd to me rather a parcel of Interrogatories to Examine Witnesses than an Epistle sent to a Friend I have nothing more to add but that I am very weary and quite tired out and that not with Answering but Construing your confounded Letter God keep you and give me Grace to serve Him Medina del Camp● Iune 5. 1532. LETTER VIII To the Duke of Alva Of Sickness and its Benefits Most Illustrious and highly esteem'd Sir AT the time Palomeque your Servant came to visit me and brought your Grace's Letter I was seiz'd with so violent a Feaver that I had neither power to Read nor so much as Inclination to speak a word But afterwards my fit a little abating I had more leisure to Peruse and was exceedingly Obliged by your Grace's kind Wishes for my Health and Concern for my Misfortune Believe me Sir whilst my Feaver was on me I had much greater desire to Drink than Read for I 'll assure you I would then have given all my Library for but a glass of Cold Water By yours I understand your Grace has also been ill and that you are therewithal very well satisfi'd both because happily recover'd as also for the future resolv'd to keep even with your Sins and abstain from all manner of Excess For my part my Lord I am extreamly sorry for your Sickness as I am exceedingly pleas'd with your Pious Resolutions althô it be true I should be much more contented to see you fulfil than hear you Promise for where Sick People always abound with Vows and Wishes Paradise admits only of good Works But however in my opinion there is nothing shews a Wise Man more than to behave himself well in Adversity and to benefit by his Infirmity As there is no greater Madness than to Misemploy one's health so there is no Wisdom exceeds his that is the better for his Illness for as the Apostle said Cum infirmor tunc fortior sum The Weaker I am the Wiser I grow The Prudent Sick Person being neither swell'd by Pride nor Combated by Luxury assaulted by Avarice nor Molested by Envy rais'd by Anger nor Abased by Sloth nor in a Word is he ever troubled with points of Honour or any such Fooleries Would to God My Lord Duke we could become when well what we promise to be while Sick All the concern of a bad Christian when ill is to get soon well not that he may repent but rather Sin on and take a farther glut of the World when the chief desire of a good Man is to recover his health only that he may have more time to amend his Life In time of Sickness we are neither sensible of Kindness or ill-will either of Friends or Enemies mind neither Riches nor Poverty Honour nor Dishonour Delights nor Disgusts Commanding nor Obeying heaping up Wealth nor losing it Nay in fine would be willing to part with whatever we had been getting all our Lives time to be but rid of a single pain in the Head When ill we cannot have the least relish of Pleasure and when well the greatest fatigue is tolerable What can he be said to want that has his health or he to enjoy that stands in need of it What does it signifie to have a Down Bed if we cannot take a wink of Sleep on it Or the best Wine if our Physicians forbids us the tast of it What does it avail to have many Dishes set on our Table if the bare sight offends us or our Chests full of Gold if the greatest part must be spent upon Doctors and Apothecaries Health is so great a Treasure that we must not only watch diligently over it but pray continually for it which nevertheless is commonly neglected since we find that Blessing is seldom sufficiently known till lost Plutarch Nigidius Aristonius Dioscorus Plotinus Nicephalus and others have writ many Tracts and Discourses how to restore and preserve health Yet I am of opinion where they have once happen'd to be in the right they have a hundred times rel'yd barely upon Fancies and Conjectures which generally prove ineffectual Believe me my Lord Duke in what I am going to affirm by Experience that the best and surest means to Establish Health and abate most Maladies is to avoid Discontent and eat but verysparingly How exceedingly advantagious must it needs be both for our Souls and Bodies to live without Epicurizing or Melancholizing for excess in Eating corrupts the Humours and too much trouble Enervates the Mind If

do those that become Martyrs for the Faith Now to come to the purpose I say and affirm you have merited all these three Honours and they ought worthily to be conferr'd upon you since in Age you are Seventy five as to Mat●imony have had Eleven Children and then four of them been kill'd in the Wars of Granada Nevertheless I am of Opinion you would willingly resign the Honours you have gain'd by living so long having so many Children and losing four in the Wars providing you could but have escap'd the vast Troubles you have under-gone for in this unhappy World Reputation every day grows less when Troubles daily increase Sir I have computed my Age and find I am but Forty four yet as I hope to be saved am so very full of Discontent and exceedingly tir'd out with Sufferings that I covet not so much to live a great while as to Repent sincerely of my Sins and this because our Salvation depends not upon a long but Virtuous and Pious Life Vivere erubesco mori pertimesco cry'd St. Anselm as who would say Comparing the wickedness of my Life with the Punishment I deserve for it on one hand I am asham'd to live and on the other afraid to dye for with God no Merits pass unrewarded nor Guilt unpunish'd Suitable to the saying of which Saint I protest when I stand to consider how long I have liv'd and how little good have done I can neither forbear Sighing nor give over Weeping reflecting how at the hour of my death a strict Account will be taken not only of the ills I have committed but also the good Actions I have declin'd I find but one good quality in my self and that is I commiserate my own Failings and envy the Perfections of others and would to God I could with the same ease amend as I can discover my own Faults for then I assure you the Crime would be no sooner committed than I should begin to do Pennance for it Therefore now since you are past Seventy and I am onwards of Fifty methinks it is no ill Advice we should begin to lay aside superfluous Care and put in execution our good Purposes for frequently the best part of our Life is spent only in designing to grow better But yet when we least think of it death often preven●s us before we have begun and so leaves us in a State of Perdition Remember Sir in how many Wars you have been how many Famines have seen how many Friends have lost and how many Plagues escap'd from all which dangers Almighty God has deliver'd you not because you have not deserv'd a thousand deaths but that you might have more time to repent In order to be Healthy and prevent Diseases I confess a Man must live temperate and somewhat indulge himself yet at the same time I avouch we are neither to attribute to our Physician nor Care of our selves the length or shortness of our days for that depends only on the will and good Pleasure of our Maker Sir I intreat and charge you to be moderate in Discourse temperate in Eating charitable in Giving and grave in Advising so that you may value your self more upon your Gravity than Age otherwise as you reckon your Years others will not fail to count your Vices I remember this time twelve month when you were laid up of the Gout and I came to visit you you then requested the same thing you now write about that is to inform you of the Priviledges and Immunities of old Men. This Sir is what might very well have been asked of somebody else who were wiser and had more Years over their Heads chiefly considering tho' I am past my Youth I have not yet arrived at Old Age for as Aulus Gellius says the Romans enjoyed not the Priviledges of Age till they were Forty Seven Years Old Nevertheless I am willing to perform what you so earnestly desire on condition you shall neither be offended nor dissatisfied for I intend to write and acquaint you only with the Prerogatives of humoursome old Fellows without offering in the least to touch upon any whose Gravity and Age are equal and by whose Prudence States are frequently Govern'd and Youth as often directed It is only just my Pen should launch out upon such as me who am a Vagabond you that are Humoursome Alonso de Ribera who is an eternal Babler Pedro de Espinel a continual Gamester Roderigo de Orejon newly set up for a Spark Sancho de Najara for an Epicure and Gutierre de Hermosilla who is most immoderately Fretful Tullius Possidonius Laertius and Polycrates spent many Hours and writ several Treatises to prove that Old Age was Profitable and Advantagious and yet how far were they from the Truth and how little was their knowledge of what they affirm'd since we find by experience it is nothing less than a Disease whereof we never recover and a sickness which at last deprives us of our being Sir I will here reckon up some of the Priviledges which Old Men enjoy and Age carries along with it which yet will be nothing in respect of the many infirmities attend grey Hairs being so exceeding numerous and very grievous that they can hardly be comprehended much less recounted Several Remarkable Priviledges of Old Men full of Raillerie and Facetious Reflections It is a Priviledge of Old Men to be short Sighted and blear Eyed and very often where there is not a Cloud to be seen in the Air they are to be found in their Eyes It is the Priviledge of Old Men to have a ringing in their Ears and to be much troubled at their not hearing well and this is discernable in that they often turn their Heads on one side to listen and understand not what is said without hollowing But still the worst is they frequently imagine what is spoken and which they do not understand to be a design upon them and in their Prejudice It is the Priviledge of Old Men to have their hairs fall off without Combing and Itch grow in their Necks without Sowing wherefore will stand a whole day sunning their Heads and complaining the Dandrif makes 'em scratch when for Cure they should be washed in Chamber-lye but dare not for fear of the weakness of their Pericranys It is the Priviledge of Old Men to want Teeth in their Mouths to have some Loose and others Rotten but still the worst is that many of 'em complain when they Drink and Lif● when they Talk It is the Priviledge of Old Men to put Pepper-Corns into their hollow Teeth and afterwards to take a little Wine and Rosemary to wash their Mouths It is the Priviledge of Old Men I mean such as are past Three-score to give largely to Young Wenches to pick their Heads and scratch their Backs It is the Priviledge of Old Men whenever they complain or Limp by reason of some Swelling in their Legs hard Nodes nails grown under the Flesh or their Veins being