lyfe and death yet death is paciently to bee suffered because there is nothing more hard or miserable then this life Besydes that by warning of god we are therof assured Also al wise men haue so thought and in thinges ineuitable the best is euer to be chosen To return therfore to the beginninge what is our lyfe other then a continual toyle euermore bound to abyde y discommoditie of so many necessities so muche labour so many suspicions and peril There is no delight in man that repentance foloweth not I am reuenged then beware I haue eaten my fyll fulnesse doth offend me I haue lightlye dyned myne appetite is not satisfyed I followe Venus sporte manifold repentance sadnes and in the ende sycknesse doth ensue And finallye eyther thy desyre is not satisfyed and there by thou styll discontented or els with saciety repentance and discomoditye doth torment thee So the only way is to keepe that meane For what cause haue all the Godds of the gentiles preferred death before the lyfe of man Vnlesse it were the worldlye miserye was to theÌ„ most apparantly knowen Pindarus telleth y when Agamedes and Trophonius had builded the teÌ„ple of Apollo they desired of the Gods this reward that where as Apollo had willinglye promysed to returne within seuen dayes that they in the meane tyme mighte continue in banquetinge and ioyfull lyfe but in the end of those days in a sound slepe they dyed wherby Apollo playnly taught that for mortall men there was no greater reward then death after that time the same â–ª God confyrmed y meaninge vpon Pindarus who being by the Boâ—tian Ambassadour asked what thinge it was that best coulde happen to man Pithius aunswered that Pindarus do prooue true whyche alreadye he hathe wrytten of Agamedes and Trophonius whiche if hee doeth he hymselfe muste shortlye followe In whiche aunswere the Poete did meane that he shoulde looke for Death where in hee was not deceiued for within a few dayes he dyed in deede Plutarchus in an Epistle of Comforte written to Apollonâ—us telleth this historye When Midas had in Huntinge taken Silenus this Silenus was of the Satyres stocke nourished by Bacchus who was also called Silenus Surnamed Satyrus of whome manye discended hee wrote as Plyny tellethe of wantonnesse and there in fayned thre Sileni Hee asked of him what was mooste to bee desyred of man Whereunto hee aunsweared not but at length enforced by the importunacie of the Kinge brake forthe in this sorte O you tormented Deuils the seede of one daye why constrain you me to speake that which were better for you if you neuer knewe it That is that the ignoraunce of your owne euyls is the onelye pleasure of mannes lyfe But seinge you knowe your own euils the beste were not to be born and nexte to that not to lyue longe And your condicion is such as you are partakers of no part of those goode thinges whiche nature hathe made this spake Silenus The sentence of the Philosophers doe also here vnto agree and Aristotle prince of the Peripatetian secte doth call those mooste effeminate that murder theim selues and those valiaunt which can abyde Trauaile Payne Misfortune and all sortes of myserie which opinion the Poet folowed sayinge In fortunes high disgrace each man may death disdayne But he most valiaunt is that can in vvretched state remayne But Plato chiefe of the Academian Sect saythe that a man ought not to yelde to Death because we are ignoraunt whether it be good or euil meaninge that in respecte of punishment or Ioye that folowed it was euill or good because deathe was the end both of good and euill Therfore euen in the whole scripture death is not accompted other then sleape and to dye is saide to sleape What maruayle is it then though for Hope of Life to come we ought not to shunne to dye We finde that Sainct Paule wished to dye and goe to God which desyre ought to be not only in Holy men but also in all good men For three sorts of euills there be that may happen to men The firste within vs and our mindes with which temperancy do mete The second without vs and they by wisedome are preuented The thirde are those that al be it they be in deede without vs yet are they vneuitable and against them none other defence we haue then fortitude And I pray you to what purpose should fortitude serue if to feare death were either goode or necessarye As therfore temporaunce and Wysedome are proffytable for Man So is also fortitude yet what profite coulde proceede therof if necessarily we feared death or if that feare were eyther good or honest syth of necessitye death must come to man one tyme or an other one of these three must necessarilie folowe eyther that lyke vnto beastes we should be ignorant of death which cannot be eyther that with willyng minde we will dye or els that we torment our selues Were it not more naturall to man and the rather seing that bruit beastes with ignorance escheweth the feare of death that he wiselye in place of ignorance shuld vse fortitude geueÌ„ him by God against the necessitie of death Neither can wee thinke that God hath more fauourablye forsene for bruite beastes then men yet they without al care do yelde to dye So we armed withe fortitude oughte not to feare any death What profyte can we procure to our country or friendes or what good can vertue bringe if we dysdayne to dye Callicratides the Lacedemonian captain hearing the Soothsayer pronounce victorye to the Lacedemonians and death to himselfe aunswered Sparta by losse of me shall nothing at al be weakened How noble were the dedes of men that feared no death how happy was their liues how commeâ—dable were their endes how glorious was their fame and in briefe whâ— refuse we to yelde to that equality wherin a common parson is like a kyng a monster lyke a most semely man a tyrant like the symple most harmlesse soule The huge armye of Xerses neyther the treasure of Tyberius nor the crueltye of Antonius agaynst death did any thyng preuayle All men are subiecte to one equallitye exceptinge true vertue there shal be no difference and thereinto without disdayne hate enuye or wronge to nature by destenye we shal be all called thoughe no man is expert in that iorneye Onelye false opinion of man hath made death to be accoÌ„pted a feareful thing not vnlike as those that haue not the experience of trauayle studye or concurse of kinges do make of them great admiratioÌ„ when others that are acquainted wyth such things do know them without maruaile at all And some we see without experience haue disdayned death for lighte causes killed themselues Of which nomber was Dioxippus the Champion who through enuye of the Macedonians falsely accused of thefte before Alexander protesting the iniurye with his owne sworde slewe himselfe we haue also seene a scholler a couÌ„try maÌ„ of ours for not beinge requited in loue
Eliades doth affirme those to liue short liues that do not render their parentes that due rewarde of education Such is the counsell of true dealing and surelye these vnnatural mindes procedes from some deuill otherwyse they coulde not be giltye of so greate a mischiefe The nature of man is diuelishe and so wicked as it woulde destroye all parentes neyther can it gouerne it selfe neyther doth it contayne in it selfe any curtesye by meane whereof necessarilye in shorte space it must be consumed But as it is the part of an vngracious sonne to hate the lyfe of his parentes so it is y part of a wise sonne pacieÌ„tly to take theyr deathes and to turne the same to his coÌ„moditye according to then sample of the good Phisitions who hauinge medecins wil not vse poyson yet hauing venome at hande after longe tryall of other thinges will rather then faile by venome cure diseases So the wyse man by well and discrete vsing of euill doth make the same good As first commeth to memorye the gouernment of household the ensample of wysedome and the desyre of glorye in all which the reuerence and respecte towardes the father doth chiefely hinder thee or altogether let thee The authoritye of fathers contayneth in it somewhat more then seruice and hindereth the execution of great thinges be it in warres learning or administration of the common wealth for all thinges hauinge euil successe are imputed to the sonne and al good to the father whom if hee loueth he cannot dissemble it though he deserued it not or if he loue him not it shal be called his default or want of dutye And the examples of them that willingly haue geuen place to their sonnes in glorye are so fewe as the honour that Antiocus did to his sonne Demetrius maye be taken as a myracle The euente of worldly procedings haue also made proofe of this opynion because al such as haue become excellent eyther in armes learninge or ciuil gouernmente were of those whose fathers in youth were taken awaye as Iulius Caesar Octauius Augustus Alcibiades Cicero Galenus Aristoteles yea what had Alexander beene if Phillippus had liued but one foure yeares longer for had Phillippus ended the warres wyth Darius being victorious he had gayned the whole glorye or if he had been victoryed hee coulde not haue left to Alexander meane and power of happye procedinge As therefore to cowards and men of no vertue the timelye death of the father hath euer brought hinderaunce So to noble minds it is occasion whereby to shewe themselues as they be This muste also be set before oure eyes that both life and death be the giftes of God and do euermore depende vppon his prouidence Therefore whosoeuer reproueth lyfe or death doth in sylence disalowe complayne of the deuine Iudgement because both the one and the other is meete and profitable And chiefelye if thou offende or did not loue them thou ought not to lamente for hauinge lost them thou hated Or if thou lamente otherwise it must be because towardes them thou were vnnatural But nowe thou arte safe so as thou can neyther be appeached of impiety if thou hast not before procured their harmes nor after be thought vnfrendly sith against thy wil or by mishap thou cannot offend How much better had it beene for Priamus that Hector and Politus had dyed before him who founde himselfe so greuouslye perplexed with theyr miserable chauÌ„ces as he disdayned his owne lyfe Was not Hector more happye in death for Astianax theÌ„ Priamus because to auoyde the sight of Priamê° misery he sought his owne death and so by dying left hym miserable All these were the actes of good parentes but of thother howe many haue bene whom though to hate were vngodlye yet to loue them is not necessarye Some haue taken away the common parent as did Clitemnestra who hauing killed Agamemnon was herselfe betrayed by Orestes her coÌ„mon sonne So Almenon murdered his mother Eryphiles for hauinge coÌ„sented to y death of his father Amphiarus These examples are common neither is it necessarye to loue such parents for notwithstanding by them wee haue our being yet against their willes as it seemeth we kepe it because they sought the destructioÌ„ of them of whoÌ„ wee came Therfore Licophron killed Periandrus his father for beinge chiefe auctor of his mothers death would neither take regard of his fame neither speake vnto him nor suffer him selfe to be spoken vnto But how much more wicked be they the seeke the death of theyr owne sonnes of whom the ensamples are not so few as happelye thou thinkest Mithridates murthered some of his owne sonnes and had hee not wanted power hee woulde not haue lefte one of his children on liue Theseus was also causelesse the cause of Hippolitus death and as they saye Medea cut her owne childreÌ„ in peeces Of more certentye the same is tolde of Catelina who to th ende he might be maryed a new with poyson killed his owne sonne almost a maÌ„ Matheus Duke of that Carthaginenses haÌ„ged his owne sonne Carthalus returning froÌ„ victory only because meetinge his father theÌ„ in exile he was appareled in purple wyth the badge of victorye Should any other sonne of hys suruiuing him weepe or lament the death of so cruel a father nay rather a malicious beast Yet how muche more vile was the acte of Laodices wyfe of Axioratus kinge of Capodacia who hauing by that husband sixe sonnes with poyson murthered fiue intendinge also to kill the sixt yongest of all had it not by the pollicy of kinsefolke bene preueÌ„ted What beast doth liue so hard harted as can beare the crueltye of such a mother Cattes and Connyes by reason of theyr excedyng great lust do deuoure theyr yong newly brought forth but other mothers among al the brutish kinde to destroye theyr owne yonge I neuer redde nor thoughe written it were hardlye I durst beleue Wyth like bestialitye of minde did Euergetes Ptolomeus murther the two children he gotte vpon hys sister Cleopatra the one of good yeares thother verye yonge Of these and such lyke parentes to bewayle the death how great a folly were it I my selfe haue seene and so haue manye others a gentlewomen that to enioye vnlawfull loue wythin xv dayes wyth a sword slewe her owne husband poysoned her owne sonne and before theyr buriall was maryed to her newe loue But nowe I see what thou wouldest saye I mourne not for the death of suchan auncetor but for one that was iuste good godlye and that dearelye did loue mee but howe doest thou know whether hereafter he wil be such a one stil for all such as killed theyr wyues or children were at the first also good yet grewe to this madnesse after many yeares which sheweth that theyr wickednes eyther came with time or els thoccasion grewe by time Therefore there is nothinge so vniuersallye incertaine as the loue towardes children brethren wyues kinsefolke frendes maisters Craft couereth many things so doth base fortune occasion
payns as for emulacion in vertue What is by thensample of Abraham vppon Isaaâ— shewed other then that men shoulde so loue their children as in them to put no truste at all but euer to honour God so as we may forget oure chyldren and such are worthy great reward For whiche his carefull obedience he is made father of many nacions neither shall his seede at any time decay This was a greater argumente of courage then that of Brutus for hee murdered the gyltlesse lefte the children of others his heires the other in sleinge became childles Hee by the handes of an other commaunded his enemies to be slayne thys man murdered those that obeyed But let vs returne to ensamples of sufferaunce and a shame it were that Women shoulde for fortitude exceede men Among whom what may be sayd of Tomyris queene of Mesageta who hauing her sonne slayne in battayle where in her enemye Cirus also dyed without teares made great feastes the hole army lykewise slayn â–ª Also Cornelia mother to the Gracchi of a great number of sonnes hauing onlye C. and T. lefte yet when they were in a time of sedicion most cruelly slayn besides calling only to memory their father their own worthy actes did not otherwise make any shew of sorow Argilion y mother of Brasidas the Lacedemonian kyng hearinge her son was slayn dyd neither mourn nor lament but asked if nobly worthely he dyed Gyrtias likewise a womaÌ„ of Lacedemon when her son was broughte home almost dead and his frendes lamented she sayd Non Silebitis inquaÌ„ declaring of what bloud he was desceÌ„ded she said one body hath ouerthroweÌ„ other in fight yet after being recouered growen to mans state was slayne in battayl which being told vnto his mother she answered saying was it not expedient y goinge to the wars he should â—â—ea others or be slaine himselfe but more wyllinglye I receyue knowledge of a death worthy of mee his predecessours then if in slouth and idlenes hee had liued One other womaÌ„ more valiantly bare the death of her sonne promissing in the fyeld sayinge let cowardes complayne for I wyll wythoute teares and meerelye burye my sonne And a nother a woman also of Lacedemon hauing lost in warres her fyue sonnes standing vppon the walles of Sparta and listinge for the euente of the battayle when she sawe a man comming asked what was done he thinking she had asked of her sonnes aunsweared they are all deade whereat the woman offended sayde it is not that ill lucke I aske but how speedes our couÌ„try then he telling y the victorye was gotten by the Lacedemonians the woman sayd wyth al good wyl I receyue knowledge of my sonnes slaughter In olde time such was the nobilitye of minde both in men and women aswell for courage as counsell But now enoughe or rather as I thinke to much haue bene sayd aswel of them as also appertayneth to deth It is not therefore needefull to speake of frendes kinsefolke or wyues seinge of them the plentye is greate the conditions vncerteyne and the necessitye little yea the cares and disquiet of wyues doe almost counteruayle the sorrow of theyr deathes And though wyues were not shrewed nor combersome yet can no man at anye time long want a wyfe syth one may be taken after an other And albeit that wyues were all good all frends faythfull and all kinsefolke kynde yet seinge the death of a brother a sonne and a father is pacientlye to bee borne a follye it were to lament them or call suche doubtles matters in question But rather resolue wyth thy selfe that death is the end of euill to fooles and to wyse men the beginning of all good And as sayth Menander VVhom God doth loue in youth he dyes FINIS Of Comforte the thirde Booke MVche longer then was determined more at large haue I discoursed that kynde of comforte which to sorrowe death doth appertayne not onlye because I thincke y occasion of griefe whiche groweth eyther of pryuaâ—e death or losse of frendes is little or lightlye borne but also that in these dayes men do so much desyre riches auctoritye as till death doth euen at hand drawe on they take no care at all Eche man in imagination alloweth himselfe longe tyme of life disdayning death as a thing not knowen in this but an other worlde But ryches and present authoritye are on euerye syde soughte for as ioyes which hee euerlastynge â–ª Yet not contented with â–ª this they also reproue condemne and despyse the quyet lyfe of such as are not with like madnes delighted For the chiefest care suche men do take is that of al other most wyse and happye neyther of which in iudgement of those that disdayne them can be allowed Then when these wealthy men perceiue that the others are not greatly greeued forthwith they fal to hate and persecution So as although men could willinglye suffer theyr bace estate yet beinge driuen into any kinde of necessity or calamity straight wayes they lament and complaine so as by confession of them for great desyre of riches the rich men are allowed of and praysed for the wysest sort of men But seinge the estate of tyme and worldly procedinges are not euer alike wee meane not to speake muche of that calamitye which these ambicious men do thincke y greatest but of that miserye whych may so trulye be called for suche kinde of men do labour to continue after death and glorye in theyr owne happines As the Poet wryting vpon the tombe of a certayne happye man sayde Vpon my corps poure forth thy vvyne O frend that comes this vvay And on my tombe vvith pleasant hand thy precious spices laye No gulfe of griefe my graue shal be but springe of lasting blis I am not dead but changd my life lo such my fortune is My former ioyes are not decayd but as they vvere before If ought or nought I beare in minde yet blest for euermore O merye man howe aptlye hath hee nothinge sayde for this presumption to continue felicitye after death is a thinge altogether vaine and forsaken of the very authors thereof For well we see that after death the glorye of ryches doth in short space decay Not onely because great nombers do daylye aspyre to this prayse but also riches it selfe deserueth no glorye at all And amonge so manye thousaÌ„d thousands as in theyr time was famouslye rich yet few of them haue come to our knowledge Gilias Cressus Mydas Pythius Meander Erictonius Sysiphus Tantalus Of the Romaynes that had beene bonde men Amphion Menecrates Heron Demetrius Pallas Calistus Narcisus Of Frenchmen Drusus Caecilius Sylla Lucullus Liuius M Crassus Of Kinges Salamon and Ptolomeus were all reported for notable ryche But Gylias became famous for liberalitye Cresus and Crassus for theyr misfortune Sylla Lucullus for theyr victoryes Mydas through Silenus The Romaynes that had bene bonde men by the abuse and riot of Rome Salamon for wysedome Tantalus for wicked lyfe Meander
for agreing wyth the people they spake those thinges which be in the opinion of the ignoraunte For no man denyes that wyse men be few and the common people contayneth the most part of men thopinions therefore of the Poets and the common people in which they disagree wyth the Philosophers be all false and vnprofitable Certes it is of necessitye that the opynion of the common sort is false it the iudgemeÌ„t of wise meÌ„ be true but who doubteth whether wyse mens sayings be true otherwyse trulye they should be no wyse men But if in any thinge at al the Poets deserue small credite no wher lesse then in those thinges which coÌ„serne maners and vertues Neyther is it any maruayle though Archilochus a passing good Poet but so much worse Philosopher was compelled of the Lacedemonians the very same houre that hee came into towne to be packinge awaye agayne for wrytinge this sentence Better it is to want armes then suffer death Verilye manye tymes lewde talke corrupteth honest maners Therefore seinge wee wyll speake of sorrowe and death it seemeth necessarye firste to examine whether in our owne death or in the death of our frendes there be any euil and if there be whether the euil maye bee ouercome by good or rather the losse by gaine That shal be easye to discerne if â—irst we distinguishe and diligentlye vnderstande this whether after wee be deade there remaine anye thinge of vs besyde the bodye Or all the whole dye awaye together wyth the bodye In whiche cause althoughe wee haue alreadye spoken many thinges in the booke De Areanis aeternitis minds to speake in the bookes of Deathe yet is not this question in this place meete to be shadowed wholye wyth sylence But as in this Booke chiefelye we followe the truth and euery where briefenes so one onelye reason of the reasonable soule shall suffyce vs for the knowing of his nature For seinge man hath vnderstanding hee is endued with many habites of knowledge That is to say Science as Geometrye Philosophye and Logicke Artes as Saylinge Husbandrye Phisicke Intelligence which is of principles as that the whole is greater then any part thereof alone and equal to all his partes together Prudence whereby hee consydereth and disposeth all thinges that he hath to doe And Sapience wyth these by which hee knoweth GOD and embraceth Religion And some menne do more excel in some one or other of these or in manye of them whereby it comes to passe that man doth so vse his vnderstanding and reason in his owne arte as though in other thinges he may seeme rude yet in that one thing he exceedeth right notable men Some though they haue neyther learninge nor arte yet by reason of exercise proue very wyse That it may plainly appeare that mans vnderstaÌ„ding is in all men alike and differeth onelye in exercise we perceiue in the barbarous vplandishe men Wherefore I woÌ„der at the doltishnes of some which professe wysedome who thincke that onely learned men be reasonable others differ little from beastes Worthelye therefore it commeth as they say commonlye that the cleane contrary falleth out that is to saye that these learned men besyde their Booke knowe nothing at all and may easely be beguiled of any vnlearned soule For if they would waye wyth themselues that all men vnlesse they bee hindered with some disease haue the vse of reason and vnderstandinge and that so muche the more in one kinde of exercyse howe muche further they bee from another they shoulde well perceyue themselues to be ouercome of them What a nomber leauing theyr vile occupations haue proued famous Philosophers Simon Coriarius when Socrates came often vnto his shoppe hauing talke wyth his prentices became a perfit Philosopher and left vnto his posteritye no small nomber of monumentes So he that was a curryer onely by exercise is stertt vp to be a Philosopher The cunning therefore of artisanes and others that want learning is not to be despised as boyde of vnderstanding But as it is wont to be sayde Howe farre Megara is from Athens so farre is Athens from Megara So howe farre a learned man passeth an artysan in speakinge so farre doth an artisan passe a learned man in his facultye Of both then the reason is alike the vnderstandinge a like and nature all one differinge onely in endes and vse But seing there is in other lyuing creatures an excellencye aboue that is in man as memorye in horses strength and life as in the Elephant power of sight as in the Eagle hearing as in the boare touchinge as in the spider swiftnes as in the hare and yet of those habites of knowledge no other lyuing creature is any whit partaker much lesse able to go beyonde man in anye of them It is then most apparant that mans minde is seuered from all corporal or bodelye matter Verilye whereas man in all those thinges which depende of the bodye maye be ouercome of some lyuinge creature and in these vertues of the minde no lyuinge creature is partener no not of the lest part it is not possible at all that the vertue of vnderstandinge shoulde not be both seperable and vnmixt and euerlasting Neyther yet remayneth it naked and bare For whereas of all other lyuinge thinges the Dogge the Marmyset and the Elephant be with out controuersye endued wyth most wit though a man would spende his whole life he shal neuer teach them the least rule of any Arte or wysedome besydes that which of nature is bred in them And surelye to speake of the easyest thinge if you trauayle to learne them to vndoe a knot they keepe in memorye how they maye drawe and slake and so fynallye loose the knot but if you chaunge the knot neuer so little they shal neuer know how to vndoe it vnlesse it be mere chaunce so as you may well perceyue they be vtterlye deuoyde of reason Likewise foules learne to speake and as the Poet sayth so well that the Pye wyth him braggeth saying If thou shouldest not see mee thou wouldest denye that I am a fowle Neuer yet shal you plainly teach her what she should saye or any coupled sentence to make a showe of any printe of reason And the nerer they seeme to attayne vnto man in speakinge so much surelye is it well knowen that they be able to conceaue no vnderstanding In like maner also dogges know theyr owne names are by teachinge learned to hunt fowles but all these things they keepe by memorye and trulye cannot tell how to put or chauÌ„ge any thing more then they be taught what occasion soeuer they haue Neyther is it to be supposed they knowe moe thinges whiche for want of speache they cannot vtter seinge the aptest foules to learne among which is the Popingeye althoughe they can learne well to speake as men be neuer more fit to any vse of reason Brute beastes therefore be able for one onelye arte by nature and for all thinges vniuersallye onlye by memorye
to the infernall God and as it is his custome in many others so dothe hee vse to call theym nearest to hym that mooste do honour him But if at the beginning thou driue him away and suffer not thy mynde to be infected full farre shall he be from thee But beholde howe comelye and honeste a thinge yt is that a man of good yeares beinge well counsayled by others shoulde in womens weede beastely weepe wayl crye out and lament O gentle wit. But thoughe he doth none of all these yet inwardly to torment himselfe with sadnesse is the parte neyther of a wyse nor valiaunte man but of one that searcheth rather the repreheÌ„cion of others then knoweth what is seemely Howe muche better were it for hym often to remember Vmbresomnum Homo What could haue bene better sayde So subtylle and fugitiue is the lyfe of man as of al other thinges seing shadow is most subtil and sleepe moste deceiueable and incertaine what shal the shadow of sleape be And yet notwithstanding this is the lyfe and glorye of man One other wrote thus As the generacion of leaues is so is also mans for in dede what dissimilitude is there leaues doe fall by force of Sonne showers wynd hayle yea and if all fayle by themselues Euenso the lyfe of man beleeue me thou haste receiued none iniurye at all Death is the gift of God and God doothe wrong to no man If condempned by voices of assente thou bee deposed from Aucthoritye thou wouldest thincke that it were meete to beare it with pacient mynde thoughe that iniurye cannot want suspicion reproche and falshode And now when thou fearest none of these dare thou disalowe the Sentence of God And doest thou not remember that whiche Leontius Neapoles the Bishoppe telleth to haue happened in the lyfe of Iohn Patriarche of Alexandria To whome when a certayn man hadde offered seuen pounds of Golde to praye for his onely Sonne who a moneth paste was with a Shyppe and great riches drowned after a few dayes obteyned of y Patriarke his desyre And while in y meane space he coÌ„tinued in sadnes he dreamed one nighte y the Pattriark appeared vnto him saying Lo according to thy prayer y thy son might be saued so hee now is because he is dead but if he had liued from wicked life daÌ„pnacioÌ„ after deth he could not haue ben preserued god only knoweth what is expedieÌ„t for vs when we are ignoraunt our selues and know not what is to be desyred Wherfore it is conuenient that we do not onely receyue comfort but also reioyse at the death of our neighbours of whome yf thou desyrest to continue any memory though often times also thou wantest their company it shal be both to the and thy posteritie continued by hys noble tombes pictures statues verses orations dedications institutions of eternitye and Sacryfyces Is yt not more honest and pleasant to confyrme thy selfe to these comforts â–ª to commend hys glory to mortall men then with wepinge wailynge to kyl thy selfe Yet as to them that are endewed with vertue and acknowledge the felytitye of soules these are superfluous so to theym of maners more frayle such kinde of comfortes are not vnseemelye For Augustus hanged in his bedde chamber the picture of his graundsonne beinge a childe of him dearlye beloued and so often as hee came vnto that chamber hee neuer fayled to kysse the picture Alexander did set vp certayne ymages to Fabius Quintilianus not withe teares but withe a solempne oracion conteyning the commendation of his sonne dyd burye him What dyd Iohn Mesue who in his fathers name falsely turned the tytle of his booke So did also Zoar Aristotle wryte bookes to their sonnes So did Cicero and Plato in their disputacions call vpon their brothers frendes not in mourning garments and weping but wyth monuments euerlastinge honored the same to their posterity But now with reasons I thinke sufficiently it is proued that the deathe of children is neither to be so lamented nor euyl Let vs now procede to tel how manfully our elders were woÌ„t to beare such mishaps Octauianus Augustus hauing within twenty moneths lost .ij. of his nephewes was not moued so much as he refrayned to sytte dayly in the Senate Demosthenes the .vii. day after the death of his only daughter put on his whyte garment was crowned sacrifyced an oxe More valiantly did Dion he being in counsel of the common weale and enformed that his onlye son had fallen from the house toppe and broken his necke gaue order to his frendes for his buryall notwithstaÌ„dinge proceded in his busynes begonne Like herevnto did Antigonus he seinge his son slayne in battayle gaue none other signe of sorow but sayde O Alcionen later then thou ought thou art now dead for so manfully assayling thy enemies thou doeste not greatly esteeme my warnings nor thine own weldoinge The constancy of Pericles can be inferyor to none of these for when within eight dayes he had lost his two sonnes Paralus Xantippus yonge men of singuler witte did notwithstandinge put vpon him his white garmeÌ„t was crowned made oracions to the Atheâ—encians comming from hys house when his children were dead with merueilous constancy of mynd gaue counsel vttered reasons of the disciplyne of war. So vpon a time Anaxagoras his scholemaister being in disputacion woorde was brought of his sonnes death wherat he paused a little but by and by confessing hee had begotten a mortall creature proceded in disputacion When Paulus Emylius had taken in hand the Percian warre he prayed the Gods that if any calamity were comminge to the Cittye of Rome that they would rather lay the same vpon his house whyche either through his prayer or hap was perfourmed And when of his four sonnes he had adopted two into the family of Scipio within few dayes after he lost thother neither did he with lesse pacience bere this then valiantly he wished the other Tynnichus also a Spartayn left his posterity a monumeÌ„t of worthy ensample When Trasibulus his son in the warres against the Argini was slayn in this epigram is declared the nobility of his mynde It seemeth vvel that covverds vvepe vvhen they be brought to graue But thou my son a Spartayn true no vveping teares shalt haue He hath as me thinketh folowed the saying of Papimus A noble death doth parentes please and God such soules do loue The valiant myndes do gayn encrease vvhen lyfe do so remoue We see that some haue not onlye in the death of their children witnessed their greatnes of mynde but also did procure it and thereof proceded greate proffyte When Brutus openlye punished his two sonnes what terror think you was it to his Cittizens what desperation to his enemies what admiracion to his neighbours So as the example of that valiant dede was not onlye the occasyon of great encrease to the empyre but also for fortye yeares after it continued in libertye not so muche for feare of the
riches yea and more fyt to attayn to glorye For who but pouertie dyd first finde oute the arts as saythe Theocritus O Diophanteâ— Pouertye is the only mistris and inuenter of labor and arte Surelie vnlesse I be deceiued riche men were neuer partakers of this praise And when these Artes were inuented such as had bene in estimacion were also pore And first to begyn with Philosophy the flower of all knowledge the Princes therof were pore men Socrates Plato Aristoteles and Cleantes who all night drew water and al day studied Philosophy But this is the lesse to be meruayled at y Socrates as Seneca sayth beinge in the market and seing a cloake to be solde taking leaue of his frendes said fayne would I buye that cloake if I had monye wherewith to do it The prayse of his death and also all they that enuyed his glorye do witnes hee was almost a begger Plato became riche by his second voiage into Sicilia Aristoteles longe tyme liued pore and almost an old man was enriched by Alexander I thincke it Needelesse to tell others as Homerus and Virgilius the Lanternes of Poetrye the one a begger the other a poore maÌ„ The whole route of Gramarians and Oratours were suche kinde of men Pompilius Andromicus Orbilaus Valerius Cato Laenius Iulius Higinius The Epistle of Plinius Caecelius reporteth that Quintilianê° was meanelye furnished wyth wealth Iuuenalis mocking Statius the Poet sayth he begged Vnles perhappes some tragedye he hath in store to tell for honger let him pyne But now a dayes that rich men can gayne glorye in scholes I doubt not Let vs therefore talke of armes wherin they are no more happye then in learninge What saye you to Paulus Aemâ—lius who being dead had not left wherof to make his wyfe a dowrye Also Marius and Sextorius were Romaynes of base condition yet on the one depended the safetye of Rome on the other some whiles greate perill What riches had Camillus the terror of the warre Or Scipio Affricanus that for debte had lyen in prison if Gracchus had not helped Arator Cincinatus Calatinus Fabritius that fought wyth Pirus Valerius Publicola Menenius Agrippa Q. Aemilius Aristides Photion Meltiades Cimon Spartacus Viriatus all y Dukes of Lacedemonia and as chiefe of them Lisander were all called from base condition And whom can you alledge against these the desperat Alexander or Caesar the subuerter of his countrey or rather Sylla wyth his proscriptions There is no doubte therefore but that in the iudgement of the discrete poore men are to be preferred But nowe a dayes throughe perswasion of parasites princes doe not traine vp Captaynes but rather bye them Men are not aduaunced for vertue but ryches and parentage Wherof it groweth that gouerners maiestrates and chiefetaynes are not appointed for desert but through fauor of nobility And though therof they gette no good yet this coÌ„moditye they gaine y through custome and the smalnes of y nomber that is aduaunced rich men onelye do possesse all dignities But counsellers cannot erre And would to God that Princes we no more deceyued For trulye they do well in preferringe nobilitie yet therwithal to consyder that those are worthyest honour whom vertue commendeth The one is sufferable but the other intollerable when neyther vertue nor good parentage but false flatterye is the onely waye to aduauncement And suche kinde of men commonlye are voyde both of vertue learninge and honestye But nowe I confesse wee haue a little to farre digressed from oure purpose For more speedye ende of this Booke let vs consider what is the occasion of glorye seinge poore menne in discipline of warre learninge and inuention of artes do gaine reputation whether rich men are admitted to glorye in the artes them selues when in deede they neuer knewe theim But admit that riches are more precious then pouertye Alas what myserye can come from the gods greater then the desyre to haue them which the more we gette the more it increaseth It is labour wythout ende and not vnlike the turning of Sysiphus stone Who as Poets fayne for reueling the secretes of heauen is forced to remayne in hell and there continuallye to carrye a heauye stone to the toppe of a steepe hill which forthwith falleth downe but he without ceasinge doth follow and on his shoulders doth bringe it vp againe Euen so to get riches is nothing els then to toyle they bodye in continuall trauayle and exercise thy minde in innumerable cares But admit thy lucke bee good what happines can it be in thy lyfe if thou cannot vse the wealth thou doest possesse as Horatius wryteth Excedinge care of coyne doth mortall men begile and loue of vvordly pelfe all other ioyes exile And if liberallye and bountifullye thou wil vse them what a madnes were that with so long laboure to become riche and so sodenlye to consume all The womeÌ„ called Danaides being condempned to hell for their detestable murther do suffer there none other tormente then continuallye to drawe water And admit goodes were wyth labour to be gotteÌ„ whether doest thou desyre them for thine owne vse or thy posteritye when in the meane tyme thou neglectest thy quiet pleasure of thine owne lyfe Thou shortnest thy dayes and hinder thy health Some meÌ„ I haue seene liue a nigardlye life onelye to the ende to make theymselues asumptuous tombe and honourable buriall Which folly and superfluous care Socrates laughed to scorne when lying at the pointe of death he refused a riche cloake whiche Apollodorus did offer vnto him For surely there is among mortal men no vayner care then the pompe of funerals which I thincke thou will confesse and flee to the coÌ„modityes of inheritaunce Thou seekest to leaue thy sonne riche what heyre can bee better yet in the meane space thou labourest thou carest thou watchest thou hazardest infamy thou offerest wrong chargest thy conscience to th ende thy sonne may spende consume deuoute keepe hauock Whereby he becommeth proude slouthful madde and in euery respect for his riches the worse But besides these euilles alas how manye ennemyes are gotten by seekinge of riches oftentimes also men do want a sonne or hauing one he proueth such and of such coÌ„ditions as they repent that euer they begot him And sometimes we see that great inheritaunce is cause of their destruction whiche happeneth most often to the children of Princes who committed to the gouernmente of others are by theim berefte both of kingdome and life as was Tryphon appoynted to the tuition of Antiochus by whom it was by practise reported that the childe was greatly diseased wyth the stone and that hee must in any wyse for his onelye remedye be cutte which done Tryphon not passinge the age of tenne yeares through the onely griefe of his wounde not otherwyse greeued dyed Cicero in his Oration for Sextus Roscius doth shew what discoÌ„modityes his great riches did bring withal among the rest thoughe the greatest he was accused of murther But
feare of death should stil offend them But besides them behold what and how manye euilles there bee that vnlesse the cloude of error bee remoued impossible it is to see the truth or receiue allay of our earthly woes And aboue the greues that all other necessities do bring with them this hath somwhat more greveous and intollerable for they satisfied withe that they desire forthwith they cease to offend as honger is eased with meate thirste is appeased to drinke labour contented with reste But the memory of euils is so setled and manifolde as wanting good persuasion doth neuer cease to torment the minde but from one discontented imaginaciō to an other from one calamitie or miserie to an other cōtinually leadeth on our displeasīg thoughts And for that cause we haue framed this boke which although it profiteth nothinge to driue awaye the cares and anxietie of minde in others yet shall I therein not a litle content my self for which respect thiefly I toke the matter in hand And as menne saye that Asclepiodorus without colours did right cunningly paint so shall we voyd of all craft and skil with true reason declare how much each man erreth in life iudgement opinion and will. Yea somethinges there are that so wel do proue themselues as besides nature nede no profe at all Of which kinde in this our incertaine lyfe vain glory and in nature of thinges great plenty was euermore to be found and in al such the more cunninge and eloquence is vsed the lesse wee see oftetimes they receiue credite and beliefe Who is so much misaduised as wold paint the pillers of perfite marble or Porfery or who dothe coloure the vessels of Allabaster When the naturall glosse doth geue chiefest grace and reputation to the work we plaister and painte the ragged walles of morter and claye to the ende that arte should supplye that nature hathe lefte vnsemelye Neither do I think our worke here in so great as at the beginninge we thought to bee For albeit we knowe the nomber of miseries and cares to be many yet diuers of them be of suche kinde as being wel considered do nede no medicine at all As those whyche men willingly and vnconstrained do force thē selues to beare for who would take in hande to comfort Marcus Regulus amids his miseries whō neyther the pitie of his children nor the prayers of his kinsfolkes could perswade to remain in Rome and not to retourne to the handes of the Carthaginiences Of the same greatnes of minde were the holy martirs Paule George Laurence with almoste innumerable others Some other sortes of payns and trauaile there are which the faintest harts do not refuse to abyde either in respecte of y glory or gaine that groweth thereof As some we see vncōpelled do serue princes others do labour to please their louers some cōsume their time in studies some follow trafficke and some seeke aucthoritie and rule So litle trouble they fynde in these trauailes as being remoued from them they are greately greued Some led on with onely hope doe voluntarily take vpon them a life with patience trauaile to bee endured as those that passe their daies in solitary places as they that liue in citties continually as they that obserue religion straight lye praying fasting who being asked for what ende they so do answere for hope that after death they shall receiue eternall felicitie Some there are that take greate paines and willinglye suffer in respect of swetenes and delight as they think that is ioyned there vnto As haruest labourers who after longe toyle and sweat in sommers son do not withstandinge daunce when the pype doth sound Others with colde feete doe leaue the fyer to cast the dyce for though the cold do pinche yet the pleasure of the play is more But far greater incoueniences doe Cupides knightes with aduenture of life abide and yet withe all their hartes they hazarde all that in the ende all their desyres may be obteined Some there are that although they seme euell eyther in respect of natures necessytie as old age ▪ or of comparison as breaking of prison yet are they more paciently borne because before they came they were desyred and beinge com may not therfore be vnwelcome Wherfore if in perticuler I should entreat of euery of these besydes that no fruit should grow therof I might also seme combersome tedious I do therfore thinke best to speake of those which men do condempne flee as euyll Among which nomber somewhat I wyl say of the euils abouesaide for y one thinge is not to euery man alyke pleasant or disconting but of them old age semeth y chiefe whiche though no calamity but a gift of nature yet in some respect may be so called because we se it vnwillingly born of many therefore Cicero hath thereof curiouslye written though it cānot be iustly nombred amōg y euils of mans life yet of vs shall not be omitted We say therefore that among thinges wee accompte euyll there be three sortes That is to saye Comon calamityes priuat calamities simple and priuat calamities manifold comon calamities we cal those that happen to al men or the greatest nōber of our acquaintance as honger pestilence subuersion of coūtries and such lyke Priuat calamities simple be of two sortes the one discōmendable as if a thief lamenteth that hee loseth the oportunitie for murder or dishonest as the weping of Vrsus in Papinius The other honest and in no wise worthy greate discommendacion as the destruction of houses the losse of children death of frendes Priuat calamities manifold we accōpt those when a man by many mishaps at one instāt is molested as the holy scripture telleth of Iob who depryued of his house children cattel substaunce was also tormented with most pitiful diseases sores Some men do hold for true opinion that albeit a mā may sustaine one kind of calamity yet the sufferance of so sondrye myseries is not to be foūd in any Wherfore of priuate simple euils in general we wyl first take in hand to wryte next we shall entreate of sorrow and death eyther of our selues or nere frendes In the seconde booke and in the last we wyl not omit to speake of tormente bondage imprisonment exile iniury of old age pouertye in general of many miseries assembled togethers But fyrst let vs begin at priuate euils declaringe y the good or euill fortune importeth nothing to blessed life and y the fruit of al felicity as Plato sayth resteth in vertue or as the Poet sayth VVhose conscience giltles is doth not grovve pale for feare And yet as at that beginning I said who so would consider how many discontentatiōs do happen diligently marke euery one of thē should finde to what smal purpose in aduersitye a mā tormenteth himselfe considering how short frayle incertain myserable the life of man is So as if at any time for that misery it is to be lamented then
themselues into the water whych noyse whē the hares hard they studyed to know the cause fynding that for feare of them the frogs were fled chaunged their entent because the frogs more vnhappy than they sought notwithstandinge to preserue theyr lyues and by y meanes the hares haue tyl thys day bene preserued Surely the aduersity of others did neuer make my miseries seme the lesse but the necessyty of euyl whyche is knowen by other mens misaduentures hath geeuen me greate allay of my pryuate greues For when a man shal truly consyder hys myshaps to procede of natures necessytye and not iniuriouslye then wyl he yelde himselfe to suffer al vnlesse that altogether he bee voyde of iudgement symple and foolyshe A wyse man therfore foreseinge the necessyty of many my seryes and wel remembring the frailtye and instabilitye of euery condition of mankynde doth paciently loke for al sortes of mysaduentures when they come it is therfore mete he shew himselfe armed with fortitude least changed by reasō of their comming he may seme to forsake his honest determinacion or els be vnprouided It is also to be cōsydered that time is a medicine to all sorowes yt taketh away mourning it bredeth forgetfulnes of iniuries yt remoueth the memory of misaduentures and fynally bringeth forgetfulnes and disdaine of al sortes of calamities What man hath beene so impacient in fatherlye affection as doth take care for the death of his son thirty yeares synce departed or his goodes lost so long agoe Such is the condicion of tyme as fyrst it deminisheth som part of extreame sorow or ioye next it weareth awaye al feruency of affection and lastly doth clerely rote it out of memorye Therfore sith y couetise of time doth in the moste symple worke this effecte whye shouldst not thou do the same to thy self and loke what benefyte time in short space should geue the the same may thou throughe fortitude learninge modesty and good example geue vnto thy selfe Perswade thy selfe that thy displeasant dayes bee neare passed and hope that better hap is at hande Call to memory how many worthy men haue vndeseruingly cruelly by fortune bene cast downe and patiently suffered her most extreme disgrace There is nothing more requisite in a wyse man then modesty to suffer both fortunes For who so knoweth not how to do in prosperitye forgetteth hee is mortall there is no greater argumente of wisedome then when a man doth that presentlye which others by benefyte of time haue learned Be not therfore burdenouse to thy selfe though thou art chaunced into this shadow of calamitye yet cast not thy selfe downe into very misfortune Thinke assuredlye that some bee free frome euerye euyl and that tyme bringethe wyth all the moste certayne and sure consolacion Not that we haue all ready spoken of but that which Auerroes other philosophers haue written When soberlye thou consyder that the lyfe of manne compared to the eternall worlde is not a moment and in that short tyme al to be vayne incertaine and by assured lawe of nature shorte so as it makethe no matter at all what a one thou haste beene or shalte bee And when wythe my selfe I ymagine of this matter I remember that whiche in bookes of common fables wee reade where some are fayned riche men some mightye kinges and some so stronge as for strengthe surpassed Hercules what difference there should be betwixte these fayned men and Caesar or Pompey tyll this daye I coulde neuer learne vnlesse that eyther for oure learninge an historye is made differente from a fable or that we haue consideration of soules that lyue for euer For otherwise when thou shalte no more bee it skillethe not at all what thou haste beene Onlye Follie of man hathe founde oute this inuention that we should perswade oure selues to be happy or vnhappye not onelye in this worlde but also after in the opinion of others Some I see mooste carefull that after deathe they maye leaue behynde theim riches or fame And entysed withe suche desire Herostratus burned the Temple of Diana ▪ that thereby thoughe for wicked doinge hee might gaine eternal fame But who was this Herostratus by what father begotten or of what mother was hee borne In what countrye dyd hee dwell what was hys parson or whiche waies did hee lyue what doe we knowe hereby other then either to knowe nothinge or a fayned man And admitte thou gayne this desired glorie what shall it auaile thee after three hundrethe yeares whether thou were happie or vnhappie And if no glorie bee within fiftie yeares after deathe what difference shal bee betwixte a kinge and a Carle Betwixte Lucullus and Irus betwixte Xenophon and Cleon betwixte flaues and fremen betwixte happie and vnhappie But least perhappes thou lyue in doubte that time doth styll abyde and the course of heauens be staide or that the lyfe of man dothe not of necessitie and speedelye decaie beholde that one stone where in was graued three Faces a Childes a Mans and an Olde mans So sodeine are the chaunges and so nere as the Poet doth not vnfytlie call our age Fleinge Consider what nomber of yeares since the beginninge of the worlde and thyne age haue passed so shalte thou learne that no shaddowe more swiftelye fadethe awaie Imagine assuredlye that all tyme were passed and so shall perceiue that all wyll retourne to nothynge Not vnlike to theym that wythe certayne Hope of deliuerye remayne in Prison whoe thoughe in misfortune yet doe but lyttle lament chieflye if they be of valiant mynde So men that in this troublesome lyfe syth they looke for and abyde one equality in respect of death I cā not conceiue why happy folke should not bee more sorowful then those that be vnhappye For if euen now it were proclaymed as it was in the time of Licurgus that al lands goods should equalye amonge al sortes of men be deuided whether doest thou thinke that beggers or riche men would be moste sory Surelye I thinke no man thinketh the rich men would reioyce and the porer sort be sorye If therfore law of lyfe is so equalye made as there is none that can auoyde I see no cause but that euery man here lyuing in misery ought willyngly to embrace the benefite of so iust a decree What care I praye thee shalt thou haue two hundred yeares hence whether thou dyed hauinge children or childelesse olde or younge rich or pore bounde man or free in thy bed or on the gallowes or whether in aucthority or without honor thou lyued or dyed But follye hath broughte in these opinions by which we onely become happye or vnhappy Because follye enduseth forgetfulnes of reason it maketh Pigmeans to seeme Gyantes somtimes oure euyls somtimes oure good it cloketh it multiplyeth it maketh them obscure it cloketh it encreaseth darkneth hideth euen as it pleaseth of vs determineth But if in this lyfe ther be any thing good or euill or any differēte of pleasure or sadnesse the same
life muste nedelye be the cause yet hereof whye is thy care so greate or what happines haste thou that mightest make thy lyfe so desyred doest thou alone possesse anye delight that we haue not tasted of whyche mighte make thee wyshe for longer life For euery of vs haue seene that starres the Heauen mountaynes seas ryuers lakes fieldes gardeines Cittyes and townes we haue also had sport dalliauÌ„ce musicke songes banquets venerye loue maskerye finally euery sort of earthlye folly neyther haue we wanted commendable exercise and indifferent skill of science and besydes that we know the manner of contentions disputacions publicke Orations Yea for our condition we haue borne dignitye and office we haue satisfyed the honest desyres of our children frends kinsefolkes and together wyth them liued in glorye moneye apparell and other necessaryes of life we haue enioyed and in euery of them find greater offence then pleasure so as we maye say with the Prophete Vanitas vanitatem omnia vanitas Yet if any man hath founde a more noble felicitye or can teache a waye more straight to happines or newe delight I know not but for my part in euerye thinge haue felte more griefe then pleasure But I thincke it happeneth to these men y luste so muche after life as it doth to those that laboureth alteration of mettals who fynde euerye thinge soner then that they seeke for besydes that they make neyther goulde nor siluer y little which they haue is also consumed Euenso such as with greatest care do seeke for felicitye not findinge it do wyth losse of theyr laboure also departe wyth quietnes of minde and become most vnhappye Wherefore sith this exceding desire of lyfe helpeth nothinge yea though life were good yet were it better without trouble to laye by his masse of cares and lyke a faithfull man restore that thou haddest borowed But if perhapps thou in vayne torment thy selfe what doest thou win thereby other then to consume in dyinge that lytle lyfe which is remayning seinge what soeuer time is spente in thinking of death may iustlye be so called Howe much were it better to follow the counsel of Agathius who right wel commeÌ„ded death saying that it did not onlye remoue sicknes al other grieues but also when al other discommodities of lyfe did happen to man often it neuer woulde come more then once Neither can death bee accompted anye extreme euil considering it commeth of most light occasions and is on euery side at hand Such thinges as we take for hurtful be also rare not lightlye founde but ther is nothing more commonnor more quickly had then death For death is takeÌ„ by ayre wynd thonder water fire earthquakes wild beastes fishes foules dust smoke serpents meate drinke bed trees sleape sorowe ioy laughter company anger discorde and fynallye of innumerable other occasions death doth procede Philomenes seing his Asse eating raysons said vnto his boy seeing thou hast lefte the Asse raysons to eate geeue him also wine to drinke fell into a great laughter and not being able to stay him selfe coughing hee dyed Coma the brother of Diogines y notable thief beinge by Rutilius the Consul taken and examined touching outlawes fled he required time to think of his answere putting down his head betwixt his knees he stopped his owne breathe and in the handes of his keeper dyed so quietlye as none of them perceiued when he toke the last leaue of lyfe Seing therfore with such ease men dye what should we accompt of death to be resembled to any thyng better than sleape for as in sleape and wakyng be we neuer so hedeful yet fele we not when yt cometh euen so when froÌ„ lyfe we passe towardes death our sences declyning without all sence at last we dye When Socrates had drunk poyson delyuered hys garment to hys seruant ready to dye dyd notwithstanding iest with Crito saying I pray the remeÌ„ber to sacrifyce a cocke to Asculapius for that was the auncient custome when anye man hadde drunke a holsome potion Doest thou then think he felte any extreame gryefe surelye no for in extreame pangues ieastynge is neuer seene nor the mynd knoweth not it selfe Thys is also greatly to be meruayled at that though euery man semeth to feare and flye death yet seke they to eschewe nothing lesse but rather follow euery thyng that bryngeth death withall Neither seme they lesse carefull to seke death then to shun yt The lecherouse man wythout regarde of lyfe preferreth hys pleasure the irefull reuenge the eater hys glotony the ambycious honour the couetous ryches the souldier spoyle the mother chyldren the marchaÌ„t traffycke the studient learninge and in somme there is nothyng that doth not occasion forgetfulnes of death So we plainly see that we both shoÌ„ and seeke for death but not wythout good cause for that there is nothynge that hathe in yt lesse euyll and they are therfore worthy prayse that do disdayne to dye yf those thynges for whych they neglect lyfe be eyther honest or necessarye and yet for lyght causes to seeke death is no token of courage but rather a sure sygne of an abiecte mynd Therefore the contempte of lyfe ys not so commendable as intemperancye is reprochfull and yet as the feare of death is not to be praysed so not to dye chyeflye at necessarye occasyons and tymes is moost reprochefull cowerdly and exceadeth all other vylety of mynde But some percase do allow the sayinge of Epicarinus Dye I would not but to be dead I care not As though that which followeth death is neither pleasaunt or not greatlye euyll Alas what euyll can it be to want honger thyrst gryefe labor â–ª sadnesse feare and fynallye the whoole heape of euylles whych the soule beynge parted from the bodye we must of necessitye want and seinge it dyeth not but in stede of these troubles enioâ—eth heauenly ioyes why should we not acoumpte thys chaunge good and most delectable Therefore Socrates was wont to say that death might be resembled eyther to sound sleape a longe iorney or destruccion as is the death of bruit beastes If the soule doth lyue and after death feeleth nothinge then is it lyke vnto a sound sleape because therein we rest without eyther felinge or vnderstanding and after a whyle return to the same exercyses Mooste assured it is that such sleapes are moste sweete as be most sound For those are the best where in lyke vnto dead men we dreame nothinge The broken sleapes the slomber and dreames ful of visions are commonly in them that haue weake and sickly bodies Whereupon Horacius sayth Vayne are the dreames of sickly folkes But quiet and sound slepes and such as weary men commonly haue are accompted sweetest So Homer â—doth cal those sleepes the beste that be moste lyke to deathe And Virgil. The svvete and soundly slepe vvhich death resembleth most I remember my father Faucius Cardanus while he lyued was wont to say that he euer desired death because whyle he
soundly slepte hee tasted the pleasantest part of life meaning as I thinke that euery pleasure that we take by our sences hathe in it more displeasure then sweetenes And therefore there could be nothing better then to lack y knowledge of theym But common opinion hath compared death to slepe rather theÌ„ trauayle or destruction therfore Homer doth call it brasen slepe Virgil yron slepe either of which importeth forgetfulnes of al thinges the allay of cares dulnes of sences careles mynde of hap to come Betwixt slepe and death this only difference there is that in death y time of quiet is longer Diogenes beinge sicke sleaping was asked of his phisicion how hee fared to whom he answered wel for quod he one brother enuieth an other Such was the securitye of hys mynde as euen at point of death he feared not to iest In like maner did Cosmas Medices a wise man in our age who being nerse death closed hys eyes whiche his wife seinge asked whye hee so dyd hee answered that hee did it to bringe his eyes in custome For in dede the eyes of dead men are neither broade open nor close shutte And so I thinke the Poet did wel knowe sayinge Is not our sleape O foole of death an Image playne For fatall course shal bring a rest that euer vvill remayne But if thou compare death to long trauayl and that the soule beinge let lose from prison of the bodye seeth al thinges and walketh euerye where Than what can be consydered more happye For the soule being burdened with the body is neither free nor rightly knoweth any thinge but beyng ouerladen with cares doth beholde only the fygure of thinges and as it were throughe a webbe or clothe gesseth a syghte and certainlye knoweth nothing but beinge free doth not only cast of all hyndraunce but also beholdeth all thinges without interruption whiche beinge true who is hee that willingly woulde eschewe deathe yea who is hee that woulde not rather doe as Theombrotus Ambrociota did who hauinge red Platoes booke of the immortalitye of soules cast himselfe headlong downe from a wall not feelinge any offence or other naturall sickenes but onely for desyre of such heauenlye happynesse as spirites were partakers of Therfore men saye that Socrates being by Crito perswaded to flye frome prison aswel for sauinge hymselfe as his frendes and kinsfolkes refused to doe it answerynge wiselye O Crito my chyldren shal be left in charge to God which gaue them As for friendes I am going into those partes where I am assured to fynd as good or haply better then they be And at length I doubt not but you wil also offer me your company meaninge thereby that the lyfe of man was of small continuance Such were the wordes of Socrates thynking that death necessarilye myght be compared to one of these three and most lyke of al to trauayle whych may also be coniectured by dreames For there is nothing that doth better or moore truely prophecy the ende of lyfe then when a man dreameth that he doth trauayle and wander into farre countries and chiefly if he imagineth hym selfe to ryde vppon a whyte horse that is swyfte and that he trauayleth in countries vnknowen wythout hope of retourne in such sort naturallye deâ—yninge of that shortlye wyll come to passe in dede But if death be resembled to destruction which as is all ready proued is moost impossible yet can it no wayes bee accompted euyll Because what so euer is not can not be euyll els we should lament for them that neuer were born nor neuer were at all and they that are not can nothinge suffer But if thou bewaylest thy chaunge sure it is that Death dooth take away more euylles then it bringeth and those more certayn And although Death were euyll and brought wyth it but one onely commodity whyche Epicharinus spake of because the partinge from Lyfe was painfull yet by death art therof delyuered for in all euilles to haue escaped is a greate comforte If then death be euyll to be dead is to escape but if it bee good thou haste no cause to lament And that the one or the other is who doubteth I remember nowe that longe synce happened to my selfe neither do I thinke to digresse from the purpose that albeit the twentye and seuenth yeare of myne age I became sore sicke of a syngle Tercian after Seuen fyttes I â—ounded and lay for dead In whych tyme althoughe euery member was almoste depriued of his vertue yet felt I neither griefe nor payn other then a certayn ticklinge throughout my whole bodye euen such as we feele in vsing venery Therfore as I sayde beynge in suche estate I feeled nothinge worse then that this tickelinge where in was not so greate pleasure as in Venus Sporte And there with all a certayne Feare leaste in deede I shoulde dye and truely as touchinge Sence or Strength I founde small dyfference thoughe the peryll were greate Afterwardes askinge of manye that hadde beene neare Death whether therein they felte any greate euill or not who aunsweared that in the Headeache and in euerye other sicknesse of the Bodye was greater Griefe I founde that in myne opinion of Death conceyued I dyd not erre at all That proofe maye also bee had that althoughe Children and women be moste fearfull to receiue all sortes of Medecines and yelde to Cuttinge of vaynes yet being ready to dye do neither complayn nor lamente but rather are offended if wee seeke to preserue their liues Who cannot therfore coniecture that in death there is either none euyll at al or very litle seynge those paynes whiche we feare most are in dyinge not regarded Thys is also worthy to bee noted that they that hope of no lyfe to come do no lesse valiantly dye theÌ„ they that beleue the soule immortal As Cassius who hauing killed Caesar with the same dagger that Caesar was slayne aspecting no messenger of death slewe himselfe so dyd Marcus Antonius and Sardanapalus king of the Assyrians did cast into the fyre not only hym selfe but also his bed and his concubines but that he belieued no lyfe after death is knowen by these verses Novve eate novve drinke novve make good sport For sith thy felfe on earthe a mortall man do see Take here thy fill of earthly ioyes no ioyes hereafter be Therfore albeit it were that with the body y soule did perishe yet death could not be eyther euyl greuous or any wayes to be feared yea such as so beleue are in greatest security for not beinge subiect to iudgement and free from all suspicion of mynde either of punishment or reward which thing doth most torment men that are ready to take leaue of lyfe But thou shalt beleue al rather then this that the soule perysheth with the body For as it is not altogether certaine what dothe presentlye folowe death so is it moste assured that the soule of man doth neuer dye wherof althoughe none other profe were then the consideracion of
at the handes of a gentlewoman in Padoa wyth poyson procured his owne death One other in oure Cittye hauinge sustayned losse by the pryce of corne willinglye hanged himselfe One other and hee also of our Nation finding he could not with commoditye paye his dettes threw himselfe into a water and so drowned I my selfe did see a womaÌ„ who for verye sorrow that she had committed adultrye askinge God forgiuenes for her offence sodenlye dranke poyson Cleopatra although she might haue liued in honor yet because she would not be caried about in tryumphe caused a Serpent to bite her bodye thereof willingly dyed Porcia the daughter of Cato and wyfe to Brutus in honest life farre eâ—celling Cleopatra hearing that her husband was slayne didde eate burninge Coales and thereof died For cause more iust dyed Democles a Boy of notable beauty in Athens He being by the king watched when he should enter naked into a bath and knowing the king ment to abuse him caste himselfe into the bottome of the whot water and so presently dyed The death of Lucretia is wel knowen who violently bereft of hir honor sticked hir selfe The wante of successe and not will was cause that Alexander the greate escaped voluntarie death for hauing in dronken mode stain his frend Clitus he would presently in the house haue murdered himselfe from whiche doinge in space of three daies both by force sute he could scaÌ„tly be entreated to refrayn and afterwards being at y siege of Sudracarus a citie in India he leaped from the wall into the towne of purpose to dye For by meane therof he did both fal farre and alone among his enemies but fortune woulde not permit that successe he desired This booke would not receiue the nuÌ„ber of ensamples of such as for feare loue griefe anger other occasions of no waight haue sought theyr owne deathes Besides whom we reade of hole legions that haue offered themselues to apparant destruction As they did that were with Leonida against the PersiaÌ„s and fought nere vnto Thermopile What woulde these people haue aduentured for great cause or if death were a great euyl that vpon so light occasion did not refuse to dye From whiche determinacion no respect of age sexe or honor could feare them But I se what thou wilt say death I doe not feare for as it is not euill so is it necessarye and to feare that is of necessitye were vaine cowerdlye and hurtefull Yet woulde I dye easelye and olde suche a death as Augustus desired and did obtaine For by lyuinge olde I shall not onelye gaine a longer life but also a more easyer death Aristoteles in his Booke De Respiratione thincketh that verye olde men dyed not onelye withoute payne but also withoute anye feelinge of deathe because the heate of their bodyes was quenched whiche maye appeare by this example If thou goe aboute to drawe a tothe that is not loose thou feelest great paine but if of it selfe it were loose before withoute anye griefe at all it commeth awaye Euen so greene youthe wyth extreeme paine do yelde to death but olde folke in dying feele no griefe almost at al As the tragicall Poet sayth In slomber svveete the aged sprite departeth How can it be other theÌ„ that death is greuous to yonge men when as sleepe against nature is offensiue Oft times it happeneth that such as vppon custome seeke sleepe at vntimelye houres become thereby drye pyned and slouthfull so as in steede of delight they get disease Theophrastus beinge readye to dye thoughe he were an olde maÌ„ complayned of Nature because she had ordayned so longe life in Staggs Rauens al most vnprofitable beastes and to maÌ„ being the most noble wysest creature allowed so shorte a terme to 〈◊〉 in What may they say then that dye in y flower of theyr youth haue they not iust cause to lament Surely no. But here the reason why nature hath not among other creatures made man of longest lyfe and then that he that dyeth in youth doth suffer nothing more greuous then they that lyue old For fyrst it is doubted of manye and chiefelye of Aristotle whether anye creature the Elephant excepte doth liue more longe then man Because he maketh no mentioÌ„ either of the Phenixe the Crow the Rauen or the Stagge nor affirmeth them to be of longest life But let vs confesse that whiche is imputed in Virgill though it doth little importe to the matter where he speaking of men sayth A life more longe nyne times the cacklinge Crovve doth lyue But confessing with Aristotle that y Elephante doth liue more longe then man why neede we coÌ„tende whether man be of one or more creatures in longe lyuinge excelled Omittinge also that the holye Scripture affyrmeth lyfe more long to man then other lyuinge creatures let vs now dispute that that alreadye is taken in hande that is to say for what cause some beasts be of longer life then maÌ„ The reason is this seinge all creatures are made eyther for the vse or honour of man â–ª they were framed accordinge to the descretion of Nature at which time she made theyr minds as wel for their bodyes as theyr bodyes for their mindes were therefore made simple with fewe instruments as plaine thinges to enduer longe But the bodye of man being made onely for his minde neded many more instrumentes to th ende that the vnderstanding might the more fitlye do his office Therfore although Nature hath made for man the best proportion of bodye yet could she not geue therevnto the longest lyfe by reason of exceeding concauities and subtilnes of the members which if they were great besides that we should be al Giants they woulde bee troublesome eche one to other Which is wel proued in y no creature hath so infinite members or part of meÌ„bers which were of necessity made smal slender to y end they might the rather be fit to yeld so the breath an instrumeÌ„t of the soule became y more subtil Wherfore nature hath not in this behalfe omitted any parte of her duty â–ª but rather with such dilligence helped our life as for the length thereof wee haue no cause to complaine which is nowe wel proued in y people of India latest founde where men liue commonlye a hundreth and thirty yeres because there the ayre is good and the people without cares But wee coÌ„tinuing incares riot vntimely labour chosing ayre for profit not health yea altogether forgetting the length of life wee cast oure selues into extreame sickenes discoÌ„modities of body and preseÌ„t death without cause accusing nature for the shortnes of oure liues Howe muche better were it to know which way to vse the benefit of nature if so deare pleasaÌ„t a thing thou doest accompt this life what is y cause that Philosophers and Hermits haue liued so verye long yet theyr to great stinens and earnest contemplacion hindered their health vnlesse it were because they liued voide of care and
temperatly How much were this rule of lyuinge to attaine long life more delicate then to feede vppon fleshe and honye But in this age mē continue carefully in labours and care watching the halfe night baskinge in Venus bathe abyding in cloudye Regions and not in good ayre drinkinge boyled wynes do notwithstandinge complaine of short life And howsoeuer in deede oure liues be short it is opinion that doth make it so to appeare The people called Garamantes do not liue aboue fortye yeares I omit to speake of the Pigmeians as people rather fayned then in deede but wee if we dye before fyftye or threscore do thincke that iustlye we lament and yet who so dwelleth in those countryes do highly thanke God if he attayneth fortye yeares and thou lyuinge muche elder do neuerthelesse complayne Surelye euerye lyfe is long that is continued till death sith at the beginning the terme is destined and as sayth the Poet. In birth vvee breede our death our ende on first beginning hangeth Reade we not in holye Scripture that y nomber of dayes and monthes is appointed by God he hath set the terme which cannot be passed The lyfe of man therefore is ended wyth olde age for old age is the last part of life Olde age is also the necessitye of death wheresoeuer therefore death is necessary old age draweth neare Whoso dyeth in youth in this onelye is the more happye that he escapeth the discommoditye of old age will thou make life to seme long or short by comparison A kinde of beastes ther be called Ephemera which are made in the morning and before sonne settinge do dye If happelye they dye at noone theyr lyfe is called shorte but if they continue till nighte they accompte it longe and yet it exceedeth not twelue houres Wee maruaile at flees for theyr long life if they liue two Sommers and at flees that continue three monethes Yet whiche of these is thoughte any thinge towardes mans life we call dogges olde that passe a leuen yeares of age but a man passeth all these in longe lyuinge thoughe hee dyeth in youth But the life of mā must not be accompted longe or shorte in respecte of his yeares The life of all mortall men is but shorte because wyth death it shal be most certainlye ended It is vertue worthy actes that maketh the life longe and idlenes that shortneth thy dayes Alexander thoughe hee liued not aboue thirtye three yeares dyed an old man through the greatnes and nomber of his noble exploytes Argantonius hauinge lyued a hundreth and twentye yeares maye bee sayde to haue dyed in youth because besydes the rarenes of his age in all his life he neuer did anye thing that deserued memorye It ought also worthelye to be noted that for the most parte all notable men haue dyed in theyr youth Amonge the kinges none almoste continued to olde age Hercules Athilles Castor Pollux Aiax Iason Amonge the Poetes Lucanus Catullus Tibullus neyther was Vigill long liued neyther Demostenes nor Cicero howe true yea to true is the sayinge of the Poet. Their liues are short and age is rare vvhere life doth lacke good rule IVLIVS CAESAR Seuerus Alexander Probus Aurelianus Claudius the seconde of that name dyed in youth which men a I thincke liued the lesse the more honest they were because being deare to the Gods were the souer called vnto them Whervppon grew that saying from the Poetes whom Iupiter and Apollo do loue do neuer attaine to old age This is also to be noted that choise is to be loked for wher wil may anye wayes auayle but in thy power it is not to make thy life eyther more long or more shorte Yet if thou cā do it there is none offence at al but if thou cānot thou lamentest thy shortnes of life for no greater reason then thou may thy mortality And that care of thinges impossible is vayne onelye proper to fooles But admit thou maye continue thy life and become olde arte thou not therby the more vnhappye because thou losest that singuler commodity which by God almightye is gauen to men for the allaye of sorrow which is ignorance of time While wee continue yonge wee liue meerelye because wee imagine death is not at hande But how can olde menne thincke that death is farre awaye when alreadye they are entred the laste ende of life Howe true and worthye memorye is that sayinge of S. Austen A yonge manne maye soone dye but an olde manne cannot liue longe And yet no couse there is why thou should not be sorrye seing a yong mā maye also dye sone Syth th ende of life is vnknowē a yong man neuer ought to dispayre whether he laboureth of deadly diseases or be cast into cruell tormentes and prison The chaunces of mortal creatures do shew that men are subiect to law of nature and fortune so as withoute cause they loue certainties for most incertēties of al. But admit thou doest attaine to old age it selfe how manye euils commeth therby labour griefe ▪ sadnes losse of sences disdaine y which is almost worst of all as Caecilius doth well discribe therby thou shalte see they companye of all men eschewed vnwelcome are olde menne to their children vnwelcome to frendes disdayned of yonge men and odious to their owne familiars Theyr sences serue not theyr bodyes theyr bodyes obeye not theyr mindes they passe the nighte withoute sleepe and eate without all tast They lothe themselues how shoulde they be pleasant to others We reade that when Zeno Citieus could not dye with age he strāgled himselfe What dilligence and trauayle did Cicero take to perswade olde age to be pacientlye borne but if of it selfe it had beene good or as riches frends children and learning had apparance of good there shoulde haue beene not cause for him to haue taken such trauayle A mockerye it were to perswade that health or honour were pacientlye to be suffered and wee agree that olde age is sufferable but not to be wished for Howe manye olde men haue beene for whom it had beene better to haue died in youth Priamus for example not for myracle in historye is resited Not longe since Baccus Valor being olde and readye to take leaue of life before his eyes behelde his owne sonne beheaded a yonge man of singuler hope The next yeare before two other olde men I sawe that behelde the like fortune in theyr owne children Wherefore I wonder muche at the greate wysedome of Theramenes woo onelye escapinge when his house fell downe sayde before his frendes that reioysed for his life O fortune to what ende hast thou me preserued neyther did he aske in vaine for within fewe dayes after by the malyce of tyrantes he was taken and put to death Therfore such is the condition of men as althoughe beinge olde thou mighte returne to youth againe as the fable telleth of Aeson sayinge And as tvvise tvventye yeares bypast so novve my force I finde Myne aged yeares are vvorne
avvay I feele my youthful minde Yet who art thou so madde or greedye of lyfe as would take vpon thee such a condition wherin there is nothinge but sicknes cares contempte peril lothsomnes and sorrow So as I see not for what reason thou seekest to liue And if in lustye youth when strengthe sences beautye wit auctoritye were all in thee thou were notwithstanding oftentimes wearye of life what shalt thou doe at this age when thou hearest thy selfe called olde wretche and dootinge olde foole death doth neuer come so muche to sone to a yonge man as to late to them that be olde But if feare of deadlye paines do offende thee sicknes resembleth death and in sicknes by little and little the life is taken awaye Or art thou loth to dye alone Be of good cheare thou shalt finde more deade then are left aliue and those also shall or longe followe As the Poet sayth For eyther soone or late in order as men saye The vvretched flocke of vvordly folke to death do take their vvay Neyther doth GOD suffer any to deferre his destined tune The destines do driue all men and remayne as lawe for euer they are y happyer sort that are sonest dispatched of paynes And as amonge condempned folke the Lawe executeth those first that haue least offended to th ende that the greate offenders shoulde beholde the terror of death Euen so God doth first take those away whom hee loueth because they shall not be lokers on but messengers sente before vnlesse in consideration of profitte eyther to theyr frendes or the worlde hee suffereth such menne to tarrye more longe To conclude then seing in thinges that be euil there is nothinge more greuous then dailye and certaine expectatiō old age when it commeth hauinge in it both the one and the other doth force a manne to wyshe that in his youth hee had dyed I my selfe beinge a childe doe remember mine owne mother Clara Michera then a yonge woman was notwithstanding wonte to wishe that in her infancye she dyed beinge growen to greater age for euer more she continued y speach I asked the cause whye shee soe sayde where vnto this she aunsweared Loe now I know I shall dye and that with greater perill besydes that in the meane time who so doth marke it well shall see there is nothing that doth not bring with it greater griefe then pleasure because pleasure beinge passed doe chaunge to sorrowe And that deseruingly What is it in this life that can delighte dailye trouble to apparell and vnapparell thy selfe hunger thyrste sleepe not so plentiful nor quiet as dead mē haue heate in Sommer colde in Winter disorder of time terrour of warres controlemente of parentes cares of wedlocke studye for children slouthe of seruaunts contention of sutes and that whiche is moste of all the condition of time wherein honestye is disdayned as follye and crafte is honoured as Wysedome Artisans for theyr cunning not accompted of but for apparaūce and opinion of people preferred So as it is necessarye eyther to displease God or els to liue amonge men in miserye oppressed and disdayned I omitte all euils onely that which is cōmon to dead men is not euil all other thinges which wee do not accompte euil are worse then those which deade men suffer It is nowe requisite that somewhat be sayde of the diuersityes of death hytherto it hath beene deferred because they are many of diuers men thoughte worthy consideration For death doth seeme greuous to yong men both for that it is painful for that minde to leaue the body dishonourable and certen al which in common iudgement are ioyned to gethers And some cowardlye yonge men haue beene compelled to dye a knowen death but syth I see diuers of the common people pacientlye enough do take their deaths I know no cause why other should be greatly comforted considering that not the maner of death but the qualitye of the offence maketh death dishonorable For if thou respect only the maner of death thou shalt find that the greatest nomber of men put to vile death were those that antiquity prayseth and our age doe honour notwithstanding they fel into the handes of Tirantes in whose power it was to appointe the time and maner of death though innocencye be in them that suffer Neither can a publike death bee dishonorable if his life so dyinge be voide of foule vice because publike death without offence is not onely a signe but also a triall of vertue We fynde in the new law how Christ did first gayne the glorye of innocent death and after him followed innumerable martirs and prophets and the moore good and holy they were the more cruelly forced to dye Esayas cut with yron by commaundement of king Manasses Hieremias by the people stoned to death Iohn Baptist beheaded and fynally manie other cruelly murdered neither was the fortune of other Good menne muche better at the handes of heathen Kinges and in their Citties for Zeno Eleates when quietly he might haue liued in his house he conspired against the Tirant Nearcluis but his entent was discouered and he hanged yet at his deathe he perswaded the people to stone the Tyraunt to death When Lysymachus the kinge threatned Theodorus Cyreneus to hang him he answered thus what matter is it whether on the earth or hanging high my carkcas do stinke When Socrates myghte with sylence haue escaped death being condēpned only in a pecuniall paine did prouoke them y dyd condempne him to procure his death And when his wife Zantippe complained that vniustly he suffered he aunswered An mallet iuste senciens non esse malum preter culpam The dishonour therfore is not in dyinge but in the cause of death which procedeth of thine own euill doinge But as for paines youth and certaine knowledge of dying they add none encrease of grief to death nor make it moore greuous because the knowledge of that is not euill cannot be euil after and onely death after torments is most pleasant And torments either they can not be great or not long Christe for ensample to al men died that for ensample it might remaine Besides this seldome shalt thou finde any innocēt to dye of great torment no scantly once vnlesse it be at chaunge of lawes when innocentes are forced to suffer the insolency of nocentes as in hystories it appeareth most rarely is also founde example of violency in giltlesse men yf wilfulnes be not the cause for such as so murder good men do seme to do it of very will. But how easy a thinge death is eyther publike or by sword examples do beare witnes When Iulius Caesar was in the murdering and felte the daggers of diuers men stubbed into his body he sought neither to saue himselfe nor cryed for helpe but falling kept hidden his secrete partes Such memory hee had of comlines notwithstanding his woundes and readynes to yeld vppe his ghost And as Lucanus saith his sonne in lawe in such sort dyed He
discribeth Pompeius deathe in this wise In hast he stayde his vvofull voyce and vvould no vvord complayn Least vveping teares might so vnvvares his heauenly fame disdain And vvhâ—â—â—is noble side vvas pearst vvith fearce Achilles blade No sigâ— no sob no careful cheare no sorovving sound he made but in disdaine of crueltye Cato VticeÌ„sis determined to dye ordered his goods wiselye forseinge the good of others though he neglected his owne which done reading Plato of the immortality of soules layd himselfe down slepte so souÌ„dly as he snored after being awaked sticked himselfe And when throughe weakenes of his hand the wounde was not mortal suche as were by saued him tyl at length violently he brake lose dyed Such was his gredy desyre of death Otho themperoure a yong man of thirtye seuen yeares of al men accompted soft and effeminate after hee had won thre battels of the Vitelli for the sorow of one lost gaue his mony and substance to his frendes and willed his familiar companion to shewe himselfe to the souldiers lest that after he should be suspected and in the night with two daggers murdered himselfe And yet neither dispayred hee of the holding of the Empire nor wanted the loue of the Senate or his souldiers but onlye for that nether in victory or victored he would hinder the commoÌ„ wealth Caius Iulius by Caius themperour condempned to dye â–ª obteyned ten dayes pardon all whiche time careles he consumed in sleape and table play and when the hangeman came in to warne him y his tyme was euen at hande hee tolde what aduauntage he had in the game and willed his play felow that after his death he should not boast of winning and called the hangman to record who led him towardes death accompanied with a philosopher Vpon the way being asked whaâ— he mused of He aunswered I determined to obserue what at the last instant my soule shal feele when it parteth away to the ende that after I may aduertise my frends Aratus knowing he had taken a lingering poyson at the handes of Philippus the Macedonian kinge speaking one secrete worde to his familier frend passed the rest of his life so pleasantly as semed not to haue any such griefe or assurance to dye The seuen brothers called Machabei al yoÌ„g men and sonnes of one mother by the commaundement of king Antigouns one after an other and in sondry sorte together with their Mother killed themselues Tectamenes condempned to dye went his way laughinge and being asked whether hee disdayned the lawes answered no but by dyinge I must pay that I neither asked nor borrowed of any Which example although vnder the person of one vnknowen was much praysed of Cicero yet in wise iudgements such behauiour argueth In Tectamenes rather vanity theÌ„ fortitude for a man condempned specially for wicked doing naturally can not loue death neither was it our entente to proue that death should be desired or sought for But as it is the condicion of a faithlesse man not to restore y he boroweth so is it also an vnfreÌ„dly and vnthankefull parte not to kepe that hee boroweth As therfore death is not to be fled or lameÌ„ted â—o ought it not to be sought for But as y Poete sayth Do neyther seke nor shonne the ende of thine ovvne lyfe Yet happely Craton may holde such opinion and though it be not mainteined by reason yet for the meruaile gaineth reputation among the common sort The example therfore of Theramon is more honest and more couragious For he beinge vniustly by thirty Tyrantes condempned tooke the poyson saying according to the auncient maner of Athens Critus I drinke to the for so was the greatest Tyrant and worse then Theramines called that done whatsoeuer remayned in the cuppe he threw vpon the ground The death of Phocion was more noble he seing his frend desyrous to drinke poison didde stay him after findinge that which was not left to suffise did buy more saying that in Athens a man was forced to buy his own death But why do I labor to enduce more ensamples of men when whoole Nacions may be called to recorde As the Galathians did so little regarde Deathe as they feared not to fighte Naked So did also manye noble Romaines and Germaines that nedelesse it wer to resyte their names I do therfore thinke best in fewe words to declare that men were made mortall for three causes First because there shoulde be some ende of their offences This life is displeasant and the nerer age the moore troublesome and therefore the Gimniophista as men say answered Alexander well askinge whether death or life wer stronger Liâ—e quod hee because it beareth so many calamities The second cause is that goodmen without enuy might be honoured and euil Men without feare coÌ„dempned and that riches and aucthority for whiche menne commit greate wickednesse might not be regarded Yf those thinges whiche mortall men haue were iustly wayed they shoulde as Cares and Euilles be reputed Yet if death were not Menne would muse onlye vppon Thefte and Violence while in this short space that now they lyue they thinke so much thereof The third reason is for that men might receiue rewarde of good and euil according to the quality of their deserts For after death such as haue passed a godly life shall liue not only with their brethren kinsfolke but also accoÌ„panied withal honest and learned men and aboue y starres receiue ioy and euerlasting felicitye So contrary wise the wicked in darkenesse and solitarye places shal be tormented Therfore for wicked folke only death can bee thought euill and yet is not but Good men not vnlike the Swanne who only at his death do synge may boldly reioyse and be gladde Some there are so ambicious that the care of their funeralles doth trouble them muche who are not to bee comforted but for their follye to be reprehended what is the body of man when the Spirite is passed awaye It is no moore accompted as parte or member of him but rather a Carckcasse vnprofytable stinckinge and horryble Seneca therfore didde well deuise that the same should be buried not in respect of the Dead but the liuinge least they by sauour and sight therof might be offended Where vppon in sundrye nacions hath growne sundrie customes of buryinge the Deade The Grecians were wonte to wrye them in the earthe The Romaines dyd burne them in fyre The Nathabeians did burye them in their dungehilles Yea their Kinges had none other Sepulchre The Ethiopians do cast them into the ryuers to be deuoured of Fishes The Magi did geeue them to wilde Beastes Hercani to Doggs But the Massageti most meruailouslye do eate them The Egiptians with their owne Nayles doe burie them The Persians doe wrappe theym in Waxe So incertayne is the reason where is no reason at all Alas good Foole doest thou not heare the Poete sayinge To vvant a tombe the lacke is neuer great What doth it preuayle the to lye in marble aboue the ground
age When Cicero lost his daughter Tulliola being to him most dere did repose the chiefest parte of his consolation in the affayres of Caesar yet he liued vnder a milde prince in a Cittye plentifull Cicero himselfe of Caesar beloued frended of the greatest wāted neither wealth honour nor reputacion Then cōpare time with time that security with this priuate peril the goodnes authoritye of Cicero with thine the lenitye of Caesar with the seuerity of other Princes and then consider whether thou ought to wishe for childrē whē Cicero did not much sorrow the losse of his The life of men wythout childrē is ful of pleasure ful of lybertye ful of security they haue no cause to frare eyther iniuryes seruitude disdaine or daunger of others in peace they are free in warres not carefull And beleue mee that in common calamities ther is no greater care then to thinke vppon thy kinsefolke In time of plague no place thou hast to flee to in time of war thou mayest not remoue in time of famine thou art vnprouided whither to go Cōsider wel these discōmodityes see whether they are comparable to the want of children But now let vs returne to our principall proposition Why complaynest thou thy want of children when for thy child thou ought neither to lamēt who eyther feleth nothīg or is in ioy neither for thy self whose condition is best in respect thou arte childlesse syth thereby thou hast chaunged peril for security toyle for quiet bondage for libertye and yet complaynest This other day I harde certaine poore olde womē complayning wyshing the death of theyr childrē and had it not bene better for them to haue beene childlesse then to become in such myserye as to wishe the death of theyr owne children Marke well the prayers of poore people consider howe carelesse they are of theyr children and so shalt thou finde I tell none vntrothe But thou art riche no sure they are onelye riche that do dwel in common weales And thoughe thou liuest nowe vnder a king his successour maye be a tyrante one onely night may make this chaunge And in a cōmon weale whyle thou fearest not one thou must lye in wayghte and take heede of manye If thou want riches there can be no comforte in children Euerye man most assuredlye is poore and no mā rich wher is no security how canst thou be happy yet this is one most certaine condition of mortal men That as some are subiect to the warres of diuers vnder one all is wholye at his deuotion Remember Heliogabalus themperour that sought togethers the children of al Italy what did Astiages commit vppon Harpagus or what did Cambises to the Persians◠and chiefelye to Prexaspes Suche is the condition of men as better it were to liue in feare of warre by sondrye Princes then of one that maye at his will commaunde all One Octauius Augustus was a good Prince because in ciuil warres mercifullye enough he shedde the Romayne bloud but what beastes did continuallye succede him As Tiberius Caligula Nero Claudius What mischiefe coulde be more hardlye suffered then these monsters But admit thou liue in happye tymes yet of them do I receiue no proofe considering I wrote this booke to serue my selfe in harde chaunces not onelye in respect of the vayne opynion of some mortal men touchinge priuate aduentures but also that vnloked for euentes mighte more paciently be borne which thoughe they be not worse then other that are priuate yet by reason of theyr sodennes do cōmonly trouble men most Yet sith wythout mine assente this Booke maye come to handes of posteritye I maye happelye be reproued for hauinge attributed to muche blame to some one time and dispayred of better wherefore let the blame of tymes be left to theyr place and as meete it is oure talke be turned to comforte Thy sonne is dead what can more easelye be recouered none age but the laste no sicknes excepte the consumption that hindereth child getting which being so we ought not to be so careful of children as of our selues Aristotle concludeth that at threscore yeares of age or threscore ten a mā liueth to get children yet is it manifest that some haue gotten children after fowerscore yeares and though fauoure and force were decayde And among diseases both the gout and consumption do suffer generation These only are thought insufficient to get children y wants their stones or are depriued of their vertue Or els those whose vaynes behinde their eares be cut For such men as saith Hipocrates be all barren How wel therfore dooth Nature prouide y what a man most dispaireth of the same by quicke occasion is supplied There is nothing that can moore easlye or soner come or happen to man then the ryches gotten of thy father because thy winninge of Glorye and Freendes asketh longe time but a childe is gotten in a moment What losse can then the death of thy Sonne be and though it were the greatest yet because so easlie and of euery mā may be supplied it ought not to be accompted of But beinge poore to get riches is very hard For as the sayinge is Novv riches are not geeuen but vvhere as riches do habound But thou shalt see a man now childles and olde yet or thou see him next he is become riche If anye member be cut of it groweth not againe yf the father dye or borther their liues are neuer called back if thy fame be perished harde is thy reputation recouered but the losse of children is so easlye shortly and fully supplied as in this respecte onlye is not worthy any comfort no though thou were assured he were thy sonne in dede And how incertaine that is O Lorde who knoweth not thy beliefe must do it beliefe is therein nedefull Only the fidelitie of thy wife doth make him thine other assurance hast thou none But if a man doe happen to mourne for the death of an other mans childe for by coniecture Bastardes dye sonest by reason they were gotten with feare and most vnquietnes of mynde then looke what Laughter yt prouoketh But now thine owne Chylde a thing vnknowē but only to his mother is taken away what part of him was thine his soule I neuer found any so wicked as would be of that mynde his body howe can that bee when he is made of his fathers seede which is the superfluous noryture of the thirde concocktion as the donge fyrst the vrine second yf whatsoeuer commeth of superfluitie be ours then so shall wormes and Lyce bee ours and worthy our loue Remember how much seede in tymes past thou hast consumed in waste eyther vpon harlots or vpon thy wife being withe childe all that is loste and thou complaynest not what is more in thy sonne then the effusion of thy seede wilt thou then so muche lament a vyle and disdained thinge wherof is no reason If thou respect the beginninge thou shalt fynde that thou lamentest none other then a litle
and Pythius for theyr bountye to the Persian kinges C. Caelius for his Testament Ptolomeus for princely maiesty Erictonius and Sysiphus throughe Poets libertye L. Drusus for hys magnificence So as none almost for onely riches gayned glory although they were such meÌ„ as might easylier attaine to fame for vertue then so greate riches To what vse that after death riches should serue no manne knoweth nor can imagine And although that after death they did yelde glorye to thee and vse to others yet the same is to thee nothing at all Rather ought thou remember to passe in to those partyes whether thou can carrye nothinge besydes thy vertue and vyces of mynde When soeuer therefore thou shal dye wyll come to memory not thy ryches but thy sinnefull offences not thine honour or auctoritye but thy hope and fayth of Saluation For at that instant I omit thy former myseryes all thinges shal be subuerted and to thy sighte the hole worlde shal be turned to the first Chaos And as the land doth seeme to moue in y sight of such as sayle in the ship yet in deede doth not but it is the shippe that remoueth and not the land so in the houre of death shal the whole world seeme to be subuerted wheÌ„ thou shalte for euer take leaue of earthlye life neuer againe to see thy worldlye frendes nor thy riches wherein thou so much delighted Therefore if after death thou hopest of anye lyfe why doest thou not coÌ„sume thy tyme in vertue or if none yet why seekest thou not thyne owne quyet syth for other lyfe thou lokest not nor hopest to returne againe to this But happilye it maye be sayde that this sorrow is sweete as it is to rubbe a soore A pleasure it is to be riche to gouerne to be praysed and to oppresse others this is the vttermost marke of mans felicitye O foolishe imagination but let that passe so thou disproue not others of sounder opynion Yet if wythout offence I maye so do let me aske why men lyke vnto children do builde houses that wil by and by fall downe whye doe they vainlye trauayle not onely in bodye but also in minde Yet let vs a whyle conuert our speach to other matter for I am enforced many wayes to degresse from our purpose and let vs fyrst declare why my former booke became so longe and therewythall shewe that for all calamityes if any seeme intollerable there is one remedye It was therefore wyth greate diligence approued y death is not to be nombred amonge the euils for seynge the meane to come therevnto is open to all men none but such as willinglye are can iustlye be called vnhappye Tiberius suruayinge his prysoâ—ers was asked by one of them howe sone hee shoulde dye aunswered â–ª I am not as yet reconsyled vnto thee A true aunswere surely in respect of the matter but tyraÌ„nous if y consyder the meaning And this was one other cause why my last booke was the loÌ„ger For against al sortes of myseryes thre special remedyes we haue Death Wysedome and Fortune They are coÌ„monly constrayned to vse y helpe of death that cannot take commoditye of the other too being fallen into those calamities which seeme the greatest Wherefore Damidas the Lacedemonian seemed discretelye to aunsweare one saying vnto hym that vnlesse the Lacedemonians were reconsyled to Philippus they shoulde be in greate hazarde for at that tyme the Lacedemonians were the kinges ennemyes who had wonne Peloponesus O cowardly man quoth Damidas what can be intollerable to vs if we feare not to die In lyke maner a boye of Lacedemon being taken by Antigonus and solde in seruices meeete for free men did willinglye yelde himselfe to take paines but when he was employed to vile works and amonge y rest to emptye vrinals he refused to do it For which wheÌ„ his master did sore threateÌ„ him he forthw t climed vppon the toppe of the house and sayde now shalte thou knowe whom thou hast boughte and therewithall cast himselfe downe headlonge So Crassus beynge taken prysoner and fearinge dishonour with his ryding rod he strake oute the eye of a barbarous souldiour who moued with ire forthwyth did slea hym A common experience it was in the old time by willing death to eschewe long or shamefull kinds of dyinge And if I should write the names onelye of such as in the raignes of Nero Caligula and Tâ—berius did willingly kill themselues the historye would be to longe or if I rehersed the nomber no manne woulde beleue mee Nowe whilst wee speake of these voluntarye deathes it commeth to memorye that not longe since in the Cittye of Venis there lyued a certayne Apoticarye he for some great offence being coÌ„dempned to dye desyred to speake wyth his brother who in kissing hym deliuered certaine poyson which he broughte in his mouth closed within a nut shel by force whereof after a fewe houres he dyed whereby he saued himselfe from longer sorrow and eschewed the reproche of dishonourable death We reade y some men to auoyde extreame sickenes haue voluntarily ended their liues of which nomber was Pomponius Atticus a famous man extremelye tormeÌ„ted wyth a greuous disease at length fynding some rest pyned himselfe for not falling into his former paynes In lyke maner dyed Corellius Rufus to auoyde the paynes of the goute But oure Lawes do not permit any maÌ„ to procure his owne death and for good reason For that nothing shoulde be intollerable to a Christian man onelye extreame tormente which the Lawe doth not allowe yet by law is permitted Now let vs proue y besydes this intollerable sorrow and y not altogether except there is nothing that can make a maÌ„ discouraged and that all men beinge wyse are equallye happie and vnhappy So as I may thincke with Socrates that if all mens cares and euilles were by one assente layde togethers on one heape and equallye deuided to euerye man alike after wee had seene the greatnes of others greeues we would choose to take vppon vs our owne rather then to abyde the chaunce in deuision because eche man knoweth his owne euils and is ignorant how great the greeues of others be which is the reason why ech maÌ„ thinketh himselfe most vnhappy In discourse whereof two thinges may be obiected the one y this booke can onely profite those that be learned and also withoute this the learned by readinge of Cicero chiefelye his bookes De Finibus bonorum his Tusculane questions his Paradox and De Senectute Plutarchus Petrarchus Boetius with diuers others shal finde no small remedye in all calamities And how shal the simple and vnlearned sorte as is the most part of the people and many gentlemen also take profite of this booke So as in comfortinge the learned I shal seeme presumptuous and for y vnlearned superfluous But I neede not feare to be herein accused because as at the beginninge I 〈…〉 other bookes were made for others â—se but this onelye for my selfe
passe Likewise didde the Romaines when Silla hadde resigned the Offyce of Dictator and liued in priuate state notwithstandinge hee had greuously offended the people yet did they suffer him to passe without hurt thinking that reuenge is to be vsed vpon mighty men those that beare rule vpon those that were by law or assent dismoūted from authority courteously cōpassionately to entreate thē was a signe of a good man. Therfore there is no greater argument of felicity no redier waye to glorie nor better meane to quiet then to disdayne iniuries Beholde the dogs which be of many other beasts the most improfytable yet are much more made of then eyther Oxen or Horse onlie because they suffer all iniuries their maysters do offer vnto them If thou Stryke theym they fawne If thou dryue theym awaye frome thee they retourne vnto thee if thou chide them they flatter Finallye he is much worse then any beast that cannot disdayne iniuryes No brutishe beast is mindefull of offence done vnto him Therefore that man that seeketh reueng is not wyse loued of God nor lōge happye If thou suffer a whyle thou shalt see thy wronges reuenged by nature by chaunce or by some other meane And him whom wyth extreme care trauayle and hazard of thy selfe thou sought to offende shal be wythout thyne euill or myserye destroyed The liues of all euill men that do perturbe the quiet of the good are short or at least wise that happines of small continuance If therefore forbearing iniurye no man is myserable then is it better for all men whether they can or not not to be reuenged because it is manifest that before reuenge of iniurye no mā is in mysery The offence that men in these dayes do thincke the greatest is the infidelity of wyues But in so dishonest a matter not to trouble the eares of good men I meane nothing to speake notwithstandinge I call to remembrance that Pompeius for adultry cast of his wife Metia and for the like faulte did P. Caesar put awaye Pompeia both excellente men and amonge the Romaynes inferiour to none for auctoritye deserte wysedome All which notwithstanding eyther the importunacy◠of adulterous or the wantonnes of women did make theyr beddes defiled Septimius Seuerus and Antonius the Philosopher had dishonest wyues yet canst thou not fynd any better or more worthye men in that common weale When a frende of Antonius did wyshe hym to put away his dishonest wyfe he aunsweared saying euen so I may do and therewithall loose her dowrye which dowyre was the Romaine Empyre because Faustina was daughter of Pius Antonius the Emperor Therfore though Antonius wittīgly or Seuerus vnwittingly kept theyr aduoulterous wiues I cannot thincke it was preiudiciall to theyr reputatiō vertue or felicitye Neyther do thou thincke that this blot doth blemish the reputation of common persons more thē these most noble personages for seing the fault is in others the dishonoure cannot appertayne vnto thee Therefore a Cittizē of Sparta finding an adulterer a bed wyth his euil fauoured wyfe sayd alas vnhappy man what necessity hath driuen the to do this deede To cruel it were to impute that to thine owne follye whiche by no pollicye can be preuented as though thy vertue estimation were stayned by y default of another Yet nowe a dayes this reproche is cast vppon the man So did not Salethus Prynce of Crotona who made an ordinaunce more harde then the Lawe Iulia which was that cockould makers should be burned quicke Supposyng that none offēce was more wicked Yet when afterwards hee hymselfe had defyled hys brothers wyfe and was taken he made so wyse an Oration as he people were cōtent to punishe his offence wyth exile onelye Notwythstanding knowing the greatnes of the fault willinglye he cast himselfe into the fyer and was burned Thus we fynde hee desyred not pardon though his words were to such effect but rather sought to shew that none offence could be so greate but might deserue to be pardoned Therfore this iniurye cōmeth not of the wyues defaulte but the imperfection of tyme wherin we being vxorious the reproch is cast vppon men the periury vppō God neither shal this plague cease till that as men say Polipus haue eaten out himself the power of Mahumet hath stayed theyr slaunder But of iniuryes we haue now enoughe sayde let vs therfore speake of other calamityes among which imprisonment seemeth the chiefe In prison is darckenes vncleanenesse lacke of companye fetters and fynallye as it seemeth all sortes of myserye which prouoked Boetius to crye out sayinge You mourning Muses reache vvherof I should endight And bathe ▪ my face in bitter teares vvhervvith my vvoes I vvright Alas good frende what is this lyfe other then an imprisonment of mynde much worse then that of the body would God this quiet might chaūce to me which so manye worthy men haue desyred Amongest whom Demostenes that excellent Oratour to the end he might be enforced to kepe the house cut of the one syde of his bearde Where is truer contemplacion then in solitary life what place is more fit for studye then wher is quietnes neither did Boetius write any worke better then y he inuented in prison did not Aesopus long time lurke within a tub Democritus willingly inhabite the dennes of dead men studying wrytinge And the more their eyes were darckened the more theyr mindes were lightned Plato telleth y Anaxagoras while he remayned in prison wrote the booke De Circuli quadratura To whom could imprisonment be more greuous then to Socrates when the end was death the time long and incertaine yet neuerthelesse he slept swetely studyed Philosophye and wrote Verses So as Socrates gaue more light to the pryson then the prison gaue darcknes to Socrates PAVLVS the Doctoure of the worlde sent the greater parte of his epistles from pryson as to the Ephesians to Timothe and Philemon For like reasō is seruitude pacientlye to be borne seynge nature hath not more liberally bestowed her gyftes on the mayster then the seruaunte They are equallye wyse equallye beutifull equallye healthfull and finally in body minde therin excelleth his seruaunt And for quietnes of mynde the seruaunt hath the aduauntage For he seeketh onelye to content one whych is his mayster for whiche doinge hee is prouided for of meate drincke apparell and all other necessaryes But a mayster must not onelye be careful of himselfe but also of others Euerye losse is hinderance to the mayster but to the seruaunt not so Therefore if it were lawfull more men woulde commit themselues to seruitude thē desyre to become free Who so doth consyder well shal see that when we thincke oure selues most free wee serue maysters more seuere as Princes God necessities lawes and pleasure which bee also common to seruauntes yet there withall they haue foode apparel and houses which the maysters haue not It is the lesse maruayle why some bondmen haue refused to be made free
no collicke or other tormente is comparable to this paynes Notwithstandinge how great soeuer they be they leaue not to liue in delight and as wonte they were approue the ioyes of Venus short wythout the desyre of well doinge There is no griefe so great that a resolute minde will yelde vnto Possidonius the Philosopher extremely sicke sayde vnto Pompeius beinge come to visite hym y the greatnes of pains should neuer make him coÌ„fesse that sickenes was euill Neyther in deede can that be euyll which is wythoute vs therefore the griefe of the body if it do not ouercomour minde cannot be sayd to be ours How wel did that seruaunt whych â—â—ue Asdruball declare it For hee beinge greuouslye tormented for the murder of hys maister did notwythstandinge in countenaunce shewe the ioye he felt for hauing reuenged the iniurye of his maister I remember that when Antonius Cribellus was condempned by publike assent to be torne in peeces in preparinge himselfe to bee executed sayde that there was no torment so greate as coulde cause him coÌ„fesse the companions of his offence yet affyrminge there were suche but hee would neuer bewray them What marueile was it then though Pompeius so manfully helde hys finger to be burned in the candell before the kynge Genthius seyng that thereby the kyng myghte perceyue there was no hope to wreste out any intelligence at the Embassadours hands With like pacience did Sceuola burne his hande before the kinge Porcenna Neyther haue there wanted women y haue deserued such glorye The mother of Hircanus the Iewe beinge offended by Ptolomeus her sonne in lawe wylled Hircanus not to leaue of his enterpryse but rather reuenge the death of hys father whom Ptolomeus had slayne Epicharis Liberta more noble then many men for no torment could be coÌ„strayned to confesse her offences or her companioÌ„s in offendinge Quintilia a little personage suspected for the conspiracye agaynst Caligula being racked wyth great torment confessed nothinge whereby she was set at libertye as giltlesse and receyued reward as innocent What shoulde I speake of Barbara Agatha a Christian wyth dyuers other vyrgins the nomber of whom is hardly to be beleued and theyr constancye so marueylous as they seemed not onelye paciently to haue suffered tormentes but also to haue wyshed for theim But this vertue procedeth of oure Christianitye Let vs returne to naturall reasons Ther is no rest so welcome as that which followeth great trauayle nor death soe muche desyred as where sickenes hath beene moste extreame The ende therefore of all griefe eyther by recouerye or death is pleasaunte It is also to be consydered that all suche as suffer great tormentes being perswaded of the immortalitye of soules oughte thereby thoughe none other reason were to be comforted And suche as beleeue of none other lyfe are sure that death is y ende of all myseryes Therefore if thy griefe groweth vppon deserte deseruinglye thou oughte to beare it for thereby thou doest decrease thy griefe and saue thy minde from due tormente neyther oughtest thou to punish thy body and minde both at one time seinge thy soule is afterwardes to receyue his chastisemente The same or more profytable reason maye bee made for sickenes then sorrowe for what can be intollerable in sickenes if sorrowe be awaye yea hardlye it can be thought howe manye commodityes it bringeth In sicknes wee learne howe we bee howe frayle the condition of life is howe incertayne and subiecte to the power of others Thereby wee are taughte to be mindefull of an other lyfe and that we oughte not to doe that to an other which we wold not haue don to our selues Therefore wee become more temperate and continente yea to some sicknes haue beene cause of longe lyfe amendemente of fame and encrease of vertue If sickenes were not a man shoulde become more harde harted then the Tiger and more cruell then the Lionesse Macrobius thincketh that sickenes doth more often happen to those whom God loueth then those whom hee hateth Seneca supposed that hee is most vnhappy that neuer feeleth aduersity and that hee is most myserable that is most happye Saint Paule sayth whom God loueth him hee chasteneth The nature of man is vnbridled and were it not like wheate well sifted woulde become as sauage as the wilde beastes When the soule loueth the bodye then is it more noble and perfite because then it commeth to hys owne nature beinge vnbourdened of the bodye which hindered the sight and perfite knowledge It is therfore the lesse maruaile that those that be most weake of body and of shortest lyfe be of best indgemente and moste apte to knowe No man hath all giftes if thou haue stoore of vertues of y mynde thou arte of necessity the more sicke of bodye Then whether wouldest thou rather haue a stronge bodye and a witte lyke vnto beastes or a weake bodye wyth an excellente sprighte Some brutishe beastes there are also as muche or more subiecte to sickenes as menne as the Lyon and Goate for whiche cause those that doe vse to sell Goates do not warrant them for sound as they doe other cattell but as Varro sayth this daye hee is well and drincketh and lyke enoughe hee maye so continue And albeit these beastes be neuer but sicke yet wantinge reason doe playe and take disporte But man to hys owne sorrowe is partaker of reason whereby hee calleth to consyderation his myseryes Yet is it worthely to be noted that seeldome times we see honest men troubled with outward greeues and those that be temperate are not often offended with inward miseries But some men do thincke deafnes and blyndnes more intollerable then Sicknes though the same seemeth lyttle to hinder the felicitye of man. Homerus beinge blynde excelled all the Poetes both Latyne and Greeke Tymolion beinge blynd gouerned the people of Syracusa Appius Claudius brake the dishonorable peace whiche the Romaynes had taken with Pirrus and therin declared he sawe more then all others hauinge eyes Hannibal hauinge one only eye conquered almost all Italy and excelled all captaynes both Carthaginences Romaines Scipio onlye reserued Iohn kinge of Beemia was also blynde yet a valiant and wise captayne He knowinge him selfe ouermatched wyth the power of his enemies manfully didde charge them to the ende that if he could not get the vyctorye yet he would not be accompted cowardlye One blynde man not long before our age was so cunninge in musicke as excelled all other in those dayes and was therfore greatly esteemed and by princes enriched The blinde man hathe also hys delightes as banquettinge venery musicke and learning and if he were not so borne he is blind but some part of his lyfe He may also se dreaming and therfore Aristoteles sayth that the vertue of seinge resteth not in the eyes but in the brayne because if the sight were in the eye then the eyes beinge put out the man in dreame should se nothing as doth he that was blinde borne But if a manne