contrarie haue thereby gained immortall praise and glorie Likewise there is no doubt at all but that the fathers kindnesse ought to exceed all other loue following the example of our maker who leaueth not to exercise his mercy together with his iustice and that it is so he many times punisheth sinnes both in this world and in the world to come moreouer we must not thinke any father so cruell to hurt his sonne in the little finger without feeling the griefe thereof himselfe in the middest of his heart and therefore it is a meere folly to teach fathers how they ought to loue their children since nature who is the mistresse of all humane creatures instructeth them therein sufficiently and as it is most certain that princes or such as rule are aboue all others bounden to be vertuous and that they are constituted as guides and examples for all their subiects to follow so can it not also be denied but that seueritie of iustice is more requisit in them then any of the other vertues if vertues may be feperated and he which will well consider my deed without passion shall find all the foure principall vertues therein to be obserued For first of all I haue done iustice in putting him to death who was not onely the death of an innocent or at the least the same that caused the mother to suffer her child to die but also such a one who defrauded a poore woman of part of her liuing in that he paied her not for the same which she brought to sell for her reliefe My prudence was shewed in putting him to death without any commotion of the people and in terrifieng all others from offending as also to take from euery malefactor all hope to escape iust punishment for their misdeeds My temperance I declared in causing the offender to die by the shortest and secretest maner of death that I could deuise thereby ridding him from the shame to be a spectacle vnto many And my fortitude was manifest in that I was able to ouercome the desire which I had to pardon him both the same and all other offences But in the end considering that the first princes are bound by their examples to stirre vp and prouoke their successors to execute iustice without partialitie I haue for that end sacrificed my will together with the life of my best beloued sonne because the euill customes of the former princes are turned into lawes by those which succeed them and those which are good are quite forgotten if they be not confirmed by verie memorable examples Therefore Saule did not amisse when hee would haue put his sonne Ionathas to death seeing law is to be administred vnto all alike for where exception of persons is respected there must needs corruption of iustice follow which marreth all for nothing can be permament which is corrupted True it is that he was my eldest sonne but being such a one as he was he neither ought to succeed me nor yet to liue any longer and accuse me no more of crueltie since to punish an euill doer is a deed of mercie for pittie without iustice is follie or rather iniquitie and the greater he is that offendeth the more seuere punishment he deserueth For the poore wretch or hee which is of base condition may excuse himselfe by his pouertie by want of instruction by ignorance by his lewd education and such other like reasons both vaine and friuolous but the offences of great personages is to bee attributed to nothing but to pride malice Neither is one death more shamefull then another but only that death where the partie is made a spectacle to the standers by for it is not the death but the offence that is shamefull And therefore in executing iustice I cannot be tearmed cruell vnto mine owne blood or my sonne nor vnto your Prince vnto the Kings daughter neither vnto our children for he not being such a one as hee ought to be was now no more to be regarded by any of vs but was no better then a thiefe and a murtherer Who is then so mad as to be called a grandfather father mother brother or a subiect to so vild a man Neither must these be the meanes to begin those good seruices that ought to be done vnto the crowne of France which was institituted and preserued hetherto by vertue It is a vaine thing to goe about to persuade fathers of the valor or worthinesse of their children seeing that for the most part they beleeue it more then is requisite and alwaies doe excuse their faults more then they ought of which sort I confesse my selfe haue beene one so long as there was any hope of amendment I assure you that a long time was my heart most greeuously perplexed before I could consent vnto the punishment death of my sonne But omitting all other circumstances I will shew you the reasons which moued me to put my sonne to death for the sonnes discredite must needes bee the fathers disgrace because they doe alwaies cocker their children but too much and therefore it was not without cause that the Romanes from whence all good lawes haue their beginning did giue vnto fathers all power ouer the life and death of their children knowing that without most iust occasion they would neuer put them to death No sonne could be more dear vnto me then mine eldest but equitie commandeth me to loue the Common wealth better which in no sort can be regarded when he which ruleth the same is not vertuous because none therein should be in safety if the prince were vicious My life and death is in the mercie of the kings Maiestie but to die I would not haue failed to doe that which I haue done being as we are mortall and death may only be delaied but not escaped Our life also is not to be measured by our years but by our deeds for he hath liued long inough who is by good men deemed most worthie of long life and he cannot die too soone who spendeth his life in wickednesse Wherefore it was no reason that my sonne should haue liued any longer and I would to God that so his reproch might die with him as I wish my renowne may liue after me Touching iudgement he which gouerneth the Commonwealth must needs be iudge in the same Such were the Dictators or Consuls amongst the Romanes and such at this day are kings and princes And Plato saith Happie is that countrie where Philosophers are kings and kings be Philosophers whereby it appeareth that rulers ought to bee iudges as you your selues doe confesse in saying that the king ought to haue iudged my son which indeed had ben reasonable if his Maiestie by his prerogatiue had not giuen me free authority in matter of iustice in such sort then as I am subiect to the iudgement of the king is my sonne subiect vnto mine and I am not to yeeld an account of my actions vnto any other then vnto his Maiestie
were two brethren the one excelling in learning the other in armes Sadoc by Astrologie foretold vnto his brother that if he maried withont the consent of al his brethrē that there should thereby happen a great mischiefe and dishonor vnto al their linage Gamaliel neglecting this aduice did marie in a strange country which done shortly after he brought his wife who was exceeding faire home into his owne countrie and obtaining of his brethren his part of the patrimonie left by his father he liued therevpon peaceably He being one day fallen sicke Sadoc visited him so long that he fell in loue with his faire sister in law and found such means as he inioyed her companie in a manner by force she declared the deed vnto her husband he both slew his brother Sadoc also another of his brethren who came to defend him Whervpon the other brethren and kinsmen being moued therewithall did accuse him to the iustice by these words THey truelie are in a miserable case who haue no freindes that may giue them instruction good counsell in there youth because that youth without the aduise of such as are graue and wise are like a fierce horse without a bridle who ouerthroweth both himself and his rider but far more vnhappie and worthie of all mishap is he that dispiseth good counsell and aboue all other they are most vnfortunat who through such contempt withour being thēselues in anie fault are partakers of such mischeife as therby doth happen as wee O righteous Iudges are who not onlie for such an error haue lost two of the best of our brethren but also are constrained through iust disdaine to demand the death of the third as vnworthie both to be accounted anie of our number and also such a one as deserueth to liue no longer in the world hauing cōmitted so execrable a sin as to murther his own brethren not that the fault inciteth vs to hate him but because the sorow for those whom he hath slaine prouoketh vs to require iustice as well to bridle by this example other such like insolent persons as also that the rest of our parentage may be rid from the fear of this murtherous man spotted with the blood of his brethren For it commonlie falleth out that such blood thirstie men as he is cannot refraine from shedding humane blood as it appeareth by Abimilech the Hebrue who slue seuentie of his brethren and by Absalon who hauing caused his brother Amon to be slaine would haue done the like vnto his father what shall I say of Ioab and others of the Iews These are the vertues which a man learneth in following the warres who being vsed to murther finding no enemies killeth his friends and afterwards his kindred and brethren as this hath done so did Romulus cause his brother to be slaine and Alexander killed his foster brother Clitus others his good friends and seruants Aso Epaminundas the Thebane Manlius Torquatus and Aulus Posthumius Tubero being Romans slew their sons more worthy to liue then they vnder the coulor of obseruing militarie discipline The like did Brutus being in exile and Cassius the Ensigne of Crassus saieng that their sonnes conspired against them the like did Artaxerxes Mnenon King of Persia Likewise the great Constantine caused his sonne and his brother in law to die without shewing a reason wherefore The King of Iotara slew all his sonnes except one because he should be his onely heire Authi Coelio Mithridates a noble warrior slew his mother brother and many of his children Herod put three of his children to death Finally this desire of murthering proceedeth from the vse thereof by the which Etheocles Polinices Tideus Polites Antiochus Aristobulus and an infinite number of others who after they had ben famous warriors became worse then hangmen but who will spare him that for so smal a hire or for a vaineglory to be accounted warlike hazardeth or rather selleth his owne life Yea and for the most part his soule which life he ought not to bestow but only for the safegard and defence of his countrie and familie how can they deserue to inioy life or to be accounted off amongst men who liue to no other end but to murther them and which doe not only delight in making of widdows and orphants but also would willingly make their own wiues and children in the like case though with the price of their liues for the great pleasure they haue to be accounted cruell such a one this our brother but vnworthie that name is and euer hath beene whereby we doe plainely perceiue that like as vertues are linked together so doe vices follow one another for from his youth he hath despised the good counsell both of all his kindred and also of his brother whom he hath afterwards slaine thorow the report of a woman and what woman Forsooth a stranger who being enamoured of a stranger and marrying with him cared not to forsake her countrie and kindred to follow him hether where it may be perceiuing that she was not sufficiently made of to her owne liking and especially of him who foresaw the mischiefe that should happen by her did accuse him vnto her husband knowing him to be as foolish and light of beliefe as prone vnto anger and murther How manie are there that doe themselues prouoke men vnto adultrie But when they see that they are refused by them they doe afterwards complaine that they would haue forced them The wife of Putiphar of Theseus and of others doe verie well witnesse the same what assurance haue we of the chastitie or goodnesse of this woman that she hath not done the like Hardly may a woman be forced which maketh anie resistance and if at the least she want strength to defend her selfe she cannot lacke a tongue nor a shrill voice to crie out being a thing so incident vnto their sex but although she had ben forced indeed was not the law sufficient to haue punished the same Should not we then haue ben as readie as we are now to accuse the offender But forasmuch as truth ingendreth hatred he hauing found an occasion as he thought to offer violence vnto his brother was in sooth very loth to lose the same consider then O you iudges if such faults be not rigorously punished that womē being naturally giuen to reuenge and men ouer easie to beleeue them will commit a thousand mischiefes Lastly it cannot be denied but that it is as great an iniustice to pardon an offender as to condemne an innocent that euen as iustice without mercie is crueltie so also is clemencie without Iustice iniquitie wherefore we are certaine that you will iudge rightly as the law commandeth and conscience and honor doth bind you The Answere of Gamaliel IN effect these my brethren if such they may be tearmed purchasing my death doe verie well shew that another mans misfortune is light vnto them which feele it not and euerie one preacheth patience and temperance
he had receaued so manie detestable persecutions and iniuries Must there then be a quarrell taken because I haue ben more pittiful then my sonne who neuerthelesse would not do anie thing without my commandement by the dutie whcih he ought vnto me which hath chieflie induced him heretofore to commit that offence for which we are both condemned Lastlie reason willeth that your last sentence be not reuoked for no sentēce ought euer to be reuoked to the hinderance or preiudice of such as are to suffer if one of vs must die it is I that ought so to doe seeing that I was first born and being the elder I haue offended through malice but he through ignorance I willinglie and he in obeying me I then being the onlie cause that both hee and I haue offended it is requisit that I onlie should die for both our misdeeds and neuer imagine that my sonne doth for all that escape vnpunished for as all my miserie shall in my death haue an end so shall his calamitie in liuing together with his yeares dailie more and more increase as well in grieuing that hee hath offended the Commonwealth as that he hath ben constrained to kill his father by their commandement who ought to abhorre the onelie thought of so execrable a crueltie The answere of the Iudges OVr sentence was not pronounced by way of mockerie neither was it reuoked to encrease your miseries but onlie to know seeing you are both twaine worthie to die whether of you is most vnworthie to liue for mercie which assuageth Iustice ought alwaies to be extended towards him that is least culpable Wherefore finding your sonne more faultie then you we haue appointed him to die yet not by your hands for we know that the same were rather crueltie then iustice but we haue hereby made a certaine triall whether there were anie vertue remaining in him when in consenting vnto your death he hath bewraied his vngraciousnesse so that except you bee yet an enemie to your countrie you ought not to bewaile the death of a man so wicked or a sonne so worthlesse but we plainlie perceiue that euerie one fauoureth such as himselfe is and that you will neuer surceasse to hate the Commonwealth so that it will bee no great losse although you should as you say die with griefe for such a losse shall be more profitable to all then hurtfull to anie likewise of two wicked men we had rather saue him that by course of nature will die the soonest and which hath little time and lesse strength to accomplish his wicked purpose We haue children but if wee did know that they would euer bee like vnto you or your sonne wee would presentlie doe with them as wee will with him and as wee ought to doe with you they are to bee pittied which are poore and miserable not such as are wicked and malefactors for as to afflict the good it is an act of crueltie so to punish the bad is a deed of charitie we doe not cause your sonne to die for being willing to accomplish our sentence as you say but because he being alreadie worthie of death the same doth make him more worthie and wee doe saue you by our speciall grace because you would not kill him shewing your selfe at the least a better father then he is a sonne and the dutie which he ought vnto you can bee no excuse for him for it is verie apparent that he would hardlie euer haue obeied you had you commanded him to doe anie good true it is that neuer anie sentence is to bee reuoked to the hinderance of the good but as wee haue moderated the first to saue the life of one of you so is it lawful for vs now to applie the other in such sort that he may die which is most wicked Also the choice which we doe put you vnto cannot bee called crueltie seeing that it was not to that end that it should be so effected neither was the same anie suddaine inuention of our owne thoughts but it is to bee considered that the wickednes of malefactors causeth the iudges to inuent new extraordinary punishments thereby to represse vice the sooner To conclude if you thinke that we do you any wrong you may appeale vnto those who haue as great authoritie ouer vs as ouer you Declamation 81. Of a Chirurgion who murthered a man to see the mouing of a quicke heart THere was in Padua a most cunning Chirurgion excelling all others of his time who hauing made wonderfull experiences of his art for no lesse is the desire of cunning then is couetous of coine had also a wonderfull great desire to open a liue man that he might perfectly know the motion of the heart wherevpon hee made diuers and sundrie requests vnto the Senat of Venice that they would grant vnto him some condemned malefactor to make therewith this his desired experience but he could neuer obtaine the same at their hands for the Venetians are by nature not only pittifull but also somewhat supersticious But these refusals did but the more encrease the longing of this Chirurgion for to say the truth euery haulty spirit are in that like vnto women who doe for the most part couet after that which they are forbidden to touch So that hee being still in this rauing or rather longing there came vnto his doore a poore souldiour very well proportioned and of a sound bodie comming newly from the wars and demanded his almes of the Chirurgion who caused him to come in and cherished him secretly some three daies after his owne fantasie afterwards hauing brought him downe into a caue he caused him by certaine fellows hired for that purpose to be bound vnto a post and opening him aliue he saw that in him which he so greatly desired but as no murther can euer remaine vndisclosed long so it happened that one of his confederats was taken for some other crime and being vpon the racke he amongst other matters reuealed the murther which he his companions and the Chirurgion had committed wherevpon they were all taken and the Chirurgion confessed the fact saying TRue it is most iust Iudge and you worthie Senators that I haue ben the death of one man to saue the liues of an infinit number of others not onelie by the cures which I hope to performe during my life but by that which I will leaue behind mee in writing after my death wherefore it may bee said that hauing made an experience so notable and profitable I haue done worthilie but hauing killed a guiltles man I haue done wickedly I confesse it and would confesse to haue offended more hainouslie if I had not more then once intreated that to preuent a further mischiefe I might haue beene allowed to make this triall vpon some condemned malefactor the which I was neuer permitted to doe some one may answere must you therefore kill an innocent Or doe that by your owne authoritie which a whole Senate would neuer
child Wherevpon he made the said Leideric knight and created him Earle of Flanders Now saith the historie that the eldest sonne of the said Earle being old inough to court ladies did meet before the court gates with a woman that had a small basket of fruit to sell which he tooke from her and carried vp vnto the gentlewomen The poore woman staied for money for her said fruit so long vntill it grew towards night and then departing homeward she lost her selfe in the forrest so as she could not find her house vntill the next morning when comming home she found her child dead for want of the teat Wherevpon she complained vnto the Earle he fained to carrie his said sonne abroad to tourney but passing thorow the forrest he caused him to be hanged Wherefore let vs suppose that the people accused the Earle vnto the king in this sort EVery cruelty if it may please your Maiestie is assuredly very odious but that which the father committeth against his owne child is most execrable for the father his kindnesse ought to exceed all other loue imitating therein the loue which God did beare vnto man for the saluation of whom he hath not spared his only begotten son our Lord and Redeemer whose example they are more bound to follow that are chosen to rule others then those which are more base in condition because the people for the most part doe conforme themselues to immitate their actions which command and especially the bad before the good Wherevpon it followeth that he which commandeth ouer a Commonwealth or prouince cannot offend in any meane sort especially if his offence be publike more if the cause be not ouer great but most of all if it be such a vice as degenerateth from the nature of man all which said faults are found in this detestable deed of our Earle hauing wrongfullie put to death his owne son and what sonne Euen his eldest sonne and the same which should haue succeeded him and bene our Earle But what offence can bee more publike then to cause his sonne to die by the most shamefull death in the world For by the halter are theeues executed and yet he had no such cause to put him to death seeing that notwithstanding his fault was remedilesse moreouer there is no â—ice thought more vnbeseeming a man then crueltie and there is no greater cruelty theÌ„ that which is committed against a mans owne blood the which crueltie is not only done against himselfe against his sonne and against vs in putting our Prince to death but also against the mother and brethren of the Prince and that which worst is against your Maiestie hauing executed the sonne of your daughter your nephew and your subiect who in processe of time might haue done good seruice vnto your crowne and state Wherefore this tyrant hath not only shewed crueltie vnto all these aboue named but he hath further manifested his ingratitude vnto his king and soueraigne vnto your Maiestie I say who hath made him noble by knighting him creating him Earle of this countrie and accepting him for your sonne in law What punishment deserueth not a crime so manifest committed against the person of such a monarch But who is so ignorant that will not affirme that in this action froward fortune hath rather beene the cause of the mischeife happened vnto this woman than the prince himselfe or els it was her negligence or ill hap or the desteny of the infant What meant she to stay so long Did not she know where to haue found the Prince the next day Had she lost her money by staying for it But to be short this woman did shew her selfe to be both cruell and obstinate as their sex are for the most part and it may be she staied so long tatling with some of her gossips and boasting that the Prince had bought her fruit as night ouertooke her before she was aware for the prattle of a woman is oftentimes without measure But were it that the Prince his fault were farre more manifest and hainous then it is yet is the cause to be iudged by none but by the king only or by such as should by his Maiestie be deputed and appointed for iudges and it is more vnfit that the father should be iudge of his child then any other because either too exceeding loue or too extreame rage may ouerrule him for when he is angry with those whome he loueth his anger proueth more vehement and dangerous towards them then against others Likewise no iudgement ought to be pronounced without counsell and due informations But what proofes was brought against our prince Where are those which were called to consult vpon iudgement or to giue aduice that he ought to die Alas the father and the hangman were both Iurie Iudge and Executioner Well God graunt this mischiefe proceed not from some other ground that is to say least some old malice long since conceiued hath not made the father to find this occasion to destroy his son it may be chiefely to aduance his second sonne whom he loued better I passe ouer in silence how hee hath secretly endeuoured to haue the world suppose that the same was none of his son therby meaning to slander your daughter for those which know themselues inferiour to their wiues doe neuer loue them heartily but seeke all the meanes they can to make them lesse esteemed and especially such as are ingratefull of whom this Tyrant sheweth himselfe to be the chiefest It may be said that it is not lawfull to accuse any man by coniecture but what vilenesse may not a man imagine by such a one seeing that like as vertues are knit together so do vices follow one another To conclude dread soueraigne we doe better feele this wrong done to your Maiestie to your daughter to her children and to our selues then we are able to expresse the same in words but our iust teares together with our silence demand iustice of your highnesse The answere of the Earle AS nothing surely can be more odious or degenerating from the nature of man then crueltie so also is nothing more necessarie for humane conuersation then iustice ioined with wisedome for indeed without it iustice seemeth to bee no better then crueltie as wisedome also without iustice is esteemed no other then meere malice yet holding these two vertues linked together a man may put his owne child to death and not be taxed of crueltie but rather praised for his pietie and loue towards them and Common-wealth And such were the Numantines accounted for slaying their children rather then they would leaue them for slaues So was Virginius who killed his daughter to saue her chastitie I passe ouer Manlius Torquatus Posthumius and diuers others who put their owne children to death onely for the zeale they had vnto the obseruation of militarie discipline yet for all that not any of all these haue beene iudged to be cruell or worthy of blame but on the
persuading both the one and the other that they were highly bound vnto him Whervnto the Senat was forced to yeeld considering the authoritie which by their fault he had gained amongst the people yet this had beene a small hurt if he had beene contented that but onely himselfe should haue beene king but his actions declared that he would confirme the kingdome vnto his posteritie by the means of Hanniball vnto whom he not only brought his sonne Perolla but himself did stay him from the killing of Hanniball and from the procuring of the freedome of his countrie by this his most noble act Finally this noble yong man did very well shew himselfe to be the sonne of a Roman matron holding that noble mind of his mother How could hee chuse but be greeued at the heart seeing that by his fathers words who rather ought to haue exhorted him therevnto his most couragious purpose was broken from the which this hairebraine man in all vild actions did not only dissuade him but also constrained him to giue it ouer affirming that if he would not bee ruled by him he would aduertise Hannibal thereof yea would couer him with his own bodie in such sort as he should not be hurt vnlesse Pacuuius were slaine Thus he alone did corrupt the faithfull zeale which the child ought to the Romans and his countrie I passe ouer with silence how that hee was the cause that Decius Magius was so euilly intreated by Hanniball in the presence of all the Citizens and then afterwards clogged with chaines to be carried to Carthage if the gods had not succoured him better then this honourable person who had such credit with Hanniball that at his banquet was the second man at the table and his sonne the third and yet did not once excuse but rather most greeuously accused poore Magius to haue alwaies fauored the Roman faction Thus hath this vnhappy man betraied his countrie foure times First when hee put the life of the Senators to the discretiō of the people secondly when he caused Capua to reuolt from the Romanes thirdly when he made an agreement with Hanniball and suffered him to enter into Capua and fourthly when hee kept his sonne from killing Hanniball He will answere that he alone neither caused Capua to reuolt nor to receiue Hanniball I say he did for vnder the colour of his protecting the Senate no man durst gainsay him in any thing except Magius who was punished therefore If those who without calling any stranger doe by no such execrable meanes aspire vnto tyrannie are greeuously punished What torment then may be sufficient to bee inflicted vpon this wicked man Who not content to haue vsurped the gouernement and called in a stranger for his defence did also by threats corrupt the good nature of his sonne Remember O you noble Romans that you haue for lesse fault punished and driuen away your kings and consider also the causes why we cannot much lesse will not be vnder any other then you doe vs iustice then vpon him who hath withdrawne vs from you The Answere AMongst reasonable and vertuous men al vices are odious but aboue all ingratitude is a vice most detestable for it is the cause that manie good turnes are left vndone for euen as the iuie causeth that tree to die about the which it windeth and which sustaineth it so an vngratefull man seeketh the death and destruction of him to whom he is beholding for many good turnes which maketh a number fearefull to employ themselues either for the particular good of any or for the the publicke benefite of many But the noble minds leaue not for all that to doe their endeuors for euen as the sum is nothing infected by the mud vpon which it shineth and as the slanders of the ingratefull can no way hurt the true vertue which euen in the middest of vices shineth as the light doth in darkest places euen so this damned man the more he thinketh to impair my reputatiō the more doth he increase my renowne For first he saith that I haue obtained the chiefest dignities in Capua it is then a signe that either I am vertuous or els the rest of the Citizens that haue aduanced me to such authoritie are al vicious for euery one fauoreth his like repugneth his contrary You say that I thinke my selfe a tyrant Where do you find that tirants do succor or saue the life of such as pretend to be equall with them in power can you denie that by mine industrie the Senat was saued Hath not the effect made the same apparent You say that I brought them in daunger hazarding their liues to the discretion of the inconstant people how is he brought in danger who alreadie by his owne fault is fallen thereinto Do you call it a hazarding to saue mens liues If you had knowne any other meanes more expedient you ought therein to haue giuen your aduise But that in extream euils extraordinary meanes ought to be vsed So I knoing that the euill proceeded aswell from the ouergreat presumption of the Senat as from the insolencie of the people thought to find out the fittest remedie for each partie perceiuing his error framed himselfe accordingly Thinke you before I seemed to make it a question whether the Senators should liue or die that I had not first gained the chiefest of their enemies and that I did not know the weaknesse of the rest And as touching this point of the yeelding to Hanniball the authors of his receiuing they did poison themselues which taketh away the suspition that anie other was the cause thereof How could I then be able to resist Hanniball more then you and others True it is that I was second person in his bancket at the table but the same was rather a signe that he did it to win me then that I was such a one as you tearme me to be For the subtile Barbarian did not embrace those who did already fauor him but such as he would draw vnto him and the better to proue that true my sonne whom he knew to bee a Roman in heart was the third man at his banquet whom trulie I confesse I did dissuade from killing Hanniball because it was a thing impossible being alwaies armed enuironed with his gard and chiefly because he euermore suspected my sonne greatly So that the best that could happen by his rashnesse would be but the death of him manie others and it might be the vtter subuersion and ruin of Capua What hurt then haue I done preseruing such a one as is most affectioned vnto the Romans and also in sauing the cittie which could not faile but fall into their hands againe for al violent things as was the fortune of Hannibal are of so long continuance but being at their Periode turne vpside downe in a moment Therefore in such a time more wisdome consisteth in dissimulation then in obstinate boasting as appeared in that of Magius which was nothing profitable vnto
forget that she held her sonne in her armes Alack her sorrow might very well haue sufficed not only for a penance but also as a most sharp punishment for her offence the which this cruell monster would neuer consider but heaping mischief vpon mischiefe shame vpon shame hurt vpon hurt murther vpon murther had a desire with the price of his life to slaughter her who loued him more then the bals of her eies euen the same who desired not to liue but only to please him but there are some men of which number this is one who the more the poore women are obedient vnto them the more froward and cruell doe they become towards them neuer cherishing them but with reproches blows threats so that they being alwaies possessed or ouercharged with an excessiue feare doe commit a thousand faults because their minds are neuer free to thinke vpon that which they are to doe and who need to doubt but that the feare of this cruel man made the poore innocent forget that she should not haue hazarded the losse of one of her children to haue saued the other Wherefore if therein there was any fault he is to be blamed for it and notwithstanding he hath made her endure a most cruell punishment therfore is there any loue more great then that of the mothers toward the child Had not her pittifull lamentation for her fault committed ben a sufficient pennance for the same Alasse noble iudges the more strange this case is the more great is our griefe which maketh vs to doubt whether our complaints may be heard and if they be heard whether they are vnderstood if being vnderstood whether they be felt for as much as hardly may they be felt by those whom they concerne not so neerely because another mans hurt doth neuer seem so heauy vnto any as it is to himselfe Wherefore we doe throughly assure you that we can better feele our harm then expresse it for when the mind is occupied with passion the spirits must needs faiâ—â— whereby our sences are stopped and our speech hindered Consider with your selues O you iudges if it be possible how great our misery is and let our silence suffice to manifest that which we cannot vtter be you then as iustly seuere as this accursed man is wicked and cruell The kindred of the accused doe Answere ALthough you doe imploy all your skill together with your malice and ignorance which you would hide yet is the same more manifest then any other thing You thinke that you haue shewed a great cunning in persuading that it is fit to put a man to death who would willingly be dead already to what end serueth so much vaine prattle Seeing that he denieth not his fault and that the iudges doe know better then you what punishment he deserueth to what end is it to accuse such a one as accuseth himselfe Where doe you find that it is reasonable to vex the afflicted with iniuries Or that which is worst to encrease his affliction It is you that would heape mischiefe vpon mischiefe shame vpon shame hurt vpon hurt and finally you would increase the number of the dead without considering that the same passions which made this dead woman carelesse of one of her children to saue the other did also stirre vp this poore disgraced man to doe that which he ought not to haue done I passe ouer with silence the occasions that she might more theÌ„ once haue giuen him to haue vsed her ill the which he hauing hitherto patiently resisted hath alwaies endured considering that he could not offend her being the halfe of his flesh without hurting himselfe but at the last being prouoked in such sort as he was blinded with a rage no lesse extreame then iust he hath done that which was no sooner executed but he would haue reuoked it with the price of his owne life the which he yet doth offer to make satisfaction for his fault for the which he is so penitent that he will thinke himself happy to finish his griefe by death but euen as iustice suffereth not those offenders to die who would afterward liue honestly and well so is it not reasonable to put those to death that desire the same and like as they do not excuse or dissemble with those although no great accusation is brought against theÌ„ that be malefactors so also ought not their sentence to be the more seuere for the multitude or sharpe and cruell words of the accusers but moderating the rigour of the lawes according to the equity of their conscience they ought to iudge rightly not laying all the fault vpon him that is accused nor also wholie acquiting her that is dead seeing that she is not altogether faultlesse I will not here alleage any more reasons vpon coniecture as you do of the loue that she did beare vnto her husband for he might say that he loued her as well for against such as we do best loue are we most extreamely angrie when the cause is great but let vs put the case that he was testie froward and cruell as you say ought not she then to haue hidden her fault for a time and after haue caused some other to haue told him or rather haue hidden her selfe to auoid his first anger You will say that her passion did blind her iudgement this excuse serueth as much for him as for her but this is the mischiefe that the most part of women are neuer readie nor aduised in doing any thing but mischiefe Wherevnto they applie their wits so much that they are to seek in doing good for if it were otherwise a man should not see a woman naturally more readie to frame an excuse inuent a deceit or a leasing and other such like remedies then a verie wise man could doe Whereof also they make their boast Finallie none can know their subtilties malice forwardnesse to mischiefe and slacknesse to goodnesse so well as he that is married and yet they that haue ben often married know best for if those which are once married deserue to be placed in the rancks of such as are diseased the others may be accounted in the number of those that are mad Touching your other reasons there is no need to answere them sauing only that the womans friends and kindred haue their ears continually full of the imperfections of their husbands the which when anie mischiefe happeneth they can tell how to augment them without considering that their own wiues doe say as as much of them Lastly it may please the iudges to haue more regard vnto this poore accused soule then to the insolent babble of his spightfull accusers for who can be more worthie of pittie then he vnto whom life is more bitter then death Declamation 10. Of Caius Seruilius who is accused to haue slaine Spurius Melius that had releiued the people during the famine AT Rome during the time of the sixtie eight Consulship the famine was so exceeding great that many of the
in no sort be so because our enemies which might helpe him with their fauour and counsell are abroad Coriolanus being banished would haue destroied Rome had not his mother by her wise persuasions preuented him so also would this our enemie not be the first that of an exile would aspire to be king for such as are farre from their countrie experience and want maketh them much more industrious and resolute so that so long as he liueth wee shall be like him that holdeth the wolfe by the eares who no sooner is let lose but he doth mischiefe and to hold him still is both ircksome and dangerous for as the wolfe hurteth those whom he seeth before he be spied euen so this race of aspiring Tirants infect the righteous minds of those which are not well acquainted with their nature But would you willingly incurre this blame to haue slaine your husband for some other cause rather then for the good of the Commonwealth we haue no such bad opinion of you yet let your good deed then be sound and without spot rather then to demand such a thing whereof vnto you there would come exceeding mischiefe and vnto vs most great danger like as you know that the law saith that the Tyrant killer should be rewarded so you may remember as wel as the reward that it also saith that all the Tirants kindred ought to be put to death If you haue slaine your husband neither for loue of the law nor for the good of the land you are greatly to be blamed and to be punished for murthering your husband but if your zeale be good suffer then that good may come therof You will say my sonne is yoong true it is and therefore he may the more easily grow worse then better as those doe who are by nature borne vicious and they are such for the most part as are borne of tyrannous parents as his father hath ben prooued and so shall you likewise be if you obey not the law Finally the father and the mother haue ben both very resolute the one to vsurpe the other either to suppresse or desirous to renue the tirannie vntill now we doe not know whether of the twain was meant but we know very well how dangerous the preseruing of a son borne of such parents is whose qualities he may very well follow resolue you then to put vs out of doubt in asking such a reward as may be graunted that to a good and vertuous end you murthered the tirant or els prepare you to receiue such punishment as a woman deserueth that for her owne particular passions hath slaine her husband The Answere HOw now my good lords and friends Are you desirous that in you this detestable Prouerbe should bee verefied which saith That there is nothing more vnconstant vnthankful and more exceeding insolent then the common people so soon as they perceiue themselues free from feare It should seeme then by this that tyrannie keeping you in awe and so consequently in obedience would be more profitable for you then libertie but God forbid that so it should be said of my countriemen I had rather die a thousand times if it were possible and seeing I haue not spared mine owne husband for the good of the Common-wealth neuer thinke that I would spare my sonnes life yea or mine owne vnto your preiudice But I feare that we thinking to doe well both you and I shall be blamed I of crueltie and you of crueltie and ingratitude together for greater crueltie is it to slay an innocent then to pardon an hundred offenders consider then that her sonne who hath set you at libertie hath neuer offended the Common-wealth but as yoong as he is he hath alwaies seemed to abhorre the cruelties of his father who being put to death by my hands the child hath verie constantly showne himselfe to be more glad for the benefit of the Commonwealth then sorrie for the death of his father and with a great contentment hath he left off his gorgeous apparell and his accustomed delicacie to conforme himselfe after my will like vnto the rest of the Citizens Why then my very good lords doe you desire the death of an innocent which sheweth himselfe so affectioned towards you And such a one as may one day do you good seruice wherfore doe you not as well consider the good which he may doe vnto you as the mischiefe which you imagine to be done alreadie by him But the hate which you did beare vnto the father you turn vpon the son when you say that he is the sonne of a Tirant why doe you not as well say that he is her sonne that slew the tirant If you wil not loue him for my sake at the least let your hate be as little as your loue and condemne him not before he haue offended let him liue a while and if he commit the least offence in the world punish him with death loe then the gift which I doe craue for the reward of my desert not the life of my sonne but the delay of his death you say that it is not you but the law which requireth his death it is to be considered that all the interpretations or gloses of the laws ought rather to tend vnto clemencie then vnto rigour and principally when the effect thereof tendeth vnto crueltie for this law which saith that all the kinne and adherents of the tirant must die ought to be vnderstood of those which haue aided and assisted him to exercise his tirannie or that haue beene his partakers therein but wherein might this poor innocent haue offended who knoweth not as yet what tirannie meaneth you must then remember my lords that he is her son who hath made the zeale of her countrie striue and triumph ouer the name of a Princesse ouer the delights of the world ouer soueraigntie so greatly desired of women the which they themselues are vnapt to obtaine ouer wealth the which they so much esteeme and finally ouer a husbands loue and a vowed faith and that which is not the least esteeming all impartial pleasures as base in respect of your generall profit Remember that I haue depriued my self of my husband that I haue slain my child his father what zeale would you haue more great towards our fellow countrymen But if there were the least shew in the world that he would euer be preiudiciall vnto you I would not let for any thing to sacrifice him by and by for your safetie but seeing I am certaine that he will become a very good Citizen and a faithfull louer of his countrie following the same example which I haue giuen beleeue me sirs that I had rather die then he should as also I will not liue any longer after his death Will you iustlie deserue this infamie O you Citizens not onelie to haue beene vnwilling to giue the promised reward vnto her that redeemed you But also to haue ben the cause that she suffered a death more
well that I haue bought and trulie paied for my horse neuertheles it hath beene violently taken from vnder me euē when I had most vrgent cause to vse him for I was going to confesse and comfort a sicke person who through the fault of him that tooke away my horse is dead without confession behold now by this meanes a soule in danger of eternall damnation for it is the burthen of sins that causeth soules to be lost in like sort I was in double daunger of my life one way if his enemies had knowne that he had preuailed by my horse to escape from them another for the feare that he did put me in together with the force that he did vse in taking away my horse as also because I was compelled to goe well three long houres a foot before I could find any house whereby I caught such a quartine feuer as will easilie bring me to my graue for as the quartine feuer purgeth and maketh yoong men to grow so doth it kill such old men as I am but although all this were not likelie yet ought iustice to be done as an example for theeues otherwise shall no man be able to trauell the countrie if such a one be pardoned as robbeth a Priest why shall not he hope for the like that robbeth a Marchant You will say I haue restored your horse and rewarded you with a gift as much as the horse might bee woorth the matter consisteth not therein but in that you did take him from me against my wil with violence and threats But in restoring of my horse haue you raised the dead to life againe to receiue confession And am I cured of my disease Especially if your enemies had ouertaken you who should haue restored me my horse Seeing I knew not who you were but onelie hee which robbed me I require and hope that such iustice shall be extended towards mee as will make others by your example to respect those who are recommended vnto them from God and the church The Answere IF I had taken your horse through malice couetousnesse or other vild meaning your reasons were to be esteemed but I did pray you either to lend him or sell him vnto me to saue my life yet you being more hard to bee entreated then the boisterous wind or raging waues had no pittie of my distresse wherevpon your crueltie constrained me against my will to commit that which in no sort I had determined to doe but what is he that will not endeuour by all the meanes he can to escape death Assure you that in such a daunger I had no leasure to consider the inconueniences that might happen nor to thinke vpon either of our deaths that might haue chaunced by this deed for I might haue died without confession as well as the other and in a worser sort then by a quartine ague whereof you feare to die I confesse that I haue offended you and am readie to make you such amends as shall bee thought meet but I could doe no lesse without losing my life at the same time If one will do much to deferre his death a little while why should it not bee lawfull for me to saue my life altogether The which for a need I would bestow for you Finallie necessitie hath no law and that cannot be tearmed a robberrie which I haue done for there is nothing so well done if one will haue respect vnto the chances that may come thereof but may be thought ill done for humane actions are such that in all things there is more danger then assurance therfore our actions are not to be iudged by the euent therof but by the intent of them that do them what would be said then if being willing to draw you forth of a pit wherein you might happen to fall I should chance to breake your necke Should I be guiltie thereof How manie men are killed by the Phisitions thinking to cure them Are they punished therefore No truly because their meaning was not hurtful no more also was mine as I haue declared by my liberall restitution but consider that necessitie maketh many things lawful and that it is so it is writtē that Dauid being compelled through hunger entred into the temple and he and his man did eat vp the shew bread The which was lawfull fo none but the Priests to eat also manie times sacred and holie things are gaged sold through necessitie how much more lawful then is it for a man to take a horse to saue his life with a good intent to make satisfaction although you are a sacred parson sir yet I hope you are too wise to beleeue that your horse is one so also I wold not haue the Prouerb to be verified in you which saith that neuer Priest nor woman could either pardon an offence or acknowledge anie seruice done vnto them this were a vice farre vnfitting your profession but finally seeing you will in no sort be satisfied with reason you are as much bound to beleeue the iudges as I am to endure that which it shal please them to adiudge me and so shall I neither be bound to you in any thing nor for anie thing seeing you haue brought mee to the extremitie of the law Declamation 15. Of him that after he had bargained with a souldior to kill his enemy did forthwith repent him of the fact A Certaine man bargained with a souldiour to kill his enemie but afterwards repented him and forbad him in any sort to touch him to the end to hurt him and this hee did in the presence of two witnesses the souldiour notwithstanding went on forward and killed him and afterward was taken and condemned to die but the Attorney Generall accused the man that had hired him of this capitall crime saying SHall it then be tollerated in a Commonwealth that anie man may hire one to murther another at his owne pleasure As if there were no iustice to determine their controuersies and quarels If such faults may be excused or wincked at who shall be anie where in safetie If it bee an offence but onlie to imagine such a wickednesse how much more then is it to commit it And so much the greater is this fact as that he was not contented to offend himselfe alone but that he hath likewise prouoked another to be partaker of his villanie especially with the price of his monie moreouer it is a capitall crime when one enemie killeth another how much more hainous is it then when one goeth about to cause him to be murthered by such a one as not onlie wisheth him no hurt at all but also by such a one as skantlie knoweth him What infection What plague What abhomination can be more great in a Common-wealth then this If whooredome be punishable the which were it not for the reproch thereof is rather an encreasing then a losse vnto the Common-wealth What punishment may be seuere inough for those as will infect the same with such murthers
mine intent I will not say for my defence that her husband hath rather ben the cause of his death then I seeing that he would needs passe by such a place where manie men were fighting for not onlie they which are wise and well aduised do shun the like meetings but also fooles children and the verie brute beasts doe flie from them as touching the criminall coniectures that it was a thing done of set purpose the sharpe pursute of mine enemies doe sufficientlie excuse me and if there be anie other proofe more sufficient then hers of such a fact trulie I will condemne my selfe as worthie of death but being otherwise I cannot be so where she saith that I ought not to throw stones at anie man I answere that he which would iudge of that it were fit that he did prooue the like daunger as mine was to affirme also that to haue manie enemies is a signe of a wicked man is a verie absurd iudgement for it is often seene that the good are hated as well as the bad and that which is worst It is of the wicked that the good are hated so that they are in far greater danger and verie often constrained to defend themselues euen so it fell out with me But who was or euer shall be milder then Socrates And who had more wicked enemies then he who neuer ceassed to slander him euen to the procuring of his death as an offender What shall we say of Phocion and of Aristides likewise of Solon and Licurgus and of the great Scipio Africanus I passe ouer with silence our Sauiour Christ and other Saints least I should prophane their holie names in placing them amongst other men I am not be alone then that hath enemies neither ought this mishap impaire my reputation or make my cause the worse in anie sort Finallie there is no fault so little that cannot be greatlie aggrauated if anie man will seeke for circumstances as this woman doth who would prooue the Common-wealth and so manie persons interessed that it seemeth by her speech that her husband was immortall but I demand if he should haue died of an appoplexie or some other sudden death whether should not the losse haue ben all one But it is the manner of women to make the wrongs which they receiue seem great esteeming those which they commit verie little wherefore it were superfluous to answere her tedious accusations which is the cause that referring my selfe as well vnto the mercie as to the equitie of the iudges I will attend their iust sentence Declamation 18. Of Sergius who fought against his enemies without aduertising his fellow Virginius thereof and therefore is not aided by him SErgius and Virginius both equall in authoritie were captaines in the Romane army before the cittie of the Veies Sergius was encamped on that side where the Tuscanes might come to releiue the besieged cittie and Virginius on the other Now it happened that Sergius was assailed of the Tuscanes and fought with them without requiring aid of Virginius so that part of the campe was thereby discomfited he being returned to Rome accused Virginius for not aiding him and said thus WHat profiteth wisdome courage and dexteritie in a commander when enuie alone is farre more able to hinder him then all these vertues together are able to further the aduancement of his seruice that desireth to profit the Common-wealth Euen so is it happened vnto me for although Virginius and I did both together imploy all our best means to besiege and take the citie of Veies for the honor and profit of the Senat and people of Rome yet were we neuer able to doe anie seruice of worth but on the contrarie we receiued dishonor and hurt by the onlie enuie and ambition of Virginius Neuerthelesse what haue not I done to allure him vnto kindnesse and to persuade him to be carefull of the safetie and honor of the Commonwealth I haue alwaies giuen him the chiefest honour and held him not as my companion but as the only Generall commander of the enterprise yea and leauing vnto him the place of most aduantage I did encampe my selfe both where the greatest danger and most concourse of the enemies was thinking by that meanes not only to induce him but also to bind him more straightlie not vnto my aid but vnto the common good of the whole armie and his owne honor yet what haue I gained with all this dutie and true humilitie nothing at al but only thereby increased his malice pride and ambition I therefore considering with my selfe how hardlie two Generals in one armie doe performe anie enterprise fortunatlie and how on the contrarie by the diuersitie of their opinions wits they doe oftentimes not onlie procure one anothers mischeife but also sometimes put the Commonwealth in great danger as Terentia Varo did at Cannas when he gaue battaile against the opinion of his Collegue did rather desire yet further to abase my authoritie in respect of his honouring him as my superiour in all lawfull things but all was vaine for as much as those actions which doe serue to gaine the loue of such as are modest doe increase the pride and insolencie of those that are prowd for they doe attribute that vnto cowardlines which is done by modestie and wisdome which men Virginius desired to follow for he seeing that I to gaine his fauour did oppose my selfe vnto the greatest daunger for his securitie and defence did presume that I did not this noble act to induce him vnto the like aiding of me but that I did owe him this honour wherevpon he did not only forget that I was his companion but also he would not performe the dutie of a good Generall for how can he be a good Generall that seeth anie of the inferiour captaines in daunger to be ouerthrowne and will not send him aid Paulus Emilius ceassed not to fight but did willingly die in the battaile although that Varo began the same against his aduice the which I haue not done for it is well known that I would not fight against your will seeing that I encamped in that place to no other end but onlie to make head against the Tuscanes if they came to molest the campe to raise the siege or to hinder our enterprise yet neuerthelesse you had rather suffer the Commonwealth to be hindered then to affoord me your aid in so great an extremitie especially seeing that by that meanes we might happily haue ended our enterprise for in succouring me the Tuscanes had ben discomfited and no doubt the besieged could not haue chosen but of necessitie must haue yeelded but you rather desired my losse and dishonour then to haue your owne profit and honour ioined together with mine which had been but a small matter if all the Romanes had not ben therewithall greatly hindered The gods forbid that I should say that you had intelligence with the enemies but I am very sorrie that you giue occasion vnto many to
iudged and you will iudge the iudges all this serueth you to no end bethinke you if you can how you may cleare your selfe and afterwards you may accuse vs before those that haue power to redresse it and then there will be greater credit giuen to your speech but now you being condemned as an offender no man that knoweth what iustice is will beleeue but that you speak of others as you your selfe would doe if you had their authoritie for the maner of those that haue their consciences seared is such that they are persuaded that the most part of men are like vnto themselues wherefore let vs come vnto the point concerning you and me say only haue I proceeded against you otherwise then by an ordinarie and vsuall custome Haue I not giuen ear aswell vnto your excuses or iustifications as vnto your accusers Haue I posted ouer or rashlie hudled vp your processe Are not you your selfe the occasion of your bringing hether so late If amongst so many I haue ben thought worthie of this estate should I haue forsaken it for you Or was it I alone that did iudge your processe The counsellors were not they there as they are here in like sort Was it I that either did condemne you or that must againe condemne you Are they not your owne deeds Bethinke you then to alleage other reasons to more purpose for your iustification or to submit you vnto the discretion of the iudges praieng vnto God to giue you the grace patientlie to abide the sentence which they shall pronounce vpon you referring all vnto the will of God who by that meanes wil bestow that vpon you which shall be more profitable for you for he exalteth those that doe heartily praie vnto him And lastlie determine if the worst do happen sith you could not tell how to liue well to learn to die well giuing thanks vnto God for taking you out of this miserable world before you haue further offended his diuine Maiestie by that meanes your punishment together with his mercie shall be a full satisfaction for all your sinnes Declamation 20. Of the souldiors that would needs giue ouer the wars after the death of their Generall THe ancient militarie law is such that euerie souldior maketh his oath particularly to follow his Ensigne the Ensigne taketh his oath to obey his captaine the captains their Colonels then all of them generally doe swear the same oath to the Generall of the armie representing the person of the Prince to serue him truly and faithfully Wherevpon the Generall or Lieutenant Generall chanceth to die in a difficult and dangerous enterprise and by his death the souldiors hold an opinion that they are acquited of their oath and that they may giue ouer the enterprise And thus one amongst them pleadeth for all the rest THe oath of the souldior lasteth so long as he that receiueth it or he to whom it is made liueth as we haue done vnto our General who being dead we are no longer bound We haue sworne to serue the Prince vnder his conduct following him in all and by all things into all places and against all men without anie exception at all the which we haue done euen vntill his death without anie refusall or contradiction wherefore hauing performed our dutie we are no longer bound for we cannot follow him any further except we should die as he hath done which would be a thing as hurtfull vnto the Prince to the Common-wealth and to vs as it would be profitable vnto our enemies and ill willers vnto whom we ought to doe no pleasure nor profit at all And neuer thinke that we are to be retained in seruice still saying that the Prince will send another Generall or that his Lieutenant that is dead representeth his person by order of prescription vntill the Prince haue confirmed him for Generall or that he hath sent another for such a reason is nothing worth because there are many that suffered themselues to bee enroulled vnder the deceassed Generall which would neither march nor be enrolled vnder him whom the Prince may send vs for such was the trust that wee did repose in his valor and wisdome that nothing seemed impossible vnto vs so long as we folowed his cōmand wherefore considering that the Prince may wel bestow the dignitie and estate but that the discretion wisdome and valor of the man commeth from aboue we are discouraged to serue any longer without knowing vnder whom True it is that there is none so good but there may be found another as good but it is verie certaine also that an opinion is halfe an effect and that for the most part it ordereth matters as it listeth without anie other respect and especially when it is ioined with some proofe or admirable experience as was that of our late noble Generall which hath so manie times ben redoubled who by his example did not onelie increase the courages of those that were valiant but also made the verie cowards bold and stout so that it may verie well be said that he hath carried our hearts with him or rather that he hath bestowed part of his greatnesse vpon vs al. Finally the souldior that marcheth vnder such a Generall whom he liketh not differeth nothing from a slaue who is bound to serue his maister whether he be good or bad which is the cause that sildome they do anie thing that is good Wherefore is an oath made But onely that the performance thereof may follow Why are not we as free from our oath by his decease as we were bound by the same while he liued How manie did march vnder Scipio that would not follow Lelius Although they were both of one and the same countrie one as noble as another and so great friends as the one might well be said to bee the other Neuerthelesse for the most part both of the Romane souldiours and strangers had rather haue died with the one then liued with the other By what means did Epaminundas and Pelopides reforme the military discipline of the Thebans But onely by the good opinion which the men of warre had of them We do not say that we would whollie refuse to serue and beare armes for our Prince but we would faine know vnder whom we should march moreouer we would that it might be lawfull for those that will serue no longer to depart and that those which would follow the future commander might be bound by a new oath The Answere WHat noueltie is this How dare you only think a treason so great Not onelie against your Prince and countrie but against your selues and the profession of armes Saieng that you are acquited of your oath by the death of your Generall Who is then your Generall Is not the prince Is he dead Or doth he euer die but strait another succeedeth him It is not you that were sworne vnto the Generall that dead is but I that was his Lieutenant who alwaies in his absence represented his person
I shall not fight except also you your selfe may command me to doe it for seeing the losse is more hurtfull vnto the people then to the Prince wherefore ought he to be the onlie iudge of a deed wherein the Generall profit or losse of the comminaltie consisteth For bee it losse or gaine the people must maintaine the Princes estate and especially when they lose most then are they most of all burthened with imposts and lendings to resist the enemie and to satisfie the Princes pleasure wherevpon it may be inferred that if I haue offended it is more to the preiudice of the people then the Prince notwithstanding I am content to submit my selfe vnto their iudgement trusting that they will haue no lesse respect to the seruices which heretofore I haue done and to those which hereafter I may yet doe then vnto the good meaning that I had to performe this last seruice well although God it may be for a greater good would not suffer me to haue the victorie being as likely as it was desired The Princes Answere YOur excuse aggrauateth your crime saieng that you did your dutie and yet despised his commandement whose mind therin you knew not Did you know the reason why he forbad you to fight Thinke you that he was altogether ignorant what the enemies were able to doe and that they might be ouercome rather by temporising then by anie stroke striking Doe you thinke your selfe wiser then that great Fabius who rather desired to be counted a coward then to lose the Romane Citizens who in that sort temporising with great patience was in the end the conqueror of that furious Hanniball Doe you not know that before a man can command he must know how to obey the which you had no desire to do You would willingly haue the souldiors obey you in doing badlie and you would not obey the Pirince in doing well what would they saie of you if they were liuing M. Manlius Torquatus Aulus Posthumus Tubero and Epaminundas they caused their owne sonnes to die for transgressing nay rather for fighting against their commandement yet had they the victorie O how happie was that world then when nothing was impossible vnto those warriors so well disciplined It is alwaies the custome of the rash and brainesicke men to attribute their faults to the will of God to fortune to the sinne of the people Prince or souldiors as you doe forgetting your owne together with your disobedience which being displeasing both to God and men can bring forth nothing that good is then you mocking the Prince after the battaile is lost doe demand whether you shall fight it alleaging so manie reasons it may be forged that it were impossible to lose it and that which is worst heaping sinne vpon sin you bring the princes authoritie in question and stirre vp the people against him but your owne reasons doe confound you for doe not all the members obey the head The head being greeued are not all the members pained Yea when manie members are lost the head still remaineth and taketh care to preserue the rest as hitherto I both haue and will still preserue my people God willing who are not so impudent as to desire to take an account of your faults knowing well that as that which concerneth the soule is referred vnto the diuine the diseases of the bodie to the phisition and controuersies for goods to the iustice so are matters of warres and the gouernement thereof referred to the prince but how can you doe them anie good seruice seeing that you haue done your best to ouerthrow thē for your owne pleasure Trulie I should haue thought you alone worthie to be my Lieutenant Generall if you had knowne how to obey me but not esteeming me for your Prince you cannot be my Lieutenant Doe you not know that in al affairs faults are not tollerable But especially in the warres where there needeth but one to ouerthrow all they are most hurtfull where haue you euer seene that it is lawfull for an offender to change or alter the lawes much more then is it for him to diminish or bring in question the authoritie of your Prince But what would not you haue ben bold to attempt if you had ben victor Surely nothing but euen to haue attempted to make your selfe King Finallie the people may remember both the good and bad seruices that you haue done and those which you may yet performe but as for me I doe award him to be punished who in stead of demanding mercie and pardon for his offence will procure a second destruction in changing of auncient customes whereby the people haue ben all hether happilie gouerned and preserued for there was neuer anie alteration of laws or customes without bringing a calamitie vpon that land wherein they were begun Declamation 26. Of those who were executed because they confessed that they had murthered a man afterward it was found that they were guiltles A Iudge vpon some likelihood caused two men suspected of murther to be racked they confesse the fact and are put to death Some certaine time after their execution he which was supposed to be murthered returned home whervpon the kinsmen of those that were executed accused the iudge saying ALasse how miserable is that Commonwealth where those that ought to administer iustice and defend the innocents doe in steed of protecting them frō danger put them to a most shamefull death which trulie proceedeth by the admitting of cruell and bloodie men to the seat of iustice who besides their wicked nature being accustomed to this vice would make vs to beleeue that iustice which ought to be the twinne sister vnto mercie consisteth in nothing but in barbarous crueltie such a man is this our worthie iudge who vnder the coulor of I know not what likelihood because he would not seeme to be idle hath tortured and tormēted two poore innocents in such sort that to escape from his hands they haue thought it a lesse hurt to die by the hands of the hangman then to remaine anie more at the discretion of such a iudge Surelie it were better to pardon two malefactors then to put to death one innocent but this man hath rather cause two innocents to die then he himselfe would not be an offender The ioints of euery righteous iudge ought to tremble the hairs of his head to stand vpright for feare yea the heart to faint when he thinketh that by the authoritie of his voice although neuer so iust one like vnto himself nay more resembling the image of God should be put to death Seeing the fault for which he dieth cannot be recompenced wherefore Nero who was accounted a monster for crueltie had yet a kind of horror when he signed anie sentence of death You will saie that they are put to death to terrifie others that are wickedlie minded I confesse it but the same ought to bee done vnto offenders Alasse if this iudge had beene as carefull to haue
sifted out the truth which at the last by time is now brought to light as he hath ben cruel to torment and readie to execute these poore innocents neither had they died so shamefullie nor he liued to haue been charged for the crime of their death but who may henceforth beleeue that the verie wicked ones can be rightlie iudged when the good haue beene so wilfullie cast away Doe so much then O you rightful iudges that this vniust iudge may be no more neither of your number nor of the number of men vnlesse you will all be partakers both of his crime and of his dishonor The Answere OF a truth that Commonwealth is miserable where the iudges are such as you say and most happie where they doe in no sort swarue from the laws and customes long since allowed of which I haue wholly obserued and kept For the law commandeth and the custome is that euerie man suspected of crime whereof there is a verie apparent sufficient likelihood should be put vnto the racke although the iudge were neuar so well persuaded of his innocencie and confessing the same both vpon the racke and when he is taken off that then he should be punished surelie if I haue otherwise proceeded I am faultie but hauing not done amisse I accuse you for wronging me and require that you make me amends for dishonouring me consider that it is in a manner an offence for anie man to liue so loselie as that he may be suspected to be a malefactor such haue your kinsmen ben for they were not onlie suspected of me but generallie of all men and it may be of your selues for you neuer offered to approue their innocencie vntill after their death They should haue taken heed that they might not haue been suspected In Athens and Rome although Aristides and Cato had ben accused of murther yet neither the iudges nor the people would euer haue beleeued it so much is the opinion of a man his sinceritie able to do which good opinion was neuer had of your kinsmen moreouer they should not haue confessed the fact with their own mouths know you not that the iudge must not be partiall on neither side But he must iudge according to the witnesse of others and the prisoners owne confession complaine then vpon those who haue brought in such sufficient proofe as caused them to be racked complaine also vpon their impatience and cowardlinesse in that they would not indure the torture of the racke rather then die vpon the gallowes I know well inough what regard is to be had before we pronounce the sentence of death against anie man As concerning Nero it is well knowne that it was but hipocrisie in him although he seemed to haue a certaine horror when he signed the sentence of anie condemned man for afterwards it was apparently seene that he caused manie innocents and men of worth to die and I verilie beleeue that he would haue made no difficultie at al vnlesse the partie condemned had beene a notable wicked fellow for euerie one do loue such as are like vnto themselues I did not prolong the execution because I would not increase the affliction of the miserable by long imprisonment as all iudges doe who are not subiect to corruption for the prolonging of a malefactors life is both irksome and hurtfull vnto him To conclude let their processe be throughlie examined and if I haue done anie iniustice I do submit my selfe to be punished if not then I appoint these my accusers to be so serued Declamation 27. Of him that falling downe from the top of his house slew another man against whom the sonne of the slaine man demandeth iustice IT happened that in the countrie of the Switzers a certaine countrieman being got vpon the top of his house to see what reparation was wanting fell downe by mischance vpon another man who happened to walke vnder the same house with his fall he slew him but himselfe escaped The son of the dead man caused the other to be imprisoned and required that he might be put to death according to the law which saith that euerie mankiller ought to die and he would not take anie other amends or satisfaction the iudge of that place seeing his most cruell obstinacie gaue sentence that the said plaintife should ascend vp to the top of the same house and throwing himselfe downe vpon the defendant should kill him if he could The plaintife appealing before the Seignorie of Berne saith MY lords I beseech you to consider what men our iudges are who in steed of doing iustice for the death of one of your subiects will further ad therevnto the death of another or at the least compell him with the danger of his life to be the executioner of himselfe or of another or it may be of both twaine together which is a thing most abhominable and against all reason Who hath euer heard that the punishment of a murtherer hath ben executed in this sort And that there was euer anie honest man that on a suddaine was commanded to play the hangman and to performe an execution so strange They say that he fell downe by mischance as for me I thinke that he did willinglie throw himselfe downe vpon malice for els hee would at the least haue giuen warning vnto all men as his dutie was that he meant to goe vp to the top of his house that they might haue taken heed of anie inconuenience that might chance as wel by the falling of the tiles as of the like of this that now is happened but if it were true that hee fell by mischance why should not he haue beene slaine as well as my father Consider my lords that the malice of men was neuer so great as at this day it is and that they deuiâ—e manie means how they may hurt one another and especiallie those in whom malice is rooted which is neuer showne but when it maie doe most hurt The Answere COnsider my Lords the malice together with the ignorance of this man who heaping mischiefe vpon mischief would make of one mischance twaine Is it not inough that one honest man be dead But that another must against reason die also Must the Commonwealth be in such sort maintained Were it not better that this man should be preserued to helpe to defend the countrie if need were Do we not know that somtimes one man is more woorth then an hundred Is not he of the same lumpe as they were who in times past by their valiant deeds in armes were able to winne that libertie which we do now inioy Thanks be to God and to the inuiolable iustice of this most noble Senat Suffer not then my lords the will of this foolish malicious man to be fulfilled vnto whom the defendant hath offered such a satisfaction as is more then reasonable but he being void of all reason hath by his most greeuous obstinacie constrained vs to giue this sentence which was no lesse
priuiledges that he might redeeme his life for three thousand crownes the iudge caused him to be hanged and paied himselfe three thousand crownes for hauing put him to death his kindred appeale vnto the Prince and say MOst mightie and iust Prince the renowne of your equitie hath incited vs to become your most loiall most louing most humble most faithfull subiects and to chuse you for our soueraigne Prince and most redoubted lord whereby this good is happened vnto vs that we haue alwaies found in you such iustice and bountie as is requisite as also your Maiestie shall euer find in vs all dutifull obedience but what shall we saie Seeing that this happinesse of your good meaning is abused by the malice of your ministers and especiallie by the chiefest which is hee that ought to administer vnto vs iustice in your behalfe and to haue a respect that wee maie bee maintained in our rights priuiledges and customes according as it hath pleased your Maiestie to take your oath but he which is our iudge hath had iustice in derision and vnder the shaddow thereof hath committed crueltie for hauing condemned one of our Citizens to die for a manslaughter wee shewed him that which he ought not to be ignorant of that is to saie how our priuiledges doe permit that such a trespasse maie be satisfied with the paiment of three thousand crowns appliable according to the ordināces in such cases prouided whervpon he hath therby taken an occasion to put one of our Citizens to an ignominious death to the great dishonor of all his linage saieng that he shall be acquited in paieng the said forfeit as if there were no difference betweene the killing of a man in cold blood through a certaine malice or contempt especiallie in derision of iustice of the Commonwealth and of the lawes and priuiledges therof to cause one die shamefullie and cruelly by the hands of an hangman and the flaying of ones enemie by whom a man is prouoked therevnto through some wrong or other iust cause of malice But wherein you vniust iudge had this our Citizen offended you Seeing that you haue no part in the Commonwealth but like an hired seruant in a house you are to abide therein onelie the appointed time of your office which is giuen vnto you not to abolish our priuiledges but to maintaine them all the other Citizens were more interessed in this fact then you and neuethelesse you alone haue beene desirous of reuenge trulie crueltie becommeth no man but it is most odious in Princes and Iudges more then in anie others seeing that our Prince is altogether free from this vice ought not you to follow his example Or at the least you ought not to haue erred from the same so reprochfullie If too sharpe and rigorous laws are made more to terrifie men then to destroie them wherefore haue you rather desired to aggrauate our lawes then to performe them Who hath made you more wise then our Ancestors who haue inuented this priuiledge for the conseruation of the Citizens Doe you not know that iustice without mercie is iniustice How great crueltie is it then to turne mercie into rigor Most vniust is the sentence which preuenteth iudgement and such hath yours ben for crueltie depriued you of all iudgement when you pronounced the same Doe you not know that whilest you iudge other men God iudgeth you How would you doe then if hee should iudge you according to your your deserts But who hath mooued you to commit this new crueltie Doe you not know that all innouation of laws customes is no lesse dangerous then scandalous To conclude you haue offended the Prince in resisting of his oath and wronged his subiects in breaking their pruiledges both the one and the other offence deserueth death wherevpon we beseech you most righteous Prince that he which hath contemned your authoritie iustice and our priuiledges may bee punished that all the Iudges hereafter may thereby take an example Seeing that if our enemies had not giuen him the monie he would neuer haue purchased at so great a charge an vnlawful means to exercise his crueltie against your subiect and our priuiledges The Answere IF anie law be vniust or pernicious it is that which is not equall to all men but how can that be equall which causeth the greatest malefactors to escape for monie As this priuiledge doth allow which imboldeneth the rich that ought to succour the poore not only to wrong them but also to murther them because hee knoweth verie well that he shall be acquited for monie the which being paied he afterwards committeth a thousand mischiefs to get that which he hath spent into his purse againe for what wickednesse will not such a one be bold to commit that maketh no conscience to kill his equall Or it may be such a one as is better then himselfe But if the law or your priuiledge bee vniust then haue not I offended Or if I haue misdone in paieng the forfeiture I am acquited Why should he be punished which procureth the death of a malefactor Seeing that hee which murthereth an innocent is quit for monie Concerning the difference of cold blood and to cause one to die by the hands of the hangman that doth in no sort aggrauate the offence for being an offender he hath thereby had the better means to acknowledge his fault and to craue pardon of God especiallie to dispose of his worldlie cares and familie the which he gaue no leisure vnto the other to doe and for the reproch it consisteth not in the maner of the death but in the cause of the death For if anie man should be hanged for hauing done some good vnto his countrie his death should neuerthelesse be accounted honourable but he which is hurtfull vnto the Common-wealth although hee die in his bed amongst his kindred yet should his death be accounted odious It is not I then that am cause of his shame but the murther which he hath committed I confesse indeed that he neuer offended me but rather iustice so likewise I caused him not to die but to maintain equitie and not being able to doe it without disbursing of monie I did rather chuse to pay it then to leaue iustice vndone I haue not infringed or broken your priuiledge but onelie shewed that it is vnlawfull and that it ought to be amended I cannot tell whether your ancestors were more wise then I but I dare well say that they were rich men who without the consent of the poore men inuented this priuiledge for there was neuer anie tyrannie more manifest which your selues ought to abolish you being subiect to a most iust Prince therefore I desired to admonish you thereof at mine owne proper costs and charges Likewise I know that I am not the first which hath beene slandered for mine honest meaning in desiring to change wicked customes into good for Solon and Licurgus were not free from the like and before them Moises
gaine which he hath made after so manie extortions Is not he miserablie dead by the means of his most familiar friends And those were his heires which were not so much as anie thing a kinne vnto him who did spend his treasure and goods in destroieng one another the which should make you wise O you Athenians and cause you to surceasse this follie to saie that you are quit hauing receiued your bond from one who hath taken it from vs by force and who for this deed and other such like did shamefullie die as he deserued moreouer it is not likelie that he was sent from the gods to subdue vs but true it is that by their permission wee were by him vniustlie tirannised ouer and for our sinnes hee was as a scourge of the Gods but their anger ceasing hee perished also But who did euer see that a debtor ought to bee the iudge of his creditors actions as you would bee of ours Seeing that you are vtterlie blinded with passion for whilst you accuse vs of pride and couetousnes you doe not consider that your selues are guiltie of treason and theft because you haue cleaued vnto the capitall enemie of Greece and for the same cause you will detaine from vs that which we did lend vnto you in your greatest need concerning that which you speake of Time as being the minister of the gods it maie bee the same gods of whom you speake in mockerie will so bring it to passe as time shall compell you shortlie not onlie to satisfie vs but also to become more miserable then euer you were when you shall intreat for our aid the which now you doe ingratefullie forget In like sort you must not alleage that you haue paied your obligation vnto Alexander for wee know verie well that you neuer had lesse means to doe it then at that time and although you should trulie haue paid it yet were it of no import nor anie satisfaction vnto vs for you neither ought it vnto him nor had hee anie letter of attorney from vs to receiue it hee might then verie well deliuer you your obligation but yet he could not forgiue you the debt whereunto he had no right at all determine then you Athenians to satisfie vs by faire means if you will not haue vs to imploie both our owne and our friends forces together with the helpe of the gods the iust iudges of your iniquities Declamation 34. Of him that is in trouble for accusing a man of crime for which he is committed to prison and there dieth A Man accuseth another for an offence the partie accused dieth in prison whilest the informations are in making the accuser cannot sufficiently prooue his accusation Wherevpon the kindred of the accused doe require to haue the accuser punished with such punishment as the crime deserued wherwith he accused the other And they say TRulie the weakenesse of man is such as euerie one esteemeth his owne miserie more great and lamentable then he doth another mans but what is he which can saie that we passe the bounds of reason when we saie that this our kinsman deceassed is worthie to be greatlie lamented And that he which is the cause of his death deserueth most seuere punishment seeing that he hath not onlie abridged his daies but that which is worse hath endeuoured to cause him to die most shamefullie especiallie to the great preiudice of his poore familie and all his linage and his purpose hath not failed in anie sort seeing that the poore man is dead in prison although he neuer once deserued to come into the same And it is not to be thought a smal matter to imprison a man seeing that in Athens those which died in prison could neuer be buried in the sepulchre of their ancestors as if they would thereby inferre that they which died in such a place might stain the tombes of those that died with honor and reputation of vertue and the same custome is yet vsed in sundrie most famous citties as amongst others at Paris the chiefe cittie of France where they doe obserue this law that he which but for debt onlie passeth the wicket of a prison shall neuer after be capable of anie office or other publicke promotion how much more then for suspition of crime There is nothing more apparent then that this poore man seeing himselfe in such disgrace died euen for verie greefe the wicked wretch that hath accused him is yet liuing in health but let vs see what likelihood there is in his accusation seeing that yet after the death of the accused he cannot proue his saieng I maie therefore now saie that he could not be suffered to alleage anie reasons for his own defence neither might take anie acceptions against the witnesses nor yet be allowed openlie to prooue his innocencie but with the least suspition that might be he should haue ben constrained to abide the sentence of condemnation Be you assured O you righteous Iudges That this accusation proceedeth by the instigation of diuers malicious persons who if need had ben would likewise haue serued for witnesses against him but their malice or ill will ending by the death of this miserable man they doe also forsake this vngracious fellow in his greatest need Such is the iust iudgement of God that the wicked doe oftentimes perish euen by their owne wickednesse but for all that their offence is not anie whit diminished neither is this poore dead man alone but his distressed widdow children and all his kindred vnto whom he was a true friend anie lot the lesse harmed wherfore it maie well be said that this lewd forger of vntroths hath murthered both this man here and ouerthrowne the others yea and some are yet likelie to die for want of his life that now is dead I meane the poore children and the miserable widdow Then what gibet what sword what halter what wheele or what torments are sufficient to punish thorowlie this execrable wretch which is the cause of so manie mischiefes For first he hath gone about to prosecute his death and next he hath indeuoured to defame him alas he is dead and reputed for infamous by those which haue heard his accusation and not afterwards knowne his innocencie but manie seeing him no more will yet thinke that there was fauour shewed him in causing him to die in prison as a malefactor vnlesse this abhominable fellow as a publicke spectacle doe not possesse the same place whereunto he pretended by his false accusation to bring the innocent consider then you iust Iudges as well the miserie of the dead and his allies as the execrable iniquitie of the false accuser and doe you gaine as much fauor at the hands of God and praise in the world by your iust iudgement as he hath gotten sin and infamie by his wickednesse The Answere of the accuser THere is nothing more true then that I haue iustlie accused him whom I know not by what death he is depriued of
to be robbed by him but seeing the contrarie wee haue iudged that it is no lesse fit to reuenge the wrongs done vnto the gods then it is to pay their seruices Wee are not the cause that Phidias hath lost his hands but it is his offence and the law require of them then your amends or els complaine of them and not of vs who haue in all thinges done what we ought or if you will vexe vs wrongfullie for Phidias we will call vpon those gods whom hee hath offended to helpe vs hoping by their aid to destroy those which would hurt vs. Declamation 39. Of the son that defended his mothers cause who being distraught did wrongfully accuse her selfe to be guilty of sacrilodge THe law saith that whosoeuer doth voluntarilie confesse to haue offended the law without anie other witnesse is worthie of punishment Whervpon it chanced that a certaine woman hauing in one day lost her husband and two of her sonnes by some violent death did fall into such dispaire therefore that she hanged her selfe but her third sonne happened to come before she was throughly strangled who cut the rope asunder and after he had gotten her to life againe hee carried her vnto the Temple to the end that the respect of a place so holy might keepe her from doing her selfe anie hurt then he went forth to buy some sustenance to comfort her In the meane season it happened that the officer came in there to search for church robbers this woman being desperate confessed that she had robbed the Temple wherevpon the Magistrate according to the law would haue her punished but the sonne in the meane time happened to come who gaiinsaied it thus THat which is fallen out in our house ought to protect my mother being cōdemned here wherefore I knowing the matter it is lawfull for me to examine her my selfe of the offence in your presence which she wrongfullie taketh vpon her moreouer it ought to bee considered that the law saith that those which confesse a crime shall be condemned Now to confesse is to aduouch the accusation for feare of the racke or other tortures but to accuse her selfe is not onlie a doubtfull confession but a sure euident and most manifest desperation and that it is so it must be known of her how and when shee commited this sacriledge Or where she hath bestowed that which she stole Trulie she cannot prooue her saying but she thinketh that she committeth sacriledge in suruiuing after the violent death of her husband and children and no other crime can be found in her wherefore in her own opinion her saying is true but by the law she is not punishable seeing that if I had not ben she had been dead alreadie by her owne hands It behooueth me to beseech the iudges to be mercifull to the offenders but I had need not onlie to intreat but also to compell my mother to take pittie vpon her selfe what need you to doubt if a woman ouercome with sorrow desireth death when a number with ouer exceeding ioy haue died suddainly Whereby it plainelie appeareth what weakenesse remaineth in the female sex who therefore are not to be beleeued nor receiued for witnesses But tell me good mother Why doe you not beare your losse patiently seeing that you see the gods themselues doe lose that which is consecrated vnto them in their Temple Alas worthie iudges you doe well know that the afflicted doe more feare honour and reuerence the gods then those that are in prosperitie How then should this woman more wofull then any other presume to offend them with sacriledge What need hath she of riches that desireth to liue no longer Neither hath anie children to leaue them vnto but me who would redeeme my father and brethren from death with those which I haue yet of mine own me I say who haue and do loue my mothers life better then her wealth Alasse no want of riches but want of heires to possesse them is cause of her miserie You may say that she being angry against the gods for her losse desirous to be reuenged hath committed this sacriledge there is nothing more vnlikelie for her courage is abated with griefe and she attributeth her mishap vnto her selfe and not vnto the gods neither is it the least mischiefe that fortune doth vnto vs when being our greatest enemie she doth not onlie make vs miserable but also supersticious in such sort then we beare the greatest reuerence not vnto the gods alone but chieflie vnto inconstant fortune all this is prooued by her because she had rather hurt her selfe then offend the gods but if otherwise it were far more easie had it ben for her to haue burned the Temple thē to haue stollen the treasure locked vp vnder so manie keies wherefore you ought to waigh al the circumstances together and to be verie carefull that the law and the penaltie thereof which serueth for a terror vnto the wicked and malefactors bee not inflicted vpon the innocent For he committeth a greater offence which punisheth the innocent then he doth that pardoneth the malefactor The Iudge answereth THere was neuer anie sacriledge that could be hidden for euerie tongue and especiallie the malefactors owne toung is readie to reueale it as by this woman it appeareth that accuseth her selfe prouoked thervnto by the wrath of the gods who for her offence doe pursue her wherefore it is reason that I appoint her to be punished vpon whom the gods disdaine to shew their miracle in consuming her with lightening as if she were vnworthie to die by the hands of any god but they all together doe pursue and driue her to worke her owne confusion by a most shamefull death the which by her being perceiued she rather desired to die by her owne hands but they haue not suffered her to the end that the wrong done vnto their Deitie might be publickly reuenged and that she might serue for an example vnto all the world so that thou wert sent by them to cut the cord asunder but doest thou thinke that a church robber may die anie other way then by iustice She hath done as much as in her lay to conceal and not to confesse her offence yea and that by the making of her selfe away yet she could not but in spight of her she was constrained to be her owne accuser and to require her deserued punishment which is no small miracle Therefore if thou desirest to know her offence It may onlie be answered that she hath committed sacriledge the which she confesseth and aduoucheth If thou demandest why she did it I say that if she committed it before the death of her children it was to enrich them if it were after their death it was because she would be reuenged of the gods Where thou saiest that it had ben more easie for her to haue burned the Temple in that thou shewest thy selfe to be her son but farre more wicked then she if it were not rage and ouergreat
desire of reuenge that staied her from making her choise according to her wicked intention Thou wouldest know where she hath bestowed that which she stole I beleeue that shee hath giuen it thee and that thou wouldst saue her life to haue some more by the like means Neuerthelesse we will punish her alone that confesseth the fact vntill that thy sinnes doe induce thee vnto the like confession or that thou bee conuinced by more apparent testimonie and in so doing we shall appease the gods fulfill the laws performe our duties and cleare our consciences which commandeth vs to root out the wicked forth of the Common-wealth by publike punishmēt because there is nothing that doth better maintaine the world in equitie then rewarding the good and punishing the bad Declamation 40. Of the wife that would not forsake her husband although he went about to procure her death IT happened that a man and his wife made an oath vnto each other that if one of them chanced to die the other should not suruiue aboue three daies after Vpon a certaine time the man went vpon a long iourney and being on his way he sent a false message vnto his wife which certified her that her husband was dead she to keepe her promise threw her selfe downe from the top of her house neuerthelesse she died not with the fall wherefore her father caused her hurts to be healed and kept her vntill certaine newes came how her husband was not dead but had sent her word of his death only because he was desirous of his wiues death Whereupon her father would haue cōpelled her to forsake her husband she would not he renounceth her for his child and disheriteth her for which she complaineth saying O Immortall God which by thy prouidence gouernest all mankind thou hast not permitted that this fact should be for our hurt or destruction but onelie for a triall and proofe of the loue which I beare vnto my husband yet my father would seperate those whom death could not put asunder neither is that which I haue done to be thought strange seeing that I had both cause to doe it the example of diuers women which haue done the like to allow it for some haue burned themselues with the dead bodies of their husbands others haue by their death redeemed their husbands life I am therefore happie to bee accounted one of the same number being yet liuing and my husband safe and sound who it may be would trie whether I were worthy to be beloued of him and now knowing it he will loue me better then euer he did The loue which is ouergreat is cause of suspitions and iealousies and therefore my husband was desirous not onelie to trie whether I did not loue some other but also whether he was beloued of me and I am verie glad that with the danger of my life hee hath found me such a one as he desired What wrong shall I then both doe vnto my selfe and vnto him if when I should reape the fruit of my loialtie and most constant loue I should depart from him God forbid I should so doe Moreouer I should neuer bee well able to liue without him for it was partlie the cause that I threw my selfe headlong down because I would not languish without the hope and comfort of his presence which I shall now possesse with more pleasure then euer I did To conclude I cannot leaue him and if I could I would not wherefore it is lost labour to speake any more thereof The fathers Answere IT cannot be denied but that he which went about to procure my daughters death is mine enemie wherefore there is no reason that she which loueth mine enemie better then her owne father should be my heire thou saiest I cannot nor I ought not to forsake him Why cannot or may not she so doe that cannot onely determine to die but to be her owne butcher Hauing no sooner heard a fained report of the death of thine enemie thou soughtest thine owne death in good earnest if thou couldest endure his abscence being gone on a long voiage when thou haddest occasion to loue him why canst thou not now doe the like hauing iust cause to hate him Thou art quite freed from all former oath or promise which thou hast made him in shewing the desire which thou hadst to accomplish that which he caused thee to sweare thereby not onely to abuse thee but to make thee die Thou saiest that all is fallen out for the best I know not how that should bee for as no bad act can be tearmed the author of any good so ought we not to iudge things by the euent but by the intent hardlie can hee euer loue thee who as oft as hee seeth thee shall be either ashamed of his fact or aggreeued that it tooke not such successe as he wished likewise the triall of loue is not made by a danger so euident Declamation 41. Of the prodigall sonne who being forsaken of his father redeemeth his brother whom his father had neglected THe law was such that when the children were thirtie yeares of age they might require their father to giue them their portion Wherevpon it chanced that a man had two sonnes the one of them was prodigall and the other a good husband He gaue the prodigall sonne his portion who demanded the same by vertue of the law and did wholy disherit him from anie of the rest of his lands or goods the other who was the good husband made a voiage by sea and fell into the hands of Pyrats he writ vnto his father for his ransome his father was deafe and could not heare on that side Wherevpon his prodigall brother redeemed him who when hee was returned home made his said brother his heire in recompence of his release by him wherewith the father being displeased disinheriteth the thirstie son of his patrimonie who withstandeth him thus ALl those which doe know what I haue done doe praise me for it except you How true an example of pittie and brotherly loue hath my brother shewed when sailing to seeke me hee hath aduentured great dangers trauailing ouer many lands and seas neuer giuing ouer his enterprise vntill he had brought mee home againe vnto my fathers house wherefore if you did loue me as both my obedience and seruices deserue and as nature doth bind you you could not denie but to haue receiued at his hands seruice most acceptable And in recompence thereof to haue acknowledged him for your heir as I haue done for if for his prodigalitie you did disherit him he hath shewed himselfe both towards you and me not to bee prodigall but indeed verie liberall If you did disher it him because he was vnprofitable hee cannot now bee tearmed so Seeing he could make so long a voiage and when all fatherly loue was in you forgottē he yet could performe the dutie both of a good sonne and a better brother You say that age hindered you from
wife answered that she would not liue without him and therefore praied him that shee might drinke some part with him wherevnto he agreed and hauing drunken part he gaue her the rest the which she did drinke vp and died suddainly after The husband died not but within a short while after by the means of his friends he was called to Rome again where being arriued he shewed a very plain Will of his wiues wherin she left him heire of all hir lands and goods her kinsfolke who did verie wel know how she came by her death accused him for poysoning his wife complaining and saying in this sort HE hid himselfe with poyson because he would be sought and found by his wife he fained that he would drinke it to make her drinke thereof he said he would die because she should desire to liue no longer He did drinke in such sort of the poyson that he is yet liuing and his wife dead I would faine know then what man did euer murther his wife more manifestly Or what poison is that which could not once kill so great an heire who affirming that he would die after he had caused his wife to die did himselfe escape it is a great matter that all the rest of the fugitiues are become poore by the late edict and this man is made rich thereby the others haue lost their owne goods and he would vsurpe the goods of another as a reward for procuring the death of her that loued him more then her selfe and so much did he know that she had witnessed in his fauour she followed him when he was pursued by his enemies sword and vnder a fained coulor of loue he hath murthered her with poyson A goodly exchange she tooke his poison and he her Testament so soone as shee had drunken shee died but is there anie doubt to be made of the force of the venome Seeing it was compounded and made by the heire who might verie well drinke part of the vppermost as being lesse violent either hauing an Antidot verie readie or els hauing taken it before hand thereby inciting his poore wife by deceit to drinke the bottome where all the poison did lie so as it might verie well be said that hee had the drinke and she the venome which long before hee had prepared to hurt her alone He did verie well know that shee would not liue without him seeing that shee was desirous to thrust her selfe into most great dangers for his sake If they are punished which kill their enemies in open fight what punishment is he worthie to haue which hath treacherouslie murthered his wife that loued him aboue all things as hee ought to haue loued her The Answere MY wife did loue me in time of peace shee followed me to the wars and in exile in my greatest extremitie she neuer left me saying that it was a righteous deed not to forsake him that was innocent I had a iust occasion and was desirous to die because I wold not be put to death by the hands of a hangman or liue continuallie in fear of mine enemies They which are deceitfull doe hide the truth but I told her plainlie that it was poyson which I would drinke and as I neuer refused her anie â—â—ing so also had I not the heart to refuse her this last request and the rather because I was sorrie to leaue her in miserie as well for the griefe which I knew she would take for me as also for the anguish and trouble she should suffer to liue at the discretion of such kindred as you are who would neuer haue cauilled for her death if the Will had bene made in your fauour and if she had died intestate you would haue quarrelled amongst your selues for her inheritance And where you say that I dranke the first draught it is true because I did not only alwaies vse to drink before her but also because I hoped by this means dying first to shun the greefe I should sustaine to see her die before me Moreouer the poyson was not of such qualitie as you say no worse in the bottome then it was aboue for that which could not infect all the drinke would be lesse able to infect or kill anie bodie likewise I am sure that I did drinke a sound draught more then the halfe But I doe now know to my great greefe that my wife was more tender then I wherefore she is dead with that poyson which was not of force inough to kil a man more strong Also you need not demand that seeing I was desirous to die why I would not make an end of my selfe when I saw my wife dead for touching this point they cannot iudge thereof which haue not ben so neare their death as I was for they know not how horrible it is in such an extremitie and especiallie euery violent death but more chieflie that which is slow and draweth on by leisure wherefore before you can iudge rightly thereof you ought either to haue tried this extreame point or at the least to be as neere your death as I who shall neuer be sound againe nor of anie long life Wherefore it is not for couetousnesse that I require my wiues inheritance but thereby to haue meanes as well to eternise her good renowne as also because I wold not suffer her last Wil to be abused Declamation 44. Of him who hauing giuen ouer and forsaken two of his children would not leaue the one of them with him that had fostered them vp IT must here be considered that in times past amongst the Grecians it was lawfull for such as would either to slay their children or to forsake them and leaue them at all aduentures and the law was such that if anie did find them and bring them vp it was at the fathers discretion to redemand and take againe his child paying for his nursing Wherevpon it happened that a father through pouerty was inforced to leaue two of his children being twinnes to the mercie of the world which children another man chanced to find and caused them to bee nursed thinking to keepe them as his owne for he had none It likewise chanced that within a certaine time after the father who had forsaken them became rich so that he desired to haue his children again and causing them to be sought out he which had fostered them came vnto him saying that if he would let him haue one of them he wold giue him the other and he should chuse which of them both he would haue the father agreed therevnto but seeing the children he tooke them both againe The foster father summoned the father to the law for one of them the father defended himselfe saying HOw wouldest thou haue me make partition of my children with thee seeing that I made a refusall thereof especiallie to the mother which hath conceiued and born them I haue begotteÌ„ them both I haue desired them both I tooke paine for them both they were both borne
adulterer who am the only cause that your wiues need not stand in feare to be anie more rauished I did warily consider seeing the strong fortification of the castle what meanes there might bee to kill the Tyrant but hauing tried the souldiors the seruants and the maids I could find no fitter occasion then by the means of his wife who long before had been liberall inough of her honor vnto others furthermore it can bee no more tearmed adulterie to cuckold a Tyrant then it is reputed murther to kill a Tyrant but it is rather worthie of reward Moreouer it was verie dangerous to carrie a sword secretly into the castle but very easie to find one there for my purpose was that if I could meet with the Tyrant euerie thing should serue me for a sword likewise I was sure that hee neuer went without a sword and that when two striue for one sword it remaineth vnto him that is the strongest or worthiest Also I was not ignorant how God doth alwaies resist such wicked persons as hee was and doth fauour such lawfull enterprises as mine and you cannot say that I went not to seeke the Tyrant seeing I staied of purpose for him euen in his bed chamber whether I was sure that he vsed to come all alone Take not then that from me by your malice which is due vnto me by my vertue and manhood Declamation 51. Of the father that adopted for his heire the sonne of his forsaken sonne THere was a man which had two sonnes the one whereof he did vtterly denounce and forsake in that hee had married with a woman of lose life by her had a son and afterwards fell sicke Whervpon he sent to intreat his father to come at the least to visit him once before hee died who being come vnto him his forsaken sonne commended his little child vnto his care and then died suddainly Wherefore the grandfather was so greatly moued with compassion that he adopted the child for his owne and made him coheire with his other sonne who being therewithall displeased accused his father to bee void of his sences but he gainsaid him thus THis were a verie new manner of losing a mans wits seeing that by your saying I should bee verie wise if I did not know those which were mine owne Truly I did expect that some bodie should haue intreated or requested mee to haue reuoked this my poore forsaken sonne but no man durst be so bold seeing thou which wert his brother diddest neuer doe thine indeuor therein wherefore it is to bee supposed that all men knowing thy ambition to bee fole heire they feared to displease thee Alasse this poore mans life was onely prolonged but vntil he might speak with me and when hee had once heard me he opened his eies shut vp in a manner alreadie to see me retaining his fleeting soule but only whilest hee bad me farewell so that I may rightlie say hee left both life and child in my bosome To conclude I well perceiued by his end but alasse too late that he was truly my sonne but thy rigorous crueltie towards him and thy great ingratitude towards me maketh mec in doubt whether thou art his brother or no. The Answere THe father of this child is vnknowne and although he were yet doe your owne deeds sufficiently testifie that you are not well in your wits if you forsooke my brother without a cause but if he were worthie of your displeasure he did yet further deserue it in marrying with a lewd woman and if he by this mariage were the more vnworthie to be reuoked much more vnworthy then is this bastard and vnknowne child to be your heire so that I know not whether of the two iniuries you do vnto my brother is the greater either in taking away part of his brothers inheritance from him or in adopting him a false heire Being persuaded and importuned by this dishonest woman hee recommended vnto you his sonne which he did very wel know he neuer begat but what cannot such women persuade Or what will he refuse to doe for a whore that was not ashamed to giue himselfe vnto her How then can you be iudged wise in adopting another mans sonne to disherit your owne Declamation 52. Of the vnchast woman that was adiudged to be throwne headlong down more then one time A Woman that was attainted of whoredome and for the same condemned to be cast headlong downe from the top of an high tower being readie to bee throwne downe did pray vnto God that he would declare her innocency in preseruing her from death her praiers being ended she fell from the top downe to the ground without receiuing any hurt at all Neuerthelesse the Marshall would haue throwne her downe againe Wherevnto she replied in this sort VVHerefore wil you resist the wil of God which hath preserued me And were it not so yet is the iudgement accomplished I was though wrongfullie condemned to bee throwne headlong downe I haue so ben my iudgement and execution being accomplished what would you els doe Am I not acquited Seeing that it was not said that I should bee executed anie more then once Neither is any man euer executed two times especially because euery iudgement ought rather to be mittigated by clemencie then aggrauated by crueltie If you would punish me for the offence which you suppose I haue committed against God seeing he hath declared me to be innocent why would you offend him in punishing me It is the vsuall place from whence others are throwne downe wherefore it is verie likely that if I had ben guiltie I should no doubt haue died as well as they The Answere THou shewest thy selfe to be as shamelesse at thy punishment as thou wert when thou diddest commit the offence which thou wouldst now denie Knowest thou not that deniall after sentence is once past is nothing auaileable The meaning of which sentence must be interpreted which is that thou must die likewise it is either a chance that thou art not dead or els thou vsest some charmes or witchcraft for were it as thou saiest that God would haue thee saued for thine innocencie he would rather haue defended thee before thou haddest been condemned falsely then sheilded thee from death after thy fall but it is more likely that he would prolong thy paine because so short a death is too easie for so hainous a crime as thine is or els because thou hast committed other offences he would haue thee cast down more times then once for God is not so slacke to helpe the innocents He saued Susanna before she was stoned not suffering the stones to touch her bodie Finally if it be his diuine will that thou shouldest be vnpunished thou shalt haue as little hurt at the second or third throwing downe as thou haddest at the first Declamation 53. Of her who hauing killed a man being in the stewes claimed for her chastity and innocencie to be an Abbesse THe order of the religious
women is such as they must be pure chast and free from all crime but the Abbesse must be the chastest of all the rest Wherevpon it chanced that a certaine yoong Nunne of Naples was to saile into Sicilie to be an Abbesse there but her misfortune was such that she was taken vpon the sea by Pyrats they sould her vnto a bawd in Barbarie who put the said Nunne into a Brothelhouse to get monie by her but she declaring her misfortune vnto such men as came to take their pleasure of her did so win them by her persuasions that they giuing her the accustomed reward left her a virgin vntill that on a time there came vnto her an insolent souldior who would in no sort regard her speech but hauing paied his monie would by force haue had his will of her and as he was striuing with her she drew his dagger forth of his sheath and slue him for the which she was put in prison but being before the Iudges shee was not onely acquited of the murther but also they sent her back vnto Sicilie vnto the place whether shee was determined to goe She being there arriued they would not receiue her for Abbesse but said THis woman here which would be an Abbesse should yet haue ben in the Brothelhouse if she had not murthered a man but can she be chast comming from such a place Nay let vs see whether it be lawfull to receiue such into monasteries whom the stewes and the prison forsaketh Seeing the order of religion may very lawfully be denied euen vnto those as doe but onely passe by such places she saith fortune constrained mee vnto these inconueniences therefore ought euery one to haue compassion vpon me but wee say that those which are worthie of pittie are vnworthie of a prelateship neither is it a custome amongst vs that such places as are of greatest honours should be bestowed in recompence of sustained harms seeing that the only freeing them from their said harms may serue for a sufficient recompence of their passed miseries Likewise we may consider how smally she deserued by the little care her parents took of her distresse not onely in suffering her to be lost or taken away but being taken neuer sought either to recouer her or once to seeke her out and what did the Pyrats see in her that they rather sold her vnto a pandor then to a Princesse or to some other honourable ladie If she knew how to persuade so manie men to leaue her a Virgine as she saith wherefore could she not persuade her mistresse to suffer her to gaine her liuing by some other means rather then to put her forth to so vild a vse or els why did she not as Hippo the faire Grecian did who leaped into the sea so soone as she perceiued that she was taken by Pyrats Alasse if this woman obtaine the Abbesseship greatlie are the Nunnes of this order to be pittied if amongst them there cannot bee found one more chast then an harlot or more innocent then a murtherer She cannot be chast inough to rule ouer vs especiallie seeing she saith I knew how to persuade all those that came vnto me the which sheweth a certain token of her immodestie for otherwise how could she haue pratled so well in that place where such as were modest would haue burst into teares and without being able to speake one onlie word would haue died for shame Let vs then take the case thus that in her there are three do claime to be Abbesse the first is one taken by Pyrats the second such a one as hath liued in the stewes the third she that murthered a man of whom the best is farre vnworthie of anie honour The Answere GOd herein was minded to shew his power by making this woman free in bondage chast in a dishonest place and most innocent in committing murther to defend her chastitie I know not whether anie did euer deserue the place of Abbesse so well as she but I am sure there would bee somewhat to doe to depose all the Abbesses that are lesse worthie then shee How chast she is the blood of the slaine souldior doth testifie how innocent she is the Iudges doe declare how happie she is her returne doth shew Wherefore it is verie manifest that God would neuer haue preserued her from so manie perrils if it had not ben to serue him in some worthie place Therefore the same God which hath protected her is himselfe alone a further testimonie of her chastitie and he onely is able to comprehend her admirable valor Declamation 54. Of him who against his fathers mind persuaded his sister to cause him to die that had forced her THe law is that whosoeuer killeth a man by chance he should be banished or put to exile for fiue yeares likewise euerie maid that is forced or rauished may chuse whether she will haue the ranisher die or whether she will haue him to be her husband Wherevpon it chanced that a certaine man which had a son and a daughter was exiled for the cause aforesaid his daughter that remained with her brother in the house was rauished by another yong man who after his fault committed fled vnto the maidens father with whom hee so much preuailed that he obtained letters from him wherein he commanded his daughter to chuse her said rauisher for her husband and not to require his death the father likewise writ vnto his sonne intreating him to persuade his sister to consent therevnto who on the contrarie constrained his sister to demand his death so that the father at his returne did cast off and disherit his sonne saying A Lasse my misfortune is intollerable seeing that I being as alwaies I haue been a louer of the Commonwealth haue notwithstanding bereaued her of two men and both against my will yet not without being culpable therefore in the one manslaughter I was abused by fortune in the other by him who is in name yet not indeed my sonne that hath inforced his sister to disobey her father as well as he in a iust commandement and caused her to obey him in a cruell reuenge some may say that it is incident vnto man to offend it had ben a sufficient excuse if I had not both aduertised and intreated him the contrarie and also if hee had not knowne the griefe which I alreadie sustained for being the cause of a mans death and that I did therefore owe a citizen vnto the commonwealth whom I might haue satisfied in sauing the life of this same man by whom manie others might haue ben begotten so that hauing slaine the other vnaduisedly I might haue saued this circumspectly but thou because thou wouldst haue no nephewes by thy sister and that thou mightest cause me die with sorrow hast broken my purpose wherefore I iudge thee vnworthie of the heritage which so plainlie thou seekest to obtain by so many vnreasonable means The Answere THe death of a good Citizen cannot be
wall accused the son for murthering his father saying O How wicked this world of ours is seeing that it hath brought foorth so cursed a man that hath at one instant both murthered his father would haue don the like to his mother in law so that I beleeue the feare of missing did in some sort hinder or stay his murtherous hand from giuing so great a stroke as hee intended and she fained her selfe dead least his purpose should haue been effected or to saue her husbands life whom this traitor hath murthered least he should haue been a witnesse against him for the fact as also because he did most vnnaturallie hate him for the kind and honest loue the man did beare vnto his wife and therfore he sought the means to expell me from hence that hee might better accomplish his wicked enterprise for two are more easilie slaine then three and it may be that he did put on such like apparell as mine to abuse this poor infant and to corrupt his innocencie by false testimonie but what witnesse can be more manifest then the breaking of the wall the which is likewise pulled down for the desire he had to murther his mother in law The Answere IT is verie apparent that thou commest neither vnprouided of sophistical arguments long before premeditated nor that thou art anie whit abashed of this murther seeing that the horror there of doth nothing hinder thy tongue from babling O miserable man that I am hearing the noise I ranne thether thinking to haue seene the adulterers taken but alasse I found my father killed which doth astonish me in such sort as I will onely answere that I doe not onely rest vpō the childs demonstration but vpon his further affirmation although thou hast of long time kept him in awe so that in pointing to thee with his finger hee hath both declared thee to bee the murtherer and also that thou hast oftentimes forbidden him to accuse thee for the lasciuious kisses proffered in his presence there is not anie witnesse more sufficient then the pointing of this innocent child who is of sufficient age to be able to know and discerne although not subtile inough to deceiue faine or lie If thou saiest that one witnesse is not sufficient then wil I stand vnto the peoples censure and will not refuse that thou she and I may bee all three examined by torments for God the right and fortitude shall be for the innocent Declamation 57. Of him that would compell his sonne to marry with his sister in law that was by him accused of adultery A Man had two sonnes to the one whereof hee gaue a wife who being married made a certain very long voiage into a far countrie during his absence his brother tooke such an hatred against his sister in law that hee accused her of adultery but yet not before the Iudges wherevpon her husband being returned took a bondwoman that was his wiues seruant and caused her to bee tortured so extreamely to know the truth that shee died with the torment not confessing anie thing wherefore his father that loued his daughter in law did sharpely reprooue him that hee would so lightly conceiue an ill opinion of her He as well for greefe that he had wrongfully suspected his wiues honestie and vniustly killed her bondwoman as also to perceiue his brothers malice and to haue procured his fathers displeasure did dispaire and either hanged or killed himselfe wherfore the father willed that according to the Iewish law the other sonne should marrie his brothers widdow or if otherwise he refused hee would vtterly forsake him and renounce him for his heire against the which his sonne pleaded in this sort YOu would haue me to marrie with my brothers widdow whom I haue accused for an adultresse as in sooth she is who caused both my brother to kill himselfe for griefe and compelleth you to disherit me I beleeue that you tempt me to take her to trie whether I did accuse her wrongfully or no for you your selfe would neuer giue mee an adultresse to wife but you might thinke if I did take her that she is chast and I am false truly if you could make mee to marrie her that both hateth me mortallie and I know to bee a dishonest woman one might then assuredlie beleeue that nothing would bee euer impossible for you to effect But why would you compell me to make her my bedfellow that hath made mee brotherlesse Her I say that is the cause of her husbands death of the discord twixt you and me of the scandale to our linage and of the peoples murmuring I haue alreadie chosen a wife that loueth me that will follow me if I will that wil neuer forsake me either in aduersitie or prosperitie and finallie that will bee such a one vnto me as a wife ought to be vnto her husband which will be more worth vnto me then a most great inheritance whereas if on the contrary I should marrie this woman euery one might suppose that I loued my brother but little to wed her that was the cause of his losse The Answere THere is nothing more reasonable seeing thy brother was desirous by his death to acquite the wrong which he had don vnto his wise by giuing credit to thy false accusation then that thou by marrying her mightest also declare her innocencie for the shortest follies are best wherefore it were better for thee to confesse and blot out thy fault by doing well then in perseuering alwaies in thine obstinacie to shew thy selfe in a double fault for thou art the onely cause of all these chances and slanders which thou obiectest therefore in not making amends for thy fault I may lawfully disinherit thee for thy follie Declamation 58. Of the sorceresse which poysoned her son in law and accused her owne daughter to haue ben consenting therevnto THe law appointeth that euery woman which vseth poysoh being conuinced of the crime should be tortured vntill she accused such as were partakers or consenting vnto her wicked act Whervpon it happened that a man hauing but one sonne married a second wife of whom hee had one daughter who being of reasonable yeares the sonne died of poyson and the mother in law is not onely suspected for his death but accused and conuinced thereof wherefore she being laied vpon the racke to make her confesse such as were consenting to her fact she accused her owne daughter so that shee was adiudged to bee burned with her mother but the poor father gainsaid it thus AH miserable child seeing thy mother hateth thee as much as thy father loueth thee O mischeeuous woman that euen vnto thine owne daughter thou art worse then a stepdame art thou not sufficiently glutted with thy passed murthers but thou must further gorge thee with thy daughters massacre But who knoweth not that such kind of people desire not to die without slaughter Wherefore amongst the fencers or souldiors that combat is most cruell which is fought
against a desperate man that is sure to die no doubt but they that may not liue will procure any murther if they can for the death of others maketh them the lesse to bewaile the life which they are readie to lose and where despaire is there doth rage abound because the horror of death filleth their courage with furie they resemble certaine beasts that bite those weapons wherewith they are wounded being thrust through they make their wound the greater that they might approch neere him that hath gored them But how should she feare to belie one that taketh a pleasure to poyson anie Why will not she effect my daughters death that without anie cause wrought my sonnes decay But what sonne Truly euen he that might haue been beloued of euerie stepdame that had been lesse wicked then she that cannot so much as loue her owne husband But to do him a dispight she hateth her owne daughter to death and remembring that she was a mother in law forgetteth that euer she was a mother indeed let then the truth of the innocēt father be of more estimatiō thē the leasings of the guiltie mother seeing that in the extremitie of death or torments the wicked doe neuer speake truth For proofe whereof a bondman that Cato had being conuinced of theft and tortured therefore affirmed that Cato was accessarie to the theft who was then better to be beleeued the bondman and the torture or Cato In like sort you are more to credit the innocencie of the daughter then the malice of the mother The Answere THere are some beasts so raging mad that their yong ones are no sooner brought forth but they become as fierce as their dames wherefore it is best to strangle them while they are yoong likewise the venomous hearb taketh his poyson from the root how much more then may this girle be wicked being born of a mother so execrable and so much the rather because the daughters doe alwaies resemble the mother more then the father how greatly then hath her wicked nature ben furthered by lewd counsell with hope and ambition to be her selfe the sole heire Which was the principall occasions that this stepmother poysoned your sonne and that the daughter consented therevnto wherefore it were no reason that shee should escape punishment Declamation 59. Of the Praetor that caused the head of a malefactor to be cut off at the request of a whore FLaminius the Romane Praetor gouerning in France sitting at the table with a comman woman whom he deerely loued shee said vnto him that she had of long time desired to see some man executed by iustice but shee was ashamed to goe vnto the common place of execution Wherevpon he forthwith commanded a condemned prisoner to bee brought and in the hall where he supped hee caused him to bee beheaded in his presence the which deed was reported at Rome wherefore a long time after Cato accused him of Treason against the Common-wealth saying THe enterludes comedies flatteries whoredomes and other trickes farre vnworthie a Romane Praetor might verie well haue sufficed without further adding therevnto a spectacle so cruel for the recompence of a banquet so lasciuious It may be one only kisse of a minion bought all the whole blood life of a man so that he might be iustlie termed a worse hangman which sat at the table to behold the same with pleasure then was he which smit of the head perchance not without pittie I doe not seeke to rip vp all the faults of so many yeares past to accuse him but that one onely night his act It is more likely that he which bestoweth much vpon a woman would denie her the slaughter of a man thē it is possible for him which granteth her the slaughter of a man to denie her any thing if thou wouldest whip a slaue wouldest thou not carrie him forth of the banqueting hall But who would euer haue beleeued that a whoore should haue desired to behold the hangmans sword vpon the cupbord and the table to be stained with humane blood but yet who would haue thought that euer any Romane Praetor could haue granted such a matter Oh what an abhominable act is this But what shall I say seeing the Romane Empire hath ben in such sort blemished and the law rather polluted then the offender thereof punished Forsake your graues O you Bruti Horatij Fabritij and all the rest of you who were the ornament of this Empire alasse behold how your rods axes and other signes of office haue ben abandoned vnto dishonest damsels onely to please them and to make them sport euery offence that is committed by a Magistrate vnder coulor of his authoritie is more punishable then anie other fault for the Magistrate is a spectacle for all other men because all men doe marke and cast their eies vpon his acts and this man whilest the beholders the hangman and the poore prisoner stoood all looking vpon him suffered both his owne eies and vnderstanding to bee rauished by the lookes of an harlot O earth couer this abhomination to the end that it may be no more remembred The Answere IF hipocrisie or secret ambition did not more prouoke thee then doth the zeale of the Commonwealth I suppose thou wouldest haue ben as slacke in accusing me as thou knowest the same hath in no sort ben wronged by me because the Commonwealth can no more bee disgraced by one mans folly then it may be dignified by one alone mans forwardnes but as nothing is well said which is not rightly vnderstood so is nothing well done that is wrongfullie interpreted otherwise I should be vntouched of crime and you not vntaxed of slander For the Commonwealth is able inough to reprooue that which is not done according to reason and equitie but also to reprehend whatsoeuer is vnprofitable for it Haue not the Senat and people refused to hold those agreements which were made by their Emperors or Generals and sent them bound vnto the enemies If they haue not allowed the faults of two Emperors together wherefore should the fault of one onlie Praetor be laid vnto their charge If to execute a man by iustice may be termed a fault But what need you to inquire where or when such a one did die that was worthie to die You say that I haue slaine one It is true but whome haue I slaine saue only a condemned man You aske when and where I answer that it was in the night and in the common hall And I doe aske you if anie time or place is limited wherein or where a malefactor ought to suffer and although there were yet who knoweth not that in the presence or companie of a lose woman there is alwaies little good performed and that the common hall or the prison is no other then a place of horror and miserie for offenders But it hath beene an ancient custome at Rome that against such as they cannot charge with any great crime they
would faine find out some small occasion of quarrell like as they sought to condemne Brutus who did afterwards recouer their libertie and so did they accuse Manlius of inhumanity Silla of crueltie Marius of ambition Lucullus of superfluitie and manie others of couetousnesse But touching my deed what art thou more theÌ„ the other Censors that haue ben euer since the fault which thou chargest me withall who haue neuer accused me therfore not that they are any whit thy inferiors in wisdome or equitie or that they are lesse louers of the Common-wealth then thou but because they could better then thou consider that it was not lawfull and lesse reasonable to blemish so many worthie actions of our linage for a small vanitie of one alone who cannot yet bee said to haue done any act either contrarie to dutie or against iustice Declamation 60. Of a man without hands that renounced his sonne because he would not kill his mother being found in adulterie THe law saith that if any man doe take his wife committing adulterie it is lawfull for him to slay them both her and the adulterer but yet it must be without deceit likewise it saith that the sonne may reuenge the adulterie for his father Whervpon it happened that a martiall man lost his two hands in the wars and as one mischance doth neuer happen alone within a small time after he surprised his wife in adulterie and finding himselfe vnable he commanded his sonne to slay them the sonne would not wherevpon hee renounced him for his heire saying I Shall then by thy fault amongst all men bee he alone that hath neither pardoned nor punished adulterie but who in this case will not imagine that either I had no sonne or that my sonne had no hands Yet my greatest griefe consisteth in this that I know the contrary Alasse in finding the adulterers I felt in good earnest how great a misse I had of my hands alacke I lost them in the warres and my sonne could not find his in the house wherefore I may say that he stood mee in as little stead as my sword which I could not vse How shall he either vanquish the enemy or defend his countrie which hath denied the helpe of his hands vnto his father When will he sight for vs that could not fight for himselfe Get thee packing then with the adulterers whom thou hast suffred to escape and leaue me rather alone then so badly accompanied Thou saiest thy heart would neuer serue thee to kill thy mother why doest thou not also say that the adulterer is thy father as I doe verily beleeue and thou doest shew he is Seeing thou soughtest rather to please him in a matter vniust and execrable then me in that wherin by the gods law and reason thou wert commanded Wherefore it cannot bee said that I doe either renounce or disinherit thee without a cause A very notable answere of the sonne ALas me thought it was in a maner all one to murther my father as to kill my mother in his presence and as it was neuer allowable in a reasonable man to be cruell so were rigorous laws made more to terrifie all theÌ„ to torment anie for if the law be strict the interpretation thereof is large and they ought to tend rather vnto clemencie then crueltie a great mischiefe can neuer be appeased in coÌ„mitting two others Moreouer the pleasure of reuenge doth suddainlie vanish but the contentment of mercie dooth neuer vade so likewise dooth euery pittifull heart melt in thinking vpon the horriblenesse of murther wherefore with the spectacle of a misfortune so suddaine all my bodie became sencelesse You good father did lacke your hands but before I could recouer my spirits I lost al my members yet was the mischiefe which you commanded more great then all the miserie which had happened was greeuous pardon me then if I did not accomplish your commandement in a thing which farre exceeded my strength and courage A father pardoneth his son if he refuse to faile because hee cannot brooke the seas that his heart doth faint as mine did the like happeneth if his heareserueth not to goe vnto the warres although he bee the sonne of a warlike father for euerie man is not borne to manage armes And it is to be considered for what intent the law saith that it is lawful for the father or the sonne to slay the adulterers Truly it was because the lawmakers were not ignoraÌ„t that there were some men which either could not or would not kill one another what can I doe with all if we are both of the same number you made by the warre vnapt and I by nature vnable wherein then can you blame me sauing that the adulterers are escaped because you were maimed and I amased or almost in a swound If the fault then be common why should I for the same bee onely condemned Declamation 61. Of two maidens rauished by one man for the which the one required his death and the other desired him for her husband THe law permitteth a maiden that is rauished to chuse either the death of the rauisher or to take him for her husband Wherevpon it chanced that one man defloured two maidens in one night so that the next morning the one required that he might die and the other requested to haue him for her husband wherfore she that desired his death said thus VVHo did euer see anie man saued for one offence by the meanes of another fault farre more hainous For if sinne proceed from humane frailtie to perseuere in the â—anâ—e is a diuelish obstinacie one defloured maid accuseth him the other defendeth him reuenge you our cause then O you iudges let the seueritie of your discipline bee redoubled seeing the crime is double the people doe already secretly desire it for he hath not onlie forced or rauished twaine but I alone haue ben defloured by twaine that is to say by him that did the deed by her that would preserue him from death must he be suffred to liue that hath deserued to die twise Had hee but deserued one death onlie he should not liue anie longer because no bodie would haue defended him but this woman would vnto our shame verifie the Prouerb which men do impose vpon our sex saying That women are selfe-willed and that they do alwaies chuse the worst If thou haddest ben the first that had ben forced I doe hardlie beleeue that thou wouldest haue desired him for thy husband To conclude as thou canst not sue anie further in his behalfe saue onely that thou maiest not bee depriued of thy choice so also canst thou not abridge me of my request it is in thy choice to saue his life for the fault he hath coÌ„mitted against thee but thou canst not command his life for the iniurie done against mee seeing that I was first wronged let me be first reuenged and afterwards thou shalt wed him if thou wilt The Answere THou saiest that thou wert
that which I alleaged in my owne defence was more to saue my life then to salue the law which being once corrupted would be farre more preiudiciall vnto others then vnto me who if the worst doe chance can haue but a bad choice when I must be constrained either to marry such a one as desireth my death or els die for one whō I loued too dearely Thou art not only the procurer of my shame but also of my slaughter for the scaffold the hangman the sword the bands and lastly my death are all readie prepared for mee and that onely by thy meanes Will not al men thinkst thou say these are too manie euils to be borne at one time vnlesse thou mightest be likewise a partaker therof Doost thou not know that ouerferuent loue depriueth a man of his vnderstanding And that the law neuer punisheth those that offend for want of wit They then are to be punished that offend through malice or hatred and not such as sinne through want of discretion or too much loue Thou seekest my death because I denied the deed but I say my deniall maketh me more worthie to be excused for thou canst not say but that it proceeded either for want of remembrance of the deed being void of sence when I did it or els because I was sorrie or rather ashamed for mine offence wherefore if the worst doe happen the one cause freeth me from punishment and the other maketh me worthie to bee pardoned seeing that to euery noble heart sorrow shame and repentance for misdeeds are three punishments more worse thē death which doth speedilie free vs from all miserie and impossible is it for anie man to escape it how soone or late soeuer it commeth nay rather in prolonging of our liues we lengthen out our miserie But I pray thee tell me seeing thou hast chosen me for thy husband am I not the same Wherefore then wilt thou kill thy husband when thou meantest to saue thy rauisher Therfore I may say that herein thou resemblest the shee wolfe When thou diddest demand mee for thy husband thou diddest not then know me to be honest and shamefast or that I would doe my best to conceale thy shame and my discredit and now thou hast tried mine honestie thou seekest mine ouerthrow so that it seemeth thou art more angrie in that I am ashamed of my follie then thou art aggreeued with my fault why art thou angrie Doest thou not know that loue wine and women do make the wisest witlesse as Salomon Sampson Hercules Lot Noe and an infinit number besides doe witnesse likewise the night is void of shame so that it is lawfull by day to denie the faults of the darke Thou diddest chuse me for thy husband therefore thou maist not reuoke thy choice nor the iudge his sentence nothing can be more politick or profitable in a Common-wealth then the performance of euerie sentence that is giuen and the obseruation of ancient lawes Whereby I conclude that if thou be permitted to chuse twice the law is false for neuer did anie maid doe the like then seeing thou art no better then others thou oughtest to obtaine no more then they The maidens Answere I Knowing thy malice and that he which is not ashamed to commit a fault wil neuer be ashamed to denie the fact did not chuse thy death which thou deseruedst but thy wedding whereof thou art vnworthie thereby to make thee acknowledge thine offence the which thou wouldest neuer haue done haddest thou not ben conuinced by most apparent witnesse so that it cannot be said that thou meantest to hide my discredit but rather to make it more euident by the testimonie of diuers and thou diddest not care if I had been found a lier They which are ashamed sorrie or repentant for their misdeeds haue not the face to denie so audiciouslie their misdemeanors but thereby it appeareth that before thou diddest commit the fact thou thoughtest to escape by thy falshood My choice was of no value seeing the crime was not verified neither art thou my husband seeing by thy deniall thou hast affirmed that I had no action at all to demand thee I do craue then the death of the malefactor that would not take the aduantage of my mercie Likewise the law maketh no mention how manie times I am to make my choise but onlie that I may chuse the one or the other must not the choise for the offence be effectuall it hath not yet been because that hee himselfe would not haue it effected I haue not then chosen but indeuoured to chuse if hee had not by his deniall hindered my choise Yet now seeing the deed is no more doubtfull I doe chuse his death as well because in going about to prooue my allegation false he sought to take away my life or to take me with double infamie the iudge cannot giue away my right therefore in causing him to die he shall satisfie those points which he saith are requisit in a Common-wealth Declamation 69. Of him that would be paied for his house wherein a Tyrant was burned A Tyrant seeing that he was besieged in his castle or fortresse fled vnto a Cittizens house to hide himselfe Some one of the tounsmen being aduertised thereof burned the house and the Tyrant within it for which deed hee obtained both the honour gained the reward belonging therevnto and likewise receiued many presents and gifts from the citizens Which when hee whose house was burned did perceiue he required to be satisfied for his losse by him that set it on fire but the other refused to pay him any thing at all saying VVHerefore diddest thou receiue the Tyrant Why couldest thou not driue him foorth or slay him What was the reason that hee fled to thy house rather then to another mans What cause had he to think himselfe more sure in thy weak cottage then in a strong castle Why doest thou esteeme thy house better then the Commonwealths benefit Must you that neither killed the Tyrant nor yet reuealed nor brought him forth that he might be slaine be partner of the reward I affirm and do verily suppose that thou bewailest his death and it is verie likely that either thou wast his friend or his seruant at the least thou canst not denie but that thou wast his host yea and I assuredly beleeue that thou didst watch of purpose to saue him from perill a mā might easily accuse thee to be one of his confederats and that thou diddest offer him thy house seeing that therein he thought himself more sure then in anie other house besides It were farre better that one hundred houses much fairer thē thine should be vtterlie lost then so vild a Tyrant as he should be yet liuing Nay it were better to see a citie quite raced down to the earth then the Cittizens should bee continuallie spoiled by tyrannous crueltie without all hope of amendment Seeing then that for the common good so great losses are so
sleightlie regarded there is no reason that thy pettie losse should be in anie sort recōpenced especially because thou canst not say that thy hurt came by me but by the Tirant and no way better canst thou excuse thy fault then in accusing thine owne hard fortune which was the onely cause of thy harme by bringing the tyrant vnto thy house The Answere HE which hath all the profit and honor ought likewise to be partaker of the hurt as I doe not vniustlie reprooue thee for the wrong which thou hast done me so also dare I aduouch that thou hast not killed the Tyrant seeing thou diddest neither see him nor once touch him but my house was it that slew him therefore it is not against reason if for the losse thereof I doe at the least demand some part of the reward The tyrant did not make anie speciall choise of my house much lesse was it offered or prepared for him but as he could he entered therein because I was not at home to hinder him likewise thou mightedst as wel haue follow him in and killed him but thy heart serued thee not and therefore thou didst rather chuse to fire my house then otherwise to slay him and in danger thy selfe to be hurt thou then hast the reward but deseruedst it not and yet thou wouldest haue mee lose my house which was his ouerthrow Who can tel but that he might well haue escaped if therein he had not entered If then my house did keepe him and receiue the fire that burned him why ought it not as I haue said bee likewise partaker of the reward Declamation 70. Of the grandfather that did secretly steale away his deceased daughters child for feare least it should be poysoned by the stepmother as two other before had ben wherevpon the said childs father accused his father in law of violence IT happened that a man had three children whereof two died not without suspition that the stepmother had beene the cause of their death The father of the said childrens mother did secretly steale away the third child least it might come to the like end as the rest did Neither had the said grandfather visited the other children during their sickenesse because he could not be suffered to come in but was kept out of dores The father caused his child to be cried the grandfather said that he had him wherevpon the father accused the grandfather of violence saying that he had stolen his child the good old man made his excuse saying SEeing that this is all the sonnes that my daughter hath aliue suffer me to bring him vp What doest thou feare That I will not let thee enter in when thou commest to visit him as I was serued at thy house thou art deceiued I am not so ingratefull fond foolish man as thou art thou seekest not those two children which thou hast lost nor once hearkenest after them which haue ben wilfullie made away but seekest him that is not lost that he might likewise be lost as the rest were Thou askest one of me whose life I will charilie protect and I doe require two of thee whom thou hast careleslie suffered to perish Why is not a grandfather better to be trusted then a stepmother I came to visite my little nephewes being sick yet might not see them that was violence and not this which I haue done For therein hath neither beene vsed weapons combat resistance nor force but such as was too friendly Let al the assistance bee iudge of this controuersie which is between a yoong man and an old Thou saiest that I haue stolen thy sonne I answere that I doe keepe my daughters sonne thou saiest that I haue taken him away from thee and I denie it but true it is that when hee came vnto mee I would not driue him away from me and I am the cause that he is yet liuing So doe the Phisitions and Chirurgions oftentimes bind vs and whether wee will or no applie such medicines as are most needfull for the recuring of our maladies That which I haue done is no strangers deed Nature hath her right this difference is there betwixt the father and the grandfather that it is lawfull for the grandfather to preserue his children in safetie but not for the father to suffer his to be slaine Whence proceedeth this thy ouerlate pittie to begin to seek thy lost sons of this which is here in safetie Seest thou not that all those that fauor the child do desire that thou mightest not find him The Answere HE hath not taken away the child to keepe him or for anie feare he had of his safetie but onelie to slander my wife with sorcerie and to make mee suspected to be therevnto consenting What haue I to do with this man O you Iudges who while his daughter liued did neuer beare me anie loue and now after her deceasse dooth hate me deadlie and hauing scantlie visited my children when they were sound he came crieng out and lamenting during their sicknesse prophesieng that which hath since happened and would but haue increased their griefe to haue heard it He was kept foorth because his comming was well knowne to be more hurtfull to all then helpfull to anie and that he should neither by his needlesse exclamations shorten the liues of the poor infants nor steale this other child which now appeareth was his onlie intent Declamation 71. Of him that being accused for intending his fathers death is thervpon renounced of him although that in open Iudgement he was clearely acquited by equall sentence YOu must consider tbat in times past when in iudgement there were as many voices on the one side as on the other in any criminall cause the partie accused was acquited because that iustice ought to regard clemency more then cruelty Whervpon it happened that a father accused his sonne of paricide saying that hee intended to murther him wherefore he being imprisoned and the informations made on either side the proofe was found so vncertaine that the partie accused had as manie voices in iudgement on his side as the accuser whereby the accused is acquited Notwithstanding the father being displeased forsaketh and disheriteth his sonne though hee were acquited by iustice saying My request is now lesse then it was for I doe not desire to be reuenged of thee but only that I may be rid of him that would haue slaine me I do no more accuse him but shun him Do you thinke that hee will spare me being his foe that would not spare me being his father No surely For because hee would no difference betweene my testament and my death He is not acquited of his offence but onlie freed of his punishment because the sentences were alike To prooue him innocent hee ought to haue had manie voices but to condemne him there needed no more then one The Iudges haue not found him faultlesse but onlie spared the punishing of his fault wonderfull is the mercie of the law of this
if a man ouercome with a iealous care of his countrie should goe forth of the cittie without leaue to doe some exploit for the benefit therof Ought he to die Are not the lawes made for the profit and safetie of the Commonwealth Let vs consider to what end the King leaped ouer was it to goe seeke the enemies No but rather thereby secretly to shew that as he could leape foorth of the cittie at one iumpe so might the enemies as easilie passe our such low wals wherefore as hee would neither flatter the workemen so without gaining their ill will hee would prouoke them to be more diligent in their labour and for the same purpose he indeuoured to please both thē also the assistants in shewing the agilitie of his bodie O how worthie of commendation is that man which ioineth profit with pleasure as he did but wee may say that he in steed of receiuing honour by the people for his reward obtained cruell death at his brothers hands for his recompence Seeing the law was by the Senat inuented why were not they acquainted with his execution that so his integritie might haue ben made manifest For that which a king doth cannot bee said to bee done without leaue so that the people be not hurt therby for in euery lawful act he may take leaue by his own authoritie wherfore you haue no other excuse but that the onlie ambition to raigne alone incited you to kill your brother murther our King hurt the Common-wealth whereby it appeareth that the greedie desire to rule is void of all pittie or remorse if we say that hee which parteth from his friend parteth from himselfe what may be said of him that hath by death sundred his brother from him Which at one instant was conceaued with him who hath remained in his mothers wombe vntill his procreation with him who was cast forth vnto the beasts fostered vp together with him who hath holpen him to build this citie to appoint the Senat and was created King with him what iudge wil bee then so ignorant which will not say that you ought to die with him And that you doe wrongfullie vsurpe the time wherein you doe liue longer then hee Giue rightfull doome then O you Senators to the end that he which hath killed his brother without your consent may no longer tyrannise ouer the Commonwealth The Answere of Romulus AL happinesse ought to be hoped for graue fathers when in the Commonwealth the laws are not onelie good but when they be obserued and kept and by the punishment of a great one all the rest are threatened if they misse in their dutie mine integritie is sufficientlie declared in submitting me vnto the lawes yea euen in the not sparing of mine owne brother as in like sort I would not exempt mine owne person for the obseruation thereof If Minus Radamanthus and Eocus had not ben iust and somewhat seuere in the performance of their lawes they should not haue obtained that immortall renowne which they now haue neither should bee held as Iudges of the infernall mansions like as it is manie times not onlie lawfull but necessarie for one hand to chop of another to preserue the rest of executing one of the enemies therof not without your iudgement but by you both condemned and adiudged euer since the law was by you made allowed for you haue added no exception therevnto Consider then most graue Senators and you couragious people that if I receiue anie hurt it is for doing good beseeching you also to beleeue that what mischiefe or good soeuer shall happen vnto me cannot happen vnto anie that is more affected vnto you or more carefull of your welfare then I. Romulus escaped at this time and raigned a long time after very cruellie but finallie at a sacrifice which was made out of the cittie there fell great store of rain with horrible thunder and lightening wherevpon the Senators tooke occasion to kill Romulus and afterwards hauing hewed him in an hundred peeces euery man carried away a peece and made the people beleeue that he was taken vp into heauen aliue whilest they were offering their sacrifice and hee was placed in the temple amongst the gods and named Quirinus Declamation 75. Of him who being found with a poysoned potion is thereby accused to haue gone about to poyson his father A Certaine rich man had one onlie sonne who was of such bad behauiour that he renounced him and receiued him againe three times Lastly he found him at vnawares in a very secret place of his house where he was brewing a poysoned potion the father asked him what drinke that was hee not being able to denie it said that it was poyson the which he thought to drinke because hee was wearie of his life afterwards he threw the poyson on the ground the father knowing his malice long before accused him that hee had prepared that poyson for him saying IT is far vnlike that he which in three times being forsaken did neuer make anie shew to bee desirous of death would now poyson himselfe being both in the good fauour and in the house of his aged father whose inheritance hee did dailie expect but it is rather most certaine that he being vnwilling to stay for it vntill my death was desirous to attempt the abridging of my daies What likelihood was there that he would willinglie die who being suddainly taken threw the poyson downe for feare least he should haue been compelled to drinke it Why should you think that such a one is wearie of his life that dooth now defend himselfe as much as he can because he would not bee condemned to death Those which desire to die doe goe vnto the warres or trauell by sea and so die with honor in denieng thy crime thou proouest thy selfe culpable canst thou denie that thou diddest seeke find buy and bring the poyson into thy fathers house Vnto whom thou shewing thy selfe an enemie more then a thousand times hast compelled him against his will to reiect and disherit thee three times and thinking alwaies by my exceeding mildnesse to ouercome thine extreame maliciousnesse I haue thrice returned to receiue thee with more then a fatherly kindnes but I perceiue that all the good which is done vnto the wicked is not onlie lost but also increaseth their wickednesse for thou canst THe law is that whosoeuer killeth any man should not be buried at all Wherevpon a certain rich man of a good stocke happened by some occasion to kill himselfe So that thereby the Magistrate accounted him for a murtherer and therefore would not suffer him to be buried but the kinared of the dead man stood against him therein and said IF this poore man had slaine anie one your reason were of some worth for it might haue ben supposed that malice hatred enuie or some other vice had procured him to commit manslaughter but alasse he hath slaine himselfe being ouercome with miserie or els because
thou diddest loue thy maister very well but rather that thou diddest loue thy selfe too much for those which do loue intirely do seeke all the meanes they can to please those whō they loue but not to force or constraine them to anie thing against their liking whereby it may be prooued that thou onely diddest mischief Lucullus in going about to take from him his libertie hauing thereby depriued him of his sences And there is not any that pretended any profit by his hurt but onelie thou seeing that all the wealth which Lucullus had was ours and his friends more then his owne for hee was neuer borne but for the profit of the Commonwealth and to pleasure his friends Therfore we doe also require no other thing but that the innocent may be acquited the guiltie not onely sought out for he is found in thee but also punished as well to giue an example vnto all other seruants not to enterprise any thing against their maisters as to reuenge the Commonwealth and Lucullus himselfe for this iniurie Declamation 78. Of a woman who slew hir daughter that had through childishnesse killed her little brother THe law appointeth that euery woman which killeth her child should bee burned Wherevpon it chanced in Orleans that a poor woman which got her liuing partly by washing of bucks and somtime with carrying of fagots about the cittie to sell had one daughter about the age of foure yeares and a sonne about one yeare old with the which children she was left a widdow by her husband So that shee oftentimes being forced to shift the little child she said vnto him as the most part of mothers and nources vse to say that if hee pissed his clothes any more she would cut off his prick the which the little girle hearing many times shee forgot it not but one day when her mother was gone vnto the wood she began to vnswaddle her brother and seeing that hee had pissed his clothes she tooke a knife and cut off his yard wherewith he lost so much bloud that he died afterwards shee told her mother at her returne home what she had done who seeing her child dead shee was so surprised with anger that she tooke vp a little stoole and strooke so great a blow therewithall vpon the girles head that she presently died For the which she was caried to prison hir husbands brother suing her to death accused her saying THis woman hath both slaine her daughter and in like sort was the cause of her sonnes death not onlie in that she left it to the keeping and discretion of a little girle but also because shee had oftentimes spoken fondly and threatned the child foolishly did she not know that whatsoeuer was ill to bee done was not good to be spoken vpon what occasion or intent soeuer it be And that as euery word that is spoken is easily imprinted in the yoong and tender hearts of little children so will they like apes imitate all that they see and as children doe whatsoeuer they heare spoken why then did she say before this child anie thing which should not be done And chiefly a matter so dangerous and so vnfitting Did she not know that children as being humane creatures and subiect naturally vnto vices doe keepe and remember the bad sooner then the good And especially the females as being more vicious then the males Some may say that it was a mischiefe which shee nor any other would euer haue thought vpon but I answere that they ought to bee cut of which are the cause of such misfortunes to the end that they may no more commit the like mischiefs or at the least by their occasion there doe not happen some other greater mischances If she haue liued so badly that she had no neighbour or friend so fauourable vnto her with whom she might haue left her little son in her absence shee is not worthy to liue any longer and if she had any vnto whom she might haue recommended the same she is likewise worthy of death for not doing the same Of what thing ought a mother to be more tender and charie then of her child Why then could shee suffer the one to die by her negligence and heaping mischiefe vpon mischiefe murther the other by her malice What Tigre Wolfe or other wild beast though neuer so cruell which will not onely bee carefull of her yoong ones but also will euen vnto the death defend them from those that seeke to hurt or harme them in anie sort How much lesse then will they themselues be so cruell as to kill them Wherefore must I be the only speaker in this case when as with iust griefe I can hardlie speak anie more If no punishment shall be vsed when women who ought to bee true examples or perfect patternes of kindnesse and pittie are more cruell thē sauage beasts I know not what I should say Sauing onelie that they are happy which either liued before vs or that shall be born after vs without beholding this our most vnhappie age if such a woman may be suffered to liue anie longer therein who after she hath ben the cause of her sonnes death hath yet further ben the author of her daughters destruction The Answere of a friend for the woman VVHerefore doe you procure the death of such a one who desireth nothing so much as to die Doe you thinke that this poore woman is not sufficientlie afflicted but that you must further seeke to aggrauate her sorrow Alasse wee may by her example verie wel perceiue that a mischiefe neuer commeth alone seeing that first we haue euer known her to be poore next she hath lost her husband the onlie stay of her poore life then her sonne and afterwards her daughter and that which is worst she is not onlie a prisoner in danger to lose her life but also he which ought to releiue her and procure her deliuerie seeketh her destruction Surelie the least of so manie miseries wherein she is on all sides cōpassed is sufficient inough to make her worthie of compassion and free her from punishment Whereof doe you accuse her Do you not know that it is not in our power to bridle the first motions of a iust anger Know you not that the griefe which she suffereth because she hath killed her daughter exceedeth all the tortures that may bee inuented to torment her For more harme doth a mischiefe that tormenteth the heart then all the tortures which may wound the bodie are able to hurt Whereas you accuse her of follie the follie is your own when you would find in a silie woman that which may hardlie be found in those that gouerne monarchies or Prouinces Doe you not know that there is no vertue which is not by pouertie neglected And that necessitie hath no law Wherein then hath a poore woman offended who hauing no other means did leaue her children at home whilst she went abroad to get her liuing You speake of friends
we either giue anie credit therevnto or effect the same least in thinking to obey them we doe disobey them What proofe haue you that Diana requireth the death of my daughter saue onlie the word of an old man who either doteth or it may be would haue this honour that at his bare word the warlike and inuincible Grecians ouercome with superstition haue sacrificed the noblest and worthiest maid of all Greece And neuer alleage that the gods desire the best things for sacrifice for that is meant onlie by brute beasts but as for humane creatures they doe preserue them witnesse the old age of Nestor and others Neither did there euer anie great good proceed of too much superstition which dooth much differ from true religion because the one alwaies tendeth vnto that which is good and the other vnto that which is bad If Diana require her death shee may find her well inough where she is without dishonoring me by the deliuerie of her Which in sooth were a trecherous part What certaintie or assurance will Chalcas giue that the seas shall bee calme by the death of my daughter Durst he gage his head that so it shall be and although he would so doe is those few years which an old man may liue to bee compared vnto the youth of a Princesse who by her progenie will be able to illustrate all the world To kill our owne children is not the way to combate Priam and the rest of the Barbarians I wil not faile in anie sort from the dutie of a good Generall no not in spending mine owne life but my daughters that will I not giue no more then you your selfe would doe if one should likewise demaund your Hermione as well as my Iphiginia I will not in anie sort accuse either Vlisses or Achilles but I doe excuse my daughter who is no way culpable of the forced or voluntarie adulterie of her aunt The same reason which commandeth mee to be couragious doth also forbid me to be cruell but what crueltie can be more vild then to kill an innocent virgin And how much more execrable is it for a man to kill his owne daughter I did at the first promise her as well to auoid publicke sedition in our armie as also to haue leisure thereby to laue my daughter for I hoped that you your selfe and they altogether deliberatlie considering the crueltie of the fact would at the last confesse with me the same to be altogether tyrannicall and vnlawfull for the gods doe neuer fauour such vniust acts To conclude so long as the breath remaineth in my bodie I will neuer consent vnto the death of my daughter for it is sufficient inough that we do leaue our houses forsake our wiues abandon our children and freelie vndertake this iournie no lesse painfull then perrillous to our persons without suffering our daughters to be sacrificed or offered vp to recouer that which you haue negligentlie lost and know no other reason why And I cannot beleeue that anie amongst so manie worthie mē should be desirous or would willinglie behold such a detestable deed but onlie you who thinke to encrease your owne house by the ouerthrow of mine Declamation 86. Of him that hauing taken vp and fostered two yong vnknowne orphants did maime them because he might the better beg with them THe law forbiddeth that no man should either hurt or hinder the Commonwealth in any sort Wherevpon it happened that a man found two infants who through their parents pouertie were laid abroad and left vnto the mercie of the world Wherefore he tooke them and fostering them vp in his owne house he did wryth and breake the ioints of their armes and legs in such sort as hee quite maimed and lamed them to the end that by begging with them he might gaine the money Which being knowne he was taken and accused to bee offensiue and hurtfull vnto the Commonwealth And his accuser said in this sort ALasse how miserable are these infants who haue found one that hath beene much more cruell then he or she that cast them forth Seeing that with the price of their members they are forced to paie for their bringing vp or to say more trulie to satisfie the greedie couetousnes of him that faineth to be their fosterer for if hee had not done it for couetousnesse the verie name of orphants might haue suffised to haue obtained a reliefe both for them and their fosterfather If those that through anger or malice doe wound or kill a man are punished What punishment is not this mischeeuous wretch worthie of who hath done far worse in making these poore infants for euer miserable Wherein hee hath shewed himselfe much more vnnaturall then the brute beasts if it bee true as Histories report that in such a necessitie Cirus Whilom King of Persia was nourished by a Bitch and Remus and Romulus first founders and Kings of Rome by a shee wolfe O neuer hard of crueltie when the lame and impotent are constrained to get his liuing that is whole and sound who hath not onelie made them vnprofitable but odious and burthenous vnto the Common-wealth For they serue to no other end then to increase the famine therein and also in the day of battaile to discourage the hearts of most valiant by their lamentable cries and complaints in like sort it may so happen that some womā with child may dreame of thē in such sort as with the verie fright thereof she may bring forth the like cripples All that which this lewd fellow can alleage is that if he had not beene these infants had died with hunger It may bee no For how manie others might haue found them that both would haue cherished and brought them vp for the profite of the Commonwealth How manie such as they haue become famous warriors yea and Kings Whereof Cirus and the two foresaid Romans are sufficient examples but this vngracious man hath cut off the tongues of some to the end that without speaking they might be more importunate in crauing seeing then O Iudges that you are pittifull towards cuerie one particularlie extend your mercie towards these twaine here together he is aboue all other most cruell who vnder the coulor of mercie doth most mischiefe these poore children are carried about to feasts and publicke assemblies to beg their almes where beholding the soundnesse and nimblenesse of others their sorrow is the more in seeing themselues maimed other orphants or castawaies that are sound are not altogether hopelesse to find their Parents againe or to be knowne by them but these wretches can neuer be knowne because they were not such when they were left of them Finallie it may be alleaged that it was the greatest mischiefe that could happen vnto these twaine to be found and brought vp by this bad man who is the cause of their perpetuall miserie The beggers Answere HE cannot be tearmed cruell who hath ben more pittifull vnto these infants then their owne father or mother
of your refusall in doing whereof I take you at your word aud require the temporall sword to punish you for counterfaiting your sex for abusing the vow of religion for your vild whoredome for refusing to doe pennance and for your diuelish obstinacie Consider worthie Iudges how manie torments such a number of hainous crimes deserue Declamation 62. Of Don Ferrand who punished the mutined Spaniards and afterwards is therefore accused IN the time of the Emperour Charles the fifth the Spanish souldiors that were in Scicilia rose in a mutenie and committed a thousand mischiefes whereof the least deserued the halter wherevpon Don Ferrand of Gonsagne brother to the Duke of Mantua who had alwaies ben emploied by the Emperour in chiefest places of command appeased them paying them part of that which was due vnto them afterwards he caused them to be embarked to carie them as he said to Genoa they being all embarked he carried them vnto certaine desert Isles where he made them to goe ashoare faining that he would there take the muster of them and make an end of paying them but when they were all in order a good why in the Island hee found the meanes to cause those to retire vnto the Gallies whom he meant to saue and afterwards he set saile and departed leauing the rest of the souldiours there who for the most part died all with hunger for which fact Don Ferrand was accused vnto the counsell of Spain as followeth IF discretion might be giuen as well as dignities are granted we should not now need to demand his death who hath depriued the liues of a number that were seruitors to Caesar as well as he and no lesse seruiceable the which he would neuer haue done if he had considered that neither he nor anie other could haue that honor to be Generall of an armie if the souldiors did not freelie determine to serue their Prince and follow the warres especiallie if they would altogether with one mind refuse so to doe but hence commeth the mischiefe that those which haue not first learned to be controlled do neuer know rightly lie how to commaund Wherefore Hannon said well when Hasdruball commanded in Carthage and Hanniball was to be sent into Spaine being verie yoong It were better said he that this yonker tarried here in the cittie to learne how to obey lawes then to teach him so suddainlie to command in a forraine land Likewise we are to consider what was the end of Pompey who following the faction of Silla was sooner made a captaine then a souldior euen so those of our time which are noblie borne doe command before they are able to discerne peace from warres the friend from the foe good from bad and reputation from reproch wherevpon it chanceth that as Hanniball was the cause of the ouerthrow of Carthage and Pompey the decay of the Commonwealth of Rome so these captaines made in hast presuming ouermuch of their own courage might impaire the prosperitie of Caesar if his fortune together with his vertue were not inuincible But yet there is another mischiefe which is that Iralie which may bee tearmed the churchyard of Spanish souldiors bringeth foorth few men which are well affected to the Spanish nation who to say the truth being worthie men are also somewhat haultie minded the which the Italians doe attribute vnto their pride which is the chiefest cause why they doe for the most part hate them wee will not be inquisitiue whether heretofore Don Ferrand hath been the cause of the death of a number of other Spaniards but we may well say that he hath made those whom hee left in the desert Island to die the cruellest death that might be imagined without anie iudgement Counsell or consent of Caesar as if men were nursed and brought vp for nothing Surely it should seeme that he did not see what paines was taken in Spaine to assemble such a number of souldiors together what stir there was to embarke them how hardlie they crossed the seas and what time was spent in disciplining them for the warres all which things was not done without great charge and expence vnto the Emperour and the daunger of their owne persons and they were no sooner deliuered ouer to Don Ferrand thorowlie furnished and readie for the warres as if they had sprung forth of the earth in one night like vnto Mushromes but that he did presentlie thrust them not onlie into all the greatest dangers that might be when as manie times there was no great occasion but also because he would be reuenged for the faults of some few of them he hath done them all vnto the cruellest death that he could inuent But wee would demaund of him how it could be possible that they should be all culpable and whether they were all authors of sedition For that is not onelie hard but impossible had it not beene better then for him to haue punished the authors that therby the consenters might haue beene terrified or chastised and the good cherished and maintained Or if he would needs haue had them to die could hee not haue sent them forth vpon the foe Where reuenging their death they might at the least haue weakened his forces We read indeed how the Romans tithed their mutined souldiours and vsed other like punishments but it was neuer seen or heard that they put them all to death and especiallie in Spaine vnder the conduct of Scipio where there was not onelie a mutenie but also Vmbrius Atrius and Calemus Albius tooke vpon them the authoritie of Consuls by the agreement and at the instance of the souldiours yet were none punished but the authors of the deed and the rest were paied emploied and allowed for good souldiours not because the Romans had not as good meanes to send other souldiours from Rome into Spaine and better then wee haue now to send out of Spaine into Italie but this was the reason the Generall was a Romane and he not hating the nation was onlie contented to punish a few of the offenders by the seueritie of that exemplarie punishment to terrifie and feare the rest for it is verie certaine that those which are threatened doe liue better then those which are punished for the punishment being done the feare is past and oftentimes it engendereth such a malice as maketh them to commit farre greater faults then the first as it may be the effect shall bee seene by those which by some meanes may chance to escape from those Islands doe but imagine if there had but a few ben punished what dutifull men those which had ben pardoned would haue prooued to shew that they were worthie of pardon and to cause their passed offence to be forgotten But yet if all this could not haue moued him to spare them yet should hee haue done it because it is so difficult a matter to draw verie often manie men foorth of Spaine where there is no great store as also for the great treasure that is
bringeth an example saieng that in such a case he would not spare his owne sonne by that meanes indeuouring to persuade thē to stone me hauing once imprinted it in your hearts he faineth himself desirous to saue me knowing verie well that all his counterfait speeches tend to no other end but onlie to animate you against me neuerthelesse fearing least he had moued you vnto some pittie he first setteth downe the chastisement before hee nameth me then he somewhat doubtfullie affirmeth his saieng to be true vrging me to confesse that which neuer was Whereof I take to witnesse both the celestiall and infernal gods iust reuengers of committed treasons imploring their most iust vengeance against him that did neuer before this present houre know that anie gold sent from the Troians was in our campe But you may beleeue O you Grecians that Vlisses to be reuēged of me for discouering his deceit when he fained himselfe mad because he would not come vnto the warres that he I say as himselfe affirmeth hauing beene oftentimes within the cittie of Troy where he hath his intelligences did bring this gold from thence and whilest I was in the battaile he did burie the same vnder my pauillion the which as it is not the first treason which he hath plotted so will it not be the last that he intendeth to performe if you do but suffer him therein for sure he is one of those who in doing euill doe imagine their euill deeds will neuer be espied because he hath so great a confidence in his foxlike sleights that there is no wickednesse which he dare not attempt and the gods grant O Grecians that he doe not one day commit the same treason which he falselie obiecteth against me To conclude I pray you worthie Grecians thorowlie to consider all my passed actions and to beleeue that I had rather endure the cruellest death that might be imagined then I should euer haue had the thought to commit anie Treason Be you then assured that what good or hurt soeuer you shall doe vnto me it shall be done vnto such a one as neuer thought vpon anie thing but what was for the common good of our countrie the which I haue euermore preferred before mine own cōmoditie Notwithstanding the deniall of Palamedes hee was stoned Declamation 97. Of the Romane Dictator who would haue put the master of the horsemen to death because he fought against his commandement LVcius Papirius Cursor being created the two and fortith Dictator in Rome to make warre against the Samnites Quintus Fabius Rutilianus was made Maister of the horse being a yoong and valiant gentleman It chanced after a certaine battaile and the taking of some citties that the Dictator went to Rome to marke the disposition of the aire thereby to know what lucke they should haue leauing the said Maister of the horse in the campe with expresse commaundement that he should not attempt any thing vntill his returne But he being departed there was so faire an occasion offered as Fabius gaue the battaile and won it wholy afterwards hauing caused all the armes of the dead enemies to be burned hee wrot vnto the Senat of his victorie neglecting the Dictator who being returned vnto the campe hee deliuered him into the hands of the Lictor to bee beaten with rods and to strike off his head but as his apparrell was pulling off hee escaped hiding him amongst the souldiours and afterwards by night fled vnto Rome whether the Dictator followed him and hauing caused him to bee brought before his iudgement seat hee would haue condemned him againe but the father of Fabius accompanying him in mourning weeds and hauing recommended him vnto the people tooke vpon him the defence of his sonne saying HOw great the miserie of man is may appeare by the linage of the Fabij who haue ben euermore troubled for the zeale which they had vnto the Commonwealth First Quintus Fabius hauing done manie worthie acts as well at home with his Counsell as abroad in the wars by his courage died in fighting against the Tuscanes where all the Fabians were noted to be famous and especiallie Marcus Fabius who caused the Romane souldiors to sweare not to giue ouer fighting vnlesse they were conquerors and being seconded by Ceson Fabius making head against his enemie brought the Romans backe againe who contrarie to their oath were readie to turne their backs which in the end was the cause of the victorie and because all that linage was carefull to cherish and heale the wounded souldiors they were esteemed and suspected to bee Plebeians I ceasse to report what they did both before and after but I will onelie tell how they tooke vpon them an enterprise that they alone would defend Rome frō the insolencie of the Veians and there issued forth together three hundred and six kinsmen who died all in the said defence and there remained no more of all the Fabians aliue but my father that was in Rome who alasse hath since that time replenished the world and restored vnto the Commonwealth this no lesse miserable then noble linage How much better had it ben for him to haue died with the rest if we must alwaies for our good seruice be subiect to the reproches of some or to the persecution of other or rather since we are no lesse troubled in resisting the malice of the Cittizens then wee are in fighting against our enemies behold my sonne here who hauing vanquished the enemie is adiudged to die by the Dictator and wherefore Because hee hath done that which the Commonwealth not onlie desired but also that which it most stood in need of He is the conqueror now alas it is thought expedient that a shamefull and violent death should be a reward of his conquest at the wil and pleasure of one onlie man The Patricians and people reioice at his victorie enioying the benefit thereof the souldior is partaker of the same and the Dictator alone would haue him to die as if the Commonwealths good were his hurt or as if a Patricians renoume were his reproch or as if the glory of the master of the horse did not increase the worthinesse of the Dictator Surely if the Romans take this course which the gods forbid they need no other enemies but themselues Marcus Furius Camillus that great protector of Rome did not onelie succour Lucius Fuluius who fought against his intention but also made him partaker of his victorie and shortlie after did chuse him for his companion in the warres of Tuscula such was the magnanimitie of this great Roman redeemer of his countrie to excuse the faults which are committed by youth for he did verie well know that there was no lesse courage in him to pardon a great offence then to combat and ouercome a great armie of enemies Doe you then noble Dictator imitate that most worthie man Dispise not the whole Senat that requesteth you refuse not the Patricians the Tribuns the people also that