grauitie and authoritie of such auncient men then he did of the vnexpert actiuitie and strength of those couragious and lustie gallants For age is onely it that maketh a man wise and woorthie of reuerence Neither ought anie man to mislike it since it is the thing that euerie man desireth And as Tullie in his De Senectute sayth As the fruite is not in season nor to be eaten till it bee perfectly ripe no more is man to bee accompted in his wisedome and perfection till such time as hee bee olde for then is hee onely come to his ripenesse though as the fruite is hee bee nearest his corruption For then as the Prouerbe sayeth he gouerneth c. The fourtienth Chapter of Death Suppose thou not at any time that death is farre from thee But alwayes thinke that he is nie and streight at hande will bee great madnesse were it for a man to thinke this foolish life Should euermore continue with such miserie and strife The Paraphrase SEneca as hath bene said before sayth in his second Tragedie that no man could euer yet haue the Goddes so fauourable that they might be able to assure themselues to liue till the next day For although we bee most assured that we shall die yet is neither the houre nor the time of our death certaine but rather if we consider the great daungers and casualties that our wretched life is subiect vnto wee ought euerie houre yea euery moment to looke for it according to the warning of our Sauiour who willeth vs to watch and pray for we knowe not the day nor the houre of our visitation And therefore as the Prouerbe sayeth it is a great follie to thinke that Death is not alwayes at hande that he shall not as he came into the world goe out of it For as the Apostle sayeth there is a lawe ouer all flesh that they shal once die Valerius telleth vs in his fifth booke that when there was woorde brought to Anaxagoras that his sonne was dead Hee answered the messenger that it was neither newes nor a strange thing that hee tolde him but that it was such as he alwayes loked for For hee knewe that there was nothing could come from him that should liue for euer and that it was a generall matter that whatsoeuer receiued the spirite of life must agayne restore it and that as no man died but that first he liued so no man liued but at last he died And therefore well saieth here the Prouerbe Greate madnesse were it for a man to thinke this foolish life c. 98. If it so were the blessed ioyes that we doe hope to see Should all in vayne and to no end of vs desired be Ne shoulde the glorie great of that almighty Lorde on hye Our Sauiour Christ be looked for that lasts continually AFter that our first Father had transgressed the commaundement of God our life became straight to bee subiecte to death and fulfilled with all kindes of calamitie and miserie For as the Apostle sayeth Through the offēce of our first father Adam wee are all borne the children of wrath And neuer shall we be without trouble griefe and miserie during our mortall life untill suche time that our soule bee free and deliuered from the dungeon of the bodie And this maketh the Apostle to saie I desire to be loosed and to be with Iesus Christ For the Apostle being vexed with many sorowes griefes and miseries desired to be dissolued to the ende he might rest from all his trauayles and Saint Iohn in his reuelation saieth Blessed are all those that die in the Lorde for they shall rest from their laboures So as by a good and happie death wee are sure to be made partakers of the euerlasting glorie of our Lorde and Sauiour Iesus Christ 99 Then tel me wherfore should we feare this death why should it grieue Since that it is so good a lot if that we doe beleeue That after our departure here we goe to perfect rest Attending for the glorious day wherein we shall be blest The Paraphrase DEath as Aristotle in the thirde of his Ethicks sayth is the last of al horrible dreadfull things which being as Tully in his Tusculans sayeth a thing that naturally happeneth we ought not to thinke that it can be euill since nature hath appoynted it And Seneca in his Epistle to Lucilius sayeth that life is geuen vnto vs with condition to looke for death The path is playne and assured that leadeth vnto it and to dye well is to die willingly And therfore death is neuer to bee feared of those that bee good and vertuous But of the wicked the Psalm sayeth The death of the vngodly is hurtfull and euill but the death of the godlie is life because they passe from transitory death to euerlasting life According to the saying of our Sauiour vnto the theefe This day shalte thou bee with mee in Paradise which happened into him because hee beleued according to the Prouerbe here That after his departure here he went to perfect rest attending for the glorious day Wherein he shoulde be blest 100 And heare to make an end I say the onely remedie In all extreames is for to keepe the perfect meane with thee Which if thou takest for thy friend a long and happie life Thou shalt be sure to leade and liue without offence or strife ARistotle in the seconde of his Ethickes sayeth that in all sciences the woorke is brought to perfection by hauing respect vnto the meane neither adding nor taking from it more then is reason meaning that the ouerplus and the defect doe marre the whole matter and that the meane doeth only saue and preserue it which suche as are skilfull maisters doe chiefly consider For seeing that vertue is the most certeine and best of all other artes and that hir woorke and actions differ not from the actions of nature it were greatly against reason that she should not as wel as al other arts serch and finde out the meane and further hee sayth that the vertue morall consisteth as well in passion as in action and that in all thinges that be there is an extremitie of too much and an extremitie of too little and a meane betwixt both As for example in feare in boldenesse in coueting in crueltie in pittie and of all thinges that concerne either pleasure or sorrowe the meane as Aristotle sayth is to be commended and the extreames doe alwaies bring shame and dishonour And like as it happeneth that to the perfection of any thing there are a great number of thinges required as likewise to make an imperfection suffiseth that anie one of those thinges be wanting euen so for a man to atteine vnto the very meane of vertue there are a great number of thinges required but to the not attaining therevnto suffiseth the want of anie suche thing as is needefull And hereof Aristotle putteth a verie familiar example of such as be Archers that to hitte the white is a matter of greate cunning and hardnesse and none is able to say that hee can doe it but hee that is a perfect Archer but to misse it is a very easie matter and euerie man that will can doe it So likewise is it of the vertuous meane for euerie man that list may auoyde it And therefore is the number a greate deale more of the wicked then of those that bee good neither doth it followe as Aristotle saieth that of euerie thing the meane is alwayes best For some things there are that assoone as they bee named they are mingled and wrapped in mischiefe As for example for a man to reioyce in an other mans harme not to be ashamed of anie euill that he hath committed to beare a repining spite at an other mans good happe to commit adultery to murder to steale of these things and such like there is no meane that may bee called vertuous For howsoeuer a man doe them they carrie with them mischiefe and offēce but in all other thinges that may bee well done euil done there are both extreames and a meane And of suche meaneth the Prouerbe where it sayth The onely remedie in all extreames is for to keepe the perfect meane with thee which if thou takest for thy friende that is if so be a man in the order of his life ioyne himselfe with vertue which is the meane A long happy life thou shalt be sure to leade and liue without offence and strife In what sorte we ought to seeke out this meane and how we ought to order our selues for the obteining of it Aristotle at large declareth in the seconde of his Ethickes whyther for auoyding of tediousnesse I referre the Reader FINIS The prince that is feared is neuer beloued Hard for a souldier in these daies to finde a Caesar Proude Princes hateful to God. Princes ought to bee gentle in their speeches Humilitie springeth of Nobilitie An euill prince maketh an euill Court. Gesters to be auoyded No proceeding against him that is absent A notable answere of a woman The skill of the souldier the only aduauncement of Rome The Romanes prefer the common profite before their own What made the Romanes to floorishe Learning to what end it ought to be sought The commoditie of learning The vanitie and miserie of this life The great good that commeth by reading the scriptures The diuersitie betwixt the learned and the ignorant The Prince not to be euill spoken of The duetie of a Iustice A good example A good Emperour The great modestie and magnanimitie of king Phillip Gluttonie prouoketh Lecherie The choise of a wife A right Spanish stomacke ⧠Imprinted at London by Richarde Watkins 1579.
vpon the receyt of which cōmission he bare such a hand vpon them as he brought them in subiection and caused them to pay for yearely tribute a great quantitie of golde such as neither the king did euer looke to receyue nor the Sarazens did euer thinke to haue payed And beside this yearely tribute he compelled them to set at libertie all such Christian prisoners as remained in their custodie all which this good Marques redeemed out of captiuitie and brought them home to their Countrey He gouerned with great wisedome all such souldiours as were vnder his regiment behauing himselfe amongst them both as a captaine and a companiō being neither insolent in authoritie nor base minded in his familiaritie For he was alwayes in heart of such humilitie and mildnesse as made him to be beloued of God and outwardly of such grauitie and countenance as caused him to be reuerēced of men He bountifully bestowed vpon his souldiers what so euer belonged vnto him in right of his generallship of al such spoyles and booties as were taken besides that which he gaue thē in their necessities out of his owne purse and to such as shewed themselues thankefull for his bountie he vsed to say that if we wish wel to him that doth well vnto vs wee ought to giue well to him that wisheth well vnto vs and thus maintayning his credite by the meanes of his great liberality he was of all his souldiours greatly beloued who fearing to offend him dyd alwayes obserue a perfect discipline in the fielde His rare and singular vertues beeing knowen to the king and how woorthy he was of honor dignity he forthwith aduaunced him to the Marqueship of Santilliana created him Erle of the Real of Mancenares addorning him with great lands reuenues Sometimes he committed vnto him the charge of his owne person and many times the gouernment of al his dominions Who had such a special grace in his gouerning as the Poets of that age accounted him for his noble behauiour in court an other Apollo for his great valour in the field a 2 Hanibal He was a great obseruer of al such things as belōged to perfit māhood so great a reprehender of cowardise and faintnesse of heart that seeing on a time a Gentleman to weepe for the great mishappes that had happened vnto him breaking foorth into some choler he sayd vnto him Oh what a shame is it to see a Gentleman to shedde teares for anie thing howe grieuous soeuer it be sauing onely for his offences towardes GOD He was a man of a great minde which noblenesse of minde was an ornament beautie to all other his vertues A couetous worldling comming vnto him and telling him that hee let his landes farre vnder the value and promising to make him a much greater reuenew as one not willing to giue eare to any such matter hee made him this aunswere My friend I doe not vnderstand thy language goe speake it I pray thee to some other that can better vnderstand thee He vsed alwayes to say to those that sought to liue in pleasure and delight that much more delightfull ought to bee vnto vs a vertuous trauaile then a life without vertue howe pleasaunt soeuer it seeme He was of such a pitifull minde that whosoeuer came to him in his extremitie being either persecuted or any wayes troubled shoulde finde reliefe and defence in his house not regarding any daunger that might happen him for so dooing Hee did euermore measure bothe the partyes and the cause according as in deede they were and not as they were supposed to bee and in this thing hee had a moste singular and almoste heauenly vertue for he was neuer knowen to make any acception of persons nor to regarde the riches the wealth or mightinesse of any man but to regarde euery man according to the equitie of his causethe wrote in verse the Prouerbs that begin My Sonne whom I doe dearely loue c. In which Prouerbes are contained almost all the precepts of Morall Philosophy whatsoeuer appertaineth to a vertuous life He had a very great Library and gaue himselfe chiefly to the study of Moral Philosophy Histories and Antiquities hee kept alwaies about him Doctours and men of great learning with whom he vsed to conferre of such thinges as he read Hee wrote besides diuerse other treatises aswel in verse as prose tending all to the aduauncing of vertue and abolishing of vice in such exercises he spent the most parte of his leasure He was of great fame renowme in many other Countryes beside Spaine but alwayes made more account of the estimation of a fewe wisemen rather then the praise of the multitude nd because that for the moste parte wee see that the conditions of men are answearable to their complexions and that they are most times euill dysosed that are euyll complexioned wee neede not to doubt but that this Gentleman was greatly in fauour with GOD who gaue him so good a teacher as hee was of ability to receaue euery kinde of vertue and to resist without any greate paine euery euill motion of sinne I will not deny but that hee was touched with such temptations as our fraile flesh doth many times assail the spirit withal and that he was sundry times ouertaken as well with anger as with the delight of the flesh and that he did sometimes offend aswel in doing more then was mete as in fayling to do that which he ought to haue done For being as he was continually cōuersant in the warres dayly employed in sundry many matters It should haue beene a matter of greate difficultie liuing among suche a number of errours to carry him selfe cleane without any errour But if it be true that vertues doe make a mery hearte as on the other side vices breede heauinesse and sorrowe seeing that this gentleman was the most parte of his time disposed to pleasantnesse it is a greate deale more likely that he was rather accompanyed with vertues that bring forth pleasure then subdued with vices that continually doe vexe men with griefe And notwithstanding that he receiued many misfortunes in the warres and that hee sustained diuers griefes as well for the death of his Children as of others his neere kinsemen yet he did alwayes beare them with such a noble minde as he serued for an example to all others how to behaue thēselues in the like cases He ended his life with great honour prosperitie at the age of lxv yeers And if it may be thought that mē may after their departure haue any felicitie in this world as some suppose they may we may assuredly thinke that this gentlemā had it for he left behinde him vi sonnes wherof the eldest increased his inheritance with the estate of a dukedome his second sonne was Earle of Tendilla the thirde was Earle of Curunna the fourth was Cardinal of Spain Archbishoppe of Toledo Bishop of Ciguenca one of the greatest Prelates that was in
his time To these foure and to the two others Don Iohn and Don Hurtado he left such Lordshippes rents reuenewes as made fiue great houses besides his owne principall house FINIS ⧠The first Chapter of Loue and Feare 1. My sonne whom I doe dearly loue Vnto my wordes geue eare ▪ Seeke not by rigour for to rule Nor gouerne men by feare ▪ Loue and thou shalt beloued be And by the same shalt doe Such worthie things as hated thou shalt neuer attaine vnto The Paraphrase EVery wyse Oratour as Tullie in his booke de Oratore teacheth ought principally ▪ in whatsoeuer matter he dealeth to consider three things That is to make all those that shall eyther heare his speach or reade his workes to be well willing vnderstanding and mindefull The speaker shall make his audience well willing when he laboureth to obteyne their fauour and good wil towardes him For no man wil gladly geue eare to such a man as he is afore euil perswaded of he maketh his hearers to vnderstād when he declareth the matter that hee meaneth to entreate off in shewing that it shal be profitable commodious he causeth them to be attentiue or mindeful when he mooueth or stirreth them vp by good meanes inductions to be readie to heare not hauing their minds caried away with anie other matters All these points hath this learned gentleman folowing this inscription obserued in al his discourse But especially in this first Prouerbe he hath obserued the first in making him that shal reade him wel minded towardes him procuring his fauour goodwil in calling him by the name of his sōne beloued For as the Ciuil law sayth we can name no man by a more sweet or better name thē to call him our sonne He maketh him to vnderstand in shewing him howe to direct or order his life amōgst the people he maketh him attētiue in these wordes where he saith Geue eare And the meaning and matter of this Prouerbe is the most sweet gracious behauiour that men of all degrees ought to vse in their conuersation And if so be that men of gret estate calling ought to vse this gētle behauiour much more ought they that are of meane degree to do it And therfore Seneca in the speach that he hath with the Emperour Nero as he bringeth in in his 9. Tragedie when the Emperour did striue to gouerne rather by feare then by loue and commaunded sundrie things to be done by force and disorder to the ende the people should feare him because Seneca did therefore greately blame him the Emperour tolde him that whatsoeuer he did he ought by reasō for to do for the sword was it that defēded the Prince Seneca answeared that the faith and true allegiance of his subiects would better defend him The Emperour replied That it is good that the Prince bee feared Seneca answeareth it is better that he be beloued The naked sword saith Nero shal make them doe what I wil haue thē Beware saieth Seneca you neuer fall into suche an errour The Emperour answereth I wil force the people to feare mee Surely saith Seneca that which you force and compell the people to doe they will verie hardly suffer And therefore it is not meete that anie person as is sayde especially suche gouernours as are vertuous and iust should vrge or force any thing agaynst the good will of the people much lesse that priuat persons should in their conuersation one with an other doe it For as Seneca in his thirde Epistle sayeth whereas hee sheweth the deliberation that a man ought to haue in the getting and keeping of his friende If thou wilt be beloued loue or as the Prouerbe sayeth By loue thou shalt doe that hated thou shalt neuer attayne vnto For there is nothing in the world that is sought with loue either by the prince of his subiecte the Lorde of his tenant or the friend of his familiar but it is easily obteined For as Virgill saith in his Bucolikes Loue ouercōmeth al thinges insomuch is for the great loue that the Almightie bare vnto mankinde hee sent his only begottē sonne to take our flesh vppon him and to die for vs that he might beare our faults and infirmities as Esai saith and suffer for our offences And therefore if loue coulde cause God to abase himselfe to be conuersant with man and to doe that which might chiefly auayle vs being euerlasting and most perfect and we mortall and imperfecte what shall it not doe in the companie and conuersation of one man with an other Whereuppon Valerius in his thirde booke in the title of Loue and delight writeth that Damon and Pithias two of Pythagoras his schollers bare so great loue and affection one to the other as when Dionisius of Sarragos would haue put one of them to death he seeyng that there was no remedie but needes he must dye required that hee might haue libertie to goe home to dispose set in order suche thinges as hee had promising to put in sureties for his returne at what day soeuer he woulde appoint him Dionisius supposing that none so faithfull a friēd could be found that in such a case woulde become suretie to the hazard of his life and all that he had aunsweared that he was content to giue him leaue time to goe to his house so that he put in such suretie as hee promised whereuppon he left him for suretie his other friende And as the last day was now come wherein the condemned person was bound to returne to suffer his determined death all those that were present did count a great follie in him that woulde in suche a case become suretie hazard his life for an other how great soeuer the friendship was betwixt them But the partie that was suretie did no whitte distrust the fidelitie of his friende nor repent him any whitte of his suretyshippe Nowe as they were all gaping and gasing to see the ende of the matter at the last day and euen in the last houre commeth the condemned man wherat Dionisius was greatly astonished and for the great faithfulnes loue that he saw betweene them pardoned the partie that he had condemned and desired them both that they woulde vouchsafe him for a third into their friendship Wherby it is euident that loue is of so greate a force that it forceth such men as be true friends to venter giue their liues the one for the other So that very well saith the Prouerbe Loue and thou shalte beloued bee For Seneca in his thirde Epistle affirmeth that nothing doeth more trouble a man in his prosperitie and wealth then to thinke that they can neuer bee to him good and faithfull friendes to whom he himselfe hath neuer been good Howe manie kindes of Friendshippes there bee and howe some bee friendes for Commoditie sake others for pleasure and delight others for vertue and honestie howe some bee sworne friendes and what difference there
vpon him to suffer most cruel death for our saluation And to pay as Esay saith The price of our redemption Also by the Scriptures wee know what other benifites soeuer the Lord hath doone for vs Beside the scripture teacheth vs how we ought to loue God with al our hart with all our minde with all our forces that we ought rather to die a glorious death then to offend him with a sinfull life this he meaneth when he saith The dreame is forgottē quite that soone thou shalt forgoe For our life is compared to a sleepe which we shal leaue before we be aware as Innocentius saith in a booke that he wrote of the wretchednes of the state of man where he hath these words Tel me my brother what goodnesse doest thou finde in these worldly delights What doeth thy glory profite thee What doeth thy pleasures auaile thee These be not they that can deliuer thee from death nor defend thee from the wormes For he that late was lustie and glorious in his Pallace lieth nowe dead and stinking in his Sepulchre he that late was tickled with the delightes of the bed lyeth nowe torne a sunder with the wormes in his graue What meanest thou to be proude being but wormes meate and ashes Why moylest thou for riches that shall shortly be distributed to the poore As the Prophet saith They slept their sleepe those that were lately riche haue nowe nothing in their handes There true wisdome knowledge of God and skill in the scripture bringeth vs to this vnderstandyng by this a man knoweth how to serue God not regarding this transitorie life which passeth as a sleepe or a dreame 14. To Gentlemen it doeth belong To knowe the artes diuine Where knowledge chiefly floorisheth And learning best doeth shine Assuredly he well deserues To haue the vpper seate That garnished with wisedome is And deckt with learning great IN this Prouerbe the Marques sheweth what maner of men ought to seeke for learning and vnderstanding and for the better vnderstanding hereof we must consider that there be artes Mechanicall and arts Liberal Artes Mechanical are those that are vsed by men of base condition as Shoemakers Taylours Carpenters Smithes and all other that are handicraftesmen Arts Liberal are those learnings and sciences wherunto liberal or free men that is noble men or Gentlemen applie them selues as the seuen Liberal sciences therfore they are called liberal or free that bestow their time in these knowledges because they be not of base minde nor estate neither are they subiect or bounde to anie vyle occupation And therefore in the olde time there were none brought vp in learning but onely the children of noblemen and Gentlemen and therefore saith the Prouerbe To Gentlemen it doeth belong to know the artes diuine That is to say to suche men as are of good estate and condition Traian as Policrates in his sixth booke writeth who was a Spaniarde and Emperour of Rome in a letter that he writeth to the Frenche king perswadeth him to bring vp his children in the knoweledge of the liberall artes saying that a kinge without learning is like an Asse with a crowne therefore the kinges and Emperours in the olde time did commit their children to the best learned men that they coulde get Traian was brought vp with Policrates The emperor Nero with Seneca great Alexander with Aristotle To whom as Policartes in the forsaid booke saith King Phillip vppon the birth of his sonne Alexander wrote his letters in this sort Phillip the king sendeth greeting to Aristotle the Philosopher I vnderstande that I haue a sonne borne for which I geue thankes to the Gods not so much for his birth as that he hapned to be borne in thy time by whom I trust to haue him so brought vp that he shal be woorthie to succeede me in my kingdome and dominions The Prouerb saith further That he deserueth preheminence that is garnished with wisdome and learning And assuredly looke what difference there is betwixt perfection and imperfection and betwixt darknesse and light so great is the diuersity betwixt a learned man and an ignorant because we should vnderstande what great honour he deserueth that is beautified with learning and wisedome both Daniel in his seconde vision and S. Ierome in his preface to the Bible doe witnesse that the learned and the wise shall shine as the brightnesse of the firmament and those that haue instructed many in godlynesse shall glister like the starres for euer and euer And therfore great preheminence doeth he deserue that is garnished with wisedome and learning 15 The head and spring of goodnesse al Is wisedome that doeth shewe The meanes for to discerne the trueth And vertue pure to knowe Who so beginneth in his youth In vertue to delight No doubt but when he comes to age Will leade his life aright The Paraphrase IN this Prouerbe the Marques sheweth that one of the principall causes of wisedome and knowledge is to feare God as Salomon in his prouerbes saith The beginning of wisdome is the feare of God and wisedome knowledge the foolish doe abhorre and therfore he saith That wisedome is more woorth then the weapons of the mightie of greater value then precious stones more fine thē pure gold For by wisedome we are able to discerne betwixt good and euill betwixt vertue and vice to which ende leauing to speake of the doctrine and rules of the holy Scripture whereby we are taught to flee from all sinne and wickednesse and to embrace and followe vertuousnesse Aristotle hath written three bookes In the one of them he entreateth of the rules and orders that are requisite for the guiding of a countrey and citie which booke is called the Politiques In the other he sheweth howe a man ought to gouerne his house his wife and his children this booke is called the Aeconomikes The thirde teacheth how a man shoulde gouerne him selfe wherein there is a medlie of rules obseruations by which a man may knowe the vertuous and discerne and seuere them from the vices And specially in this booke he sheweth that all maner of vertues are gotten by vse and custome and that a man by vsing a long time to liue vertuously it commeth at length to bee naturall vnto him and although a man be naturally enclined to vice yet yf he accustome him selfe to vertue he shall leaue his euill inclination and become vertuous And this is it that the Prouerbe sayeth Who so beginneth to liue well in his youth it is a signe that he shall not doe amisse in his age But it is not one vertuous act alone that can be called a beginning as Aristot saith no more then can one swallow shew a spring And the greatest presumption by which we may cōiecture as Aristotle in the second of his Ethickes sayeth whether a man shall proue vertuous or no is the pleasure or the heauinesse that he taketh in his
mother to the Virgin Mary and wife to Ioachim a woman of great sanctitie and vertuousnesse of life An other of the same name was sister to Queene Dido a woman of great commendation among the heathen both of them as wel she of the Hebrues as the Heathen were worthy to be had in continual memory Dido as appeareth by her true story was the daughter of King Belus sister to Pigmalion wife of Sichaeus who after the death of her husband made a vowe neuer to marry againe forsooke the countrie where her husband was murdered by the meanes of her traiterous brother Pigmalion comming into Affrica founded the stately Citie of Carthage Where while shee purposed to liue a sole and a chaste life beeing required in marriage by the King Hiarbas and vtterly refusing she was by the saide Hiarbas strongly besieged and brought to so hard a poynt that seeing no other way to escape and to preserue her chastitie chosing rather to die then to liue thus violated threw her self into a great flame of fire so ended her daies This story although Virgill doe otherwise declare yet is he not considering the liberty of a Poet greatly to be blamed Virginea with what earnestnesse she was required by Appius Claudius to consēt to his dishonest and vnlawfull lust is sufficiently declared by Liuie in his second Decade and likewise by Iohn Boccace in his Booke Of the fall of Princes where it is at large declared with howe great constancy the chaste mayden preserued her virginitie 54. Prefer a life with libertie aboue all other things A vertue great it is and worthy of the paines it bringes A shamefull great reproch it is without it for to flye An honourable thing it is for such a good to dye The Paraphrase THe auncient Philosophers were of opinion that all the Vertues were to be reduced into the number of foure which they named Cardinall or principall vertues whereof they accounted to bee chiefe Fortitude or manhood which as Aristotle in the thirde of his Ethicks testifieth is so much the more excellent and praiseworthy as the subiect and matter wherwith it dealet his dreadful and difficult for manhood hath for his obiect or contrary Death which is as Aristotle saith the last of all dreadfull and terrible thinges beside the great dangers and sharp and cruell aduentures So as by reason of the difficultie or hardnesse of the obiect there are but few that happen to attaine to this vertue And as it is written in the Ciuil lawe those that lose their liues for the libertie of their countrey are counted to liue for euer for muche better is it for a man to dye freely in fight for the libertie of his Countrie then escaping to liue with a shamefull and cowardly flight And as the Prouerb heere saith and they be the very words in effect of Aristotle in the 3. of the Ethicks The death that is honourable is to be preferred before a dishonourable life which the Marques doth plainly set foorth by examples following 55. Oh what a death had Cato dyed if it had lawfull beene And had not by the iust decrees of God beene made a sinne No lesse doe I the worthy fact of Mucius heere commend That Lyuie in his story hath so eloquently pende The Paraphrase AFter that Pompey was ouerthrowen by Caesar at the battail of Pharsalia had retired him selfe to Lesbos where his wife Cornelia lay passing from thence to Aegypt was slaine by the hands of Photinus and Achillas at the cōmaundement of king Ptolomei who was at that time his seruant Cato who saw that the side of Pompey went in such sort to wrack as was not by any meanes to be recouered fled vnto the citie of Vtica where fearing by some misaduenture to fall into the handes of Caesar his mortall enemie he presently dispatthed him selfe Mucius Sceuola was a man of great courage among the Romanes who when Porsenna the King had with a great power besieged the Citie determined with a noble minde to raise the siege and to bring his matter to better effect went secretly alone out of the Citie with full intent to kill the Kinge and happening to spye in the Campe a Secretary of the Kings appareled in Princely roabes supposing that it was the King thrust him thorowe the body with his swoorde wherevpon beeing presently taken by the Guarde and such as stoode by hee was shackeled and brought before the King who demaunding of him what foolishe presumption had brought him to this misery he aunswered that not onely hee but diverse others to the number of an hundred more had professed by solemne othe for the deliuerance of the Citie to doe their vttermost indeuour in killing of the king Whervpon Porsenna giuing credite to the words of Mucius Sceuola presently raysed his siege commaunding that Sceuola should foorthwith be burned who when hee was brought vnto the fire thrusting out his hand with a valiant courage into the flame there held it til such time as the whitenes of the bones the flesh beeing scorched away appeared and when he was asked what made him to vse such crueltie to his owne fleshe he aunswered that since his hand had failed of his vertuous purpose it was good reason that it should suffer such punishment for so greate an offence 56. For sonne if thou do much esteeme thy selfe and seekst to liue Thou neuer shalt receiue the crowne that mightie Mars doth giue But if thou doost abandon all faint hart and foolish feare Thou shalt not want the honour nor the state thou seekest to beare The Paraphrase ACcording to the true opinion of both the Astronomers and the Catholike diuines we are not in such sort constrained by the starres to doe any thing as we bee thereby depriued of our owne will to doe of necessitie that which they foreshowe but by inclining vs to doe certaine actions they moue al our bodyly forces to do such things as they signifie Which doth not so farre inforce vs but that as Ptolomy saith in his Centiloquium A wise and a vertuous man may rule reigne ouer the starres That is though the starres doe stirre and moue a man to doe euill yet the partie him selfe hath sufficient power if he will to doe wel But the olde people beeing ignorant of this vertue and seeing the Planet Mars did mooue men to be venterers and souldiers held opinion that he was the onely god of battailes and that hee aduaunced and rewarded all such as were valiant and venterous which olde maner of speaking is here by the Marques at this time followed And most certaine it is that such as make much of them selues doe shunne as much as they may the comming into any perill or daunger Of which sort of people Seneca in his first tragidie speaketh where he saith That great yeeres and gray heares happeneth to faintharted and such as loue to sleepe in a whole skin For such manner of persons will be sure to
for helpe himselfe and not be hearde And therefore it is not to bee thought of a noble minde but if hee see a man in miserie or distresse hee will followe the aduise of the Prophet Esaie who saith Breake thy breade to the hungrie and carrie home to thy house the sorowfull and the poore where thou seest a man bare and naked cloth him and despise not thine own flesh Solomon saith in his Prouerbes He that hath pitie vpon the poore shal be happie And this is the meaning of this Prouerbe A noble minde wil neuer staine c. The seuenth Chapter of Truth 68 Truth honour thou alwayes loue step not from her aside But frame thy friendship after her that euer may abide The Image faire of holy life and daughter true is she As faithful sister vnto vertue chiefe is honestie TRuth is of so great a worthines and excellencie that God himselfe as it appeareth in the Gospel is called the Truth This truth hath two extremities The one called vayne boasting which is when men brag of theÌ„selues more then they are able to performe the other is named Ironia when men publishe of themselues that which is not in them Men ought to loue and honour the trueth after one of these two manners eyther where it concerneth onely them and therein men ought to beware that they neither exceede nor doe lesse then that which is reason The other is when it toucheth an other in this case to reuerence the trueth is as much to say as to performe whatsoeuer is promised and to bee true of our worde as well to our enimies as to our friends as we are bound by the Ciuill lawe for there is no greater duetie betwixt man and man then to keepe their faith and promise iustly one with the other without the which all trafficke and dealing amongst men must of necessitie cease And therefore the Prouerbe sayeth Truth honour thou and alwayes loue steppe not from her aside And farther that we ought to frame our friendshippe after truth Friendshippe according to the minde of Aristotle in his Ethickes is in one of these three sortes eyther for profite for pleasure or for honestie Friendshippe for profite as Seneca sayeth is Merchantes friendshippe which neuer endureth longer than there is hope of gayne Friendshippe for pleasure lasteth as long as delight and pleasure lasteth and as delightes doe alter with yeeres and suche thinges as seemed pleasant at some age are thought displeasant in an other Therefore this Friendshippe can neuer long continue Friendship for honestie is that which is grounded vppon truth and vertue and as vertue truth honestie are thinges euerlasting vnchangeable so the friendship that is grounded vppon them cannot but continue for euer This friendshippe floorisheth in the time of prosperitie and continueth and remayneth in the time of misfortune and aduersitie and therefore hee saieth That shee is the daughter of holinesse that honestie is the faithfull sister vnto the most soueraigne vertue Honestie as Plato reporteth as it is brought in by Tullie in the beginning of his offices is of suche an excelling beauty as if she might be seene with mens eyes the whole worlde woulde bee in loue with her Who because shee is stedfast assured sounde and euerlasting is saide to bee The faithfull sister to soueraigne vertue 69. Attilius knowing well before That he shoulde surely dye If vnto Carthage he returnd Obseruing faithfully His troth and woord deferd no time For to returne againe Where as he suffred tormentes great By death and deadly paine The Paraphrase MArcus Attilius as S. August writeth in his 1. booke of the Citie of God and also Tullie in his Booke of duties beyng prisoner among other Romanes in Carthage sent vnto Rome to persuade an exchange of prisoners when he came to the citie and hauing declared his message was demaunded to geue his opinion what hee thought best to bee done after that he had thorowly coÌ„sidered that the Roman prisoners were olde impotent men and that the Carthaginians were all young and lustie fellowes his aduise was that they shoulde in no wise make anie exchaunge and when his friends vnderstanding that his counsell was allowed laboured by all meanes they could to keepe him from goyng agayne He told them that hee had geuen his faith and his woorde to the Carthaginians that he would returne himself with the answere and therfore notwithstanding that he knew was sure that his goyng thither should be harmefull dangerous comming into the handes of his cruell dealy enimies yet coÌ„sidering that he had promised he would performe it and so in deede did whereas he suffered most cruell death with greate torture and tormentes The eight Chapter of Continence in coueting 70 Of worldly goodes possesse no more nor farther seeke to haue Then may suffice thy neede cleare thy conscience after graue All ouerplus with heede auoyde for more then meete is nought And nothing can continue long that on the earth is wrought The Paraphrase SOlomon saith in his Prouerbs that the praier which euery man ought to make vnto God is this Pouertie nor riches lord giue thou vnto me but only that with is sufficient for my maintenance least by hauing to muche I be tempted to forget God and to saie Who is the Lord and hauing on the other side to litle I bee forced by miserie and want to blaspheme the â—ame of my god And this aucthoritie of Solomon is in a maner the full CoÌ„mentarie of this Prouerbe Likewise Aristotle in the tenth of his Ethickes saith To seeke to possesse a meane moderate wealth is the perfection that a man attaineth vnto And Seneca in a booke that he made of the quietnesse and satisfyng of the minde moueth this question What quantitie of the goods of fortune a man ought to enioy to and what is the meane temperate state of riches That a man ought to seeke for and possesse so muche as may keepe him from pouertie and yet to be not farre from it And this is it that preserueth a man from falling as the piller which is the conscience being the greatest rest and quietest that a man can carry with him The Prouerb saith Nothing can continue long that on the earth is wrought The world it selfe must ende and all thing that therein is created wee see that nothing endureth long beautie decayeth fauour faileth strength abateth and life it selfe but a smal time lasteth The greatest princes that be must away and though the whole world be subiect to them yet are they them selues but subiectes to miserie to casualtie to sorowe to sicknesse and to death and muste die as an other man all our pompe our vanities and follies muste haue an ende wee haue no continuall abiding place as saint Paule saith but must al away some to heauen some to hell according as they haue heere behaued them selues And therfore is it a great madnes for any man to set
great griefe and mourning bewailed his offence Hee committed adulterie with the wife of Vrias who was mother to Solomon for the which greeuous offence the Lorde was more offended with him then for all that euer hee did as is to be seene at large in his life The Doctour SExtus Tarquinius was the sonne of Tarquinius the King as Liuie in the first of his Decades writeth The like is affirmed by Saint Augustine in his boke of the Citie of GOD Valerius Maximus and many other auncient writers No lesse was Lucretia famous for her vertue then was this Tarquine to be abhorred for his wickednesse Amongst many that haue written of the woorthinesse of this Ladie none doeth so greatly delite me as M. Iohn Galensis in a booke that hee wrote of the foure principal vertues whō I only determin to folow His words as I haue translated thē out of the Tuscan tongue are these Well woorthie of immortall and euerlasting remembraunce is the noble vertuous Lady Lucretia Who refusing to liue any longer did rip out the stain of the villany and violence done vnto her with the death of her owne person The maner wherof S. Augustine telleth in his boke of the citie of God saying that Sextus Tarquinius came with Collatinus the husbande of Lucretia to a house of his called Collatinū where they found Lucretia vertuously disposed amongst her maidens and women the only Paragon of her time most commended of all others was this Lucretia Whom when the sonne of Tarquinius king of the Romans had throughly behelde he was presently inflamed with disordinate and wicked loue towardes her whereuppon within a fewe dayes after accompanied only with one man he returneth vnknowne to Collatinus vnto the aforesaide place where he was honourably entertained and receiued of Lucretia who made him great cheare and lodged him according to his estate supposing that she had had her friende and not her enimie in her house Tarquinius being now a bed al a fire with the flames of beastly desire perceiuing that they were all fast a sleepe in the house taking his swoorde in his hande leapeth out of his bed and goeth directly to the chamber of Lucretia whom he founde fast a sleepe where laying his hande vpon her brest he said vnto her Lie stil Lucretia I am Sextus Tarquinius yf thou makest any noise thou shalt die for it Wherewithall the Lady beeing with great feare awaked and seeing no succour about her nor any waye too escape death Tarquinius beginneth to disclose vnto her his great affection and somtime with faire woordes intreating her and sometime againe terribly threatning her assaieth all the waies that he can deuise to bryng her to graunt to his desire But when he saw that she was by no waies to be remooued from her stedfast and chaste minde and that the terrour of death coulde nothing preuaile he casteth about againe and thinkeeth to boorde her on an other side and saith vnto her I will tel thee what I will doe if thou wilt not consent vnto me I wyll first kill thee and afterwards kill an euil fauoured knaue that I haue heere in the house and laye him in bedde with thee whereby it shal be reported to the worlde that thou wert taken in shameful and filthie adulterie And with this feare he ouercame the chaste minde of the vertuous Ladie and hauing obteined his desire with great disdaine departed Wherewith the poore Lucrecia beeing now ouerwhelmed with sorowe and pensiuenesse for her great and greeuous mishappe sendeth with al speede possible to her father her husbande and all other their friendes at Rome earnestly desiring them to come vnto her with as muche haste as they coulde VVho when they were come Lucrecia all heauie and sorowfull in her bedde at their entring into the house fell into a great weeping and when her friendes began to salute her and to bid her bee of good comfort Alas quoth she What comforte can there be to a woman that hath lost her chastitie and lookeing stedfastly vppon her husbande shee cried out and saide O Collatinus the feete of a straunger hath been in thy bed But I sweare vnto thee of a trueth only the body is defiled for the mind was neuer consenting and that shal my death presently declare And therefore I require you all to shewe your selues men and not to suffer this horrible act to remaine vnpunished Sextus Tarquinius was he whom I receiued not as an enimie but as a supposed friende who hath this laste night depriued me and you also yf you be men of al ioy VVhen shee had vttered these wordes they all beganne to comfort her and to tel her that her offence was nothing beeyng forced and constrained thereunto and that where there was no consent there coulde be no offence VVhereunto Lucrecia replied and saide As for that looke you to those thinges that concerne your selues I though I dooe cleare my selfe of beeing guiltie of any offence yet doe I not discharge my selfe of punishment There shal neuer chaste woman take occasion to be euyll by the example of Lucrecia And with these wordes plucking out a knife that she had secretly hidden and thrusting it to her hart she fell downe dead whereat both her husbande and Brutus her father makyng great lamentation presently drewe out the knife out of the wounde being al stained embrued with blood which knife Brutus takyng in his hande sware to reuenge the iniurie and the death of his daughter and to destroy both Tarquin the king his wife and his children either by fyer by swoord or by al the waies that he might and neuer to suffer any of the kindred to reigne in Rome VVith which he gaue the knife to Collatinus and so from one to another Whereby this mourning chaunged into wrath and desire of reuenge they all made promise to folowe Brutus and taking with them the body of Lucretia they brought it to Rome and laide it in the middest of the market place to the ende that the horrour of so strange a facte might stirre vppe the people to reuenge it At the sight wherof the people were straight in armes and folowing Brutus they thrust out of Rome Sextus Tarquinius who after miserably died in prison 4◠No lesse was worthie Scipio Commended for the deede That from his chaste and worthie mind Did worthily proceede Then for his valiant manly actes Esteemed in his daies By which he to his Countrey got A neuer dieyng praise The Paraphrase of the Marques COrnelius Scipio as Valerius rehearseth in his thirde booke hauing taken the Citie of Carthage was tolde by his souldiours that in the sacke of the Towne there was taken a young maiden of woonderful beauty great parentage who was affianced to a Gentleman of the nobilitie which as soone as he vnderstoode he commaunded that the Damsel her husbande and her parentes should be brought before him and caused the young maide safe and vntouched to be deliuered vnto them
commit themselues to no hasard nor danger wherby they are vncapable of any vertue or honor For Honor as Aristotle in the fourth of his Ethicks saith is a reuerence that is giuen to men in rewarde and recompence of their vertues And therefore the Marques saith That whosoeuer is so valiant as not to regarde his life in any vertuous attempt shal be sure to receiue the crowne of Mars that is the renowme rewarde of a vertuous minde which he shall quickly attaine vnto if he represse feare And where as there are in the vertue of Fortitude two extreames or vices the one in ventering to farre the other in fearing to much the Marques hath not here said If thou restrainest boldnesse as hee sayeth If thou abandonest feare because as Aristotle in the thirde of his Ethicks affirmeth and as dayly experience teacheth the nature of man is more inclined to fearfulnesse then to boldenesse and therefore those that seeke to bee valiaunt and vertuous ought more to trauel in the repressing and abandoning of feare then in the restraint or temperaunce of boldenesse And therefore to good purpose sayeth the Marques in this Prouerbe If thou abandonest or forcest feare and not corrage and because as it is sayde abooue it is in euery mans power and will to bee vertuous it is heere well saide of the Prouerb Thou shalt not want the honour nor the state thou seekest to beare 57. Detest an euill life that 's led with foule reproch and shame And alwayes ready be to dye with honorable name For life cannot be lent for loane nor let from day to day Nor can the appoynted houre bee shund nor skaped any way The Paraphrase THE Emperours did in their lawes carefully prouide for the behoofe and good estate of their Subiectes to sette downe rewardes and encouragements for such as were honest and vertuous and to deuise punishments and corrections for suche as were wicked and euill disposed And it is very wel thought as hath been saide before that such as valiantly lost their liues either in defence of their faith or for the libertie of their countrie are rewarded with euerlasting life or if any man dye in the defence of his owne honesty he shall continually be well thought of and commended But such as cowardly forsake the feelde and run away from the warres the lawes haue appointed to dye and are accounted for wretches and villaines whether they dye or liue and their shameful and reprochfull life is more griefe to them then any death that can bee deuised especially an honest death this is the meaning of the Prouerbe Detest an euill life c. For as Aristotle in the 3. of his Ethicks saith A man is borne to honor libertie which two things we ought alwaies to keepe and maintaine and to couet by all meanes we can to diehonestly to liue vertuously The Prouerb saith further that life can not be borrowed For as Iob sayeth The Lord hath rated the dayes of our life which can not bee lengthened And therefore no man may shunne the appointed houre that God hath determined And herevpon ariseth the tale among the Poets of the three sisters of destinie whereof the one of them called Clotho carieth the distaffe the other named Lachesis spinneth and draweth out the threede which the thirde sister Atropos windeth vppe vpon the reele And as Seneca in his first Tragedie sayth These three sisters are so cruell and hard that it was neuer seene that the threede which they had once wounde vppe could euer bee got backe againe These sisters of the Destinie doe signifie in deede the posting time of our transitorie life whereof the day once past can neuer be called backe againe And therefore sayeth Seneca these three vnliberall Ladies doe rule by assured order and may neither shorten nor lengthē otherwise then is appointed Therefore ought euerie man to applie himselfe to die well since the time of his death can by no maner of meanes be altered 58. King Codrus rather chose to haue the conquest then to liue And neuer did his noble minde refuse his life to giue To saue a valiant companie of such as him did serue The life is alwayes well bestowed that doth such praise deserue The Paraphrase COdrus beeing as both saint Austine Valerius report the king of Athens when as he was to fight with Pelops duke of the Lacedemonians and had answere of his Idols to whom he sacrificed that the side whose captaine was slaine should haue the victorie preferrin glike a worthie gentleman the liues prosperitie of his poore subiects farre aboue his owne apparailing himselfe in a base and simple habite and rushing into the thickest of the enemies was presently slaine Of whom Virgil writeth that he chose rather to die with the victorie then to liue with the ouerthrow 59. Take no delight to heare thy deedes commended to thy face A thing that wisedome alwayes hath accounted for disgrace And if thou doest reprochfull wordes of anie man sustaine It is no commendation to to report the same againe The Paraphrase VNder the vertue of Fortitude is takē and included all maner of vertuous and godly actions that are done without respect of praise For a man ought not to look for the praise of the people as a recōpence for his good deed and specially if it be done in his owne presence which for two causes is to be disliked The one because that glorie nor praise is no perfect recompence or rewarde for anie vertue For as Boecius sayeth Praise or glory is nought else amongest the multitude but a tickeling and bewitching of the eares The other reason is that praises and commendations before the face doth rather seeme a kinde of flattering and clawing then a praise The Prouerbe saith further That if thou doest reprochfull wordes of any man sustaine It is no cōmendation to report the same againe The meaning of it is that no man that is of great minde or courage ought to speake of the iniurious and euill words that hath been offered him but shall rather bee counted both wiser and valianter if he dissemble them and seeme not to wey them as it is writtē in the third booke Of the liues of the Philosophers where a Philosopher being railed at and reuiled made this answer Thou quoth he hast learned to speake euill and I haue learned to make no accompt of lewd speech And more is he to be commended that beareth euill wordes then he that offreth them 60. Likewise the praising of thy selfe thine actes and speciall grace Doth neuer thee aduaunce but all thy doings doth deface For if the deedes that here thou dost be onely done for praise An errour great thou dost commit and walkst the croked wayes The Paraphrase SOlomon is his Prouerbes sayth Let a stranger cōmend thee and not thine owne mouth And Cato saieth Neither praise nor dispraise thine owne doings for thy praise in thine owne mouth is a great disgrace vnto
sayeth in his Gospel That there is no Prophet without honour but in his owne Countrey For his owne kindred and companions for the great disdaine they haue of his estimation doe seeke by all the meanes they can to discredite and deface him which is not for a vertuous minde nor doeth a noble hart beseeme For it is for a noble and gentlemanly hart to behaue himselfe as the good Moyses did who when certaine enuious persons to moue him to displeasure came vnto him and tolde him that two of the common people did prophesie in his tent Moyses verie graciously answered them that he wished to GOD that euerie one of the people were able to prophesie which milde speech proceeded from a noble and a valiant minde 82. Nought else doth enuie bring to passe nor other seede doth sowe Then murders mischiefes cruelties and suttle ouerthrowe As by the Scripture doth appeare where cursed Caine did kill Poore Abel that offended not vpon malicious will. The Paraphrase ABel and Caine were brothers as Moses in the first of his fiue bookes writeth The cruell murther of Caine done vppon Abel and the cause thereof is in the same Booke at large described And therefore to make anie long Paraphrase vpon it were but a thing superfluous And it is well knowne that enuie the roote of mischiefs was the first deuiser of that so shamefull and horrible a fact The tenth Chapter of Thankefulnesse 83. Good turnes that haue been done to thee haue still before thine eie And when to recompence the same it in thy power doth lie Require them with a cheerefull hart And waying well in minde What friendship hath been shewde to thee be neuer thou vnkinde The Paraphrase SEneca in his Epistle to Lucilius writeth that the vnthankefull man is he that returneth a good turne without interest in whose opiniō we are bound not barely to returne the benefite which we haue receiued but to do it with recompence For as Valerius in his fifth booke writeth Hee that doeth not thankefully recompence a good turne doeth clearly bereaue men of the doing and receiuing of pleasures without the which the life of men is rather a death then a life And this is it that the Prouerbe saith Good turnes that haue been done to thee haue stil before thine eie c. 84. O what a shamefull staine it was to Ptolomei the king The noble Pompey traiterously vnto his death to bring And Ezekias for his great vnthankfulnesse did pay When by the wrath of God he should haue died before his day The Paraphrase PTolomey was king of Egypt who as Lucan writeth was seruant to Pompey the Emperour of Rome at whose handes he receiued his kingdome And as the Ciuill warres beganne to waxe hot betwixt the two mightie Princes Cesar and Pompey after the battaile of Pharsalie Pompey retired from the fieldes of Philippos to a place in Lesbos where hee had appointed his wife Cornelia to lie but perceiuing the people of the Countrey not to bee such as hee might trust hee went by Sea from thence to Egypt where he committed himselfe to the handes of Ptolomey who conspiring with Photinus and Achillas two mischieuous persons betraied him and after they had slaine him presented his head vnto Caesar at the sight whereof Caesar as the storie telleth could not refraine from shedding of teares Whervpon maister Frances Petrarch in one of his Sonets thus writeth Caesare poiche'l traditor d'Egitto Lifece il don de l' honorata testa Celando l'allegrezza manifesta Pianse pe gliocchi fuor si come è scritto Which in our vulgare speech is thus Caesar when as the false Egyptian had Presented him with worthie Pōpeys hed Hiding his ioy with coloured coūtnance sad His fained teares foorthwith they say he shed Of the reproches of this Ptolomey all hystories are full And because as I haue said Lucan setteth out this matter more at large it is needlesse to make any long discourse thereof since this Booke requireth no such exquisitenesse nor intreateth of anie forraine storie Ezechias being of the tribe of Iudas was king of Ierusalem the seruāt and greatly beloued of God who when Senacharib king of the Assirians had besieged the Citie fent Rabsacah his messenger vnto him and to the rest of the people willing them to yeeld themselues and promising them their liues threatning them that if they otherwise did he would assuredly put them all to the sworde and that neither their God nor any other God beside should be able to deliuer thē as they might see by the experience of a number of other mightie countreys that he had conquered brought in subiection Ezechias being afrayed of the hugenesse of the armie and of the great power of Senacharib shewed vnto Rabsacah the temple of Ierusalem with all the vessels and ornamentes thereof and all the Iewels of his owne house which had been gottē together and laid vp by his predecessors but the Lord knowing the weaknesse and faintnes of Ezechias and foreseeing that he was determined to yeeld himself into the handes of Senacharib or at his appointment to Rabsaces being greatly offended with him sent vnto him the Prophet Esay to let him vnderstande that he should presently die but such and so great was his sorowfull lamentation and mourning as it pleased the almightie to reuerse the sentēce The eleuenth Chapter of Friendship 85. The man that councell good can giue and will thee reprehend And warne from euery euill act choose thou to be thy friend And thinke thy selfe thrise happy whē thou such a friend canst haue That will thee well instruct and from all ill aduises saue The Paraphrase FRiendship as Aristotle in the eight of his Ethikes sayeth and as hath been sayde afore vpon one of the Prouerbes is of three sortes for delight for profite and for honestie Friendship of delight is the friendshippe of flatterers and iesters which endureth but a small while for when the pleasure ceasseth as testers are not at all times nor of all men liked this friendshippe straight wayes endeth An other friendshippe there is grounded vpon profit and is as Seneca termeth it merchaunt friendshippe for it endureth no longer then there is hope of profite And those that vse this kinde of friendshippe doe it as Seneca sayeth more vpon the profite then in respect of the person The Flye alwayes attendeth vppon the honie and the Woolfe vpon the Carion Which kinde of people are more in loue with the praye and the spoyle then with the man The third kinde of friendship setieth it selfe only vpon honestie and groundeth her selfe vpon vertue and this endureth as wel in aduersitie as in prosperitie This is the allonely true friendship which the Prouerbe counselleth vs to choose and this is that which Aristotle sayeth causeth in friendes but one hart and one minde and this friend whose friendship is grounded vpon honestie is he that wel reprehendeth and is no flatterer nor will consent to any wickednesse
So that their very name was a terrour to all that hearde of it And the only cause of this their prosperitie was the great wisedome and foresight the which they had and the great loue that they bare to their countrey they were gouerned by three hundred and thirtie Senatours which euery yere elected one to haue the chiefe auctoritie amongest them there was neither enuy nor ielousie and therefore saith the booke Iudas the Machabee did enter frendship and make a perfect league with them For al their studie care was to maintaine their cōmon welth not hauing any regard of any priuate cōmoditie For as Tullie saieth Two things they ought to doe that wil profite their countrey The first is that leauing apart al priuate commoditie they bestowe all that that they do vpon the cōmon wealth The second that they be not forward in some one thing and backward in an other And whilest the Romanes obserued this order their common wealth increased still greater and greater according to the saying of Cato whose wordes are witnessed by Saint Augustine in the seuenth booke of the citie of God the .ix. Chap. Doe not think saith Cato that our forefathers brought the common wealth of Rome from a small thing to be greate only by the sworde For if that were the matter our company at this time is greater our souldiers more in number and our furniture a great deale better No it was other matters that aduaunced our auncestours whereof wee be cleane without they being at home were alwaies careful for matters abrode and gouerned vprightly and iustly their hartes were alwaies free and were continually faithful counsellours they were neither entangled with riot nor vices but we by our disordred lustes haue brought our common wealth to be poore our selues to be riche The offices and rewardes that were to be giuen as recompenses and the encouragementes of vertue are solde for money or geuen for fauour Our ancestours to enrich the common wealth dyd make themselues poore But in these corrupt times of ours the case is quite altered The treasures of our owne common wealth are small and poore we our selues are become wealthy rich which is a thing most monstruous and the ouerthrowe of all goodnesse In whiche saying is verified and concluded whatsoeuer is conteined in this Prouerbe When Tirantes once began to rule and beare the sway Which Tirants be those that more regarde their owne priuate commoditie then their countries they not only ceassed their conquestes but shortly loste that which they had wonne The second Chapter of Knowledge and Wisdome 12 Apply thy selfe with all thy force Some knowledge to attaine Procure the same with studie great With diligence and paine ▪ But seeke not to be learned thou For fonde desire of praise But skilfully to reprehende The vnskilful sinners waies The Paraphrase THe Marques in this Prouerbe sheweth with what care and diligence we ought to seeke for knowledge and furthermore to what ende wee ought to trauaile and seeke for it For as Aristotle in a boke that he made of the Soule saith Our soule or minde at the time of our birth is as a blanke or a cleane peece of paper that hath nothing vpon it but is redy to receiue any perfectnesse knowledge or maners and therefore if it so be that the very perfection of the soule is knowledge the Marques doeth to good end admonish and exhort vs to seeke for this knowledge by al the meanes that we may Cato saith Seek to get knowledge or Art For when fortune is fickle wil faile yet Art and science wil neuer forsake thee And therefore it is written in the sixth booke of Policrates That the Emperour Octauian as great a Prince as he was caused his children to be so brought vp that if euer fortune shoulde faile them yet they shoulde haue a meanes to get their liuing And therefore he caused his sonnes to be trained vppe in knowledge of the warres to learne to runne to leape to swimme to caste the dart to throw the stone both with the hand and with the sling and his daughters to woorke all maner of linnen woorkes and woollen woorkes So that yf euer it shoulde chaunce them to fall into pouertie they shoulde yet be able with their handes to get their liuing and the Prouerbe saith more That a man ought not to seeke learning for fonde desire of prayse but skilfully to reprehende the vnskilfull sinners waies For the intentes of suche as seeke to be learned are diuers Some to the end they might be counted wise great learned men and for suche reputed and cōmended in euery place not for any good that they meane to do to others therby and the ende of this is vanitie Others not for to doe anye good withall nor for any desire of praise but for their owne pleasure the ende of whiche is foolishe curiositie Some againe seek to be learned to come to riches and promotion the ende whereof is couetousnesse Others seeke to attaine to knowledge to profite benefite their neighbours withall And the ende of that is charitie Others to be instructed and edified them selues And the ende of that is wisedome And these two last be they that seeke not to be learned for vaineglory but to be skilfull reprehenders and admonishers of others 13. By learning shalt thou vnderstande What God hath doone for thee And what he dayly bringes to passe For all in eche degree And howe to loue and honour him This dreame forgotten quiet Whereof within a litle time Thou shalt forgoe the sight The Paraphrase HEere doeth the Marques declare what profite commoditie commeth by knowledge saying that by learning we come to knowe what GOD hath doone and what he doeth for vs The knowledge whereby we may knowe GOD and what he hath doone for vs is to be had by perusing the olde and newe Testament wherin we shall finde how God is the creatour of al the whole worlde and how he created it only of his owne goodnesse mercy and how he hath giuen vs lawes and commaundementes by the which we may serue and obey him that though a man haue of long time liued vertuously and godly yet if in the ende he offende God and die without repentance that God wil neuer remember his righteousnesse nor good life that went before Againe yf a man hath been a greeuous sinner all his lyfe time and yet in the ende repent and turne vnto GOD and die with vnfaigned repentance the mercifull Lorde will neuer lay to his charge any sinne that he hath committed According as the Prophet Ezechiel from the Lordes owne mouth testifieth We shal also therein see that all the race and posteritie of man for the offence of our first father Adam are adiudged and condemned to euerlasting damnation And howe GOD for the great loue that he bare to mankinde hath sent his only begotten sonne Iesus Christ to take our flesh