to moch aboundaunce and libertie of youth is no other but a prophesie manifest token of disobedience in age I knowe not why princes and great lordes do toile and oppresse so much and scratche to leaue their children great estates and on the other syde we see that in teachyng them they are and shew theim selues to negligent for princes great lordes ought to make account that all that whych they leaue of their substaunce to a wicked heyre is vtterly lost The wise men and those which in their coÌ„sciences are vpright and of their honours carefull oughte to be very diligent to bring vp their children chiefly that they consyder whether they be mete to inherite their estates And if perchaunce the fathers se that their children be more giueÌ„ to follie then to noblenes and wysdome then should I be ashamed to se a father that is wise trauaile al the dayes of his life to leaue much substaunce to an euill brought vp child after his death It is a griefe to declare and a monstrous thyng to se the cares whych the fathers take to gather ryches and the diligence that children haue to spende them And in this case I saye the sonne is fortunate for that he doeth inherite and the Father a foole for that he doth bequeth In my opinion Fathers ar bound to enstructe theyr Children well for two causes the one for that they are nearest to them and also bycause they ought to be theyr heyres For truely with great greyfe and sorow I suppose he doth take his death which leaueth to a foole or an vnthrifte the toile of all his life Hyzearcus the Greeke hystorien in the booke of his antiquities and Sabellyquus in his generall history sayeth that a father and a sonne came to complaine to the famous phylosopher and auncient Solon Solinon the sonne complayned of the father and the father of the sonne First the son informed the quarel to the Phylosopher sayeng these wordes I complayne of my father bycause he beyng ryche hath dysheryted me and made me poore and in my steade hath adopted another heyre the whyche thyng my father oughte not nor cannot doe For sence he gaue me so frayle flesh it is reason he geue me hys goods to maintayne my feblenes To these wordes aunswered the father I complayne of my sonne bycause he hathe not bene as a gentle sonne but rather as a cruell enemye for in all thynges since he was borne he hath bene disobedient to my will wherfore I thought it good to dysheryte hym before my death I woulde I weâ—e quite of all my substaunce so that the goddes hadde quyte hym of hys lyfe for the earthe is very cruell that swalloweth not the chyld alyue whyche to hys father is dysobedyent In that he sayeth I haue adopted another chyld for myne heyre I confesse it is true and for somuche as he sayeth that I haue dysinheryted hym and abiected hym from my herytage he beynge begotten of my owne bodye hereunto I aunswere That I haue not disinheryted my sonne but I haue disinheryted his pleasure tothentent he shal not enioy my trauaile for there can be nothing more vniust then that the yonge and vitious sonne should take his pleasure of the swette and droppes of the aged father The sonne replyed to his father and sayd I confesse I haue offended my father and also I confesse that I haue lyued in pleasures yet if I maye speake the trueth thoughe I were disobedient and euill my father oughte to beare the blame and if for this cause he doeth dysherite me I thynke he doth me great iniurye For the father that enstructed not hys sonne in vertue in hys youthe wrongfullye dysheryteth hym though he be disobedient in hys age The father agayne replyeth and saieth It is true my sonne that I brought the vp to wantonly in thy youth but thou knowest well that I haue taughte the sondrye tymes and besydes that I dyd correcte the when thou camest to some discretion And if in thy youth I dyd not instructe the in learnyng it was for that thou in thy tender age dydest wante vnderstandyng but after that thou haddest age to vnderstand discrecion to receiue and strength to exercyse it I began to punyshe the to teache the and to instructe the. For where no vnderstandyng is in the chyld there in vaine they teache doctrine Sence thou arte old quoth the sonne and I yong sence thou arte my father and I thy sonne for that thou hast whyte heres of thy bearde and I none at all it is but reason that thou be beleued I condemned For in this world we se oftetimes that the smal aucthoryty of the parson maketh hym to lose hys great iustyce I grauÌ„t the my father that when I was a childe thou dydst cause me to learne to reade but thou wylte not denye that if I dyd coÌ„mit any faulte thou wouldest neauer agree I should be punyshed And hereof it came that thou sufferyng me to doe what I woulde in my youth haue bene dysobedient to the euer since in my age And I saye to the further that if in this case I haue offended trulye me thinketh thou canst not be excused for the fathers in the youthe of their children oughte not onely to teache them to dispute of vertues and what vertue is but they ought to inforce them to be vertuous in dede For it is a good token when youth before they know vyces hath bene accustomed to practice vertues Both parties thou diligentlie hard the good Philosopher Solon Solinon spake these wordes I geue iudgement that the father of thys child be not buried after hys death and I commaunde that the sonne bycause in hys youth he hath not obeyed his father who is olde should be dysinheryted whiles the father lyueth from all hys substaunce on suche condition that after hys death hys sonnes should inheryte the heritage and so returne to the heires of the sonne and line of the father For it were vniust that the innocencie of the sonne should be condempned for the offence of the father I doe commaunde also that all the goods be committed vnto some faithful parson to th end they may geue the father meate and drinke durynge hys lyfe and to make a graue for the sonne after hys death I haue not with out a cause geuen suche iudgement the which comprehendeth lyfe and death for the Gods wyll not that for one pleasure the punyshement be double but that we chastyse and punyshe the one in the lyfe takynge from hym hys honour and goods and that we punyshe others after there death takyng from them memorye and buriall Truly the sentence which the Philosopher gaue was graue and would to God we had him for a iudge of this world presentlye for I sweare that he should finde many children now a dayes for to disheryte and mo fathers to punishe For I cannot tell which is greater the shame of the children to disobey their fathers or
set ryse my sonne Marke and sithens nowe thou arte yong it is but iust that thou geue me place whiche am aged If it bee true that it is xxxiii yeares sithens thou askedst place in the theathers as and old man tell mee I praye thee and also I coniure thee with what oyntement hast thou anoynted thy selfe or with what water hast thou wasshed thy selfe to become yonge O Claude if thou hadst founde anye medicyne or dyscouered anye herbe where with thou couldest take whyte heares from mens heades and from women the wrincles of theire face I sweare vnto thee and also I doe assure thee that thou shooldest be more vysyted and serued in Rome then the god Apollo is in his Temple at Ephesus Thou shouldest wel remember Annius priscus the old man whiche was our neighbour and somewhat a kinne to thee the whiche when I tolde him that I coulde not bee filled with his good woordes and to behold his auncient white heares he saied vnto me O my soone Mark it appereth wel that thou hast not byn aged because thou talkest as a yong maÌ„ for if white heares do honour the ê‘son they greatlye hurt the harte For at that houre when they se vs aged the straungers do hate vs ours do not loue vs. And he told me more I let the wete my sonne Marke that many times my wyfe and I talking of the yeares of another perticularly when she beholdeth mee and that I seeme vnto her so aged I saye vnto her and swere that I am yet yoÌ„ge and that the white heares came vnto me by great trauailes and the age by sicknes I do remember also that this Annius Priscus was senatour one yeare and bycause he woulde not seeme aged but desired that men shoulde iudge hym too bee yonge he shaued his bearde and hys heade which was not accustomed amonge the senatours nor Censours of Rome And as one day amongest the other Senatours he entred into the hyghe Capitolle one sayde vnto hym Tell me man from whence comest thou What wylte thou and why comest thou hither howe durste thou being no senatour enter into the Senate he aunswered I am Annius priscus the aged howe chauÌ„ceth it that nowe you haue not knowen me they replyed vnto hym if thou werte Annius Priscus thou woldest not come thus shauen For in this sacred senate can none enter to gouerne the coÌ„mon wealth vnlesse his parsoÌ„ be endued with vertues and his heade with white heares and therfore thou art banished and depriued of thy office For the olde which lyue as the yong ought to be punished Thou knowest wel Claude and Claudine that that which I haue spoken is not the faynyng of Homere neither a fable of Ouide but that you your selues saw it with your eyes and in his banishment I dyd helpe him with money and more ouer he was banished another time for the lightnes he dyd commit in the nighte in the citye and I meruaile not hereof for we see by experyence that old men whiche are fleashed in vices are more obstinate to correct then the yong O what euill fortune haue the olde men which suffered them selues too waxe olde in vyces for more daungerous is the fier in an old house then in a new and a greate cut of a sworde is not so perilous as a rotten fistule Though old men were not honest and vertuous for the seruice of the gods and the common wealth for the saieng of the people nor for the example of the yong yet he ought to be honest yf it weare but for the reuerence of their yeares If the pore old man haue noe teeth how shall he eate If he haue no heate in his stomacke howe can he dysgest If he haue no taste how can he drinke if hee be not strong howe can he be an adulterer If hee haue no feete howe can he goe If hee haue the palsy howe can hee speake if hee haue the goute in his handes howe can hee play Fynally suche lyke wordlye and vicyous men haue employed their forces beinge yonge desirous to proue al these vices and when they are old it greueth them extreamelye that they can not as yet accoÌ„pplishe their desiers Amongest all the faultes in old men in my opinion this is the chefest that since they haue proued al thiÌ„ges that they shoold stil remaine in their obstinat folly There is no parte but they haue trauailed no villany but they haue assayed no fortune but they haue proued no good but they haue persecuted no euyl but hath chaunced vnto theÌ„ nor there is any vice but they haue attempted These vnhappy men which in this sorte haue spent all their youth haue in the end their combes cut with infirmities diseases yet they are not somuch greued with the vices which in them do abound to hinder them froÌ„ vertues as they are tormented for wante of corporall courage to further them in their lusts O if wee were gods or that they would geeue vs licence to know the thoughts of the old as wee see with our eies the deeds of the yong I swear to the God Mars and also to the mother Berecinthe that without comparison we woold punishe more the wicked desiers which the aged haue to be wicked then the light deeds of the yong Tel mee Claude and thou Claudine do you think though you behaue your selues as yong you shall not seme to bee old know you not that our nature is the corruption of our body and that our body hindereth our vnderstandings and that the vnderstandyngs are kept of our soule that oure soule is the mother of desiers that our desiers are the scourge of our youth that our youth is the ensigne of our age age the spye of death that death in the end is the house where life taketh hys herber and from whence youth flyeth a fote and from whence age can not escape a horsback I woold reioyce that you Claude and Claudine woolde tell me what you fynde in lyfe that somuche therwith you should bee contented since now you haue passed foure score yeares of lyfe duryng the which tyme either you haue been wycked in the world or els you haue been good Yf you haue been good you ought to think it long vntil you be with the good gods if you haue been euil it is iust you dye to the end you bee no worse For speaking the truth those which in .3 score 10 yeares haue been wicked in woorks leaue smal hope of their ameÌ„dment of lyfe Adrian my lord being at Nola in Campania one brought vnto him a nephew of his from the study where as the yong child had not profyted a lytel for hee became a great Gretian and latinest and more ouer he was faire gratious wise honest And this Emperor Adrian loued his nephew so much that hee saied vnto him these woords My nephew I know not whither I ought to say vnto thee that thou art good or euil for
to deny that I feare not death shoold bee to deny that I am not of flesh Wee see by experience that the elephants doo feare the Lyon the Beare the Elephant the woolf the Beare the lamb the woolf the ratte the catte the catte the dogge and the dogge the man fynally the one and the other doo feare for no other thyng but for feare that one kylleth not the other Then since brute beasts refuse death the which though they dye feare not to fyght with the furies nor hope not to rest with the gods so much the more ought wee to feare death which dye in doubt whither the furies wyll teare vs in pieces with their torments or the gods will receyue vs into their houses with ioy Thinkest thou Panutius that I doo not see well that my vine is gathered and that it is not hyd vnto mee that my pallace falleth in decay I know well that I haue not but the kirnel of the raison and the skinne and that I haue not but one sygh of all my lyfe vntill this time There was great difference beetweene mee and thee and now there is great difference beetwixt mee and my self For about the ensigne thow doost place the army In the ryuers thow castest thy nettes within the parks thou huntest the bulles In the shadow thow takest cold By this I mean that thow talkest so much of death beecause that thou art sure of thy life O myserable man that I am for in short space of all that in this lyfe I haue possessed with mee I shall cary nothing but onely my wynding sheete Alas now shall I enter into the field not where of the fierce beasts I shal bee assaulted but of the hungry woorms deuoured Alas I see my self in that dystresse from whence my frayl flesh cannot escape And yf any hope remayn it is in thee o death When I am sick I woold not that hee that is whole shoold comfort mee When I am sorowfull I woold not that hee which is mery shoold cōfort mee When I am banished I woold not that he which is in prosperity shoold comfort mee When I am at the hour of death I woold not that hee shoold comfort mee which is not in some suspicion of lyfe But I woold that the poore shoold comfort mee in my pouerty the sorowfull in my sorows the banyshed in my banishment and hee which is in as great daunger of his life as I am now at the poynt of death For there is no counsayle so healthfull nor true as that of the man which is in sorow when hee counsayleth an other whych is likewise tormented him self If thow consyderest well this sentence thow shalt fynd that I haue spoken a thyng very profound wherein notwithstanding my tongue is appeased For in my oppinion euill shall hee bee comforted which is weeping with him that continually laugheth I say this to the end thow know that I know it and that thou perceiue that I perceyue it And beecause thou shalt not lyue deceyued as to my frend I wil disclose the secret and thow shalt see that small is the sorow which I haue in respect of the great which I haue cause to haue For if reason had not stryued wyth sensuality the sighs had ended my lyfe and in a pond of teares they had made my graue The things which in mee thow hast seene which are to abhorre meat to banysh sleepe to loue care to bee annoyed with company to take rest in sighs to take pleasure in tears may easely declare vnto thee what torment is in the sea of my hart when such tremblings doo appeare in the earth of my body Let vs now come to the purpose and wee shall see why my body is without consolation and my hart so ouercome with sorows for my feelyng greatly exceedeth my complaynyng beecause the body is so delycat that in scratchyng it it complayneth and the hart is so stout and valiaunt that though it bee hurt yet it dyssembleth O Panutius I let thee weete that the occasion why I take death so greeuously is beecause I leaue my sonne Commodus in this life who lyueth in this age most perillous for hym and no lesse daungerous for the Empire By the flowers are the fruits knowen by the grapes the vines are knowen and by the face men are knowen by the colt the horse is iudged and by the infant youth is knowen This I say by the Prince my sonne for that hee hath been euill in my life I doo ymagyn that hee will bee woorse after my death Since thou as well as I knowst the euill condicions of my sonne why doost thou maruell at the thoughts and sorows of the father My sonne Commodus in years is yong and in vnderstanding yonger Hee hath an euill inclynation and yet hee wil not enforce him self against the same hee gouerneth him self by hys own sence and in matters of wisedome hee knoweth lytel of that hee shoold bee ignoraunt hee knoweth too much and that which is woorst of all hee ys of no man esteemed Hee knoweth nothing of things past nor occupyeth hym about any thing present Fynally for that which with myne eyes I haue seene I say and that which with in my hart I haue suspected I iudge that shortly the person of my sonne shall bee in hazard and the memory of hys father perysh O how vnkyndly haue the Gods vsed them selues toward vs to commaund vs to leaue our honor in the hands of our children for it shoold suffice that wee shoold leaue them our goods and that to our frends we shoold commyt our honor But yet I am sory for that they consume the goods in vices and lose the honor for to bee vitious The gods beeyng pityful as they are since they geeue vs the authoryty to deuyde our goods why doo they not geeue vs leaue to make our wills of the honor My sonnes name beeing Commodus in the Romayn tongue is as much to say as profyt but as hee is wee will bee content to bee without the lytle profyt which hee may doo to some so that wee may bee excused of the great domage which hee is lykely to doo to all For I suppose hee wyll bee the scourge of men and the wrath of Gods Hee entreth now into the pathway of youth alone without a guide And for that hee hath to passe by the hygh and daungerous places I feare lest hee bee lost in the wood of vices For the children of Princes and great Lords for so much as they are brought vp in lyberty wantonnes doo easely fall into vices and voluptuousnes and are most stubborn to bee wythdrawen from their folly O Panutius geue attentiue eare to that I say vnto thee Seest thow not that Commodus my sonne is at lyberty is rych is yong and is alone By the fayth of a good man I sweare vnto thee that the least of these wynds woold ouerthrow not onely a yong tender ash but also a mighty strong
then was vncorrected and humbly beseaching him sayde that for recompence of all my trauaile I desyred no other rewarde but that no man in hys chamber myghte copye the booke And I in the meane tyme proceded to accomplyshe the worke Bycause I did not meane in suche maner to publyshe it for otherwyse I sayd hys maiestie shoulde be euil serued and I also of my purpose preuented but my synnes caused that the booke was copyed and conueyed from one to another And by the handes of Pages sondrie tymes wryten ▪ so that there encreased dayly in it errours and faultes And synce there was but one originall copye they brought it vnto me to correct whiche if it coulde haue spoken woulde haue complained it selfe more of them that dyd wryte it then of those whyche dyd steale it And thus when I hadde finyshed the woorke and thought to haue publysshed it I perceaued that Marcus Aurelius was now imprinted at Ciuile And in thys case I take the readers to be iudges betwene me and the Imprinters because they maye sée whether it maye stande with lawe and iustice that a booke whyche was to his imperiall maiestye dedicated the auctour thereof beyng but an infant and the booke so vnparfecte and vncorrect without my consent or knowledge shoulde be published Notwithstandynge they ceased not but printed it agayne in Portugall and also in the kyngdome of Nauarre And if the fyrste impression was faultye truly the seconde and the thirde were no lesse So that whyche was wryten for the wealthe of all men generallye eache man dyd applye to the profite of hym selfe particularlye There chaunced another thynge of this booke called the golden booke of Marcus Aurelius whyche I am ashamed to speake but greater shame they shoulde haue that so dishonestly haue done That is some made them selues to be auctours of the whole woorke others saye that parte of it was made and compyled of their owne heades the whyche appeareth in a booke in print wherein the auctour dyd lyke a man voyde of all honestye and in another booke one vsed lykewyse the words whyche Marcus Aurelius spake to Faustine when she asked him the key of hys studye After these theues came to my knowledge iudge you whether it were inoughe to proue my pacience For I had rather they hadde robbed me of my goodes then taken awaye my renowme By this all men shal see that Marcus Aurelius was not then corrected nor in any place parfecte wherby they myght perceaue that it was not my minde to translate Marcus Aurelius but to make a dial◠for Prynces whereby all christien people maye be gouerned and ruled And as the doctrine is shewed for the vse of many so I woulde profite my selfe with that whyche the wise men had spoken and wryten And in this sorte proceadeth the worke wherin I put one or two Chapiters of mine and after I put some epistles of Marcus Aurelius and other doctrine of some auncient men Let not the reader be disceaued to thynke that the one and the other is of the auctor For although the phrase of the languag be mine yet I confesse the greatest part that I knew was of another man although the historiographers and doctours with whome I was holpen were manye yet the doctrine whyche I wrote was but one I will not denye but I haue left out some thinges whiche were superfluous in whose steade I haue placed thinges more swete and profitable So that it neadeth good wittes to make that whyche semeth in one language grosse in another to giue it the apparaunce of golde I haue deuided into three bookes this present diall of Princes The first treateth that the Prince ought to be a good christian The secound howe he ought to gouerne his wife and children The thirde teacheth how he shoulde gouerne his person and his commen wealthe I had begon another booke wherin was conteyned howe a Prince shoulde behaue him selfe in his courte and pallace but the importunitie of my frendes caused me to withdrawe my pen to the ende I might bringe this worke to lighte The Table of the Diall of Princes THe Prologue general of the Auctour The Prologue vpon the booke entituled Marcus Aurelius The Argument of the whole booke The firste Chapter entreateth of the byrthe lynage of Marcus Aurelius where the Auctour reciteth at the beginninge of the booke .iii Chapters in the which he declareth the discourse of his lief for by hys Epistles and doctrine this whole worke is proued Chap. i. Of a letter whiche Marcus Aurelius wrot to his frend Pulio wherin he recounteth the order of his lyef and among other thynges declareth the woordes whyche a poore man of Nola spake vnto the Romaine censor Chap. ii Macus Aurelius concludeth his letter and mencioneth the scienses which he lerned and all the maisters he had and in the end he reciteth fyue notable thinges in the obseruaunce of the whiche the Romaines were very curious Chap. iii. Of the excellencye of the Christian religion whereby the true God is knowen and of the vanities of the auncientes in tymes past Chap iiii How among the Auncientes the Philosopher Bruxellus was estemed and of the wordes he spake vnto them at the hower of his deathe Chap. v. Of the wordes whiche Bruxellus the Philosopher spake to the senate of Rome Chap. vi Howe the Gentiles thought that one God was not of power sufficient to defend them from their enemies Chap. vii Of a letter which the senate sent vnto all those which were subiect to the empire Chap. viii Of the true and liuing God and of the maruailes he wroughte in the old lawe to manifest his diuine power and of the superstition of the false gods Chap. ix That there is but one trewe God and howe that realme is hapie whyche hathe a Kyng that is a good christian Chap. x. Of Sondry gods which the Auncients worshiped of the office of those goddes and how they were reuenged of them that displeased them Chap. xi Of other more naturall and peculiar goddes whyche the Auncient people had Chap xii How Tyberius the knight was chosen gouernour of the empire and afterwards created Emperour onely for beyng a good Christian and how God depriued Iustiniā the yonger both of his sences and empire for beyng an heretike Chap. xiii Of the wordes the empresse Sophia spake to Tiberius Constantinus whiche tended to his reproffe for that he consumed the treasures which she had gathered Chap. xiiii The answer of Tiberius vnto the empresse Sophia wherein he declareth that Princes nede not to hourde vp great treasures Chap. xv How the chieftaine Narsetes ouercame manye battailes onlye for that his wholle confydence was in God And what happened to him by the empresse Sophia Augusta wherin may be noted the vnthanckfulnes of Princes towardes their seruantes Chap. xvi Of a letter the emperour Marcus Aurelius sent to the kynge of Scicille in the whych he recordeth the trauailes they endured to gether in their youthe and
after their death were changed into gods the wycked into deuils whych thing the Auctoure proueth by soundry examples Cap. x. ALthough the common opinion of the simple people was that ther were many gods yet not withstandinge al the Phylosophers affyrmed that ther was but one God who of some was named Iupiter the whiche was chiefe aboue al other gods Others called him the first intelligence for that he had created al the world Others called him the first cause because he was the beginner of all things It semeth that Aristotle vnderstode this thinge and was of this opinion forasmuch as he sayth in his .12 booke of his metaphisickes All superiour and inferiour thinges wold be well ordered and many thinges muche better by tharbitrement of one then by the aduice of many Marcus Varro in hys booke De theologia mistica Tullius in hys booke De natura Deorum although these were gentyles and curious enoughe of the Temples yet they do mocke the gentiles whych beleued ther were manye gods that Mars Mâ—rcury and lykewyse Iupiter the whole flocke of gods which the gentyles set vp wer al mortal men as we are But because they knew not that ther wer good nor bad angels nor knew not that ther was any paradise to reward the good nor hel to torment the euil They held thys opinion that the good men after their death wer gods and the euyl men deuils And not contented with these folysh abuses the deuil brought them into such an errour that they thought it consisted in the Senates power to make some gods and other deuils For when ther dyed at Rome any Emperour if he had bene wel willed of the Senate immediatly he was honoured for a god and if he died in dyspleasure of the Senate he was condemned for a deuyl And to the end we do not speake by fauour but by writting Herodian sayth that Faustine was the doughter of Antonius Pius wife of Marcus Aurelius which wer Emperours the one after the other And truly ther wer few eyther of their predecessours or of their successours which wer so good as they wer and in myne opinion more better therfore was she made a goddesse and her father a god An Emperour that coueteth perpetual memory must note 5. thinges which he should haue in his life That is to saye pure in lyfe vpright in iustice aduenturous in feates of armes excellent in knowledge and welbeloued in his prouinces which vertues were in these 2. excellente Emperors This Empresse Faustine was passing fayre and the wrytters praise her beauty in such sorte that they sayde it was vnpossible for her to be so beautiful but that the gods had placed som deuine thing in her Yet not with standing this added therunto it is doubtful whether the beauty of her face was more praysed then the dishonestie of her lyfe discommended For her beauty maruelously amazed those that saw her her dishonesty offended them moch that knew her Yet after the Emperour Marcus Aurèlius had triumphed ouer the Parthians as he went visitinge the prouinces of Asia the goodlye Faustine in 4. daies dyed in the mounte Taurus by occasion of a burnynge feuer and so annealed was caried to Rome And since she was the daughter of so good a father and wife of so dearely beloued an Emperour amonges the Gods she was canonyzed but consideringe her vnconstant or rather incontinent lief it was neuer thought that the Romaines would haue done her so much honor Wherfore the Emperour reioysed so much that he neuer ceased to render thankes vnto the Senate For truely the benefite ought to be acceptable to him that receiueth it especially whan it commeth vnloked for The contrary came to the death of Tiberius third Emperour of Rome which was not only killed and drawen throughe the streates by the Romans but also the priestes of all the Temples assembled together and openly prayed vnto the gods that they would not receiue him to them and prayed to the infernal furyes that greauously they would torment him sayinge it is iustly required that the Tirant which dispraiseth the life of the good in his life should haue no place amoÌ„gest the good after his death Leauing the common opinion of the rude people whiche in the olde time had no knowledge of the true god declaring the opinion of Aristole which called god the first cause the opinion of the Stoickes which called him the firste intelligeÌ„ce and the opinion of Cicero which vnder the colour of Iupiter putteth none other god but him I saye and confesse according to the religion of christian faith there is but one only God which is the creatour of heauen and earth whose excellency and puissaunt maiestie is litle to that our tong can speake For our vnderstaÌ„ding can not vnderstand nor our iudgemeÌ„t can determine neither our memory can comprehende and much lesse our tonge can declare it That which princes and other faithful ought to beleue of god is that they ought to know god to be almighty and incomparable a god immortall incorruptible immouable great omnipotent a perfite and sempiternall God for all mans power is nothing in respecte of his diuine maiesty I saye that our lord god is the onely hyghe god that if the creature hath any good it is but a meane good For a man comparing wel the good which he possesseth to the misery and calamitie whiche persecute him with out doubte the euill which foloweth him is greater then the good which accompanieth him Also our god is immortall and eternall which like as he had no beginning so shall he neuer haue ending And the contrarye is to the miserable man which if some see him borne others see him dye For the byrth of the children is but a memory of the graue to the aged Also God onely is vncorruptible the which in his beyng hath nother corruption nor diminution but al mortall men suffer corruption in their soules throughe vyce and in their bodyes through wormes for in the end no man is priuileged but that hys bodye is subiecte to corruption and hys soule to be saued or damned Also God is no chaungelyng and in this case thoughe he chaungeth his worke yet he chaungeth not his eternall counsayle But in men it is all contrarye for they oftetimes beginne their busynes with grauitye and afterward chaung theyr counseill at a better tyme and leaue it lyghtlye I haue now shewed you that God only is incomprehensible the maiestie of whom can not be attained nor his wisedome vnderstanded which thing is aboue mans intelligence For there is no man so sage nor profound but that an other in an other tyme is as sage and profound as he Also God onely is omnipotent for that he hath power not only ouer the lyuinge but also ouer the dead not onely ouer the good but also ouer the euill For the man which doth not feele his mercy to giue him glory he wil make him feele his
to breake the good auncient customes We ordeine and commaund that the gouernour of the Prienenses do worship and honour the gods and that he be a louer of the sacred temples For otherwise he that honoreth not god wil neuer mynister equal iustice vnto men We ordeine commaund that the prince of Prienenses be contented with the warres which his auncetours lefte him and that he do not forge new matters to inuade any other straunge countreis and if perchaunce he would that no man in this case be bounde neyther with money nor in person to follow or serue him For the god Apollo tolde me that that man whiche will take another mans goods from hym by force shall lose his owne by iustice We ordeine and commaunde that the gouernor of the Prienenses go to pray and worship the gods twise in the weeke and lykewise to visite them in the temples and if he do the contrarie he shal not only be depriued of the gouerment but also after his death he shal not be buried For the prince that honoreth not god in time of his lyfe deserueth not his bones should be honored with sepulture after his death ¶ How god from the beginning punished men by his iustyce and speciallye those Princes that dispise his Churche and howe all wicked Christians are parishioners of hell Cap. xxii WHen the eternall creator who measureth the thinges by his Omnipotencye and wayeth them by his effectuall wisedome created al things aswel celestiall as terrestial vysible as inuisible corporate as incorporate not only promised to the good whyche serued him but also threatened the euyll with plagues whych offended hym For the iustice and mercy of god go alwayes together to thintent the one should encourage the good and the other threaten the euyl This thinge semeth to be true for that we haue but one god which hath created but one word wherin he made but one gardeine in the whiche garden ther was but one fountaine and neare to that fountayne he appointed only one man one woman and one serpente nere vnto which was also one tre only forbidden which is a thinge meruelous to speake and no lesse feareful to see how god dyd put into the terrestial paradyse the same daye that the creacion of the worlde was finyshed booth a sword and gibet The gibet was the tree forbidden wherof they dyd eate wherfore our fathers were condemned And the sword was the punishment wherwyth we al as miserable chyldren at this day are beheaded For truly they dyd eate the bytternes of their fault and we do feele the griefe of the paine I meane not to shewe howe our God by hys power doothe raise vppe that whyche is beaten downe howe wyth his wysedome he guideth those which are blind how by his wyl he dissembleth wyth the euyll doers neyther wil I tel how he through his clemency pardoneth the offences and through his light lyghtneth the darknes nor how through his ryghteousnes he amendeth that whych is broken and through hys liberality paieth more then we deserue But I wyll here declare at large howe our omnipotente God through his iustice chastiseth those whiche walke not in his pathes O Lorde god howe sure may thy faithfull seruauntes be for their small seruices to receiue great rewardes and contrary the euill ought alwayes to lyue in as great feare lest for their heynous offences thou shouldest geue them cruel punishmentes For though god of his bounty will not leaue any seruice vnrewarded nor of his iustice will omitte any euill vnpunished yet for all that we ought to knowe that aboue all and more than all he wil rigorously chastise those which maliciously despise the holy catholyke faith For Christe thinketh him selfe as much iniuried of those whiche persecute his church as of those that laide handes on his persone to put him to death We rede that in times past god shewed sondry greuous and cruel punishmentes to diuerse high lordes and princes besides other famous and renowmed men But rigour had neuer such power in his hande as it had against those whiche honoured the infamed Idoll and violated the sacred temples For to god this is the most heinous offence to forsake the holy catholike faith in his life and to dispaire in his mercy at the houre of his death Woulde to god we had so much grace to acknowledge our offences as god hath reason to punishe our sinnes For if it were so thē we would amend in time to come god would graunt vs a generall pardon for al that is past I see one thing wherin as I thinke I am not deceiued which is this that the frailnes miseries which we commit we thinke them naturall and in the satisfaction and amendement of the same we say they are straunge so that we admit the fault condemne the paine which therby we do deserue The secret iudgements of god do suffer it and our offences do deserue it I do not deny but that the euyll may hold possesse this life at their pleasour but I sweare vnto them when they shal lest thinke of it they shal lose their life to their great displeasour for the pleasurs of this life are so vnconstant that we scarce begin to taste thē when they vade out of their sight It is a rule infallible whiche bothe of the good euill hath bene proued that all naturally desire rather to abound than to want and all that which greatly is desired with great diligēce is serched and through great trauaile is obteined and that thing which by trauaile is attained with loue is possessed that which by loue is possessed with much sorow is lost bewailed lamented For in th end we can not deny but that the watry eies do manifestly shewe the sorowfull hartes To the fine wittes and stout harts this is a continuall torment and endlesse paine a worme that alway gnaweth to cal to mind that he must lose the ioyfull life whiche so entierly he loued and taste the fearfull death whiche so greatly he abhorred Therfore to proue this matter which I haue spoken of before it is but reason that princes know if they do not know that euen as the diuine prouidence exalteth them to high estates they not deseruing thē so likewise his rigorous iustice will bring them to nought if they be vnthankeful for his benefites For the ingratitude of benefittes receiued maketh the man not worthy to receiue any mo The more a man through benefits is bound the more greuous punishment if he be vnthankefull he deserueth Al wyse men shuld finde if thei apply their mindes therunto that in chastising god calleth those offences first to his mind which are furthest from the thoughtes of men For before the tribunal of god our secret faultes are alwaies casting out bloud to th end he should execute of our persons open iustice And further I saie that in this case I doe not see that the prince is exempted more though he liue
thee if they toke the prysoner though perchaunce in times past they vsed thy father Philip euill and haue now disobeied thee his sonne It were better counsell for thee to make them thy frendes by gentlenes then to confirme them ennemies by crueltie For the noble and pitifull hartes when they are reuenged of any make of them selues a bucherye Wee can not with trouthe saye that thy trauayles are well imployed to wynne suche honour sythe thy conuersation and lyfe is so vnconstaunt For trulye honour consisteth not in that flatterers saye but in that whiche Lordes doe For the great familiaritie of the wycked causeth the lyfe to be suspected Honour is not gotten by lyberall geuinge of treasoures at hys death but by spendynge it well in his lyfe For it is a sufficient profe that the man whiche esteameth renowme dothe lytle regarde money and it is an apparaunte token that man who lytle esteameth money greatlye regardeth his renowme A man wynneth not honour by murdering innocentes but by destroying tyrauntes for all the armonie of the good gouernement of princes is in the chastising of the euill and rewarding the good Honour is not wonne in taking and snatching the goodes of an other but in geuing and spendinge his owne For there is nothing that beautifieth the maiestie of a prince more thē to shewe his noblenes in extending mercy and fauour to his subiectes and geuing giftes and rewardes to the vertuous And to conclude I will let the know who he is that winneth both honour in this life and also a perpetuall memory after his death and that is not he whiche leadeth his lyfe in warres but he that taketh his death in peace O Alexander I see thou arte younge and that thou desirest honour wherfore I let thee vnderstande that there is no man farther from honour then he whiche procureth and desireth the same For the ambicious mē not obteining that which they desire remayne alwayes defamed and in wynning and getting that whiche they searche honour notwithstanding will not followe them Beleue me in one thynge Alexander that the true honour ought through worthy deades to be deserued and by no meanes to be procured for all the honour that by tyranny is wonne in the ende by infamy is lost I am sory for thee Alexander for I see thou wantest iustice since thou louest tyranny I see thou lackest peace because thou louest warre I see thou art not ryche because thou hast made all the worlde poore I see thou lackest rest because thou sekest contention and debate I see thou hast no honour because that thou winnest it by infamy I see thou wantest frendes because thou haste made them thyne ennemies Finally I see thou doest not reuenge thy selfe of thy ennemies because thou arte as they would be the scourge to thy selfe Then since it is so why arte thou alyue in this world sithe thou lackest vertues for the which life ought to be desired For truly that man whiche without his owne profite and to the domage of another leadeth his life by iustice ought forthwith to lose his breath For there is nothing that soner destroieth the weale publyke then to permit vnprofitable men therein to liue Therefore speaking the trouthe you lordes and princes are but poore I beleue thou conquerest the worlde because thou knowest not thy superiour therein and besydes that thou wylte take lyfe from so many to the ende that by their death thou maiest wynne renowme If cruell and warrelike princes as thou arte should inherite the liues of them whome they slaye to augmente and prolonge their liues as they doe inheritie goodes to maintayne their pryde although it were vnmeate then warre were tollerable But what profiteth the seruaunt to lose his life this day and his maisters death to be differred but vntil the morowe O Alexander to be desirous to commaunde muche hauinge respite to liue but litle me thinketh it were a great foly and lacke of wysedome Presumptuous and ambicious men whiche measure their workes not with the fewe daies they haue to liue but with the arrogant and haughty thoughtes they haue to commaunde They leade their lyfe in trauayle and take their death with sorowe And the remedy hereof is that if the wyse man cannot obtayne that which he would he should content him selfe with that which he may I let thee knowe Alexander that the perfection of men is not to see much to heare much to knowe much to procure much to come to much to trauayle much to possesse much and to be able to doe much but it is to be in in the fauour of the gods Finally I tell thee that that man is perfecte who in his owne opinion deserueth not that he hath and in the opinion of another deserueth muche more then that he possesseth We are of this opinion amonge vs that he is vnworthy to haue honour who by suche infamous meanes searcheth for it And therfore thou Alexander deseruest to be sclaue to many because thou thinkest to deserue the signorie ouer all By the immortall gods I sweare I can not imagine the great mischiefe which entred into thy breast so vnrighteously to kill kyng Darius whose vassale and frende thou wert onely because thou wouldest possesse the Empire of the whole worlde For truly seruitude in peace is more worth then signorie in warre And he that shall speake against that I haue spoken I saye he is sicke and hath loste his taste ¶ The sage Garamante continueth his oration shewing that perpetuitie of life can not be bought with any worldly treasure Among other notable matters he maketh mention of the seuen lawes which they obserued Cap. xxxiiii THou wilt not deny me Alexander that thou wert more healthfull when thou waste kyng of Macedonia then thou art nowe being lorde of all the earth for the excessiue trauayle bryngeth menne out of all order Thou wilt not denye me Alexander that the more thou gettest the more thou desirest for the hart which with couetousnes is set on fier cannot with wood and bowes of riches but with the earth of the graue be satisfied and quenched Thou wilt not denie me Alexander but the aboundaunce that thou thy selfe hast semeth vnto thee litle and the litle whiche an other man possesseth semeth vnto thee muche for the gods to the ambicious couetous hartes gaue this for penaunce that neither with enough nor with to muche they should contente them selues Thou wilt not denie me Alexander if in dede thy harte be couetous that first the pleasures of life shall ende before thy couetousnes for where vices haue had power long time in the harte there death onely and none other hath authoritie to pluck vp the rootes Thou wilt not denie me Alexander that though thou hast more then all yet thou enioyest least of any for the prince that possesseth muche is alwayes occupied in defending it but the prince that hath litle hath time and leasure in quiet to enioye it Thou wilt not denie me
demaundes although it be to my cost I confesse thy request to be reasonable and thou deseruest worthy prayse for in the end it is more worth to knowe how to procure a secrete of antiquities past then to heape vp treasures for the necessities in time to come As the philosopher maketh philosophie his treasour of knowledge to liue in peace to hope to loke for death with honour so the couetous being suche a one as he is maketh his treasure of worldly goodes for to keape preserue life in this world in perpetuall warres and to end his life and take his death with infamie Herein I sweare vnto thee that one daie emploied in philosophy is more worth then ten thousand which are spent in heaping riches For the life of a peaceable man is none other then a swete peregrination and the life of sedicious persones is none other but a long death Thou requirest me my frend Pulio that I write vnto thee wherin the auncientes in times past had their felicitie knowe thou that their desires were so diuerse that some dispraised life others desired it some prolonged it others did shorten it some did not desire pleasures but trauailes others in trauailes did not seke but pleasures the whiche varietie did not proceade but of diuerse endes for the tastes were diuerse and sondry men desired to taste diuerse meates By the immortall Gods I sweare vnto thee that this thy request maketh me muse of thy life to see that my phylosophie answereth thee not sufficiently therein For if thou aske to proue me thou thinkest me presumptuous if thou demaunde in mirth thou countest me to be to light if thou demaundest it not in good earnest thou takest me for simple if thou demaūdest me for to shew it thee be thou assured I am ready to learne it if thou demaundest it for to knowe it I confesse I can not teache it thee if thou demaundest it because thou maiest be asked it be thou assured that none wylbe satisfied with my aunswere and if perchaunce thou doest aske it because thou sleapinge haste dreamed it seing that nowe thou art awake thou oughtest not to beleue a dreame For all that the fantasie in the nighte doth imagine the tongue doth publishe it in the morning O my frende Pulio I haue reason to complayne of thee for so muche as thou doest not regarde the authoritie of my persone nor the credite of thy phylosophie wherefore I feare leaste they wyll iudge thee to curious in demaundinge and me to simple in aunsweringe all this notwithstanding I determine to aunswere thee not as I ought but as I can not according to the greate thou demaundest but according to the litle I knowe And partely I doe it to accomplyshe thy requeste and also to fulfyll my desire And nowe I thinke that all whiche shall reade this letter wyll be cruell iudges of my ignoraunce ¶ Of the Philosopher Epicurus IN the Olimpiade the hundreth and thre Serges being king of Perses and the cruel tyraunt Lysander captaine of the Peloponenses a famous battayle was fought betwene the Athenians and Lysander vpon the great ryuer of Aegcon whereof Lysander had the victory and truly vnles the histories deceiue vs the Athenians tooke this conflicte greuously because the battayle was loste more through negligence of their captaines then through the great nombre of their enemies For truly many winne victories more through the cowardlynesse that some haue than for the hardinesse that others haue The philosopher Epicurus at that tyme florished who was of a liuely wytte but of a meane stature and had memorie fresh being meanely learned in philosophie but he was of much eloquence and for to encourage and counsell the Athenians he was sent to the warres For whan the auncientes tooke vpon them any warres they chose first sages to geue counsaile then captaines to leade the souldiours And amongest the prisoners the philosopher Epicurus was taken to whom the tyraunt Lysander gaue good entertainement and honoured him aboue all other and after he was taken he neuer went from him but redde philosophie vnto him and declared vnto him histories of times paste and of the strengthe and vertues of many Greekes and Troyans The tyraunt Lysander reioysed greatly at these thinges For truly tyrauntes take great pleasure to heare the prowesse vertues of auncientes past to folow the wickednes vices of them that are present Lysander therefore taking the triumphe hauing a nauy by sea a great army by land vpon the ryuer of Aegeon he and his captaines forgotte the daunger of the warres gaue the brydel to the slouthfull flesh so that to the great preiudice of the cōmon wealth they led a dissolute and ydle life For the maner of tyrannous princes is to leaue of their owne trauaile to enioy that of other mens The philosopher Epicurus was alwaies brought vp in the excellent vniuersitie of Athens wher as the philosophers liued in so great pouertie that naked they slept on the groūd their drinke was colde water none amongest them had any house propre they despised riches as pestilēce labored to make peace where discord was they were only defenders of the common wealth they neuer spake any idle worde it was a sacrilege amōgest thē to heare a lie finally it was a lawe inuiolable amongst thē that the philosopher that shuld be idle shuld be banished he that was vicious shuld be put to death The wicked Epicurus forgetting the doctrine of his maisters not esteming grauitie wherunto the sages are bound gaue him self wholy both in words deedes vnto a voluptuous beastly kinde of life wherin he put his whole felicitie For he said ther was no other felicitie for slouthful men then to sleape in soft beds for delicate persons to fele neither heat nor cold for fleshly mē to haue at their pleasur amorous dames for drōkardes not to wāt any pleasaunt wines gluttons to haue their filles of all delicate meates for herein he affirmed to consiste all worldly felicitie I doe not marueile at the multitude of his scholers which he had hath shal haue in the world For at this day ther are few in Rome that suffer not thē selues to be maistred with vices the multitude of those which liue at their owne willes and sensualitie are infinite And to fell the truthe my frend Pulio I doe not marueile that there hath bene vertuous neither I do muse that there hath bene vicious for the vertuous hopeth to reste him selfe with the gods in an other worlde by his well doing and if the vicious be vicious I doe not marueile though he will goe and ingage him selfe to the vices of this world since he doth not hope neither to haue pleasure in this nor yet to enioy rest with the gods in the other For truly the vnstedfast belefe of an other life after this wherin the wicked shal be punished the good rewarded causeth
Seruilius Caius Brisius theÌ„ Consulles in Rome â–ª which were appointed against the Attikes in the moneth of Ianuarye immediately after they were chosen in the .29 yere of the reigne of Ptolom aeus Philadelphus this greate Prince Ptolomaeus built in the cost of Alexandrye a great tower which he named Pharo for the loue of a louer of his named Pharo Dolouina this tower was built vpon .4 engins of glasse it was large and high made 4. square and the stones of the tower were as bright shining as glasse so that the tower being 20. foote of bredth if a candel burned with in those without might se the lyght therof I let the know my frend Pulio that the auncient historiographers did so much esteme this buildynge that they compared it to one of the vii buildinges of the worlde At that time when these thinges florished ther was in Egipt a philosopher called Zeno by whose counsayle industrie Ptolomaeus built that so famous a tower gouerned his land For in the old time the princes that in their life were not gouerned by sages were recorded after their death in the register of foles As this tower was stronge so had he great ioy of the same because he kept his derely beloued Pharo Dolouina therin enclosed to the end she should be wel kept and also wel contented He had his wyues in Alexandria but for the most part he continued with Pharo Dolouina For in the old time the Perses Siconians and the Chaldeans did not marie but to haue children to enherite their goodes the resydue of their lyfe for the most part to leade with their concubynes in pleasure and delightes The Egiptians had in great estymacion men that were great wrastlers especially if they were wise men and aboue all things they mayde great defiaunce againste straungers and all the multitude of wrastlers was coÌ„tinually great so ther were notable masters among them For truly he that dayly vseth one thing shal at the last be excellent therein The matter was thus That one day as amongest them there were many Egiptians there was one that would not be ouerthrowen nor cast by any man vnto the earth This philosopher Zeno perceyuing the strength courage of this great wrastler thought it much for hys estimacion if he might throw him in wrastlyng and in prouing he threw him deade to the earthe who of none other cold euer be cast This vyctorie of Zeno was so greatlye to the contentacion of his person that he spake with his tongue and wrote with hys penne that ther was none other felycitye then to know how to haue the strength of the armes to cast downe others at his feete The reason of this philosopher was that he said it was a greater kinde of victory to ouerthrowe one to the earth then to ouercome many in the warres For in the warres one onlye wrongefullye taketh the vyctorye since there be many that do winne it but in wrestling as the victorie is to one alone so let the only vyctorye and glory remaine to him and therfore in this thinge felicitie consisteth for what can be more then the contentacion of the hart Truly we cal him in this world happie that hath his hart content and hys body in health ¶ Of the Philosopher Anacharsis WHen the king Heritaces reigned among the Meedes and that Tarquin Priscus reigned in Rome ther was in the coastes of Scithia a philosopher called Anacharsis who was borne in the citie of Epimenides Cecero greatly commended the doctrine of this philosopher and that he can not tell whiche of these two thinges were greater in him that is to wete the profoundnes of knowledge that the gods had giuen him or the cruel malyce wherwith he persecuted his enemyes For truly as Pithagoras saith Those which of men are most euyl wylled of the gods are best beloued This phylosopher Anacharsis then being as he was of Scithia whych nacion amongeste the Romaines was estemed Barbarous it chaunsed that a malycious Romaine sought to displease the Phylosopher in wordes and trulye he was moued thereunto more throughe malyce then through simplicite For the outward malycious words are a manifest token of the inward enuious harte This Romaine therefore sayde to the philosopher it is vnpossible Anacharsis that thou shouldest be a Sithian borne for a man of such eloquence cannot be of such a barbarous nation to whom Anacharsis aunswered Thou hast sayde well and herein I assent to thy wordes howbeit I do not alow thy intencion for as by reason thou mayst dispraise me to be of a barbarous countrey and commend me for my good lyfe so I iustly may accuse the of a wicked lyfe and prayse the of a good countrey And herein be thou iudge of both which of vs two shal haue the most praise in the world to come eyther thou that art borne a Romaine and leadest a barbarous lyfe or I that am borne a Sithian and leade the lyfe of a Romaine For in the ende in the Garden of this lyfe I had rather be a grene apple tree and beare fruite then to be a drie Libane drawen on the ground After that Anacharsis had bene in Rome long time and in Greece he determined for the loue of his countrey nowe being aged to retourne home to Scithia wherof a brother of his named Cadmus was kyng who had the name of a kyng but in dede he was a Tiraunt Since this good phylosopher sawe hys brother exercise the workes of a tyraunte seing also the people so dissolute he determined to gyue hys brother the best counsayle he could to ordeyne lawes to the people in good order to gouerne them whych thing being sene of the Barbarous by the consent of them al as a man who inuented new deuyses to lyue in the world before them all openly was put to death For I wyl thou know my frende Pulio that there is no greater token that the common wealth is full of vyce then when they kyll or banysh those whych are vertuous therin So therfore as they ledde thys phylosopher to death he sayd he was vnwillyng to take his death and loth to lose his life Wherfore one sayd vnto him these words Tel me Anachaâ—sis sith thou art a man so vertuous so sage and so olde me thinketh it should not greue the to leaue this miserable lyfe For the vertuous man should desire the company of the vertuous men the which thys world wanteth the sage ought to desire to liue with other sages wherof the world is destitute and the old man ought litle to esteme the losse of his life since by true experience he knoweth in what trauayles he hath passed his dayes For truly it is a kind of foly for a man which hath trauayled and fynished a daungerous and long iourney to lament to se himselfe now in the end therof Anacharsis aunswered him Thou speakest very good words my frend I would that thy life were as thy counsell
younge Epesipus was of a good and cleare iudgement well made of his body and fayre of countenaunce and sithe in his youth he estemed his beautie more then his learninge the Emperour his vncle wrote him a letter into Grece whiche sayde this Marcus Aurelius the Romaine Emperoure firste tribune of the people and Byshop wysheth to thee Epesipus his nephew and scholler health and doctrine In the thirde Calendes of December came thy cosyn Annius Verus at whose comming all our parentage reioyced and so muche the more for that he brought vs newes of Gretia For truly when the harte hath the absence of that he loueth it is no one minute of an houre without suspition After that thy cosyn Annius Verus had spoken in generally to all bryngyng newes from their frendes and chyldren we talked together and he gaue me a letter of thyne whiche is contrary to that was wrytten me out of Grece because thou wrytest to me that I shoulde sende thee money to continue the in studye and they wrote vnto me from thence that thou arte more youthful and geuen to the pleasures of the worlde than becommeth thee Thou art my bloude thou arte my Nephewe thou werte my scholler and thou shalte bee my sonne if thou arte good But God wyll neuer that thou be my Nephew nor that I call thee my sonne duryng the tyme that thou shalt be younge fonde lyght frayle For no good man should haue parentage with the vicious I can not denye but that I loued thee from the bottome of my stomack and so lykewyse thy vnthriftynes greaueth me with all my harte For when I redde the letter of thy follyes I lette thee knowe that the teares ranne downe my cheekes but I wyll contente my selfe For the sage and wyse men though againste their wylles they heare of suche thynges paste yet it pleaseth them to redresse other thynges that maye come hereafter I knowe well thou canst not call it to mynde though perhappes thou haste it that when thy vnlucky mother and my sister Annia Milena died she was then young enough for she was no more but .xviii. yeares of age and thou haddest not then foure houres For thou were borne in the morning and she died at nonetide so that when the wycked childe possessed life the good mother tasted death I can tell that thou hast lost such a mother and I suche a sister that I beleue there was no better in Rome For she was sage honest and fayre the whiche thinges are seldome seene nowe a daies For so muche as thy mother was my sister and that I had broughte her vp and maried her I loued her tenderly And when she died here at Rome I redde then Rethorike at Rhodes because my pouertie was so extreme that I had no other thing but that whiche by reading Rethorike I did gette When newes came vnto me of the death of thy mother and my sister Annia Milena al comforte layde on syde sorowe oppressed my harte in suche wyse that all my mēbers trembled the bones sheuered myne eies without reste did lamente the heauy sighes ouercame me at euery minute my harte vanished awaye from the bottome of my harte I inwardly lamented and bewayled thy vertuous mother and my dere syster Finally sorowe executing his priuilege on me the ioyfull company greued me and onely with the louely care I quieted my selfe I knowe not nor can not expresse vnto the howe and in what sorte I tooke the death of my sister Annia Milena thy mother for in sleaping I dreamed of her and dreaming I sawe her when I was awake she represented her selfe before me remembring then that she liued I was sory to remember her death Life was so greuous vnto me that I woulde haue reioyced to haue bene put in the graue with her For truly he feeleth assuredly the death of an other whiche alway is sorowefull and lamenting his owne life Remembring therefore the great loue whiche my sister Milena bare vnto me in her life and thinking wherein I might requite the same after her death I imagined that I could not by any meanes doe any thing more acceptable for her then to bryng thee vp thou whiche arte her chylde and lefte an orphane so young For of all trauayles to a woman this is chiefest to leaue behinde her children to bring vp My sister being dead the firste thing I dyd was that I came to Rome and then sent thee to Capua to be broughte vp there in the whiche place harde at my nose they gaue the sucke two yeares For thou knowest right well that the money which by reading Rethorike I gate scarcely satisfied for thy dayly finding but that in the night I reade some extraordinary lecture and with that I payed for the mylke which thou suckedst on the dugge so that thy bringing vp depended vpon the labour of my lyfe After that thou wer weyned and brought from the teate I sent the to Bietro to a frende and kinsman of mine named Lucius Valerius with whom thou remainedst vntill fiue yeares were fully accomplished where I founde both him and thee all thinges necessary For he was in great pouertie and a great babler of his tongue in suche sorte that he troubled al men and angred me muche For truly a man should as willingly geue money to cause him to be silente whiche is talkatiue as to geue to a wyse man to heare him speake The fiue yeares accomplished I sente thee to Toringue a citie of Campagnia to a maister whiche taught children there called Emilius Torquates of whom to the end he should teache thee to reade and wryte three yeares I tooke a sonne of his whom he gaue me to reade to him Greke foure yeres so that thou couldest not haue any profite in thee without the encrease of my great trauayle and augmenting paine to my harte After thou were seuen yeares olde that thou couldest reade and wryte well I sente thee to studie in the famous citie of Tarenthe where I kept thee foure yeares paying to the maisters a great summe of money Because nowe a dayes through our euyll fortunes there is none that will teache without great stipende Without lamenting I doe not tell thee that in the time of the Cincinos whiche were after the death of Quintus Cincinatus vntill Cyna and Catullus the philosophers and maisters of Rome did neuer receiue one peny to teache sciences to any that would learne them For all the philosophers and maisters were by the sacred Senate payde and none ceased to study for lacke of money For in those dayes they whiche woulde applie them selues to vertue and sciences were by the common treasure mainteined As our fathers were wel ordered in their thinges so they did not deuide offices by order onely but also by order they paide their money in suche sorte that they paied first with the common treasure the priestes of the temples Secondly the maisters of scholes and studies Thirdly the poore wydowes and orphanes Fourthly the
good to desire it to procure it to kepe it to praise it and to loue it wel for in the end if we loue the beautie in beastes and buildinges by greater reason we should desire it in our selues But what shall we saye that when we doe not watche this litle floure whiche yesterday florisshed on the tree faire and whole without suspicion to be lost one litle hory frost sodainly wasteth and consumeth it the vehement wynde ouerthroweth it the knife of enuie cutteth it the water of aduersitie vndoeth it and the heate of persecutions pineth it and finally the worme of shorte life gnaweth it and the putrifaction of death decayeth and bryngeth it downe to the grounde O mannes lyfe that arte alwayes cursed I counte fortune cruell and thee vnhappy synce she will that thou tariest on her whiche dreaminge geueth the pleasures and wakinge woorketh the displeasures whiche geueth into the handes trauayle to taste suffreth thee not only to listen after quiet which wil thou proue aduersitie and agree not that thou haue prosperitie but at her will finally she geueth thee life by ounces and death without measure The wicked vicious say that it is a great pleasure to liue in ease but I protest vnto them that ther was neuer any mortal man had so much pleasure in vices but that he remained in great paine after that they were bannished frō him For the harte which of long time hath ben rooted in vice incontinently is subiect to some great alteration I would all would open their eies to see how we liue deceiued for al the pleasures which delighte the body make vs beleue that they come to abide with vs continually but they vanishe awaye with sorowe immediatly And on the contrary parte the infirmities and sorrowes that blynde the soule saye that they come onely to lodge as gestes and remayne with vs continually as housholders I marueyle of thee Epesipus why thou doest not consyder what shall become of the beautie of thy bodye hereafter sythe thou seest presently the beautie of those departed interred in the graue By the dyuersitie of fruites manne dothe knowe the dyuersytie of trees in the Orcharde that is to wete the Oke by the acornes the Date tree by the dates the vines by the grapes but when the roote is drie the body cut the fruite gathered the leafe fallen when the tree is laide on the fire and become asshes I would now know if this ashes could be knowen of what tree it was or howe a man might know the difference of the one from the other By this comparison I meane to saye that for somuche as the life of this death and the death of this life cōmeth to seke vs out we are all as trees in the orcharde whereby some are knowen by the rootes of their predecessours others by the leaues of their wordes others by the braunches of their frendes some in the floures of their beauty and other some by the barke of their foule skynne The one in their mercifulnes the other in their stoutnes others in their hardines being aged others in the hastines of their youthe others in their barronnes by their pouertie others by their fruitfulnes in ryches fynally in one onely thinge we are all alike that is to wete that all vniuersally goe to the graue not one remaining I aske nowe when death hath done his office executing all earthely men in the latter daies what differēce is there then betwene the faire and the foule whiche lie both in the narrowe graue certainely there is none and if there be any difference it shal be in the making of the graues whiche vayne men inuented And I doe not repent me for calling them vaine since there is no vanitie nor fondnes comparable to this for they are not contented to bee vaine in their liues but will also after their deathes eternise their vanities in sumptuous and stately sepulchres The coale of the Ceder in my opinion that is highe and faire is nothing more whither when it is burnte then the coale of the Oke which is litle and croked I meane oftentimes the gods do permitte that the bones of a poore Philosopher are more honoured then the bones of princes With death I will threathen thee no lenger for sithe thou art geuen to the vices of this life thou wouldest not as yet that with a word it should destroye thee but I will tell thee one worde more though it greue thee to heare it whiche is that the Gods created thee to die men begot thee to die women bare thee to die and thou camste into the worlde for to die to conclude I saye some are borne to daye on condition they die to morow and geue their places to others When the great and fruitfull trees begin to budde forth by the rootes it signifieth that time draweth on for them to cut the drie and wythered braunches I meane that to see children borne in the house is no other but to cite the grandfathers and fathers to the graue If a man would aske me what death is I woulde saye a miserable lake wherin all worldly men are taken For those that most safely thinke to passe it ouer remaine therein moste subtilly deceiued I haue alwayes redde of the auncientes past and haue seene of the younge men present and I suppose that the selfe same will be to come hereafter That when life most swetest semeth to any man then sodainly death entreth in at their dores O immortal gods I can not tell if I may call you cruell I knowe not if I may call you mercifull because you gaue vs fleshe bones honour goodes frendes and also ye geue vs pleasure finally ye geue to men all that they wante saue onely the cuppe of lyfe whiche to your selues you did reserue Since I may not that I would I will that I may but if it were referred to my will I woulde rather one onely day of life then all the ryches of Rome For what auayleth it to toyle and take paine to increase honour and worldly goodes since lyfe daily diminisheth Returning therfore to my first purpose thou must knowe that thou estemest thy selfe and glorifiest in thy personage and beautie I would gladly know of the and of others whiche are yonge and faire if you doe not remember that once ye must come to be olde and rotten For if you thinke you shall lyue but a lytle then reason woulde you shoulde not esteme youre beauties muche for by reason it is a straunge thinge that lyfe shoulde abate vs and folie trayne vs. Yf you thinke to become aged ye ought to remember and alwayes to thinke that the steele of the knyfe whiche dothe muche seruice at length decayeth and is lost for lacke of lokynge to Trulye the yong man is but a new knyfe the whiche in processe of tyme cankerethe in the edge for on one daye he breaketh the poynte of vnderstandynge another he loseth the edge of cuttyng and
to be simple so that it semeth not that they are mete to vysite the one the other but to loke accuse the one the other It is a straung thing for the sage woman to thinke that she shold take pleasure abroad since she hath her husband at home to whom she may talke hath her children to learne her doughters to teach her family to order and her goodes to gouerne she hath her house to kepe and her parentes whom she ought to please then synce she hath within her house such pastime why do they accept company of straunge men That maryed women should haue priuate frendes and loue to be vysited it foloweth oftentimes that god is offended the husband iniuried and the people slaundered the woman that is maried taketh lytle profite it hindereth the mariage of her that is to mary For in such a case thoughe some desire her for her riches yet mo wyl forsake her for her euyl fame ¶ That women great with child inspecially the Princesses great Ladyes ought to be very circumspect for the daunger of the creatures wherein is shewed many misfortunes happened to women with child in the old tyme for suffering them to haue their willes Cap. ix ONe of the most necessary things for him that taketh in hand any great iorney ouer any daūgerous countries is at that the beginnyng he ought to learne the way which he ought to go for it is a thing no lesse troublesome then perillous that when he should come to rest of necessity he shold be enforced to trauel No man can denay but that mans lyfe is a long and tedious iorney the which beginneth at our birth endeth at our death for in the end to haue a long or short life is none other but to come soner or later to the graue The chiefest folly of al in mine opinion is this that some in their owne opinions thinke they haue counsel enough for others and to all others it semeth that they want for them selues For of right he may be called a foole that condemneth all other as fooles and auaunceth himselfe to be wise Euery man ought to let his neighbour lyue in peace and though he do esteame himselfe to be wise yet he oughte not to thinke his neighbour a foole for ther is none so wyse but that he may occupie it all For we neuer saw any man so wise of himselfe but that he neaded the counsel of an other And if this want be in those that be very old truly it is much more in them that be yong whose fleshe is not dry but grene the bloud not cold but hote no deadly heate but very liuely the bestial mocions not mortifyed but quickned and hereof ensueth that yong men loue their owne aduyce and opynion and dyspise the counsaile of all other When the trees are tender they bynde theym togethers bycause they grow right they brydel the horse when as yet they are but coltes to the end they may be easy hereafter to the brydel They take the haukes in the neast to make them more famyliar when the beastes are litle they take them to teach them I meane that a man ought to instruct his children to the end they may know to liue wel here after I admonish and tel the mothers that haue doughters that ther is no remedy to reforme the euil inclinacion of our children but to teach them and to bring them vp wel in their youth for ther is no wound but is daungerous if in tyme the playster be not layd therunto Returnyng now to our purpose synce that in al thyngs ther is order and measure we wil declare presently how the male child ought to be taught first of al we wil treat how a man ought to prouide when the infant is begotten and when as yet it is alyue in the mothers wombe to the entente Princesses and great Ladyes should lyue very circumspectlye when they know they are conceyued with child I should be excused to speake of this matter since it is not my profession and that as yet I was neuer maried but by that I haue red of some and by that I haue hard of others I will and dare be so bold to say one word For the sage oft times geueth a better accompt of that he hath red then the simple doth of that he hath proued Thys thing seameth to be true betwene the phisicion and the pacient for wher the pacient suffereth the euyl he oft tymes demaundeth the physicion what his sicknes is wher it holdeth him and what it is called and what remedy ther is for his disease so the phisicion knoweth more by his scyence then the pacient by hys exsperience A man ought not to denay that the women and in especially great ladyes know not by experience how they are altered when they are quycke and the great paynes they suffer when they are deliuered we could not denay but that ther is great daunger in the one greate peril in the other but they shal not knowe from whence al commeth and from whence al procedeth and what remedy is necessary For there are many which complayneth of robberyes but they know not what the theaues are that haue robbed them First according to my iudgement and opinyon that which the woman quicke with childe ought to do is that they go softly quietly and that they eschue running eyther in commyng or goyng for though she lytel esteme the helth of her person yet she ought greatly to regard the lyfe of the creature The more precious the licour is and the more weaker the vessell is which conteyneth it so much the more they ought to feare the daunger least the licoure shed and the vessel breake I meane that the complection of women being with child is very delicate and that the soule of the creature is precious therfore it ought with great diligence to be preserued for al the treasure of the Indes is not equal in valewe to that which the woman beareth in her bowelles Whan a man plāteth a vineyard forthwith he maketh a ditch or some fence about it to the end that beastes shold not croppe it while it is yong nor that trauailers shold gather the grapes when they are ripe And if the labourer doth this thing for to get a litel wine only the which for the soule and body is not alwayes profitable how much more circumspection ought the woman to haue to preserue her chyld since she shall render an accompte to the creator of her creature vnto the church of a christyan and vnto her husband of a child In my opinyon wher the accompt at the houre of death is so streight it is requisite that in the time of her life she be circumspect for god knoweth euery thinge so well in oure lyfe that ther is none that can begile hym in rendering hys accompt at his death Ther is no wighte can suffer nor hart dyssemble to see
as one but men do tourne from vice to vertue from vertue to vice The good Emperour Marcus Aurelius did deuid the time by time so that though he had time for him selfe he had time lykewise to dispatche his owne and others affaires for the man that is willing in a small time dispatcheth much busynes the man which is necligent in a longe tyme doth lytel This was the order that the Emperour Marcus Aurelius toke in spendyng his time He slepte .7 houres in the nighte and one hower reasted hym selfe in the day In dyning and suppynge he consumed onely .2 howers and it was not for that he toke great pleasure to be longe in eatinge but bycause the philosophers whyche disputed before his presence were occasion to prolonge the time For in .17 yeares they neauer saw hym at meate but one or other redde vnto him some booke or elles the philosophers reasoned before hym philophye As he hadde manye realmes and prouinces so he appointed one hower for the affaires of Asia for Affryke one hower and for Europe another hower and for the conuersacion of his wife children and family he appointed other .2 howers of time he had another hower for extraordinary affaires as to here the complaintes of the greued the quarrelles of the poore the complaintes of the widowes and the robberies done to the orphanes For the mercifull prince geueth no lesse eare vnto the poore which for want can doe lytell then to the riche which for aboundance can do much He occupyed all the residew of the day and night to rede bokes write workes to make meter and in studyng of other antiquities to practyse with the sage and to dyspute with the philosophers and fynally he toke no tast of any thing so muche as he dyd to talke of science Vnlesse the cruell warres dyd let hym or suche lyke affaires troubled him ordynarily in winter he went to bed at .9 of the clocke and awaked at .4 and bycause he would not be idle he had alway a boke vnder his beddes hed and the residue of the day he bestowed in readyng The romans had an auncient custome to beare fyer before them that is to wete a torche lyghte in the daye and a lampe burnyng in the night in their chambers so that wakyng they burned waxe and fleapyng they hourned oyle And the cause why the Romans ordeyned that the oyle should be made of olyue and the waxe made of bees which was vsed to be borne before the princes was to the end they should remember that they ought to be as gentell and louing as the oyle of Olyue is swete and as profytable to the common wealth as the Bees are He did rise at .6 of the clocke and made him selfe ready openlye and with a gentle countenaunce he asked them that were about hym wherin they had spente all the nyght and declared vnto them then what he had dreamed what he had thought and what he had red when he was readye he washed his face with odiferous waters and loued veray wel swete sauoures For he had so quycke a sent that he was much offended when he passed by any stincking place In the mornyng he vsed to eate .2 morsels of a lectuary made of Sticades and dranke .3 sponefulls of maluesey or els two droppes of Aqua Vite bycause he had a colde stomacke for that he gaue hym selfe so muche to studye in tymes past We se it by experience that the greate studentes are persecuted more with sycknes then any others for in the swetenes of the scyence they knowe not how their lyfe consumeth If it were in the sommer season he went in the mornyng to recreate him selfe to the ryuer of Tiber and walked there a fote for .2 howers and in this place they talked with hym that had busines and trulye it was a great policie for wher as the Prince doeth not syt the sewtour alwayes abridgeth his talke And when the day began to wax hot he went to the hight capitol where al the Senate taried for him from thence he went to the Coliseo wher the imbassadours of the prouinces wer there remained a great part of the day afterwardes he went to the chappel of the vestal virgines ther he hard euery nation by it selfe accordyng to the order which was prescribed He dyd eate but one meale in the daye it was veray late but he did eate wel not of many diuers sortes of meates but of fewe and good For the aboundaunce of diuerse and straunge meates breadeth sondry dysseases They sawe him once a weke go thoroughe Rome and if he wente anye more it was a wonder at the whyche tyme he was alwayes without companie both of his owne and also of straungers to thentente all poore men myghte talke with him of their busines or complaine of his officers for it is vnpossible to reforme the common wealthe if he which ought to remedy it be not informed of the iniuryes done in the same He was so gentle in conuersacion so pleasaunt in wordes so noble amongest the great so equall with the least so reasonable in that he dyd aske so persyte in that he dyd worke so patiēt in iniuries so thankefull of benefittes so good to the good and so seuere to the euill that all loued him for beyng good and all the euill feared him for being iuste A man oughte not lytell to esteme the loue that the people bare to this so good a Prince and noble Emperour forsomuch as the Romans haue bene thus that for the felicitye of their estate they offered to their gods greater sacryfyce then they dyd in any other prouinces And Sextus Cheronensis sayeth that the Romains offered more sacrifyces to the gods because they should lengthen the lyfe of the Emperour then they dyd offer for the profyte of the common wealthe Trulye their reason was good for the Prynce that leadeth a good lyfe is the harte of the common wealthe But I doe not maruaile that the Emperour was so well wylled and beloued of the Romayn empire for he had neuer porter to hys chamber but the .2 howers which he remained with his wyfe Faustine Al this beyng past the good Emperour went into his house into the secretest place he had accordyng to the councel of Lucius Seneca they key whereof he alone had in his custodye and neuer trusted any man therwith vntyll the hower of hys death and then he gaue it to an old auncient man called Pompeianus sayeng vnto hym these wordes Thou knowest ryght wel Pompeianus that thou beyng base I exalted the to honor Thou beyng poore I gaue the riches Thou being persecuted I drewe the to my pallas I beyng absente committed my hole honoure to thy trust thou beyng old I maryed the with my doughter and doe presently gyue the this key Behold that in geuing the it I giue the my harte lyfe For I will thou know that death greueth me not so much nor the losse of my
be beleued for the saying of the graue authours on the one parte and by that we dayly see on the other parte For in the ende it is more pleasure to heare a man tell mery tales hauing grace and comlines in his wordes then to heare a graue man speake the truthe with a rude and rough tongue I haue founde in many wrytinges what they haue spoken of Pithagoras and his doughter but none telleth her name saue only in a pistle that Phalaris the tyraunt wrate I fouÌ„d this word written where he saith Polichrata that was the doughter of the philosopher Pithagoras was young and exceading wyse more faire then riche and was so much honoured for the puritie of her life and so high estemed for her pleasaunt tongue that the worde which she spake spinning vpon her distaffe was more estemed then the philosophy that her father red in the schole And he sayd more It is so great a pitie to see and heare that women at this present are in their life so dishonest in their tongues so malicious that I haue greater pleasure in the good renowme of one that is dead then in the infamie of all them which are aliue For a good woman is more worth with her distaffe spinning then a hundred euel queenes with their roiall scepters reigning By the wordes which Phalaris saied in his letter it seamed that this doughter of Pithagoras was called Polichrate Pithagoras therefore made many commentaries as wel of his owne countrey as of straungers In the end he died in Mesopotamia where at the houre of his death he spake vnto his doughter Polichrate saied these wordes I see my doughter that the houre wherein I must ende my life approcheth The Gods gaue it me and nowe they wil take it from me nature gaue me birth now she geueth me death the earth gaue me the body and now it retourneth to ashes The woful fatall destinies gaue me a litle goodes mingled with manie trauailes so that doughter of all thinges which I enioyed in this world I cary none with me for hauing all as I had it by the waye of borowyng nowe at my death eche man taketh his owne I die ioyfully not for that I leaue thee riche but for that I leaue thee learned And in token of my tender harte I bequethe vnto the al my bookes wherin thou shalt finde the treasure of my trauailes And I tel thee that that I geue thee is the riches gotten with mine owne sweat and not obtained to the preiudice of an other For the loue I beare vnto thee doughter I pray thee and by the immortall gods I coniure thee that thou be such so good that althoughe I die yet at the least thou mayst kepe my memory for thou knowest wel what Hoâ—ere saieth speaking of Achilles and Pirrus that the good life of the childe that is aliue keapeth the renowme of the father that is dead These were the wordes which this philosopher spake vnto his doughter lieng in his death bed And though perhaps he spake not these wordes yet at the least this was the meaning As the great poet Mantuan saieth king Euander was father of the giant Pallas and he was a great frende of king Eneas he vaunted him selfe to discend of the linage of the Troyans and therfore when king Eneas prince Turnus had great warres betwene them which of them should haue the princesse Lauinia in mariage the which at that time was only heire of Italy king Euander ayded Eneas not only with goodes but also sending him his owne sonne in persone For the frendes ought for their true frendes willingly to shed their bloud in their behalfe without demauÌ„ding thei ought also to spend their goods This king Euander had a wyfe so well learned that that which the Grekes saied of her semeth to be fables That is to say of her eloquence wisdome for they say that if that which this woman wrote of the warres of Troye had not bene through enuy cast into the fire the name of Homere had at this day remained obscure The reason hereof is because the woman was in the time of the destruction of Troy and wrate as a witnes of sight These wordes passed betwene the Romaine Calphurnius and the poet Cornificius I desire to declare the excellency of those fewe auncient women as wel Grekes as Latines Romaines to thintent that princesses and great ladies may knowe that the auncient women were more esteamed for their sciences then for their beauties Therefore the princesses and great Ladies ought to thinke that if they be women they were also in lyke maner and if they be frayle the others were also weake If they be maried the other also had husbandes if they haue their wylles the other had also what they wanted if they be tender the others were not strong Finally they ought not to excuse them selues saying that for to learne women are vnmete For a woman hath more abilitie to learne sciences in the scholes then the Parate hath to speake wordes in the cage In my opinion princesses great ladies ought not to esteame theÌ„selues more then an other for that they haue fairer heares then other or for that they are better appareled then an other or that they haue more ryches then an other But they ought therfore to esteame them selues not for that they can doe more then others To say the truth the faire and yelow heares the riche and braue apparel the great treasures the sumptuous palaces and strong buildinges these and other like pleasures are not guides and leaders to vertues but rather spies scout watches for vices O what a noble thinge were it that the noble ladies would esteme them selues not for that they can doe but for that that they knowe For it is more commendation to knowe howe to teache twoo philosophers then to haue authoritie to commaunde a hundred knightes It is a shame to write it but it is more pitie to see it that is to wete to read that we read of the wisdome and worthines of the auncient matrones paste and to see as we doe see the frailenes of these younge ladies present For they coueted to haue disciples both learned and experimented and these of this present desire nothing but to haue seruauntes not only ignoraunt but deceitful and wicked And I do not marueile seing that which I se that at this present in court she is of litle value lest estemed among ladies which hath fairest seruauntes is lest enterteined of gentlemen What shall I say more in this matter but that they in times past striue who should write better compile the best bookes and these at this presente doe not striue but who shal haue the richest and most sumptuous apparel For the ladies thinke it a iolier matter to weare a gown of a new fachion then the auncientes did to read a lesson of philosophie The auncient ladies striue whiche of them was
that the doughters should inherit the goodes for to mary them selues with all Truly this law was very iust for the sonne that hath alwayes respect to the enheritaunce will not haue to his father any great confidence For he ought to be called a valiant Romaine knight that with his life hath wonne honour and by the sword hath gotten riches Since you are in straung realmes I praye you hartely that you be conuersaunt with the good as good brethren remēbring alwayes that you wer my children and that I gaue you both sucke of myne owne propre breastes And the daye that I shall here of your disagrement the same day shal be the end of my life For the discord in one citie of parentes doth more harme then a hole armie of enemys It is good for you my childrē to liue in loue concord togethers but it is more requisit to kepe you with the Romaine knightes The which with you you with thē if you do not loue together in the warres you shall neuer haue the vpper hand of your enemies For in great armies the discordes which rise emongest thē do more harme then the enemys do against whō they fight I think wel my children that you wold be very desirous to know of my estate that is to wete whether I am in health whether I am sick whether I am poore whether I am pleased or whether I am miscontented In this case I know not why you shold desire to know it since you ought to presuppose that accordyng to the troubles which I haue passed the miseries that with mine eyes I haue sene I am filled with this world for wise men after .50 yeres and vpwarde ought rather to apply their mindes how to receiue death thē to seke pleasurs to prolong life When mans flesh is weake it always desireth to be wel kept euen vnto the graue And as I am of flesh bone so I do feale the troubles of the world as al mortal men do But for al this do not think that to be pore or sick is the greatest misery neither thinke that to be hole riche is the chefest felicity for ther is none other felicity of the old fathers but for to se their childrē vertuous In my opiniō it is an honour to that countrey that the fathers haue such children which wil take profit with their counsell contrary wyse that the children haue such fathers which can giue it them For the child is happy that hath a wise father more happy is the father that hath not a folish sonne I do write oft times vnto you my children but there is a law that none be so hardy to write to men of war in the field except first they inrowle the letters in the senate Therfore since I write vnto you more letters then they would they do send lesse then I desire Thoughe this law be painefull to mothers which haue children yet we must confesse it is profitable for the weale publik For if a man should write to one in the warre that his family is not well he would forsake the warres to remedye it Yf a man wryte vnto him that it is prosperous he hath then a desire to enioye it Be not displeased my children thoughe all the letters I do sende vnto you come not to your handes For all that I do not cease to visite the temples for your owne health nor yet to offre sacrifices to the Gods for your honour For if we do please the gods we haue not cause to feare our enemies I say no more in this case my children but that I beseche the immortall Gods that if your lyues maye profyte the common wealth then they shorten my dayes and lēgthen your yeres but if your lyues should be to the domage of the common wealth then those immortall gods I desire that first I may vnderstand the end of your dayes before that the wormes should eate my flesh For rather then by your euill lyfe the glory of our predecessours should be bleamished it were much better both your liues wer ended The grace of the Gods the good renowme amongest men the good fortune of the Romains that wisedom of the greekes the blessing of Scippio of al other your predecessours be alwayes with you my children Of the education and doctrine of children whiles they are yong Wherein the auctour declareth many notable histories Chap. xxxii ALl mortall men which will trauell and see good fruite of their trauell ought to do as the chefe artificer did that painted the world For the man that maketh god the head of his workes it is vnpossible that he should erre in the same That whych we beleue and reade by wrytinge is that the eternall created the world in short space by his mighte but preserued it a lōg time by his wisedome Wherof a man may gather that the time to do a thing is short but the care and thought to preserue it is long We see daily that a valiaunt captaine assaulteth his enemies but in the end it is god that giueth the victorye but let vs aske the conquerour what trauell it hath bene vnto him or wherin he hath perceaued most daunger that is to wete either to obteine the victory of his enemies or els to preserue them selues amongest the enuious and malicious I sweare and affirme that such a knight wil swere that ther is no comparison betwene the one and the other for by the bloudy sweard in an houre the victorye is obteined but to kepe it with reputation the swete of al the life is required Laertius in the booke of the lyfe of the philophers declareth and Plato also hereof maketh mention in the bookes of hys common wealth that those of Thebes vnderstandyng that the Lacedemonians hadde good lawes for that whych they were of the godes fauoured and of menne greatly honoured determined to send by common assent and agreement a wise philosopher the beste esteamed amongest them whose name was Phetonius to whome they commaunded that he should aske the lawes of the Lacedemonians and that he shoulde be verye circumspecte and ware to see what their rules and customes were Those of Thebes were then very noble valliant and honest so that their principal end was to come to honour renowme to erect buildinges to make them selues of immortall memory for beyng vertuous For in buildyng they were very curious and for vertues they had good Philosophers The philosopher Phetonius was more thē a yeare in the realme of the Lacedemonians beholding at sondry times all thinges therin for simple men do not note thinges but onely to satisfye the eyes but the wise menne beholdeth them for to know and vnderstand their secrettes After that the philosopher had well plainely sene and behelde all the thinges of the Lacedemonians he determined to returne home to Thebes and beyng arriued all the people came to see him and here him For the vanitie of the common people is
doth not amend hys lyfe that the father do disinherit him When good wil doth want and vicious pleasures abounde the children oft times by peruerse fortune come to nought So this Marcus Aurelius being .52 yeres old by chaunce this chylde Verissimus which was the glory of Rome the hope of the father at that gate of Hostia of a sodayne sicknes dyed The death of whom was as vniuersallye lamented as his lyfe of al men was desired It was a pitiful thynge to see how wofully the father toke the death of his intierly beloued son no lesse lamētable to behold how the senat toke the death of their prince beinge the heire For the aged father for sorow did not go to the Senate and the senat for few daies enclosed themselues in the high Capitol And let no man meruaile though the death of this yong prince was so taken through Rome For if men knew what they lose when they lose a vertuous Prince they would neuer cease to bewaile and lament hys death When a knight a gentleman a squyre an offycer or when any of the people dyeth ther dyeth but one but when a prince dieth which was good for all and that he lyued to the profit of al then they ought to make account that al do dye they ought al greatly to lament it For oft times it chaunseth that after ii or iii. good Princes a foule flocke of tyraunts succedeth Therfore Marcus Aurelius the Emperour as a man of great vnderstanding and of a princely parsonne though the inward sorow from the rootes of the hart could not be plucked yet he determined to dissemble outwardly and to burie his greues inwardly For to say the truth none ought for any thing to shew extreame sorow vnlesse it be that he hath lost his honour or that his conscience is burdened The good prince as one that hath his vineyard frosen wherin was al hys hope contented with him selfe with that whych remaineth his so derely beloued sonne being dead comaunded the prince Comodus to be brought into his pallace being his only heyre Iulius Capitolinus whych was one of those that wrote of the tyme of Marcus Aurelius sayd vpon this matter that when the father saw the disordinate fraylenes and lightnes and also the litle shame whych the prince Comodus his sonne brought with him the aged man began to weape and shed teares from his eyes And it was bycause the symplenes and vertues of his deare beloued sonne Verissimus came into hys mynd Though this Emperour Marcus for the death of hys sonne was very sorowful yet notwithstanding this he prouided how his other sonne Comodus should be gouerned this before that eyther of age or body he wer greater For we cānot deny but when Princes are mē they wil be such as in their youth they haue bene brought vp The good father therfore knowing that the euil inclinacions of his sonne should do him domage the empire in like maner he sent throughout al Italy for the most sagest expert men to be gouernours Tutors of Comodus the prince He made them seke for the most profoundest in learning the most renowmed of good fame the most vertuous in dedes and the most depest in vnderstandyng for as the dust is not swept with fyne cloth but with dry bromes so the lightnes follies of yong mē are not remedied but by the hard disciplyne of the aged Thys commaundement being published and proclaimed in Rome the bruit scattered through Italye there came and ranne thither dyuerse kinde of sages whom he commaunded to be examyned He being informed of the bloud of thier predicessours of the age of their persones of the gouernment of their houses of the spendyng of their goodes of their credit amongest their neighbours of the sciences they knew aboue al they were no lesse examined of the purenes of their lyues then of the grauitie of their personnes for ther are many men whych are graue in open wordes very light in secret works Speakyng therfore more particularly he commaunded they should examyne the Astronomers of Astronomy the phylosophers in philosophie the musitines in musike the Orators in oracions And so forth of other sciences in order wherin euery one sayd he was instructed The good emperour was not so contented to do this once but sondry times not al in one day but in many not only by an other man but also by him selfe Finally they were al examyned as if they had bene al one and that the same one shold haue remayned bene kept for al to be only master tutor of the young child and prince Comodus To acquire a perfect knowledge and to be sure not to erre in choyce of thinges in my opinion is not onely required experience of him selfe and a cleare vnderstanding but also the aduyse of an other For the knowledge of thinges wholly together is easy but the choyce of them particularly is harde This thing is spoken because the good Emperour sent and commaunded to chose gouernours and maisters of his children Of many he choose fewe and of fewe the most wysest of the most wysest the most expert of the most expert the best learned of the best learned the most temperate of the most temperate the most auncient and of the most auncient the moste noble Certainely such election is worthy prayse because they be true maisters and teachers of princes which are noble of bloud auncient in yeares honeste in life men of litle folly and of great experience According to the seuen liberal sciences two maisters of euery one were chosen so that the prince was but one and the others were .xiiii. but this notwithstanding the workes of this prince Comodus were contrary to the expectation of his father Marcus Aurelius because the intention of the good father was to teache his sonne all sciences and the study of the sonne was to learne all vices At the bruite of so great a thing as this was that the Emperour sought to prouide tutors for the prince Comodus and that they should not be those which were best fauoured but those whiche were found the most wysest in shorte space there came so many philosophers to Rome as if the deuine Plato had bene reuiued againe in Grece Let vs not marueile at all if the sages desired the acquaintaunce familiaritie of this good Emperour For in the ende there is no man so sage nor so vertuous in this life but sometime wyll seke after the fauours of the world Since there were many sages and that of those he chose but fourtene It was necessary he should honestly and wisely dispatche and geue the others leaue as did behoue him And herein the good emperour shewed him selfe so wyse that shewing to some a mery coūtenaunce to others speaking gently and to others by a certaine hope to others by giftes presentes al the good company of the sages departed the good emperour dispatched them not
be feared mynystringe extreame iustice Thâ—y tâ—ke vppon them the estates of greate lords they liue of the swet of the poore they supply with malice that which they want in discrecion and that which is worst of all they myngle another mans iustice with their own proper profyte Therfore here more what I wil say vnto thee that these cursed iudges seinge them selues pestred with sundrye affaires and that they want the eares of knoweledge the sailes of vertue and the ankers of experience not knowing howe to remedy such smal euils they inuent others more greater they disturbe the coÌ„mon peace only for to augment their owne particuler profyt And finally they bewayle theire owne domage and are dyspleased withe the prosperity of an other Nothing can be more iust that since they haue fallen into offyces not profitable for them they do suffer though they would not great domages so that the one for taking gifts remaine slaundered and the other forgeuing theÌ„ remayneth vndone Harken yet I wil tell thee more Thou oughtest to knowe that the beginnings of these Iudges are pryde ambition their means enuy and malice and their endinges are death and destruccion For the leaues shall neuer be grene where the rootes are dry Yf my counsel should take place in this case suche Iudges should not be of counsayle with princes neyther yet should theye be defended of the pryuate but as suspecte men theye shoulde not onelye be caste from the common wealthe butte allso theye shoulde suffer death It is a great shame to those which demaund offyces of the Senate but greater is the rashnes and boldenes of the counsailers whyche doe procure them and we may say both to the one and to the other that neither the feare of god dothe withdrawe them nor the power of Princes dothe bridell them nor shame dothe trouble them neyther the common wealthe dothe accuse them and fynallye neyther reason commaundeth them nor the lawe subdueth theÌ„ But harke and I will tell thee more Thou oughtest alwaies to knowe what the fourme and maner is that the Senatours haue to deuide the offices for somtimes they geue them to theire frindes in recompence of theire frindship and other times they geue them to their seruauntes to acquite their seruices and sometime allso they geue them to solicitours to the end theye shall not importune them so that fewe offices remaine for the vertuous the whiche onely for beinge vertuous are prouided O my frinde Antigonus I let you to wete that since Rome dyd kepe her renowme and the common wealth was well gouerned the dylygence whiche the Iudges vsed towardes the Senate to the ende theye mighte geeue them offices the selfe same oughte the Senate to haue to seke vertuous men to commit suche charge into theire handes For the office of iustice oughte to be geuen not to him whiche procurethe it but to him that best deserueth it In the yeare of the foundacion of Rome .6 huÌ„dreth 42. yeares the Romaine people had manye warres throughout al the world To wete Chaius Celius againste those of Thrace Gneus Cardon his brother against the Sardes Iuniê° Scilla against the Cymbres Minutius Rufus against the Daces Scruilius Scipio against the Macedonians and Marius Consull againste Iugurtha kynge of Numidians and amongest all these the warre of the Numidians was the most renowmed and also perylous For if Rome had many armies against Iugurtha to conquere him Iugurtha hadde in Rome good frindes whiche did fauour him King Boco at that time was kinge of Mauritanes who was Iugurthas frinde in the end he was afterwards the occasion that Iugurtha was ouerthrowen that Marius toke him These two kinges Marius the CoÌ„sull brought to Rome triumphed of them leadinge them beefore his triumphaunt chariot their neckes loden with yrons their eies ful of teares The which vnlucky fortune al the Romaines which beheld lamented toke great pytye of the staungers whom they heard The nighte after the triumphe was ended it was decreed in the Senat that Iugurtha should be beheaded leauing king Boco aliue depryued of his countrey And the occasion therof was thys The Romaines had a custome of longe time to put no man to execucion beefore that first with great dyligence they had looked the auncient bookes to se if any of their predecessoures had done any notable seruice to Rome whereby the poore prisoner might deserue his pardon It was founde written in a booke which was in the highe Capitoll that the graundefather of kynge Boco was very sage and a special friende to the Romayne people and that once hee came to Rome and made dyuers Orations to the Senat and amongst other notable sentences there was found in that booke that he had spoken these wordes Woe be to the that realme where all are such that neither the good amongest the euill nor the euill amongest the good are knowen Woe vppon that realme which is the enterteiner of al fooles and a destroier of all sages Woe is that realme where the good are fearefull and the euill to bolde Woe on that realme where the pacient are despysed and the sedicious commended Woe on that realme whiche distroie the those that watche for the good and crowne the those that watche to doe euill Woe to that realme where the poore are suffered to be proude and the riche tiraunts Woe to that realme where all knowe the euil and no man doth follow the good Woe to that realme what so manye euil vices are openly committed withe in an other countrey dare not secretly be mencioned Woe to that realme where all procure that they desire where all attaine to that theye procure where all thinke the that is euill where all speake that they thinke finally where al may doe that which they will In such and so vnfortunate a realme where the people are so wicked let euery man beware he bee not inhabitaunt For in shorte time they shal se vpon him eyther the yre of the gods the fury of the men the depopulation of the good or the desolation of the tyrauntes Diuers other notable things were conteyned in those oracions the which are not at this present touching my letter But for asmuch as we thought it was a verye iuste thing that they should pardon the follye of the nephewe for the desertes of the wise grandfather Thou shalt reade this my letter openlye to the Pretours Iudges which are resydente there and the case shal be that when thou shalte reade it thou shalt admonishe them that if they will not amende secretlye we will punishe them openlye I wrote vnto thee the last daye that as touchynge thy banyshement I woulde be thy frinde and be thou assured that for to enioye thy olde friendeshyppe and to perfourme mye woorde I wyll not let to daunger mye parsone I wrytte vnto Panutius my secretary to succoure thee with two thousande Sesterses wherewith thou mayest relieue thy pouertye and from hence I sende thee
mye letter wherewithe thou mayest comfort thy sorowfull harte I saye no more to thee in this case but that thoroughe the gods thou maiest haue contentacion of all that thou enioyest healthe of thy person and comfort of thy frindes the bodely euels the cruel enemies the perilous destenies be farre from me Marke In the behalfe of thy wife Rufa I haue saluted my wyfe Faustyne she and I both haue receiued with ioye thy salutaciōs and withe thankes we sent them you agayne I desire to see thy person here in Italye and wyshe my feuer quartene there with thee in Scicile ¶ An exhortacion of the autcour to Princes and noble men to embrace peace and to eschewe the occasions of warre Cap. xij OCtauian Augustus seconde Emperour of Rome is commended of all for that he was so good of his persone so welbeloued in al the Romayne Empire Suetonius Tranquillus saieth that whē any man dyed in Rome in his time they gaue greate thankes to the gods for that they toke theire life from them before theire Prince knewe what deathe ment And not contēted onely with this but in their testaments they commaunded their heires children that yearely they should offer great sacrifices of their propre goodes in al the temples of Rome to the end the goddes shoulde prolong the daies of theire prince That time in deede myghte be called the golden age and the blessed land where the prince loued so well his subiectes and the subiectes so muche obeyed their prince For seldome times it happeneth that one will bee content with the seruices of all neyther that all wil be satisfyed withe the gouernement of one The Romaines for none other cause wished for that good prince more thē for thē selues life but because he kepte the cōmon wealth in peace The vertue of this prince deserued muche praise and the good will of the people merited no lesse commendation he for deseruinge it to them and theye for geuinge it to him For to saye the truethe there are fewe in nomber that so hartely loue others that for their sakes will hate them selues There is no mā so humble but in thinges of honour will be content to goe beefore saue onelye in deathe where hee can be content to come behinde And this semethe to bee verye cleare in that that nowe dyethe the father nowe the mother nowe the husbande nowe the wyfe nowe the sonne and nowe his neigheboure in the ende euerye man is content withe the deathe of an other so that he with his owne life maye escape him selfe A prince whiche is gentle pacient stout sober pure honest and true truelye hee of righte oughte to be commended but aboue all and more then all the prince whiche keepeth his common wealthe in peace hathe greate wronge if hee be not of all beloued What good can the common wealthe haue wherein there is warre and discencion Let euery man saye what hee will wytheoute peace noe man can enioye hys owne noe man can eate wytheoute feare noe man sleapeth in good reste noe man goethe safe by the waye noe man trustethe his neighboure finallye I saye that where there is noe peace there we are threatened daylye withe deathe and euerye houre in feare of oure lyfe It is good the prince doe scoure the realme of theeues for there is nothynge more vniuste thenne that whyche the poore wythe toyle and laboure doe gette shoulde wyth vacabondes in idlenesse bee wasted It is good the prince do weede the realme of blasphemers for it is an euidente token that those whiche dare blaspheme the kynge of heauen will not let to speake euill of the princes of the earthe It is good the prynce dooe cleare the common wealthe of vacaboundes and players for playe is so euill a mote that it eatethe the newe gowne and consumethe the drye woode It is good that the prynce doe forbydde his subiectes of prodigall bankettes and superfluous apparell for where men spende muche in thynges superfluous it chaunseth afterwardes that they want of their necessaries But I aske nowe what auailethe it a prynce to banishe al vices from his common wealthe if otherwise he keepeth it in warre The end whye prynces are prynces is to folowe the good and to eschewe the euill What shall we saye therefore sins that in the time of warre prynces cannot refourme vyces nor correcte the vycyous O yf Prynces and noble men knewe what domage theye doe to theire countreye the daye that they take vppon them warre I thinke and also affyrme that theye woulde not onelye not beginne it nor yet anye pryuate persone durste scarsely remember it And hee that dothe counsaile the prynce the contrarye oughte by reason to be iudged to the common wealthe an ennemy Those whiche counsayle prynces to seke peace to loue peace to keepe peace wythout doubte they haue wronge yf they be not hearde yf they be not beeloued and yf they be not credited For the counsailer whyche for a lyghte occasyon counsayleth hys prince to begynne warre I say that vnto hym eyther color surmountethe or els good conscience wanteth It chaunsethe oftentymes that the prynce is vexed and troubled beecause one certyfyethe hym that a prouynce is rebelled or some other prince hathe inuaded his countrey and as the matter requirethe the counsaile is assembled There are some to rashe counsailours whyche immediatelye iudge peace to be broken as lyghtlye as others doe desire that warres shoulde not begynne Whan a prynce in suche a case asketh counsayle they oughte forthewithe not to aunswere hym sodaynely for thinges touchinge the warres oughte withe greate wysedome firste to be considered and then withe as muche aduisement to be determined Kynge Dauid neuer toke warre in hande thoughe he weare verye wyse but fyrste he counsayled withe Godde The good Iudas Machabee neuer ētred into battaile but firste he made his prayer vnto almightye godde The Greekes and Romaynes durste neuer make warre againste theire enemies but first they would do sacrifice to the goddes and consulte also withe their Oracles The matters of iustice the recreacions of hys persone the reward of the good the punishment of the euill and the deuydynge of rewardes a Prince maye communicate wythe anye pryuate man but all matters of warre he oughte fyrste to counsayle withe God For the prynce shall neuer haue perfyte vyctorye ouer his enemies vnlesse he firste committe the quarell thereof vnto Godde Those whiche counsaile princes whyther it bee in matters of warre or in the affaires of peace oughte allwayes to remember thys sentence that theye geeue hym suche counsayles allwayes when hee ys whole in hys chamber as theye woulde if theye sawe hym at the poynte of deathe verye sycke For at that instaunte noe manne dare speake with flatterye nor burden hys conscience thoroughe bryberye Whenne theye entreate of warre theye whyche moue it oughte to considre that if it came not well to passe all the blame shall bee imputed to they re coūsaile And if that
so much the more were the philosophers deuided amongest them selues When they were so assembled truely they did not eate nor drinke out of measure but some pleasaunt matter was moued betwene the masters and the scollers betwene the yong and the olde that is to wete which of them coulde declare any secrete of phylosophye or anye profound sentence O happy were such feastes and no lesse happy were they that thether were bidden But I am sory that those whiche nowe byd and those that are bidden for a trouth are not as those auncients were For there are noe feastes now adays of phylosophers but of gluttons not to dispute but to murmour not to open doubtfull things but to talke of the vices of others not to confirme aunciente amities but to begynne newe dissensions not to learne any doctrines but to approue some nouelty And that whiche worste of all is that the olde striue at the table with the yonge not on hym whiche hathe spoken the moste grauest sentence but of hym whyche hathe dronke moste wyne and hathe rinsed most cuppes Paulus Diaconus in the historye of the Lumbardes declarethe that foure olde Lumbardes made a banket in the whiche the one dranke to the others yeres and it was in this manner Theye made defyaunce to drinke two to twoe and after eche man had declared howe many yeres olde he was the one drāke as manye times as the other was yeares olde and likewise his companion pledged him And one of these foure companions had at the leaste 58. yeares the second .63 the thyrde .87 the fourthe .812 so that a man knowethe not what they did eate in this banket eyther litle or muche but we knowe that hee that dranke least dranke 58. cuppes of wine Of this so euill custome came the Gothes to make this lawe which of manye is reade and of fewe vnderstanded where it sayeth We ordeyn and commaūd on payne of deathe that no olde man drinke to the others yeres being at the table That was made because they were so muche geuen to wyne that they dranke more ofte thenne they did eate morselles The Prynces and greate Lordes whyche are nowe olde oughte to bee verye sober in drinkynge synce theye oughte greatlye to be regarded and honoured of the yonge For speakinge the truthe and withe libertie whan the olde man shall bee ouercome with wine he hath more necessitie that the yong man leade him by the arme to his house then that hee shoulde take of his cappe vnto hym or speake vnto hym with reuerence Also prynces and greate lordes oughte to be verye circumspecte that whenne theye become aged theye bee not noted for yonge in the apparayle whiche theye weare For althoughe that for wearinge a fyne and riche garmente the prynce dothe not enriche or enpouerishe his common wealthe yet we cannot denye but that it dothe much for the reputacion of his persone For the vanytie and curiositie of garments dothe shewe great lightnes of minde According to the varietye of ages so ought the diuersitie of apparaile to bee whiche semethe to bee verye cleare in that the yonge maydes are attyred in one sorte the maried women of an other sorte the widdowes of an other And lykewise I woulde saye that the apparayle of children oughte to be of one sorte those of yonge men of an other and those of olde men of an other whyche oughte to bee more honester then all For men of hoarye heades oughte not to be adourned withe precious garmētes but withe verteous workes To goe cleanlye to be well apparayled and to be well accompanied we doe not forbydde the olde especiallye those whych are noble and valyaunt men but to goe to fine to go with great traynes and to goe verye curious wee doe not allowe Let the olde men pardon mee for it is not the office but of yonge fooles For the one sheweth honestye and the other lightnes It is a confusion to tell it but it is greater shame to doe it that is to weete that manye olde men of oure time take noe small felicitye to put caules on theire heades euerye manne to weare iewels on theire neckes to laye theire cappes withe agglettes of golde to seeke oute dyuers inuencions of mettall to loade theire fingers wythe riche ringes to goe perfumed wythe odiferous fauoures to weare newe fashioned apparayle and fynallye I saye that thoughe theire face bee full of wrincles they can not suffer one wrincle to be in theire gowne All the auncient historiens accuse Quintus Hottensius the Romayne for that euerye tyme when hee made hym selfe readye he hadde a glasse beefore hym and as muche space and tyme had hee to streyghten the plaites of his gowne as a woman hadde to trymme the heares of her heade This Quintus Hortensius beinge Consul goynge by chaunce one day through Rome in a narrowe streat met wythe the other Consul where throughe the streightnes of the passage the plaightes of his gowne weare vndone vppon whych occasion hee complayned to the senate of the other Consull that he had done hym a greate iniurye sayinge that he deserued to lose hys lyfe The authoure of all this is Macrobius in the thyrde booke of the Saturnales I can not tell if I be deceiued but we maye saye that al the curiositye that olde men haue to goe fine wel appareled and cleane is for no other thinge but to shake of age and to pretende righte to youthe What a griefe is it to see dyuers auncient men the whiche as ripe figges do fal and on the other side it is a wonder to see howe in theire age they make them selues yonge In this case I saye woulde to god we might see them hate vices and not to complaine of the yeares which theye haue I praye and exhorte princes and greate lordes whom oure soueraigne lorde hathe permitted to come to age that theye doe not despise to be aged For speaking the truthe the man whiche hathe enuye to seeme olde doth delight to liue in the lightnes of youthe Also man of honour oughte to be verye circumspecte for so muche as after theye are beecome aged theye bee not suspected of theire friends but that both vnto their friends foes they be counted faythfull For a lye in a yonge mannes mouthe is but a lye but in the mouthe of an olde manne it is a heynous blasphemye Prynces and great lordes after they are become aged of one sorte they oughte to vse them selues to geue and of thother to speake For good prynces oughte to sell woordes by weighte and geeue rewardes withoute measure The auncient oftentymes complayne sayinge that the yonge will bee not conuersaunt with them and truely if there be anye faulte therin it is of them selues And the reason is that if sometimes theye doe assemble togethers to passe awaye the tyme if the olde man set a talkinge he neuer maketh an ende So that a discrete man had rather go .xii. miles on foote then to heare an olde man
fynde that the more I eate the more I dye for hunger the more I drinke the greater thirste I haue the more I rest the more I am broken the more I slepe the more drousier I am the more I haue the more I couet the more I desire the more I am tormēted the more I procure the lesse I attaine Fynally I neuer hadde so greate paine through want but afterwarde I had more trouble with excesse It is a great follye to thinke that as longe as a man lyueth in this fleshe that hee can satisfye the fleshe for at the last cast she may take from vs our lyfe but wee others can not take from her her disordynate couetousnes Yf men dyd speake with the goddes or the gods were conuersant with men the first thing that I woold aske thē shoold be why they haue appointed an end to our woful dayes and wyl not geue vs an end of our wicked desires O cruel Gods what is it you do or what do you suffer vs it is certain that we shal not passe one good day of life only but in tasting this and that life consumeth O intollerable life of man wherin there are such malices from the which we ought to beware and such perils to fal in and also so many thinges to cōsyder that then both she and we do end to know our selues when the houre of death approcheth Let those knowe that knowe not that the world taketh our wil and we others like ignorauntes cannot denay it hym and afterwardes hauing power of our wil doth constraine vs to that which we would not so that many times we would do vertuous workes and for that we are now put into the worldes handes we dare not doe it The world vseth another subtiltye with vs that to the end wee should not striue with it it prayseth the times past because we should liue according to the time present And the worlde saieth further that if we others employ our forces in his vices he geueth vs licence that we haue a good desire of vertue O woulde to god in my dayes I myghte see that the care whiche the worlde hath to preserue vs the wordlyngs would take it to withdraw thē from hys vyces I sweare that the gods shoulde then haue more seruauntes and the world and the fleshe should not haue so many slaues ¶ The Emperoure procedeth in his letter proueth by good reasons that sithe the aged persons wyl be serued and honored of the yong they oughte to bee more vertuous and honest then the yonge Cap. xxi I Haue spoken al this before rehersed for occasion of you Claude and Claudine the which at .3 score and 10. yeares wyl not kepe out of the prison of the world You I say which haue your bodies weake and corrupted what hope shale wee haue of young men which are but .25 yeares of age if my memorye deceiue mee not when I was there you had nephewes maried and of their children made sure and two of the children borne and since that is true mee thinketh when the frute is gathered the leafe is of no value and after the meale is taken from the mylle euil shal the mil grinde I meane that the old man ought to desire that his daies might be shortned in this worlde Do not thinke my frendes that a man can haue his house full of nephewes and yet say that he is very yong for in lodīge the tree with frutes the blossomes immediately fall or els they become wythered I haue imagined with my selfe what it is that you might do to seme yonge and cut of some of your yeares and in the end I know no other reason but when you maried Alamberta your doughter with Drusus and your neere Sophia the faire with Tuscidan which were so yonge that the daughters were scarce 15. yeres olde nor the yonge mē .20 I suppose because you were ritche of yeares and poore of money that hee gaue to euery on of them in steede of money for dowrye 20. yeares of yours hereof a man may gather that the money of your nephews haue remained vnto you and you haue geuen vnto them of your own yeares I vnderstand my frendes that your desire is to bee yonge and very yong but I greatly desire to see you old and very old I do not meane in yeares which in you doeth surmount but in discrecion which in you doth want O Claud Claudine note that which I will say vnto you and beare it alwaies in youre memorie I let you wete that to mainteine youth to deface age to lyue contented to be free from trauayles to lengthen lyfe and to auoyde death these thinges are not in the handes of men whiche doe desire them but rather in the handes of those which geueth them the which accordinge to their iustice and not to our couetousnes doe geue vs lyfe by weight and death withoute measure One thinge the olde men do which is cause of slaunderinge manye that is that they wyl speake firste in coūsels they wylbe serued of the yonge in feastes they will bee fyrste placed in all that they saye they wyll bee beleued in churches they wil be hygher then the resydue in distributinge of offyces they wyll haue the moste honoure in there opinyons they wyll not bee gayne sayde fynallye they will haue the credite of old sage men and yet they wyl leade the lyfe of yonge dotynge fooles All these premynences and pryuileges it is verye iuste that old men shoulde haue spent their yeares in the seruice of the common wealthe but with this I dooe aduyse and require them that the auctority geuen them with their white heares bee not dyminyshed by their euil workes Is it a iust thinge that the humble and honest yonge man doe reuerence to the aged man proude and dysdaynefull is it a iust thinge that the gentyll and gratious yonge man doe reuerence to the enuious and malycious old man is it a iust thing that the vertuous and pacyent yonge man doe reuerence to the foolishe and vnpacyente olde man is it a iust thinge that the stoute and liberall yonge man doe reuerence to the myserable and couetous olde man is it iuste that the dylygente and carefull yonge man doe reuerēce to the neglygente olde man Is it iuste that the abstynent and sober yonge man doe reuerence to the greedye and gluttonous old man Is it iuste that the chaste and contynente yonge man do reuerence to the lecherous and dyssolute olde man Mee thinketh these thinges shoulde not bee such that therby the olde man should bee honored but rather reproued and punyshed For olde men offende more by the euel example they geue then by the faulte which they doe commit Thou canste not denaye me my frende Claude that it is thirtye and thre yeares sythe we bothe were at the Theathers to beholde a playe when thou camest late and found no place for thee to sit in thou sayedst vnto mee who was
if thou be euill lyfe shal bee euyl imployd on thee and if thou bee good thou oughtest to die imediatly and because I am woors thē all I liue lōger then all These woordes which Adrian my lord sayed doe plainely declare and expresse that in short space the pale and cruel death doth assaulte the good and lēgthneth life a great while to the euil The opinion of a philosopher was that the gods are so profound in their secrets high in their misteryes and so iust in their woorks that to men which least profit the common wealth they lengthen lyfe longest and though he had not sayd it we others see it by experience For the man which is good and that beareth great zeale and frendship to the common wealth either the gods take him from vs or the enemies do sley him or the daungers doe cast him away or the the trauailes do finish him When great Pompeius Iulius Cesar became enemyes from that enmite came to cruel warres the cronicles of that time declare that the kings and people of the occidental part became in the fauour of Iulius Cesar and the mightiest most puisaunte of al the oriental parts came in the ayd of great Pompeius beecause these two Princes were loued of few and serued and feared of al. Amongst the diuersity and sundry nations of people which came out of the oriental part into the host of the great Pompeius one nation came maruelous cruel barbarous which sayd they dwelled in the other side of the mountayns Riphees which go vnto India And these barbarous had a custome not to liue no longer then fifty years therfore when thei came to that age they made a greater fier and were burned therin aliue and of their owne willes they sacrificed them selues to the gods Let no man bee astoined at that wee haue spoken but rather let them maruel of that wee wyl speak that is to say that the same day that any man had accomplished fifty years immediatly hee cast him self quick in to the fier and the parents children and his freends made a great feast And the feast was that they did eat the fleash of the dead half burned and drank in wyne and water the asshes of his bones so that the stomak of the children beeing aliue was the graue of the fathers beeing dead All this that I haue spoken with my toung Pompeius hath seen with his eies for that some beeing in the camp did accomplish fifty years bycause the case was straunge hee declared it oft times in the Senate Let euery man iudge in this case what hee will and condemne the barbarous at his pleasure yet I wyll not cease too say what I think O golden world which had such men O blessed people of whom in the world to come shal bee a perpetuall memory What contēpt of world what forgetfulnes of him self what stroke of fortune what whip for the flesh what litell regard of lyfe O what bridell for the veruous O what confusion for those that loue lyfe O how great example haue they left vs not to feare death Sithens those heeare haue wyllingly dispised their own liues it is not to bee thought that they died to take the goods of others neither to think that our life shoold neuer haue end nor our couetousnes in like maner O glorious people and .10 thousand sold happy that the proper sensuallyty beeing forsaken hath ouercome the natural appetyte to desire to liue not beeleeuing in that they saw and that hauing faith in that they neuer saw they striued with the fatall destines By the way they assalted fortune they chaunged life for death they offred the body to death and aboue al haue woon honor with the gods not for that they should hasten death but because they should take away that which is superfluus of life Archagent a surgiō of Rome and Anthonius Musus a phisition of the Emperor Augustus and Esculapius father of the phisick shoold get litel mony in that country Hee that thē shoold haue sēt to the barbarous to haue doone as the Romaynes at that tyme did that is to wete to take siroppes in the mornings pylls at night to drynk mylk in the morning to noynt them selues with gromelsede to bee let bloud to day and purged to morrow to eat of one thing and to abstein from many a man ought to think that hee which willingly seeketh death wil not geue mony to lengthen lyfe ¶ The Emperor concludeth his letter and sheweth what perilles those old men lyue in which dissolutely like yong children passe their days and geeueth vnto them holsome counsell for the remedy therof Cap. xxii BVt returning now to thee Claude to thee Claudine mee thinketh that these barbarous beeing fifty years of age and you others hauing aboue thre score and 10. it should bee iust that sithens you were elder in years you were equal in vertue and though as they you wyl not accept death paciently yet at the least you ought to amend your euel liues willingly I do remember that it is many years sithens that Fabritius the yong sonne of Fabritius the old had ordeyned to haue deceiued mee of the which if you had not told mee great inconueniences had hapned and sithens that you did mee so great a benefit I woold now requite you the same with an other like For amongst frends there is no equal benifit then to deceyue the deceyuer I let you know if you doo not know it that you are poore aged folks your eyes are soonk into your heads the nostrels are shutt the hears are white the hearing is lost the tonge faltreth the teeth fall the face is wrincled the feete swoln the stomak cold Finally I say that if the graue could speak as vnto his subiects by iustice hee myght commaund you to inhabit his house It is great pity of the yong men and of their youthfull ignorante for then vnto such their eyes are not opened to know the mishaps of this miserable life when cruell death doth end their dayes and adiorneth thē to the graue Plato in his book of the common wealth sayd that in vaine wee geeue good counsels to fond light yongmen For youth is without experiēce of that it knoweth suspicious of that it heareth incredible of that is told him despising the counsayl of an other and very poore of his own Forsomuch as this is true that I tell you Claude and Claudine that without comparison the ignorance which the yong haue of the good is not so much but the obstinacion which the old hath in the euel is more For the mortal gods many times do dissemble with a .1000 offeces committed by ignorance but they neuer forgeeue the offence perpetrated by malice O Claude and Claudine I doo not meruel that you doo forget the gods as you doo which created you and your fathers which beegot you and your parēts which haue loued you and your frends which haue
thou canst geeue mee to redeeme thy parson for I let thee to weete that I am not contented any phlosopher shoold perysh in my countrey because you other philosophers say that yow wyll willyngly renounce the goods of the world syth yow can not haue it The phylosopher Silenus aunswered hym Mee thinketh kyng Mydas that thou canst better execut tyrāny then to talk of phylosophy for wee make no accompt that our bodies bee taken but that our willes bee at lyberty Thy demaund is very symple to demaund raunsome of mee for my parson whether thow takest mee for a phylosopher or no. If I bee not a phylosopher what mooueth thee to feare to keepe mee in thy realme for sooner shooldst thow make mee a tyrant then I thee a phylosopher If thou takest mee for a phylosopher why doost thow demaund money of mee sins thow knowst I am a phylosopher I am a craftesman I am a poet and also a musicion So that the time that thow in heapyng vp riches hast consumed the selfsame tyme haue I in learning sciences spent Of a phylosopher to demaund eyther gold or siluer for raunsome of hys parson is either a woord in mockery or els an inuention of tyranny For sithens I was borne in the world riches neuer came into my hands nor after them hath my hart lusted If thou kyng Mydas wooldst geeue mee audience and in the fayth of a prynce beeleeue mee I woold tell thee what is the greatest thyng and next vnto that the second that the gods may geeue in this life and it may bee that it shal bee so pleasaunt vnto thee to here and so profytable for thy lyfe that thou wilt pluck mee from my enemies and I may diswade thee from tirannies When king Mydas hard these woords hee gaue him lycence to say these two things swearing vnto him to heare him wyth as much pacyence as was possible The phylosopher Silenus hauyng lycence to speak freely taking an instrument in his hands beeganne to play and syng in thys wyse The senate of the gods when they forethought On earthly wights to still some ryall grace the chiefest gyft the heauenly powers had wrought had bene to sow his seede in barrayne place But when by steps of such diuine constraint they forced man perforce to fyxe his line The highest good to help his bootles plaint had been to slyp his race of slender twine For then the tender babes both want to know the deare delight that lyfe doth after hale And eke the dread that griefly death dooth shew Er Charons bote to Stigeanshore dooth sal◠THese two thinges the philosopher proued with so high and naturall reasons that it was a marueylous matter to see with what vehemency Sylenas the philosopher sang them and with what bitternes Mydas the tirant wept Without doubt the sentences were marueilous profound which the philosopher spake and great reason had that king to esteeme it so much For if wee doo prepare our selues to consider whereof wee are and what wee shall bee that is to weete that wee are of earth and that wee shall retourn to earth Wee woold not cease to weepe nor sygh One of the greatest vanities which I fynd among the children of vanity is that they imploy them selues to consyder the influences of the starres the nature of the planets the motion of the heauens and they wil not consider them selues of which consyderacion they shoold take some profyt For man geeuing his minde to think on straunge things commeth to forget his own propre O if wee woold consider the corruption whereof wee are made the fylth whereof wee are ingendred the infinit trauaile wherew t wee are borne the long tediousnes wherew t wee are norished the great necessities and suspicions wherein wee liue and aboue all the great peryll where in wee dye I sweare and affirme that in such consideracion wee fynd a thousand occasions to wysh death and not one to desire life The children of vanyty are occupyed many years in the schools to learn rethoryk they excercise them selues in philosophy they here Aristottel they learn Homere without booke they study Cicero they are occupied in Xenophon they herken Titus Liuius they forget not Aulus Gelius and they know Ouide yet for all this I say that wee can not say that the man knoweth lytell which doth know him self Eschines the philosopher sayd well that it is not the least but the chiefest part of phylosophy to know man and wherefore hee was made for if man woold deepely consyder what man is hee shoold fynd mo things in him which woold moue him to humble him self then to stirre him to bee proud If wee doo beeholdyt without passion and if wee doo examin it with reasō I know not what there is in man O miserable and fraile nature of man the which taken by it self is littel woorth and compared with an other thing is much lesse For man seeth in brute beasts many things which hee doth ēuy and the beasts doo see much more in mē whereō yf they had reason they woold haue cōpassion The excellency of the soule layd asyde and the hope which wee haue of eternall lyfe yf man doo compare the captyuyty of men to the lyberty of beasts wyth reason wee may see that the beasts doo liue a peacible life and that which men doo lead is but a long death If wee prepare our selues to consyder from the tyme that both man and beast come into this world vntill such time as they both dy and in how many things the beasts are better then men with reason wee may say that nature lyke a pitifull mother hath shewed her self to beasts that shee doth handle vs as an iniust stepmother Let vs beeginne therefore to declare more particularly the original of the one and the beginning of the other wee shall see how much better the brute beasts are endowed how the myserable men are disherited ¶ The auctour followeth his purpose excellently compareth the mysery of men with the lyberty of beasts Cap. xxxiij WE ought deepely to consyder that no wilde nor tame beast is so long beefore hee come to his shape as the myserable man is who wyth corruption of blood vile matter is nine moneths hyd in the womb of his mother Wee see the beast when shee is great if neede require doth labor all exercises of husbandry so that shee is as ready to labor when shee is great as if shee were empty The contrary happeneth to women which whē they are bigge with childe are weary with going troubled to bee layd they ryde in chariots through the market places they eat lytle they brooke not that they haue eaten they hate that which is profytable loue that which doth thē harm Fynally a woman with childe is contented with nothing and shee fretteth and vexeth with her self Sithens therefore it is true that wee are noysome and troublesome to our mothers when they beare vs in theire wombs why
that is hurtful for them For wee see this that the sheepe flyeth the wolf the catt flyeth the dog the ratt flyeth the catt and the chicken the kyte so that the beasts in opening the eyes doo immediatly know the frends whō they ought to folow and the enemies whom they ought to fly To the miserable man was vtterly denyed this so great priuilege For in the world there hath been many beastly men who hath not onely attained that which they ought to know whiles they lyued but also euen as like beasts they passed their daies in this life so they were infamed at the tyme of their death O miserable creatures that wee are which lyue in this wicked world for wee know not what is hurtfull for vs what wee ought to eat from what wee ought to abstain nor yet whom wee shoold hate wee doo not agree with those whom wee ought to loue wee know not in whom to put our trust from whom wee ought to fly nor what it is wee ought too choose nor yet what wee ought to forsake Finally I say that when wee think oft times to enter into a sure hauen within .3 steps afterward wee fall headlong into the deepe sea Wee ought also to consider that both to wild and tame beasts nature hath geeuen armes or weapons to defend them selues and to assault their enemies as it appeareth for that to birds shee hath geeuen wings to the harts swiftfeete to the Elephants tushes to the serpents scales to the Eagle tallons to the Faucon a beake to the lyons teeth to the bulles hornes and to the bears pawes Finally I say that shee hath geeuen to the Foxes subtilty to know how to hyde them selues in the earth and to the fishes lyttle finnes how to swim in the water Admit that the wretched men haue few enemies yet in this they are none otherwise priuileged then the beasts for wee see without teares it cannot bee told that the beasts which for the seruice of men were created with the self same beastes men are now adays troubled and offended And to the end it seeme not wee should talk of pleasure let euery man think with him self what it is that wee suffer with the beasts of this life For the Lyons do fear vs the wolfes deuoure our sheepe the dogges doo bite vs the cattes scratche vs the Bear doth tear vs the serpents poysō vs the Bulles hurt vs with their horns the birds do ouerfly vs the ratts doo trouble vs the spiders do annoy vs and the woorst of all is that a litel flye sucketh our blood in the day the poore flea doth let vs from slepe in the night O poore and miserable mā who for to sustein this wretched life is enforced to begge al things that hee needeth of the beastes For the beasts do geeue him wool the beast do draw him water the beasts do cary him him from place to place the beasts do plough the land and carieth the corn into their barnes Finally I saye that if the mā receiue any good he hath not wherwith to make recompēce if they doo him any euill he hath nought but the tong to reuenge Wee must note also that though a man lode a best with stripes beate her driue her by the foule wayes though he taketh her meat from her yea though her yonglings dye yet for none of all these things shee is sad or sorowfull and much lesse doth weepe though shee should weepe shee cannot For beasts little esteame their life much lesse feare death It is not so of the vnhappy and wretched mā which can not but bewayle the vnthankfullnes of their frends the death of their children the want which they haue of necessityes the case of aduersitie which doo succede theim the false witnes which is brought against theym and a thousād calamities whice doo torment their harts Fynally I say that the greatest cōfort that men haue in this life is to make a riuer of water with the teares of their eyes Let vs inquire of princes and great lords what they can doo whē they are borne whether they can speak as oratours if they can ronne as postes if they can gouerne them selues as kinges if they can fyght as men of warre if they can labor as laborers if they can woork as the masons if they knew to teach as maisters these litell children would aunswer that they are not onely ignoraunt of all that wee demaund of them but also that they can not vnderstād it Let vs retourne to ask them what is that they know since they know nothing of that wee haue demaunded them they wil aunswer that they can doo none other thing but weepe at their byrth and sorow at their death Though al those which sayle in this so perillous sea doo reioyce and take pleasure and seeme too sleap soundly yet at the last there cometh the winde of aduersity which maketh them al to know their foly For if I bee not deceyued and if I know any thing of this world those which I haue seene at the time of their birth take shipp weeping I doubt whether they will take land in the graue laughing O vnhappy life I shoold say rather death which the mortalls take for life wherein afterwards wee must cōsume a great time to learn all arts sciences and offices and yet notwithstanding that whereof wee are ignorante is more thē that which wee know Wee forget the greatest part saue only that of weeping which no man needeth to learn for wee are borne and liue weeping and vntill this present wee haue seene none dye inioy Wee must note also that the beasts doo lyue and dye with the inclinations where with they were borne that is to weete that the wolfe foloweth the sheepe and not the birds the hounds follow the hares and not the ratts the sparrow flyeth at the birds and not at the fish the spider eateth the flyes and not the herbs Finally I say that if wee let the beast search hys meat quietly wee shall not see hym geeuen to any other thing The contrary of al this happeneth to men the which though nature hath created feeble yet Gods intētiō was not they should bee malitious but I am sory since they cannot auoyde debilyty that they turne it into malice The presumption which they haue to bee good they turne to pryde and the desire they haue to bee innocent they tourne into enuy The fury which they should take against malice they turne into anger and the liberality they ought to haue with thee good they conuerte into auaryce The necessity they haue to eat they turne into gluttony and the care they ought to haue of their conscience they turne into neglygence Finally I say that the more strength beasts haue the more they serue and the lesse men are worth somuch the more thanks haue they of god The innocency of the brute beast consydered and the malice of the malitious man marked without comparison the
After that the wife doth see her louing husband in the graue I woold ask her what good could remayne with her in her house Since wee know that if her husband were good he was the hauē of al her trobles the remedy of al her necessitys the inuentour of all her pleasours the true loue of her hart the true lord of her parson and the idoll whom shee honored finally he was the faithfull steward of her house and the good father of her children and familye Whether family remayneth or not whyther children remayneth or not in the one and in the other trouble and vexation remaineth most assuredly to the poore widow If perchaunce shee remayne poore and haue no goods let euery man imagine what her life can bee For the poore miserable vnhappy woman eyther wil aduenture her parson to get or wil lose her honesty to demaund An honest woman a noble worthy womā a delicat woman a sweete woman a woman of renowme a woman that ought to maynteyne children and family ought to haue great reason to bee full of anguishe and sorow to see that if shee wil mainteyne her self which the needle shee shal not haue sufficiently to find her self bread and water If shee gaine with her bodie shee loseth her soule If shee must demaund others shee is sahamed If shee fulfill the testament of her husband shee must sell her gowns If shee will not pay his detts they cause her to be brought beefore the iudge As women naturaly are tender what hart will suffer theym to suffer such inconueniēces and what eyes can absteine to shed infinite tears If perchaūce goods doo remaine to the miserable widow she hath no litel care to keepe thē Shee is at great charges and expences to sustain and maintayn her self in long suit about her lands much trouble to augment them and in the end much sorow to depart from them For all her children and heirs doo occupy them selues more to think how they might inherit then in what sort they ought to serue her When I came to this passage a great while I kept my pen in suspence to see whither I ought to touch this matter or no that is to weete that oftentimes the poore wydows put openly the demaund of their goods and the iudges doo secretly demaund the possession of their parson So that first they doo iniury to her honor beefore they doo minister iustice to her demaunds Though perchance shee hath no child yet therfore shee remaineth not without any comfort and for that the parents of her husband doo spoyl her of her goods For in thys case their heirs often times are so disordered that for a worn cloke or for a broken shirt they trouble and sore vexe the poore wydow If perchaunce the miserable wydow haue children I say that in this case shee hath double sorow For if they are yong shee endureth much payn to bring them vp so that ech hour and moment their mothers lyue in great sorows to think onely of the lyfe and health of their children If perhaps the children are old truely the griefs whych remayn vnto them are no lesse For so much as the greatest part of them are eyther proud disobedient malycious negligent adulterers gluttons blasphemers false lyers dull headed wanting wit or sickly So that the ioy of the wofull mothers is to beewayl the death of their welbeeloued husbands and to remedy the discords of their youthfull children If the troubles which remain to the mothers with the sonnes bee great I say that those which they haue with their doughters bee much more For if the doughter bee quick of witt the mother thinketh that shee shal bee vndoon If shee bee simple shee thinketh that euery man will deceiue her If shee bee faier shee hath enough to doo to keepe her If shee bee deformed shee cannot mary her If shee bee well manered shee wil not let her go from her If shee bee euil manered shee cānot endure her If shee bee to solitary shee hath not wherewith to remedy her If shee bee dissolute shee wil not suffer her to bee punished Fynally if shee put her from her shee feareth shee shal bee sclaundeted If shee leaue her in her house shee is afrayd shee shal bee stollen What shal the wofull poore wydow doo seeing her self burdened with doughters enuironed with sonnes and neither of them of such sufficient age that there is any tyme to remedy them nor substāce to maintein them Admit that shee mary one of her sonnes and one doughter I demaund therfore if the poore widow wil leaue her care and anguish Truely I say no though shee choose rich personages and wel disposed shee cannot escape but the day that shee replenisheth her self with doughters in law the same day shee chargeth her hart with sorows trauels and cares O poore wydows deceiue not your selues and doo not immagin that hauing maried your sonnes doughters from that time forward yee shal liue more ioyful and contented For that laid aside which their nephews doo demaund them and that their sonnes in law doo rob them when the poore old woman thinketh to bee most surest the yong man shall make a claym to her goods What doughter in law is there in this world who faithfully loueth her stepmother And what sonne in law is there in the world the desireth not to bee heir to his father in law Suppose a poore widow to bee fallen sick the which hath in her house a sonne in law and that a man ask him vppon his oth which of these two things hee had rather haue either to gouern his mother in law wyth hope to heal her or to bury her with hope to inherit her goods I swear that such woold swere that hee coold reioyce more to geeue a ducket for the graue then a penny to the phisition to purge and heal her Seneca in an epistle saith that the fathers in law naturally loue their doughters in law the sonnes in law are loued of their mothers in law And for the contrary hee saith that naturally the sonnes in law doo hate their mothers in law But I take it not for a generall rule for there are mothers in law whych deserue to bee woorshipped and there are sonnes in law which are not worthy to bee beeloued Other troobles chance dayly to these poore wydows which is that when one of them hath one only sonne whom shee hath in the steed of a husband in steed of a brother in steed of a sonne shee shall see him dye whom sith shee had his lyfe in such great loue shee cannot though shee woold take his death with pacience So that as they bury the dead body of the innocent chyld they bury the lyuely hart of the wofull mother Let vs omit the sorows whych the mothers haue when their children dye and let vs ask the mothers what they feele when they are sick They will aunswer vs that always and as often tymes as their
children bee sick the death of their husbands then is renued imagining that it wil happen so vnto them as it hath doon vnto others And to say the trueth it is not maruel yf they doo fear For the vyne is in greater peril when it is budded then when the grapes are rype Other troubles oftentymes encrease to the poore widows the which amongst others this is not the least that is to weete the lytle regard of the frends of her husband and the vnthankfulnes of those which haue been brought vp wyth him The which since hee was layd in his graue neuer entred into the gates of his house but to demaund recompence of their old seruices and to renew and beegin new suits I woold haue declared or to say better breefly touched the trauels of wydows to perswade princes that they remedy them and to admonish iudges to heare them and to desire all vertuous men to comfort them For the woork of it self is so godly that hee deserueth more whych remedyeth the troubles of one only then I which write their miseries all together ¶ Of a letter whych the Emperor Marcus Aurelius wrote to a Romayn Lady named Lauinia comforting her for the death of her husband Cap. xxxvii MArcus of mount Celio Emperor of Rome cheef consull tribune of the people high Bishop appointed against the Daces wisheth health and comfort to thee Lauinia noble and woorthy Romayn matron the late wyfe of the good Claudinus According to that thy person deserueth to that which vnto thy husband I ought I think well that thou wilt suspect that I way thee litle for that vnto thy great sorows complaints lamentacions are now aryued my negligent consolaciōs When I remēber thy merits which can not fail imagin that the wilt remember my good will wherwith always I haue desired to serue thee I am assured that if thy suspitiō accuse mee thy vertu and wisedome will defend mee For speaking the trueth though I am the last to comfort thee yet I was the first to feele thy sorows As ignoraunce is the cruell scourge of vertues and spurre to all vyces so it chaunceth oft times that ouer much knowlege putteth wise men in doubt sclaundereth the innocent For asmuch as wee see by experience the most presumptuous in wisedome are those which fall into most perilous vices Wee fynd the latins much better with the ignoraunce of vyces then the Greekes with the knowledge of vertues And the reason hereof is for that of things which wee are ignorant wee haue no payn to attayn vnto them and lesse grief also to lose them My intention to tell thee this was because I knew that which I woold not haue known and haue hard that which I woold not haue hard that is to weete that the days and troubles of Claudinus thy husband are ended now thy sorows Lauinia his wife doo begin It is now a good whyle that I haue known of the death of the good Claudinus my frend thy husband though I did dissemble it And by the god Mars I swere vnto thee that it was not for that I woold not beewayl him but because I woold not discōfort thee For it were extreme cruelty that shee which was so comfortlesse sorowful for the absence of so long time shoold bee killed with my hand through the knowledge of the death of her so desired husband It were to vnkynd vnseemly a thing that shee of whom I haue receiued so many good woorks shoold receiue of mee so euil news The auncients of Carthage held for an inuiolable law that if the father did tel the death of his sonne or the sonne the death of the father or the woman the death of her husband or the husband the death of his wife or any other semblable woful lamentable death that hee shoold bee cast into the prison among them which were condemned to dye It seemed to those of Carthage that hee which sayd vnto an other that his brother kinsman or frend was dead immediatly they shoold kil him or hee ought to dye or at the least hee shoold neuer bee seene in his presence If in this case the law of the Carthagians was iust then I ought to bee excused though I haue not told thee this heauy news For as oft as wee see him who hath brought vs any euill tydings our sorows by his sight is renued agayn Since Claudinus thy husband dyed I haue not had one hower of rest for to passe thy tyme away for feare lest such woful sorowful news shoold come to thy knowlege But now that I know thou knowst it I feele double payn For now I feele his death my care and thy want of consolation the domage by his death shal folow to the romayn Empire Thou hast lost a noble Romayn valyant in blood moderat in prosperityes pacient in aduersities coragious in dangers diligent in affaires wyse in counsels faithful to his frends subtill ware of his enemies a louer of the common wealth very honest in his person aboue all whereof I haue most enuy is that hee neuer offended man in his life nor hurt any with his tong Wee fynd seldom times so many vertues assembled in one man For saying the trueth if a man did narowly examin the vyces of many which presume to bee very vertuous I swere that hee shoold fynd more to reproue then to praise Since thou hast lost so good a husband I so faithful a frend wee are bound thou to beewayl so great a losse I to sigh for so good a cōpanion And this I doo not desire for Claudine who now resteth among the gods but for vs others which remayn in danger of so many euils For the dead doo rest as in the sure hauen wee others doo saile as yet in raging sea O thou heauy hart how doo I see thee beetweene the bell the clappers that is to weete that thou wantest the company of the good art enuironed with the flock of euil For the which occasion I doubt often times whether I may first bewaill the euil which liue or the good which are dead beecause in the end the euill men doo offend vs more which wee fynd then dooth the good men which wee lose It is a great pity to see the good vertuous men dye but I take it to bee more sorow to see the euill vicious men liue As the diuine Plato saith the gods to kill the good which serue them to geeue long life to the euill which offend them is a mistery so profound that dayly wee doo lament it and yet wee can neuer attayn to the secrets therof Tell mee I pray thee Lauinia knowst thou not now that the gods are so merciful with whom wee go when wee dye that men are so wicked with whom wee bee whiles wee liue that as the euill were born to dye so the good dye to lyue for the good man though hee
dye lyueth the euill man though hee liue dyeth I swear vnto thee by the mother Berecinthia and so the god Iupiter doo preserue mee that I speak not this which I will speak fainedly which is that considering the reast that the dead haue with the gods and seeing the sorows troubles wee haue here with the lyuing I say and affirm once agayn that they haue greater compassion of our lyfe then wee others haue sorow of their death Though the death of men were as the death of beasts that is to weet that there were no furies nor deuils which shoold torment the euil that the gods shoold not reward the good yet wee ought to bee comforted to see our frends dye if it were for no other but to see thē deliuered from the thraldō of this miserable world The pleasure that the Pilot hath to bee in sure hauen the glory that the captaine hath to see the day of victory the rest that the traueler hath to see his iorney ended the contentation that the woork man hath to see his woork come to perfeccion all the same haue the dead seeing them selues out of this miserable lyfe If men were born alway to lyue it were reason to lament them when wee see them dye but since it is troth that they are borne to dye I woold say since needes dye wee must that wee ought not to lament those whych dye quickly but those whych lyue long I am assured that Claudine thy husband remembring that whych in this lyfe hee hath passed and suffered and seeing the rest that hee hath in the other though the Gods woold make him emperor of Rome hee woold not bee one day out of his graue For returning to the world hee shoold dye agayn but beeing with the gods hee hopeth to lyue perpetually Lady Lauinia most earnestly I desire thee so vehemently not to perse the heauens with thy so heauy sighes ne yet to wete the earth with thy so bitter teares since thou knowst that Claudine thy husband is in place where there is no sorow but mirth where ther is no payn but rest where hee weepeth not but laugheth where hee sigheth not but singeth where hee hath no sorows but pleasures where hee feareth not cruell death but enioyeth perpetuall lyfe Since therfore this is true it is but reason the wydow appease her anguish considering that her husband endureth no payn Often tymes wyth my self I haue thought what the widows ought to immagin when they see them selues in such cares and distresse And after my count made I fynd that they ought not to thynk of the company past nor wofull solitarynes wherin they are presently and much lesse they ought to think on the pleasures of this world but rather to remember the rest in the world to come For the true widow ought to haue her conuersacion among the lyuing and her desire to bee wyth the dead If til this present thou hadst paine and trouble to look for thy husband to come home haue thou now ioy that hee looketh for thee in heauen wherin I swere vnto thee that there thou shalt bee better vsed of the gods then hee was here of mē For in this world wee know not what glory meaneth and there they know not what payns are Licinius and Posthumius thy vncles told mee that thou art so sorowful that thou wilt receiue no comfort but in this case I think not that thou bewailest so much for Claudinus that thou alone doost think thou hast lost him For since wee did reioyce togethers in his lyfe wee are bound to weep togethers at his death The heauy and sorowful harts in this world feele no greater greef then to see others reioice at theyr sorows And the cōtrary hereof is that the wofull and afflicted hart feeleth no greater ioy nor rest in extreme mishaps of fortune then to think that others haue sorow and greef of their payn When I am heauy and comfortles I greatly ioy to haue my frend by mee and my hart dooth tell mee that what I feele hee feeleth So that all which my frend with his eyes dooth beewail and all that which of my greefes hee feeleth the more therwith hee burdeneth him self and the more therof hee dischargeth mee The Emperor Octauian Augustus the histories say on the riuer of Danuby found a kynd of people which had thys straunge custom that with eyes was neuer seene nor in books at any time euer read which was that two frends assembled and went to the aultars of the temples and there one frend confederat with an other so that their harts were maried as man and wife are maried touching their bodies swering and promysing there to the gods neuer to weepe nor to take sorow for any mishap that shoold come to their persons So that my frend shoold come to lament and remedy my troubles as if they had been his own I shoold lament and remedy his as if they had been mine O glorious world O age most happy O people of eternal memory wherin men are so gentle frendz so faithfull that their own trauails they forgot and the sorows of strangers they beewayled O Rome without rome O tyme euil spent O lyfe to vs others euil emploied O wretch that always art careles now adays the stomack and intrailes are so seuered from the good and the harts so ioyned with the euill that men forgetting them selues to bee men beecome more cruell then wyld beasts I labor to geeue thee lyfe and thou seekest to procure my death Thou weepest to see mee laugh and I laugh to see thee weepe I procure that thou doo not mount and thou seekest that I might fall Fynally without the profit of any wee cast our selues away and wythout gayn wee doo reioyce to end our lyues By the faith of a good man I swear vnto thee Lady Lauinia that if thy remedy were in my hands as thy grief is in my hart I woold not bee sory for thy sorows neither thou so tormēted for the death of thy husband But alas though I miserable man haue the hart to feele thy anguysh yet I want power to remedy thy sorows ¶ The Emperor proceedeth in his letter and perswadeth wydowes to put their willes to the will of god and exhorteth them to lyue honestly Cap. xxxviii SInce thy remedy and my desire cannot bee accomplished beecause it is a thing vnpossible to receiue and speak with the dead and not hauing power mee think that thou and I shoold referre it to the gods who can geeue much better then wee can ask O lady Lauinia I desire thee earnestly and as a frend I counsel and admonish thee and with all my hart I require thee that thou esteem that for wel doon which the gods haue doon that thou conform thy self to the will of the gods and that thou will nought els but as the gods will For they only know they erre not wherfore they haue assaulted thy husband with so
taketh away fear from death The deuine Plato demaūded Socrates how hee beehaued him self in life and how hee woold beehaue him self in death hee aunswered I let thee weete that in youth I haue traueled to liue wel and in age I haue studied to dye well and sith my life hath been honest I hope my death shal bee ioyful And though I haue had sorow to lyue I am sure I shall haue no payn to dye Truely these woords were woorthy of such a man Men of stout harts suffer maruelously when the swet of their trauel is not rewarded when they are faithful and their reward answereth nothing to their true seruice when for their good seruices their frends beecome vnthankful to them when they are woorthy honor and that they preferre them to honorable rome and office For the noble and valyant harts doo not esteeme to lose the reward of their labor but think much vnkindnes when a man dooth not acknowledge their trauel O happy are they that dye For without inconuenience and without payn euery man is in hys graue For in this tribunall iustice to all is so equally obserued that in the same place where wee haue deserued life in the same place wee merited death There was neuer nor neuer shall bee iudge so iust nor in iustice so vpryght that geeueth reward by weight payn by measure but somtimes they chastice the innocent and absolue the gylty they vex the faultlesse and dissemble with the culpable For litle auayleth it the plaintif to haue good iustice if conscience want to the iudge that shoold minister Truely it is not so in death but all ought to count them selues happy For hee which shall haue good iustice shal bee sure on his part to haue the sentence When great Cato was censor in Rome a famous Romayn dyed who shewed at his death a merueylous courage and when the Romayns praised him for that hee had so great vertu and for the woords hee had spoken Cato the Censour laughed at that they sayd for that they praised him And hee beeing demaunded the cause of his laughter aunswered Ye maruell at that I laugh and I laugh at that you maruel For the perils and trauels considered wherein wee liue and the safety wherein wee dye I say that it is no more needful to haue vertue strength to liue then courage to dye The aucthor heereof is Plutarch in his Apothegmes Wee cannot say but that Cato the Censour spake as a wise man since dayly wee see shamefast and vertuous persons suffer hunger cold thrist trauel pouerty inconuenience sorows enmities and mishaps of the which things wee were better to see the end in one day then to suffer them euery hour For it is lesse euill to suffer an honest death then to endure a miserable lyfe O how small cōsideration haue men to think that they ought to dye but once Since the trueth is that the day when wee are born and comen in to the world is the beeginning of our death and the last day is when wee doo cease to liue If death bee no other but an ending of lyfe then reason perswadeth vs to think that our infancy dyeth our chyldhod dyeth our manhod dyeth our age shall dye whereof wee may consequently conclude that wee dye euery yere euery day euery hour and euery moment So that thinking to lead a sure lyfe wee tast a new death I know not why men fear so much to dye since that from the time of their birth they seeke none other thing but death For time neuer wanted to any man to dye neither I knew any man that euer failed of this way Seneca in an epistle declareth that as a Romain woman lamented the death of a child of hers a philosopher said vnto her Woman why beewaylest thou thy child she aunswered I weepe beecause hee hath liued .xxv. yeres I woold hee shoold haue liued till fyfty For amongst vs mothers wee loue our children so hartely that wee neuer cease to beehold them nor yet end to beewayl them Then the Philosopher said Tell mee I pray thee woman why doost thou not complayn of the gods beecause they created not thy sonne many yeres beefore hee was born as well as thou complaynest that they haue not let him liue .l. yeres Thou weepest that hee is dead so soone and thou doost not lament that hee is borne so late I tel thee true woman that as thou doost not lament for the one no more thou oughtst to bee sory for the other For wythout the determination of the gods wee can not shorten death and much lesse lengthen life So Plinie sayd in an epistle that the cheefest law whych the gods haue geeuen to humayn nature was that none shoold haue perpetuall life For with disordinat desire to liue long wee shoold neuer reioice to goe out of this payn Two philosophers disputyng beefore the great Emperor Theodose the one sayd that it was good to procure death and the other lykewise sayd it was a necessary thing to hate lyfe The good Theodose takyng hym by the hand said All wee mortalles are so extreem in hatyng and louyng that vnder the colour to loue and hate lyfe wee lead an euyll lyfe For wee suffer so many trauels for to preserue it that sometymes it were much better to lose it And further hee sayd dyuers vayn men are come into so great follies that for fear of death they procure to hasten death And hauing consideration to this mee seemeth that wee ought not greatly to loue lyfe nor with desperation to seeke death For the strong and valiaunt men ought not to hate lyfe so long as it lasteth nor to bee displeased with death when hee commeth All commended that whych Theodose spake as Paulus Diaconus sayth in his lyfe Let euery man speak what hee will and let the philosophers counsell what they list in my poor iudgement hee alone shal receiue death without payn who long before is prepared to receiue the same For sodayn death is not only bitter to hym which tasteth it but also it feareth him that hateth it Lactantius sayd that in such sort man ought to liue as if from hence an hour after hee shoold dye For those men which will haue death beefore their eies it is vnpossible that they geeue place to vain thoughts In my oppinion and also by the aduyse of Apuleius it is as much folly to fly from that which wee cannot auoyd as to desire that wee cannot attain And this is spoken for those that woold flye the vyage of death which is necessary and desire to come agayn which is vnpossible Those that trauell by long ways if they want any thing they borow it of their company If they haue forgotten ought they returne to seeke it at their lodging or els they write vnto their frends a letter But I am sory that if wee once dye they will not let vs return agayn wee cannot speak and they will not agree
wee shall write but such as they shal finde vs so shall wee bee iudged And that which is most fearfull of all the execucion and sentence is geeuē in one day Let princes and great lords beeleeue mee in this Let them not leaue that vndoon till after their death which they may doo during their lyfe And let them not trust in that they commaund but in that whiles they liue they doo Let them not trust in the woorks of an other but in their own good deedes For in the end one sigh shal bee more woorth then all the frends of the world I counsel pray and exhort all wise and vertuous men and also my self with them that in such sort wee liue that at the hour of death wee may say wee liue For wee cannot say that wee lyue whē wee liue not well For all that tyme which without profit wee shall liue shall bee counted vnto vs for nothing ¶ Of the death of Marcus Aurelius the Emperor and how there are few frends which dare say the truth to sick men Cap. xlix THe good Emperor Marcus Aurelius now beeing aged not only for the great yeres hee had but also for the great trauels hee had in the warres endured It chaunced that in the .xviii. yere of his Empire and .lxxii. yeres from the day of his birth and of the foundation of Rome .v. hundreth xliii beeing in the warre of Pannony which at this tyme is called Hungary beeseeging a famous citie called Vendeliona sodaynly a disease of the palsey tooke him which was such that hee lost his life and Rome her Prince the best of lyfe that euer was born therein Among the heathen princes some had more force then hee other possessed more ryches then hee others were as aduenturous as hee and some haue knowē as much as hee but none hath been of so excellent and vertuous a lyfe nor so modest as hee For his life beeing examined to the vttermost there are many princely vertues to follow few vices to reproue The occasion of his death was that going one nyght about his camp sodeinly the disease of the palsey tooke him in his arme so that from thence forward hee coold not put on his gown nor draw his sword and much lesse cary a staffe The good emperor beeing so loden with yeres and no lesse with cares the sharp winter approching more and more great aboundance of water and snow fell about the tenis so that an other disease fell vppon him called Litargie the which thing much abated his courage and in his hoast caused great sorow For hee was so beeloued of all as if they had been his own children After that hee had proued all medicins and remedies that coold bee found and all other things which vnto so great and mighty princes were accustomed to bee doon hee perceiued in the end that all remedy was past And the reason hereof was beecause his sicknes was exceeding vehement he him self very aged the ayer vnholsom aboue al beecause sorows cares oppressed his hart Without doubt greater is the disease that proceedeth of sorow then that which proceedeth of the feuer quartain And thereof ensueth that more easely is hee cured which of corrupt humors is full then hee which with profound thoughts is oppressed The emperor then beeing sick in his chamber in such sort that hee coold not exercise the feats of arms as his men ranne out of their camp to scirmidge the Hungarions in lyke maner to defend the fight on both parts was so cruell through the great effution of blood that neither the hungarion had cause to reioyce nor yet the romayn to bee mery Vnderstanding the euil order of his specially that .v. of his captains were slain in the conflict that hee for his disease coold not bee there in person such sorows persed his hart that although hee desired foorthwith to haue dyed yet hee remained two days three nights without that hee woold see light or speak vnto any man of his So that the heat was much the rest was small the sighs were continuall and the thirst very great the meat lytle and the sleepe lesse and aboue all his face wrynkled and his lips very black Sometimes hee cast vp his eyes and another tyme hee wrong his hands always hee was sylent and continually hee sighed His tong was swollen that hee coold not spit and his eyes very hollow with weeping So that it was a great pity to see his death and no lesse compassion to see the confusion of his pallace and the hinderaunce of the warre Many valiant captains many noble Romayns many faithfull seruaunts and many old frends at all these heauines were present But none of them durst speak to the Emperor Marke partly for that they tooke him to bee so sage that they knew not what counsel to geeue him and partly for that they were so sorowfull that they coold not refrayn their heauy tears For the louing and true frends in their lyfe ought to bee beeloued and at their death to bee beewailed Great compassion ought men to haue of those which dye not for that wee see them dye but beecause there are none that telleth them what they ought to doo Princes and great lords are in greater perill when they dye then the Plebeyans For the counsaylour dare not tell vnto his Lord at the hour of death that which hee knoweth and much lesse hee will tell him how hee ought to dye and what things hee ought to discharge whiles hee is aliue Many goe to visit the sick that I woold to god they went some other where And the cause heereof is that they see the sick mans eyes hollow the flesh dryed the arms without flesh the colour enflamed the ague continuall the payn great the tong swollen nature consumed and beesydes al this the house destroyed and yet they say vnto the sick man bee of good cheere I warrant you you shall liue As yong men naturally desire to liue and as death to all old men is dredfull so though they see them selues in that dystresse yet they refuse no medicine as though there were great hope of lyfe And thereof ensueth oftentymes that the miserable creatures depart the world without confessing vnto god and making restitutions vnto men O if those which doo this knew what euil they doo For to take away my goods to trouble my person to blemish my good name to sclaunder my parentage and to reprooue my lyfe these woorks are of cruell enemyes but to bee occasion to lose my soul it is the woorke of the deuill of hell Certeinly hee is a deuyll whych deceiueth the sick with flatteries and that in steede to healp hym to dye well putteth him in vayn hope of long lyfe Heerein hee that sayth it winneth lyttle and hee that beeleeueth it aduentureth much To mortall men it is more meete to geeue counsels to reform their consciences with the truth then to hasard their houses
space of an hour Considering the omnipotency of the diuine mercy it suffiseth ye and I say that the space of an hour is to much to repent vs of our wicked lyfe but yet I woold counsell all since the sinner for to repent taketh but one hour that that bee not the last hour For the sighs and repentaunce which proceed from the bottom of the hart penetrate the high heauens but those which come of necessity dooth not perse the seeling of the house I allow and commend that those that visit the sick doo counsell them to examin their conscienses to receiue the communion to pray vnto god to forgeeue their enemiez and to recommend them selues to the deuout prayers of the people and to repent their sinnes fynally I say that it is very good to doo all this but yet I say it is better to haue doon it beefore For the diligent and carefull Pirate prepareth for the tempest when the sea is calm Hee that deepely woold consider how little the goods of this lyfe are to bee esteemed let him goe to see a rich man when hee dyeth and what hee dooth in his bed And hee shall fynd that the wife demaundeth of the poore husband her dower the doughter the third part the other the fift the child the preheminence of age the sonne in law his mariage the phisition his duity the slaue his liberty the seruants their wages the creditors their debts and the woorst of all is that none of those that ought to enherit his goods wil geeue him one glasse of water Those that shall here or read this ought to consider that that which they haue seene doon at the death of their neighbors the same shall come to them when they shal bee sick at the point of death For so soone as the rych shutteth his eyes foorthwith there is great strife beetweene the children for his goods And this strife is not to vnburthen his soule but whych of them shall inherit most of his possessions In this case I will not my penne trauel any further since both rich and poore dayly see the experience hereof And in things very manyfest it suffyseth only for wyse men to bee put in memory without wasting any more tyme to perswade them Now the Emperor Marcus Aurelius had a secretary very wise and vertuous through whose hands the affairs of the Empire passed And when this secretary saw his lord and maister so sick and almost at the hour of death and that none of his parents nor frends durst speak vnto him hee plainly determined to doo his duity wherein hee shewed very well the profound knowledge hee had in wisdom and the great good will hee bare to his lord This secretary was called Panutius the vertues and lyfe of whom Sextus Cheronensis in the lyfe of Marcus Aurelius declareth ¶ Of the comfortable woords which the Secretary Panutius spake to the Emperor Marcus Aurelius at the hour of his death Cap. l. O My lord and maister my tong cannot keepe silence myne eies cannot refrayn from bitter tears nor my hart leaue from fetching sighes ne yet reason can vse his duity For my blood boyleth my sinnews are dryed my pores bee open my hart dooth faint and my spirit is troubled And the occasion of all this is to see that the wholsom counsels which thou geeuest to others either thou canst not or wil not take for thy self I see thee dye my lord and I dye for that I cannot remedy thee For if the gods woold haue graunted mee my request for the lengthning of thy lyfe one day I woold geeue willingly my whole life Whether the sorow bee true or fained it nedeth not I declare vnto thee with woords since thou mayst manyfestly discern it by my countenaunce For my eies with tears are wet and my hart with sighs is very heauy I feele much the want of thy company I feele much the domage which of thy death to the whole common wealth shal ensue I feele much thy sorow which in thy pallace shal remaine I feele much for that Rome this day is vndoon but that which aboue al things dooth most torment my hart is to haue seen thee liue as wise and now to see thee dye as symple Tell mee I pray thee my lorde why doo men learn the Greek tong trauel to vnderstand the hebrew sweat in the latin chaunge so many maisters turn so many bookes and in study consume so much money and so many yeres if it were not to know how to passe lyfe with honor and take death with pacience The end why men ought to study is to learn to liue well For there is no truer science in man then to know how to order his life well What profiteth it mee to know much if thereby I take no profit what profiteth mee to know straunge languages if I refrain not my tong from other mens matters what profiteth it to study many books if I study not but to begyle my frends what profiteth it to know the influence of the starres and the course of the elements if I cannot keepe my self from vyces Fynally I say that it lytle auayleth to bee a maister of the sage if secretly hee bee reported to bee a folower of fooles The cheef of all philosophy consisteth to serue god and not to offend men I ask thee most noble prince what auaileth it the Pilot to know the art of sayling and after in a tempest by neglygence to perish What auayleth it the valyaunt captayn to talk much of warre and afterwards hee knoweth not how to geeue the battayl What auaileth it the guyde to tell the neerest way and afterwards in the midst to lose him self All this which I haue spoken is sayd for thee my Lord. For what auayleth it that thou beeing in health shooldst sigh for death since now when hee dooth approch thou weepest because thou wooldst not leaue life One of the things wherein the wise man sheweth his wisedom is to know how to loue and how to hate For it is great lightnes I shoold rather say folly to day to loue him whom yesterday wee hated and to morow to sclaunder him whom this day wee honored What Prince so hygh or what Plebeyan so base hath there been or in the world shall euer bee the whych hath so lyttle as thou regarded lyfe and so hyghly commended death What thyngs haue I wrytten beeing thy Secretary with my own hand to dyuers prouynces of the world where thou speakest so much good of death that sometymes thou madest mee to hate lyfe What was it to see that letter which thou wrotest to the noble Romayn Claudines wydow comforting her of the death of her husband which dyed in the warres Wherein shee aunswered That shee thought her trouble comfort to deserue that thou shooldst write her such a letter What a pitifull and sauory letter hast thou written to Antigonus on the death of thy child Verissimus thy sonne so much desired Whose death
thou tookest so that thou exceedest the limits of philosophy but in the end with thy princely vertues thou didst qualify thy wofull sorows What sentences so profound what woords so wel couched didst thou write in that booke entytuled The remedy of the sorowfull the which thou didst send from the warre of Asia to the Senators of Rome and that was to comfort them after a sore plague And how much profit hath thy doctrin doon since with what new kinde of consolation hast thou comforted Helius Fabatus the Sensour when his sonne was drowned in the ryuer where I doo remember that whē wee entred into his house wee found him weeping and when wee went from thence wee left him laughing I doo remember that when thou wentst to visit Gneus Rusticus in his last disease thou spakest vnto him so effectuously that with the vehemency of thy woords thou madest the tears to run down his cheeks And I demaunding him the occasions of his lamentacions hee said The emperor my lord hath told mee so much euils that I haue wonne and of so much good that I haue lost that if I weepe I weepe not for lyfe which is short but for death which is long The man whom aboue all thou hast loued was Torquatus whom thou didst obey as thy father and seruedst as thy maister This thy faithfull frend beeing ready to dy and desyring yet to liue thou sendst to offer sacrifices to the gods not for that they shoold graunt him lyfe but that they shoold hasten his death Herewith I beeing astonied thy noblenesse to satisfy my ignoraunce said vnto mee in secret these woords Maruel not Panutius to see mee offer sacrifyces to hasten my frends death and not to prolong his life For there is nothing that the faithfull frend ought so much to desyre to his true frend as to see him ridde from the trauels of this earth and to enioy the pleasures of heauen Why thinkest thou most noble prince that I reduce all these things to thy memory but for to demaund thee how it is possible that I which haue hard thee speak so well of death doo presently see thee so vnwilling to leaue life since the gods commaund it thy age willeth it thy disease dooth cause it thy feeble nature dooth permit it the sinfull Rome dooth deserue it and the fickle fortune agreeth that for our great misery thou shooldst dye Why therfore sighest thou so much for to dye The trauels whych of necessity must needes come wyth stout hart ought to bee receiued The cowardly hart falleth beefore hee is beaten down but the stout and valyaunt stomack in greatest perill recouereth most strength Thou art one man and not two thou oughtst one death to the gods and not two why wilt thou therefore beeyng but one pay for two and for one only lyfe take two deaths I mean that beefore thou endest lyfe thou dyest for pure sorow After that thou hast sayled and in the sayling thou hast passed such perill when the gods doo render thee in the safe hauen once agayn thou wilt run in to the raging sea wher thou scapest the victory of lyfe and thou dyest with the ambushements of death Lxii. yeres hast thou fought in the field and neuer turned thy back and fearest thou now beeing enclosed in the graue hast thou not passed the pykes and bryers wherein thou hast been enclosed and now thou tremblest beeing in the sure way Thou knowest what dommage it is long to liue and now thou doutest of the profit of death which ensueth It is now many yeres since death and thou haue been at defiaunce as mortall enemies and now to lay thy hands on thy weapons thou flyest and turnest thy back Lxii. yeres are past since thou were bent agaynst fortune and now thou closest thy eyes when thou oughtst ouer her to tryumph By that I haue told thee I mean that since wee doo not see thee take death willyngly at this present wee doo suspect that thy lyfe hath not in tymes past been very good For the man which hath no desire to appeere beefore the gods it is a token hee is loden with vyces What meanest thou most noble prince why weepest thou as an infant and complainest as a man in dispaire If thou weepest beecause thou diest I aunswer thee that thou laughedst as much when thou liuedst For of too much laughing in the life proceedeth much wayling at the death Who hath always for his heritage appropriated the places beeing in the common wealth The vnconstancy of the mynd who shal bee so hardy to make steddy I mean that all are dead all dye and al shal dye and among all wilt thou alone lyue Wilt thou obtayn of the gods that which maketh them gods That is to weete that they make thee immortall as them selues Wilt thou alone haue by priuiledge that which the gods haue by nature My youth demaundeth thy age what thing is best or to say better which is lesse euill to dye well or to lyue euill I doubt that any man may attayn to the means to lyue well according to the continuall variable troubles whych dayly wee haue accustomed to cary beetweene our hands always suffring hunger cold thirst care displeasures temptacions persecucions euil fortunes ouerthrows and diseases Thys cannot bee called lyfe but a long death and with reason wee will call this lyfe death since a thousand tymes wee hate lyfe If an auncient man did make a shew of his lyfe from tyme hee is come out of the intrailes of his mother vntill the tyme hee entreth into the bowels of the earth and that the body woold declare all the sorows that hee hath passed and the hart discouer all the ouerthrows of fortune which hee hath suffered I immagin the gods woold maruell and men woold wonder at the body whych hath endured so much and the hart whych hath so greatly dissembled I take the Greekes to bee more wise whych weepe when their children bee borne and laugh when the aged dye then the Romayns whych syng when the children are borne and weepe when the old men dye Wee haue much reason to laugh when the old men dye since they dye to laugh and with greater reason wee ought to weepe when the children are borne since they are borne to weepe ¶ Pannatius the secretary continueth his exhortatiō admonishing al men willingly to accept death and vtterly to forsake the world and all his vanities Cap. li. SIns lyfe is now condempned for euill there remaineth nought els but to approue death to bee good O if it pleased the immortall gods that as I oftentimes haue hard the disputacions of this matter so now that thow cooldst therewith profit But I am sory that to the sage and wise man counsaile sometimes or for the most part wanteth None ought to cleue so much to his own opinion but sometimes hee shoold folow the counsaile of the thyrd parson For the man which in all things will follow his own
aduise ought wel to bee assured that in al or the most part hee shall erre O my lord Mark sith thou art sage liuely of spirit of great experience and auncient didst not thou think that as thou hadst buried many so like wise some should burie thee What imaginacions were thine to think that seeing the end of their days others should not see the end of thy yeares Since thou diest rych honourably accompanied old and aboue all seeing thou diest in the seruice of the common wealth why fearest thou to enter into thy graue Thou hast always beene a frend as much to know things past as those which were hid and kept secret Sins thou hast proued what honors and dishonors doo deserue ryches and pouerty prosperity and aduersity ioy and sorow loue and feare vices pleasures mee seemeth that nothing remayneth to know but that it is necessarye to know what death is And also I sweare vnto thee most noble lord that thow shalt learn more in one hour what death is then in a hundreth years what life meaneth Since thou art good and presumest to bee good and hast lyued as good is it not better that thow dye goe with so many good then that thow scape and liue amongst so many euill That thou feelest death I maruell nothing at all for thou art a man but I doo maruail that thou dissemblest it not since thou art discrete Many things doo the sage men feele which inwardly doo oppresse their hart but outwardly they dissemble them for the more honor If all the poyson which in the sorowfull hart is wrapped were in small peeces in the feeble flesh scattered then the walles woold not suffice to rubbe neither the nayles to scratch vs. What other thing is death but a trap or doore where with to shut the shop wherein all the miseries of this wofull lyfe are vendible What wrong or preiudice doo the gods vnto vs whē they cal vs beefore them but from an old decaied house to chaunge vs to a new builded pallace And what other thing is the graue but a strong fort wherein wee shut our selues from the assaults of lyfe broyles of fortune Truely wee ought to bee more desirous of that wee fynd in death then of that wee leaue in lyfe If Helia Fabricia thy wife doo greeue thee for that thou leauest her yong doo not care For shee presently hath litle care of the perill wherein thy lyfe dependeth And in the end when shee shall know of thy death shee will bee nothing greued Trouble not thy self for that shee is left widow For yong women as shee is which are maried with old men as thou when their husbands dye they haue their eies on that they can robbe and their harts on them whom they desire to mary And speaking with due respect when with their eies they outwardly seeme most for to beewaile then with their harts inwardly doo they most reioyce Deceyue not thy self in thinking that the empresse thy wife is yong and that shee shal fynd none other Emperor with whom agayn shee may mary For such and the like will chaunge the cloth of gold for gownes of skynnes I mean that they woold rather the yong shepeheard in the field then the old emperour in his royall pallace If thou takest sorow for the children whom thou leauest I know not why thou shooldst do so For truely yf it greeue thee now for that thou dyest they are more displeased for that thow lyuest The sonne that desireth not the death of his father may bee counted the onely Phenix of this world for if the father bee poore he wisheth him dead for that hee is not maintained if hee bee rich hee desireth his death to enherit the sooner Sins therefore it is true as in deede it is it seemeth not wisedome that they sing thou weepe If it greue thee to leaue these goodly pallaces these sūptuous buildings deceiue not thy self therein For by the god Iupiter I sweare vnto thee that since that death dooth finish thee at the end of .lxii. yeares tyme shal consume these sūptuous buildings in lesse then xl If it greeue thee to forsake the cōpany of thy frends neighbors for them also take as litle thought sins for thee they wil not take any at all For amongst the other compassions that they ought to haue of the dead this is true that scarcely they are buryed but of their frends neighbors they are forgotten If thou takest great thought for that thou wilt not dye as the other emperors of Rome are dead mee seemeth that thou oughtst allso to cast this sorow from thee For thou knowst ryght wel that Rome hath accustomed to bee so vnthankful to those which serue her that the great Scipio also woold not bee buryed therein If it greeue thee to dye to leaue so great a seignory as to leaue the empire I can not think that such vanity bee in thy head For temperat reposed men when they escape from semblable offices do not think that they lose honor but that they bee free of a troblesome charge Therefore if none of al these things moue thee to desire lyfe what should let thee that through thy gates enter not death it greeueth men to dye for one of these two things eyther for the loue of those they leaue beehynd them or for the feare of that they hope Sins therefore there is nothing in this lyfe worthy of loue nor any things in death why wee shoold feare why doo mē feare to dye According to the heauy sighs thou fetchest the bitter tears thou she dest according also to the great payn thou shewest for my part I think that the thing in thy thought most forgotten was that the gods shoold cōmaund thee to pay this debt For admit that al think that their life shal end yet no man thinketh that death wil come so soone For that men think neuer to dye they neuer beeginne their faults to amend so that both life fault haue end in the graue togethers Knowst not thou most noble prince that after the long night cōmeth the moist morning Doost thou not know that after the moyst morning there commeth that cleere sunne Knowst not thou that after the cleare sunne cōmeth the cloudy element Doost thou not know that after the dark myst there commeth extream heat And that after the heat cometh the horrible thunders after the thunders the sodeyn lightnings that after the perilous lightnings commeth the terrible hayle Fynally I say that after the tempesteous troublesome time commonly commeth cleare faire weather The order that time hath to make him self cruel gentill the self same ought men to haue to liue dye For after the infancy cōmeth chyldhod after chyldhod commeth youth after youth cōmeth age after age cōmeth the fearfull death Finally after the fearful death cōmeth the sure life Oftentimes I haue read of thee not seldome hard that
the gods onely which had no beginning shall haue also no endyng Therefore mee thinketh most noble prince that sage men ought not to desire to lyue long For men which desire to liue much eyther it is for that they haue not felt the trauailes past beecause they haue been fooles or for that they desire more time to geeue them selues to vices Thou mightst not complayn of that sins they haue not cut thee in the flower of the herb nor taken thee greene from the tree nor cut in thee in the spring tide and much lesse eat the eager beefore thou were ripe By that I haue spoken I mean if death had called thee when thy lyfe was sweetest though thou hadst not had reason to haue complayned yet thou mightst haue desired to haue altered it For it is a great grief to say vnto a yong man that hee must dye and forsake the world What is this my lord now that the wall is decayed ready to fall the flower is withered the grape dooth rotte the teeth are loose the gown is worn the launce is blunt the knife is dull and doost thou desire to return into the world as if thou hadst neuer knowen the world These lxii yeares thou hast liued in the prison of thys body wilt thou now the yron fetters haue rot thy legges desire yet to length thy days in this so woful prison They that wil not be cōtented to lyue lx years fyue in this death or to dye in this lyfe will not desire to dye in lx thousand years The Emperour Augustus octauian sayd That after men had lyued .l. years eyther of their own will they ought to dye or els by force they shoold cause them selues to bee killed For at that time all those which haue had any humain felicity are at the best Those which liue aboue that age passe their days in greeuous torments As in the death of children in the losse of goods importunity of sōne in laws in mainteining processes in discharging debts in sighing for that is past in bewailing that that is present in dissēbling iniuries in hearing woful news in other infinit trauails So that it were much better to haue their eies shut in the graue then their harts bodies aliue to suffer so much in this miserable life Hee whom the gods take from this miserable life at the end of 50. years is quited from al these miseries of life For after that time hee is not weak but crooked he goeth not but rouleth hee stumbleth not but falleth O my lord Mark knowest thou not that by the same way whereby goeth death death cometh Knowst not thou in like maner that it is 52. years that life hath fled from death and that there is an other time asmuch that death goeth seeking thy life and death going from Illiria where hee left a great plague and thou departing from thy pallayce ye .ii. now haue met in Hungary knowst not thou that where thou leapedst out of thy mothers intrails to gouern the land immediatly death leaped out of his graue to seeke thy life Thou hast always presumed not onely to bee honored but also to bee honorable if it bee so synce thou honoredst the Imbassadours of Princes which did send them the more for their profyt then for thy seruice why doost thou not honor thy messenger whom the gods send more for thy profyt then for their seruices Doost thow not remember well when Vulcane my sonne in law poysoned mee more for the couetousnes of my goods then any desire hee had of my life thou lord diddest come to comfort mee in my chamber and toldst mee that the gods were cruell to slea the yong and were pytiful to take the old from this world And thou saydst further these woords Comfort thee Panutius For if thow were born to dye now thou diest to liue Sins therefore noble prince that I tell thee that which thow toldst mee and counsaile thee the same which thou coūsayledst mee I render to thee that which thow hast geeuen mee Fynally of these vines I haue gathered these clusters of grapes ¶ The aunswer of the emperour Marcus to Panutius his secretory wherein hee declareth that hee tooke no thought to forsake the world but all his sorow was to leaue beehynd hym an vnhappy chyld to enheryt the Empire Cap. lij PAnutius blessed bee the milk thou hast sucked in Dacia the bread which thou hast eaten in Rome the learning which thou hast learned in Greece the bringing vp which thou hast had in my pallace For thou hast serued as a good seruant in life and geeuest mee counsayl as a trusty frend at death I commaund Commodus my sonne to recompence thy seruice and I beseech the immortal gods that they acquite thy good counsayls And not wythout good cause I charge my sonne with the one and require the gods of the other For the payment of many seruices one man alone may doo but to pay one good counsayl it is requisyt to haue all the gods The greatest good that a frend can doo to his frend is in great wayghty affayres to geeue him good and holsome counsayl And not without cause I say holsome For commonly it chaunceth that those which think with their counsayl to remedy vs do put vs oftentimes in greatest perils All the trauayles of lyfe are hard but that of death ys the most hard and terrible Al are great but this is the greatest All are perillous but this is most perillous All in death haue end except the trauayl of death whereof wee know no end That which I say now no man perfectly can know but onely hee which seeth him self as I see my self now at the point of death Certainly Panutius thou hast spoken vnto mee as a wise man but for that thou knowst not my grief thow couldst not cure my disease for my sore is not there where thou hast layd the playster The fistula is not there where thou hast cut the flesh The opilation is not there where thou hast layd the oyntments There were not the right vayns where thou dydst let mee blood Thou hast not yet touched the wound which is the cause of all my grief I mean that thou oughtst to haue entred further with mee to haue knowen my grief better The sighes which the hart fetcheth I say those which come from the hart let not euery man thynk which heareth thē that he can immediatly vnderstand them For as men can not remedy the anguishes of the spirit so the gods likewise woold not that they shoold know the secrets of the hart Without fear or shame many dare say that they know the thought of others wherein they shew them selues to bee more fooles then wise For since there are many things in mee wherein I my self doubt how can a straunger haue any certayn knowledge therein Thow accusest mee Panutius that I feare death greatly the which I deny but to feare it as mā I doo confesse For
thousand sexterces Trauaile to augmēt them for her not to dymynish them I commend vnto thee Drusia the Romain wydow who hath a proces in the Senat. For in the times of the cōmotions past her husband was banished proclamed traytor I haue great pyety of so noble worthy a widow for it is now .iii. moneths since shee hath put vp her cōplaint for the great warres I could not shew her iustice Thou shalt find my sonne that in .xxxv. yeares I haue gouerned in Rome I neuer agreed that any widow should haue any sute beefore mee aboue .viii. dayes Bee carefull to fauour and dispatch the orphanes and wydows For the needy wydows in what place so euer they bee doo encurre into great daunger Not which out cause I aduertise thee that the trauaile to dispatch thē so sone as the maist to administer iustice vnto thē For through the prolōging of beautiful womēs suites their honor credit is diminished So that their busines being prolōged they shal not recouer so much of their goods as they shal lose of their renowm I cōmēd vnto thee my sonne my old seruaunts which with my long yeares and my cruell warres with my great necessityes with the combrance of my body and my long disease haue had great trouble as faithfull seruaunts oftentimes to ease mee haue annoyed them selues It is conuenient since I haue preuailed of their lyfe that they should not loose by my death Of one thing I assure thee that though my body remaine with the wormes in the graue yet beefore the gods I will remember them And heerin thou shalt shew thy selfe to bee a good child when thou shalt recompence those which haue serued thy father well Al princes which shall doo iustice shal get enemies in the excucion therof And sith it is doone by the hands of those which are neere him the more familiare they are with the prince the more are they hated of the people al in generally doo loue iustice but none doo reioyce that they execute it in his house And therfore after the Prince endeth his lyfe the people will take reuenge of those which haue beene ministers therof It were great infamy to the empire offence to the gods iniury to mee vnthankfulnes to thee hauing found the armes of my seruants redy xviii yeares that thy gates should bee shut against them one day Keepe keepe these thinges my sonne in thy memorye and since particulerly I doo remember them at my death cōsider how hartely I loued them in my life ¶ The good Marcus Aurelius Emperor of Rome endeth his purpose life And of the last woords which hee spake to his sonne Commodus and of the table of counsels which hee gaue him Cap. lvii WHen the Emperor had ended his particuler recommendacions vnto his sonne Commodus as the dawning of the day beegan to appeere so his eies beegan to close his tong to faulter his hands to tremble as it dooth accustome to those which are at the point of death The prince perceiuing then litle life to remaine commaunded his secretory Panutius to go to the coffer of his books to bring one of the coffers beefore his presence out of the which hee tooke a table of .iii. foot of bredth and ii of length the which was of Eban bordered al about with vnycorne And it was closed with .2 lyds very fine of red wood which they cal rasing of a tree where the Phenix as they say breedeth which dyd grow in Arabia And as there is but one onely Phenix so in the world is there but one onely tree of that sorte On the vttermost part of the table was grauen the God Iupiter on the other the goddesse Venus in the other was drawen the God Mars the goddesse Diana In the vppermost part of the table was carued a bull in the neythermost part was drawne a kyng And they sayd the paynter of so famous renowmed a woork was called Apelles The Emperor takyng the table in his hands casting his eies vnto his sonne sayd these woords Thou seest my sonne how from the turmoyls of fortune I haue escaped how I into miserable destenies of death doo enter where by experience I shall know what there is after this lyfe I meane not now to blaspheme the gods but to repent my sinnes But I would willingly declare why the gods haue created vs since there is such trouble in life such paine in death Not vnderstāding why the gods haue vsed so great cruelti with creatures I see it now in that after .lxii. yeres I haue sayled in the daunger peril of this life now they commaund mee to land harbour in the graue of death Now approcheth the houre wherin the band of matrimoni is losed the thred of life vntwined the key dooth lock the slepe is wakened my lyfe dooth end I go out of this troublesome paine Remembring mee of that I haue doone in my lyfe I desire no more to liue but for that I know not whyther I am caryed by death I feare refuse his darts Alas what shal I doo since the gods tel mee not what I shal doo what coūsail shal I take of any mā since no man will accompany mee in this iourney O what great disceite o what manifest blindnes is this to loue one thing al the days of his life to call nothing with vs after our death Beecause I desired to bee rych they let mee dy poore Bycause I desired to lyue with company they let mee dy alone For such shortnes of life I know not what hee is that wyl haue a house since the narow graue is our certain mansiō place beeleeue mee my sonne that many things past doo greeue mee sore but with nothing so much I am troubled as to come so late to the knowledge of this life For if I could perfectly beeleeue this neyther should men haue cause to reproue mee neither yet I now such occasion to lament mee O how certaine a thing is it that men when they come to the point of death doo promise the gods that if they proroge their death they will amend their life but notwithstanding I am sory that wee see them deliuered from death without any maner of amendment of life They haue obteyned that which of the gods they haue desired haue not perfourmed that which they haue promised They ought assuredly to think that in the sweetest time of their lyfe they shall bee constreyned to accept death For admit that the punishment of ingrate persons bee deferred yet therfore the fault is not pardoned Bee thou assured my sonne that I haue seene enough hard felt tasted desired possessed eaten slept spoken and also liued inough For vices geeue as great trouble to those which follow them much as they doo great desire to those which neuer proued them I confesse to the immortall Gods that I haue no desire to lyue yet I ensure thee
to god and confesseth to the world that hee more rashely then wysely plonged him self into so graue and deepe a matter and whose yong yeres and vnskilfull head might both then and now haue excused his fond enterprise heerein For the second and last I must needes appeal to all the woorshipfull and my beeloued compaignyons and fellow students of our house of Lyncolnes Inne at that tyme from whence my poore english Dyall tooke his light To whose iust and true reports for thy vndoubted satisfaction and discharge of my poore honesty I referre thee and wholly yeld mee These recyted causes for purgacion of my suspected fame as also for established assurance of the lyke and thy further doubt of mee heereafter I thought good gentle reader to denounce vnto thee I myght well haue spared thys second and last labor of myne taken in the reformacion and correction of thys Dyall enlarging my self further once agayn wyth the translation of the late and new come fauored courtier and whych I found annexed to the Dyall for the fourth and last booke If my preceeding trauell taken in the settyng foorth of the first three books and the respect of myne honesty in accomplyshing of the same had not incyted mee vnwillyng to continue my first begonne attempt to bring the same to his perfyt and desyred end whych whole woork is now complete by thys last booke entituled the fauoured courtyer Whych fyrst and last volume wholly as yt lyeth I prostrate to the iudgement of the graue and wyse Reader subiecting my self and yt to the reformation and correction of hys lerned head whom I beeseech to iudge of mee wyth fauor and equity and not wyth malyce to persecute my same and honest intent hauyng for thy benefit to my lyttle skill and knowledge imployed my symple talent crauyng no other guerdon of thee but thy good report and curteous acceptaunce heereof Whych dooyng thou shalt make mee double bound to thee First to bee thankfull for thy good will Secondly to bee considerate how hereafter I take vppon mee so great a charge Thirdly thou shalt encourage mee to study to increase my talent Fourthly and lastly most freely to beestow thincrease thereof on thee and for the benefit of my countrey and common weale whereto duety byndeth mee Obseruing the sage prudent saying of the renowmed orator and famous Cicero with which I end and thereto leaue thee Non nobis solum nati sumus ortusque nostri partem patria vendicat partem parentes partem amici In defence and preseruation whereof good reader wee ought not alone to employ our whole wittes and able sences but necessity enforcing vs to sacrifice our selues also for benefit thereof From my lord Norths house nere London the .10 day of May. 1568. Thine that accepteth mee Th. North. ¶ The prolog of this present woork sheweth what one true frend ought to doo for an other Addressed to the right honorable the lord Fraunces Conos great commaunder of Lyon THe famous Philosopher Plato beesought of al his disciples to tel theÌ„ why hee iornyed so oft from Athens to Scicille beeing the way hee trauelled in deede very long and the sea hee passed very daungerous aunswered them thus The cause that moues mee to goe from Athens to Scicille is only to see Phocion a man iustinal that hee dooth and wise in all that hee speaketh and beecause hee is my very frend and enemy of Denys I goe also willingly to him to ayd him in that I may and to councell him in all the I know and told them further I doo you to weete my disciples that a good philosopher to visit and help his frend and to accompany with a good man shoold think the iorney short and no whit paynfull though hee shoold sulk the whole seas and pace the compase of the earth Appolonius Thianeus departed from Rome went through all Asia sayled ouer the great flud Nile endured the bitter cold of mount Caucasus suffered the parching heat of the mountayns Riphei passed the land of Nassagera entred into the great India And this long pilgrimage tooke hee vppon him in no other respect but to see Hyarcus the philosopher his great and old frend Agesilaus also among the Greekes accompted a woorthy Captayn vnderstanding that the kyng Hycarius had an other captayn his very frend captyue leauing all his own affayres apart traueling through dyuers countreis went to the place where hee was and arryued there presented him self vnto the kyng and said thus to him I humbly beeseech thee O puissant king thou deigne to pardon Minotus my sole and only frend and thy subiect now for what thou shalt doo to him make thy account thou hast doon it to mee For in deed thou canst neuer alone punish his body but thou shalt therewith also crucify my hart Kyng Herod after Augustus had ouercome Mark Antony came to Rome and laying his crown at the Imperiall feete with stout corage spake these woords vnto him Know thou mighty Augustus if thou knowst it not that if Mark Antony had beeleeued mee and not his accursed loue Cleopatra thou shooldst then haue proued how bitter an enemy I woold haue been to thee and hee haue found how true a frend I was and yet am to him But hee as a man rather geeuen ouer to the rule of a womans will then guyded by reasons skill tooke of mee but money only and of Cleopatra counsell And proceeding further sayd Lo here my kingdom my person and royall crown layd at thy princely feete all which I freely offer to thee to dispose of at thy will pleasure pleasing thee so to accept it but yet with this condicion inuict Augustê° that thou commaund mee not to here nor speak yll of Mark Antony my lord and frend yea although hee were now dead For know thou sacred prince that true frends neither for death ought to bee had in obliuioÌ„ nor for absens to bee forsaken Iulius Cesar last dictator and first emperor of Rome dyd so entierly loue Cornelius Fabatus the consull that traueling togethers through the alps of Fraunce and beeing beenighted farre from any town or harber saue that only of a hollow caue which happely they lighted on And Cornelius the consull euen then not well at ease Iulius Cesar left him the whole caue to th end hee might bee more at rest and hee him self lay abroad in the cold snow By these goodly examples wee haue resited and by dyuers others wee coold resite may bee considered what faithfull frendship ought to bee beetwixt true and perfect frends and into how many daungers one frend ought to put him self for an other For it is not enough that one frend bee sory for the troubles of an other but hee is bound if neede were to goe and dye ioyfully wyth him Hee only deseruedly may bee counted a true frend that vnasked and beefore hee bee called goeth with his goods and person to help and releeue his frend But in this our
sodeinly to rise in fauor and to bee rich al in short time By thys I inferre that the wise man euer desireth first to bee in fauor before hee couet to bee rich but the foole Ideot desireth first to bee rich then in fauor last Not few but many wee haue seen in princes courts which though fortune in short time hath exalted to the first degree of riches made theÌ„ cheefe in fauor yet wtin short space after shee hath made theÌ„ also lose their riches fal from the top of their honor It is most certain that if one haue enemies in the court onely for that hee is infauor hee shal haue as many moe if beeing in fauor hee bee also rich For wee are al of so ill a condicion in things that touch our particular profyt that all that wee see geeuen to others wee think sodeinly taken away from our selues Wee haue heretofore sayd that it is not fit for the courtier and those that are in fauor to coÌ„maund for his profit al that hee list neither al those that hee may And wee now at this present also aduise them to take heede that they doo not accept take al that is offered preseÌ„ted although they may lawfully doo it For if hee bee not wise in coÌ„mauÌ„ding moderatin taking a day might come that he should see himself in such extremity that hee should bee inforced to cal his frends not to couÌ„sel him but rather to help succor him It is true that it is a natural thing for a courtier that hath 20. crownes in his purse to desire sodeinly to multiply it to a .100 from a .100 to .200 froÌ„ 200. to a .1000 froÌ„ a .1000 to 2000. and from .2000 to 10000. So that this poore wretched creature is so blinded in couetousnes that hee knowth not nor feeleth not that as this auar ce ê¯tinually increaseth augmenteth in him so his life dayly diminisheth and decreaseth beesides that that euery man mocks scornes him that thinketh the true coÌ„tentacion consisteth in commaunding of many in the faculty of possessing much riches For to say truly it is not so but rather disordinat riches troubleth greeueth the true contentacion of men and awaketh euer in them dayly a more appetite of couetousnes Wee haue seen many courtiers rich beloued but none in deede that euer was contented or wearied with commaunding but rather his life should faile him then couetousnes O how many haue I seene in the court whose legges nor feete haue ben able to cary them nor their body strong inough to stand alone nor their hands able to wryte nor their sight hath serued them to see to read nor their teeth to speak neither their iawes to eat nor their eares to heare nor their memory to trauaile in any suyt or matter yet haue not their tongue fayled them to require presents and gifts of the prince neither deepe and fyne wit to practise in court for his most auaile and vantage So incurable is the disease and plague of auarice that hee that is sick of that infirmity can not bee healed neither with pouerty nor yet bee remedied with riches Sence this contagious malady and apparant dauÌ„ger is now so commonly knowen and that it is crept into courtiers and such as are in high fauor and great autoritie by reason of this vile sinne of auarice I would counsell him rather to apply him self to bee well thought of and esteemed then to endeuor to haue inough Albeit Queene Semiramis was wife to king Belius and mother of king Ninus and although by nature shee was made a woman yet had shee a hart neuer other wise but valiaunt and noble For after shee was wyddow shee made her self lord by force of armes of the great India and conquered all Asia and in her life time caused a goodly tombe to bee made wheare shee would lyfe after her death and about the which shee caused to bee grauen in golden letters these woords VVho longs to swell with masse of shining gold and craues to catch such wealth as few possest This stately tomb let him in haste vnfold where endles hopes of hatefull coyne doo rest Many days and kings reignes past before any durst open this sepulker vntill the comming of the great Cyrus who commaunded it to bee opened And beeing reported to him by those that had the charge to seeke the treasure that they had sought to the bottomles pyt and wolrds end but treasure they coold fynd none nor any other thing saue a stone wherein were grauen these woordes Ah haples knight whose high distraughted mynd by follies play abused was so â—ych that secret tombs the care as could not bynd but thow wouldst reaue them vp for to be rich Plutarke and also Herodotus which haue both writen this history of Semiramis doo shew affirm that Queene Semiramis got great honor by this gest kyng Cyrus great shame dishonor If courtiers that are rych think beleeue that for that they haue money inough at their wil that therefore they should bee farre from al troubles miseries they are farre deceiued For if the poore soul toile hale his body to get him only that that hee needeth much more dooth the rich maÌ„ torment burn his hart til he bee resolued which way to spend that superfluous hee hath Ihesu what a thing is it to see a rich man how hee tormenteth him self night day imagyning deuising with him self whether hee shal with that money that is left buy leases mills or houses aÌ„nuities vines or cloth laÌ„ds tenemeÌ„ts or pastures or some thing in fee or whether he shal eÌ„rich his soÌ„ne with the thirdes or fifts after al these vain thoughts gods wil is to stryke him with deth sodeinly not onely before he haue determined how hee should lay out or spend this money but also before hee haue made his will I haue many times told it to my frends yea preached it to them in the pulpit and wrytten yt also in my bookes that it is farre greater trouble to spend the goods of this world wel and as they ought to bee spent then it is to get them For they are gotten wyth swet and spent with cares Hee that hath no more then hee needeth it is hee that knoweth wel how to part from them to spend theÌ„ but hee that hath abundaÌ„s more then needeful dooth neuer resolue what hee should doo Whereof followeth many times that those which in his life time were enemies to hym shall happeÌ„ to bee heires after his death of all the goods money hee hath It is a most suer certain custome among mortal men that commonly those that are rych men while they are aliue spend more money vaynly in things they would not that they haue no pleasure in where in they would least lay it out and after their death they leaue the most part of their inheritance
that I eat thou shooldst not serue so great a tyraunt as thou doost The excesse of meates ys greater in these days both in quantity and in dressing of them then in tymes past For in that golden age which the philosophers neuer cease to beewaile men had no other houses but naturall caues in the ground and apparelled onely with the leaues of trees the bare ground for their shoes their hands seruing them in steede of cuppes to drink in they drank water for wyne eat toâ—â—â—s for bread and fruyts for flesh and finally for their bed they made the earth for their couering the sky beeing lodged always at the signe of the starre When the diuine Plato returned out of Cicill into Greece hee sayd one day in his colledge I doo aduertise you my disciples that I am returned out of Cicill maruelously troubled and this is by reasoÌ„ of a monster I saw there And beeing asked what moÌ„ster it was hee told them that it was Dionisius the tyrant who is not contented with one meale a day but I saw him suppe many tymes in the night O diuine Plato if thou wert alyue as thou art dead and present with vs in this our pestilent age as thou wert then in that golden tyme how many shouldst thou see that doo not onely dyne and suppe wel but beefore dinner breake their fast with delycate meats and wynes and banket after dynner and supper also beefore they goe to bed So that wee may say though Plato saw then but one tyrant suppe hee might see now euery body both dyne and suppe and scant one that conteÌ„teth hym with one meale a day in which the brute bests are more moderate theÌ„ reasonable men Syth wee see that they eat but somuch as satisfyeth them and men are not contented to eate inough yea till they bee full but more then nature wyl beare And brute beasts haue not also such diuersity of meats as men haue neither seruants to wayt on them beddes to lye in wyne to drink houses to put their heads in money to spend nor phisitioÌ„s to purge them as men haue And yet for al these commodities wee see men the most part of their tyme sick And by these things recyted wee may perceyue that there is nothing preserueth so much the health of man as labor nothing consumeth sooner then rest And therefore Plato in his tyme on spake a notable sentence and woorthy to bee had in mynd and that is this That in that city where there are many phisicions yt must needes follow of necessity that the inhabitaunts there of are vicious ryotous persons And truely wee haue good cause to cary this saying away Sith wee see that phisitions commonly enter not into poore mens houses the trauell and exerciseth their body dayly but contrarily into the rych and welthy mens houses which lyue coÌ„tinually idlely at ease I remember I knew once a gentleman a kynsman of myne and my very frend which hauing taken physyck I came to see how hee did supposing hee had beene syck and demaunding of him the cause of his purgacion hee told mee hee tooke it not for any sicknes hee had but oÌ„ely to make him haue a better appetite against hee weÌ„t to the feast which should bee a two or three days after And with in syxe days after I returned agayn to see hym and I found him in his bedde very sick not for that hee had fasted too much but that hee had inglutted hym self with the variety of meats hee eat at the feast So it happened that where hee purged him self once onely to haue a better stomack to eat hee needed afterwards a douzen purgacions to discharge his loden stomack of that great surfet hee had taken at the feast with extreme eating And for the fower howers hee was at the table where this feast was hee was lodged afterwards in his chamber for two moneths to pay vsery for that hee had taken yet yt was the great grace of god hee escaped with lyfe For if it bee yll to synne yt vs farr worse to seeke and procure occasions to synne And therfor by consequent the synne of Gluttony is not only dangerous for the coÌ„sciens hurtfull to the health of the body and a displeasing of god but it is also a worme that eateth and in fine consumeth wholly the goods faculties of him that vseth yt Beesyds that these gurmands receyue not so much pleasure in the eatyng of these dainty morsells as they doo afterwards greefe and displeasure to heare the great accounts of their stewards of their excessyue expensis Yt is a swete delight to bee fed daily with dainty dishes but a sower sawce to those delicat mouthes to put his hand so oft to the purse Which I speake not with out cause syth that as wee feele great pleasure and felicity in those meates that enter into our stomack so doo wee afterwards think that they pluck out of our hart that mony that payeth for those knacks I remember I saw writen in an Inne in Catalogia these woords You that hoste heere must say wheÌ„ you sit down to your meat Salue regina yea when you are eating Vitae dul cedo yea and when you recken with the host Ad te Suspiramus yea and when you come to pay him Gementes flentes Now yf I would go about to describe by parcells the order and maner of our feasts and banckets newly inuented by our owne nation there would rather appeare matter to you to lament and bewaile then to write And it had been better by way of speach to haue inuented dyuers fashions of tables formes and stooles to sit on theÌ„ such diuersity of meates to set vpon the tables as wee doo vse now a dayes And therefore by good reason did Licurgus King of Lacedemonia ordeyne comaund that no stranger comming out of a strange country into his should so hardy bring in any newe customes vpon pain that if it were knowen hee should bee streight banished out of the couÌ„try and if hee did vse and practise yt hee should bee put to death I will tell you no lye I saw once serued in at a feast xlii sortes and kyndes of meates in seuerall dishes In an other feast of diuers sortes of the fish caled Tuny And in an other feast beeing flesh day I saw dyuers fishes broyled with lard And at an other feast wheare I saw no other meate but Troutes and Lampereis of dyuers kyndes of dressinge And at an other feast wheare I saw only vi persons agree togethers to drink ech of them .iii. pottels of wyne apeece with this condition further that they should bee .vi. howers at the table and hee that drank not out his part should pay for the whole feast I saw also an other feast where they prepared iii. seuerall tables for the bidden guests the one boord serued after the Spanish maner the other after the Italian and the third after the fasshion
the vnhappie matrone Lucrece were the cause that she was desired but the beautie of her vysage the grauytie of her personne the honesty of her lyuing the keping of her selfe close in her house the spendyng of her time and credite among her neighboures the great renowne that she had among straūgers prouoked the folish Tarquine to comit with her adultrye by force What thinke you wherof came this I shal shew you We that be euyl are so euyl that we vse euil the goodnes of them that be good The fault hereof is not in the Ladyes of Rome but rather in the immortal goddes Their cleane honestye declareth our cruel malice Faustine you say your doughter is to yong to be maried Do you not know that the good father oughte to endoctrine his sonnes frome their age and to prouide for his doughters whyles they be yonge Of a trouth if the fathers be fathers and the mothers mothers as sone as the goddes haue geuen them a daughter forthwith they ought to be myndfull therof and neuer forget it til they haue prouided her a husband The fathers ought not to tary for riches nor the mother for her linage the better to mary them so what with the one and the other the time passeth and the doughter waxeth aged and in this maner they be to old to be maried and to lyue alone they cānot so that they themselues liue in paine the fathers in thought and the parentes in suspection least they should be cast away O what great ladyes haue I knowen the doughters of great senatours which not for fault of richs nor of vertues in their persons but al only for differring of time and driuyng from one houre to an other so that at last sodaine death come to the fathers and no prouision was made for the doughters So that some were couered vnder the earth after their death others buried with forgetfulnes being alyue Eyther I lye or els I haue red in the lawes of the Rhodians these wordes We commaund the father in maryinge tenne sonnes to trauaile but one daye but to mary one vertuous doughter let hym trauaile ten yeares yea and hazarde his bodye in the water vppe to the chinne sweate droppes of of bloude alter the stomake disherite all his sonnes lose his goodes and aduenture his person These words in this law were pitiful for the doughters no lesse graue for the sonnes For .x. sonnes by the law of men are bound to go ouer al the world but the doughter by this good law ought not to go out of the house I say moreouer that as things vnstable thret fallyng so likewise it chaunceth to yong damosels which thinketh al their time lost and superfluous vnto the day of their mariage Homere sayth it was the custome of ladyes of Grece to count the yeres of their life not from the time of their birth but from the time of their mariage As if one demaunded a Grecian her age she would aunswere .20 yeres if it were .20 sithe she was maried though it wer .60 yeres sith she was borne Affirming after they had a house to gouerne and to commaund that day she beginneth to liue The Melon after it is ripe and abydeth still in the gardeine cannot escape but eyther it must be gathered or els it rotteth I say the mayden that tarieth long tyll she be maried can not escape eyther to be taken or infamed I wil saye no more As sone as the grapes be ripe it behoueth that they be gathered so it is necessary that the woman that is come to perfect age be maried And the father that doth this casteth peril out of his house bringeth himselfe out of care and getteth much contentacion of his doughter ¶ Of a letter whych the Emperour Marcus Aurelius sent to Piramon hys especial frend to comfort him in his troubles Cap. vii MArke oratour Romaine borne at mount Celio to Piramon of Lion my great frend desireth health to thy person and strengthe and vertue against thy sinister fortune In the thirde kalendes of Ianuarye I receyued thy letter wherby I perceiue thou hast receyued one of myne I regard not much thy words but I esteame greatlye thy meanynge So that without declaring therof I haue gathered the sentence Reason would because I haue writen so often to the that thou shouldeste the better vnderstand me but thou art so slouthful that though I call the thou wilt not heare nor though I strike the thou wilt not fele But now to come to the purpose Thou knowest Piramon how nere we be in parentage aunciēt in frendship stedfast in loue and tender of herts how faithful in al things wherin one true frend might proue another Thou remembrest well when we were at Rhodes that we dwelled together in one house and did eate at one table al that thou thoughtest I did it in effect and that I sayd thou neuer gainesaydest Certainly thou were in my harte and I in thine entrailes I was thine and thou were myne We being together it semed to al other that we were but one of one wil. What a matter is this Thou writest how thou art heauy yet thou doest not tel the cause why Thou complaynest that thou art almost dead and thou shewest me not who taketh from the thy life If thou wilt not shew to me thy troubles sith thou art my frende I wil thou know that I demaund it of right If thou wilt not I wyl that thou know that the piteful gods haue determyned that al pleasures ioye shal departe from my house and that al heuines sorowes shal be lodged in my person Sith I am prince of al honor in tribulacion if thou wouldest thou canst not escape out of my siegnory For if thou complaine that thou art vnhappye in fortune then I esteme my selfe to be happie in vnhappines I demaund one thing of the when hast thou sene me haue sufficient and thou nede when hast thou sene me slepe and thou wake and when hast thou trauailed and I rested Of trouth sith the goods and persons are their owne proper the trauailes and euil aduentures are alwaies common One thing thou oughtest to know if in myne amytie thou wilt perseuer that all my goodes are thine al thyne euyls are myne sith thou was borne to pleasure I to trouble I say not this fainyngly for thou haste had experience of me that when Maria thy sister died who was no lesse vertuous then faire thou perceiuedst wel when she was with earth couered dead I was with sorowes ouerwhelmed alyue and at the sowne of my teares thine eyes daunced Sythe thou hast such confidence in my person surely thou maist discouer to me thy paine Yet as often as I haue demaunded there hath no famed excuses wanted I require the and desire the againe and in the name of the Gods I pray the and in their names I coniure the that thou powre al thy sorowes into mine
euery man enuieth Certainly against enuy is no fortresse nor caue to hyde nor highe hyll to mounte on nor thicke woode to shadowe in nor shippe to scape in nor horse to beare away nor money to redeme vs. Enuy is so venemous a serpente that there was neuer mortall man among mortalles that could scape from the byting of her toothe scratching of her nayles defyling of her feete and the castinge of her poyson I sweare to thee my frend Piramon that such as fortune lifteth vp with great ryches she full of crueltie sonest ouerthroweth Enuy is so enuious that to them whiche of her are most denied and set farthest of she geueth most cruell strokes with her feete This vnhappy enuy prepareth poyson secretely for them that enioye great pleasures I haue red diuerse bookes of Hebrewe Greke Latine and Caldei And also I haue spoken with many excellent wyse men to see if there might be founde any remedy against an enuious man I confesse the truthe reade all that can be read and imagen all that can be demaunde all that can be demaunded and ye shall finde none other cure against this cursed enuy but to banishe vs fro all the prosperitie and to dwell in the house of aduersitie O howe vnhappy are they that be in prosperitie for iustly they that be set vp in high estate cannot flie from the peril of Scilla without falling into the daunger of Caribdis They cannot scape the peryll without casting their treasures into the sea I saye that the malady of enuy wyl not suffer them to scape from death and the medecine that is applied to them wyll not assure their life I cannot determine whiche is the best or to saye more properly the worste extreame misery without the daunger of fortune or extreame prosperitie that is alwayes threatned to fall In this case to be so extreame I wyl not determine sithe in the one is a perilous life and in the other renoume is sure I shall tell thee what wyse Cicero sayde when he was pursued with many at Rome Beholde you Romaines I holde you not for so good nor my selfe so euill to saye the trouth alwayes nor alwayes to make lies I am certaine that ye beare me no enuy for that I am not as ye be but it is because ye can not be as I am In this case I had rather that my enemies had enuy at my prosperitie then my frendes at my pouertie This Oratour spake after the appetite of them that be in prosperitie leauing to geue remedie to them that be sorowefull And after this Cicero had sene the fieldes of Farsale he tooke other councell and remedy suche as pleased him in Rome For though Caesar had graunted him his goodes yet that turned not his credence and renowme Surely frende Piramon I knowe no remedy to geue thee against enuy sith thou seest al the world ful therof We see how we be the sonnes of enuy we liue with enuy die with enuy he that leueth moste riches leueth the greatest enuy The auncient wyse men counsailed riche men that they should haue poore folkes nere them and they admonished the poore that they should not dwell nere to the riche And truly it is good reason For the riches of riche mē is the seede of enuy to the poore And because the poore man lacketh and the riche hath to muche causeth discorde among the people I sweare by the gods immortall frende Piramon though they that be euill would that I sweare falsely as muche as riches with thought nourisheth couetise so much the enuious nourisheth enuy therby I tel the one thing and that is that it is no good councell to flie enuy to auoyde the vertue contrary to the same Homer saith that in his time there were two Grekes extreame in all extremities the one was extreame in ryches and therefore he was persecuted by enuy that was Achilles and the other was sore noted of malice but no man had enuy at him and that was Thiestes Certainly I had rather be Achilles with his enuy then Thiestes without it Thou knowest wel that we Romaines searche not but for rest in our life for honor after death And sith it is so it is not possible but the mā that euery man enuieth his renowme ought to be exalted in the reste of his life And sithe I see those two thinges in thee such as be my frendes taketh litle thought for that thine enemies murmure against thee Thou wrytest to me how they of Lions doe well and are mery except thy selfe that art heuy and full of pensiuenes And sith they shew not to haue pleasure at thy displeasure shew not thy self displeased with their pleasure For it may chaunce one day they shal be sorowfull when that thou arte mery and so thou shalt be quite with them In an euil persone there can be no greater euill nor in a good mā a greater faulte then to be displeased with another mans wealthe to take pleasure af another mans harme And in case that all doe vs domage with enuy yet much more a frend then the enemy For of mine enemy I will beware for feare I wil withdrawe but my frende with his amitie may beguile me I by my fidelitie shall not perceiue Among all mortall enemies there is none worse then a frende that is enuious of my felicitie Piramon my frend I wil conclude if thou wilt withdraw thy self fro enemies then kepe cōpany with thine own familiar frendes I wote not what to write more to thee but with al my harte I lament thy heuines Thou knowest howe thy niece Brusia slew with a dagger her owne husband I was very sory for her death and for the renowme that she left behinde her Flauius Priscus thine vncle is newly made censoure The proces betwene thy brother Formio Britio is determined by the senate and it pleaseth me right well that they be frendes and euery man well contented The booke intituled the consolation of heauines I haue ended and layde it in the capitol I haue written it in Greke and that is the cause that I sent it not to thee But I doe sende thee a riche swerde a faire girdle Faustine my wyfe doth salute thee sendeth thy wife two sclaues The gods be my kepers comfort thee in thy present heuines Marke the man fortunate to Piramon sore discomforted ¶ A letter sent by the Emperour Marcus Aurelius to Catullus Censorius that was so sorowefull for the death of Verissimus the Emperoures sonne worthy to be red and noted Cap. viii MArke the younge and newe Censour saluteth thee olde and aunciente Catullus I haue wrytten two letters to thee and thou hast made aunswere to none of them If it be because thou couldest not I holde my peace if it be because thou wouldest not then I complayne me if it be for forgetfulnes thē I accuse thee if it be because thou settest litle by me then
keapyng their doughters I sweare that there was neyther grape nor cluster but it was either eaten or gathered by the. Thou diddest eate me grene for the which I promise the it hath set thy teeth on edge Thou sayest I was riped by power of heat and straw It greueth me not so much that thou saiest it as that thou geuest me occasion to say to the thy shame is so shamelesse and thy euil so malicious that I cannot make aunswere to thy purpose onlesse I rubbe the on the quycke I aske the when thou mariedst Faustine whether thou foundest them grene or ripe thou knowest wel and so do I also that other gaged the vessel and thou drankest the lyees other had the meate and thou the huskes other did eate them being grene and with the refuge set thy teath on edge O cursed Marke behold how great thy euels are and how the goddes haue iustly punished the that beinge yonge thou couldest not deserue to be beloued of thy louers nor yet now in thy age thy wife kepe her faith to the. For me to be reuenged of thy parson I nede no more but to se the maried to Faustine By the mother Berecinthia I promise the that if thy smal wisedome mighte attaine to know at the ful what they say of the and her in Rome thou wouldest wepe both day and night for the life of Faustine and not leaue the woful Boemia O Marke litle care is taken for the and how farre is our vnderstanding vncoupled from thy thoughtes For through thy great learninge thy house in the day tyme is a schole of philosophers and the wantonnes of thy wife Faustine in the night maketh it a receite of ruffians It is a iust iudgement of the goddes sith that thy malice onely sufficeth to poison many that be good the euilnes onely of one woman shal be enough to spoile and take away thy good renowm One difference ther is betwene the and me and thy Faustine which is that my facts are in suspect and yours done in deed mine be in secret but yours knowen openly I haue but stombled but you haue fallen For one onely fault I deserue punishment but you deserue pardon for none My dishonour dyed with my fact and is buried with my amendmēt but your infamy is borne with your desires nourished with your malices stil with your works Finally your infamy shal neuer dye for you liued neuer wel O Marke malicious with al that thou knowest dost not thou knowe that to dye wel doth couer an euil fame and to make an end of an euyl life doth begin a good fame Thou ceasest not to say euil onely of suspect which thy false iudgements geueth and yet wouldest thou we shold conceale that we se with our eyes Of one thing I am sure that neyther of the nor of Faustine ther are hath bene any false witnes For ther are so many true euilles that ther neadeth no lyes to be inuented Thou saiest it is an old custome with the amorous ladies in Rome though they take of many yet they are the porest of al because we want credite we are honored for siluer It is most certaine that of holly we loke for pricks of acorns huskes of nettels stinginge and of thy mouth malices I haue seriously noted I neuer heard the say wel of any nor I neuer knew any that would the good What greater punishmēt can I desire for thy wickednes nor more vengeaunce for my iniuries then to se al the amorous ladies of Rome discontented with thy life and ioy to thinke on thy death cursed is the man whose life many do bewaile and in whose death euery one doth reioyce It is the propertie of such vnthankeful wretches as thou art to forget the great good done to them to repent that litle they geue How muche the noble harts do reioyce in geuing to other so much they are ashamed to take seruice vnrewarded For in geuing they are lords in taking they become sclaues I aske what it is thou hast geuen me or what thou hast receiued of me I haue aduentured my good fame and geuen thee possession of my persone I haue made thee lord of me and mine I banished me from my countrey I haue put in perill my life In recompence of this thou dost detect me of misery Thou neuer gauest me ought with thy harte nor I toke it with good will nor it euer did me profite As all thinges recouer a name not for the worke we openly see but for the secrete intention with which we worke Euen so thou vnhappy man desirest me not to enioye my parsonne but rather to haue my money We ought not to call thee a cleare louer but rather a thefe a wily persone I had a litle ring of thine I minde to throwe it into the riuer a gowne thou gauest me which I haue burnt And if I thought my body were increased with the bread I did eate of thine I would cut my fleshe being whole let out my bloud without feare O malicious Marke thy obscured malice wyl not suffer thee to vnderstande my cleare letter For I sent not to thee to aske money to relieue my pouertie and solitarines but only to acknowledge satisfie my willing hart Such vayne couetous men as thou are cōtented with giftes but the hartes incarnate in loue are not satisfied with a litle money For loue is rewarded alway with loue The man that loueth not as a mā of reason but like a brute beast the woman that loueth not where she is beloued but onely for the gaine of her body such ought not to be credited in wordes nor their persones to be honored For the loue of her endes when goods faileth and his loue when her beautie decaieth If the beautie of my face did procure thy loue they riches only allured my good wyl it is right that we should not be called wyse louers but rather folishe persons O cursed Marke I neuer loued thee for thy goodes although thou likedst me for that I was faire Then I loued with my hart now I abhorre thee with all my hart Thou saiest the gods vsed great pitie on me to geue me fewe children them many fathers The greatest faulte in women is shameles the greatest villany in men is to be euill sayers Diuers thinges ought to be borne in the weakenes of women which in the wisedome of men are not permitted I say this for that I neuer saw in the tēperance to cloke thine own maliciousnes nor wisedome to shadow the debilitie of others Thou saiest my children haue many fathers but I sweare to thee that the children of Faustine shal not be fatherles although thou die And if the gods as thou saiest haue ben pitifull to my childrē no lesse art thou to straunge children For Faustine kepeth the but to excuse her faultes to be tutor to her children O cursed Marke thou nedest not take thought for
thy children haue no nede to be maried For one thing we are bound to thee that is the example of thy pacience for since thou suffrest Faustine in so many open infamies it is no great nede we suffer any secretes in thee For this present I say no more I end my letter desiring to se shortly the ende of thy life ¶ Marcus Aurelius wryteth to the lady Macrine the Romaine of whom beholding her at the wyndowe he became enamoured Whiche declareth what force the beauty of a fayre woman hath in a weake man Cap. xiii MArke the very desirous to the lady Macrine greatly desired I know not whether by my euyl aduenture or by happe of my good aduenture not long agoe I saw the at a window where thou haddest thy armes as close as I my eyes displayd that cursed be they for euer for in beholding thy face forthwith my hart abode with the as prisoner The beginning of thy knowledge is the end of my reason and fallyng in shonnyng one euyl come infinite trauayles to men I say it for this if I had not bene ydel I had not gone out of my house and not gone out of my house I had not passed by the streat And not going through the streate I had not sene that at the window and not seing the at the window I had not desired thy person And not desiringe thy person I had not put thy fame in so greate peril nor my life in doubt nor we had geuen no occasion to Rome to speake of vs. For of troth lady Macrine in this case I condemne my selfe For willyngly I dyd behold the. I did not salute the althoughe thou desiredst to be sene Sith thou were set vp as a white it is no merueile though I shotte with the arrowes of my eyes at the but of thy beauty with rollyng eyes with browes bent wel coloured face incarnate teth ruddy lipps courled heere hands set with ringes clothed with a thousand maner of coloures hauyng purses full of swete sauoures the bracelettes and earinges ful of pearles and stones Tel me what this meaneth The most that I can thinke of this is sith you shew vs your bodies openly ye would we should know your desires in secret And if it be so as I beleue it is it semeth to me lady Macrine thou oughteste to loue him that lyketh the to enfourme him that seketh the to aunswere him that calleth the to feale him that fealeth the and to vnderstand him that vnderstandeth the and sith thou vnderstandest me I do vnderstand the vnderstand that thou knowest not I do wel remember as I went by the streat solitarily to se ii theues put to death my eyes saw the at a window on whom dependeth al my desires More iustice thou dost to me then I to the theaues for I being at iustice thou hast iusticed the iustice none dare paine the. The gallowes is not so cruel to them which neuer knew but doing euyl as thou art to me which neuer thought other but to serue the. They suffer but one death but thou makest me suffer a thousand They in one daye one houre end their lyues and I each minute do fele the pāges of death They died gilty but I innocently They dy openly I in secret What wilt thou I saye more to thee they wepte for that they died and I wepe teares of bloude from my hart for that I liue This is the differēce their torments spreadeth abrod through al their body I kepe mine together in my hart O cruel Macrine I know not what iustice this is that they kil men for robbing stealing of money suffer women to liue which steale mens harts If they take the liues from them that picke purses why then do they suffer ladies which robbe our entrailes By thy noblenes I pray the by the goddesse Venus I coniure the eyther satisfye my desire or restore to me my hart whych thou hast robbed from me I would thou knew lady Macrine the clere intencion of my hart rather then this letter written with my hande If my hap were so good as thy loue would permit me to speake with the I wold hope by sight speche to win that which I am in suspect by my letter to lose The reason wherof is because thou shalt rede my rude reasons in this leter if thou sawest me thou shouldest se the bitter teares which I would offer to thee in this my vnhappy life O that my mouth could publishe my cruel peines as my harte fealeth thē I sweare to thee lady Macrine that my woful plaintes would stirre vp thy small care and as thy beauty hath made thee thine owne so the knowledge of my griefe should make the myne I desire thou wouldest regarde the beginning and therewith note the ende For of truth the same day that thou imprisonest my hart at the window in the dungeon of my desires I had no lesse weakenes to ouercome then thou haddest strength to enforce me greater was thy power to take me frome my selfe then my reason was to put me from the. Now lady Macrine I doe not aske other mercy of the but that we may declare our minds together But in this case what wilt thou I say vnto the but that thou hast somuch power ouer me and I so lytle of my libertie that though I would not my hart must nedes be thine that being thine thou wilt shewe thy selfe to be mine And sith it may not be but that my life must be condemned in thy seruice be thou as sure of my faith as I am doubtful of thy good wil. For I shal haue a greater honor to be lost for thy sake thē to winne any other treasure I haue no more to say to the now but that thou haue respect to my perdicion draw life out of my death tourne my teares to ioy And because I hold my faith and wil neuer dispaire in thy hope I send the x. litle ringes of gold with x. ringes of Alexandria and by the immortall gods I cōniure the that when thou puttest thē on thy finger thou receiuest my loue into thy hart Marcus thy louer wrote this with his owne hand ¶ Of an other letter whiche the emperour sent to the Lady Macrine wherin he expresseth the firy flames which consume sonest the gentle harts Cap. xiiii MArke thy neighbour at Rome to the Macrine his swete enemy I cal the swete for it is iust I die for the enemy because thou ceasest not to kil me I cannot tel how it is but sithe the feast of Ianus hitherto I haue writen thre letters vnto the in the aunswere wherof I would haue ben cōtented to haue receiued but ii from the. If I wuld serue the thou wil not be serued if I speake to the thou wilt not aunswere me If I behold the thou wilt not loke at me if I cal the thou wilt not answer me If I visite
the thou wilt not se me if I write to the thou wilt make no aunswere And the worst of al is if others do shew the of my grefes thou takest it as a mockerie O that I had so much knowledge wher to complaine to the as thou hast power to cease my plaint then my wisedom should be no lesse praised among the wise then thy beauty amongest the foles I besech the hartely not to haue respect to the rudenes of my reasons but regard the faith of my teares which I offer to that as a witnes of my wil. I know not what profite may come by my harme nor what gaine of my losse thou maist hope to haue nor what surety of my peril thou maist attaine nor what pleasure of my paine thou maiste haue I had aunswere by my messenger that without reading my letters with thy owne hands thou didst rent them in pieces it ought to suffice to thinke how many parsons is tormented If it had pleased you lady Macrine to haue red those few lines you should haue perceiued how I am inwardly tormented Ye women be very extreme for the misaduenture of one man a woman wil complaine of al mē in general So ye al shew cruelty for one particuler cause openly ye pardon all mens liues and secretly ye procure death to al. I accompt it nothinge lady Macrine that thou haste done but I lament that which thou causest thy neighbour Valerius to say to me One thing I would thou sholdest remember and not forget that is Sith my libertie is so small and thy power so great that being wholy mine am torned to be thine the more iniurie thou dost to me the more thou hurtest thy selfe since by the I die as thou by me doest liue In this peruers opinion abide not so mayest thou hasarde the life of vs both Thou hurtest thy good name and destroyest my health in the ende thou must come to the same phisicke Pardone me lady Macrine if I saye ought that may offende thee I know ye women desire one thing greatly that is to haue soueraintie of vs and yet not seame so much as by thought to wyshe the same Thou haddest the same of a gentle nature though in dede thou were not so yet thou haddest the same thereof and an auncient good name ought not to be loste with a newe vnkindenes Thou knowest howe cōtrary ingratitude is to vertue in a vertuous house Thou canst not be called vertuous but if thou be curteous There is no greater ingratitude then not to loue againe Though I visite the and thou not me it is nothing though I remember thee and thou forgettest me it is nothing though I wepe and thou laugh it is nothing though I craue of thee and thou denie me it is nothing though thou owest me and paye me not it is nothing But if I loue thee and thou not me this is a great thing which the eies can neither dissimule nor the hart suffre All the vices in mortall men are to be pardoned because they offende naturally saue onely this discourtesy in women and vngentlenes in mē which are counted of malice Diuerse seruices by me done to thee and all the good willes I haue heretofore borne to thee thou onely lady Macrine with one thing rewarde me I praye thee be not slacke to helpe me for I was not so to offer me into peril If thou sayest that Patroclus thy husbande hath the propertie in thee at the least yet receiue me vpon proufe and I will pretende a possession of thee and in this wyse the vayne glorie in being thyne shall hyde the hurt being myne thou makest me maruayle not a litle that for so small a rewarde thou wilt suffer so great an importunitie For certainly we graunte many thynges to an importunate man whiche we deny to a temperate man If thou lady Macrine hopest to ouercome me beholde I yelde me as vanquished If thou wilt lose me I holde me loste if thou wylt kyll me I holde me dead For by the gestures whiche I make before thy gate and the secreate sighes whiche I fetche in my house thou mayest knowe howe greatly I mynde to reste but thy braue assaultes are rather buyldinges to nouryshe death then to cōforte the lyfe If thou wylt I escape this daunger deny me not remedy For it shal be a greater dishonour for to slea me then shame to saue me It is no iust thing for so small againe to lose so faithfull a frende I wote not howe to make thee my detter nor howe to make thee paye me and the worste of all is I knowe not what to saye nor howe to determine For I was not borne to myne owne wealth but to be faithful in thy seruices And sythe thou knowest whom thou haste trusted with thy message the same I doe trust with this open letter and my aunswere in secrete I doe sende to thee a iewell of pearle and a piece of golde I pray the gods make thee receiue them as willingly as I doe frely sende them Marke Oratour to the inexorable Macrine ¶ Of a letter whiche the Emperour Marcus Aurelius sent to the beautiful lady Liuia wherein he proueth that loue is naturall and that the moste parte of the philosophers and wyse men haue bene by loue ouercome Cap. xv MArke full of sorowe to thee careles Lyuia If thy litle care did lodge in me and my sorowes were harboured in thee thou shouldest then see howe litle the quarell is that I make to thee in respect to the torment I suffer If the flambes issued out as the fire doth burne me within the heauens should perishe with smoke and the earth should make imbers If thou doest well remember the firste time I saw thee in the temple of the virgin Vestals thou being there diddest alwayes praye to the gods for thy selfe and I vpon my knees prayed to thee for me Thou knowest and so doe I that thou diddest offer oyle and hony to the goddes but I did offer to thee teares and sighes It is iust thou geue more to hym that offered his harte then to him whiche draweth money out of his purse I haue determined to wryte to thee this letter whereby thou maieste perceiue howe thou arte serued with the arrowes of my eyes whiche were shott at the white of thy seruice O vnhappy that I am I feare least this present calme doth threaten me with a tempest to come I wyl saye that discourtesy in thee causeth doubtfull hope in me Beholde my misaduenture I had lost a letter and tourning to the temple to seeke it I founde the letter whiche was of some importaunce and had almoste loste my selfe whiche is the greatest thyng Considering my small rewarde I see my eyes the ladders of my hope set on so high a wal that no lesse certaine is my fal then my climming was doubtfull Thou bending downe thy harnes of thy high desertes and putting me to the point of continuall seruice
want no perils For in warres renoune is neuer sold but by weight or chaunged with losse of lyfe The yong Fabius son of my aunt the aged Fabia at the .iii. CaleÌ„des of March brought me a letter the whych you sent and truely it was more briefe then I would haue wyshed it For betwene so dere children and so louinge a mother it is not suffered that the absence of your parsonnes shoulde be so farre and the letters whyche you write so briefe By those that goe from hence thyther I alwayes do sende you commendations and of those that come from thence hyther I doe enquire of newes Some saye they haue sene you other tell me they haue spoken with you so that with thys my hart is somwhat quieted For betwene them that loue greatly it may be endured that â—he sight be seldome so that the health be certain I am sole I am a widow I 〈◊〉 aged and now all my kinred is dead I haue endured many trauailes in Rome and the greatest of all is my children of your absence For the paine is greater to be voide of assured frendes theÌ„ assault is daungerous of cruel enemies Since you are yong and not very ryche since you are hardy and brought vp in the trauailes of Afrike I do not doubte but that you doe desire to come to Rome to se and know that now you are men whiche you haue sene when you were children For men doe not loue their countrey so much for that it is good as they do loue it for that it is naturall Beleue me children ther is no maÌ„ liuing that hath sene or hard speake of Rome in times past but hath great griefe sorow and pitie to se it at this present For as their hartes are pitiefull and their eyes tender so they can not behold that without great sorow which in times past they haue sene in great glory O my children you shal know that Rome is greatly chaunged from that it was wont to be To reade that that we do reade of it in times past to se that whyche we se of it now present we must nedes esteme that whiche the auncientes haue writen as a gest or els beleue it but as a dreame Ther is no other thing now at Rome but to see iustice corrupted the commen weale oppressed lyes blowen abroade the truth kept vnder the satires silent the flatterers open mouthed the inflamed personnes to be Lordes and the pacient to be seruauÌ„tes and aboue al and worse then all to se the euil liue in rest contented and the good troubled displeased Forsake forsake my children that citie where the good haue occasioÌ„ to weape the euil haue liberty to laugh I can not tel what to say in this mater as I would say Truly the coÌ„mon weale is at this day such so woful that eche wise man without coÌ„parison wold haue greater pleasure to be in the warres of Affrik then in the peace at Rome For in the good war a man seeth of whom he shold take hede but in the euil peace no maÌ„ knoweth whom to truste Therefore my children since you are naturall of Rome I wil tel you what Rome is at this present I let you know that the vestall virgines are now dissolute the honour of the gods is forgotten the profit of the coÌ„mon weale no maÌ„ seketh of the excercise of chiualry ther is no memory for the orphanes widowes ther is no man that doth aunswere to ministre iustice thei haue no regard the dissolute vices of the youth ar without measure Finally Rome that in times past was a receypt of all the good vertuous is now made a denne of al theues vitious I feare me I feare me least our mother rome in shorte time wil haue some sodein great fal And I say not without a cause some great fall for both men Cities that fall froÌ„ the top of their felicity purchase greater infamy with those that shal com after theÌ„ the glory that they haue had of theÌ„ that be past Peraduenture my childreÌ„ you desire to se the walles buildinges of Rome for those thinges which childreÌ„ se first in their youth the same they loue kepe alwaies in memory vntill their age As the auncient buildinges of rome are destroyed the few that ar now builte so would I you should loose your earnest affection to come to se theÌ„ For in dede the noble hartes are ashamed to se that thing amisse which they caÌ„ not remedye Do not thynke my chyldren thoughe Rome be made worse in maners that therfore it is diminished in buildinges For I let you vnderstand if you know it not that if a wall doth decay there is no man that doth repaire it If a house fall ther is no man that wil rayse it vp again If a strete be foule ther is no man that wil make it cleane If the riuer cary awaye any bridge there is no man that will set it vp again If any antiquitie decaye ther is no man that wil amend it If any wood be cut ther is no man that wil kepe it If the trees waxe old ther is no man that will plant theÌ„ a newe If the pauement of the streates be broken ther is no man that wil ley it again Finally ther is nothing in Rome at this day so euil handled as those thinges whiche by the commoÌ„ voices ar ordered These thinges my childreÌ„ though I do greatly lament as it is reason yet you ought litle to esteme them al but this al only ought to be estemed with droppes of bloud to be lamented That now in Rome when the buildinges in many places fal downe the vices all wholy together are raised vp O wofull mother Rome since that in the the more the walles decay the more the vices increase Peraduenture my childreÌ„ since you are in those frountiers of Affrike you desire to se your parentes here in Rome And therat I meruaile not for the loue which our naturall countreye do gyue the straung countrey can not take awaye All those which come from those parties doe bring vs no other certaine newes but of the multitude of those which dye are slain in Afrik therfore since you send vs such newes froÌ„ thence loke not that we should send you any other then the like from hence For death hath such auctoritie that it killeth the armed in the warres sleyeth the quiet in peace I let you know that Licia your sister is dead Drusio your vnckle is dead Torcquatus your neyghbour is dead His wife our cousin her .iii. doughters are dead Fabius your great frend is dead Euander his childreÌ„ ar dead Bibulus which red for me in the chaire the last yere is also dead Finally ther are so many so good with al that be dead that it is a great shame pitie to se at this present so many euill as do liue Know ye my children that all
these and many others which ye left aliue ful high in rome are now become wormes meat ful low vnder the yearth death also doth summon me vnto the graue If you my childreÌ„ did consider what shal become of you herafter truly you will thinke it better to weape .1000 yeares with the dead then to laugh one houre with those that be aliue Remembryng that I baâ—e ye in great payne and haue nourished you in great trauell that ye came of my proper intrailles I would haue you as children about me for the confort consolation of my paines But in the end beholdyng the prowesses of those that are paste that bindeth their heires I am coÌ„tent to suffer so long absence your persons only to the end you may get honour in chiualrye For I had rather here tell you should liue like knightes in Afrik theÌ„ to se you vtterly lost here in Rome My childreÌ„ as you are in the warres of Afrike so I doubt not but that you desire to se the pleasurs of rome for ther is no man in this world so happy but at his neyghbours prosperity had som enuy enuie not the vitious nether desier to be amoÌ„g vices for truly vices ar of such a coÌ„dition that they bring not with theÌ„ so much plesure wheÌ„ they com as they leaue sorow behind theÌ„ wheÌ„ they depart for that true delight is not in the pleasure which sodeÌ„ly vanisheth but in the truth which euermore remaineth I thank the immortal gods for all these thinges first for that they made me wise not folish for to a woman it is a small mater to be called so fraile that in dede she be not folish The secoÌ„d I thank the gods bicause in al times of my troubles they haue geueÌ„ me pacieÌ„ce to endure theÌ„ for the maÌ„ only in this lif may be called vnhappy to whom the gods in his troubles hath not giueÌ„ pacience The third I thank the gods for that those .lxv. yeares which I haue liued I neuer hytherto was defamed for the woman by no reason can coÌ„plaine of her fortune if in none of her troubles she hath loste her honour The fourthe I thanke the Gods that in this forty yeres I haue lyued in Rome remained widow ther was neuer man nor woman the contended with me for since we women profite litle the commoÌ„ wealth it is but reason that she whych with euill demeanoures hath passed her lyfe shoulde by iustice receaue her death The fift I giue the gods tankes that they gaue me children the whych are better contented to suffer the trauailes of Affrik theÌ„ to inioy the pleasurs of Rome Do not counte me my childreÌ„ for so vnlouing a mother that I wold not haue you alwayes before my eyes but considering that many good meÌ„s children haue bene lost only for being brought vp in the excessiue pleasures of Rome I do content my selfe with your absence For that man that desireth perpetuall renowne thoughe he be not banished he ought to absent him self froÌ„ his natiue countrey My deare children I most earnestly desire you that always you accoÌ„panie your selues with the good with the most auncientes and with those which ar graue most expert in councel and with those that haue most sene the world and do not vnderstand most of the world by those that haue sene most countreis For the rype councel proceadeth not from the man that hath traueiled in many contreis but from him that hath felte him selfe in many daungers Since the nature of the countrey my children dothe knocke with the haÌ„mer at the gate of the hart of man I feare that if you come and se your frendes parentes you shal always lyue in care pensifnes and being pensife you shal always lyue euil coÌ„tented you shal not do that whiche becommeth Romain knights to do And you not beyng valiaunt knightes your enemies shal alwayes reioice ouer you your desires shall neuer take effect for of those men which are careful heauy proceadeth always seruices vnworthy I desire you hartely by this present letter I counsell you that you wil not in any wise seke to come to rome for as I haue saied you shal know few of those that did know you for eyther they are dead or banished poore or sicke aged or coÌ„me to nought sad or euil coÌ„tented so that sithens you are not able to remedy their grefes it is best you should not come hyther to se their troubles For no man coÌ„meth to Rome but to weape with the liuing and to sigh for theÌ„ that be dead Truly my children I know not what pleasure is in Rome that should cause any good man to come hyther and to forsake Affrik for if there you haue enemies here you shall want frendes If you haue the sworde that perceth the body we haue that tong here that destroyeth the renowme If you be vexed with the theues of Affrike we are wounded with the traitours Flatterers and liers of Italy If you lack rest we haue here to much trouble Finallye seyng that that I doe se in Rome and hearynge that which I heare of Affrik I commende your warre and abhorre our peace If you do greatly esteme that which I haue sayd esteme much more that whiche I shall say which is that we alwayes here that you are conquerours of the Africkans you shall here always that we are conquered by vyces Therfore if I am a true mother I had rather se you winne a perpetuall memory amonge straungers theÌ„ to liue with infamy at home in your couÌ„trey Peraduenture with hope that you shal enherit some goodes you wil take occasioÌ„ to come to Rome When this thing shall come to your mindes remember my children that your father being aliue had not much and that vnto your mother being a widow many thinges wanted And remember that your father bequethed you nothing but weapons and know that from me you shall enherite nothing but bookes For I had rather leaue my children good doctrine wherby they may liue them euil riches wherby they may perysh I am not riche nor I neuer trauailed to be rich and the cause was that I saw many mens children vndone only through the hope they had to enherite their pareÌ„tes goods and afterward went a huntinge after vices For they seldome times do any worthy feates which in their youth enherit great treasurs This thing therfore being true as it is in dead I do not say only that I would watche and toile as many do to get riches and treasurs but also if I had treasour before I would gyue them vnto you I would as the philosopher did cast theÌ„ into the fyre For I had rather haue my children pore and vertuous in Affrike theÌ„ riche and vitious in Rome You know very wel my children that there was amongest the Tharentins a law wel obserued that the sonnes shoulde not inherit any other thyng of their fathers but weapons to fight and
sodein death and to thee his wife haue lent so long lyfe The gods beeing as they are so mighty and so sage what is hee that can bee iudge of their profound iugements The gods know right well those which serue them and those which offend them those that loue them and those which hate them those that praise them and those that blaspheme them those that yeeld them thanks and those which are vnthankfull And I tel thee further that oftentimes the gods are serued more with them which are buried in the graues then with those which go weeping through the temples Wilt thou now enter into account with the gods thou oughtst to note cōsider that they haue left thee childrē to comfort thy self they haue left thee goods wherwith thou maist auoid pouertie they haue left thee frends by whom thou shalt bee fauored they haue left thee parentz of whom thou art beeloued they haue left thee a good name for to bee esteemed and health wherwith thou mayst liue Fynally I say that small is that which the gods take from vs in respect of that they leaue vs. After one sort wee ought to beehaue our selues with men and after an other wee ought to serue the gods For to men some times it is requisite to shewe a countenaunce for to humble them but to the gods it is necessary to lye flat on the ground with thy stomack to honor them And if the Oracle of Apollo doo not deceiue vs the gods are sooner with humility wherewith wee woorship them appeased then with presumptuous sacrifices which wee offer vnto them contented Since thou art wydow Lady Lauinia and art a wise and vertuous woman beesech the gods to preserue thy children to defend thy renowm and not to seuer thy frends from thee and that thou scatter not thy goods to preserue thy person in health and aboue all to bee in their fauour Thou canst not winne nor lose somuch in all thy lyfe as the gods can geeue or take from thee in one hower Woold to god the wydow knew how little shee winneth among men and how much shee loseth amōg the Gods when shee is not pacient in aduersitie for impacience oftentymes prouoketh the gods to wrath Wee see it in mans body by experience that there are sundrye dyseases which are not cured with woords spoken but with the herbs thereunto applyed And in other diseases the contrary is seene which are not cured with costly medicynes but wyth comfortable woords The end of this comparison tendeth to this effect that all the afflicted harts shoold know that sometymes the hart is more comforted with one benefyte which they doo then with a hundred woords which they speak And at an other tyme the sorowfull hart is better lyghtned with one woord of his frends mouth then with all the seruice of others in the world O wretch that I am for as in the one and in the other I am destitut So in all I doo want For considering thy greatnes and waying my lytle knowledge I see my self very vnable For that to comfort thee I want science and for to help thee I neede ryches But I cease not to haue great sorow if sorow in paiment may bee receiued That which with my person I can doo neither with paper or ynk I wil requite For the man which with woord only cōforteth in effect beeing able to remedy declareth him self to haue been a fayned frend in tymes past and sheweth that a man ought not to take him for a faithful frend in tyme to come That which the Romains with the wydows of Rome haue accustomed to doo I will not presently doo with thee Lady Lauinia that is to weete that thy husband beeing dead all go to visite the widow all comfort the wydow and all weepe with the wydow and within a few days after if the wofull wydow haue neede of any small fauor with the Senat they withdraw them selues togeether as if they had neuer knowen her husband nor seene her The renowm of the Romayn wydows is very daynty for of their honesty or dishonesty dependeth the good renowm of their person the honor of their parents the credit of their children and the memory of the dead For this therfore it is healthfull counsayl for wyse men to speak few woords to wydows and to doo infinite good woorks What auayleth it woful wydows to haue their coffers fylled with letters and promyses and their eares stuffed wyth woords and flatteries If hitherto thou hast taken mee for thy neighbor and parent of thy husband I beeseech thee henceforth that thou take mee for a husband in loue for father in counsell for brother in seruyce and for aduocat in the Senat. And all this so truely shal bee accomplished that I hope thou wilt say that which in many I haue lost in Marcus Aurelius alone I haue found I know well as thou doost in lyke maner that when the harts with sorows are ouer whelmed the spirits are troubled the memory is dulled the flesh dooth tremble the spirit dooth chaunge and reason is withdrawn And since that presently sorrow and care in thy house doo remayn let the gods forsake mee if I abandone thee let them forget mee if I remember thee not But as Claudine remayned thyne wholly till the hour of death so Marcus Aurelius will euermore bee thyne duryng his lyfe Since I loue thee so intierly and thou trustest mee so faithfully and that thou with sorrows art so replenished and my hart with care so oppressed let vs admit that thou Lady Lauinia hast the auctority to commaund mee in thy affayrs and I lycence to counsell and aduertyse thee of thyngs touching thy honor and person For often tymes the wydows haue more neede of a mean remedy then of a good counsell I earnestly desyre thee to leaue the lamentacion of the Romayn wydows that is to weete to shutt the gates to tear their hears to cutt their garments to go bare legged to paynt the vysage to eat solitarily to weepe on the graues to chyd her Chamberlayns to poure out water wyth tears to put Acorns on the graues and to byte theyr nayls wyth the teeth For these thyngs and such other semblable lightnes beehoueth not the grauitie of Romayn Matrons eyther to see thē or els to know them Since there is no extremity but therunto vice is annexed I let thee weete lady Lauinia if thou bee ignoraunt thereof that the widows which are so extreme doo torment them selfes doo trouble their frends doo offend the gods doo forsake theirs and in the end they profit not the dead to the enuious people they geeue occasion to talk I woold think and mee seemeth that the women which are matrons and widows ought to take vppon them such garment and estate the day that the gods take lyfe from their husbands as they entend to wear during their lyfe What auaileth it that a wydow bee one moneth shut vp in her house that afterwards