to say before they see or feele the pangs of death they haue their consciences ready prepared What loseth a wise man to haue his wil wel ordained what loseth he of his credite who in his life time restoreth which at his death he shall be constrained to render Wherein may a man shew his wisedom more than willingly to be discharged of that which otherwise by processe they will take from him How many lordes which for not spending one day about their testament haue caused their heires all the days of their life after to be in trauerse in the law so that in supposing to haue left them wealthie haue left them but attorneis in the law The true christian and vnfained ought euery morning so to dispose his goods and correct his life as if he should die the same night and so to commit himselfe to God at night as if he hoped for no life vntil the morning Princes and Lords ought to be perfect before they be perfect to end before they end to die before they die to be mortified before they be mortified if they do this they shal as easily leaue their life as if they changed from one house to another The most part of men delight to talke with leisure to drinke with leisure to eate with leisure and to sleepe with leisure but they die in haste for we see them send for their ghostlie father in haste to receiue the sacrament in haste to make their wils by force to vse conference so out of season that oftentimes the sicke hath lost his senses and giuen vp the ghost before any thing be perfectly ordered What auaileth the shipmaister after the ship is sunke what do weapons auaile after the battell is done what pleasure after men are dead likewise what auaileth the godlie instructor when the sicke is heauie and bereft of his senses or to vnlocke his conscience when the key of his toong is lost Let vs not deceiue our selues thinking in age to amend and to make restitution at our death for it is not the point of wise men nor of good Christians to desire so much time to offend and yet will neuer spie any time to amend Would to God that the third part of time which men do occupie in sinne were imploied about the meditation of death and the cares which they haue to accomplish their fleshlie lusts were spent in bewailing their filthie sinnes All worldlings do willingly sinne vpon hope onely in age to amend and at death to repent but they that in this hope sinne what certaintie haue they of amendement and assurance to haue long warning ere they die sith in number there are more yoong than old which die The omnipotencie of the diuine mercie considered the space of an hower sufficeth yea too much to repent vs of our wicked life but yet I counsell all sith the sinner for his repentance taketh but one hower that it be not the hower too late The sighes and repentance which proceedeth from the bottom of the hart do penetrate the high heauens but those which come of necessitie do not pearce the seeling of the house What wrong doth God offer vnto vs when he calleth vs away seeing from an olde decaied house he is to change vs to a new builded pallace What other thing is the graue but a strong fort wherin we shut our selues from the assalts of life and broiles of fortune for we ought to be more desirous of that we find in death than of that we leaue in life Two things cause men loth to die the loue they haue to that they leaue or else the feare of that they deserue Now I enter into the field not where of the wilde beasts I shall be assalted but of the hungrie woorms deuoured We ought not to lament the death allotted but the life that is wicked that man is very simple that dreadeth death for feare to lose the pleasures of life There is nothing that shorteneth more the life of man than vaine hope and idle thoughts The great estimation that we haue of this life causeth that death seemeth to vs sudden and that the life is ouertaken by vnwarie death but this is a practise of the children of vanitie for that by the will of God death visiteth vs and against the will of man life forsaketh vs. To the stout harts and fine wits this is a continuall torment and endlesse paine and a woorme that alwaie gnaweth to call to mind that he must lose the ioifull life which he so entirely loued and taste the fearfull death that he so greatly abhorred O cursed and wicked world thou that sufferest things neuer to remaine in one state for when we are in most prosperitie then thou with death dost persecute vs most cruelly Death is a patrimonie which successiuely is inherited but life is a right which daily is surrendred for death accounteth vs so much his owne that oftentimes vnwares he commeth to affalt vs and life taketh vs such strangers that oftentimes we not doubting thereof vanisheth away When death hath done hir office what difference is there between the faire and the fowle in the graue The man which is loden with yeers tormented with diseases pursued with enimies forgotten of his friends visited with mishaps charged with euill will and pouertie is not to demand long life but rather to imbrace death Death is that from whence youth cannot flie a foot and from whence age cannot escape on horsebacke Discord Enimitie and Variance FOr all that we can see heare or trauell and all that we can do we did neuer see nor heare tel of men that haue lacked enimies For either they be vicious or vertuous and if they be vicious and euill they are hated of the vertuous if they be good and vertuous they are continually hated and persecuted of the euill In great armies the discord that among them arise doth more harme than the enimies against whom they fight Manie vaine men do raise dissentions and quarrels among people thinking that in troubled water they should augment their estate whereas in short space they do not onely lose their hope of that they sought but are put out of that they possessed For it is not onely reasonable but also most iust that they by experience feele that which their blind malice will not suffer them to knowe Enuie AGainst enuie is no fortresse nor caue to hide nor high hil to mount on nor thicke wood to shadow in nor ship to scape in nor horse to beare away nor monie to redeeme vs. Enuie is so venemous a serpent that there was neuer mortall man among mortals that could scape from the biting of hir tooth the scratching of hir nailes defiling of hir feete and the casting of hir poison Enuie is so enuious that to them which of hir are most denied and set fardest off she giueth most cruell strokes with hir feete The maladie of enuie rankleth to death
the houses made the bed washed the buck couered thetable dressed the dinner and went for water On the contrary part his wife gouerned the goodes answered the affaires kept the money and if she were angry she gaue him not onely foule words but also oftentimes laid hir hands on him to reuenge hir anger whereof came this prouerbe vita Achaiae Where men haue so little discretion that they suffer themselues to be gouerned be it well or euill of their wiues and that euery womā commandeth hir husband there can be nothing more vaine or light than by mans law to giue that authoritie to a woman which by nature is denied hir The lawes are as yokes vnder the which the euill do labor and they are wings vnder the which the good do flie The great multitude of lawes are commonly euill kept and are on the other part cause of sundry troubles The Romanes did auoid the great number of lawes and institutions for that it is better for a man to liue as reason commaundeth him than as the law constraineth him Lawes are easily ordained but with difficultie executed and there be thousands that can make them but not one that will see the execution of them The law of Athens was that nothing should be bought before a Philosopher had set the price I would the same law at these daies were obserued for there is nothing that destroieth a common wealth more than to permit some to sell as tyrants and others to buy as fooles Of Loue. BEleeue not that loue is true loue but rather sorow not ioy but perplexitie not delite but torment not contentment but griefe not honest recreation but confusion seeing that in him that is a louer must be looked for youth libertie and liberalitie Strawe that is rotten is fitter for the land than the house so in a broken body and aged sorow and infirmities are fitter passions than loue for to Cupid and Venus no sort of people is acceptable but yong men to serue them The liberall which spares for no cost the patient to endure discreet to speake secret to conceale faithfull to deserue and constant to continue to the end It is a miserie to be poore and proud to be reuengefull and dare not strike to be sicke and farre from succor to be subiect to our enimies and lastly to suffer perill of life without reuenge but for an old man to be in loue is the greatest wretchednes that can occupy the life of man for the poore sometimes findeth pitie but the old man standeth always reiected The coward findeth friends to beare out his quarell but the amorous old man liueth always persecuted with passions The sicke liues vnder the climate of Gods prouidēce and is relieued by hope but the old amorous man is abandoned all succor He that is subiect to his enimies is not somtimes without his seasons of consolation and quiet where to the old louer is no time of truce or hope of reconcilement There is nothing more requireth gouernment thā the practise of loue seeing that in cases of hūger thirst cold heat and all other natural influences they may be referred to passions sensible only to the body but the follies imperfections and faults in loue the hart is subiect to suffer feele and bewaile them since loue more than all other things natural retaineth always this propertie to exercise tyrannie always against the hart of his subiects There is no doubt but vnperfit loue will resolue into iarres contention and continuall disquietnes for that where is not conformitie of condition there can be no contented loue no more than where is no true faith can be no true operation of good life and maners Say what you will and surmise the best to please fancie but according to experience the best remedie in loue is to auoid occasion and to eschew conuersation for that of the multitude that follow him there are few free from his bondage where such as abandon him liueth alwaies in libertie Behold how deerly I loued thee in thy presence I alwaies behold thee and absent I alwaies thought of thee sleeping I dreamed of thee I haue wept at thy sorowes and laught at thy pleasures finally all my wealth I wished thee and all thy misfortunes I wished to me I feel not so much the persecutiō thou hast done to me as I do the wailing forgetfulnes thou hast shewed to me It is a great griefe to the couetous man to lose his goods but without comparison it is a greater torment for the louer to see his loue euill bestowed for it is a hurt alwaies seene a paine alwaies felt a sorow alwaies gnawing and a death that neuer endeth As the loue of a couetous woman endeth when goods faileth so doth the loue of the man when beautie decaieth That woman which neuer loued for goods but was beloued for beautie did then loue with all hir hart and now abhor with all hir hart The gallowes is not so cruell to the euill doer as thou art to me which neuer thought otherwise than well they which suffer there do endure but one death but thou makest me to suffer a thousand they in one day and one hower do end their liues and I euery minute do feele the pangs of death they die guiltie but I innocently they die openly and I secretly What wilt thou more I say they for that they died and I shed hartie teares of blood for that I liue their torments spreadeth abrode through all the bodie but I keepe mine altogither in my hart O vnhappie hart of mine that being whole thou art diuided being in health thou art hurt being aliue thou art killed being mine owne thou art stolen and the woorst of all thou being the onely helpe of my life dost onely consent vnto my death Loue bewitcheth the wisest and blindfoldeth reason as appeereth in many wise philosophers as for example Gratian was in loue with Tamira Solon Selaminus was in loue with a Grecian Pitacus Mitelenus left his owne wife and was in loue with a bond woman that he brought from the war Periander prince of Achaia and chiefe philosopher of all Greece at the instance of his louers slew his owne wife Anacharsis the philosopher a Scithian by his father and a Greeke by his mother loued so deerly a friend of his called Thebana that he taught hir all that he knew in so much that he being sicke on his bed she read for him in the schooles Tarentinus the maister of Plato and scholler of Pithagoras occupied his mind more to inuent new kinds of loue than to imploy his mind to vertue and learning Borgias Cleontino borne in Cicill had more concubines in his house than bookes in his studie All these were wise and knowen for no lesse Yet in the end were ouercome with the flesh O how many times did Hercules desire to be deliuered from his loue Mithrida Menelaus from Dortha Pyrrhus from Helena
children haunt the vice of the flesh whilest they be yong there is small hope of goodnes to be looked for in them when they be old for the older they waxe the riper be their vices Masters would correct the childe but fathers and mothers forbid them Little auaileth one to pricke the horse with the spurre when he that sitteth vpon him holdeth backe with the bridle Of Death O If we would consider the corruption wherof we are made the filth wherof we are engendred the infinite trauell whereunto we are borne the long tediousnes wherwith we are nourished the great necessities and suspicions wherein we liue and aboue all the great peril wherein we die we find a thousand occasions to wish death not one to desire life The excellencie of the soule laid aside and the hope which we haue of eternall life if man do compare the captiuitie of men to the libertie of beasts with reason we may see that the beasts do liue a peaceable life and that which man doth lead is but a long death I had rather chuse an vnfortunate life and an honorable death than an infamous death and an honorable life That man which will be accounted for a good man not noted for a brute beast ought greatly to trauell to liue well and much more to die better for that euill death maketh men doubt that the life hath not been good and the good death is an excuse of an euill life The dead do rest in a sure hauen and we saile as yet in raging seas If the death of men were as beasts that is to wit that there were no furies nor diuels to torment them that God should not reward the good yet we ought to be comforted to see our friends die if it were for none other cause but to see them deliuered from the thraldome of this miserable world The pleasure that the Pilote hath to be in a sure hauen the glory that the captaine hath to see the day of victory the rest that the traueller hath to see his iorney ended the contentation that the workman hath to see his worke come to perfection all the same haue the dead seeing themselues out of this miserable life If men were born alwaies to liue it were reason to lament them when we see them die but since it is truth that they are borne to die we ought not to lament those which die quickly but those which liue long since thou knowest he is in place where there is no sorrow but mirth where there is no paine but ease where he weepeth not but laugheth where he sigheth not but singeth where he hath no sorowes but pleasures where he feareth not cruel death but enioyeth perpetuall life The true widow ought to haue hir conuersation among the liuing and hir desire to be with the dead Death is the true refuge the perfite health the sure hauen the whole victory finally after death we haue nothing to bewaile and much lesse to desire Death is a dissolution of the body a terror to the rich a desire of the poore a thing inheritable a pilgrimage vncertain a theefe of men a kind of sleeping a shadow of life a separatiō of the liuing a company of the dead a resolution of all a rest of trauels and the end of all idle desires If any dammage or feare be in him who dieth it is rather for the vice he hath committed than feare of death There is no prince nor knight rich nor poore whole nor sicke luckie nor vnluckie with their vocations contented saue onely the dead which are in their graues at rest and peace If in youth a man liue well and in age studie to die well and his life hath been honest his hope is that death will be ioyfull and although he hath had sorow to liue he is sure he shall haue no paine to die This equal iustice is distributed to all that in the same place where we haue deserued life in the same we shal be assured of death Cato being praised of the Romanes for his courage at his death laughed they demaunded the cause why he laughed he answered Ye maruell at that I laugh and I laugh at that you maruel for the perils and trauels considered wherein we liue and the safetie wherein we die it is no more needfull to haue vertue and strength to liue than courage to die We see shamefast and vertuous persons suffer hunger cold thirst trauel pouertie inconuenience sorow enmities and mishaps of the which things we were better to see the end in one day than to suffer them euery hower for it is lesse euill to suffer an honest death than to endure a miserable life The day when we are born is the beginning of death and the day wherein we die is the beginning of life If death be no other but an ending of life and that whiles we liue we carrie death than reason perswadeth vs to thinke that our infancie dieth our childhood dieth our manhood dieth and our age shall die whereof we may conclude that we are dying euery yeere euery day euery houre and euery moment Diuers vaine men are come into so great follies that for feare of death they procure to hasten death Hauing thereof due consideration me seemeth that we ought not greatly to loue life nor with desperation to seeke death for the strong and valiant man ought not to haue life so long as it lasteth nor to be displeased with death when it commeth In such sort therefore ought men to liue as if within an houre after they should die If we trauell by long wayes and want any thing we borow of our company if they haue forgotten ought they returne to seek it at their lodging or els they write vnto their friends a letter but if we once die they will not let vs returne againe we cannot and they will not agree that we shall write but such as they shall find vs so shall we be iudged and that which is most fearful of all the execution and sentence is giuen in one day Let not men leaue that vndone till after their death which they may do during their life nor trust in that they command but in that they do whilest they liue nor in the good works of an other but in their owne good deeds for in the ende one sigh shall be more woorth than all the friends of the world I exhort therefore all wise and vertuous men and also my selfe with them that in such sort we liue that in the end we liue for euer Those that visite the sicke ought to perswade them that they make their testaments confesse their sinnes discharge their conscience receiue the sacraments and reconcile themselues to their enimies Many in our life time do gape after our goods few at our death are sory for our offences The wise and sage before nature compelleth them to die of their own wils ought to die that is
and we perceiue not how we liue therein Of mercie pitie helpe and compassion towards the poore HAppy not once but an hundred times is he that will remember the poore afflicted and open his hart to comfort them and doth not shut his cofers from helping them to him at the straight day of iudgement the processe of his life shall be iudged with mercie and pitie The pitifull hart which is not fleshed in crueltie hath as much pitie to see another man suffer as of the sorow and torment which he himselfe feeleth If a man behold himselfe from top to toe he shal find not one thing in him to mooue him to crueltie but he shall see in himself many instruments to exercise mercie For he hath eyes to behold the needie feete to goe to the church eares to heare Gods word hands to be stretched to the poore a toong to vtter good things an hart to loue God and to conclude he hath vnderstanding to know the euil and discretion to follow the good God hath not giuen him scratching nails as to the cat nor poison as to the serpent nor perilous feete as to the horse to strike withall nor bloodie teeth as to the Lion but hath created vs to be pitifull and commanded vs to be mercifull Obedience AS the element of the fire the element of the aire and the element of water do obey and the element doth commaund of the earth or that against their nature he bringeth them to the earth and al the noble and most chiefest elements obedient to the most vile onely to forme a body mixt it is great reason that all obey one vertuous person that the common wealth therby might be the better gouerned The second reason is of the body and soule The soule is the mistres that commaundeth and the body the seruant which obeyeth for the body neither seeth heareth nor vnderstandeth without the soule but the soule doth these without the body In that common wealth where one hath care for all and all obey the commandement of that one there God shall be serued the people shall profit the good shall be esteemed the euill despised and besides that tyrants shall be suppressed How many people and realms bicause they would not obey their prince by iustice hath sithence by cruell tyrants been gouerned with tyrannie for it is a iust plague that those which despise the scepter of righteous princes should feele and prooue the scourge of cruel tyrants O happy common wealth wherein the prince findeth obedience in the people and the people in like maner loue of the prince for of the loue of the prince springeth obedience in the subiects and of the obedience in the subiects springeth the loue of the prince Patience LOoke howe much wee offend through the offence so much doe we appease through patience The patience which God vseth in not punishing our faultes is greater than that which men haue in suffering the chastisement bicause we iustly offend and iustly are punished I account all in me at the disposition of fortune as wel riches as other prosperities and I keep them in such a place that at any hower in the night when she listeth she may cary them away and neuer awake me so that though she cary those out of my cofers she should neuer rob me of my patience Patience in aduersitie pleaseth God where as wrath prouoketh his indignation We see in a mans bodie by experience that there are sundry diseases which are not cured with words spoken but with the herbes thereunto applied and in other diseases the contrary is seen which are not cured with costly medicines but with comfortable words When the diseases are not very olde rooted nor dangerous it profiteth more oftentimes to abide a gentle feauer than to take a sharpe purgation The impatient hart especially of a woman hath no rest till she see her enimie dead No patience can endure to see a man obtaine that without trauel which he could neuer compasse by much labor He is most vnhappy which is not patient in aduersity for men are not killed with the aduersities they haue but with the impatience which they suffer Though wise men leese much they ought not therfore to dispaire but that they shall come to it againe in time for in the end time doth not cease to do his accustomed alterations nor perfect friends cease not to do that which they ought That man onely in this life may be called vnhappy to whom God in his troubles hath not giuen patience Peace HE alone doth knowe howe precious a thing peace is which by experience hath felt the extreeme miserie of war The life of a peaceable man is none other then a sweete peregrination and the life of seditious persons is no other than a long death Euerie prince which loueth forraine wars must needs hate the peace of his common wealth Aristotle doth not determine which of these two is the most excellēt either stoutnes to fight in the wars or policie to rule in peace That peace is more woorth that is honest than is the victorie which is bloodie In the good war a man seeth of whom he should take heed but in the euill peace no man knoweth whom to trust Where peace is not no man enioieth his owne no man can eate without feare no man sleepeth in good rest no man safe by the way no man trusteth his neighbor and where there is no peace we are threatned daily with death and euery houre in feare of our life Seeing Christ left to vs his peace and commanded vs to keepe the same we should not condiscend for reuenging iniuries to shed mans blood for the good christians are commanded to bewaile their own sins but they haue no licence to shed the blood of their enimies and therefore I wish all princes for his sake that is prince of peace they loue peace procure peace keepe peace liue in peace for in peace they shall be rich and their people happie Pleasure WHat commeth of vaine pleasure nothing but the time euill spent famine in way of perdition goods consumed credit lost God offended and vertue slandered Of pleasure we get the names of brute beasts and the surnames of shame I would the eies were opened to see how we liue deceiued for all pleasures that delight the bodie make vs beleeue that they come to abide with vs continuallie but they vanish away with sorrow immediately on the contrary the infirmities that blinde the soule say that they come to lodge as guests and remaine with vs continually as housholders Death is a miserable lake wherein all worldly men are drowned for those men that thinke most safely to passe it ouer remaine therin most subtilly deceiued During the time that we liue in the house of this fraile flesh sensualitie beareth so great a rule that she wil not suffer reason to enter in at the gate Reason leadeth
is now vnluckie he that was yesterday aliue is this day buried in the graue One thing there is that to all men is grieuous and to those of vnderstanding no lesse painfull Which is That the miseries of this wicked world are not equally deuided but that oftentimes the calamities and miseries of this world lieth on one mans necke onely for we are so vnfortunate that the world giueth vs pleasures in sight and troubles in proofe These are the miseries incident to man The griefe of his children the assaults of his enimies the oportunitie of his wife the wantonnes of his daughters sicknesse in his person great losse of his goods generall famine in the citie cruell plagues in his countrey extreme cold in Winter noisome heat in Sommer sorowful death of his friends the enuious prosperitie of his enimies Finally man passeth so many miseries that somtimes bewailing the wofull life he desireth the sweet death If man hath passed such things outwardly what may be said of those which he hath suffred inwardly for the trauels which the body passeth in 50. yeeres may be well accounted in a day but that which the hart suffreth in one day cannot be counted in an hundred yeeres It is not to be denied but that we would account him rashe which with a reed would meete one with a sword and him for a foole that would put off his shooes to walke vpon thornes so without comparison he ought to be esteemed the most foole that with his tender flesh thinketh to preuaile against so many euil fortunes for without doubt the man that is of his body delicate passeth his life with many miseries The wounded harts oftentimes vtter the pains which they feele without any hope to receiue comfort of that which they desire He is no man borne in the world but rather a furie bred vp in hell that can at the sorow of another take any pleasure Ambition IT chanceth often to ambitious men that in their greatest ruffe when they thinke their honor spoon and wouen that their estate with the webbe of their life in one moment is broken The desire of men considered what things they procure and whereunto they aspire I maruell not though they haue so few friends but I much muse they haue no more enimies In things of weight they marke not who hath been their friend they consider not that they are their neighbours neither do they regard that they are Christians but their conscience layd apart and honestie set aside euery man seeketh for himselfe and his own affairs though it be to the preiudice of another Captains and valiantmen CAptaines that goe to the warres should not be cowards for there is no like danger to the common wealth nor no greater slander to the prince than to commit charge to such in the field which will be first to command last to fight As captains should shew themselues in the beginning cruel so after victory had of their enimies they should shew themselues pitiful and meeke That captaine is more to be praised which winneth the harts of his enimies in his tents by good example than he which getteth the victory in the field with shedding of blood The stout and noble hart for little fauor shewed vnto him bindeth himself to accomplish great things He ought to be called valiant that with his life hath won honor and by the sword hath gotten riches What greater vanitie can there be than that captains for troubling quiet men destroying cities beating down castels robbing the poore enriching tyrants carying away treasures shedding of blood making of widowes taking of noble mens liues should in reward recompence be receiued with triumph Couetousnes and Couetous men THat couetousnes is great which the shame of the world doth not oppresse neither the fear of death doth cause to cease The couetous man seeketh care for himselfe enuie for his neighbors spurs for strangers baite for theeues troubles for his bodie damnation for his renowme vnquietnes for his life annoiance for his friends occasion for his enimies maledictions for his name and long sutes for his children All naturally desire rather to abound than to want and all that which is greatly desired with great diligence is searched and through great trauell is obtained and that thing which by trauell is obtained with loue is possessed and that which by loue is possessed with as much sorow is lost bewailed and lamented The hart that with couetousnes is set on fire cannot with woods and bowes of riches but with the earth of the graue be satisfied and quenched God to the ambitious and couetous harts gaue this for a paine that neither with enough nor with too much they should content themselues Thales being demanded what profite he had that was not couetous he answered Such a one is deliuered from the torments of his desire and besides that he recouereth friends for his person for riches torment him bicause he spendeth them not Greedie and couetous hartes care not though the prince shutteth vp his hart so that he open his cofers but noble and valiant men little esteem that which they lock vp in their cofers so that their harts be opened to their friends Periander had in him such liuelines of spirite on the one side and such couetousnes of worldly goods on the other side that the Historiographers are in doubt whether was greater the Philosophie that he taught in the schooles or the tyrannie that he vsed in robbing the common wealth I am in doubt which was greater the care that vertuous princes had in seeking out of Sages to counsel them or the great couetousnes that others haue at this present to purchase themselues treasures Libertie of the soule and care of goods in this life neuer agree togither The prince which is couetous is scarce of capacitie to receiue good councel When couetousnes groweth Iustice falleth force and violence ruleth snatching raigneth lecherie is at libertie the euil haue power and the good are oppressed Finally all do reioice to liue to the preiudice of another and euery man to seek his own priuate commoditie What loue can there be betwixt couetous persons seeing the one dare not spend and the other is neuer satisfied to hoord and heape vp The hart that is ouercome with couetousnes wil not feare to commit any treason If the couetous man were as greedie of his owne honor as he is desirous of another mans goods the little worme or moth of couetousnes would not gnaw the rest of their life nor the canker of infamie should not destroy their good name after their death It is as hard to satisfie the hart of a couetous man as it is to dry the water of the sea Counsell NOtwithstanding thou being at the gate of care reason would that some should take the clapper to knocke thereat with some good counsell for though the rasor be sharpe yet it
needeth somtimes to be whet I meane though mans vnderstanding be neuer so cleare yet from time to time it needeth counsell Vertuous men oftentimes do erre not bicause they would faile but bicause the things are so euil of digestion that the vertue they haue suffiseth not to tell them what thing is necessarie for their profite For the which cause it is necessarie that his will be kindled his wit fined his opinion changed his memorie sharpned aboue all now and then that he forsake his owne aduise and cleaue to the counsell of another The world at this day is so changed from that it was woont to be in times past that all haue the audacitie to giue counsell and few haue the wisedom to receiue it If my counsell be woorth receiuing prooue it if it doth harme leaue it if it doth good vse it for there is no medicine so bitter that the sicke doth refuse to take if thereby he thinke he may be healed I exhort and aduise thee that thy youth beleeue mine age thine ignorance my knowledge thy sleepe my watch thy dimnes my cleernes of sight thine imagination my vertue thy supicion mine experience otherwise thou maist hap to see one day thy selfe in some distresse where small time thou shalt haue to repent and none to find remedie If thou wilt liue as yoong thou must gouerne thy selfe as olde If any old man fall for age and if thou find a yoong man sage despise not his counsell for bees do drawe more honie out of the tender flowers than of the hard leaues Plato commandeth that in giuing politike counsell it be giuen to them that be in prosperitie to the intent that they decay not and to them that be in heauines and trouble to the intent that they despaire not Happie is that common wealth and fortunate is that prince that is Lord of yoong men to trauell and ancient persons to counsell Manie things are cured in time which reason afterward cannot helpe No mortall man take he neuer so good heede to his works nor reason so well in his desires but that he deserueth some chastisement for some cause or counsell in his doings The examples of the dead do profit good men more to liue well than the counsell of the wicked prouoketh the liuing to liue euill Men ought not in any thing to take so great care as in seeking of counsell and counsellers for the prosperous times cannot be maintained nor the multitude of enimies resisted if it be not by wise graue counsellers Thales being demanded what a man should do to liue vprightly he answered To take that counsell for himselfe which he giueth to another for the vndoing of all men is that they haue plentie of counsell for others and want for themselues He shall neuer giue to his prince good nor profitable counsell which by that counsell intendeth to haue some proper interest He is not counted sage that hath turned the leaues of manie bookes but he which knoweth and can giue good and wholsome counsell Anacharsis said Thou shalt promise me not to be importune with me to receiue any thing of thee for the day thou shalt corrupt me with gifts it is necessarie that I corrupt thee with euil counsell It is easie to speake well and hard to worke well for there is nothing in the world better cheape than counsell By the counsell of wise men that thing is kept and maintained which by the strength of valiant men is gotten Ripe counsels proceed not from the man that hath trauelled into many countries but from him that hath felt himselfe in manie dangers It is impossible that there should any misfortune happen whereas ripe counsell is To giue counsell to the wise man it is either superfluous or commeth of presumption though it be true yet I say in like maner that the diamond being set in gold looseth not his vertue but rather increaseth in price so the wiser that a man is so much the more he ought to know and desire the opinion of others certainly he that doth so cannot erre for no mans owne counsell aboundeth so much but that he needeth the counsell and opinion of others We ordaine that none be so hardie to giue counsell vnlesse therewith he giue remedie for to the troubled hart words comfort little when in them there is no remedie The woman is hardie that dare giue counsel to a man and he more bold that taketh it of a woman but I say he is a foole that taketh it and he is a more foole that asketh it but he is most foole that fulfilleth it Children and youth IT is better to leaue vnto children good doctrine whereby they may liue than euill riches wherby they may perish And the cause is that manie mens children haue beene through the hope they had to inherit their fathers goods vndone and afterward gone a hunting after vices for they seldome do any woorthie feats which in their youth inherit great treasures It is better to haue children poore and vertuous than rich and vicious To be poore or sick is not the greatest miserie neither to be whole and rich is the chiefest felicitie for there is no such felicitie to fathers to see their children vertuous It is an honor to the countrie that fathers haue such children that will take profit with their counsell and contrariwise that the children haue such fathers as can giue it them The father ought to desire his sonne onely in this cause that in his age he may sustaine his life in honor and that after his death he may cause his same to liue If not for this at the least he ought to desire him that in his age he may honor his head and that after his death he may inherit his goods But we see few do this in these daies except they be taught of their parents the same in youth for the fruit doth neuer grow in the haruest vnlesse the tree doth beare blossoms in the spring Too much libertie in youth is no other but a prophesie and manifest token of disobedience in age It is a griefe to see and a monstrous thing to declare the cares which the fathers take to gather riches the diligence that children haue to spend them There can be nothing more vniust than that the yong and vicious sonne should take his pleasure of the sweate of the aged father The father that instructeth not his sonne in vertue in his youth is lesse blamewoorthie if he be disobedient in age It is a good token when youth before they know vices haue beene accustomed to practise vertue It is pitifull to see and lamentable to behold a yoong child how the blood doth stir him the flesh prouoke him to accomplish his desires to see sensualitie go before and he himselfe to come behind the malicious world to watch him and how the diuel doth tempt
and the medicine that is applied will not assure life I cannot determine which is the best or to say more properly which is the woorst extreme miserie without the danger of fortune or extreme prosperitie that is alwaies threatened to fall I had rather mine enimies had enuie at my prosperitie than my friends at my pouertie It is hard to giue a remedie against enuie sith all the world is full therof We see that we be the sonnes of enuie we liue with enuie and he that leaueth most riches leaueth the greatest enuie The riches of rich men is the seede of enuie to the poore and bicause the poore man lacketh and the rich hath too much causeth discord among the people There were two Greekes the one Achilles the other Thiestes the which Achilles being extreme rich was persecuted with enuie the other which was Thiestes sore noted of malice but no man enuied at him I had rather be Achilles with his enuie than Thiestes without it And in case all do vs dammage with enuie yet much more harme doth a friend than an enimie for of mine enuious enimie I will beware and for feare I will withdraw but my friend with his amitie will beguile me and I by my fidelitie shall not mistrust it Among all mortall enimies there is none worse than a friend that is enuious of my felicitie Honor vertue and riches in a man are but a brand to light enuie to all the world Thales being asked when the enuious man was quiet he answered When he seeth his enimie dead or vtterly vndone for truly the prosperitie of a friend is a sharpe knife to the enuious hart The outward malicious word is a token of the inward enuious hart What friendship can there be amongst enuious men seeing the one purchaseth and the other possesseth Euill and wicked men with their vices THe euill men doe offend vs more which we find than doth the good men which we lose for it is great pitie to see the good and vertuous men die but I take it to be more sorow to see the euill and vicious men liue The good man though he die liueth the euill though he liue dieth Let vs compare the trauels which we suffer of the elements with those which we endure of the vices and we shall see that little is the perill we haue in the sea and the land in respect of that which encreaseth of our euill life Is not he in more danger that falleth through malice into pride than he which by chance falleth from a high rocke is not he who with enuie is persecuted in more danger than he that with a stone is wounded are not they in more peril that liue among vicious men than others that liue among brute and cruell beasts Do not those which are tormented with the fire of couetousnes suffer greater danger than those which liue vnder mount Etna Finally they be in greater perils which with high imaginations are blinded than the trees which with importunate winds are shaken Traian the emperor demanding of Plutarke why there were more euill than good and more that embraced vices than followed vertues answered As our natural inclination is more giuen to lasciuiousnes and negligence than to chastitie and abstinence so the men which do enforce themselues to follow vertue are few and those which giue slack the reines to vices are many And this proceedeth that men do follow men and that they suffer not reason to follow reason The remedies which the world giueth for the troubles certainly are greater trauels than the trauels themselues so that they are salues which do not heale our wounds but rather burne our flesh Doe you not know that extreme hunger causeth heasts to deuour with their teeth the thing that was bred in their intrals by experience we see that the wormes deuour the timber wherein they were bred and the mothes the clothes wherein they were bred and so somtimes a man beingeth him vp in his house which afterwards taketh his honor and life from him As the shamefast man should not be denied in any his requests being honest so the shameles and importunate man should be denied whatsoeuer he demandeth The ill rest and conuersation of them that liue cause vs to sigh for the company of them that be dead Vniuersally the noble hart can endure all trauels of mans life vnlesse it be to see a good man decay and the wicked to prosper the which no valiant hart can abide neither toong dissemble Of right ought that common wealth to be destroied which once hath been the flower of all vertues and afterward becommeth most abhominable and defiled with all vices If the euill liue he is sure to fall if the good die not we doubt whether euer he shall come to honor The wickednesse of children are swordes that passe through the harts of their fathers Proud and stout harts obtaining that which they do desire immediately begin to esteem it as nothing Tyrannous harts haue neuer regard to the honour of another vntill they haue obtained their wicked desires The harts that be proud are most commonly blinded proud and ambitious harts know not what will satisfie them If thou be giuen to ambition honor may and will deceiue thee if to prodigalitie couetousnes often begnileth thee if to pride all the world will laugh thee to scorne in such fort that they will say thou followest will and not reason thine owne opinion rather than the councell of another embracing flatterers rather than repelling the vertuous for that most sorts had rather be commended with lies than reprooued with truth That man which is brought vp in debates dissentitions and strife all his felicitie consisteth in burning destroying and bloudshedding such works for the most part proceed not from a creature nourished among men on the earth but rather of one that hath been brought vp among the infernall furies of hell Where vices haue raigned long time in the hart there death onely and no other hath authoritie to plucke vp the rootes To whom is he more like which with his toong blaseth vertues and imploieth his deeds to all vices than to the man that in one hand holdeth poison to take away life and in the other treakle to resist death I haue mused which of these two are greater the dutie the good haue to speake against the euill or else the audacitie the euill haue to speake against the good for in the world there is no brute beast so hardie as the euill man is that hath lost his fame I would all men would call this to memorie that among euill men the chiefest euill is that after they haue forgotten themselues to be men and exiled both truth and reason with all their might they go against truth with their words and against good deedes with their toongs Though it be euill to be an euill man yet it is much woorse not
to suffer another to be good which aboue all things is to be abhorred and not to be suffered Truly the shameles man feeleth not so much a great stripe of correction as the gentle hart doth a sharp word of admonition In the man that is euill there is nothing more easier than to giue good counsell and there is nothing more harder than to worke well Vnder the cristall stone lieth oftentimes a dangerous woorme in the faire wall is nourished the venemous coluber within the middle of the white tooth is engendred griefe to the gums in the finest cloth is the moth soonest found and the most fruitfull tree by woorms doth soonest perish so vnder the cleane bodie and faire countenance are hid manie and abhominable vices Truly not onely to children that are not wise but to all other wich are light and fraile beautie is nothing els but the mother of all vices and the hinderer of all vertues There is nothing more superfluous in man and lesse necessarie than the beautie of the bodie for whether we be faire or fowle we are nothing the more beloued of God or hated of wise men The man of a pleasant toong and euill life is he which with impostumes vndoeth the common wealth Sensualitie maketh vs inferior to beasts and reason maketh vs superior to men He that knoweth most the course of the elements is not called wise but he which knoweth least the vices of this world for the good philosopher profiteth more by not knowing the euill than by learning the good Quarrellers and malicious persons will haue their words by weight and measure but the vertuous and patient men regard the intentions Men naturally desire honor in their life and memorieis after death therefore I say as they come and attaine thereunto by high noble and heroicall facts so memorie left by the good and legitimate children For the children that are borne in adulterie are begotten in sin and that memorie is infamous Adulterers are not only taken among Christians for offenders but also among the gentils they are counted infamous If the gentils feared infamie the Christians ought to feare both infamie and paine Men are so euill and wicked that they behold to the vttermost the offences of an other but wil not heare the faults of himselfe It is a naturall thing that when a man hath committed any vice foorthwith it repenteth him of his deede and so againe after his new repentance he turneth to his old vices Where the soule doth not shew hir selfe mistres it wanteth but little but that the man remaineth a beast The euill do refraine more from vice for feare of punishment than for any desire they haue of amendment The Romans did not permit that liers nor deceiuers should be credited by their othes neither would they permit or suffer them to sweare The simple man slaieth but one man with his sword of wrath but the sage killeth manie by the il example of his life There is no man by his eloquence may haue such renowme but in the end may lose it by his euill life for he is vnwoorthie to liue amongst men whose words of all are approoued and his works of all are condemned There is no beard so bare shauen but that it will grow againe I meane there is no man of so honest a life but if a man make inquisition he may find som spots therein Oftentimes they say they haue been on pilgrimage at some deuout Saint that is dead when indeed they haue been imbracing the bodie of some faire harlot aline Of Fame and Infamie THe infamie of the slanderous shall neuer die for he neuer liued to die well To die well doth couer an evill fame and to make an ende of an euill life doth begin a good fame When a noble man shal aduenture to hazard his person and his goods he ought to do it for a matter of great importance for more defamed is he that ouercommeth a poore laborer than he which is ouercome of a sturdie knight The losse of children and temporall goods cannot be called losse if the life be safe and renowme remaine vndefiled Of the good man there is but a short memorie of his goodnes if he be euill his infamie shal neuer haue end If he deserue great infamie which worketh euil in his life truly he deserueth much more which trauelleth to bring that euill in vre that shal continue after his death for mans malice doth rather pursue the euill which the wicked do inuent than the good which vertuous man do begin Noble harts ought little to efteeme the increase of their riches and ought greatly to esteeme the perpetuitie of their good name The good life of the child that is aliue keepeth the renowme of the father that is dead The glorie of the scholler alwaies redoundeth to the honor and praise of the maister First that he be fortie yeeres of age bicause the maister that is yoong is ashamed to command if he be aged he is not able to correct Secondly he ought to be honest and that not onely in purenes of conscience but in the outward appeerance and cleannes of life for it is impossible that the child be honest if the maister be dissolute Thirdly they ought to be true in words and deedes for the mouth that is alwaies full of lies ought not by reason to be a teacher of the truth Fourthly they ought of nature to be liberall for oftentimes the couetousnes of maisters maketh and causeth the harts of princes to be greedie and couetous Fiftly they ought to be moderate in words and verie resolute in sentences so that they ought to teach the children to speake little and to harken much for it is a great vertue in a prince or noble man to heare with patience and to speake with wisedome Sixtly they ought to be wise and temperate so that their grauitie may restraine the lightnes of their schollers for there can be no greater plagues to a realme than princes to be yoong and their maisters light It behooueth also that they be learned both in diuine and humane letters in such sort that that which they teach princes by word they may shew it by writing to the end they may put the same in vre for mens harts are sooner moued by the example of those that are past than by the words of them that are present Also he ought not to be giuen to vices of the flesh for as they are yoong and naturally giuen to the flesh they haue no strength to abide chaste neither wisedome to beware of the suares it is necessarie therefore that the maister be pure and honest for the disciple shall hardly be chaste if the maister be vicious They ought to haue good conditions bicause noble mens children being daintily brought vp are more prone to learne euill than good conditions the which their
Friendship that is earnest requireth daily communication or visitation A man ought not in any affaires to be so occupied that it be a lawfull let not to communicate or write vnto his friend Where perfit loue is not there wanteth always faithfull seruice and for the contrary he that perfectly loueth assuredly shall be serued I haue been am and will be thine therfore thou shalt do me great iniurie if thou be not mine I haue not seen any to possesse so much to be woorth so much to know so much nor in all things to be so mightie but that one day he shall need his poore friend The man that loueth with his hart neither in absence forgetteth nor in presence becommeth negligent neither in prosperitie he is proud nor yet in aduersitie abiect he neither serueth for profit nor loueth for gaine and finally he defendeth the cause of his friend as if it were his owne We ought to vse friends for 4. causes 1 We ought to haue the company of friends to be conuersant withall for according to the troubles of this life there is no time so pleasantly consumed as in the conuersation of an assured friend 2 We ought to haue friends to whom we may disclose the secrets of our hart for it is much comfort to the wofull hart to declare to his friend his doubts if he doth perceiue that he doth feele them indeed 3 To help vs in our aduersities for little profiteth my hart in teares to bewaile vnles that afterward in deed he will take paines to ease him 4 We ought to seeke and preserue friends to the end they may be protectors of our goods and likewise iudges of our euils for the good friend is no lesse bound to withdraw vs from vices whereby we are slandered than to deliuer vs from our enimies by whom we may bee slaine The Iustice and punishment of God togither with his mercie goodnes and purpose WHen man is in his chiefest brauerie and trusteth most to mens wisdom then the secret iudgement of God soonest confoundeth and discomforteth him The mercie and iustice of God goeth always togither to the intent the one should encourage the good and the other threaten the euill I would to God we had so much grace to acknowledge our offences as God hath reason to punish our sinnes The great mercy of God doth suffer much yet our manifest offences deserue more With God there is no acception of persons for he maketh the one rich the other poore the one sage the other simple the one whole the other sicke the one fortunate the other vnluckie the one seruant the other master and let no man muse thereat for that such are his ordinances We see daily that it is impossible for mans malice to disorder that which the diuine prouidence hath appointed but that which man in a long time decreeth God otherwise disposeth in one moment It is requisite that God should order his purpose for in the ende sith man is man in few things he cannot be either certaine or assured and sith God is God it is impossible that in any thing he should erre Things that are measured by the diuine iudgement man hath no power with rasor to cut them As it is meet we should trust in the greatnes of Gods mercie so likewise it is reason we should feare the rigor of his iustice It is the iust iudgement of God that he that committeth euil shal not escape without punishment and he that counselleth the euill shall not liue vndefamed What the euill with their tyrannie haue gathered in many dayes God shall take from them in one hower Likewise what the good haue lost in many yeeres God in one moment may restore God doth not put vs vnder good or euill fortune but doth gouerne vs with his mercy and iustice Iustice and Iusticers IT is an infallible rule and of humane malice most vsed that he that is most hardie to commit greatest crimes is most cruel to giue sentence against another for the same offence We behold our owne faults as through small nets which causeth things to seeme the lesser but we behold the faults of others in the water which causeth them to seeme greater There is no God commandeth nor law counselleth nor common wealth suffereth that they which are admitted to chastise liars should hang them which saith truth I am of the opinion that what man or woman withdraweth their eares from hearing truth impossible it is for them to apply their harts to loue any vertues be it Senator that iudgeth or Senate that ordaineth or emperor that commandeth or Consul that executeth or Orator that pleadeth The opinion of all wise men is that no man except he lacke wit or surmount in follie will gladly take on him the burden and charge of other men A greater case it is for a shamefast man to take vpon him an office to please euery man for he must shew a countenaunce outward contrary to that he thinketh inward He that will take charge to gouern other seeketh care and trouble for himselfe enuie for his neighbors spurs for his enimies pouertie for his wealth danger for his body torment to his good renowme and an end of his days The charge of Iustice should not be giuen to him that willingly offreth himself to it but to such as by great deliberation are chosen Men now a dayes be not so louing to the common wealth that they will forget their owne quietnes and rest and annoy themselues to do others good Iudges should be iust and vpright for there is nothing decaieth more a common wealth than a iudge who hath not for all men one ballance indifferent There are many in common wealths that are expert to deuise new orders but there are few that haue stout harts to put the same in execution It is impossible for any man to minister iustice vnles he know before what iustice meaneth It is impossible that there be peace and iustice in the common wealth if he which gouerneth it be a louer of liers and flatterers That common wealth is greatly slandered wherin the euill are not punished nor the good honored The desire of commandement is become so licentious that it seemeth to the subiect that the weight of a feather is lead and on the contrarie it seemeth to the commanders that for the flieng of a flie they should draw their swords There is no woorse office among men than to take the charge to punish the vices of another and therfore men ought to flie from it as from the pestilence for in correcting of vices hatred is more sure to the corrector than amendement of life is to the offendor Reason it is that he or she which with euill demeanor haue passed their life should by iustice receiue their death Matters of iustice consisteth more in execution than in commanding or ordaining That common wealth cannot decay where iustice remaineth
Alcibiades from Dorobella Demophon from Phillis Hannibal from Sabina and Marcus Antonius from Cleopatra from whom they could neuer onelie depart but also in the end for them and with them were cast away In case of loue let no man trust any man and much lesse himselfe for loue is so naturall to man or woman and they desire to be beloued that where loue amongst them doth once begin to cleaue it is a sore that neuer openeth and a bond that neuer vnknitteth Many words outwardly declare small loue within and the feruent inward loue keepeth silence outward the intrals within imbraced with loue causeth the tong outward to be mute he that passeth his life in loue ought to keepe his mouth close The loue of the mother is so strong though the child be dead and laid in the graue yet alwaies she hath him quicke in hir hart Amongst the well married persons is true loue and perfect friendship as for parents and friends if they praise vs in presence they hate vs in absence if they giue faire words they carrie hollow harts if they loue vs in prosperitie they hate vs in aduersitie but it is not so among the noble and well married persons In prosperitie and aduersitie pouertie and riches absence and presence in mirth and sadnes do they loue and if not ought to do for when the husband is troubled in his foote the wife ought to be grieued in hir hart We see by experience that loue in marriage is seldom broken through pouertie nor yet continued with riches The loue betwixt the husband and wife ought to be such that she by hir patience ought to suffer the imperfections of him and likewise he by his wisedome ought to dissemble the importunities of hir that they may the rather loue and agree togither The dart of loue is like a stroke with a clod of earth which being throwen amongst a companie doth hurt the one and blind the other The hart which is intangled with loue dare boldly aduenture himselfe in many kind of dangers to accomplish that which he desireth Women ought to know that for their beautie they are desired but for their vertue onely they are beloued The loue of the flesh is so naturall to the flesh that when from you the bodie flieth in sport we leaue our harts to you engaged in earnest and though reason as reason putteth the desire to flight yet the flesh as flesh yeeldeth it selfe a prisoner The man that willingly goeth into the briers must thinke before to endure the pricks What Man and his life is with fortune and hir frailtie IF man would deepelye consider what man is he should finde more things in him to mooue him to humilitie than to stir him to be proud O miserable and fraile nature of man which taken by it selfe is little woorth and compared with another thing is much lesse Man seeth in brute beasts many things which reioiceth him and if beasts had reason they should see in man many things which they would shame at Man being borne can neither go mooue or stand where all other beasts assoone as they are disclosed can do and performe all these As the euil doer is imprisoned with his hands bound and his feete in the stocks so likewise to the miserable man when he entereth into the charter of this life immediately they bind both his hands and feete and lay him in the cradle and so they vse him at his departure out of this world It is to be noted that at the hower wherein the beast is brought foorth though it know not the father yet it findeth the mother for that it presently sucketh the teats if it haue milke if not it shrowdeth it selfe vnder hir wings it is not so with man for the day wherein he is borne he knoweth not the nurse that giueth him milke the father that begat him nor mother that bare him nor the midwife that receiued him Moreouer cannot see with his eies heare with his eares iudge with his taste and knoweth not what it is to taste or smell so that we see him to whom the seigniorie of all things doth appertain to be borne the most vnable of all other beasts To beasts nature hath giuen clothing wherwith they may keepe them from the heate in sommer and defend the cold in winter as to sheepe wooll to birds fethers to horses haire to trees barke to fishes scales to snails shelles Of all this man is depriued who is borne all naked and dieth all naked not carrieng with him one onely garment and if in the time of his life he vseth any garments he must demand it of the beast both leather and wooll and thereto must put his labour and industrie What care and trauell had man beene discharged of if the trauel to apparel himselfe and to search for things to eate had been taken from him before he eateth he must till sow reape and thresh he must winnow grind and bake and this cannot be done without the care of mind and sweat of browes We see the sheepe flieth the wolfe the cat flieth the dog the rat flieth the cat and the chicken the kite O miserable creatures that we are we know not how to flie our enimies bicause they are in our owne shape When man thinketh oftentimes tht he hath entered a sure hauen within three steppes afterwards he falleth headlong into the deepe sea O poore and miserable man who for to sustaine this wretched life is inforced to craue the beasts helpe they draw him water they soile his lande they plough his lande they carrie his corne and beare himselfe from place to place What state liueth man in that cannot but bewaile the vnthankfulnes of his friends the death of his children the want of necessaries the case of aduersity that succeedeth them the false witnes that is brought against thē and a thousand calamities that do torment their harts The innocencie of the brute beasts considered and the malice of the malicious man marked without comparison the companie of the brute beast is lesse hurtfull than the conuersation of euill men for in the end if yee be conuersant with a beast ye haue not but to beware of him but if yee be in companie with a man there is nothing wherein yee ought to trust him Treasure consumed in making a mans graue is verie vaine for there is no greater lightnes or vanitie in man than to be esteemed much for his sumptuous graue and little for the life he hath led It profiteth little the bodie to be among the painted and carued stones when the miserable soule is burning in the firie flames of hell The man that presumeth to be sage in all things and well prouided goeth not so fast that at euerie step he is in danger of falling not so softly that in long time he cannot arriue at his iourneies ende for false fortune gawleth in steede of striking
and in steede of gawling striketh What euill happened to Hercules that after so manie dangers came to die in the armes of an harlot Alexander after his great conquest ended his life with poison Agamemnon that woorthie Greeke after ten yeeres wars against the Troians was killed entring into his owne house Iulius Caesar after two and fiftie battels was killed in the Senate house with xxiij wounds Hanniball slew himselfe in one moment bicause he would not become a pray to his enimies What mishap is this after so many fortunes what reproch after such glorie what perill after such suretie what euill lucke after such good successe what darke night after so cleare day what euil entertainment after so great labor what cruell sentence after so long proces what inconuenience of death after so good beginning of life The miserable life of man is of such condition that dailie our yeeres do diminish and our troubles encrease life is so troublesome that it wearieth vs and death is so doubtefull that it feareth vs. The philosopher Appollonius being demanded what he woondered most at in al the world answered but at two things the one was that in all parts wherein he had trauelled he saw quiet men troubled by seditious persons the humble subiect to the proud the iust obedient to the tyrant the cruell commanding the mercifull the coward ruling the hardie the ignorant teaching the wise and aboue al I saw the most theeues hang vp the innocent The other was that in all the places and circuite that he had bin in I know not neither could finde anie man euerlasting but that all are mortall and that both high low haue an end for many enter the same night into the graue which the day ensuing thought to be aliue Aristotle saith that man is but a tree planted with the rootes vpward whose roote is the head and the stock is the bodie the branches are the armes the barke is the flesh the knots are the bones the sap is the hart the rottennes is malice the gum is loue the flowers are words and the fruits are good woorks We see the vapors to ascend high the plants growe high the trees budde out on high the sourges of the sea mount high the nature of the fire is alwaies to ascende vpwarde onelie the miserable man groweth downewarde and is brought lowe by reason of the feeble and fraile flesh which is but earth and commeth of earth and liueth on earth and in the end returneth to the earth from whence it came Generallie there is no man so good but a man may find in him somwhat reprooueable nor any man so euill but he hath in him something commendable What man and his life is O Blindnes of the world ô life which neuer liueth nor shall liue ô death which neuer hath end I know not why man through the accident of his beautie should take vpon him any vaine glory or presumption sith he knoweth that all the perfitest and most faire must be sacrificed to the worms in the graue It is to be maruelled at that all men are desirous that all things about them should be cleane their gownes brushed their coats neat the table handsome and the bed fine and onely they suffer their soules to be spotted and filthie The faire and well proportioned man is therfore nothing the more vertuous he that is deformed and euill shapen is nothing therfore the more vicious Corporall beautie early or late perisheth in the graue but vertue and knowledge maketh men of immortall memorie Although a man be great it followeth not that he is strong so that it is no generall rule that the bigge body hath always a valiant and couragious hart nor the little man a faint and false hart Iulius Caesar was big of body yet euill proportioned for he had his head bald his nose sharp one hand more shorter than the other and being yoong had a riueled face yealow of colour went crooked and his girdle half vndone Hannibal was called monstrous both for his deeds and euil proportion for of his two eies he lacked the right and of the two feet he had the left foote crooked fierce of countenance and little of body Truly he feeleth the death of another which always is sorowfull and lamenting his own life To esteeme thy selfe to be handsome and proper of person is no other thing but to esteeme thy selfe that dreaming thou shalt be rich and mightie and waking thou findest thy self poore and miserable What shall we say to this little flower that yesterday florished on the tree whole without suspicion to be lost and yet one little frost wasteth and consumeth it the vehement wind ouerthroweth it the knife of enuy cutteth it the water of aduersitie vndoeth it the heate of persecutions pineth it the putrifaction of death decayeth it and bringeth it down to the ground O mans life that art alwayes cursed I count fortune cruel thee vnhappy since she wil not that thou stay on hir which dreaming giueth thy pleasures and waking giueth thy displeasures which giueth into thy handes trauell to taste and suffereth thee to listen after quiet which will that thou approoue aduersitie and agree not that thou haue proseritie but after hir will she giueth thee life by ounces and death without measure The yoong man is but a new knife the which in processe of time cankereth in the edge one day he breaketh the point of vnderstanding another he looseth the edge of cutting and next the rust of diseases taketh him and afterwards by aduersities he is writhen and by infirmities diseased by riches he is wheted by pouerty he is dulled againe and oftentimes it chanceth that the more sharpe he is whetted so much the more the life is put in hazard It is a true thing that the feet and hands are necessary to clime to the vanities of youth and afterwards stumbling a little immediatly rowling the head downwards we descend into the miseries of age What thing is more fearfull or more incredible than to see a man become miserable in short space the fashion of his visage changeth the beautie of the face lost the beard waxe white the head bald the cheeks forehead full of wrinkles the teeth as white as Iuorie becommeth blacke as a cole the light feete by the goute are crepeled the strong arme with palsey weakened the fine and smooth throte with wrinkles plaited and the body that was straite and vpright waxeth crooked The beautie of man is none other but a veile to couer the eyes a paire of fetters for the feete manacles for the hands a lime rod for the wings a theese of time an occasion of danger a prouoker of trouble a place of lecherie a sinke of all euill and finally it is an inuenter of debates and a scourge of the affectioned man O simple simple and ignorant persons how our life consumeth
manners of the common wealth Why do princes commit folly bicause flatterers aboundeth that deceiueth them and true men wanteth that shoulde serue them Princes deserueth more honor for the good meanes they vse in their affairs than for the good successe whervnto it commeth for the one is guided by aduenture and the other aduanced by wisedome The land is with much miserie compassed where the gouernance of the yoong is so euill that all wish for the reuiuing of the dead It is impossible that the people be well gouerned if the magistrates that gouerne them be in their liues dissolute Princes in doubtfull matters ought not onely to demaunde counsell of all the good that be aliue but also to take paines to talke with the dead that is to read the deeds of the good in their writings To a prince that shall be an inheritor one yeeres punishment shal be better woorth then xx yeeres pleasure A prince is as the gouernor of the ship a standerd of a battell a defence of the people a guid of the waies a father of the orphanes a hope of pupils and a treasure of all The glorie of a prince is that in his works he be vpright and in his words he speake verie discreet The vertues of princes should be so manie that al men might praise them and their vices so fewe that no man might reprooue them Princes are lords of all things sauing of iustice wherof they are onely but to minister I would to God that princes did make an account with God in the things of their conscience touching the common wealth as they do with men touching their rents and reuenewes Many crouch to princes with faire words as though they ment good seruice to him their entent being by deceit to get some office or to seeke some profite Seruants I Councell those that be seruaunts to great lordes that their labours be accounted rather honest than wise for the wise man can but please but the honest man can neuer displease Of the toong and of the slanderer or backbiter IT is most certaine that of Hollie we looke for pricks of Acrons husks of Nettels stinging and of thy mouth malice I haue seriously noted I neuer saw thee say well of any nor I neuer knew any that would thee good Octauian the Emperor being demaunded why doing good to all men he suffered some to murmure against him he answered He that hath made Rome free from enimies hath also set at libertie the toongs of malicious men That is a cruell thing that the life and honor of those that be good should by the toong of the euill be measured As in the forge the coales cannot be kindled without sparkes nor as corruption cannot be in the sinkes without ordure so he that hath his hart free from malice his toong is always occupied in sweet and pleasant sayings and contrarywise out of his mouth whose stomacke is infected with malice proceedeth always wordes bitter and full of poison It is an olde disease of euill men through malice to backbite with their toong which through their cowardnes they neuer durst enterprise with their hands Of sorow and griefe GRiefe is a friend of solitude enimie of companie a louer of darknes strange in conuersation heire to desperation Sith fortune is knowen of all she suffreth not hir selfe to be defamed of one and it is better to thinke with fortune how thou maiest remedy thy self than to thinke with grief how to complaine There are diuers men which to publish their grief are very carefull but to seek remedy are very negligent We suffer griefs know them not with the hands we touch them perceiue them not we go ouer them and see them not they sound in our eares we heare them not they daily admonish vs we do not beleeue them finally we feele the wound and see not the remedy Experience doth teach vs with a little blast of winde the fruit doth fall with a little sparke of fire the house is kindled with a little rocke the ship is broken at a litle stone the foote doth stumble with a litle hooke they take great fish and with a little wound dieth a great person I meane that our life is so fraile and fortune so fickle that in that part where we are best harnessed we are soonest wounded and grieued The heauy and sorowfull harts of this world feele no greater grief than to see others reioyce at their sorowes To men of long life without comparison the diseases are more which they suffer than the yeeres are which they liue If the days be few wherein we see the elements without cloudes fewer are the howers wherein we feele our harts without cares As much difference as is betweene the barke and the tree the marow and the bone the corne and the straw the gold and the drosse the truth and dreames so much is there to heare the trauels of an other and taste his owne Greater is the disease that proceedeth of sorow than that which proceedeth of the feuer quartane and therof ensueth that more easily he is cured which of corrupt humors is full than he which with profound thoughts is oppressed There is no griefe that so much hurteth a person as when he himself is cause of his own paine Men which haue not God mercifull and men friendly do eate the bread of griefe and drinke the teares of sorow There is no greater torment to the hart than when it is differred from that which it greatly desired If all things as they be felt at hart shoulde be shewed outward with the toong I thinke that the winds should breake the hart with sighings and water all the earth with teares If the corporall eies sawe the sorow of the hart I beleeue they should see more blood sweating within than all the weeping that appeereth without There is no comparison of the great dolors of the bodie with the least grief of the mind For all trauell of the body men may find some remedie but if the heauy hart speake it is not heard if it weepe it is not seen if it complaine it is not beleeued I know no remedy but this to abhorre the life wherewith it dieth and to desire death wherewith it liueth The toong NOble stoute personages though they would be esteemed and iudged true in their sayings hauing seene many wonders with their eies yet when they make report of them they ought to be very moderate in their toongs for it is a very shame to an honest man to declare any thing wherein may be any doubt whether it be true or not When a woman is mery she alwayes babbleth more with the toong than she knoweth in hir hart Men do not vtter half their grief bicause their wofull and heauie hart commandeth the eyes to weep and the toong to be silent The chiefest thing which God
gaue vnto man was to know and be able to speake for otherwise the soule reserued the brute beasts are of more valew than dombe men Pythagoras commanded that all men which are dombe and without speech should immediatly and without cōtradiction be banished and expulsed from the people and the cause why he commāded this was that he said that the toong is mooued by the motions of the soule and that he which had no toong had no soule The toong which is noble ought to publish the goodnes of the good to the end that all know it the frailnes of the wicked ought to be dissembled and kept secret that it be not followed If the body of a man without the soule is little regarded I sweare vnto thee that the toong of a man without truth is much lesse esteemed As the sword pierceth the body so the toong destroieth the renowme There are many which are of a goodly toong and wicked life Wise men ought to feare more the infamie of the litle pen than the slander of the babling toong All corporall members in a man waxeth olde sauing the inward hart and outward toong for the hart is always greene to beare the fruit of euil and the toong always fruitfull to tell lies Time THere is nothing needeth more circumspection than the measuring of Time for that Time should be measured so iustly that by reason no Time should want to do well nor any time abound to doe euill That time may be accounted lost which is spent without the seruice of God or profite of our neighbor Time in all things bringeth such change and alteration that those we haue once seen to be great lords within a while after we haue seene slaues Deceiue not your selfe to say there is time for all amendement for time is in the hand of God to dispose Warres IN time of war princes cannot reforme vices nor correct the vicious They which mooue war or intreat it ought to consider that if it come not well to passe all the blame shall be imputed to their counsell and if his substance be not able presently to recompence the losse let him assure himselfe that his soule hereafter shall endure the paine In examining of histories we shall finde more defamed for beginning of wars than renowmed for vanquishing of their enimies In wars they do naught else but kill men spoile the people destroy innocents giue libertie to theeues seperate friendes raise strife all which cannot be done without hinderaunce of iustice and scrupulositie of conscience Before wars be begun it would be considered what losse and what profite may ensue None are fit for the wars but such as little esteeme their liues and much lesse their consciences If war were onely the euil against the euill there were no thought nor care to be taken but where honor fame glory and riches are taken prisoners it is a lamentable matter that so many wise good and vertuous be lost Iust war is more woorth than fained peace for looke how much his enimie offendeth for taking it so much he offendeth his common wealth for not defending it Women in times past were led to the wars to dresse meate for the whole and to cure the wounded but now to the end that cowards should haue occasions to be effeminate and the valiant to be vicious Men which in peace seeme most fierce in time of war shew themselues most cowards and likewise men full of words are for the most part cowards in deeds Women ANd sith God hath commanded and our face doth permit that the life of men can not passe without women I aduise the youth and beseech the aged I awake the wise and instruct the simple to shunne women of euill name more than the common pestilence Shee that will be accounted honest let hir not trust to the wisedome of the wise nor commit hir fame to the wanton youth let her take heede what he is that promiseth ought for after that the flames of Venus is set on fire and Cupid shot his arrowes the rich offereth all that he hath and the poore all that he may the wise man will be for euer hir friend and the simple man for euer hir seruant the wise man will loose his life for hir and the simple man will accept his death for hir It is great perill to wise women to be neighbored with fooles great perill to the shamefast to be with the shamlesse great peril to the chaste to be with the adulterers for the honorable to be with the defamed there is no slandered woman but thinketh euery one like hirselfe or at least desireth so procureth so and saieth so in the ende to hide their infamie they slander the good Diuers things ought to be borne in the weakenes of women which in the wisedome of men are not permitted I know not what iustice this is that they kill men for robbing and stealing of money and suffer women to liue that steale mens harts Women haue more neede of remedie than of good counsell The beautie of women setteth strangers on desire and putteth neighbours on suspection to great men it giueth feare to meane men ennie to the parents infamy to themselues perill with great paine it is kept that is desired of manie The most laudable and holy company in this life is of the man and woman especially if the woman be vertuous the wife withdraweth all the sorrowes from the hart of hir husbande and accomplisheth his desires whereby he liueth at rest A man of vnderstanding ought not to keepe his wife so short that she should seeme to be his seruant nor yet to giue hir so much libertie that she becommeth therby his mistres The good wife may be compared to the phesant whose feathers we little esteeme and regarde much the bodie but the euill woman to the Marterne whose skinne we greatly account of and vtterly despise the bodie The complexion of women with childe is very delicate and the soule of the creature is very precious and therefore it ought with great diligence to be preserued for all the treasure of the Indies is not so pretious or in value equal to that which the woman beareth in hir bowels when a man planteth a vineyarde foorthwith he maketh a ditch or some fence about it to the end beasts should not crop it while it is yoong nor that trauellers should gather the grapes when they are ripe if the laborer to get a little wine onely which for the bodie and soule is not alwaies profitable doth this how much more circumspection ought the woman to haue to preserue hir childe since she shall render account vnto the creator of a creature vnto the church of a christian vnto hir husband of a childe The birds when they haue hatched hauing but six little ones haue neither milke to nourish them nor corne to giue them neither haue they
defame the dead How vnhappie are they which are in prosperitie for iustly they that be set vp in high estate cannot flee from the peril of Scilla without falling into the danger of Charybdis O miserable world thou art a sepulchre of the dead a prison of the liuing a shop of vices a hangman of vertues an obliuion of antiquitie an enimie of things present a snare of the rich a burthen to the poore a house of pilgrims and a den of theeues O world thou art a slanderer of the good a rauener of the wicked a deceiuer and an abuser of ail and to speak the truth it is impossible to liue contented much lesse to liue in honor in the which is most to be lamented either the euil man aduanced without desart or the good man ouerthrowen without cause The tokens of a valiant captaine are wounds of weapons and the signe of a studious person is the despising of the world Not those that haue most knowledge but those that haue most riches in the common welth do command I doubt whether the diuine power hath depriued them or that the wordly malice hath lost the taste of them O world world I know not how to escape thy hands not howe the simple men and idiot defendeth himselfe out of thy snares when the sage and wise men withall their wisedome can scarsely set their foote sure on earth for al that the wise men know is little enough to defend them from the wicked He onely passeth without trauell the dangers of life which banisheth from him the thought of the temporal goods of this world The traiterous world in no one thing beguileth the worldly so much as by feeding them with vain hope saieng that they shall haue time enough to be vertuous The more the world encreaseth in yeeres so much the more it is loden with vices The world hath alwaies bin in contention and rest hath alwaies bin banished for if some sigh for peace others be as desirous of wars O world for that thou art the world so small is our force and so great is our debilitie that thou willing it we not resisting it thou dost swallow vs vp in the most perilous gulfe and in the thornes most sharpe thou dost pricke vs by the priuie waies thou dost leade vs and by the most stonie waies thou cariest vs thou bringest vs to the highest fauorers to the ende that afterward with a push of thy pike thou mightest ouerthrow vs. What I thinke I haue somewhat in the world I finde that all that I haue is but a burthen I haue prooued all the vices of the world for no other intent but to prooue if there be any thing wherin mens malice might be satisfied and in proouing I finde that the more I eate the more I hunger the more I drinke the greater I thirst the more I rest the more I am broken the more I sleepe the more drowsie I am the more I haue the more I couet the more I desire the more I am tormented the more I procure the lesse I obtaine finally I neuer had so great paine through want but afterward I had more trouble with excesse Pretie saiengs in common places THou art such a one as neuer deserued that one should begin to loue or ende to hate How much the noble harts do reioice in giuing to other so much they are ashamed to take seruice vnrewarded for in giuing they become lords and in taking they become slaues The rashnes of youth is restrained with the raines of reason Although we be wise we leaue not therefore to be men dost not thou know that all that euer we learne in our life sufficeth not to gouerne the flesh in one houre I am sorie to see thee cast away and it greeueth me to see thee drowned in so small a water A brother in words and a cosen in works I rest betweene the sailes of feare and anker of hope Though we praise one for valiantnes with the sword we will not praise him therfore for excellencie with the pen although he be excellent with the pen he is not therefore excellent with the toong though he haue a good toong he is not therefore well learned though he be learned he hath not therefore good renowme and though he haue good renowme he is not therefore of a good life for we are bound to receiue the doctrines of many which do write but we are not bound to followe the liues which they lead When a father passeth out of this present life and leaueth behinde him a childe being his heire they cannot say to him that he dieth but that he waxeth yoong in his childe bicause the childe doth inherite the flesh the goods and memory of the father The desires of yoong men are so variable that they daily haue new inuentions Men that reade much and worke little are as bels which do sounde to call others and they themselues neuer enter into the church It is an olde saieng that a pretious iuell is little regarded when he that hath it knoweth not the value of it FINIS A definition of God Ouid. A tyrant Perillus. Rome A report of Rome long since and found true now Diogenes declaration Honor God Bring vp thy children wel Gratitude Decaie of Rome Rome A schoolmaister his office Miserie in mans life Outward miseries Inward miseries Rashnes Careles of life Blind that they see not their friend Fauor encorageth forward Valiant For euil acts they are gloriously receiued What the couetous man procureth Riches tormenteth Gouernor in Greece Loue betwixt couetous persons Treason Insatiable Vertue straieth where counsell faileth A remedie An exhortation Gouernment Old age should not despise the counsell of youth Spendals that leaue none for themselues are bankrupts in the end Note Corruption to be shunned Good counsell auoideth mishap One wise to counsell an other Womens counsell It is meant but of the common sort Childrens inheritance A great felicitie to parents to see vertuous children Duty of children Libertie in youth Parents great care quickly wasted Sensualitie in children Experience the best schoole maister Inheritance belonged not to the eldest but to the most vertuous Difference betwixt the poore mans sonne and the rich Negligence in educating children Why many noble mens children are wicked Dutie of parents Play in youth What is laid in youth is hatched in age Sensualitie remedied What death is better than life Whom we should mourne for A definition of death A woorthie saying An excellent reason Good coūsel at the houre of death The inconniences for not making a wise will Repentance Repentance The benefite of death The graue When death is to be desired Discord in armies Dispossessed Stingeth to death Homer The reason why vice is more followed than vertue As Herennius did by his master Tullie Vices Pride Tyrannie Proud harts Ambition prodigalitie and pride A quarrelles Vices None bolder than