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
merite to suffer many troubles if we haue not pacience therin During the time of this our miserable life we cannot denay but in euery estate there is bothe trouble and daunger For then onely our estate shal be perfit when we shal come gloriously in soule and body without the feare of deathe and also whan we shall reioyce without daungers in life Retourninge agayne to our purpose mightie Prince although we all be of value little we all haue little we all can attaine little we all know little we al are able to doe little we all do liue but little Yet in all this little the state of Princes semeth some great and high thing For that worldely men say there is no such felicitie in this life as to haue authoritie to commaunde many to be bounde to obey none But if either subiectes knewe how dere Princes by their power to commaunde or if Princes knewe howe swete a thinge it is to liue in quiet doutelesse the subiectes would pitie their rulers and the rulers would not enuy theyr subiectes For ful few are the pleasures which Princes enioy in respecte of the troubles that they endure Sithe then the estate of Princes is greater than al that he may doe more than all is more of value than all vpholdeth more than all and finally that from thence procedeth the gouernement of all it is more nedefull that the house the person and the life of a Prince be better gouerned and ordred than all the reste For euen as by the yard the marchante measureth al his ware so by the life of the Prince is measured the whole common weale Many sorowes endureth the woman in nourishing a waywerde childe great trauaile taketh a scholemaister in teaching an vntowarde scholler much paine taketh an officer in gouerning a multitude ouergreate howe greate than is the paine and peril whereunto I offer my selfe in takinge vpon me to order the life of such a one vpon whose life hangeth all the good state of a common weale For Princes and great Lords ought of vs to be serued and not offended we ought to exhort them not to vexe them we ought to entreate them not to rebuke them we ought to aduise them and not to defame them finally I say that right simple recken I that surgiō which with the same plaisters he layed to a hard héele séeketh to cure the tender eyes I meane by this cōparison that my purpose is not to tel princes and noble men in this booke what they be but to warne them what they ought to be not to tell them what they doe but to aduise them what they ought to doe For that noble man which will not amende his lyfe for remorse of his owne conscience I doe thinke that he wil amende it for the writing of my penne Paulus diaconus the historiographer in the second booke of his commentaries sheweth an antiquitie right worthy to remember and also pleasaunt to reade Although in dede to the hinderaunce of my selfe I shall reherse it It is as of the henne who by longe scraping on the donghill discouereth the knife that shall cut hir owne throte Thus was the case Hannibal the moste renowmed Prince and captayne of Carthage after he was vainquished by thaduenturous Scipio fled into Asia to kinge Antiochus a Prince then liuinge of great vertue who receiued him into his realme tooke him into his protectiō and right honourably enterteyned him in his house And certes king Antiochus did herein as a pitefull Prince for what can more beautifie the honor of a Prince than to succor nobilitie in their nedefull estate These two Princes vsed diuers exercises to spende the time honorably thus they diuided tyme. Sometime to hunt in the mountaines otherwhile to disporte them in the fieldes oft to vewe their armies But mostly they wente to the scholes to heare the Philosophers And truly they did like wise skilfull men For there is no hower in a daye otherwise so well employed as in hearinge a wise pleasaunt tonged man There was at a time in Ephesus a famous philosopher called Phormio which openly red and taught the people of that realme And one day as these twoo Princes came into the schoole the philosopher Phormio chaunged the matter whereupon be red and of a sodayne began to talke of the meanes and wayes that Princes ought to vse in warre of thorder to be kepte in geuing battaile Such so straunge and high phrased was the matter which he talked of that not onely they merueiled which neuer before sawe him but euen those also that of longe tyme had dayly hearde him For herein curious and flourisshing wittes shewe their excellency in that they neuer wante fresh mater to entreate vpon Greatly gloried the king Antiochus that this philosopher in presence of this straunge prince had so excellentlye spoken so that straungers might vnderstand he had his realme stored with wise mē For couragious and noble princes esteme nothing so precious as to haue men valiāt to defend their frontiers and also wise to gouerne their commō weales The lecturered king Antiochus demaunded of the prince Hannibal howe he liked the talke of the philosopher Phormio to whome Hannibal stoutely aunswered and in his aunswere shewed him self to be of that stoutnes he was the same day whā he wanne the great battayle at Cannas For although noble harted and couragious princes lose all their estates and realmes yet they will neuer confesse their hartes to be ouerthrowen nor vaynquisshed And these were the words that at that time Hannibal said Thou shalt vnderstande kinge Antiochus that I haue séene diuers dotinge olde men yet I neuer sawe a more dootarde foole than Phormio whom thou causest such a great philosopher For the greatest kinde of foly is whan a man that hath but a little vaine science presumeth to teach not those which haue only science but also such as haue most certeine experience Tel me kinge Antiochus what harte can brooke with pacience or what tonge can suffer with silence to sée a sely man as this philosopher is nourished all his life time in a corner of Grece studieng philosophie to presume as he hath done to talke before the prince Hannibal of the affaires of warre as though he had bene either lorde of Affrike or captayne of Rome Certes he either full little knoweth him self or els but little estemeth vs. For it appeareth by his vaine words he would seme to know more in matters of warre by that he hath red in bookes than doth Hannibal by the sundry and great battayles which he hath fought in the fieldes O king Antiochus how far and how great is the difference betwene the state of philosophers the state of captaynes betwene the skill to reade in schole and the knowledge to rule an armie betwene the science that these wise men haue in bookes and thexperience that thothers haue in warre betwene their skil to write with the penne and ours to fight
an auncient malediction on riches hydde and treasours buried which Epimenides casteth out sayinge these words All the treasours hurded vp by the couetous shal be wasted by the prodigall You say through that I wast in few dayes you shall haue neither to giue to wast nor yet to eate at the yeres ende To this I aunswere most gracious princesse that if you had bene as ready to releue the poore as you Iustinian were dilygent to robbe the riche then you should iustly haue complayned and I worthely might haue repented Tyll now we haue not sene but that of the riche you haue made poore notwithstanding this yet you haue not gotten enoughe to buyld an Hospital for the poore You say the Princes to resist their enemyes haue neede of greate treasours To this I aunswere if Princes be proud gready and of straunge realmes ambicious it is most certaine that they nede great treasours to accomplishe their disordinate appetites For the end of a tyraÌ„nous prince is by hooke or by crooke to make him selfe riche in his lyfe But if the Prince be or wil be a man reposed quyte vertuous paciente peaceable and not couetous of the good of an other man what nede hath he of great treasours For to speake truly in princes houses ther is more offence in that that auaunceth then in that that wanteth I wil not wast many words in aunsweringe sithe I am muche more liberal of dedes then of wordes but I conclude that ther is no Prince which in vertuous dedes wasteth so much but if he wil he may spend much more For in the end princes become not poore spending their goodes vpon necessaries but for wasting it vpon things superfluous And take this word for al that for this he shal not be the porer but rather the richer For it is a general rule in Christian reglion the god wil giue more to his seruaunts in one houre theÌ„ they wil wast in 20. yeres Iustinian was Emperour .11 yeres who being a foole and obstinate in the heresye of Pellagien died to the great offence of the Romaine people whose death was asmuch desired as his life abhorred For the tirannous prince that maketh many wepinge eyes in his life shall cause many reioysing harts at his death Iustinian being dead Tiberius was elected Emperour who gouerned the empire through so great wisedom and iustice that no maÌ„ was able to reproue him if the histories in his time did not deceiue vs. For it seldoÌ„ hapeneth to a prince to be as he was vpright in iustice pure in life clene in conscience For few are those princes which of some vices are not noted Paulus Diaconus in his 18 boke of the Romain gestes declare a thing merueilous which be fell to this emperour at that time and very worthy to know at this present And it is that in the Citie of Constantinople the Romaine Emperours had a palace very sumptuous and besemyng the auctoritie of the imperiall maiesty which was begonne in the time of Constantine the greate and afterwardes as the succession of good or euyll Emperours was so were the buildings decayed or repayred For it is the deede of a vertuous Prince to abolyshe vices of the common wealth and to make greate and sumptuous buildinges in his country This Emperour Tiberius hadde spent treasours to redeme poore captiues to build hospitalles to erect monasteries to marie and prouide for the Orphanes and widowes in this he was so prodigall that it came almost to passe that he had nothing to eate in his palaice And truly this was a blessed necessitie For catholike Princes ought to thinke that well employed which in the seruice of Christ is bestowed And hereof the Emperoure was not ashamed but thought it a great glory and that which onely greued him was to see the Empresse reioyce so much at his miserye For the high and noble hartes which feele them selues wounded do not so much esteme their owne paine as they do to see their enemyes reioyce at their griefe God neuer forsoke theym that for his sake became poore as it appeareth by this It chaunced one day that euen as the Emperour Tiberius walked in the middest of his palace he saw at his feete a marble stone whiche was in fourme of the crosse of the reademer of the world And because it had bene to vniuste a thing as he thoughte to haue spurned that with his feete wherwith we trust from our enemyes to be defended he caused the stone to be taken vp not thinking any thing to be ther vnder and immediatly after they found an other wherin likewise was the forme of the crosse and this beyng taken vp they founde an other in lyke maner and when that was pluct vp from he bottome there was found a treasor which conteyned the some of 2. millions of Duckettes for the which the good Emperour Tiberius gaue vnto all mighty god most high thankes and wheras before he was lyberal yet afterwardes he was much more bountiful For all those treasours he distrybuted amongest the poore and needye people Let therfore mighty princes and great lords see reade and profit by this example and let them thinke them selues assured that for geuing almes to the poore they nede not feare to become poore for in the end the vycious man caÌ„not cal him self rich nor the vertuous man can counte him selfe poore ¶ How the Chefetaine Naâ—setes ouercame manye battailes only for that his whole confidence was in god And what happened to him by the Empresse Sophia Augusta wherin may be noted the vnthankefulnes of Princes towardes their seruauntes Cap. xvi IN the yere of the incarnacion of Christ 528 Iustinian the great being Emperour who was the sonne of Iustines sister his predecessour in the Empyre the histories say in especially Paulus Diaconus in the 18. booke Degestis Romanorum that ther was a knighte of Greece in Rome who from hys tender yeres hadde bene broughte vppe in Italye He was a man of meane stature of a colericke complexcion and in the Lawe of Christe verye deuoute whyche was no small thinge For at that tyme not onelye manye knightes but almoste all the Bishoppes of Italye were Arrians This knightes name was Narsetes and because he was so valliant in armes and so aduenturous in warres he was chosen Chefeteyne generall of the Romane Empire For the Romaines had this excellency that when they had a valiaunt and stoute captaine although they might haue his weighte of gold giuen them they would neuer depart from his person He enterprised so great thinges he ouercame such mighty realmes and had suche notable victories ouer his enemyes that the Romaines said he had in him the strength of Hercules the hardinesse of Hector the noblenes of Alexander the policye of Pirrus and the fortune of Scipio For many of the vaine gentils held opinion that as the bodyes dyd distribute their goodes in the lyfe so did the soules parte their giftes after the deathe This
if the father had not bene vertuous and the childe sage But the Senate would haue done this and more also for Valentinian because he did deserue it well of the Romaine people For it is reason in distributing of the offices that princes haue more respecte to the desertes of the fathers then to the tender age of the children This young Gracian began to be so temperate and was so good a Christian in fauouring the churche that it was muche quiete and great pleasure to the Romaine people to haue chosen him and greater ioye to the father being aliue to haue begotten hym so that he lefte for him after his death an immortall memorie of his life For the childe that is vertuous is always the memory of the father after his death In the yeare of the foundation of Rome a thousand a hundreth thirtie and two she said Gracian the younger was created sole heire of the whole empire his vncle Valent and his father being departed the worlde After Gracian came to the empyre many Byshoppes whiche were banished in the t me of his vncle Valent were restored to the curche againe and banished al the sect of the Arrians out of his region Truly he shewed him selfe to be a very religious and catholike prince For there is no better iustice to confounde humaine malice then to establishe the good in their estate In the first yeare of the reigne of Gracian emperour all the Germaines and the Gothes rebelled against the Romaine empire for they would not only not obey him but also they prepared an huge army to enuade his empire Imagining that sithe Gracian was young he neither had the wytte nor yet the boldnes to resiste them For where the prince is young there oftimes the people suffred muche wrong and the realme great misery Newes come to Rome howe that the Gaules and Germaines were vp the emperour Gracian wrote to all the catholike byshoppes that they should offer in their churches great sacrifices with prayers vnto God and in Rome likewyse it was ordeined that generally processions should be had to the ende almighty god shoulde moderate his ire against his people For good Christians first pacifie god with praiers before they resiste their enemies with weapons This good prince shewed him selfe to be no lesse warlike in his outward affaires then a good Christiā in his religion For god geueth victories vnto princes more through teares then through weapons These thinges thus finished and his affaires vnto god recommended the noble emperour Gracian determined to marche on and him selfe in persone to giue the battaile And truly as at the first he shewed him selfe to be a good christian so nowe he declared him selfe to be a valiaunt emperour For it were a great infamie and dishonour that a prince by negligence or cowardnes shoulde lose that whiche his predecessours by force of armes had gotten The army of the enemies exceaded far the Romain army in nombre and when they met togethers in a place called Argentaria the Romaines being inferiour to their enemies in numbre were afraide For in the warres the great multitude of ennemies and their puissaunte power maketh oft times the desired victorie to be doubtfull This thing seene of the Romaines and by them considered importunatly they besought the Emperour not to charge the battayle for they saide he had not men sufficiente And herein they had reason For the sage prince should not rashely hazarde his person in the warre nor yet should lightely put his life in the handes of fortune The Emperour Gracian not chaunging coūtenaunce nor stopping in his wordes to al his knightes which wer about him answered in this wise ¶ Of the godly Oration which the Emperour Gracian made to his souldiours before he gaue the battaile Cap. xxvi VAliaunt knightes and companions in warre moste thankefully I accept your seruice in that you haue solde your goodes and doe offer your liues here to accompanie me in the warres and herein you shewe your duties for of right you ought to lose your goodes and to venture your liues for the defence suertie of your countrie But if I geue you some thankes for your company knowe you that I geue much more for your good counsell which presently you geue me for in great conflictes seldome is founde together both good counsell and stoute hartes If I haue enterprised this battaile in hope of mans power then you had had reason that we shoulde not geue the battaile seing the great multitude that they haue and the smal numbre that we are for as you say the weightie affaires of the publike weale should not vnaduisedly be committed to the incertaintie of fortune I haue taken vpon me this daungerous and perillous warres firste trusting that on my part iustice remaineth and sith god is the same onely iustice I truste assuredly he will geue me the victorie in this perillous conflict For iustice auaileth princes more that they haue then the men of warre do whiche they leade Wherfore sith my cause is iuste and that I haue god the onely iudge thereof on my side me thinketh if for any worldly feare I shoulde cease to geue the battayle I should both shew my selfe to be a prince of small fayth and also blaspheme god saying he were of small iustice For god sheweth moste his power there where the fraylenes of man hath leste hope Then sithe I beginne the warre and that by me the warre is procured and for me you are come to the warre I haue determined to enter into the battaile and if I perishe therein I shal be sure it shal be for the memory of my personne and the saluation of my soule For to die through iustice is not to die but to chaunge death for life And thus doing if I lose my life yet therefore I lose not my honour and all this considered I doe that whiche for the common wealth I am bounde For to a prince it were great infamy and dishonour that the quarell being his owne should by the bloud of others be reuenged I wyll proue this day in battaile whether I was chosen Emperour by the deuine wyll or not For if god this day causeth my life to be taken from me it is a manifest token he hath a better in store for me and if through his mercy I be preserued it signifieth that for some other better thing he graunteth me life For in the ende the sword of the enemie is but the scourge of our offences The best that I see therfore in this matter to be done is that til three daies be passed the battayle be not geuen and that we confesse our selues this night and in the morning prepare our selues to receiue our redemer besides this that euery man pardon his christian brother if he haue had any wrong or iniury done him For oftimes though the demaunde of the warre be iust yet many mishaps befall therin through the offences of those which pursue and followe the same
and reproue the .40 yeares of an other Ther are many princes tender of yeres but ripe in counsailes and for the countrary there are other princes old in yeares yong in counsailes When the good Emperour Vespasian died they determined to put his sōne Titus in the gouernement of the empire or some other aged Senator because they said Titus was to yong And as they were in controuersie of the matter the Senatour Rogerus Patroclus said vnto the Senate For my parte I require rather a Prince which is yong and sage then I do a prince which is old and foolysh Therfore now as touchyng the children of Theodosius one day Estilconus the tutour of Archadius speaking to a greke philosopher very sage whose name was Epimundus sayde thus vnto him Thou and I long time haue bene acquainted together in the palace of the emperour Theodose my lord who is dead and we ar aliue thou knowest it had bene better that we .2 had died and that he had liued For there be many to be seruauntes of princes but there ar few to be good princes I feele no greater griefe in this world than to know many princes in one realme For the man whiche hath sene many princes in his lyfe hath sene many nouelties and alterations in the common wealth Thou knowest well that when Theodosius my maister died he spake to me these wordes the which wer not spoken without great sighes and multiplienge of teares O Estilconus I dye and am going into an other world wherin I shall giue a streighte accompte of the Realmes and seignories which I had vnder my charge And therfore when I thinke of myne offences I am meruelously afrayed But when I remember the mercy of God then I receiue some conforte and hope As it is but mete we should trust in the greatnes of his mercy so likewise is it reason we should feare the rigour of his iustice For truly in the christian law they are not suffred to liue as we which are Princes that liue in delightes of this world and afterward without repentaunce to goe streighte to Paradyse Then when I thinke of the great benefittes which I haue receiued of God and of the great offences which I haue committed when I thynke of the long tyme I haue lyued and of the litle which I haue profited also that vnprofitably I haue spent my time On the one part I am loath to dye for that I am afrayed to come before the tribunall seate of Iesus Christ and on the other part I would liue no lenger because I do not profit The mā of an euil life why doth he desire to lyue any longer My lyfe is now finished the tyme is shorte to make amendes And sithe god demaundeth nought els but a contrite harte with all my harte I doe repente and appeale to his iustice of mercie from his Iustice to his mercy because it maye please him to receiue me into his house and to giue me perpetuall glorie to the confusion of al my synnes and offences And I protest I dye in the holy catholike faith commend my soule to god my body to the earth to you Estilconus Ruffinus my faithful seruauntes I recōmende my dere beloued children For herby the loue of the childrē is sene in that the father forgetteth thē not at the houre of his death In this case of one only thing I doe warne you one only thing I require you one only thing I desire you one onely thing I cōmaund you that is that you occupye not your mindes in augmentinge the Realmes seignories of my childrē but only that you haue due respect to giue thē good education vertuous seruāts For it was only the wise men which I had about me that thus long haue mainteined me in this great auctoritie It is a goodly thing for a prince to haue stoute captains for the warres but without comparison it is better to keape haue wise men in his palace For in the end the victory of the battaille consisteth in the force of many but the gouernement of the common weale oftentimes is putte vnder the aduise of one alone These so dolefull and pitiefull wordes my lord and maister Theodosius spake vnto me now tell me Epimundus what I should doe at this present to fulfill his commaundement For at his harte he had nothing that troubled him so much as to thinke whether his children would vndoe or encrease the cōmon wealthe Thou Epimundus thou art a Grecian thou art a philosopher thou hast vnderstandyng thou art an olde seruaunt thou arte my faithfull frend therfore for al these thinges thou art bound to giue me good healthful counsaile For many times I haue heard Theodosius my maister say that he is not accompted sage which hath turned the leaues of many bookes but he which knoweth and can geue good healthful counsailes Epimundus the philosopher aunswered to these wordes Thou knowest wel Lord Estilconus that the auncientes and great Philosophers ought to be brief in wordes and very parfect in their workes For otherwise to speake muche worke litle semeth rather to be done like a tyraunt then like a greeke philosopher The Emperour Theodosius was thy Lord and my frend I say frend because it is the libertie of a greeke Philosopher to acknowledge no homage nor seruice to any superiour For he in his hart can haue no true sciēce that to rebuke the viicous kepeth his mouth shut In one thing I cōtent my selfe in Theodose aboue al other princes which were in the Romaine empire and that is that he knew and talked wisely of al his affaires and also was very diligēt to execute the same For all the fault of Princes is that they are prompte bold to talke of vertues and in executing them they are very slacke fearefull For such Princes can not continew in the vertue which they doe commende nor yet resyste the vyce which they do dispraise I graunt that Theodosius was an executour of iustice mercifull stoute sober valiaunt true louyng thankfull and vertuous and finally in all thinges and at all times he was fortunate For fortune oftentimes bringeth that to Princes which they will and desire yea many times better then they looke for Presuppose it to be true as it is most true that the time was alwayes prosperous to the Emperour Theodosius yet I doubte whether this prosperity wil continew in the succession of his children For worldlye prosperitie is so mutable that with one only man in a moment she maketh a thousande shrewde turnes and so much the more it is harde to continue stedfast in the second heyre Of slowe and dull horses come oftentimes couragious and fyerse coltes and euyn so of vertuous fathers come children euill brought vp For the wicked children inherite the worste of the father whiche is ryches and are dysenherited of the best whiche are vertues That whiche I perceyue in this matter as
the prince all their goods but also they must them selues in parson hazard their lyues If they tell vs that that they keepe is to geeue and dispose for their soules at their dying day I say it is not only want of wisdome but extream folly For at the hour of death princes ought more to reioyce for that they haue geeuen then for that at that time hee geeueth O how princes and great lords are euyll counsailed since they suffer them selues to bee slaundered for beeing couetous only to heap a lyttle cursed treasure For experience teacheth vs no man can bee couetous of goods but needs hee must bee prodigal of honor and abandon liberty Plutarche in the booke which hee made of the fortune of Alexander sayth that Alexander the great had a priuat seruaunt called Perdyca the which seeyng that Alexander liberally gaue all that which by great trauel hee attayned on a day hee said vnto him Tell mee most noble prince sithens thou geeuest all that thou hast to others what wilt thou haue for thy self Alexander aunswered The glory remaineth vnto mee of that I haue wonne gotten the hope of that which I wil geeue winne And further he said vnto him I wil tel thee true Perdyca If I knew that men thought that all that which I take were for couetousnes I swere vnto thee by the god Mars that I woold not beat down one corner in a town and to winne all the world I woold not go one days iourney My intention is to take the glory to my self and to deuyde the goods amongst others These woords so high were woorthy of a valyant and vertuous prince as of Alexander which spake thē If that which I haue read in books do not begyle mee that which with these eies I haue seene to become rych it is necessary that a man geeue for the princes and great lords which naturally are geeuen to bee liberall are alwaies fortunat to haue It chaunceth oft tymes that some man geeuing a little is counted liberall an other geeuing much is counted a nigard The which proceedeth of this that they know not that liberality nigardnes consisteth not in geeuing much or lytle but to know well how to geeue For the rewards and recompences which out of tyme are distributed do nother profit them which receiue them neither agree to him which geeueth them A couetous man geeueth more at one tyme then a noble and free hart doth in .20 thus saieth the common prouerb it is good comming to a niggards feast The difference beetwene the liberality of the one and the mysery of thother is that the noble and vertuous doth geeue that hee geeueth to many but the nigard geeueth that hee geeueth to one onely Of the which vnaduisement princes ought greatly to beware For if in such case one man alone shoold bee found which woold commēd his liberality there are ten thousand which woold condemne his couetousnes It happeneth oft times to princes and great lords that in deed they are free to recompence but in geeuing they are very vnfortunat And the cause is that they geeue it not to vertuous persons and well cōdicioned but to those which are vnthankfull and do not acknowledge the benefit receyued So that in geeuing to some they haue not made them their frends and in not geeuing to others they haue made them their enemies It suffyseth not to princes great lords to haue great desire to geeue but to know when how or where to whom they ought to geeue For if they bee accused otherwise to heap vp treasures they ought also to bee condemned for that they do geeue When a man hath lost all that hee hath in play in whoors in bankets and other semblable vyces it is but reason they bee ashamed but when they haue spent it like noble stout and liberal men they ought not to bee discontented for the wise man ought to take no displesure for that hee loseth but for that hee euil spendeth and hee ought to take no pleasure for that hee geeueth but for that hee geeueth not well Dion the grecian in the lyfe of the Emperor Seuerus saith that one day in the feast of the God Ianus when hee had geeuen dyuers rewards and sundry gifts as well to his own seruaunts as to strangers and that hee was greatly commended of all the Romains hee said vnto them Do you think now Romains that I am very glad for the gifts rewards and recompenses which I haue bestowed and that I am very glorious for the praises you haue geeuen mee by the god Mars I swere vnto ye and let the god Ianus bee so mercifull vnto vs all this yere that the pleasure I haue is not so great for the I haue geeuen as the grief is for that I haue no more to geeue ¶ The auctour foloweth his intencion and perswadeth gentlemen and those that professe armes not to abase them selues for gaines sake to take vpon them any vyle function or office Cap. xix PLutarche in his Apothemes declareth that king Ptolomeus the first was a prince of so good a nature and so gentle in conuersation that oft times hee went to supper to the houses of his familiar frinds and many nights hee remayned there to sleap And truly in this case hee shewed him self to bee welbeeloued of his For speaking according to the trueth a prynce on whose lyfe dependeth the hole state of the common wealth ought to credit few was the table and allso fewer in the bed Another thing this Ptolomeus did whych was when hee inuited his frends to dinner or supper or other straungers of soome hee desired to borow stooles of thothers napkins of others cups and so of other things for hee was a prodygall prince For all that his seruaunts in the morning had bought beefore the night folowing hee gaue it away One day al the nobles of his realm of Egipt assembled togethers and desired him very earnestly that hee woold be more moderat in geeuing for they said through his prodygality the hole realm was impouerished The king aunswered You others of Egipt are marueylously deceiued to think that the poore and needy prince is troubled In this case I dare say vnto you that the poore and needy prince ought to think him self happy for good princes ought more to seeke to enrich others then to heap vp treasures for them selues O happy is the common wealth whych deserueth to haue such a prince and happy is that tongue which coold pronounce such a sentence Certainly this prince to all princes gaue good example and counsel that is to weete that for thē it was more honor and also more profit to make others rich thē to bee rich them selues For if they haue much they shal want no crauers and if they haue lytle they shal neuer want seruaunts to serue them Suetonius Tranquillus in the booke of Cesars sayeth that Titus the Emperour one night after supper
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
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
which teacheth and correcteth their lyfe The Emperor condescended to the request of the people on such condiciō that they should geeue a mayster and tutor to Pilas that shoold chastice and correct him as a foole Saieng that since sages tooke fooles to bee their maysters that the fooles also shoold haue sages for maisters The case was that one day hee that had the charge of Pilas did rebuke him for certain lightnes that hee had doon or for some dishonesty that hee had sayed wherat Pilas was exceading wrath with him The which the emperor vndestāding cōmaunded hee should bee whipt and banished for euer When Augustus gaue this sentence they say hee sayd these words Rome hath been mighty and puisaunt inough to make her enemyes stoupe and now shee is not able to banish iesters and fooles And that that is woorse of al they haue presumption to vexe vs and wee haue not courage to reproue them The Lacedemonians had great reason and also the Romayns to ryd their common wealth of iesters For they are idel vitious dishonest malycious and preiudyciall to the common wealth These iesters and iuglers are idell seeing that more then others they eat the swette of others They are vicious for they can not excercise their offices but in vices and in treatyng with vicious men They are dishonest for they get not to eat by dooing good woorks but by speaking dyshonest woords They are malicious for they haue accustomed whē they loue not a mā immediatly to speak euyll of hym They are vnprofitable for the common wealth for they mock vs and sel vs vaine woords and wee pay them good money The world is come to so great folly and corruption that euē as graue and wyse men think it great inconuenience to bee conuersaunt with vayne and fond men so the Lords of estate think it an honor to haue in their house some foolysh iesters yea better to say with reuerence of speache raylyng knaues which speake not to please and shew pastyme but to offend the present and rayl at the absent aswell of the high as the low and that that is more yet then this is that they are not contentyd to haue gyuen this enterteinment and welcome to the noble men and Ientlemen that are at their lords boord but they must needs haue a cast at my lord hym selfe to chere him with all which intollerable abuse ought not onely not to bee suffered but with most sharpe correction punished But what shall wee say that for the most part the lords are so vaine and the iesters so presumptuous and arrogant that the Lords haue more care to contente them then they haue to please the lords In the house of a lord a foole at the end of the yere will ask more then any other of those which are most auncient so that the follyes of one are more acceptable then the seruyces of all It is shame to speake it and no lesse to wryte it that the Children of vanity are so vayne that they brybe a foole or a iester no lesse in these days to thintent hee may bee a meane for them vnto the Prince then they did in times past desire Cicero to make an oration for them beefore the Senat. It is for want of vnderstanding and through the vilety of person oppression of the hart and disprayse of renowme to bee desirous by the mean of fooles too attayne to any thing For hee can haue no great wysedōe which putteth hys hope in the fauor of a foole What remayneth for mee to say when I haue sayd that which I will say And it is that if a iester or foole say openly to some lord God saue your lyfe my good lord Oh hee is a noble man in deed hee will not stick to geeue hym a gowne of silk and entring into a church hee would not geeue a poore man a halpeny O what negligence is there of princes O what vanity of Lords since they forsake the poore and wise to enrych the iesters and fooles They haue enough for the world and not for Ihesus Christ they geeue to those that ask for his louers sake and not to those which ask for the health of the soule Hee ought not to doo so for the knyght which is a Christian and not a worldlyng ought rather to will that the poore doo pray for hym at the hower of death then that the fooles and iesters should prayse him in his lyfe What dooth it profit the soule or the body that the iesters doo prayse thee for a cote thou hast geeuen them and that the poore accuse thee for the bread thou hast denayed them Peraduēture it wil profyt thee asmuch that a foole or a flaterer goe beefore a Prince apparayled with a new lyuery of thine as the poore men shall doo thee damage beefore God to whome thou hast denyed a poore ragged shirt All gentlemen and noble parsonages in the name of our sauiour Iesus Christ I admonysh exhort and humbly require that thei consyder well what they spend and to whom they geeue for the good Princes ought to haue more respect of the necessityes of the poore then of the follyes of counterfayts Geeue as yee wyl deuide as ye list for at the houre of death as much as yee haue laughed with the fooles for that ye haue geeuen them so much shall ye weepe with the poore for that ye haue denayed them At the houre of death it shal bee greeuous paynes to him that dyeth to see the flesh of the orphanes all naked and to beehold counterfaite fooles loden with their garments Of one thing I am amased that indifferently euery man may beecome a foole and no man let him and the woorst of al is if once a foole beecome couetous al the world afterwards cannot make him to to bee in his right senses Truly such one which hath no reasō to bee a foole at the least hee hath good occasion since hee getteth more to eat playeng thē the others doo woorking O what negligence of the princes and what smal respect of the gouernours of the common wealth is this that a yong man whole stout strong and valiaunt should bee suffred to goe from house to house from table to table and only for babbling vayne words and telling shamefull lyes hee should bee counted a man of an excellent tong Another foly there is in this case that their woordes are not so foolish as their deedes are wicked And though they haue a good or euel grace yet in the end they bee counted in the common wealth as loyterers and fooles I know not whether in this case is greater either their folly or our lyghtnes for they vse as fooles in telling vs lyes and wee pay them good mony The Romaynes dyd not permit in their common wealthes old stale iesters nor wee Christyans ought to retayne into our houses idel loyterers Ye ought to know that more offendeth hee which sinneth with a defourme woman then hee which
saluation the euil gotten good a cause of his eternal dānation More ouer yet what toyle and trauayl is it to the body of the man how much more perill to the liuing soule when hee consumeth his hole days and life in wordly broile and yet seely man hee can not absent him self from that vile drudgery till death dooth sommon him to yeeld vp his accoūt of his lief and dooings And now to conclude my prologue I say this booke is deuided into two parts that is to weete in the first tenne chapters is declared how the new come courtier shall beehaue him self in the princes court to winne fauor credit with the prince the surplus of the woork treateth when hee hath atcheeued to his princes fauor acquired the credyt of a worthy courtier how hee shal then continew the same to his further aduaūcement And I doubt no whit but that my lords gentlemen of court wil take pleasure to read it and namely such as are princes familiars and beeloued of court shall mostly reap profyt thereby putting the good lessons aduertisements they fynd heretofore writen in execucion For to the yong courtiers it sheweth them what they haue to doo putteth in remembraunce also the old fauored courtier lyuing in his princes grace of that hee hath to bee circūspect of And fynally I conclude sir that of al the treasors riches gyfts fauors prosperities pleasures seruices greatnes power that you haue possesse in this mortal transitory life by the faith of a christian I sweare vnto you also that you shal cary no more with you then the onely time which you haue wel vertuously emploied during this your pilgrimage ¶ The Argument of the booke entituled the fauored courtier wheare the author sheweth the intent of his woork exhorting all men to read and study good and vertuous bookes vtterly reiectyng fables and vayn trifflyng stories of small doctrine erudicion AVlus Gelius in his booke De noctibus atticis sayeth that after the death of the great poet Homer seuen famous Cyties of Greece were in great controuersy one with the other ech one of them affirmyng that by reason the bones of the sayd poet was theirs and onely apperteined to them all seuen takyng their othes that hee was not onely born but also norished and brought vp in euery one of them And this they did supposing that they neuer had so great honor in any thing but that this was farre greater to haue educated so excellent and rare a man as hee was Euripides also the philosopher born and brought vp in Athens trauayling in the realme of Macedonia was sodeynly striken with death which wofull newes no sooner came to the Athenians ears declared for a trouth but with al expedicion they depeached an honorable imbasy onely to intreat the Lacedemonians to bee contented to deliuer them the bones of the sayd philosopher protesting to them that if they woold franckly graunt them they woold regratify that pleasure done them and if they woold deny them they should assure them selues they woold come to demaund them with sweord in hand Kyng Demetrius held Rhodes beesyged long tyme which at length hee wanne by force of armes and the Rhodians beeing so stubborn that they would not yeeld by composition nor trust to his princely clemency hee commaunded to strike of all the Rhodians heads and to rase the cyty to the hard foundacions But when hee was let vnderstand that there was euen then in the cyty Prothogenes a phylosopher and paynter doutyng least in executyng others hee allso vnknowen myght bee put to the sweord reuoked his cruel sentence and gaue straight commaundement foorthwith they should cease to spoyle and deface the town further and also to stay the slaughter of the rest of the Rhodiens The diuine Plato beeing in Athens aduertised that in the cyty of Damasco in the realme of Palestine were certayn bookes of great antiquity whych a philosopher born of that countrey left beehynd hym there when hee vnderstoode it to bee true went thither immediatly led with the great desyre hee had to see them and purposely if they dyd lyke him afterwards to buy them And when hee saw that neyther at his sute nor at the requests of others hee could obtein them but that hee must buy them at a great price Plato went and sold all his patrimony to recouer them and his own not beeing sufficient hee was fayn to borrow vpon interest of the cōmon treasory to help him So that notwithstanding hee was so profound and rare a philosopher as in deede hee was yet hee woold sell all that small substaunce hee had only to see as hee thought some prety new thing more of philosophy As Ptholomeus Philadelphus kyng of Egipt not contented to bee so wise in al sciences as hee was nor to haue in his library .8000 bookes as hee had nor to study at the least .4 howers in the day nor ordinaryly to dispute at his meales wyth philosophers sent neuertheles an imbassage of noble men to the Ebrews to desire them they woold bee contented to send him some of the best lerned and wisest men among them to teach him the Ebrew tongue to read to him the bookes of their laws When Alexander the great was born his father kyng Phillippe wrote a notable letter immediatly to Aristottle among other matters hee wrote there were these I doo thee to weete O greatest philosopher Aristotle if thou knowst it not that Olimpias my wife is brought to bed of a sonne for which incessantly I geeue the gods immortal thanks not so much that I haue a sonne as for that they haue geeuen him mee in thy tyme. For I am assured hee shal profit more with the doctrine thou shalt teach him thē hee shal preuail with the kingdoms I shal leaue him after mee Now by the examples aboue recited and by many more we coold alledge wee may easly consider with what reuerence and honor the auncient kyngs vsed the learned and vertuous men of their tyme. And wee may also more playnly see it syth then they held in greater price and estimacion the bones of a dead philosopher then they doo now the doctrine of the best learned of our time And not without iust occasiō dyd these famous heroycal princes ioy to haue at home in their houses abrode with them in the feeld such wise learned men whilst they liued after they were dead to honor their bones and carcases and in dooing this they erred not a iot For who so euer accompanieth continually with graue wise men enioyeth this benefit and priuiledge beefore others that hee shall neuer bee counted ignorant of any Therefore continuing still our fyrst purpose let vs say that who so euer will professe the company of sober and wise men yt can not otherwise bee but hee must maruelously profyt by their comapny For beeing in their company they will put all
the Egiptians nor Licurgus to the Lacedemonians nor Plato to his disciples nor Apolonius to the poets of Nemsis nor Hiarcus to the Indians coold euer tech it them and much lesse coold they tell how to fynd any way to write it in their bookes of common wealth The cause why these famous men did not fynd it was beecause this science coold not bee learned by studying of dyuers bookes nor by traueling through dyuers countreys but only by framing great suites and processes and by infinite charge and expence of money Happy yea truely most happy were those ages in whych they neither knew nor coold tell what strife or contentionment For in deede from that tyme hetherto the world hath fallen to decay and cheefely since men haue growen to quarel and contend ech other with his neighbor Plato was wont to say that in that comon weale where there were found many Phisitians it was also an euydent token that there were many vicyous people and lykewise wee may say that in the city where there are many suters it is to bee thought it folowes also that there are many yll disposed people That only may bee called a blessed and fortunat common weale where men lyue quietly and haue not to doo with Iustices nor iudges For it is a true rule when phisitians are much frequēted and iudges much occupyed that amongst that people there is lyttle health and lesse quiet But to returne to the troubles of our suters I say that the disciples of the famous Philosopher Socrates were not bound to bee sylent in Athens aboue two yeres but the vnfortunat suters were bound to hold their peace tenne yeres if their sutes did continue so long For albeeit the Iudge doo them open iniury yet they may not seeme to complayn but rather say hee thinketh hee hath doon him the best iustice in the world And if for his mishapp or plague of his offences hee woold not so approue and speak them let him bee assured the Iudge will perceiue it by his countenaunce and afterwards lett hym know it by his iudgement Some suters say they are great sinners and I say they are saints For of the seuen dedly sinnes that are committed only of three they are but to bee accused For in the other iiii although they woold they doo not geeue him tyme nor leaue to offend How can the suter euer offend in Pryde since hee must poore man goe from house to house with hys capp in his hand and all humility to solicite his cause How can hee euer offend in Auarice syth hee hath not many tymes a peny in his purse to by him his dyuer nor to pay for the infinit draughts and coppyes proceeding out of the Chauncery How can hee offend in Sloth and ydlenes sith hee consumeth the long nights only in sighes and complaynts and the whole day in trotting and trudging vp and down How can hee offend in Gluttony since hee woold bee content to haue only to suffyse nature and not to desyre pyes nor breakfastes nor to lay the table euery day That sinne they most easely and commonly offend in is Ire and in deede I neuer saw suter paciēt and although hee bee angry wee may not maruell at yt a whit For if euer once in the end of half a yere hee happen to haue any thyng that pleaseth hym I dare bee bound euery weeke after hee shall not want infinit troubles to torment and vex hym These men also offend much in enuy for in deed there is no man that pleades but ys enuious and thys proceedeth many tymes to see an other man by fauor dispatched of hys sute that hath not contynued only two moneths in court a suter and of hys that hath continued aboue two yeres synce yt beganne not a woord spoken They offend also in the sinne of backbyting and murmuryng agaynst their neyghbors For they neuer cease complayning of the partiality of the Iudges of the slouthfulnes and tymorousnes of his Counseller that pleades hys cause at the barre of the little consideration of the attorny of the payments of the notary and of the small curtesies or rather rudenes of the officers of the Iudge So that it may well bee sayd that to striue in law and to murmure are nere kinsfolkes togeethers The Egiptians were in tyme past plaged only wyth tenne plagues but these miserable woful suters are dayly plaged with a thowsand torments And the difference beetwixt their plague these is that the Egiptians came from the diuine prouydence and these of our poore suters from the inuention of mans malyce And it is not without cause wee say that it is mans inuention not diuine For to frame inditements to geene delays to the party to allege accions to deny the demaund to accept the proofe to examin witnesses to take out proces to note the declaration to prolong the cause alleging well or prouing yll to refuse the iudge for suspect to make intercession to take out the copy of the plea and to call vppon it agayn wyth a 1500. dudles Surely all these are things that neither god commaundeth in the old testament neither Ihesus Christ our sauiour dooth allow in his holy Gospell The writings of Egipt although they were to the great losse and detriment of the seignory of the Egiptians yet were they neuerthelesse very profitable for the liberty of the Egiptians But the miserable playntifes are yet in an other greater extremity for notwithstanding the plagues and miseries the poore wretches suffer daily yet do they leaue their soules buried in the courts of Chauncery and cannot notwithstanding haue their goods at liberty And if the plague of the Egiptians was by ryuers of blood froggs horse flyes death of cattell tempests leprosy locusts mists flyes and by the death of the first borne children The plague of the plaintifes is to serue the presidents to beare with the auditors to intreat the notaries to make much of their clarks to please the counsellers to follow their heeles that must open their cause to pray the vsshers to borow money to goe from house to house to sollicite their attorneys all these things are easy to tell but very hard to suffer For after they are once prooued and tryed by experience they are enough to make a wyse man contented rather to lose a peece of hys ryght then to seeke to recouer it by any such extremity For hee may bee well assured that hee shall neuer want fayre countenaunce sugred woords and large promyses but for good dooings it is a maruelous woonder if euer they meete togeethers And therefore beefore all other thyngs it is necessary hee pray to God for hys own health and preseruation and next to him for the preseruacion and long continuaunce of the Iudge if hee will obteyn his suite Therefore I aduise him that hath not the Iudge for hys frend to beeware as from the deuyll hee doo not commence any suite beefore him For to dispatch him the
I doe appeale thee if thou hast dreamed that thou hast wrytten I saye beleue not in dreames and if thou wylt not it shoulde auayle to glorifie me as a frende yet thou mightest wryte it aduertising and repreuing me as the father to the sonne younge vertuous persones are bounde to honour auncient wyse men and no lesse olde wyse men ought to endoctrine the younge people and very young as I am A iust thing it is that the new forces of youth supplie and serue them that are worne by age For their longe experience instructeth our tender age and naturall ignoraunce Youthe is euill applied when it aboundeth in force of the body wanteth the vertues of the mind and age is honoured wherein the force dieth outwarde whereby vertues quickeneth the more inwarde We may see the tree when the fruite is gathered the leaues fall and when flowers drie then more grene and perfecte are the rootes I meane that when the first season of youth is passed whiche is the Sommer time then commeth age called Wynter and purifieth the fruite of the fleshe and the leaues of fauour fal the flowers of delite wither and the vynes of hope drye outwarde then it is ryght that much better are the rootes of good workes within They that be olde and auncient ought to prayse their good workes rather then their white heares For honoure ought to be geuen for the good life and not for the whyte head Glorious is that common wealth and fortunate is that prince that is lord of young men to trauaile and auncient persones to councell As to regarde the sustaininge of the naturalitie of the lyfe in likewyse ought to be considered the policy of gouernaunce the whiche is that al the fruites come nor drye not al at once but when one beginneth another faileth And in this maner ye that be auncient teaching vs and we be obedient as olde fathers and young pullettes being in the neste of the Senate Of some their fethers fallinge and other younge fethered and where as the olde fathers can not flie their trauayles are mainteined by their tender children Frende Catullus I purposed not to wryte one lyne this yeare because my penne was troubled with thy slouthe but the weakenes of my spirite and the great peril of myne offices alwayes called on me to demaunde thy councell This priuiledge the olde wyse men holde in their houses where they dwell They are alwayes lordes ouer them that be simple and are sclaues to them that be wyse I thinke thou hast forgotten me thinking that sithe the death of my dere sonne Verissimus the time hath bene so long that I should forget it Thou hast occasion to thinke so for many thinges are cured in time which reason can not helpe But in this case I can not tell which is the greatest thy trūpery or my dolour I sweare to thee by the gods immortall that the hungry wormes are not so puissaunt in the entrales of the vnhappy chylde as the bitter sorowes are in the heauy hart of the wofull father And it is no comparison for the sonne is dead but one tyme and the heauy father dieth euery momente What wylt thou more that I should saye But that one ought to haue enuy of his death and compassion of my lyfe because in dyeng he lyueth and in the lyuing I dye In the mischaunces of lyfe and in the great vnconstancie of fortune whereas her gyles profiteth but litle and her strengthe lesse I thinke the best remedy is to fele it as a man and dissimule it as discrete and wyse If all things as they be felt at heart should be shewed outward with the tongue I thynke that the wyndes shoulde breake the hearte with syghinges and water all the earth with weping O if the corporal eyes sawe the sorowe of the heart I sweare to thee they should see more of a drop of bloud sweatinge within then all the wepyng that appeareth without There is no comparyson of the great dolours of the body to the least greife of the mynde For all trauayle of the body men may finde some remedy but if the heauy heart speake it is not heard if it wepe it is not sene if it complaine it is not beleued What shal the poore harte doe Abhorre the lyfe wherwith it dieth and desire death wherwith it liueth The highe vertues among noble vertuous people consiste not all onely to suffer the passions of the body but also to dissimule them of the soule They be suche that alter the humours and shewe it not outward they brynge a feuer without altering of the poulce they alter the stomacke they make vs to knele to the earth to suffer the water vp to the mouthe and to take death without leauing of the lyfe and finally they length our life to the intente that we should haue no more trauayle and denieth vs our graue to the intent that we should not reste But considering as I am troubled with sorowes so am I voyde of consolations for when I haue either desire of the one or werynes of the other I vse alwayes this remedy to dissimule with the tongue to wepe with the eyes and to fele it with my heart I passe my lyfe as he that hoped to lese all that he hath neuer to recouer that that is loste I saye this though ye see me not nowe make funeral wepinges and waylinges as I did at the death of my sonne yet thinke not but it doeth bren my heart so that with the great heate inward is consumed the humiditie of the eyes for it brenneth al my spirites within Thou mayest knowe what an honorable father suffereth to lese a good childe in all thinges the gods be liberal except in geuing vs vertuous children Where there is aboūdaunce of great estates there is greatest scarsitie of good inheritours It is a dolefull thing to heare and greater pitie to see howe these fathers clime to haue rychesse and to see their children descende to haue viciousnes To see the fathers honoure their children and the children to infame their fathers yea and the fathers to geue reste to the chyldren and the chyldren to geue trouble to their fathers yea and sometyme the fathers die for sorowe that their children die so sone and we see their childrē wepe because their fathers die so late What should I saye more but that the honoure and ryches that the fathers haue procured with great thought the chyldren consume with litle care I am certayne of one thing that the fathers may gather ryches with strengthe and crafte to susteyne their children but the Gods wyll not haue durable that that is begonne with euyll intention as that is whiche is wonne to the preiudice of other and possessed with an euyll heyre And though the heauy destinies of the father permit that the ryches be lefte to their children to serue them in all their vyces for their pastime at last yet according to their merites the