that amongest the myshappes of fortune we dare saye that ther is no felycitie in the world And he only is happie from whom wisedom hath plucked enuious aduersitie and that afterwards is brought by wisedome to the highest felycitye And thoughe I would I cannot endure any lenger but that the immortall gods haue the in their custoditye and that they preserue vs from euyl fortune Sith thou art retired now vnto Bethinie I know well thou wouldest I should write the some newes from Rome and at this presente there are none but that the Carpentines and Lusitaines are in great strife and dissension in Spayne I receiued letters how that the barbarous were quyet though the host that was in Illiria were in good case yet notwistanding the army is somwhat fearefull and timerous For in all the coaste and borders ther hath bene a great plague Pardon me my frend Pulio for that I am so sickely that yet I am not come to my selfe For the feuer quartaine is so cruel a disease that he which hath it contenteth himselfe with nothinge neither taketh pleasure in any thing I send the .ii. of the best horses that can be found in al Spayne also I send the ii cuppes of gold of the richest that can be founde in Alexandria And by the lawe of a good man I swere vnto the that I desire to sende the ii or .iii. howers of those which trouble me in my feauer quartaine My wife Faustine saluteth the and of her part and mine also to Cassia thy olde mother and noble widowe we haue vs commended Marcus the Romaine Emperour with his owne hande writeth this and againe commendeth him vnto his dere frend Pulio ¶ That princes and great Lordes ought not to esteme them selues for being fayre and wel proportioned Cap. xli .. IN the time that Iosue triumphed amongest the Hebrues and that Dardanus passed from great Grece to Samotratia and when the sonnes of Agenor were seking their sister Europe and in the time that Siculus reigned in Scicil in great Asia in the Realme of Egipt was buylded a great cytie called Thebes the which king Busiris built of whom Diodorus Sicculus at large mencioneth Plynie in the .36 chapter of his naturall historie and Homere in the second of his Iliade and Statius in al the booke of his Thebiade do declare great meruelles of this citye of Thebes which thing ought greatly to be estemed for a man oughte not to thinke that fayned whiche so excellente auctours haue writen For a truth they say that Thebes was in circuite .40 myles and that the walles were .30 stades hye and in breadthe .6 They say also that the citie had a hundreth gates very sumptuous and strong and in euery gate .ii. hundreth horsemen watched Through the middest of Thebes passed a great riuer the which by mylles and fishe dyd greatly profite the citie When Thebes was in his prosperity they say that there were two hundreth thousand fiers and besydes all this al the kynges of Egipt were buried in that place As Strabo sayth De situ orbis when Thebes was destroyed with enemies they found therin lxxvii tombes of kings whych had bene buried there And here is to be noted that al those tombes were of vertuous kings For among the Egiptians it was a law inuiolable that the king which had bene wicked in his lyfe should not be buried after his death Before the noble and worthy Numantia was founded in Europe the riche Carthage in Affricke and the hardye Rome in Italy the goodly Capua in Campaigne and the great Argentine in Germanie and the holy Helia in Palestine Thebes onlye was the most renowmed of all the world For the Thebanes amongest al nacions were renowmed aswel for their riches as for their buyldings and also because in theyr lawes customes they had many notable seuere things al the men were seuere in their workes although they would not be knowen by their extreame doinges Homere sayth that the Thebanes had v. customes wherein they were more extreme then any other nacion 1. The first was that the children drawing to v. yeres of age were marked in the forehead with a hoote yron because in what places so euer they came they should be knowen for Thebanes by that marke 2. The second was that they should accustome their children to trauaile alwayes on foote And the occasion why they dyd this was because the Egiptians kept their beastes for their gods and therfore when so euer they trauayled they neuer rydde on horsebacke because they should not seme to sitte vpon their god 3. The third was that none of the citizens of Thebes shold mary with any of straunge nacions but rather they caused them to marrye parentes with parentes because that frendes maryeng with frendes they thoughte the frendshippe and loue should be more sure 4. The fourthe custome was that no Thebane should in any wise make a house for himselfe to dwel in but first he should make his graue wherin he should be buryed Me thinketh that in this point the Thebanes were not to extreme nor excessiue but that they did lyke sage and wise men yea and by the law of veryte I sweare that they were sager then we are For if at the least we dyd imploye our thought but two howers in the weke to make our graue it is vnpossible but that we should correcte euerye daye our life 5. The fift custome was that all the boies which were excedinge faire in their face shoulde be by theym strangled in the cradell and all the girles whiche were extreame foule were by them killed sacrifised to the godds Sayeng that the gods forgotte themselues when they made the men faire and the women foule For the man which is very faire is but an vnparfite woman and the woman which is extreme foule is but a sauage and wilde beast The greatest God of the Thebaines was Isis who was a red bull nourisshed in the riuer of Nile and they had a custome that all those which had red heere immediately should be sacrifyâ—ed The contrarye they did to the beastes for sithe their God was a bul of tawnye couloure none durst be so bold to kyl any beasts of the same coloure In such fourme and maner that it was lawfull to kyll both men and women and not the brute beastes I do not say this was wel done of the Thebaines to sley their children nor yet I do say that it was wel done to sacrifice men women which had red or taunye heere nor I thinke it a thinge reasonable that they should do reuerence to the beastes of that coloure but I wonder why they should so much dispise foule women and faire men sith all the world is peopled bothe with faire and foule Then sith those barbarous lyuyng as they did vnder a false law did put him to death whom the Gods had adorned with any beautie we then which are Christians by reason ought much lesse to esteme
they ought to eschew Cap. xxvi The Emperour concludeth his letter parswadeth his frend Cincinatus to dispise the vanities of the world sheweth though a man be neuer soo wise yet he shall haue nede of a nother mans counsel chap. xxvii The auctor perswadeth princes great lordes to fly couetousnes and auarice and to become liberal which is a vertue semely for a Royal parson Cap. xxviii The auctor parswadeth gentlemen and those the professe armes not to abase them selues by taking vpoÌ„ them any vile offices for gaine sake Cap. xxix Of a letter themperoure wrote to his neighbour Marcurius wherin men maye learne the daungers of those whyche trafficke by sea see the couetousnes of them that trauaile by land Cap xxx The Emperour foloweth his matter concludeth his leter rebuking his frende Marcurius for that he toke thought for the losse of his goods He sheweth the nature of fortune the conditions of the couetous man Cap. xxxi That princes and noble men ought to consider the misery of mans nature that brute beasts are in some points reason set a part to be preferred vnto man cap. xxxii The auctor compareth the misery of meÌ„ with the liberty of beasts Cap. xxxiii The Emperoure wryteth his letter to Domicius to comfort him being banyshed for a quarrel betwixte him and another about the running of a horse verye comfortable to al them that haue bene in prosperitye and are now brought into aduersity Cap. xxxiiii That princes noble men ought to be aduocattes for widowes fathers of orphanes and helpers of al those whych are comfortles xxxv That the troubles gréefes sorowes of women are much greater thenne those of men wherfore prynces noble men ought to haue more compassion vpon womeÌ„ then on men Cap. xxxvi Of a letter which the Emperour wrote to a Romane lady named Lauinia comforting her for the death of her husband which is a great consolation for all those that are sorowfull for the dissease of their frendes Chap. xxxvii The Emperour perswaded widâ—es to put their wylles vnto the will of god exorteth them to liue honestly Chap. xxxviii That princes noble men ought to dispise the world for that ther is nothing in the world but plaine disceyte Chap. xxxix The emperour speaketh vehemently against th disceytes of the world Chap. xl Of a letter whych the Emperour Mar. Aure. wrot to Torquatus to comfort him in his banishement whyche is notable for all menne to learne the vanities of thys worlde Chap. xli The Emperour perswadeth al men by strong highe reasoÌ„s not to trust the world nor any thing therin Chap. xlii Princes and noble men oughte not to beare with Iuglers iesters parasites minstrelles loyterers nor with any such kynd of raskals And of the lawes which the Romains made in this behalfe Chap. xliii How some loyterers were punished by the auncientes and of these raskalles of our time Chap. xliiii Of a letter whiche the Emperour wrot to a frende of his certifieng him that he hadde banished from Rome the iesters iuglers conterfet fooles parasytes ruffiaÌ„s minstrels vacabondes and al other loyterers a notable letter for such as kepe couÌ„terfait foles in their houses Chap. xlv Howe the Emperour founde the sepulchres of many lerned Philosophers in Helespont whereunto he sent all these loyteres Chap. xlvi The emperour declareth the cause why these iesters and iuglers were admytted into Rome Chap. xlvii That Princes and noble men ought to remember that they are mortall and muste dy wher are sondry notable consolations against the feare of death Chap xlviii Of the death of the Emperour Mar. Aur. and how they are few frendes whiche dare say the truth vnto sickmen Chap. xlix Of the confortable wordes whiche the secretarye Pannutius spake to the Emperour Marcus Aurelius at the houre of hys death Chap. l. Pannutius the secretary exorteth al men wyllingly to accept death and vtterly to for sake the world his vanity Chap. li. The aunswere of the Emperour Marcus to Panutius his secretary wherin he declared that he toke no thought to forsake the world but all hys sorowe was to leaue behynde him an vnhappy childe to enherite the Empyre Chap. lii The Emperour Marcus Aurelius concludeth his matter and sheweth that sondrye yong Princes for beyng vitious haue vndone theÌ„ selues and impouerished their Realmes Chap. liii Of the wordes which the emperour M. Arelius spake vnto his sonne Commodus necessary for all noble yonge gentlemen to vnderstand Chap. liiii The emperour Mar. aur among other holsome counsels exorteth his son to kepe wise sage meÌ„ about him for to giue him counsell in all his affaires Chap. lv The emperour foloweth his matter and exorteth his sonne vnto certain particuler thinges worthy to be engraued in the hartes of men Char. lvi The good Marcus Aurelius Emperour of Rome endeth his purpose life And of the last wordes whiche he spake to his son CoÌ„modus of the table of counsels whiche he gaue him Chap. lvii The end of the Table of the third boke The table of the fourth booke The Epistle to the Reader The Prologue The Argument That it is more necessary for the courtier abidyng in court to bée of lyuely spirite audacitie theÌ„ it is for the souldiour that goeth to serue in the warres Chap. i. Of courtiers brawles quarels with the harbingers for ill lodging Chap. ii How the courtier shoulde entreate hys hoste or mayster of the house wheare he lyeth Chap. iii. What the Courtier must doo to wynne the Princes fauour Chap. iiii What maners and gestures becom the courtier when he speaketh to the Prince Chap. v. How the courtier should behaue himself to knowe and to visite the noble men and gentle men that bée great with the Prince and contynuing still in court Chap. vi Of the good countenaunce modestie the courtier should haue in behauing himselfe at the prince or noble mans table in that time of his meale Cap. vii What companye the courtier shoulde kepe and how he should apparel hymselfe Chap. viii Of the wyse maner the courtier should haue to serue and honour the Ladyes and gentlewomen and also to satisfye please the vsshers porters of the kyngs house Chap. ix Of the greate paynes and troubles the courtier hath that is toild in sutes of lawe and howe he must suffer and behaue himselfe with the Iudges Chap. x. The auctor speaketh of the beloued of the court admonishing them to be pacient in their troubles and that they be not partial in th affayres of the common weale Chap. xi That thofficers and beloued of the court should be very diligent and careful in the dispatche of the affayres of the prynce and common weale and in correctynge and reformyng their seruaunts they should also be very circumspct and aduised Chap. xij That the déerlings of the court beware they be not proude and hyghe minded for lightlye they neuer fal but
taketh away fear from death The deuine Plato demaūded Socrates how hee beehaued him self in life and how hee woold beehaue him self in death hee aunswered I let thee weete that in youth I haue traueled to liue wel and in age I haue studied to dye well and sith my life hath been honest I hope my death shal bee ioyful And though I haue had sorow to lyue I am sure I shall haue no payn to dye Truely these woords were woorthy of such a man Men of stout harts suffer maruelously when the swet of their trauel is not rewarded when they are faithful and their reward answereth nothing to their true seruice when for their good seruices their frends beecome vnthankful to them when they are woorthy honor and that they preferre them to honorable rome and office For the noble and valyant harts doo not esteeme to lose the reward of their labor but think much vnkindnes when a man dooth not acknowledge their trauel O happy are they that dye For without inconuenience and without payn euery man is in hys graue For in this tribunall iustice to all is so equally obserued that in the same place where wee haue deserued life in the same place wee merited death There was neuer nor neuer shall bee iudge so iust nor in iustice so vpryght that geeueth reward by weight payn by measure but somtimes they chastice the innocent and absolue the gylty they vex the faultlesse and dissemble with the culpable For litle auayleth it the plaintif to haue good iustice if conscience want to the iudge that shoold minister Truely it is not so in death but all ought to count them selues happy For hee which shall haue good iustice shal bee sure on his part to haue the sentence When great Cato was censor in Rome a famous Romayn dyed who shewed at his death a merueylous courage and when the Romayns praised him for that hee had so great vertu and for the woords hee had spoken Cato the Censour laughed at that they sayd for that they praised him And hee beeing demaunded the cause of his laughter aunswered Ye maruell at that I laugh and I laugh at that you maruel For the perils and trauels considered wherein wee liue and the safety wherein wee dye I say that it is no more needful to haue vertue strength to liue then courage to dye The aucthor heereof is Plutarch in his Apothegmes Wee cannot say but that Cato the Censour spake as a wise man since dayly wee see shamefast and vertuous persons suffer hunger cold thrist trauel pouerty inconuenience sorows enmities and mishaps of the which things wee were better to see the end in one day then to suffer them euery hour For it is lesse euill to suffer an honest death then to endure a miserable lyfe O how small cōsideration haue men to think that they ought to dye but once Since the trueth is that the day when wee are born and comen in to the world is the beeginning of our death and the last day is when wee doo cease to liue If death bee no other but an ending of lyfe then reason perswadeth vs to think that our infancy dyeth our chyldhod dyeth our manhod dyeth our age shall dye whereof wee may consequently conclude that wee dye euery yere euery day euery hour and euery moment So that thinking to lead a sure lyfe wee tast a new death I know not why men fear so much to dye since that from the time of their birth they seeke none other thing but death For time neuer wanted to any man to dye neither I knew any man that euer failed of this way Seneca in an epistle declareth that as a Romain woman lamented the death of a child of hers a philosopher said vnto her Woman why beewaylest thou thy child she aunswered I weepe beecause hee hath liued .xxv. yeres I woold hee shoold haue liued till fyfty For amongst vs mothers wee loue our children so hartely that wee neuer cease to beehold them nor yet end to beewayl them Then the Philosopher said Tell mee I pray thee woman why doost thou not complayn of the gods beecause they created not thy sonne many yeres beefore hee was born as well as thou complaynest that they haue not let him liue .l. yeres Thou weepest that hee is dead so soone and thou doost not lament that hee is borne so late I tel thee true woman that as thou doost not lament for the one no more thou oughtst to bee sory for the other For wythout the determination of the gods wee can not shorten death and much lesse lengthen life So Plinie sayd in an epistle that the cheefest law whych the gods haue geeuen to humayn nature was that none shoold haue perpetuall life For with disordinat desire to liue long wee shoold neuer reioice to goe out of this payn Two philosophers disputyng beefore the great Emperor Theodose the one sayd that it was good to procure death and the other lykewise sayd it was a necessary thing to hate lyfe The good Theodose takyng hym by the hand said All wee mortalles are so extreem in hatyng and louyng that vnder the colour to loue and hate lyfe wee lead an euyll lyfe For wee suffer so many trauels for to preserue it that sometymes it were much better to lose it And further hee sayd dyuers vayn men are come into so great follies that for fear of death they procure to hasten death And hauing consideration to this mee seemeth that wee ought not greatly to loue lyfe nor with desperation to seeke death For the strong and valiaunt men ought not to hate lyfe so long as it lasteth nor to bee displeased with death when hee commeth All commended that whych Theodose spake as Paulus Diaconus sayth in his lyfe Let euery man speak what hee will and let the philosophers counsell what they list in my poor iudgement hee alone shal receiue death without payn who long before is prepared to receiue the same For sodayn death is not only bitter to hym which tasteth it but also it feareth him that hateth it Lactantius sayd that in such sort man ought to liue as if from hence an hour after hee shoold dye For those men which will haue death beefore their eies it is vnpossible that they geeue place to vain thoughts In my oppinion and also by the aduyse of Apuleius it is as much folly to fly from that which wee cannot auoyd as to desire that wee cannot attain And this is spoken for those that woold flye the vyage of death which is necessary and desire to come agayn which is vnpossible Those that trauell by long ways if they want any thing they borow it of their company If they haue forgotten ought they returne to seeke it at their lodging or els they write vnto their frends a letter But I am sory that if wee once dye they will not let vs return agayn wee cannot speak and they will not agree
The Dial of Princes Compiled by the reuerend father in God Don Antony of Gueuara Byshop of Guadix Preacher and Chronicler to Charles the fifte late of that name EMPEROVR Englished out of the Frenche by T. North sonne of Sir Edvvard North Knight L. North of Kyrtheling And now newly reuised and corrected by hym refourmed of faultes escaped in the first edition with an amplification also of a fourth booke annexed to the same Entituled The fauored Courtier neuer heretofore imprinted in our vulgar tongue Right necessarie and pleasaunt to all noble and vertuous persones Now newly imprinted by Richarde Tottill and Thomas Marshe Anno. Domini 1568. To the moste highe and vertuouse Princesse Mary by the grace of God Queene of Englande Spayne Fraunce bothe Sicilles Ierusalem Naples and Irelande Defendour of the faith Archiduchesse of Austria Duchesse of Burgundie Mylaine and Brabante Countesse of Haspourge Flaunders and Tyroll Longe health and perpetual felicitie THE Diuine philosopher Plato moste gracious soueraigne Lady trauailing all his life time to abolish the barbarous maners of the Grecians and to induce a ciuile forme of liuing among the people ordeined a lawe to the greate comfort of those that folowed vertue and no lesse to the terrour of others that haunted vices The which commaunded that not onely those which brought in or inuented any newe thing that might either corrupt the good maners violate the aunciente customes hinder through euill example good liuing impoison with erronious doctrine the consciences effeminate with voluptuous pleasures the heartes impouerish with vnprofitable marchaundise the people or diffame through malitious words the renowmes should be as vnprofitable membres from the common wealth expelled and banished but also ordeined that those which studied to publish any institution apperteyning either to the honoure of the Goddes to the reformation of the frayltie of men or by any other meane to the profit of the weale publike should be condingly of the common wealth enterteined preferred and honoured Then if this lawe were iust most gracious soueraigne Lady as it is moste iuste in dede who deserued more honorable enterteynement amonge the liuing or who meriteth a worthier fame among the dead then Don Antony of Gueuara the Author hereof For by his stayed life God hath bene glorified by his holsome doctrine the people of Spayne heretofore edified and by his swete and sauorie writinges we and sundrie other nations at this present may be much profited The which though they are al pitâ—y and ful of high doctrine yet this entituled Los relox de principes aboue the rest in my opinion is most profonde and pleasaunt For if the zeale that I beare to his workes deceiue not my iudgement there is no Authour the sacred letters set aparte that more effectuously setteth out the omnipotencie of God the frailtie of men the inconstancie of fortune the vanitie of this world the misery of this life and finally that more plainely teaceth the good which mortal men ought to pursue and the euill that all men oughte to flie then this present worke doth The which is so full of high doctrine so adourned with auncient histories so authorised with graue sentences and so beautified with apte similitudes that I knowe not whose eies in reading it can be weried nor whose eares in hearing it not satisfied Considering therfore most gracious soueraigne Lady that this worke may serue to high estates for councel to curious serchers of antiquities for knowledge and to al other vertuous gentlemen for an honest pleasaunt and profitable recreation and finally that it may profite all and can hurte none I according to my small knowledge and tender yeares haue reduced it into our vulgare tongue and vnder your graces name hame published it for the commoditie of many Most humbly beseching your highnes to accept in good parte according to your graces accustomable goodnes this my good will and trauaile which here I offer as a pledge of my bounden duty towardes your highnes and also as a perpetual memory of the feruent zeale I beare to my couÌ„trey And in so doing your grace shal not onely encourage me beinge young in these my first fruites but also others peraduenture of more ripe yeares to attempt the like enterprise by the whiche the deuine maiestie may be immortally glorified your puisaunt name worthely magnified your royall persone duely obeyed and all your graces naturall and louing subiectes greatly profited At Lincolnes Inne the .20 of December Your highnes most humble and loyal subiecte Thomas North. The generall Prologue vppon the Booke entytuled the Diall of Princes with the famous booke of MARCVS AVRELIVS Compyled by the reuerend Father in God the Lord Antony of Gueuara Bishop of Guadix Confessor and Chronicler of Charles the fifte Emperoure of Rome to whom to al other Princes and noble men this worke was directed APOLONIVS THIANEVS disputing with the Schollers of Hiarcas sayde that among all the affections of nature nothynge is more naturall than the desire that all haue to preserue life Omitting the dispute of these great philosophers herin we our selfes hereof haue dayly proofe that to lyue men do trauaile to liue birdes do flye to liue fisshes do swime and to lyue beastes do hide themselfes for feare of death Finally I say there is no liuinge creature so brutish that hath not a naturall desire to liue If many of the auncient Paynems so little wene lyfe that of their owne frée willes they offered theÌ„ selues to death they did it not for that they dispised life but bicause they thought that for their little regarding life we would more highly estéeme their fame For we sée men of hawte courages séeke rather to winne a longe during fame than to saue a shorte lasting life How lothe men are to dye is easely sene by the greate paynes they take to liue For it is a naturall thing to all mortal men to leaue their liues with sorow and take their deathes with feare Admitte that all do taste this corporall death and that generally bothe good and euill do dye yet is there great difference betwene the death of one the death of another If the good desire to liue it is for the greater desire they haue to do good but if the euill desire to lyue it is for that they woulde abuse the worlde longer For the children of vanitie call no tyme good but that wherein they liue according to their owne desires I let ye vnderstande that are at this present and ye also that shal come hereafter that I direct my writing vnto those which embrace vertue and not vnto such as are borne awaye with vice God doth not way vs as we are but as we desier to be And let no man say I would and can not be good for as we haue the audacitie to committe a faulte so if we liste we may enforce our selues to worke amendes Al our vndoing procedeth of this that we outwardly make a showe of vertue but inwardlye in
the yle of Scicili haue caried a great quantitie of corne into Spaine and into Affrike the which thing was forbidden by a Romayne lawe and therefore they haue deserued greuous puniâ—â—ement Nowe because thou arte vertuous thou mayst teache me to do wel and I that am olde wil teach the to say wel this is because that amongest wyse and vertuous men it is enoughe to saye that the lawe commaundeth appointeth and suffereth this thing but in as much as it is agreing with reason For the crowne of the good is reason and the scourge of the wicked is the lawe The fourth thing that commonly through the worlde amongest all men was accepted was the barbars And let no man take this thing in mockery For if they doe reade Plinie in the .59 chapiter the seuenth booke they shal finde for a truth that the Romaines wer in Rome .454 yeres without pouling or shauing the hayres of the beard of any man Marcus Varro said that Publius Ticinius was the firste that brought the barbers from Scicili to Rome But admitte it were so or otherwise yet notwithstandinge there was a greate contention amonge the Romaynes For they sayde they thought it a rashe thinge for a man to committe his life to the courtesie of another Dionisius the Siracusan neuer trusted his beard with any barbor but whaÌ„ his doughters were very little they clipped his beard with sisers but after they became great he woulde not put his trust in them to trimme his bearde but he him selfe did burne it with the shales of nuttes This Dionisius Siracusan was demanded why he would not trust any barbours with his beard He answered because I know that ther be some which wil geue more to the barbor to take away my life than I wil giue to trimme my beard Plinie in the seuenth booke saith that the great Scipio called African and the Emperour Augustus wer the first that caused them in Rome to shaue their beards And I thinke thend why Plinie spake these things was to exalte these twoo princes which had as greate courage to suffer the raysours touche their throtes as th one for to fight against Hannibal in Afrike and thother against Sextus Pompeius in Scicili The fifte thing which coÌ„monly through the world was accepted were the dialles and clockes which the Romaines wanted a long tyme. For as Plinie and Marcus Varro say the Romaines were without clockes in Rome for the space of .595 yeres The curious hystoriographers declare thre maner of dialles that were in olde time that is to say dialles of the houres dialles of the sonne and dialls of the water The dialle of the son Aneximenides Millesius inuented who was great Animandras scholer The dialle of the water Scipio Nasica inuented and the Diall of houres one of the scholers of Thales the Phylosopher inuented Of all these antiquities whyche were brought into Rome none of them were so acceptable to the Romaines as the dialles were wherby they measured the daye by the houre For before they could not saye we wil ryse at .vii. of the clocke we will dine at .x. we will see one thother at .xii. at .i. we will doe that we oughte to doe But before they sayde after the sonne is vp we wil doe such a thinge and before it goe downe we wyll doe that we ought to doe Thoccasion of declaryng vnto you these .v. antiquities in this preamble was to no other intente but to call my booke the Dial of Prynces The name of the booke veing newe as it is maye make the learning that is therein greatly to be estemed God forbyd that I should be so bolde to saye they haue ben so longe time in Spayne without dialles of learning as they were in Rome without the diall of the sonne the water and of the houres For that in Spayne haue ben alwayes men well learned in sciences and very expert in the warres By great reason and of greater occasion the Princes oughte to be commended the knyghtes the people their wittes and the fertilitye of their countrey but yet to all these goodnes I haue sene manye vnlearned bookes in spayne which as broken dialles deserue to be cast into the fier to be forged anew I do not speake it without a cause that manye bookes deserue to be broken and burnte For there are so many that without shame and honestie doe set forthe bookes of loue of the worlde at this daye as boldely as if they taught theim to dispise and speake euil of the world It is pitye to see how many dayes and nightes be consumed in readyng vayne bookes that is to say as Orson and Valentine the Courte of Venus the .iiii. sonnes of Amon and diuerse other vaine bokes by whose doctrine I dare boldlye say they passe not the tyme but in perdicion for they learne not how they oughte to flye vice but rather what way they may with more pleasour embrace it This dial of princes is not of sande nor of the sonne nor of the houres nor of the water but it is the dial of lyfe For that other dialles serue to know what houre it is in the nyghte and what houre it is of the day but this sheweth and teacheth vs how we ought to occupye our mindes and how to order our lyfe The propertye of other dyalles is to order thinges publyke but the nature of this dyal of prynces is to teache vs how to occupye our selues euery houre and how to amende our lyfe euery momente It lytle auayleth to keape the dyalles well and to see thy subiectes dissolutely without any order to range in routes and dayly rayse debate and contention amonge them selues Jn this Prologue the Aucthour speaketh particularlye of the booke called Marcus Aurelius which he translated and dedicated to the Emperour Charles the fyfte THe greatest vanitye that I find in the world is that vayne men are not only conteÌ„t to be vaine in their life but also procure to leue a memory of their vanity after their death For it is so thought good vnto vaine and light men whyche serue the worlde in vaine workes that at the houre of death when they perceyue they can do no more that they can no lenger preuaile they offer them selues vnto death which now they see approche vpon them Manye of the world are so fleshed in the world that although it forsaketh them in déedes yet they wyl not forsake it in theyr desires And I durst sweare that if the world could graunt them perpetual life they woulde promyse it alwayes to remaine in their customable follye O what a nomber of vaine men are aliue whiche haue neither remembraunce of god to serue him nor of his glorye to obey him nor of their conscience to make it cleane but like brute beasts folow and ronne after their voluptuous pleasours The brute beast is angrye if a man kepe him to much in awe if he be wery he taketh his rest he slepeth when he lysteth he eateth and
drinketh when he commeth vnto it and vnles he be compelled he doth nothing he taketh no care for the common welth for he neither knoweth how to folow reason nor yet how to resist sensualitie Therfore if a man at al times should eate when he desireth reuenge himselfe when he is moued commit adultrie when he is tempted drinke when he is thristie and slepe when he is drousey we might more properly cal such a one a beaste nourished in the mountaines than a man brought vp in the common wealth For him properly we maye cal a man that gouerneth him self like a man that is to say conformable vnto such things as reason willeth and not wher sensuality leadeth Let vs leaue these vaine men whyche are aliue and talke of them that be dead against whom we dare say that whyles they were in the world they folowed the world liued according to the same It is not to be marueiled at that sins they were lyuing in the worlde they were noted of some worldlye point But seing their vnhappy and wicked life is ended why wil they then smel of the vanities of the world in their graues It is a great shame and dishonor for men of noble stout harts to se in one minut thend of our life and neuer to see the end of our folye We neither read heare nor se any thing more common then suche men as be most vnprofitable in the comon wealth and of life most reprobate to take vpon them most honour whiles they liue and to leaue behind them the greatest memorye at their death What vanity can be greater in the world then to esteme the world whych estemeth no man and to make no compt of god who so greatly regardeth al men what a greater foly can ther be in man then by muche trauaile to encrease his goodes and with vaine pleasours to lose his soule It is an olde plague in mannes nature that many or the most parte of menne leaue the amendment of their life farre behind to set their honor the more before Suetonius Tranquillus in the first booke of the Emperours sayth that Iulius Cesar no further thenne in Spaine in the Citye of Cales nowe called Calis sawe in the temple the triumphes of Alexander the great paynted the whyche when he hadde wel vewed he sighed marueilous soore and beinge asked why he dyd so he aunswered What a wofull case am I in that am now of thage of .30 yeres and Alexander at the same yeres had subdued the whole worlde and rested him in Babilon And I being as I am a Romaine neuer dyd yet thyng woorthy of prayse in my lyfe nor shal leaue any renoume of me after my death Dion the Grecian in the second boke de Audacia saythe that the noble Drusius the Almayne vsed to visite the graues and tombes of the famous and renowmed which were buried in Italy and did this alwaies especially at his going to warfare and it was asked him why he did so he aunswered I vysite the sepulchers of Scipio and of diuers others which are dead before whom al the earth trembled when they were alyue For in beholdyng their prosperous successe I dyd recouer both strength and stoutnes He sayth furthermore that it encourageth a man to fight against hys enemies remembring he shal leaue of him a memory in time to come Cicero sayth in his Rhethorike and also Plynie maketh mencion of the same in an epistle that there came from Thebes in Egipt a knight to Rome for no other purpose but onelye to see whether it were true or no that was reported of the notable thinges of Rome Whom Mecenas demaunded what he perceyued of the Romaynes and what he thought of Rome He aunswered the memorye of the absente dooth more content me then the glory of the present doth satisfye me And the reason of this is The desire which men haue to extol the lyuing and to be equal vnto the dead maketh thinges so straunge in their lyfe that they deserue immortal fame after their death The Romaynes reioysed not a litle to heare such wordes of a straungers mouth wherby he praysed them whych were departed and exalted them that yet lyued O what a thing it is to consider the auncient heathens whych neyther feared hel not hoped for heauen yet by remembraunce of weakenes they toke vnto them strength ▪ by cowardnes they were boldened through feare they became hardy of daungers they toke encouragement of enemies they made frendes of pouertye they toke pacience of malyce they learned experience finally I say they denied their owne willes folowed thopinions of others only to leaue behind them a memory with the dead and to haue a lytle honor with the lyuing O how many are they that trust the vnconstauntnes of fortune only to leaue some notable memorye behind them Let vs cal to mynd some worthy examples wherby they may se that to be true which I haue spoken What made king Ninus to inuent such warres Quene Semiramis to make such buildings Vlisses the Grecian to sulke so many seas king Alexander to conquere so many landes Hercules the Thebane to set vp his pillers where he did Caius Cesar the Romayne to giue .52 battailes at his pleasure Cirus king of Persia to ouercome both the Asiaes Hannibal the Carthagian to make so cruel warres against the Romaines Pirrhus king of Epirotes to come downe into Italy Atila king of the Huns to defye al Europe truly they woulde not haue taken vppon them such daungerous enterprises only vppon the words of theym whych were in those dayes present but because we should so esteme them that should come after Seing then that we be men and the chyldren of men it is not a lytle to bee marueiled at to see the diuersity betwene the one and the other and what cowardnes ther is in the harts of some and contrarywise what courage in the stomakes of others For we se commonly now a daies that if there be 10. of stout courages whych are desirous with honour to dye there are 10. thousand cowards whiche throughe shamefull pleasurs seke to prolong their life The man that is ambitious thinketh him most happy who with much estimacion can kepe his renowme and with litle care regarde his lyfe And on the other side he that wil set by his lyfe shal haue but in small estimacion his renowme The Sirians the Assirians the Thebanes the Caldes the Grekes the Macedonians the Rodians the Romaines the Huns the Germaines and the Frenchmen if such noble men as among these were most famous had not aduentured their lyues by such daūgerous enterprises they had neuer got such immortal fame as they had don to leaue to their prosperity Sextus Cheronensis in his third boke of the valiaunt deedes of the Romaines saith that the famous captaine Marcus Marcellus which was the first of al men that sawe the backe of Hannibal in the fielde was demaunded of one how he durst enter into
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
whan they had no ambition nor couetousnes they knewe not what battaile mente It is reason therfore that in this wrytinge we declare the cause why the first battaile was fought in the worlde to the ende princes may therof be aduertised and the curious reader remaine therin satisfyed The maner was thus that Bassa being king of Sodome Bersa kyng of Gomorrhe Senaab kyng of Adamee Semebar king of Seboime and Vale king of Segor were al fyue tributaries to Chodor laomor kynge of the Aelamites which fyue kynges conspired agaynst hym because they woulde paye hym no tribute and because they woulde acknowledge no homage vnto hym For the Realmes payeng tribute haue alwayes rebelled and sowed sedicions This rebellion was in the 13 yere of the reigne of Chodor Laonâ—or king of the Aelamytes and immediatly the yere following Anraphel king of Sernaar Arioch kinge of Ponte and Aradal kinge of the Allotali ioyned with Chodor-Laomor The which altogether beganne to make warres to destroy cities countreys vppon their enemyes For the olde malice of the warre is that where they cannot haue their enemyes whiche are in the faulte they put to sacke and distroy those which are innocent and giltlesse So the one assaulting and the other defending in the end all come to the field they gaue battayle as two enemyes and the greatest part was ouercome of the fewest and the fewest remained victorious ouer the greatest which thing GOD would suffer in the first battaile of the world to the end princes might take example that all the mishappes of the warres come not but because they are begon of an vniust occasion If Chodor Laomor had held himselfe contented as hys predecessours dyd and that he had not conquered Realmes in makinge theym subiect and had not caused theym to paye trybute neither they vnto him woulde haue denied reason nor he with theym woulde haue waged battaile For throughe the couetousnes of the one and the ambition of the other enmyties grewe betwene the people This considered whiche we haue spoken of sygnorye and of those which came into contentions for signoryes Let vs now se from whence the first oryginal of seruitude came and the names of seruauntes and lordes whiche were in the olde tyme and whether seruitude was by the discord of vertuous men firste brought into the world or els inuented by the ambytion of Tyrauntes For when the one commaundeth and the other obeyeth it is one of the nouelties of the world as the holy scripture declareth vnto vs in this maner The patriarche Noah had 3. sonnes which wer Shem Ham and Iaphet and the second sonne which was Ham begotte Cush and this Cush begot Nimrod Nimrod made him selfe a honter of wild beastes in the woodes and mountaines he was the first that began to play the tyraunt amongeste men inforcynge theyr personnes and taking theyr goodes and the scriptures called him Oppressor hominum which is to say an oppressor of men For men of euyl life alwayes coÌ„mit much euill in a common wealth He taught the Chaldeans to honour the fyre he was the first that presumed to be an absolute lorde and the firste that euer requyred of men homage and seruice This cursed tyraunte ended his lyfe in the golden world wherin al thinges were in common with the common wealth For the auncientes vsed their goodes in common but their willes onelye they reserued to them selues They ought not to thinke it a lighte matter for his person to haue bene a Tiraunt but they ought to thinke it a greater mater to haue bene a rebell in a common wealthe And muche more they oughte to take and esteame it as an euill matter in hym whyche hathe bene as he was a disturber of the good customes of hys countrye but the moste vniuste of all is to leaue behynd hym anye euyll custome brought into the common wealthe For if hee deserue greate infamye whyche woorketh euyll in hys lyfe trulye hee deserueth muche moore whych trauayleth to bryng that euyl in vre after hys death Eusebius semeth to affirme that after this Nimrod had destroyed the realme of Chaldea by his plagues he came to dwel in Italy with viii sonnes built the citie of Camesa which afterwards in Saturnes time was called Valentia in the time of Romulus it was called as it is at this present Rome And sithe this thinge was thus a man ought not to maruaile that Rome in auncient time was possessed with tyraunts and with tirauntes beaten downe since by so famous renowmed tyraunts it was founded For euen as Hierusalem was the doughter of the pacient the mansion of the quyet kinges in Asia so was Rome the mother of proude princes in Europe The histories of the gentiles which knew not the holy scripture declare in an other sort the beginninge of Signorye and seruitude when they came into the worlde for the Idolatrers not onlye did not know the creatoure of the world but also they were ignoraunte of many things which beganne in the world They therefore say that the Tyranne Nimrod amongest the others had a sonne called Belus that this Belus was the first the raigned in the land of Syria that he was the first that inuented warres on the earth that he set vp the first monarchie among the Assirians in the end he died after he had reigned 60 and 5. yeres in Asia left the world in great warres The first monarchie of the worlde was that of the Assirians continued 132. yeres The first king was Belus the last king was Sardanapalus whom at that tyme when he was slaine they found spinninge with women hauing a distaffe in his hand wherwith they vse to spinne truly this vile death was to good for such a cowardly king For the prince ought not to defend that with the distafe that his predecessours had wonne with the sworde As we haue said Nimrod begat Belus who had to wife Semyramis which was the mother of Ninus which Ninus succeded his father in tyranny in the empire also and both the mother the sonne not coÌ„tented to be Tyraunts inuented statues of newe gods For mans malice poursueth rather the euil which the wicked do inuent then the good which vertuous men begine We would haue shewed you how the graundfather the father the mother the sonne were Idolatrers warlicke to the end princes and great Lords might se that they beganne their Empyres more for that they were ambitious parsonnes then for that they were good paciente or vertuous men Albeit that Nimerod was the first that euer committed anye tyranny whether it be true or not that Belus was the firste that inuented warres and that Chodorlaormor was the first that inuented battayles and that ther be others wherof the writinges make no mencion euery man taking for himselfe afterwards all togethers those were occasions of euyll enough in the world to agre vnto those things Our inclinacion is greatly
to be blamed for those which haue credit for their euil are many and those whych haue power to do well are very fewe ¶ Of the golden age in times past and worldly miserie which we haue at this present Cap. xxxi IN the first age golden world al liued in peace ech man toke care for his owne lands euery one planted sowed their trees corne eueryone gathered his frutes and cut his vynes kned their breade and brought vp their children and finally all liued by their owne proper swette trauaile so that they all liued without the preiudice or hurt of any other O worldly malice O cursed wicked world that thou neuer sufferest things to remaine in one estate and thought I cal the cursed maruaile not therat for when we are in most prosperitie then thou with death persecutest vs most cruelly Without teares I say not that I wil say that 2000 yeres of the world wer past before we knew what the world ment god suffering it and worldly malice inuenting it ploughes were turned into weapons oxen to horses goades to lances whippes to arrowes slinges to crosbowes simplycitye into malice trauaile into Idlenes rest to paine peace to warre loue to hatred charitie to crueltie Iustice to tyranny profite to domage almes to theft aboue al fayth into Idolatrie And finallye the swete they had to profite in their owne goods they tourned to bloud sheading to the domage of the comon wealth And herein the world sheweth it selfe to be a world herein worldly malice sheweth it selfe to be malicious in somuch as the one reioyceth the other lamenteth the one reioceth to stomble to the end the other may fall breake his necke the one reioyceth to be poore to the end the other maye not be riche the one reioyseth to be dispraised to the end the other may not be honored the one delighteth to be sad to the ende the other shoulde not be merye to conclude we are so wicked that we banishe the good from our owne house to the end that the euill might enter in at the gates of an other man When the creator created the whole world he gaue to eche thinge immediatly his place that is to wete he placed intelligence in the vppermoste heauen he placed the starres in the firmament the planettes in the orbes the byrdes in the ayre the earth on the center the fyshes in the water the serpentes in the holes the beastes in the mountaines and to al in generallye he gaue place to reste them selues in Now let princes and great Lordes be vaine glorious sayenge that they are Lords of the earth for truly of all that is created god only is the true Lord therof because the miserable man for his part hath but the vse of the fruit for if we thinke it reasonable that we should enioy the profite of that which is created then were it more conuenient we should acknowledge god to be the Lord therof I do not deny but confesse the God created al things to the end they should serue man vpoÌ„ condicion that maÌ„ shold serue God likewise but wheÌ„ the creature riseth against god immediatly the creator resisteth against man For it is but reason that he be disobeyd who one only coÌ„maundemeÌ„t wil not obey O what euil fortune hath the creature only for disobeying the comaundement of his creator For if man had kept his coÌ„maundement in Paradise god had conserued to the world the signorie but the creatures whome he created for his seruice are occasion to him of great troubles for the ingratitude of benefit heapeth great sorow to the discret hart It is great pitie to behold the man that was in paradise that might haue bene in heauen now to se him in the world aboue al to be interred in the intrailes of the earth For in terrestiall paradise he was innocent in heauen he had bene blessed but nowe he is in the worlde enuirouned with cares and afterwardes he shal be throwen into hys graue and gnawen of the wormes Let vs nowe see the disobedience wee hadde in the commaundemente of GOD and what fruite we haue gathered in the world For he is very simple that dare commit any vice taking no delight nor pleasure therof in his body In my opinion through the sinnes whiche our forefathers committed in paradise the seruitude remaineth in vs their children which are on the earth For so much as if I entre into the water I drowne if I touche the fire I burne if I cone neare a dog he biteth me if I threaten a horse he casteth me if I resiste the wynde it bloweth me downe if I persecute the serpent he poysoneth me if I smite the beare he destroieth me and to be brief I saie that the man that without pitie eateth men in his life the wormes shal eate his intrailes in the graue after his death O princes great lordes lode your selues with cloth of gold heape vp your great treasours assemble many armies inuente Iustes Torneis seke your pastimes reueÌ„ge your selues of your enemies serue your selues with your subiectes marrye your children to mighty kinges set them in great estate cause your selues to be feared of your enemies imploye your bodies to al pleasures leue great possessions to your heires rayse sumptuous buildinges to leaue memory of your persons I sweare by him that shal iudge me that I haue more compassion to see your sinfull soules then I haue enuy to see your vicious liues For in the end all pastimes will vanishe away and they shal leaue you for a gage to the hungry wormes of the earth O if princes did consider though they haue bene borne princes created norished in great estates that the day thei are borne death immediatly commeth to seke the end of their life and taketh them here and there when they are whole when they are sicke now tombling then rising he neuer leaueth them one houre vntill their woful burial Therfore sith it is true as in dede it is that that whiche princes possesse in this life is but small that which they hope in the other is so great truly I marueile why princes the which shal lie so straight in the graue dare liue in such so great largenes in their life To be riche to be lordes to haue great estates men should not therof at al be proude since they see how fraile mans condicion is for in th end life is but lone but death is enheritage Death is a patrimonie heritage which successiuely is inherited but life is a righte which daily is surrendred For death counteth vs somuche his owne that oftimes vnwaâ—es he coÌ„meth to assault vs life taketh vs such straungers that oftetimes we not doubting therof it vanisheth away If this thing theÌ„ be true why wil princes great lordes presume to coÌ„maunde in a straunge house which is this life as in their own house which is the
to goe out to receyue thee nor to prepare our selues to resiste thee neyther to lyfte vp our eyes to behold thee nor to open our mouthes to salute thee neither to moue our handes to trouble thee ne yet to make warre to offende thee For greater is the hate that we beare to ryches and honors whiche thou louest then the loue is that thou hast to destroye men and subdue countreis which we abhorre It hath pleased thee we should see thee not desiring to see thee and we haue obeied thee not willing to obey thee and that we shoulde salute thee not desirous to salute thee wherewith we are content vpon condicion that thou be pacient to heare vs. For that whiche we will saye vnto thee shall tende more vnto the amendement of thy lyfe then to diswade thee frō conquering of our countrey For it is reason that princes whiche shall come hereafter do know why we liuing so litle esteme that which is our own why thou dieng taking suche paynes to possesse that whiche is an other mans O Alexander I aske thee one thing and I doubte whether thou canst aunswere me thereunto or no for those hartes which are proude are also moste commonly blinded Tell me whether thou goest from whence thou commest what thou meanest what thou thinkest what thou desirest what thou sekest what thou demaundest what thou searchest and what thou procurest and further to what realmes and prouinces thy disordinate appetite extendeth without a cause I doe not demaunde thee this question what is that thou demaundest and what it is that thou sekest for I thinke thou thy selfe knowest not what thou wouldest For proud and ambitious hartes knowe not what will satisfie them Sith thou art ambitious honor deceiueth thee sithe thou art prodigall couetousnes begileth thee sithe thou art younge ignoraunce abuseth thee and sithe thou art proude all the worlde laugheth thee to scorne in suche sorte that thou followest men and not reason thou followest thyne owne opinion and not the counsel of another thou embrasest flatterers and repulsest vertuous menne For princes and noble men had rather be commended with lies then to be reproued with truthe I can not tell to what ende you princes lyue so disceiued and abused to haue and kepe in your pallaces mo flatterers iuglers and fooles then wyse and sage mē For in a princes pallace if there be any which extolleth their doings there are tenne thousand which abhorre their tyrannies I perceiue by these dedes Alexander that the gods wyll soner ende thy lyfe then thou wilt ende thy warres The man that is brought vp in debates discentions and strife al his felicitie consisteth in burning destroying and bloudsheding I see thee defended with weapons I see thee accompanied with tyrauntes I see thee robbe the temples I see thee without profite wast the treasours I see thee murder the innocent and trouble the pacient I see thee euill willed of all and beloued of none whiche is the greatest euil of al euilles Therfore how were it possible for thee to endure suche and so great trauayles vnlesse thou art a foole or els because god hath appointed it to chastise thee The Gods suffer oftetimes that men being quiet should haue some weighty affaires that is not for that they should be honored at this present but to the end thei should be punished for that which is past Tell me I praye thee peraduenture it is no great folly to empoueryshe many to make thy selfe alone riche it is not peraduenture folly that one shoulde commaunde by tyranny and that al the rest lose the possession of their signorie It is not folly perchaunce to leue to the damnation of our soules many memories in the world of our body It is not folly perchaunce that the Gods approue thy disordinate appetite alone and condemne the wil and opinion of all the worlde besyde peraduenture it is not folly to winne with the teares of the poore and comfortlesse wydowes so great and bloudie victories peraduenture it is no folly willingly to wette the earth with the bloud of innocentes onely to haue a vayne glory in this world Thou thinkest it no folly peraduenture god hauing deuided the worlde into so many people that thou shouldest vsurpe them to thee alone O Alexander Alexander truly such workes proceade not from a creature noryshed among men on the earth but rather of one that hath bene broughte vp among the infernall furies of hell For we are not bounde to iudge men by the good nature they haue but by their good and euyll workes whiche they doe The man is cursed if he haue not bene cursed he shal be cursed that liueth to the preiudice of all other in this world present onely to be counted couragious stoute and hardy in tyme to come For the gods seldome suffred them to enioye that quietly in peace whiche they haue gotten vniustly in the warres I would aske the what insolency moued the to rebel against thy lorde king Darius after whose death thou hast sought to conquere all the worlde and this thou doest not as a kyng that is an inheriritour but as a tyraunt that is an oppressor For him properly we call a tyraunt that without iustice and reason taketh that which is an other mans Either thou searchest iustice or thou searchest peace or els thou searchest ryches and our honor thou searchest rest or els thou searchest fauoure of thy frendes or thou searchest vengeaunce of thyne enemies But I sweare vnto thee Alexander that thou shalt not finde any of all these thinges if thou seakest by this meanes as thou hast begonne for the swete suger is nor of the nature of the bitter gumbe Howe shall we beleue thou searchest iustice sith against reason and iustice by tyranny thou rulest all the earth howe shall we beleue thou searchest peace sithe thou causest them to paie tribute which receiueth thee and those which resiste thee thou handlest them like enemies howe can we beleue that thou searchest reste sithe thou troublest all the worlde How can we beleue thou searchest gentlenes sithe thou arte the scourge and sworde of humaine fraylnes howe can we beleue that thou searchest ryches sithe thine owne treasure suffiseth thee not neyther that whiche by the vanquished cometh vnto thy handes nor that which the conquerours offer thee how shal we beleue thou searchest profite to thy frēds sithe that of thyne olde frendes thou haste made newe enemies I let thee vnderstande Alexander that the greatest ought to teache the leaste and the leaste ought to obeye the greatest And frendshippe is onely amongest equalles But thou sithe thou sufferest none in the worlde to be equall and lyke vnto thee loke not thou to haue any frende in the worlde For princes oftymes by ingratitude loase faithfull frendes and by ambicion wynne mortall enemies Howe shall we beleue thou searchest reuenge of thine enemies sythe thou takest more vengeaunce of thy selfe being aliue then thyne enemies woulde take of
Alexander though thou callest thy selfe lorde of all yet thou hast but onely the name thereof and others thy seruauntes subiectes haue all the profites for the gredy and couetous hartes do trauaile and toyle to get and in wasting that whiche they haue gotten they pyne awaye And finally Alexander thou wilt not denie me that all that whiche thou hast in the longe conquest gotten is litle and that whiche of thy wysedome and quietnes thou hast lost is much For the Realmes whiche thou hast gotten are innumerable but the cares sighes and thoughtes whiche thou hast heaped vpon thy harte are infinite I let the knowe one thing that you princes are poorer then the poore subiectes for he is not ryche that hath more then he deserueth but he that desireth to haue lesse then that he possesseth And therfore princes you haue nothing for though you abound in great treasures yet you are poore of good desires Nowe Alexander let vs come to the pointe and caste accompte and let vs see to what ende thy conquest wil come Eyther thou arte a man or thou arte a God And if thou be any of the gods commaunde or cause that we be immortall and if thou canst doe any suche thing then take vs and our goods withall For perpetuitie of the lyfe by no riches can be boughte O Alexander I let thee vnderstande that therefore we seke not to make warre with thee for we see that bothe from thee and also from vs death will shortly take away the life For he is a very simple man that thinketh alway to remayne in an other mans house as in his owne If thou Alexander couldest geue vs as god euerlastinge life eche man would trauayle to defende his owne house but sithe we knowe we shal die shortly we care litle whether to thee or any other our goods riches remaine For if it be folly to dwell in an other mans house as in his owne it is a greater folly to him that loseth his life in taking thought and lamenting for his goodes Presuppose that thou art not god but a man I coniure the then by the immortal gods and do require the that thou lyue as a man behaue thy selfe as a man and couet no more then an other man neither desyre more nor lesse then a man for in the end thou shalt die as a mā and shal be buried as a man and throwen into the graue then there shal be no more memorie of thee I tolde thee before that it greued me to see thee so hardy couragious so apte and so younge and nowe it greueth me to see thee so deceiued with the world and that which I perceiue of thee is that then thou shalt knowe thy folly when thou shalt not be able to finde any remedy For if the proude younge man before he feleth the wound hath all redy the oyntment You whiche are Grecians call vs Barbarous because we enhabite the mountaines But as touching this I say that we reioyce to be Barbarous in our speache and Greekes in our doinges and not as you which haue the Grecians tongue and doe Barbarous workes For he that doth well speaketh rudely is no barbarous man but he which hath the tongue good and the life euill Sithe I haue begonne to that ende nothing remaynd vnspoken I will aduertise thee of our lawes and life and marueile not to here it but desire to obserue and kepe it for infinite are they whiche extolle vertuous workes but fewe are they whiche obserue the same I let thee wete Alexander that we haue short life we are fewe people we haue litle landes we haue litle goodes we haue no couetousnes wee haue fewe lawes we haue fewe houses wee haue fewe frendes and aboue all we haue no enemies For a wyse man ought to be frende to one and enemy to none Besides all this we haue amongest vs great frendshippes good peace great loue much reste and aboue all we holde our selues contented For it is better to enioy the quietnes of the graue then to liue a discontented life Our lawes are fewe but in our opinions they are good and are in seuen wordes onely included as here foloweth We ordaine that our children make no more lawes then we their fathers doe leaue vnto them for newe lawes maketh them forget good and olde customes We ordayne that our successours shall haue no mo Gods then twoo of the whiche the one god shal be for the life and the other for the death for one God well serued is more worth then many not rewarded We ordaine that all be appareled with one cloth and hosed of one sorte and that the one haue no more apparell then the other for the diuersitie of garmentes edgendreth folly among the people We ordeine that whan any woman which is maried hath had thre childrē that then she be separated from her husband for the aboundaunce of children causeth men to haue couetous hartes And if any woman hath broughte forth any mo children then they should be sacrificed vnto the gods before her eies We ordeine that all men and women speake the truthe in all thinges and if any be taken in a lie committing no other fault that immediatly he be put to death for the same For one lyer is able to vndo a whole multitude We ordeine that no woman liue aboue .xl. yeres and that the man lyue vntill fiftie and if they die not before that time that then they be sacrifised to the gods for it is a great occasion for men to be vicious to thinke that they shal lyue many yeares ¶ That princes ought to consider for what cause they were made princes and what Thales the philosopher was of the .xii. questions asked him and of his aunswere he made vnto them Cap xxxv IT is a commen and an old saiyng whiche many times by Aristotle the noble prince hath bene repeted that in the ende all thinges are done to some purpose for there is no worke neither good nor euill but he that doth it meaneth it to some end If thou demaundest the gardener to what ende he watereth so oft his plantes he wil aunswere thee it is to get some money for his herbes If thou demaundest why the ryuer runneth so swift a man wil aunswere thee that his ende is to the sea from whence it came If thou demaundest why the trees budde in the spring time they will aunswere to the ende they may beare frute in haruest If we see a trauayler passe the mountaines in the snow the ryuers with perill the woodes in feare to walke in extreme heate in sommer to wander in the night time in the colde wynter if by chaunce a man doth aske one of them saiyng frend whether goest thou wherfore takest thou such paines and he aunswereth truly syr I know no more then you to what ende neither can I tell why I take so much paines I aske thee now what would a wyse man aunswere to
for in the ende tyme is of such power that it cause the renowmed men to be forgotten and all the sumptuous buildinges to decaye and fall to the earth If thou wilt knowe my frende Pulio in what tyme the tyraunt this philosopher was I wyll thou knowe that when Catania the renowmed citie was builded in Cicilia neare the mount Ethna and when Perdica was the fourth kyng of Macedonia and that Cardicea was the thirde kyng of the Meedes and when Candare was fift king of Libeans and that Assaradoche was ninth king of the Assirians and when Merodache was twelft king of Caldeans and that Numa Pompilius reigned second king of the Romaines in the time of those so good kinges Periander reigned amonges the Assirians And it is meete thou knowe an other thyng also whiche is this That this Periander was a tyraunt not only in dede but also in renowme so that thei spake of no other thing thorowe Greece but it tended hereunto Though he had euill workes he had good wordes procured that the affaires of the cōmon wealth shuld be wel redressed For generally there is no man so good but a mā may finde somwhat in him to be reproued neither any man so euill but he hath some thing in him to be cōmended I doe yet remēber of my age being neither to young nor to old that I saw the emperour Traian my lord suppe once in Agrippine it so chaunced that wordes were moued to speake of good euil princes in times past as wel of the Grekes as of the Romains that al those which were present there cōmended greatly the emperour Octauian they al blamed the cruel Nero. For it is an aūcient custome to flatter the princes that are present to murmure at princes that are past When the good emperour Traian was at dinner when he praied in the tēple it was maruel if any mā sawe him speake any word that day since he sawe that thei excessiuely praised the emperour Octauian that the others charged the emperour Nero with more then neded the good Traian spake vnto them these wordes I am glad you cōmende the emperour Octauian but I am angry you should in my presence speake euil of the emperour Nero of none other for it is a great infamy to a prince being aliue to heare in his presence any prince euill reported after his death Truly the emperour Octauian was very good but ye will not denye me but he might haue bene better and the emperour Nero was very euil but yet you will graunt me he might haue ben worse I speake this because Nero in his first fiue yeares was the best of all and the other nyne folowyng he was the worste of all so that there is bothe cause to disprayse him and also cause to commende him When a vertuous man will speake of princes that are dead before princes whiche are aliue he is bounde to prayse onely one of their vertues which they had hath no licence to reuyle the vices whereof thei were noted For the good deserueth rewarde because he endeuoreth him selfe to folowe vertue the euill likewyse deserueth pardon because through frayltie he hath consented to vyce All these wordes the emperoure Traian spake I being present and they were spoken with suche fiercenes that all those whiche were there present bothe chaunged their colour and also refrained their tongues For truly the shamelesse man feeleth not so muche a great strype of correction as the gentill harte doth a sharpe worde of admonition I was willing to shewe thee these thinges my frende Pulio because that since Traian spake for Nero and that he founde in hym some prayse I doe thynke no lesse of the tyraunte Periander whome thoughe for his euyll workes he dyd we doe condemne yet for his good wordes that he spake for the good lawes whiche he made we doe prayse For in the man that is euill there is nothing more easier then to geue good counsayle and there is nothing more harder then to worke well Periander made dyuerse lawes for the common wealth of the Corinthians whereof here folowing I wil declare some We ordeyne and commaunde that if any by multipliyng of wordes kyll an other so that it were not by treason that he be not therefore condemned to die but that they make hym slaue perpetuall to the brother of him that is slayne or to the nexte of his kynne or frends for a shorte deathe is lesse payne then a longe seruitude We ordeyne and commaunde that if any these be taken he shall not dye but with a hotte iron shal be marked on the forehead to be knowen for a thefe for to shammefaste men longe infaime is more payne then a short lyfe We ordeyne and commaunde that the man or woman whiche to the preiudice of an other shall tell any lye shall for the space of a moneth carie a stone in their mouthe for it is not meete that he whiche is wonte to lye should alwayes bee authorysed to speake We ordeyne and commaunde that euery man or woman that is a quareler and sedicious persone in the common wealth be with great reproche bannished frome the people for it is vnpossible that he shoulde bee in fauoure with the Gods which is an enemie to his neighbours We ordeyne and commaunde that if there be any in the common wealth that haue receiued of an other a benefite and that afterwardes it is proued he was vnthankefull that in suche case they put hym to death for the man that of benefites receiued is vnthankefull oughte not to lyue in the worlde amonge menne Beholde therefore my frende Pulio the antiquitie whiche I declared vnto thee and howe mercifull the Corinthians were to murtherers theues and Pirates And contrarie howe seuere they were to vnthankefull people whome they commaunded forthwith to be putte to deathe And truly in myne opinion the Corinthians had reason for there is nothinge troubleth a wyse man more then to see him vnthankefull to him whome he hath shewed pleasure vnto I was willing to tel thee this historie of Periander for no other cause but to the end thou shouldest see and know that forasmuch as I doe greatly blame the vice of vnthankefulnes I will laboure not to be noted of the same For he that reproueth vice is not noted to be vertuous but he which vtterly flieth it Count vpon this my worde that I tel thee which thou shalt not thinke to be fained that though I be the Romain Emperour I wil be thy faithfull frend wil not faile to be thankefull towardes thee For I esteme it no lesse glory to know how to keape a frend by wysedom then to come to the estate of an emperour by philosophie By the letter thou sentest thou requiredst me of one thing to answere thee for the whiche I am at my wittes end For I had rather open my treasures to thy necessities then to open the bookes to answere to thy
demaundes although it be to my cost I confesse thy request to be reasonable and thou deseruest worthy prayse for in the end it is more worth to knowe how to procure a secrete of antiquities past then to heape vp treasures for the necessities in time to come As the philosopher maketh philosophie his treasour of knowledge to liue in peace to hope to loke for death with honour so the couetous being suche a one as he is maketh his treasure of worldly goodes for to keape preserue life in this world in perpetuall warres and to end his life and take his death with infamie Herein I sweare vnto thee that one daie emploied in philosophy is more worth then ten thousand which are spent in heaping riches For the life of a peaceable man is none other then a swete peregrination and the life of sedicious persones is none other but a long death Thou requirest me my frend Pulio that I write vnto thee wherin the auncientes in times past had their felicitie knowe thou that their desires were so diuerse that some dispraised life others desired it some prolonged it others did shorten it some did not desire pleasures but trauailes others in trauailes did not seke but pleasures the whiche varietie did not proceade but of diuerse endes for the tastes were diuerse and sondry men desired to taste diuerse meates By the immortall Gods I sweare vnto thee that this thy request maketh me muse of thy life to see that my phylosophie answereth thee not sufficiently therein For if thou aske to proue me thou thinkest me presumptuous if thou demaunde in mirth thou countest me to be to light if thou demaundest it not in good earnest thou takest me for simple if thou demaūdest me for to shew it thee be thou assured I am ready to learne it if thou demaundest it for to knowe it I confesse I can not teache it thee if thou demaundest it because thou maiest be asked it be thou assured that none wylbe satisfied with my aunswere and if perchaunce thou doest aske it because thou sleapinge haste dreamed it seing that nowe thou art awake thou oughtest not to beleue a dreame For all that the fantasie in the nighte doth imagine the tongue doth publishe it in the morning O my frende Pulio I haue reason to complayne of thee for so muche as thou doest not regarde the authoritie of my persone nor the credite of thy phylosophie wherefore I feare leaste they wyll iudge thee to curious in demaundinge and me to simple in aunsweringe all this notwithstanding I determine to aunswere thee not as I ought but as I can not according to the greate thou demaundest but according to the litle I knowe And partely I doe it to accomplyshe thy requeste and also to fulfyll my desire And nowe I thinke that all whiche shall reade this letter wyll be cruell iudges of my ignoraunce ¶ Of the Philosopher Epicurus IN the Olimpiade the hundreth and thre Serges being king of Perses and the cruel tyraunt Lysander captaine of the Peloponenses a famous battayle was fought betwene the Athenians and Lysander vpon the great ryuer of Aegcon whereof Lysander had the victory and truly vnles the histories deceiue vs the Athenians tooke this conflicte greuously because the battayle was loste more through negligence of their captaines then through the great nombre of their enemies For truly many winne victories more through the cowardlynesse that some haue than for the hardinesse that others haue The philosopher Epicurus at that tyme florished who was of a liuely wytte but of a meane stature and had memorie fresh being meanely learned in philosophie but he was of much eloquence and for to encourage and counsell the Athenians he was sent to the warres For whan the auncientes tooke vpon them any warres they chose first sages to geue counsaile then captaines to leade the souldiours And amongest the prisoners the philosopher Epicurus was taken to whom the tyraunt Lysander gaue good entertainement and honoured him aboue all other and after he was taken he neuer went from him but redde philosophie vnto him and declared vnto him histories of times paste and of the strengthe and vertues of many Greekes and Troyans The tyraunt Lysander reioysed greatly at these thinges For truly tyrauntes take great pleasure to heare the prowesse vertues of auncientes past to folow the wickednes vices of them that are present Lysander therefore taking the triumphe hauing a nauy by sea a great army by land vpon the ryuer of Aegeon he and his captaines forgotte the daunger of the warres gaue the brydel to the slouthfull flesh so that to the great preiudice of the cōmon wealth they led a dissolute and ydle life For the maner of tyrannous princes is to leaue of their owne trauaile to enioy that of other mens The philosopher Epicurus was alwaies brought vp in the excellent vniuersitie of Athens wher as the philosophers liued in so great pouertie that naked they slept on the groūd their drinke was colde water none amongest them had any house propre they despised riches as pestilēce labored to make peace where discord was they were only defenders of the common wealth they neuer spake any idle worde it was a sacrilege amōgest thē to heare a lie finally it was a lawe inuiolable amongst thē that the philosopher that shuld be idle shuld be banished he that was vicious shuld be put to death The wicked Epicurus forgetting the doctrine of his maisters not esteming grauitie wherunto the sages are bound gaue him self wholy both in words deedes vnto a voluptuous beastly kinde of life wherin he put his whole felicitie For he said ther was no other felicitie for slouthful men then to sleape in soft beds for delicate persons to fele neither heat nor cold for fleshly mē to haue at their pleasur amorous dames for drōkardes not to wāt any pleasaunt wines gluttons to haue their filles of all delicate meates for herein he affirmed to consiste all worldly felicitie I doe not marueile at the multitude of his scholers which he had hath shal haue in the world For at this day ther are few in Rome that suffer not thē selues to be maistred with vices the multitude of those which liue at their owne willes and sensualitie are infinite And to fell the truthe my frend Pulio I doe not marueile that there hath bene vertuous neither I do muse that there hath bene vicious for the vertuous hopeth to reste him selfe with the gods in an other worlde by his well doing and if the vicious be vicious I doe not marueile though he will goe and ingage him selfe to the vices of this world since he doth not hope neither to haue pleasure in this nor yet to enioy rest with the gods in the other For truly the vnstedfast belefe of an other life after this wherin the wicked shal be punished the good rewarded causeth
is but it greueth me that in this conflict I haue neither vnderstanding nor yet sence to tast nor that I haue time enoughe to thanke the. For I let the know that ther is no tongue can expresse the griefe which a man feeleth when he ought forthwith to dye I die and as thou seest they kil me only for that I am vertuous I feele nothing that tormenteth my hart so much as king Cadinus my brother doth for that I can not be reuenged For in myne opinion the chiefe felycitie of man consisteth in knowing and being able to reuenge the iniurye done without reason before a man doth end his lyfe It is a commendable thing that the philosopher pardon iniuries as the vertuous philosophers haue accustomed to do but it should be also iust that the iniuries which we forgiue the gods should therwith be charged to se reuengment For it is a hard thing to se a tiraunt put a vertuous man to death and neuer to se the tiraunte to come to the lyke Me thinketh my frend Pulio that this philosopher put all his felycytie in reuenging an iniurye during the like in this world Of the Sarmates THe mount Caucasus as the Cosmographers say doth deuide in the middest great Asia the which beginneth in India and endeth in Scithia and according to the varietie of the people which inhabyte the vyllages so hath this mount diuerse names and those which dwel towards the Indians differ much from the others For the more the countrey is ful of mountaines so much the more the people are Barbarous Amongest al the other cyties which are adiacent vnto the same there is a kinde of people called Sarmates and that is the countrie of Sarmatia which standeth vpon the riuer of Tanays There grow no vynes in the prouince because of the great cold it is true that amonge all the orientall nacions there are no people which more desire wine then they do For the thyng which we lacke is coÌ„monly most desired These people of Sarmatia are good men of warre thoughe they are vnarmed they esteme not much delicate meates nor sumptuous apparaile For al their felicytie consisteth in knowing how they might fil them selues with wine In the yere of the foundacion of Rome .318 our auncient fathers determined to wage battaile agaynst those people and other Barbarous nations and appointed a Consull called Lucius Pius And sith in that warres fortune was variable they made a truce and afterwardes all their captaines yelded themselues their countrey into the subiectioÌ„ of the Romaine empire only because the Consul Lucius Pius in a banket that he made filled them with wine After the warres were ended al the land of Sarmatia subiect the Consul Lucius Pius came to Rome for rewarde of his trauaile required the accustomed triumphe the which was not only denied him but also in recompense of his fact he was openly beheaded by the decre of all the Senate about his graue was written this Epitaphe WIthin this tombe Lucius Pius lyes That whilome was a Consul great in Rome And daunted eke as shame his sclaunder cries The Sarmates sterne not by Mauors his dome ¶ But by reproofe and shame of Romayne armes He vanquishte hath not as the Romaynes vse But as the bloody tyrauntes that with swarmes Of huge deceites the fyerse assaultes refuse ¶ Not in the warres by byting weapons stroke But at the boorde with swete delighting foode Not in the hasard fight he did them yoke But feding all in rest he stole their bloode ¶ Nor yet wyth mighty Mars in open fielde He rest their lyues with sharpe ypersing speares But with the pusshe of dronken Bacchus shielde Home to hye Rome the triumphe lo he heares THE sacred Senate set this epitaphe here because al Romaine captaines should take example of him For the maiestie of the Romaines consisteth not in vanquishing their enemyes by vyces and deliciousnes but by weapons and prayers The Romaynes were very sore greued with the audacitie of this Consul Lucius Pius and not contented to haue beheaded him and to haue set on his graue so defamous a tytle but made proclamacion forthwith throughout Rome by the sounde of a trumpet howe al that whyche Lucius Pius had done the sacred senate condemned for nothing and shoulde stand to no effete For there was an auncient law in Rome when they beheaded any man by iustice they should also take away the aucthoritie he had in Rome And not contented with these thinges the sacred senate wrote to the Sarmates that they did release them of their homage making themselues subiectes of the Romaynes wherfore the restored theim agayne to their lybertie They did this thing because the custome amonge the stoute and valiaunt Romaines was not to get nor winne realmes in makinge their enemyes druncke with delycate wines but in shedding their proper bloude in the plaine field I haue told the this my frend Pulio because the Consull Lucius Pius did perceiue that the Sarmates put all their filicitye to ingurge them selues with wine ¶ Of the Philosopher Chilo IN the 15. Dinastia of the Lacedemonians and Deodeus beinge kyng of Medes Gigion being kyng of Lides Argeus being king among the Macedonians and Tullius Hostilius kyng of the Romaynes in the Olimpiade â–ª 27. there was in Athens a philosopher borne of Grece whose name was Chilo one of the .7 sages which the Grekes had in their treasure In that time there was great warres betwene the Atthenians and the Corinthians as we may perceiue by the Greeke histories whiche we see written Since Troye was destroyed there was neuer peace in Greece for the warre betwixte the Greekes and Troyans was neuer so great as that which afterward they made amonge themselues Sithe the Grekes were now wise men they did deuide the offices of the comon wealth acording to the abilytie of euery person that is to know that to the stout and hardy men they gaue the gouernement to the sage they recommended the imbasies of straunge countryes And vpon this occasion the Athenians sent the philosopher Chilo to the Corinthians to treat of peace who came vnto the citie of Corinthe Bechaunce on that day ther was celebrated a great feast wherfore he found all men plaieng at dyce the women solacing them selues in the gardeins the priestes shâ—tte with the crosse-bowes in the temples the senatours played in the consistorye at tables the maisters of fence played in the streates to conclude he found them al playeng The philosopher seing these thinges without speakinge to any man or lighting of on his horse returned into his countrey without declaringe hys message when the Corinthians went after him asked him why he did not declare the cause of his comming he aunswered Frendes I am come from Athens to Corinthe not without great trauayle now I returne from Corinthe to Athens not litle offended ye might haue sene it because I spake neuer a word to any of you
apparayle whych he weare and aboue all he made as solempne a funeral to Euripides as if they had buried Vlisses And not contented wythal these thyngs he was neuer mery vntil such tyme he had done cruel execuciō of the malefactours For truly the iniury or death whych is done vnto him whom we loue is no other but as a bath and token of our owne good willes After iustice was executed of those homycides and that some of the bones all gnawen of the dogges were buryed a Grecian knight sayd vnto kyng Archelaus I let the know excellent kyng that all Macedonia is offended with the because that for so small a losse thou haste shewed so greate sorow To whom kynge Archelaus aunswered Among sages it is a thinge sufficientlye tried that noble hartes oughte not to shewe theymselues sadde for mishappes and sodaine chaunces For the king being sadde his realme can not and though it might it ought not shew it selfe mery I haue heard my father say once that princes should neuer shedde teares vnlesse it were for one of these causes 1 The first the Prince should bewaile the losse and daunger of his common wealth for the good Prince ought to pardon the iniuryes done to his parson but to reuenge the least act done to the common wealth he ought to hasarde himselfe 2 The second the good prince ought to lamente if any man haue touched his honour in any wise for the Prince which wepeth not droppes of bloud for the thinges touchinge hys honoure deserueth to be buryed quycke in his graue 3 The third the good Prynce ought to bewayle those whych can lytle and suffer muche For the Prynce whych bewayleth not the calamities of the poore in vaine and without profite lyueth on the earth 4 The fourth the good Prince ought to bewayle the glory and prosperity wherin the Tiraunts are For that prince whych wyth tyrannye of the euil is not displeased wyth the hartes of the good is vnworthye to be beloued 5 The fift the good Prynce ought to bewayle the death of wise men For to a Prynce there can come no greater losse then when a wyse man dyeth in his common wealth These were the words which the king Archelaus aunswered the Grecian knight who reproued him because he had wept for the death of Euripides the phylosopher The auncient Historiographers can say no more of the estimacyon whych the Phylosophers and wyse men had as well the Greekes as the Latynes but I wyl tell you one thinge worthy of noting It is wel knowen through all the world that Scipio the Ethnicke was one of the worthyeste that euer was in Rome for by hys name and by hys occasion Rome gotte such a memorye as shall euermore endure And this was not only for that he cōquered Affrycke but for the great worthynes of hys person Men ought not to esteme a lytle these two giftes in one man that is to wete to be happie and aduentures For many of the auncientes in times past wanne glory by their swords after lost it by their euil liues The Romaynes historographers say that the first that wrote in heroical meeter in the Latin tongue was Ennius the poete the workes of whom was so estemed of Scipio the Ethnicke that when this aduenturous so lucky Romaine dyed he commaunded in hys wil and testament that they should hange the image of thys Ennius the Poet ouer his graue By that the great Scipio did at his death we may wel coniecture how great a frend he was of sages in his life since he had rather for his honor set the statue of Ennius on his graue thā the banner wherwith he wanne and conquered Affricke In the time of Pirrus which was king of the Epirotes great enemy of the Romaines florished a philosopher named Cinas borne in Thessalie who as they say was the disciple of Demosthenes The historiographers at that time did so much esteme this Cinas that they sayd he was the maister measure of mans eloquence For he was very pleasaunt in words profound in sētences This Cinas serued for 3. offices in the palace of king Pyrrus 1 First he made pastime at his table in that he dyd declare for he had a good grace in thinges of laughter 2 Secondarily he wrote the valyaunt dedes of his history for in his stile he had great eloquence and to write the truth he was a witnes of syght 3 Thirdly he went for embassadoure in affaires of great importaunce for he was naturally subtyle and wittie and in dispatching busines he was very fortunate He vsed so many meanes in his busines and had so great perswasion in his wordes that he neuer toke vpon him to speake of thinges of warre but either he set a longe truce or els he made a perpetual peace The king Pyrrus sayd to this Cynas O Cinas for thre thinges I thanke the immortal gods 1 The first for that they created me a king and not a seruaunt for the greatest good that mortal men haue is to haue lyberty to commaund many and not to be bound to obey any 2 The second I thanke the immortal gods for that they naturaly made me stout of hart for the man which wyth euery tryfle is abashed it were better for him to leaue his life 3 The third I giue the immortal gods thankes for that in the gouernment of my common wealth and for the great affaires and busines of my real me as wel in warres as in other thinges they gaue me such a man as thou art in my company For by thy gentle speach I haue conquered and obtained many Cyties which by my cruell sword I could neuer wynne nor attayne These were the wordes which Pyrrus sayd to his frend Cinas the Poete Let euery Prince know now how great louers of wise men those were in tymes past and as vppon a sodaine I haue recyted these few examples so with smal study I could haue heaped infynite Historyes FINIS The ende of the firste Booke The Seconde booke of the Diall of princes vvherein the Authoure treateth howe Princes and greate Lordes shoulde behaue theym selues towardes their wyues And howe they ought to noryshe and brynge vp their Children ¶ Of what excellencye mariage is and wheras common people marie of free will Princes and noble men oughte to marye of necessitie Cap. i. AMonge all the frendships and companyes of this lyfe ther is none so naturall as that betwene the husbande and the wife lyuing in one house for all other compagnies are caused by free wil only but this procedeth both by wil necessity Ther is at this day no Lion so fierce no Serpent so venimous no Viper so infectiue no Aspicke so mortall neyther any beast so tirrible but at the least both male female do once in the yere mete conioyne and thoughe that in brute beastes there lacketh reason yet notwithstandynge they haue a naturall instinction to assemble themselues for the
merite The contrary ought and may be saied of those whych are euill maried whom we wil not cal a compaigny of sayntes but rather a house of deuylles For the wife that hath an euil husbande may say she hath a deuyl in her house and the husband that hath an euil wife let him make accompt that he hath hel it selfe in his house For the euyl wyues are worse then the infernal furyes Because in hel ther are none tormented but the euil only but the euil woman tormeÌ„teth both the good and the euyl Concluding therfore this matter I say also and affirme that betwixt the busband and the wife which are wel maryed is the true and very loue and they only and no others may be called perfite and perpetuall frendes The other parentes and frendes if they do loue and praise vs in our presence they hate vs and dispise vs in our absence Yf they giue vs faire wordes they beare vs euill hartes finally they loue vs in our prosperitye and forsake vs in our aduersity but it is not so amongest the noble and vertuous maried personnes For they loue both within and without the house in prosperity and in aduersitie in pouertie and in riches in absence and in presence seing them selues mery and perceiuing them selues sad and if they do it not trulye they ought to doo it for when the husband is troubled in his foote the wyfe ought to be greued at her hart The fourth commodity of mariage is that the men and women maryed haue more aucthority and grauity then the others The lawes whych were made in old time in the fauour of mariage were many and diuerse For Chapharoneus in the lawes that he gaue to the Egiptians commaunded and ordeyned vpon greuous paynes that the man that was not maried should not haue any office of gouernment in the common wealth And he sayd furder that he that hath not learned to gouerne his house can euil gouerne a commoÌ„ wealth Accordyng to the lawes that he gaue to the Athenians he perswaded al those of the comon wealth to marie themselues voluntarily but to the heddes and captaines which gouerne the affaires of warre he commaunded to marye of necessity sayeng that to men which are lecherous God seldome giueth victories Licurgus the renowmed gouernour and geuer of the lawes of the Lacedemonians commaunded that al captaines of the armyes and the priestes of the Temples should be maried sayeng that the sacrifyces of maried men were more acceptable to the gods then those of any other As Plynie sayth in an epistle that he sent to Falconius his frende rebuking him for that he was not maried where he declareth that the Romaynes in old time had a law that the dictatoure and the Pretor the Censour and the Questor and al the knightes should of necessity be maried for the man that hath not a wife and children legittymate in his house cannot haue nor hold greate aucthority in the common wealth Plutarche in the booke that he made of the prayse of mariage sayth that the priestes of the Romaynes dyd not agre to them that were vnmaried to come and sytte downe in the Temples so that the yong maydens prayed without at the church dore and the yonge men prayed on their knees in the temple only the maried men were permitted to sitte or stande Plynie in an epistle that he wrote to Fabatus hys father in law sayth that the Emperour Augustus had a custome that he neuer suffered any yonge man in his presence to sitte nor permitted any man maried to tel his tale on foote Plutarche in the booke that he made in the prayse of women sayth that since the realme of Corinthe was peopled more with Bachelours then with maried men they ordeyned amongest theym that the man or woman that had not bene maried and also that had not kept chyldren and house if they lyued after a certaine age after their death shoulde not be buried ¶ The aucthoure folowing his purpose declareth that by meanes of maryage many mortal enemyes haue bene made good and parfite frendes Cap. iii. BY the sundry examples that we haue declared and by al that whych remayneth to declare a man may know wel enoughe of what excellency matrimony is not only for the charge of conscience but also for the thinges touching honour for to say the truth the men that in the common wealth are maried giue smal occasion to be sclaundered haue more cause to be honored We cannot denay but that matrimony is troublesome chargeable to them that be maried for two causes The one is in bringing vp their children and the other in suffering the importunityes of their mothers Yet in fiâ—e we caÌ„not deny but that the good vertuous wife is she that setteth a stay in the house and kepeth her husband in estimacion in the common wealth for in the publike affaires they giue more faith and credit vnto those that are charged with children then vnto others that are loden with yeres The fifth commodity that ensueth matrimony is the peace and reconciliacions that are made betwene the enemyes by meanes of mariage MeÌ„ in this age are so couetous so importune and malicious that there are very few but haue enemyes wherby groweth contencion and debate for by our weaknes we fall dayly into a thousande occasions of enimities and scarcely we can find one to bring vs againe into frendship CoÌ„sidering what men desire what thinges they procure and wherunto they aspire I meruaile not that they haue so few frendes but I much muse that they haue no moe enemyes For in thinges of weight they marke not who haue bene their frendes they consider not they are their neighbours neyther they regard that they are christians but their conscience layd a part and honesty set a side euery man seketh for himselfe and his owne affaires though it be to the preiudice of all his neighbours What frendship can ther be amongest proud men since the one wil go before and the other disdayneth to come behind What frendship can ther be amongest enuyous men â–ª since the one purchasseth and the other possesseth what loue can there be betwene two couetous men since the one dare not spend and the other is neuer satisfyed to hourd and heape vp For al that we can reade se go and trauaile and for al that we may do we shall neuer se nor here tell of men that haue lacked enemyes for eyther they be vycious or vertuous Yf they be euil and vycious they are alwayes hated of the good and if they be good and vertuous they are continually persecuted of the euill Many of the auncient philosophers spent a great part of their time lost much of their goodes to serche for remedies and meanes to reconcile them that were at debate contencion to make them by gentlenes good frends and louers Some said that it was good and profitable to forget the enimities for a time for many things
to be simple so that it semeth not that they are mete to vysite the one the other but to loke accuse the one the other It is a straung thing for the sage woman to thinke that she shold take pleasure abroad since she hath her husband at home to whom she may talke hath her children to learne her doughters to teach her family to order and her goodes to gouerne she hath her house to kepe and her parentes whom she ought to please then synce she hath within her house such pastime why do they accept company of straunge men That maryed women should haue priuate frendes and loue to be vysited it foloweth oftentimes that god is offended the husband iniuried and the people slaundered the woman that is maried taketh lytle profite it hindereth the mariage of her that is to mary For in such a case thoughe some desire her for her riches yet mo wyl forsake her for her euyl fame ¶ That women great with child inspecially the Princesses great Ladyes ought to be very circumspect for the daunger of the creatures wherein is shewed many misfortunes happened to women with child in the old tyme for suffering them to haue their willes Cap. ix ONe of the most necessary things for him that taketh in hand any great iorney ouer any daūgerous countries is at that the beginnyng he ought to learne the way which he ought to go for it is a thing no lesse troublesome then perillous that when he should come to rest of necessity he shold be enforced to trauel No man can denay but that mans lyfe is a long and tedious iorney the which beginneth at our birth endeth at our death for in the end to haue a long or short life is none other but to come soner or later to the graue The chiefest folly of al in mine opinion is this that some in their owne opinions thinke they haue counsel enough for others and to all others it semeth that they want for them selues For of right he may be called a foole that condemneth all other as fooles and auaunceth himselfe to be wise Euery man ought to let his neighbour lyue in peace and though he do esteame himselfe to be wise yet he oughte not to thinke his neighbour a foole for ther is none so wyse but that he may occupie it all For we neuer saw any man so wise of himselfe but that he neaded the counsel of an other And if this want be in those that be very old truly it is much more in them that be yong whose fleshe is not dry but grene the bloud not cold but hote no deadly heate but very liuely the bestial mocions not mortifyed but quickned and hereof ensueth that yong men loue their owne aduyce and opynion and dyspise the counsaile of all other When the trees are tender they bynde theym togethers bycause they grow right they brydel the horse when as yet they are but coltes to the end they may be easy hereafter to the brydel They take the haukes in the neast to make them more famyliar when the beastes are litle they take them to teach them I meane that a man ought to instruct his children to the end they may know to liue wel here after I admonish and tel the mothers that haue doughters that ther is no remedy to reforme the euil inclinacion of our children but to teach them and to bring them vp wel in their youth for ther is no wound but is daungerous if in tyme the playster be not layd therunto Returnyng now to our purpose synce that in al thyngs ther is order and measure we wil declare presently how the male child ought to be taught first of al we wil treat how a man ought to prouide when the infant is begotten and when as yet it is alyue in the mothers wombe to the entente Princesses and great Ladyes should lyue very circumspectlye when they know they are conceyued with child I should be excused to speake of this matter since it is not my profession and that as yet I was neuer maried but by that I haue red of some and by that I haue hard of others I will and dare be so bold to say one word For the sage oft times geueth a better accompt of that he hath red then the simple doth of that he hath proued Thys thing seameth to be true betwene the phisicion and the pacient for wher the pacient suffereth the euyl he oft tymes demaundeth the physicion what his sicknes is wher it holdeth him and what it is called and what remedy ther is for his disease so the phisicion knoweth more by his scyence then the pacient by hys exsperience A man ought not to denay that the women and in especially great ladyes know not by experience how they are altered when they are quycke and the great paynes they suffer when they are deliuered we could not denay but that ther is great daunger in the one greate peril in the other but they shal not knowe from whence al commeth and from whence al procedeth and what remedy is necessary For there are many which complayneth of robberyes but they know not what the theaues are that haue robbed them First according to my iudgement and opinyon that which the woman quicke with childe ought to do is that they go softly quietly and that they eschue running eyther in commyng or goyng for though she lytel esteme the helth of her person yet she ought greatly to regard the lyfe of the creature The more precious the licour is and the more weaker the vessell is which conteyneth it so much the more they ought to feare the daunger least the licoure shed and the vessel breake I meane that the complection of women being with child is very delicate and that the soule of the creature is precious therfore it ought with great diligence to be preserued for al the treasure of the Indes is not equal in valewe to that which the woman beareth in her bowelles Whan a man plāteth a vineyard forthwith he maketh a ditch or some fence about it to the end that beastes shold not croppe it while it is yong nor that trauailers shold gather the grapes when they are ripe And if the labourer doth this thing for to get a litel wine only the which for the soule and body is not alwayes profitable how much more circumspection ought the woman to haue to preserue her chyld since she shall render an accompte to the creator of her creature vnto the church of a christyan and vnto her husband of a child In my opinyon wher the accompt at the houre of death is so streight it is requisite that in the time of her life she be circumspect for god knoweth euery thinge so well in oure lyfe that ther is none that can begile hym in rendering hys accompt at his death Ther is no wighte can suffer nor hart dyssemble to see
so swift as he that is naked Aristotle in the sixt booke de Animalibus saith when the Lionesse is bigge with whelpe the Lyon doth not only hunt for her him self but also both night daye he wandreth continually about to watche her I meane that princesses great Ladies when they be with child should be of their husbande 's both tended serued for the man can not do the woman so great a pleasure before her lieng down as she doth to him when she bringeth forth a sonne Considering the daunger that the woman abideth in her deliuerance beholding the paines that the husbād taketh in her seruice without cōparison that is greater which she suffereth then that which he endureth For when the womā deliuereth she doth more then her power and the husband though he serueth her well doth lesse then his dutie The gentle and louing husband ought not one moment to forsake his wife specially when he seeth she is great for in the law of a good husbād it is written that he should set his eies to behold her his handes to serue her he should spende his goods to cherishe her should geue his harte to cōtent her Let not men thinke it paines to serue their wiues when they are with childe for their labour consisteth in their strengthe but the trauell of their wiues is in their intrailes And that whiche is moste pitifull is that when the sorowfull women will discharge their burden on the earthe they often times bryng them selues vnto the graue The meane women of the Plebeians ought no lesse to be reproued for that when they are with childe they would be exempted from all busines of the house the whiche neither they them selues ought to desire nor yet their husbandes to suffer For idlenesse is not only an occasion not to deserue heauen but also it is a cause whereby womē ofte times haue ill successe in their trauaile For considering bothe the deintie Ladie with childe that hath her pleasure and doth litle and on the other side the poore mans wyfe whiche moderatly laboureth you shall see that the great Ladies for all their pleasures abydeth more daunger then the other doth with all her labour The husbande ought to keape his wyfe from takyng to muche paines for so ought he to doe and the wyfe lykewyse ought to flee to much pleasure for it behoueth her For the meane trauaile is no other but occasion of a safe deliuerie The women with childe also ought to take hede to them selues and in especially noble and great ladies that they be not to gredy nor hasty in eating For the woman being with childe ought to be sobre and the woman whiche is a great eater with great paines shall liue chaste Women with childe ofte times doe disordre them selues in eating licorous meates and vnder the colour of feedinge them selues and their infant they take to excessiuely which is not onely vnholsome for the childe but also dishonour for their mothers For truly by the great excesse of the mother being with child commeth many diseases to the infant when it liueth The husbande 's also ought neither to displease nor greue their wiues specially when thei see them great with child for of truth ofte times she deliuereth with more daunger by reason of the offences that mē do vnto them then by the abondaunce of meates which they doe eate Though the woman when she is with childe in some thinges doth offend her husband yet he like a wise man ought to forbeare her hauing respect to the child wherwith she is great and not to the iniurie that she hath committed for in th end the mother can not be so great an offender but that the childe is muche more innocent For the profe of this it neadeth not bookes to reade but only our eies to see how the brute beastes for the moste parte when the females are bigge doe not touche them nor yet the females suffer thē to be touched I meane that the noble and high estates ought to absent them selues from their wiues carnally beyng great with child and he that in this case shal shewe him selfe moste temperate shall of all men be deamed most vertuous I do not speake this to thend it should bind a man or that it were an offence then to vse the company of his wyfe but vnto men that are vertuous I geue it as a counsel For some things ought to be done of necessitie others ought to be eschewed for honestie Diodorus Siculus saith that in the realme of Mauritania there were so few men so many women that euery man had fiue wiues where there was a law amōgest them that no man should mary vnder thre wiues furthermore they had a wonderful folishe custome that when any husband died one of these women should cast her selfe quick in to the graue be buried with him And if that within a moneth she did it not or that she died not by iustice she was then openly put to death saiyng that it is more honestie to be in company with her husband in the graue then it is to be alone in her house In the Isles of Baliares the cōtrary is sene for there increase so many men and so few women that for one woman there was seuen men and so they had a custome specially amongest the poore that one woman should be maried with fiue men For the ryche men sent to seke for women in other straunge Realmes wherfore then marchauntes came heuie loden with women as now they do with marchaundise to sell Vpon which occasion there was a custome in those Isles that for as muche as there were so fewe women when any woman with chylde drewe nere the seuen monethes they were seperated from their husbandes and shut and locked vp in the Temples where they gaue them suche thinges as were necessary for them of the commen treasure For the auncientes had their goodes in suche veneration that they would not permitte any personne to eate that whiche he brought but of that whiche vnto the goddes of the Temple was offered At that tyme the Barbarous kepte their wyues locked in the churche because the gods hauing them in their Temples should be more mercifull vnto them in their deliuery and also to cause them to auoyde the daungers at that tyme and besydes that because they tooke it for a great vilany that the women during that tyme should remaine with their husbandes The famous and renowmed philosopher Pulio in the fift booke De moribus antiquorum said that in the Realme of Paunonia whiche nowe is Hongarie the women that were great with childe were so highly estemed that when any went out of her house al those which met with her were bounde to returne backe with her in such sorte as we at this present do reuerence the holy Comunion so did these Barbarous then the women with child The women of Carthage being with child whē Carthage was
Carthage had as great priuileges as now our sanctuaries haue for the safegard of misdoers for in times past al such offēdours as could enter into the house wher a woman lay in child bed should haue ben free frō correction of iustice As Fronto saith in his booke of the veneration of the gods the Galloys Transalpins did not only honour reuerence the womē with child but also with much care diligence watched her deliuery for it litle auaileth the shippe to haue passed safe the daungerous seas if at the shore she be cast away The case was in this sort that al the auncient gentils honoured some gods in their temples kept other in their houses the which were called Lares Penates when any woman began to labour eche neighbour brought his familiar god vnto her to present her with all because they thought that the more gods there were of so much more power they were to kepe her frō perils Speaking like a christian truly those gods were of small value since they could not helpe the woman safely to be deliuered that was in trauaile ¶ What the Philosopher Pisto was and of the rules he gaue concerning women with childe Cap. xii IN the tyme of Octauian the Emperour was a phylosopher called Pisto whiche was of the secte of Pithagoras and when Rome florished he was very familiar with the Emperour Octauian and welbeloued of all the people whiche ought not to be a litle estemed for he which of the prince is most fauoured commonly of the people is moste hated This Emperour Octauian was a prince very desirous of all vertuous thinges so that when he dyned with his captaines he spake of warre when he supped with the sages he reasoned of sciences and he that vttered any dishonest or idle worde in his presence he alwayes afterward toke him as his enemy This Pisto was very graue in weightie affaires very pleasaunt in slentes and iestes ofte times he was demaunded many questiōs of the Emperour whereof the answers of some according to the demaundes and questions here foloweth The Emperour said to Pisto of all these that liueth whom takest thou to be moste foole to whom the Philosopher aunswered In my opinion I take him to be moste foole of whose worde there commeth no profite for truly he is not so very a foole that slingeth stones into the winde as he that vttereth vayne wordes Tell me Pisto whom ought we of right to desire to speake and whom of right to commaunde to be silent he aunswered It is good when speache doth profite and good to kepe silence when speache is hurtfull for the one desiring to mainteine the good and the other to defende the euil warres beginne throughout all the worlde Tell me Pisto from what thing ought the fathers moste to kepe their children he sayd In my opiniō parentes ought in nothing to watche so much as to kepe them from being vicious for the father ought rather to haue his sonne die well then to liue euill Tell me Pisto what shall man do if he be brought to this extremitie that if he speake truthe he condempneth him selfe and if he make a lie he saueth him selfe The vertuous man saide he ought rather to chose to be ouercome by truthe then to ouercome by lies for it is vnpossible that a man which is a lier should continue long in prosperitie Tell me Pisto what shall man doe to obtaine reste he aunswered As I thinke the man can not haue reste vnlesse he forsake worldly affaires for the menne that are occupied with weightie affaires can not be without great cares are alwayes accompanied of great troubles Tell me Pisto wherein a man sheweth him selfe to be most wyse he aunswered There is no greater profe to knowe a wyse man then if he be paciēt to suffer the ignoraunt for in suffering an iniury the harte is more holpen by wysedome then by knowledge Tell me Pisto what is that thing that the vertuous man may lawfullye desire he aunswered All that that is good so that it be not to the preiudice of any other may honestly be desired but in my opinion that onely ought to be desired whiche openly without shame may be demaunded Tell me Pisto what shal men doe with their wiues when they are great with child to cause that the child in safetie may be deliuered he aunswered In the world there is nothyng more perylous then to haue the charge of a woman with child For if the husbande serue her he hath payne trauaile and if perchaunce he doe not contente her she is in daunger In this case the wiues of Rome and their husbandes also oughte to be very diligent and to the thinges folowyng more careful the which I shew them more for counsell then for commaundement For good coūsell ought to haue as much auctoritie in the vertuous as the commaundement hath in the vitious Thou Octauian as thou arte a mercifull and a pitieful Emperour and that kepest thy Nece Cossucia great with childe I know thou desirest that she had presentely good and luckye deliuery and that she were deliuered of her paine all the whyche thou shalte see if thou doest marke these thynges that I will shew the here folowynge First the woman oughte to beware of dauncing leapinge and running for leaping oftentimes maketh man to loose his speache and women with childe to loose their life wherfore it is not reason that the folly of the mother should be permitted to put in hazarde the lyfe of the childe The secound the woman beyng with child ought to beware that she be not so hardye to enter into gardeyns wher there is much frute and that for eating to many she be not yll deliuered for it is no reason that the likerousnes of the mother be punished with the death of the childe The third the woman with child ought to beware of ouer harde lacing herselfe about the midle for many Roman Dames for to seme propre doe weare their gownes so streighte that it is an occasion to kyll their creatures which is a heynous mater that the yonge babe should loose hys lyfe bycause his mother shoulde seme pretye The fourth the women with child ought to beware of eating in a great banket for oftetimes there commeth a sodayne deliueraunce only through eating without measure and it is not mete that for tastinge a thyng of litell value the mother and the child should both loose their liues The fifte the woman beyng with child ought to beware that she giueth no eare to any sodayne newes For she is in more daunger for hearynge a thing that greueth her then for suffering long sicknes that paineth her and it were vniust that for knowing of a trifeling matter the mother that is to be deliuered the child that is to be borne should both in one momēt perish The sixte the woman with child ought to beware that she go not by any meanes to any feastes wher ther
wyfe and children as that I cannot carye my bookes into the graue Yf the Gods had geuen me the choyse I had rather chose to be in the graue inuyroned with bookes then to lyue accompanyed wyth fooles for if the dead doe rede I take them to be alyue but if the lyuing doe not reade I take them to be deade Vnder this key which I gyue the remayneth many Greke Hebrue latine and Roman bookes and aboue all vnder this key remayneth al my paynes swet and trauayles al my watchinges and labours where also thou shalte fynde bokes by me compyled so that though the wormes of the yearth doe eate my body yet men shall fynde my harte hole amongest these bokes Once againe I doe require the and saye that thou oughtest not a lytell to esteame the key which I giue the for wise men at the hower of their death alwayes recommed that whiche they best loue to them which in their liues they haue most loued I doe confesse that in my studie thou shalte fynd many thinges with myne owne hand written and wel ordered and also I confesse that thou shalte find many thinges by me left vnpersit In this case I thinke that though thou couldest not wryte them yet thou shalt worke thē wel notwithstandynge and by these meanes thou shalte get reward of the Gods for workyng them Consyder Pompeian that I haue ben thy lorde I haue ben thy father in law I haue bene thy father I haue bene thy aduocate and aboue all that I haue bene thy speciall frend which is most of all for a man ought to esteme more a faithful frend then all the parentes of the world Therfore in the faith of that frendshyp I require that thou kepe this in memory that euen as I haue recommended to others my wife my children my goods and ryches So I do leaue vnto the in singular recommendacion my honoure For prynces leaue of them selues no greater memorye then by the good learning that they haue wrytten I haue bene .18 yeares emperour of rome and it is .lx. and .iii. yeares that I haue remayned in thys wofull life during whiche time I haue ouercome many battailles I haue slayne many pirattes I haue exalted many good I haue punished manye euil I haue wonne many realmes I haue distroyed many tirauntes But what shal I do woful man that I am sithe all my compagnions which were witnesses with me of al these worthy feates shal be my compagnions in the graue with the gredy wormes A thousand yeares hence when those that are now alyue shal then be dead what is he that shal say I saw Marcus Aurelius triumphe ouer the Parthians I saw him make the buildings in Auentino I saw him welbeloued of the people I saw him father of the orphanes I saw him the scourg of tiraūtes truly if al these thinges had not ben declared by my bookes or of my frendes the dead would neuer haue rysen agayn to haue declared them What is it for to se a prince from the time he is borne vntil the time he come to dye to se the pouerty he passeth the perilles he endureth the euil that he suffereth the shame that he dyssembleth the frendeshyp that he fayneth the teares which he sheaddeth that sighes that he fetchith the promises that he maketh and doeth not endure for any other cause the mysteries of this life but onely to leaue a memorye of him after his death There is no prince in the worlde that desireth not to keape a good house to keape a good table to aparrel him selfe rychely to pay those that serue hym in his house but by this vaine honour they suffer the water to passe thorough their lippes not drinking therof As one that hath proued it it is reason that I be beloued in this case and that is that the entent of princes to conquere straunge Realmes and to permit their owne to suffer wronges is for no other thyng but because that the commendacions which they speake of the princes past they should lykewyse talke the same of them that be to come Concluding therfore my mynde and declaring my intencion I say that the Prince that is noble and desireth to leaue of him selfe some fame let hym consider and se what it is that those can write of him which writ his history for it profiteth litel that he atchieue greate affayers by the swerde if there be no writer to sette them fourth with the penne and afterwardes to exalte them with the tonge These wordes thus spoken by the noble Emperour Marcus Aurelius he gaue the key of his studye to the honourable old man Pompeianus that toke all the wrytinges and put them in the high Capitol where the Romans honored them as the christians the holye Scriptures all these writynges besydes many others peryshed in rome when by the Barbarous it was dystroyed For the Gothes vtterly to extinguishe the name of rome distroyed not onely the walles therof but also the bokes that were therein and trulye in this case the Goothes shewed more crueltye to the Romans then if they had slayne the children of their bodies or bet downe the walles of their Cities For without doubte the lyuelye letter is a moresewerer wytnes of renowme that alwayes speaketh then eyther the lyme sand or stone wherwith fortresses are buylded Of the importunate suete of the Empresse Faustine to the Emperour Marke Aureille Concerning the key of his closet Chap. xiiii VVe Haue declared howe the Emperoure Marcus Aurelius had his studie in the secretest place of al the palace and how that he him selfe did kepe the key It is to be vnderstande that he would neuer let his wife hys children nor any other of his familier frendes come into it for he said I had rather suffer that they shoulde take from me my treasoures then that any man should turne the leaues of my bookes It chaunced that on a daye the Empresse Faustine being great with child importuned the Emperour muche by all the meanes she could that he would be so fauourable vnto her as to gyue her the key of his studye and it is no meruaile for naturallye women dispise that which is geuen them and lust forth at that is denayed them Faustine instantly besoughte him not once but manye times not onely with fayer wordes but with aboundaunt teares alleagynge vnto him these reasons I haue requyred the sondrye tymes that thou wouldest gyue me the key of thy chamber and thou haste by iestinge made frustrate my request the whych thou my Lorde oughte not to haue done consyderynge that I am with childe for oftetimes it chaunceth that that wherfore the husbande reioyceth this daye tomorow he doeth lamente Thou oughtest to remember that I am that Faustine the renowmed the which in thy eyes am the fairest and of thy tonge haue bene most commended of thy parson I was best beloued and of thy harte I am most desired then since it is true that thou hast
crueller enemy to man nor more troublesome to liue with all then the woman is that he kepeth in his house for if he suffer her once to haue her owne wyll then let him be assured neuer after to bring her vnto obedience The younge men of Rome folowe the Ladies of Capua but they may well repente them for there was neuer man that haunted of any longe tyme the company of women but in the ende to their procurement either by death or with infamie he was defaced For the Gods esteme the honour aboue all thinges and as they suffer the wickednes of the euyll men so we see the sharpe punishementes that they ordeine for them I am well assured Faustine of one thing and I doe not speake it by heare saye but because continually I haue proued it and it is that the husband which condiscendeth to all that the wyfe desireth causeth his wife to doe nothing of that her husband commaundeth For there is nothing that kepeth a womā more vnder obedience to her husband then when oft times he denieth with sharpe wordes her vnlawfull request In my opinion it is muche crueltie of the barbarous to kepe as they do their wiues like sclaues but it is muche more folly of the Romaines to kepe them as they doe like Ladies The fleshe ought not to be so leane that it be in eating drie nor yet so fat that there be no leane but it would participate both of the fat and of the leane to the intent it might geue the more nourishement I meane that the man of vnderstanding ought not to kepe his wyfe so shorte that she should seme to be his seruaunt nor yet to geue her so muche libertie that she becommeth his mistresse For the husbande that suffereth his wife to commaunde more then she ought is the cause why he him selfe afterwardes is not estemed as he should be Beholde Faustine you women are in all thinges so extreame that for a litle fauour you waxe proude and for a litle displeasure you become great enemies There is no woman that willingly can suffer to haue any superiour nor yet scarcely can endure to haue any equal for we see that you loue not the highest nor desire to be loued of the lowest For where as the louers be not equal there their loue can not be perfite I knowe well Faustine that thou doest not vnderstande me therefore harken what I doe tell thee more then thou thinkest and more then thou wouldest O what and howe many women haue I sene in Rome the which though they had two thousand pound of rent in their houses yet they had thre thousand follies in their heades and the worste of all is that oftetimes her husbande dieth and she looseth her rente yet for all that ceasseth not her folly Nowe listen Faustine and I will tell thee more All women will speake and they will that others be silent All wil commaunde and will not that they be commaunded All wil haue libertie and they wil that al be captiues to them Al wil gouerne and wil not be gouerned Finally they al in this one thing agree and that is that they will cherishe theym that they loue and reuenge theym of those that they hate Of that whiche before is saide it may be gathered that they make fooles and sclaues of the young vaine men which folow them and persecute the wise men as enemies that flie them For in the end where as they loue vs moste their loue may be measured but where as they hate vs leaste their hate exceadeth reason In the Annales of Pompeius I remember I haue redde doe note one thinge worthy of knowledge that when Pompeius the great passed first into Asia as by chaūce he came by the mountaines of Rypheos he founde in those places a Barbarous nation that liued in the sharpe mountaines as wilde beastes and doe not marueile that I doe call them beastly that liue in those mountaines For as the sheepe cowes that feade on the fine grasse haue their wolle softe and fine so the men which are brought vp in the sharpe wylde mountaines vse themselues after a rude behauiour These Barbarous had therfore a lawe among them that euery neighbour had in those mountaines two caues for the sharpnes of the hylles permitted not that they should haue any houses Therefore in one caue the husbandes the sonnes and the seruauntes were and in the other his wife his doughters and his handemaydes abode they did eate togethers twise in the weeke they slept togethers other twyse in the weeke and al the residue of the time they were seperate the one from the other The great Pompeius asked them what the cause was why they liued so sithe it was so that in all the world there was neuer sene nor redde such extreme lawe nor so straunge a custome The historie saith in that place that an auncient man aunswered him saying beholde Pompeius that the gods haue geuen short life vnto vs that be present in respect of that whiche he gaue to our fathers that are past and since we lyue but fourty or fiftie yeres at the vttermost we desire to enioye those daies in peace for the life is so shorte and oure trouble so longe that we haue small tyme to reioyce in peace after we retourne from the warres It is true that amongest you Romaines whiche enioye pleasure and richesse life seameth to short but vnto vs that haue toyle with pouertie lyfe semeth to longe For through out all the yeare we neuer keape suche solempne feastes as when one passeth out of his life Consider Pompeius that if men liued many yeares there should be time to laugh weepe to be good and to be euill to be poore and to be ryche to be mery and sadde to lyue in peace and warre but why wyll men seeke contention in their lyfe synce it is so shorte In keping with vs as you doe our owne wyues in liuing we should die for the nightes should passe in hearing their cōplaintes and the dayes in suffering their brawlinges but keping them as we doe we see not their heauy countenaunce we heare not the cryeng of our chyldren we heare not their greuous complaintes nor listen vnto their sorowefull wordes neyther we are troubled with their importunate sutes and yet the chyldren are nouryshed in peace and the father foloweth the warre so that they are well and we are better This was the aunswere that this olde man gaue at the requeste of the great Pompeius Truly Faustine I saye that though we call the Messagetes Barbarous in this case they knowe more then the Latynes For he that is free from a brawling woman hath escaped no small pestilence I ask thee nowe Faustine synce those barbarous coulde not agree nor would not haue their wyues with them in those sharpe mountaines howe shall we other agree and please you that lyue in these pleasures in Rome One thing I wil tel thee Faustine
dothe determine to drie and shut vp the fountaines of milke whiche nature hath geuen her she ought to be very diligent to serch out a good nource the which ought not only to content her self to haue her milke whole but also that she be good of lyfe For otherwise the child shall not haue so muche profit by the milke which he sucketh as the nource shall do it harme if she be a woman of an euil life I do aduise princesses and great dames that they watche diligently to know what their nources are before they commytte their children to them for if such nources be euil and slaundered they are as serpentes which do byte the mother with their mouth and do stinge the child with her taile In my opinion it were lesse euill the mother should suffer that her childe should perish in deliuering it then for to kepe in her house an euill woman For the sorow of the death of the child is forgotten and brought to nought in time but the slaunder of her house shall endure as long as she liueth Sextus Cheronensis sayeth that the Emperour Marcus Aurelius commaunded his sonne to be broughte vp of a woman the which was more faire then vertuous And when the good Emperour was aduertised therof he dyd not only send her from his pallace but also he banished and exyled her froÌ„ Rome swering that if she had not nouryshed his sone with her pappes he woulde haue commaunded her to haue bene torne in pieces with beastes For the woman of an euil renowme may iustly be condempned and put to death Princesses and great ladies ought not greatlye to passe whether the nources be faire or foule for if the milk be swete whyt and tender it littel skilleth though the face of the nource be whit or blacke Sextus Cheronensis saieth in the booke of the nourture of children that euen as the blacke earth is more fertill then is the white earthe so likewise that woman which is browne in couÌ„tenaunce hath alwaies the most substaunciall milke Paulus Diaconus in hys greatest history sayeth that the Emperour Adocerus did mary him selfe with the daughter of an other emperour his predecessour called Zeno the Empresse was called Arielna The whych in bringing forth a Sonne had a woman of Hungarye marueylous fayre to nourishe it the case succeded in such sorte that the nource for being faire had by that emperour .iii. children the one after the other his wofull wife neuer had any but the first alone A man ought to beleue that the empresse Arielna did not only repent her selfe for taking into her house so faire a nource but also was sory that euer she had any at all syth the rybald therby was mystresse in the house she remained without husband all her life I do not say it for that ther are not many foule women vitious nor yet because ther are not many faire women vertuous but that princesses and great ladies accordyng to the qualities of their husbandes ought to be profitable and tender nources to bring vp their childreÌ„ For in this case there are some men of so weake coÌ„plection that in seyng a litell cleane water immediatly they dye to drinke therof Let therfore this be the first couÌ„sell in chousing nources that the nource before she enter into the house be examined if she be honest vertuous For it is a tryfell whether the nource be faire or foule but that she be of a good life and of an honest behauiour Secondarily it is necessary that the nource which nourisheth the child be not only good in the behauiour of her life but also it is necessary that she be hole as touching the bodily health For it is a rule vnfallible that of the milke which we do suck in our infancy dependeth all the corporall health of our life A child geueÌ„ to the nource to nourish â–ª is as a tree remoued froÌ„ one place to an other And if it be so as in dead it is it behoueth in al pointes that if the earth wher in it shal be new put were no better that at the lest it be not worse for thys should be a great crueltie that the mother beyng hole strong and well disposed should geue her child to a leane womaÌ„ to nource which is feable sore and diseased Princesses and great laâ—es do chose leane womâ—n weake and sycke for to nourishe their infantes And in that they do fayle it is not for that they would erre but it is bycause that such feable and weake nources by a vaine desire they haue to be nources in a gentilmaÌ„s house on the one part they say they will litel money on the other parte they do make great sutes What a thing is it when a princesse or a noble woman is deliuered of a child to se the deuyses of other women among them selues who shal be the nource and how those the whyche neuer nourished their owne children do preserue the milke to nouryshe the children of others To procure this thing for women â–ª me thinketh it proceadeth of aboundaunce of folly and to condescend to their requestes me thinketh it is for wante of wisedome They looke not alwayes to the manners and habilitie of the nource how apte she is to nource their childe but how diligent she is in procurynge to haue it to nourishe They care not greately whether they be good or no for if the firste be not good they will take the second and if the second pleaseth them not they will haue the thirde and so vpwardes vntill they haue founde a good nource But I let you to wete you princesses and great ladies that it is more daunger for the children to chaunge diuerse mylkes then vnto the old men to eate dyuerse meates Wee see dayly by experience that without coÌ„parison there dieth more children of noble women then children of women of the meaner estate And we will not say that it is for that they do flatter their children more nor for that the wiues of labourers do eate fine meates but that it chauÌ„ceth oft times that the children of a poore woman doth neither eat nor drinke but of one kinde of meate or milke in .ii. yeares and the childe of a Ladye shall chaung and alter .iii. nources in .ii. monethes If princesses and great ladies were circumspect in chousing their nources and that they did loke whether they were hole without diseases and honest in their maners and would not regarde so much the importunitie of their sutes the mothers should excuse them selues from many sorowes the children likewise should be deliuered from many diseases One of the most renowmed princes in times past was Titus the sonne of Vaspasyan and brother of Domitian Lampridius saieth that this good Emperour Titus the most parte of his lyfe was subiect to greuous diseases and infirmities of his persoÌ„ne and the cause was for that when he was yong he was geuen to a syck nourse to be nourished so that
watche narrowly to know wheÌ„ and how much the nources doe eate whiche doe nourish their children For the child is so tender and the milke so delicate that with eatyng of sondrye meates they become corrupte and with eatyng muche they waxe fat If the children suck those which are fatte and grosse they are commonly sicke and if they sucke milke corrupted they ofte tymes go to bed hole and in the mornyng be found dead Isodore in his etimologies saieth that menne of the prouince of Thrace were so cruell that the one dyd eate the other and they dyd not onely this but also furder to shew more their immanitie in the sculles of those that were deade they dranke the bloud of him that was lately alyue Thoughe men were so cruell to eate mennes flesh and to drynk the bloud of the vaines yet the women â—hich nourished their children wer so temperat and moderat in eatyng thaâ—â—hey dyd eate nothyng but nettelles sodden and boyled in goates milke And â—â—ause the women of Thrace were so moderate in eatinge the philosopher Solon Solynon brought some to Athens for the auncientes sought no lesse to haue good women in the commen wealthe then to haue hardy and valiant captaines in the warre The auctoure addeth .iii. other conditions to a good nourse that giueth sucke that they drinke no wine that she be honest and chiefly that she be well conditioned Chap. xxi THe Princesses and great ladies may know by this example what difference there is betwene the women of Thrace which are fed with nettelles only and haue brought forth suche fierce men and the women of our tyme whiche through their delicate and excessiue eatyng bryng forthe suche weake and feable children Fiftly the Ladies ought to be very circumspecte not onely that nources eate not much that they be not gready but also that they be in drinkynge wine temperat the which in old time was not called wine but â—enym The reason hereof is apparant and manifest ynough for if we doe forbyd the fat meates which lieth in the stomacke we should then much more forbidde the moyst wine whyche washeth all the vaines of the body And further I say that as the child hath no other nourishement but the milke only that the milke proceadeth of bloud that bloud is nourished of the wine and that wine is naturally whot from the first to the last I say the woman whyche drinketh wine and geueth the child sucke doth as she that maketh a greate fire vnder the panne wher ther is but a litle milke so that the panne burneth and the milke runneth ouer I will not denaye but that some times it maye chaunce that the child shal be of a strong complexioÌ„ and the nource of a feable and weake nature and theÌ„ the child would more substanciall milke wheÌ„ the womeÌ„ is not able to geue it him In such a case though with other thinges milke may be conferred I allow that the nource drink a litel wine but it ought to be so litel and so well watered that it should rather be to take awaye the vnsauorines of the water then for to tast of any sauour of the wine I do not speake this without a cause for the nource being sicke and feable of her selfe and her milke not substancial it ofte times moueth her to eate more then necessitie requireth and to drinke wine which is somewhat nutritiue so that they supposyng to giue the nource triacle do giue her poyson to destroy her child Those excellent auncient Romaines if they had bene in our time and that we had deserued to haue bene in their time thoughe our time for beyng Christians is better they had saued vs from this trauaile for they were so temperat in eatyng meates and so abstinent in drynkyng wynes that they dyd not only refrayne the drinkyng therof but also they would not abyde to smell it For it was a greater shame vnto a Romayne woman to drynke wyne then to be deuorced from her husbande Dionisius Alicarnaseus in his boke of the lawes of the Romaynes sayed that Romulus was the fyrste founder of Rome and that he occupyed hym selfe more in buildyng houses to amplifie Rome then in constituting lawes for the gouernement of the commen wealth But emongest .xv. lawes which he made the seuenth therof was that no Romaine woman on paine of death shold be so hardy to drinke wine within the walles of Rome The same Historian saieth that by the occasion of this law the custome was in Rome that when any Romain Ladye would drinke wine or make any solempne feast she must nedes goe oute of Rome where euery one hadde their gardens and dwellyng place because the smell also of wine was prohibited and forhidden women within the circuite of Rome If Plinie do not deceyue vs in his .xxiiii. booke of his naturall history It was an auncient custome in Rome that at eche time that parentes met both men and women they did kisse the one the other in the face in token of peace and this ceremony began first for that they would smel whether the woman hadde dronke any wine And if perchaunce she sauored of wine the Censor mighte haue banished her from Rome And if her kinseman found her without Rome he might frely and without any daunger of lawe put her to death because within the circuite and walles of Rome no pryuat man by Iustice could put any Romaine to death As aboue is rehersed Romulus was he which ordeined the paine for dronkardes and Ruptilius was he which ordeined the paine for adulterers And betwene Romulus and Ruptilius there was .xxxii. yeares so that they ordeyned this strayght lawe for dronckardes a long time before they dyd the law for adulterers For if a woman be a dronckarde or harlot truly they are both great faultes and I can not tell whether of them is worst for beyng a harlot the woman loseth her name and for being a dronckard she loseth her fame and the husbande hys goods Then if women for the honestie of their personnes only are bound to be temperat in eating and drincking the woman which nourisheth giueth the child sucke ought to be much more corrected and sober in this case For in her is concurrante not only the grauitie of their personnes but the health and lyfe also of the creature whiche she nourisheth Therfore it is mete that the nource be kepte from wine since the honour of the one and the lyfe of the other is in peryll Sixtly the princesses and great Ladies ought to take hede that their nources be not gotten with child And the reason herof is that in that time wheÌ„ the woman is with child her natural course is stopped and that corruption is mingled with the pure bloud so that she thinking to giue the child mylke to nourish it geueth it poison to destroye it And nothyng can be more vniuste then to put the childe whiche is alredy borne and aliue in daunger for that which
is as yet vnborne and dead it is a wonderfull thinge for a man that wil curiously note and marke thinges to see the brute beastes that all the tyme they bryng vp their litell ones they will not consent to accompanie with the males nor the males wil follow the females and that that is most to be noted yet is to see what passith betwene byrdes for the she sparrowe will not suffer the male in any wise to towche or come nere her till her litle ones be great and able to flye and moch lesse to sit apon any egges to hatch them till the other be fled and gone Plurarche in the .vii. of his regiment of princes saieth that Gneus Fuluius Cosin germain of Pompeius beyng consull in Rome fell in loue with a yong mayden of Capua being an orphane whether he fled for the plague This maiden was called Sabina when she was great with child by this consull she brought forth a doughter whom they called faire Drusia and truly she was more coÌ„mended for her beautie theÌ„ for her honesty For oftetimes it happeneth that the faire and dishonest women leue their children so euyll taught that of their mothers they inherite litel goods much dishonour This Sabina therfore being deliuered as it was the custome of Rome she did with her owne brestes nourish her doughter Drusia during that which time she was gotten with chyld by one of the knightes of this Consul to whom as to hys seruaunt he had geuen her to kepe Wherfore when the Consull was hereof aduertised and that notwithstandyng she gaue her doughter sucke he commaunded that the knight should be immediatly beheded his louer Sabina forthwith to be cast into a wel The day of execution came that both these parties should suffer wherfore the wofull Sabina sent to beseche the consul that it would please him before her death to geue her audience of one sole word that she would speake vnto hym the which being come in the presence of them all she sayed vnto him O Gneus Fuluius knowe thou I did not cal the to th ende thou shuldest grauÌ„t me lyfe but because I would not dye before I had sene thy face thoughe thou of thy selfe shuldest remember that as I am a fraile woman and fel into sin with the in Capua so I might fal now as I haue done with another in Rome For we women are so fraile in this case during the time of this our miserable life that none can keape her selfe sure from the assaultes of the weake fleash The coÌ„sul Gneus Fuluius to these wordes aunswered the gods immortal knoweth Sabina what grefe it is to my wofull harte that I of thy secret offence shuld be an open scourge For greater honesty it is for men to hyde your frailnes then openly to punyshe your offences But what wilt thou I should do in this case considering the offence thou hast comitted by the immortal gods I sweare vnto the againe I sweare that I had rather thou shouldest secreatly haue procured the death of some man then that openly in thys wise thou should haue slaundered my house For thou knowest the true meaning of the common prouerbe in rome It is better to die in honour then to liue in infamie And thinke thou not Sabina that I do codemne the to die because thou forgotest thy faieth vnto my person and that thou gauest thy self to hym whiche kepte the for sinse thou werte not my wyfe the libertie thou haddest to come with me froÌ„ Capua to Rome the selfe same thou haddest to go with another froÌ„ rome to Capua It is an euil thing for vitious men to reproue the vices of others wherin they theÌ„ selues are faultie The cause why I coÌ„dempne the to die is for the remeÌ„braunce of the old law the which coÌ„maundeth that no nourse or woman geuyng sucke should on paine of death be begotten with child truly the law is veray iust For honest women do not suffer that in geuyng her child sucke at her breast she should hide another in her intrailes These wordes passed betwene Gneus Fuluius the consul and the ladye Sabina of Capua Howbeit as Plutarche saieth in that place the consul had pitie vpon her shewed her fauoure banishyng her vpon condicion neuer to retourne to Rome againe Cinna Catullus in the forth boke of the .xxii. consulles saieth that Caius Fabricus was on of the most notable consulles that euer was in rome was sore afflicted with disseases in his life onely because he was nouryshed .iiii. monethes with the milke of a nource being great with child for feare of this they locked the nource with the child in the teÌ„ple of the vestal virgines wherfor the space of .iii. yeres they wer kepte They demauÌ„ded the consul why he did not nourish his children in his house he aunswered the children being nourished in the house it might be an occasion that the nource should be begotten with child and so she should distroye the children with her corrupt milke furder should geue me occasion to doe iustice vpon her person wherfore keaping them so shut vp we are occasion to preserue their lyfe and also oure children from peril Diodorus Siculus in his librarie and Sextus Cheronensis sayth in the life of Marcus Aurelius that in the Isles of Baleares ther was a custome that the nources of yong children whether they were their owne or others should be seuered from their husbandes for the space of .ii. yeares And the woman whych at that tyme though it were by her husbande were with child though they did not chastice her as an adultresse yet euery man spake euill of her as of an offender Duryng the tyme of these ii yeres to the end the husband should take no other wife they commaunded that he shold take a concubine or that he should bye a slaue whose companye he myghte vse as hys wyfe for amongest these barbarous he was honoured most who had .ii. wyues the one with childe and thother not By these examples aboue recyted Princesses and great Ladies may see what watche and care they ought to take in chousyng their nources that they be honest sinse of theÌ„ dependeth not onlye the healthe of their chyldren but also the good fame of their houses The seuenth condicion is that princesses and great Ladyes ought to see their nources haue good condicions so that they be not troblesome proude harlots lyers malicious nor flatterers for the viper hath not so muche poyson as the woman whyche is euell conditioned It litell auayleth a man to take wyne from a woman to entreate her to eate litel and to withdraw her from her husband if of her owne nature she be hatefull and euell maâ—â—red for it is not so great daunger vnto the child that the nource be a dronckard or a Glutton as it is if she be harmefull and malicious If perchaunce the nource that nourisheth the chylâ—e be euell conditioned trulye she is euell troubeled
honnye and she wrote two others the one of the vanities of youth and the other of the miseries of age This woman dyd read openly natural morall Phylosophye in the Scholes of Athens for the space of fiue twenty yeres she made forty bookes she had a hundred tenne philosophers to her Scholers she dyed being at the age of seuentie and seuen yeres the Athenians after her death engraued on her graue these words THe slised stones within their bowels keape Wise Aretha the great and only wight That forceth enuie gentle teares to weape For Grekes decay on whom the losse doth light The eye of fame the hart of vertues life The head of Grece lie here engraued lo more heauenly forme then had that heauenly wife Which vndermind the phrigies ioyes with woe Within the chest of her vnspotted minde Lay Thirmas troth and eke her honest faith Within her hande as by the gods assinde Stoode Aristippus penne that vertue wayeth Within the dongeon of her body eke Imprisonde was wise Socrates his soule That liude so well and did so wisely speke That follies brest he could to wisdome toule Within her head so ouer heapt with witt Lay Homers tongue to stayne the poetes arte Erst was the golden age not halfe so fitt For vertues Impes as when her life did parte As Marcus Varro sayeth the sectes of the philosophers were more then .lxx. but in the ende they were reduced into seuen and in the ende they were brought into thre sects chiefly That is to wete Stoicques Peripaeticques and Pithagoricques Of these pithagoricques Pithagoras was the prince Hyzearcus Annius Rusticus and Laertius with Eusebius and Boccace all affirme one thinge whereunto I did not greatly geue credite which is that this philosopher Pithagoras had a sister not onely learned but if it be lawfull to speake it excellently learned And they saye that not she of Pithagoras but Pithagoras of her learned philosophie And of truthe it is a matter whereof I was so greatly abashed that I can not tell who could be maister of such a woman since she had Pithagoras the great philosopher to her scholler The name of the woman was Theoclea to whom Pithagoras her brother wrote sent a letter when he red philosophie at Rhodes and she at Samothracia doinge the like The Pistle was thus as foloweth ¶ Of a letter whiche Pithagoras sent to his sister Theoclea he being in Rhodes she in Samothracia reading both philosophie Cap. xxix PIthagoras thy brother and disciple to thee Theoclea his sister health and increase of wisedome wysheth I haue red the booke whiche thou diddest sende me of fortune and misfortune from the beginning to the end and nowe I knowe that thou art no lesse graue in making then gracious in teaching The which doth not chaunce very oft to vs which are men and much lesse as we haue sene to you women For the philosopher Aristippus was rude in speaking profound in writing Amenides was briefe in wryting and eloquent in speaking Thou hast studied and written in such sorte that in the learning that thou shewest thou seamest to haue read all the philosophers and in the antiquities that thou doest declare it semeth that thou hast sene all the time past Wherein thou beinge a woman shewest thy selfe more then a woman because the nature of women is to caste their eies only in that that is present and commonly to forget that that is past They tell me that thou doest occupye thy selfe nowe in writing of our countrey And truly in this case I can not say but that you haue matter enough to wryte on For the warres and trauayles of our tymes haue bene suche and so great that I had rather reade them in bookes then see them with my eyes And if it be so as I suppose it is I beseche thee hartely and by the immortall Gods I coniure thee that in writing the affaires of thy coūtrey thou doest vse thy penne discreatly I meane that thou doe not in this case bleamyshe thy wryting by putting therein any flatterie or lesinge For oftetimes Historiographers in blasinge more then trouth the giftes of their countrey cause worthely to be suspected their wryting Thou knowest very well how that in the battayle paste the Rhodians were ouercome and that ours remained victorious Me thinketh thou shouldest not in this case greatly magnifie extolle or exalt ours because in the ende they fought to reuenge their iniury neither thou oughtest to blame the Rhodians for they did not fight but in the ayde of Rome I speake this my Syster because for to defende their own women shewe them selues Lyons and for to defende the thinges of an other man men shew them selues chickens For in the ende he onely maye be counted strong the whiche defendeth not his owne house but which dieth defending his and another mans I wyll not denie the naturall loue of my countrey nor I wyll not denie but that I loue them that wryte and speake well thereof but me thinketh it is not reason that they should disprayse the goodnesse and truthe of other countries nor that they should so highly comend the euill and vilenes of their owne For there is not in the world this daye so barren a Realme but maye be commended for some thing therein nor there is so perfite a nation but in some thinges maye be reproued Thou canst not deny me but that amongest thy brethren I am the eldest and thou canste not deny but that amongest all thy disciples I am the yongest and since that for being thy disciple I ought to obey thee thou like wyse for that I am thy eldest brother oughtest to beleue me By the fayeth of a people I doe councell thee my syster that thou doe trauayle muche to be profound in thy words vpright in thy life and honest of thy persone and besides al this true in thy writing For I let thee vnderstande that if the body of the man without the soule is litle regarded I sweare vnto thee that the mouthe of a man without truthe is muche lesse esteamed ¶ The authour foloweth his purpose perswading princesses and other ladies to endeuour them selues to be wyse as the women were in olde tyme. Cap. xxx THis therefore was the letter the whiche Pithagoras sente to his syster Theoclea whereby is shewed the great humilitie of him and the hyghe eloquence of her Hiarcus the Greke and Plutarche also in the booke of the gouernement of princes saye that Pithagoras had not onely a sister whiche was called Theoclea of whom he learned so muche philosophie but also he had a doughter the wisedome and knowledge of whome surmounted her aunte and was equall to her father I thinke it no lesse vncredible which is spoken of the doughter then that whiche is spoken of the aunte whiche is that those of Athenes did reioyce more to heare her speake in her house then for to heare Pithagoras reade in the schole And it ought to
be beleued for the saying of the graue authours on the one parte and by that we dayly see on the other parte For in the ende it is more pleasure to heare a man tell mery tales hauing grace and comlines in his wordes then to heare a graue man speake the truthe with a rude and rough tongue I haue founde in many wrytinges what they haue spoken of Pithagoras and his doughter but none telleth her name saue only in a pistle that Phalaris the tyraunt wrate I fouÌ„d this word written where he saith Polichrata that was the doughter of the philosopher Pithagoras was young and exceading wyse more faire then riche and was so much honoured for the puritie of her life and so high estemed for her pleasaunt tongue that the worde which she spake spinning vpon her distaffe was more estemed then the philosophy that her father red in the schole And he sayd more It is so great a pitie to see and heare that women at this present are in their life so dishonest in their tongues so malicious that I haue greater pleasure in the good renowme of one that is dead then in the infamie of all them which are aliue For a good woman is more worth with her distaffe spinning then a hundred euel queenes with their roiall scepters reigning By the wordes which Phalaris saied in his letter it seamed that this doughter of Pithagoras was called Polichrate Pithagoras therefore made many commentaries as wel of his owne countrey as of straungers In the end he died in Mesopotamia where at the houre of his death he spake vnto his doughter Polichrate saied these wordes I see my doughter that the houre wherein I must ende my life approcheth The Gods gaue it me and nowe they wil take it from me nature gaue me birth now she geueth me death the earth gaue me the body and now it retourneth to ashes The woful fatall destinies gaue me a litle goodes mingled with manie trauailes so that doughter of all thinges which I enioyed in this world I cary none with me for hauing all as I had it by the waye of borowyng nowe at my death eche man taketh his owne I die ioyfully not for that I leaue thee riche but for that I leaue thee learned And in token of my tender harte I bequethe vnto the al my bookes wherin thou shalt finde the treasure of my trauailes And I tel thee that that I geue thee is the riches gotten with mine owne sweat and not obtained to the preiudice of an other For the loue I beare vnto thee doughter I pray thee and by the immortall gods I coniure thee that thou be such so good that althoughe I die yet at the least thou mayst kepe my memory for thou knowest wel what Hoâ—ere saieth speaking of Achilles and Pirrus that the good life of the childe that is aliue keapeth the renowme of the father that is dead These were the wordes which this philosopher spake vnto his doughter lieng in his death bed And though perhaps he spake not these wordes yet at the least this was the meaning As the great poet Mantuan saieth king Euander was father of the giant Pallas and he was a great frende of king Eneas he vaunted him selfe to discend of the linage of the Troyans and therfore when king Eneas prince Turnus had great warres betwene them which of them should haue the princesse Lauinia in mariage the which at that time was only heire of Italy king Euander ayded Eneas not only with goodes but also sending him his owne sonne in persone For the frendes ought for their true frendes willingly to shed their bloud in their behalfe without demauÌ„ding thei ought also to spend their goods This king Euander had a wyfe so well learned that that which the Grekes saied of her semeth to be fables That is to say of her eloquence wisdome for they say that if that which this woman wrote of the warres of Troye had not bene through enuy cast into the fire the name of Homere had at this day remained obscure The reason hereof is because the woman was in the time of the destruction of Troy and wrate as a witnes of sight These wordes passed betwene the Romaine Calphurnius and the poet Cornificius I desire to declare the excellency of those fewe auncient women as wel Grekes as Latines Romaines to thintent that princesses and great ladies may knowe that the auncient women were more esteamed for their sciences then for their beauties Therefore the princesses and great Ladies ought to thinke that if they be women they were also in lyke maner and if they be frayle the others were also weake If they be maried the other also had husbandes if they haue their wylles the other had also what they wanted if they be tender the others were not strong Finally they ought not to excuse them selues saying that for to learne women are vnmete For a woman hath more abilitie to learne sciences in the scholes then the Parate hath to speake wordes in the cage In my opinion princesses great ladies ought not to esteame theÌ„selues more then an other for that they haue fairer heares then other or for that they are better appareled then an other or that they haue more ryches then an other But they ought therfore to esteame them selues not for that they can doe more then others To say the truth the faire and yelow heares the riche and braue apparel the great treasures the sumptuous palaces and strong buildinges these and other like pleasures are not guides and leaders to vertues but rather spies scout watches for vices O what a noble thinge were it that the noble ladies would esteme them selues not for that they can doe but for that that they knowe For it is more commendation to knowe howe to teache twoo philosophers then to haue authoritie to commaunde a hundred knightes It is a shame to write it but it is more pitie to see it that is to wete to read that we read of the wisdome and worthines of the auncient matrones paste and to see as we doe see the frailenes of these younge ladies present For they coueted to haue disciples both learned and experimented and these of this present desire nothing but to haue seruauntes not only ignoraunt but deceitful and wicked And I do not marueile seing that which I se that at this present in court she is of litle value lest estemed among ladies which hath fairest seruauntes is lest enterteined of gentlemen What shall I say more in this matter but that they in times past striue who should write better compile the best bookes and these at this presente doe not striue but who shal haue the richest and most sumptuous apparel For the ladies thinke it a iolier matter to weare a gown of a new fachion then the auncientes did to read a lesson of philosophie The auncient ladies striue whiche of them was
wisest but these of our daies cōtend who shal be fairest For at this day the ladies would chose rather to haue the face adorned with beautie then the heart endued with wisedome The auncient ladies contented which should be better able to teache others but these ladies nowe a daies contend how they may moste finely apparel them selues For in these daies they geue more honour to a woman richely appareled then they geue to an other with honestie beautified Finally with this worde I doe conclude and let him marke that shall reade it that in the olde time women were such that their vertues caused al men to kepe silence and now their vices be such that they cōpell al men to speake I will not by this my word any man should be so bolde in generally to speake euil of all the ladies for in this case I sweare that there are not at this day so many good vertuous women in the world but that I haue more enuy at the life they lead in secreat then at al the sciences whiche the auncient women red in publike Wherfore my pen doth not shewe it selfe extreme but to those which onely in sumptuous apparell and in vayne wordes do consume their whole lyfe and to those whiche in readyng a good boke wold not spend one only houre To proue my intencion of that I haue spoken the aboue written suffiseth But to the ende princesses and great ladies maye se at the lest howe muche better it shal be for them to know litel then to haue and possesse much and to be able to do more I will remembre thē of that whych a Romaine woman wrate to her children wherby they shal perceyue how eloquent a woman she was in her sayinges and how true a mother in her counsel For in the end of her letter she perswadeth her children to the trauailes of the warre not for any other cause but to auoyd the pleasures of Rome Of the worthines of the ladye Cornelia and of a notable epistle she wrote to her .ii. sonnes which serued in the warres Tyberius and Caius diswadyng them from the pleasures of rome and exorting them to endure the trauailes of warre Chap. xxxi ANnius Rusticus in the boke of the antiquities of the Romaines saith that in Rome ther wer .v. principal linages that is to wete Fabritij Torquatij Brutij Fabij and Cornelij thoughe there were in Rome other newe linages wherof ther were many excellent personages yet alwayes these which came of the .v. linages were kept placed and preferred to the first offices of the common wealth For Rome honored those that were present in such sort that it was without the preiudice of those that are gone Amongest those .v. linages the romaines alwayes counted the Cornelij most fortunat the which were so hardy and couragious in fight and so modest in lyfe that of theyr familie there was neuer found any cowardly man in the feld nor any defamed woman in the towne They saye of this linage of the Cornelij amonge many other there were .iiii. singular and notable women among the whiche the chiefe was the mother of Gracchi whose name was Cornelia and liued with more honour for the sciences she red in Rome then for the conquestes that her children had in Affricke Before her children wer brought into the empire they talked of none other thing but of their strēgth hardines throughout all the worlde and therfore a Romaine one daye asked this woman Cornelia wherof she toke most vaine glory to se her selfe mistres of so many disciples or mother of so valiant children The lady Cornelia aunswered I doe esteme the science more whiche I haue learned then the Children whyche I haue brought forth For in the end the children kepe in honour the lyfe but the disciples continue the renowne after the death And she sayd further I am assured that the disciples dayly will waxe better and better and it maye bee that my Children wil waxe worse and worse The desyres of yong men are so variable that they daily haue newe inuentions With one accord all the wryters do greatly commende this woman Cornelia inespecially for being wyse and honest and furthermore bycause shee red philosophy in Rome openlye And therfore after her death they set vp in Rome a Statue ouer the gate Salaria whereupon there was grauen this Epigrame This heape of earth Cornelie doth encloose Of wretched Gracches that loe the mother was Twyse happye in the sckollers that she choose Vnhappye thrise in the ofspringe that she has AMong the latines Cicero was the Prince of al the Romaine rethorike and the chiefest with his pen inditing of Epystles yet they say that he did not only se the writinges of this Cornelia but red them and did not onely read them but also with the sentences therof profited him selfe And hereof a man ought not to meruaile for there is no man in the world so wise of him selfe but may furder his doynges with the aduice of another Cicero so highly exalted these writinges that he said in his rethorike these or such other like wordes If the name of a woman had not bleamyshed Cornelia truly she deserued to be head of all philosophers For I neuer sawe so graue sentences procede from so fraile flesh Since Cicero spake these wordes of Cornelia it can not be but that the writinges of such a woman in her time were very liuely and of great reputacion yet notwithstāding there is no memory of her but that an author for his purpose declareth an epistel of this maner Sextus Cheronensis in his booke of the prayse of women reciteth the letter whiche she sente to her children She remaynyng in Rome and they beyng at the warres in Affrike The letter of Cornelia to her .ii. sonnes Tiberius and Caius otherwise called Gracchi COrnelia the Romaine that by thy fathers side am of the Cornelij one the mother syde of the Fabij to you my .ii. sonnes Gracchii which are in that warres of Affrik such health to you do wish as a mother to her childrē ought to desire Ye haue vnderstode right well my children how my father died I being but .iii. yeres of age and that this .xxii. yeares I haue remained wydow and that this .xx. yeares I haue red Rethorike in Rome It is .vii. yeres sins I sawe ye and .xii. yeares sins your bretherne my children dyed in the great plage You know .viii. yeres ar past since I left my study and came to se you in Cicilia bycause you should not forsake the warres to come se me in rome for to me could come no greater paine thē to se you absent from the seruice of the common welth I desire my children to shew you how I haue passed my life in labour trauaill to the intent you should not desire to spēd youres in rest and idlenes For if to me that am in rome there can want no trobles be ye assured that vnto you which are in the warres shall
these and many others which ye left aliue ful high in rome are now become wormes meat ful low vnder the yearth death also doth summon me vnto the graue If you my childreÌ„ did consider what shal become of you herafter truly you will thinke it better to weape .1000 yeares with the dead then to laugh one houre with those that be aliue Remembryng that I baâ—e ye in great payne and haue nourished you in great trauell that ye came of my proper intrailles I would haue you as children about me for the confort consolation of my paines But in the end beholdyng the prowesses of those that are paste that bindeth their heires I am coÌ„tent to suffer so long absence your persons only to the end you may get honour in chiualrye For I had rather here tell you should liue like knightes in Afrik theÌ„ to se you vtterly lost here in Rome My childreÌ„ as you are in the warres of Afrike so I doubt not but that you desire to se the pleasurs of rome for ther is no man in this world so happy but at his neyghbours prosperity had som enuy enuie not the vitious nether desier to be amoÌ„g vices for truly vices ar of such a coÌ„dition that they bring not with theÌ„ so much plesure wheÌ„ they com as they leaue sorow behind theÌ„ wheÌ„ they depart for that true delight is not in the pleasure which sodeÌ„ly vanisheth but in the truth which euermore remaineth I thank the immortal gods for all these thinges first for that they made me wise not folish for to a woman it is a small mater to be called so fraile that in dede she be not folish The secoÌ„d I thank the gods bicause in al times of my troubles they haue geueÌ„ me pacieÌ„ce to endure theÌ„ for the maÌ„ only in this lif may be called vnhappy to whom the gods in his troubles hath not giueÌ„ pacience The third I thank the gods for that those .lxv. yeares which I haue liued I neuer hytherto was defamed for the woman by no reason can coÌ„plaine of her fortune if in none of her troubles she hath loste her honour The fourthe I thanke the Gods that in this forty yeres I haue lyued in Rome remained widow ther was neuer man nor woman the contended with me for since we women profite litle the commoÌ„ wealth it is but reason that she whych with euill demeanoures hath passed her lyfe shoulde by iustice receaue her death The fift I giue the gods tankes that they gaue me children the whych are better contented to suffer the trauailes of Affrik theÌ„ to inioy the pleasurs of Rome Do not counte me my childreÌ„ for so vnlouing a mother that I wold not haue you alwayes before my eyes but considering that many good meÌ„s children haue bene lost only for being brought vp in the excessiue pleasures of Rome I do content my selfe with your absence For that man that desireth perpetuall renowne thoughe he be not banished he ought to absent him self froÌ„ his natiue countrey My deare children I most earnestly desire you that always you accoÌ„panie your selues with the good with the most auncientes and with those which ar graue most expert in councel and with those that haue most sene the world and do not vnderstand most of the world by those that haue sene most countreis For the rype councel proceadeth not from the man that hath traueiled in many contreis but from him that hath felte him selfe in many daungers Since the nature of the countrey my children dothe knocke with the haÌ„mer at the gate of the hart of man I feare that if you come and se your frendes parentes you shal always lyue in care pensifnes and being pensife you shal always lyue euil coÌ„tented you shal not do that whiche becommeth Romain knights to do And you not beyng valiaunt knightes your enemies shal alwayes reioice ouer you your desires shall neuer take effect for of those men which are careful heauy proceadeth always seruices vnworthy I desire you hartely by this present letter I counsell you that you wil not in any wise seke to come to rome for as I haue saied you shal know few of those that did know you for eyther they are dead or banished poore or sicke aged or coÌ„me to nought sad or euil coÌ„tented so that sithens you are not able to remedy their grefes it is best you should not come hyther to se their troubles For no man coÌ„meth to Rome but to weape with the liuing and to sigh for theÌ„ that be dead Truly my children I know not what pleasure is in Rome that should cause any good man to come hyther and to forsake Affrik for if there you haue enemies here you shall want frendes If you haue the sworde that perceth the body we haue that tong here that destroyeth the renowme If you be vexed with the theues of Affrike we are wounded with the traitours Flatterers and liers of Italy If you lack rest we haue here to much trouble Finallye seyng that that I doe se in Rome and hearynge that which I heare of Affrik I commende your warre and abhorre our peace If you do greatly esteme that which I haue sayd esteme much more that whiche I shall say which is that we alwayes here that you are conquerours of the Africkans you shall here always that we are conquered by vyces Therfore if I am a true mother I had rather se you winne a perpetuall memory amonge straungers theÌ„ to liue with infamy at home in your couÌ„trey Peraduenture with hope that you shal enherit some goodes you wil take occasioÌ„ to come to Rome When this thing shall come to your mindes remember my children that your father being aliue had not much and that vnto your mother being a widow many thinges wanted And remember that your father bequethed you nothing but weapons and know that from me you shall enherite nothing but bookes For I had rather leaue my children good doctrine wherby they may liue them euil riches wherby they may perysh I am not riche nor I neuer trauailed to be rich and the cause was that I saw many mens children vndone only through the hope they had to enherite their pareÌ„tes goods and afterward went a huntinge after vices For they seldome times do any worthy feates which in their youth enherit great treasurs This thing therfore being true as it is in dead I do not say only that I would watche and toile as many do to get riches and treasurs but also if I had treasour before I would gyue them vnto you I would as the philosopher did cast theÌ„ into the fyre For I had rather haue my children pore and vertuous in Affrike theÌ„ riche and vitious in Rome You know very wel my children that there was amongest the Tharentins a law wel obserued that the sonnes shoulde not inherit any other thyng of their fathers but weapons to fight and
that the doughters should inherit the goodes for to mary them selues with all Truly this law was very iust for the sonne that hath alwayes respect to the enheritaunce will not haue to his father any great confidence For he ought to be called a valiant Romaine knight that with his life hath wonne honour and by the sword hath gotten riches Since you are in straung realmes I praye you hartely that you be conuersaunt with the good as good brethren remēbring alwayes that you wer my children and that I gaue you both sucke of myne owne propre breastes And the daye that I shall here of your disagrement the same day shal be the end of my life For the discord in one citie of parentes doth more harme then a hole armie of enemys It is good for you my childrē to liue in loue concord togethers but it is more requisit to kepe you with the Romaine knightes The which with you you with thē if you do not loue together in the warres you shall neuer haue the vpper hand of your enemies For in great armies the discordes which rise emongest thē do more harme then the enemys do against whō they fight I think wel my children that you wold be very desirous to know of my estate that is to wete whether I am in health whether I am sick whether I am poore whether I am pleased or whether I am miscontented In this case I know not why you shold desire to know it since you ought to presuppose that accordyng to the troubles which I haue passed the miseries that with mine eyes I haue sene I am filled with this world for wise men after .50 yeres and vpwarde ought rather to apply their mindes how to receiue death thē to seke pleasurs to prolong life When mans flesh is weake it always desireth to be wel kept euen vnto the graue And as I am of flesh bone so I do feale the troubles of the world as al mortal men do But for al this do not think that to be pore or sick is the greatest misery neither thinke that to be hole riche is the chefest felicity for ther is none other felicity of the old fathers but for to se their childrē vertuous In my opiniō it is an honour to that countrey that the fathers haue such children which wil take profit with their counsell contrary wyse that the children haue such fathers which can giue it them For the child is happy that hath a wise father more happy is the father that hath not a folish sonne I do write oft times vnto you my children but there is a law that none be so hardy to write to men of war in the field except first they inrowle the letters in the senate Therfore since I write vnto you more letters then they would they do send lesse then I desire Thoughe this law be painefull to mothers which haue children yet we must confesse it is profitable for the weale publik For if a man should write to one in the warre that his family is not well he would forsake the warres to remedye it Yf a man wryte vnto him that it is prosperous he hath then a desire to enioye it Be not displeased my children thoughe all the letters I do sende vnto you come not to your handes For all that I do not cease to visite the temples for your owne health nor yet to offre sacrifices to the Gods for your honour For if we do please the gods we haue not cause to feare our enemies I say no more in this case my children but that I beseche the immortall Gods that if your lyues maye profyte the common wealth then they shorten my dayes and lēgthen your yeres but if your lyues should be to the domage of the common wealth then those immortall gods I desire that first I may vnderstand the end of your dayes before that the wormes should eate my flesh For rather then by your euill lyfe the glory of our predecessours should be bleamished it were much better both your liues wer ended The grace of the Gods the good renowme amongest men the good fortune of the Romains that wisedom of the greekes the blessing of Scippio of al other your predecessours be alwayes with you my children Of the education and doctrine of children whiles they are yong Wherein the auctour declareth many notable histories Chap. xxxii ALl mortall men which will trauell and see good fruite of their trauell ought to do as the chefe artificer did that painted the world For the man that maketh god the head of his workes it is vnpossible that he should erre in the same That whych we beleue and reade by wrytinge is that the eternall created the world in short space by his mighte but preserued it a lōg time by his wisedome Wherof a man may gather that the time to do a thing is short but the care and thought to preserue it is long We see daily that a valiaunt captaine assaulteth his enemies but in the end it is god that giueth the victorye but let vs aske the conquerour what trauell it hath bene vnto him or wherin he hath perceaued most daunger that is to wete either to obteine the victory of his enemies or els to preserue them selues amongest the enuious and malicious I sweare and affirme that such a knight wil swere that ther is no comparison betwene the one and the other for by the bloudy sweard in an houre the victorye is obteined but to kepe it with reputation the swete of al the life is required Laertius in the booke of the lyfe of the philophers declareth and Plato also hereof maketh mention in the bookes of hys common wealth that those of Thebes vnderstandyng that the Lacedemonians hadde good lawes for that whych they were of the godes fauoured and of menne greatly honoured determined to send by common assent and agreement a wise philosopher the beste esteamed amongest them whose name was Phetonius to whome they commaunded that he should aske the lawes of the Lacedemonians and that he shoulde be verye circumspecte and ware to see what their rules and customes were Those of Thebes were then very noble valliant and honest so that their principal end was to come to honour renowme to erect buildinges to make them selues of immortall memory for beyng vertuous For in buildyng they were very curious and for vertues they had good Philosophers The philosopher Phetonius was more thē a yeare in the realme of the Lacedemonians beholding at sondry times all thinges therin for simple men do not note thinges but onely to satisfye the eyes but the wise menne beholdeth them for to know and vnderstand their secrettes After that the philosopher had well plainely sene and behelde all the thinges of the Lacedemonians he determined to returne home to Thebes and beyng arriued all the people came to see him and here him For the vanitie of the common people is
to moch aboundaunce and libertie of youth is no other but a prophesie manifest token of disobedience in age I knowe not why princes and great lordes do toile and oppresse so much and scratche to leaue their children great estates and on the other syde we see that in teachyng them they are and shew theim selues to negligent for princes great lordes ought to make account that all that whych they leaue of their substaunce to a wicked heyre is vtterly lost The wise men and those which in their coÌ„sciences are vpright and of their honours carefull oughte to be very diligent to bring vp their children chiefly that they consyder whether they be mete to inherite their estates And if perchaunce the fathers se that their children be more giueÌ„ to follie then to noblenes and wysdome then should I be ashamed to se a father that is wise trauaile al the dayes of his life to leaue much substaunce to an euill brought vp child after his death It is a griefe to declare and a monstrous thyng to se the cares whych the fathers take to gather ryches and the diligence that children haue to spende them And in this case I saye the sonne is fortunate for that he doeth inherite and the Father a foole for that he doth bequeth In my opinion Fathers ar bound to enstructe theyr Children well for two causes the one for that they are nearest to them and also bycause they ought to be theyr heyres For truely with great greyfe and sorow I suppose he doth take his death which leaueth to a foole or an vnthrifte the toile of all his life Hyzearcus the Greeke hystorien in the booke of his antiquities and Sabellyquus in his generall history sayeth that a father and a sonne came to complaine to the famous phylosopher and auncient Solon Solinon the sonne complayned of the father and the father of the sonne First the son informed the quarel to the Phylosopher sayeng these wordes I complayne of my father bycause he beyng ryche hath dysheryted me and made me poore and in my steade hath adopted another heyre the whyche thyng my father oughte not nor cannot doe For sence he gaue me so frayle flesh it is reason he geue me hys goods to maintayne my feblenes To these wordes aunswered the father I complayne of my sonne bycause he hathe not bene as a gentle sonne but rather as a cruell enemye for in all thynges since he was borne he hath bene disobedient to my will wherfore I thought it good to dysheryte hym before my death I woulde I weâ—e quite of all my substaunce so that the goddes hadde quyte hym of hys lyfe for the earthe is very cruell that swalloweth not the chyld alyue whyche to hys father is dysobedyent In that he sayeth I haue adopted another chyld for myne heyre I confesse it is true and for somuche as he sayeth that I haue dysinheryted hym and abiected hym from my herytage he beynge begotten of my owne bodye hereunto I aunswere That I haue not disinheryted my sonne but I haue disinheryted his pleasure tothentent he shal not enioy my trauaile for there can be nothing more vniust then that the yonge and vitious sonne should take his pleasure of the swette and droppes of the aged father The sonne replyed to his father and sayd I confesse I haue offended my father and also I confesse that I haue lyued in pleasures yet if I maye speake the trueth thoughe I were disobedient and euill my father oughte to beare the blame and if for this cause he doeth dysherite me I thynke he doth me great iniurye For the father that enstructed not hys sonne in vertue in hys youthe wrongfullye dysheryteth hym though he be disobedient in hys age The father agayne replyeth and saieth It is true my sonne that I brought the vp to wantonly in thy youth but thou knowest well that I haue taughte the sondrye tymes and besydes that I dyd correcte the when thou camest to some discretion And if in thy youth I dyd not instructe the in learnyng it was for that thou in thy tender age dydest wante vnderstandyng but after that thou haddest age to vnderstand discrecion to receiue and strength to exercyse it I began to punyshe the to teache the and to instructe the. For where no vnderstandyng is in the chyld there in vaine they teache doctrine Sence thou arte old quoth the sonne and I yong sence thou arte my father and I thy sonne for that thou hast whyte heres of thy bearde and I none at all it is but reason that thou be beleued I condemned For in this world we se oftetimes that the smal aucthoryty of the parson maketh hym to lose hys great iustyce I grauÌ„t the my father that when I was a childe thou dydst cause me to learne to reade but thou wylte not denye that if I dyd coÌ„mit any faulte thou wouldest neauer agree I should be punyshed And hereof it came that thou sufferyng me to doe what I woulde in my youth haue bene dysobedient to the euer since in my age And I saye to the further that if in this case I haue offended trulye me thinketh thou canst not be excused for the fathers in the youthe of their children oughte not onely to teache them to dispute of vertues and what vertue is but they ought to inforce them to be vertuous in dede For it is a good token when youth before they know vyces hath bene accustomed to practice vertues Both parties thou diligentlie hard the good Philosopher Solon Solinon spake these wordes I geue iudgement that the father of thys child be not buried after hys death and I commaunde that the sonne bycause in hys youth he hath not obeyed his father who is olde should be dysinheryted whiles the father lyueth from all hys substaunce on suche condition that after hys death hys sonnes should inheryte the heritage and so returne to the heires of the sonne and line of the father For it were vniust that the innocencie of the sonne should be condempned for the offence of the father I doe commaunde also that all the goods be committed vnto some faithful parson to th end they may geue the father meate and drinke durynge hys lyfe and to make a graue for the sonne after hys death I haue not with out a cause geuen suche iudgement the which comprehendeth lyfe and death for the Gods wyll not that for one pleasure the punyshement be double but that we chastyse and punyshe the one in the lyfe takynge from hym hys honour and goods and that we punyshe others after there death takyng from them memorye and buriall Truly the sentence which the Philosopher gaue was graue and would to God we had him for a iudge of this world presentlye for I sweare that he should finde many children now a dayes for to disheryte and mo fathers to punishe For I cannot tell which is greater the shame of the children to disobey their fathers or
they winne it and as I think the reason hereof is for the dissembling with them by lytle and little they gather together dyuers thinges and afterwardes whē they thinke least thereon it is taken from them all at once For the iust iudgement of the gods is that since without reason they haue done euyll to others others by reason should come in lyke maner which doe euyll vnto them It is vnpossible that the valyant and sage man who in his deedes presumeth to be wise should take any taste in an other mans good for if he dyd he woulde neuer content him selfe with anye thinge sith he hath not a conscience in that which is euil gotten I know not Romaines whether you vnderstande mee but because you shall vnderstād me better I say that I maruaile I should rather wonder how the man keping another mans goods can sleepe or rest one hour sith he knoweth he hath done iniury to the gods slaūdered his neighbours pleased his enemies lost his frendes endomaged those that he robbed woorst of all that he hath put his personne in perill And I saye that he hath put his person in peryl for the day that any man determineth to take my goods he wyl also the same day if he can take my lyfe It is an odyous thing to the gods and very slaunderous amōg men that men should haue so much thorough theire fleshly desyres vertue bounde and the raine of theire euill workes so much at lybertie that another mans misery seemeth to him riches and that his owne riches semeth to hym selfe pouertie I care not whether he be Greke barbarous Romaine present or absent I say and affirme that he is and shal be cursed of gods and hated of men whiche without consideracion wil change his good fame into shame iustice into wronge right into tiranny trouthe into lyes the certaine for the doubtful hatyng hys owne proper and syghing for that of other mennes He that hath his chiefe intencion to gather goods for his children and seketh not a good name among the renowmed it is iust that such one doe not onely lose the goods whych he hath gathered but also that wythout good name he remaine shameful among the wicked Since you other Romaines naturally are proud pryde doth blynd you you thinke your selues happy that for hauing so much as ye haue more then others that therfore you should be more honored then al the which truely is not so For if presently you wyl not open your eies cōfesse your own errors you shal se that wheras you auaunt your selues to be lords of strāge prouinces you shal fynd yourselues made slaues with your own proper goods Gather asmuch as you wyl let them doe all you do commaund them yet as I thynk it lytle auaileth to haue Plebeians houses wyth goodes and contrarywyse the hartes to bee possessed wyth couetousnes For the ryches which are gotten with couetousnes and are kept wyth auarice doe take away the good name from the possessour and do nothyng auaile to maintein his lyfe It cannot be suffered many dayes and much lesse hidde many yeares that one man should be coūted bothe for riche among the ryche and for honoured among the honorable for it is vnpossible that he whych is a great louer of temporall goods should be a frynde of hys good name O if the couetous men were of theire own honor as gredy as they are of the goods of an other desyrous I swere vnto you by the immortall gods that the lytle woorme or moth of couetousnes would not gnawe the rest of theyr lyfe nor the canker of infamy shoulde destroy they re good name after theire death Herken you Romaynes herken what I wyll saye and I beseche the gods that you may vnderstande it For otherwise I should lose my labour and ye others should take no fruite of my wordes I se that all the worlde hateth pryde yet there is none that will folow humanitie Euery man condemneth adultery and yet I se no man that liueth chaste Euery man curseth excesse and I se no man lyue temperatly Euery man praiseth pacience and I se no man that wyll suffer Euerye manne blameth slouth and I se no man but those that are ydel Euery one blameth auaryce and yet euery man robbeth One thyng I saye not wythout teares in thys senate openly I doe declare it whych is that wyth the tonge euery man prayseth vertue and yet they them selues with all their lymmes are seruants vnto vyces Do not thynke that I saye thys onely for the Romaynes whych be in Illiria but for the Senatours whych I se here in the Senate Al you Romaynes in your deuyses about your armes haue this for your word Romanorum est debellare superbos parcere subiectis Truelye you shoulde better haue saide Romanorum est spoliare innocentes reddere subiectos For you Romayns are but destroyers of the people that be peaceable and robbers of the swette laboures of strangers ¶ The vyllayne argueth againste the Romaynes which without cause or reason conquered theire countreye and proued manifestlye that theye thoroughe offending of their goddes were vanquished of the Romaynes Cap. iiii I Aske ye Romaines what occasion ye haue that are brought vp nigh to the ryuer of Tyber against vs that liue in peace nigh to the riuer of Danuby Peraduenture ye haue seene vs frendes to youre foes or els we haue shewed our selues your enemies peraduenture you haue hard say that forsaking our owne land we should go conquere forein realmes peraduenture ye haue bene aduertised that we rebelling against our owne lordes should become obedient to the crewell barbarous peraduenture ye haue sent vs some imbassadour to desire vs to be your frendes or els there came some from vs to rome to defye ye as our enemies peraduenture some king died in our realme whiche by his testament made ye heirs to our realme wherby you claime your title and seke to make vs your subiectes peraduenture by some auncient lawe or custome ye haue founde that the noble and worthy Germany of necessitye is subiecte to the proude people of Rome peraduenture we haue destroied your armies we haue wasted your fieldes sacked your cities spoiled your subiectes or fauored your enemies so that to reuenge these iniuries ye should destroy oure lād if we had ben your neighbours or you ours it had ben no maruel though one should haue destroied the other For it chaūseth oftentimes that through controuersy of a litle pece of ground tedious warres betwene people arise Of a trouth none of all these things which I haue named hath chaunsed betwene ye Romaines and vs Germaines For in Germany we felte youre tyrannie so sone as we hard of your renowne If ye be greeued with that I haue saide I pray you be not offended withe that I wil say whiche is that the name of Romaines the crueltie of tyrants arriued together in one day vpon our people
ignominy Seldome times we se the sunne shine bright al the day long but first in the sommer there hath ben a mist or if it be in the winter thâ—t hath ben a frost By this parable I meane that one of the miseries of this worlde is that we shall se fewe in this worlde which nowe bee prosperous but beefore haue had fortune in some cases very malitious For we see by experience some come to be very poore and other chaunce to atteine to greate riches so that thoroughe the impouerishing of those the other become riche and prosperous The weping of the one causeth the other to laugh so that if the bucket that is emptye aboue doth not go downe the other whiche is full beneathe can not come vp Speaking therefore according to sensuallyty thou wouldest haue bene glad that day to haue sene our triuÌ„phe with the abundance of riches the great nomber of captiues the dyuersitie of beasts the valiantnes of the captaines the sharpnes of wittes which we brought from Asia eÌ„tred into Rome wherby thou mightest wel know the dauÌ„gers that we escaped in that warre Wherefore speakynge the truth the matter betwene vs our enemies was so debated that those of vs that escaped best had their bodies sore wounded their vaines also almost with out bloud I let thee wete my Cornelius that the Parthes are warlike men in daungerous enterprises verye hardy bolde And when theye are at home in their couÌ„trey euery one with a stout hart defendeth his house surely they do yt like good men valiaunt captaines For if we other romaines without reasoÌ„ through ambition do go to take another mans it is mete iuste that theye by force do defend their own Let no man through the abundaunce of malice or want of wisedome enuy the Romaine Captaine for any triumphe that is geuen him by his mother Rome for surely to get this only one daies honor he adueÌ„tureth his life a M. times in the fielde I wil not speak al that I myght say of them that we lede forth to the warres nor of them which we leaue here at home in Rome which be al cruell iudges of our fame for theire iudgement is not vpright accordinge to equitye but rather procedethe of malice and enuye Though they take me for a pacient man not farre out of order yet I let thee know my Cornelius that there is no pacience can suffer nor hart dissemble to see many romains to haue such great enuy which thorough their malicious tongues passe not to backebite other mens triumphes For it is a olde disease of euil men through malice to backebite that with their tong which through their cowardnes they neuer durst enterprise with their hands Notwithstanding al this ye must know that in the warre you must first ofteÌ„ hazard your life afterwardes to the discrecion of suche tonges commit your honour Our follye is so folishe the desires of men so vaine that more for one vaine worde then for any profyte we desire rather to get vaine glorye withe trauaile then to seeke a good life withe reste And therefore willinglye wee offer oure liues nowe to great trauaile and payne onelye that amonge vaine men hereafter we maye haue a name I sweare by the immortall gods vnto thee mye Cornelius that the daye of mye triumphe where as to the seemynge of all those of this worlde I went triumphinge in the chariote opeÌ„ly yet I ensure thee my hart wepte secreatly Such is the vanitie of men that though of reason we be admonished called and compelled yet we flye froÌ„ her and contrary though we be â—â—â—ked euil handled despised of the worlde yet we will serue it If I be not deceiued it is the prosperitie of foolishe men wante of good iudgementes that cause the men to enter into others houses by force rather then to be desiroâ—â—â— be quiet in their owne with a good will I meane that we shoulde in folowinge vertue soner be vertuous then in haunting vices be vicious For speaking the troth men which in all and for all desire to please the worlde must nedes offer them selues to great trauaile and care O Rome Rome cursed be thy folly and cursed be he that in thee brought vp so muche pryde and bâ— he cursed of men and hated of gods which in thee haâ—â—uented this pompeâ— For verye fewe are they that worthely vnto it haue aâ—â—â—â—d but infinite are they which thorough it haue perished What greater vnâ—â—â—or what equall lightnes can be then that a Romaine captaine because he â—â—h conquered realmes troubled quiet men destroied cities beaten downe castels robbed the poore enriched tiraunts caried away treasours shed much bloud made infinite widdowes takeÌ„ manye noble mens liues should be afterwardes with great triumphe of Rome receiued in recompence of al this domage Wilt thou now that I tel thee a greater follye which aboue al other is greatest I let thee wete infinite are theye that dye in the warres and one onely carieth away the glorye thereof so that these wofull miserable men though for their carcase they haue not a graue yet one captaine goeth triumphing alone thorough Rome By the immortall gods I sweare vnto thee let this pas secretly as betwene frindes that the day of my triumphe when I was in my triumphaunt chariot beholdinge the miserable captiues loden with yrons and other men cariynge infinite treasures which we had euill gotten and to se the carefull widdowes weepe for the death of their husbandes and remeÌ„bred so many noble Romaines whych lost their liues in Affrike though I semed to reioice outwardly yet I eÌ„sure thee I did wepe droppes of bloud inwardly For he is no maÌ„ borne in the world but rather a fury bred vp in hel among the furies that ran at the sorow of another take any pleasure I knowe not in this case what reputacion the prince or captayn should make of him selfe that commeth from the warre and desireth to enter into Rome for if he thinke as it is reason on the woundes he hath in his body or the tresures which he hathe wasted on the places that he hath burnt on the perils that he hath escaped on the iniuries which he hath receiued the multitude of men which vniustlye are slaine the frindes whiche he hath lost the enemies that he hath gotten the litle rest that he hathe enioied and the greate trauaile that he hath suffred in such case I say that such a one with sorowful sighs ought to lament and with bitter teares oughte to be receiued In this case of triumphinge I neither commende the Assirians nor enuy the Persians nor am content with the Macedonians nor allowe the Caldians or content mee with Grekes I curse the Troians and condempne the Carthagiens because that they proceded not according to the zeale of iustice but rather of the rage of pride to set vp triumphes endomaged their countreys and lefte an occasion
as if it were his owne To thys I aunswere that I am not myghtye ynough to remedy it except by my remedye there shoulde spring a greater inconuenience And since thou hast not bene a Prince thou couldest not fall into that I haue nor yet vnderstand that whych I saie For princes by theire wisedome knowe manye thinges the whych to remedy they haue no power So it hath beene so it is so it shal be so I founde it so I keepe it so wil I leaue it them so I haue read it in bookes so haue I seene it with my eyes so I heard it of my predecessours and finallye I saye so our fathers haue inuented it and so wyll wee theire children sustaine it and for this euyll wee will leaue it to our heires I wyll tell thee one thinge and imagine that I erre not therein whych is consideringe the great dommage and lytle profyte which the men of warre doe bringe to our common wealth I thynk to doe it and to sustaine it either it is the folly of menne or a scourge geuen of the gods For there can be nothinge more iust then for the goddes to permit that we feele that in our owne houses whiche we cause others in straunge houses to lament All those thinges I haue written vnto thee not for that it skilleth greatly that thou knowe them but that my harte is at ease to vtter them For as Alcibiades saide the chestes and the hartes ought alwaies to bee open to theire frendes Panutius my secretary goeth in my behalfe to visite that land and I gaue him this letter to geue the with two horses wherewith I think thou wilt be contented for they are gennettes The weapons and ryches whyche I tooke of the Parthes I haue nowe deuyded notwtstanding I doe sende thee .2 Chariottes of them My wyfe Faustine greeteth thee and I sende a riche glasse for thy doughter and a Iewell with stones for thy sister No more but I beseche the Gods to geeue thee a good lyfe and mee a good death ¶ The admonition of the Aucthour to Princes and greate Lordes to thintent that the more they growe in yeares the more they are bounde to refraine from vyces Cap. xvii AVlus Gelius in hys booke De noctibus Atticis sayeth that there was an auncient custome amongest the romaynes to honour and haue in great reuerence aged men And this was so inuiolate a law amongest them that there was none so noble of bloode and lynage neyther so puissaunt in ryches neither so fortunate in battayles that should goe before the aged men which were loden with whit heares so that they honoured them as the gods and reuerenced them as theire fathers Amongest other the aged menne had these preheminences that is to wete that in feastes they sate highest in the triumphes they went before in the temples they did sitte downe they spake to the Senate before all others they had their garments surred they might eat alone in secrat and by theire onlye woorde they were credited as witnesses Fynally I saye that in all thinges they serued them and in nothinge they annoyed them After the people of Rome began warre wyth Asia they forsooke all theire good Romayne customes immediatlye And the occasyon hereof was that since they had no menne to sustaine the common wealth by reason of the great multytude of people which dyed in the warre they ordeyned that al the yong menne should mary the yong maides the wydowes the free and the bonde and that the honour whyche hadde bene done vntyll that tyme vnto the olde menne from henceforthe shoulde be done vnto the maried menne though they were yong So that the moste honoured in Rome was hee not of moste yeares but he that had most children This lawe was made a little before the firste battaile of Catthage And the custome that the maried menne were more honoured then the old menne endured vntill the tyme of the Emperour Augustus whiche was such a frende of antiquyties that hee renewed all the walles of Rome with newe stones and renewed all the auncient customes of the common wealth Licurgus in the lawes whiche hee gaue to the Lacedemonians ordayned that the young menne passinge by the olde shoulde doe them greate reuerence whē the olde dyd speake then the younger shoulde bee sylent And he ordained also that if any olde man by casualtye dyd lose hys goods and came into extreame pouertie that he shoulde bee sustained of the comon wealth and that in suche sustentacion they shoulde haue respecte not onely to succour him for to sustaine hym but further to geue him to lyue competently Plutarche in hys Apothegmes declareth that Cato the Censoure visitinge the corners of Rome founde an olde manne sittinge at his doore weepinge and sheddinge manye teares from hys eyes And Cato the Censoure demaundynge hym why hee was so euyll handeled and wherefore he wepte so bitterlye the good olde manne aunswered hym O Cato the Gods beinge the onelye comfortours comforte thee in all thy tribulations since thou arte readye to comforte mee at this wofull hower As well as thou knowest that the consolations of the harte are more necessarye then the phisike of the bodye the whiche beeynge applyed sometymes doeth heale and an other tyme they doe harme Beholde my scabbed handes my swollen legges my mouth without teethe my peeled face my white beard and my balde heade for thou beinge as thou arte descreete shouldest be excused to aske mee why I weepe For menne of my age thoughe they weepe not for the lyttle they feele yet they ought to weepe for the ouermuche they lyue The manne which is loden with yeares tormented with diseases pursued with enemyes forgotten of his frendes visited with mishappes and with euill wyll and pouertie I knowe not why hee demaundeth long life For there can be no sharper reuengemēt of vyces whych we commit then to geue vs long lyfe Though now I am aged I was yong and if any yong manne should doe me anye iniurye truelye I would not desire the gods to take his lyfe but that they woulde rather prolonge his lyfe For it is a great pitie to heare the man whyche hath lyued longe account the troubles whiche he hath endured Knowe thou Cato if thou doest not knowe it that I haue lyued .77 yeares And in thys tyme I haue buried my father my graundefather twoe Auntes and .5 vncles After that I had buried .9 systers and .11 Brethren I haue buried afterwardes twoe lawfull wyfes and fyue bonde women whyche I haue hadde as my lemmans I haue buryed also .14 chyldren and .7 maryed doughters and therewith not contented I haue buryed .37 Nephues and .15 Nieces and that whyche greaueth me moste of all is that I haue buryed two frendes of myne one which remained in Capua the other which was residente here at Rome The death of whom hath greued me more then all those of my aliaunce and parentage For in the worlde there is no
fynde that the more I eate the more I dye for hunger the more I drinke the greater thirste I haue the more I rest the more I am broken the more I slepe the more drousier I am the more I haue the more I couet the more I desire the more I am tormēted the more I procure the lesse I attaine Fynally I neuer hadde so greate paine through want but afterwarde I had more trouble with excesse It is a great follye to thinke that as longe as a man lyueth in this fleshe that hee can satisfye the fleshe for at the last cast she may take from vs our lyfe but wee others can not take from her her disordynate couetousnes Yf men dyd speake with the goddes or the gods were conuersant with men the first thing that I woold aske thē shoold be why they haue appointed an end to our woful dayes and wyl not geue vs an end of our wicked desires O cruel Gods what is it you do or what do you suffer vs it is certain that we shal not passe one good day of life only but in tasting this and that life consumeth O intollerable life of man wherin there are such malices from the which we ought to beware and such perils to fal in and also so many thinges to cōsyder that then both she and we do end to know our selues when the houre of death approcheth Let those knowe that knowe not that the world taketh our wil and we others like ignorauntes cannot denay it hym and afterwardes hauing power of our wil doth constraine vs to that which we would not so that many times we would do vertuous workes and for that we are now put into the worldes handes we dare not doe it The world vseth another subtiltye with vs that to the end wee should not striue with it it prayseth the times past because we should liue according to the time present And the worlde saieth further that if we others employ our forces in his vices he geueth vs licence that we haue a good desire of vertue O woulde to god in my dayes I myghte see that the care whiche the worlde hath to preserue vs the wordlyngs would take it to withdraw thē from hys vyces I sweare that the gods shoulde then haue more seruauntes and the world and the fleshe should not haue so many slaues ¶ The Emperoure procedeth in his letter proueth by good reasons that sithe the aged persons wyl be serued and honored of the yong they oughte to bee more vertuous and honest then the yonge Cap. xxi I Haue spoken al this before rehersed for occasion of you Claude and Claudine the which at .3 score and 10. yeares wyl not kepe out of the prison of the world You I say which haue your bodies weake and corrupted what hope shale wee haue of young men which are but .25 yeares of age if my memorye deceiue mee not when I was there you had nephewes maried and of their children made sure and two of the children borne and since that is true mee thinketh when the frute is gathered the leafe is of no value and after the meale is taken from the mylle euil shal the mil grinde I meane that the old man ought to desire that his daies might be shortned in this worlde Do not thinke my frendes that a man can haue his house full of nephewes and yet say that he is very yong for in lodīge the tree with frutes the blossomes immediately fall or els they become wythered I haue imagined with my selfe what it is that you might do to seme yonge and cut of some of your yeares and in the end I know no other reason but when you maried Alamberta your doughter with Drusus and your neere Sophia the faire with Tuscidan which were so yonge that the daughters were scarce 15. yeres olde nor the yonge mē .20 I suppose because you were ritche of yeares and poore of money that hee gaue to euery on of them in steede of money for dowrye 20. yeares of yours hereof a man may gather that the money of your nephews haue remained vnto you and you haue geuen vnto them of your own yeares I vnderstand my frendes that your desire is to bee yonge and very yong but I greatly desire to see you old and very old I do not meane in yeares which in you doeth surmount but in discrecion which in you doth want O Claud Claudine note that which I will say vnto you and beare it alwaies in youre memorie I let you wete that to mainteine youth to deface age to lyue contented to be free from trauayles to lengthen lyfe and to auoyde death these thinges are not in the handes of men whiche doe desire them but rather in the handes of those which geueth them the which accordinge to their iustice and not to our couetousnes doe geue vs lyfe by weight and death withoute measure One thinge the olde men do which is cause of slaunderinge manye that is that they wyl speake firste in coūsels they wylbe serued of the yonge in feastes they will bee fyrste placed in all that they saye they wyll bee beleued in churches they wil be hygher then the resydue in distributinge of offyces they wyll haue the moste honoure in there opinyons they wyll not bee gayne sayde fynallye they will haue the credite of old sage men and yet they wyl leade the lyfe of yonge dotynge fooles All these premynences and pryuileges it is verye iuste that old men shoulde haue spent their yeares in the seruice of the common wealthe but with this I dooe aduyse and require them that the auctority geuen them with their white heares bee not dyminyshed by their euil workes Is it a iust thinge that the humble and honest yonge man doe reuerence to the aged man proude and dysdaynefull is it a iust thinge that the gentyll and gratious yonge man doe reuerence to the enuious and malycious old man is it a iust thing that the vertuous and pacyent yonge man doe reuerence to the foolishe and vnpacyente olde man is it a iust thinge that the stoute and liberall yonge man doe reuerence to the myserable and couetous olde man is it iuste that the dylygente and carefull yonge man doe reuerēce to the neglygente olde man Is it iuste that the abstynent and sober yonge man doe reuerence to the greedye and gluttonous old man Is it iuste that the chaste and contynente yonge man do reuerence to the lecherous and dyssolute olde man Mee thinketh these thinges shoulde not bee such that therby the olde man should bee honored but rather reproued and punyshed For olde men offende more by the euel example they geue then by the faulte which they doe commit Thou canste not denaye me my frende Claude that it is thirtye and thre yeares sythe we bothe were at the Theathers to beholde a playe when thou camest late and found no place for thee to sit in thou sayedst vnto mee who was
honored you but that which most I maruel at is that you forget your selues For you neuer coÌ„sider what you ought to bee vntil such time as you bee there where you would not bee and that without power to return back again Awake awake since you are drownd in your dreams open your eyes since you slepe so much accustom your selues to trauells sithens you are vacabonds learne that which beehoueth you sithens now you are so old I mean that in time conuenient you agree with death beefore he make execution of life .52 yers haue I known the things of the world yet I neuer saw a woman so aged through years nor old man with members so feble that for want of strength could not if they list doo good nor yet for the same occasion shoold leaue to bee euel if they list to bee euel It is a meruelous thing to see and woorthy to note that al the corporal members of man waxeth old but the inward hart and the outward tonge for the hart is always green to inuent euils the toung is alwais able to tel lies My opinion should bee that the pleasant somer being past you shoold prepare your selues for the vntemperat winter which is at hand And if you haue but few days to coÌ„tinew you shoold make hast to take vp your lodging I mean that sith you haue passed the days of your life with trauel you shoold prepare your selues against the night of death to bee in the hauen of rest Let mockries passe as mockries and accept truth as truth that is to weete that it were a very iust thing and also for your honor necessary that al those which in times past haue seene you yoÌ„g foolish shoold now in your age se you graue and sage For there is nothing that so much forgetteth the lightnes and folly of the youth as dooth grauity and constancy in age When the knight ronneth his carire they blame him not for that the horse mayn is not finely commed but at the end of his race hee shoold see his horse ameÌ„ded and looked to â–ª what greater confusion can bee to any parson or greater sclauÌ„der to our mother Rome then to see that which now adays therin wee see that is to weete the old which can scarcely creap through the streats to beehold the plays and games as yong men which serch nought ells but pomp and vanity It greeueth mee to speak it but I am much more ashamed to see that the old Romayns do dayly cause the white hears to be plucked out of their heads bicause they would not seeme old to make their berd small to seme yong wearing their hosen very close theyr sherts open beefore the gown of the senatour imbrodred the Romayn signe richly enameled the coller of gold at the neck as those of Dace Fringes in their gowns as those of Saphire hoopes in their hatts as the Greekes and perles on their fingers as those of India What wilt thou I tell thee more then I haue told thee but that they weare their gowns long and large as those of Tharenthe and they wear theim of the colour as men of warr and euery weeke they haue chaunge as players and the woorst of all is that they show them selues as doting in loue now in their age as others haue doon hertofore in their youth That old men are ouercom by yong desires I do not meruel for that brutish lust is as natural as the daily foode but the old men being old men should be so dissolute heerewith men iustly ought to be offended For the old men couetous and of flesh vicious both offend the gods and sclaunder the coÌ„mon wealth O how many I haue known in Rome who in their youth haue been highly praysed and esteamed and afterwards through geeuing theÌ„ self to very much lightnes in theyr age haue been of all abhorred And the woorst of al is that they haue lost al their credit their parents their fauor and their poore innocent children theyr profit For many times the gods permit that the fathers committing th offence the pain shoold fall vpoÌ„ their owne childreÌ„ The renowmed Gaguino Cato who desceÌ„ded from the high lignage of the sage Catoes was fiue years Flamen preest administrator to the vestal virgins three years pretor two years Censor one year dictator and fiue times CoÌ„sull being .75 years old hee gaue him self to folow serue and to desire Rosana the doughter of Gneus Cursius a lady of trouth very yong and fair and of many desired and much made of time afterwards passing away and god Cupide dooing his office the loue was so kindled inwardly in the hart of this old man that he rann almost madde So that after he had consumed all his goods in seruing her dayly hee sighed and nightely he wept onely for to see her It chaunced that the sayd Rosana â—el sick of a burning ague wherwith she was so disteÌ„pered that shee could eat no meat but desired greatly to eat grapes and sithens there were none ripe at Rome Gaguino Cato sent to the riuer of Rheyn to fetch som beeing farre and many miles distant from thence And when the thing was spred through Rome that all the people knew it and the senat vnderstanding the folly of him the fathers commaunded that Rosana should bee locked vp with the vestal virgins the old man banished Rome for euer to the end that to theÌ„ it shoold bee a punishmeÌ„t to others an example Truly it greued mee sore to see it also I had great payns in writiÌ„g it For I saw the father die in iÌ„famy his childreÌ„ liue in pouerty I beleue that al those which shal hear this exaÌ„ple al those which shal reade this wryting shall find the fact of this amorous old man both vile and filthy and they will allow the senteÌ„ce of the senat which they gaue against him for good and iust I swere that if Gaguino Cato had had as many yong men in his banishment as hee left old men louers that followed his example in Rome ther shoold not be cast away so many men neyther so many women euyl maried It chaunceth oft tymes that when the old men specially beeyng noble and valyant are aduertysed of theyr seruants are rebuked of their pareÌ„ts are prayed of their frends accused of their enemies to bee dishonest in such a place they aunswer that they are not in loue but in iest When I was very yong no lesse in wisdome theÌ„ in age one night in the Capitoll I met with a neighbour of mine the which was so old that hee might haue taken mee for his nephiew to whom I sayd these woords Lord Fabricus are you also in loue hee aunswered mee You see that my age suffereth mee not that I shoold bee a louer if I shoold bee it is but in sport Truly I marueiled to meete him at that hour and I was ashamed to haue such an answer In old men of
they make ten thousand blots in their honor O how many haue I known in Rome to whom it hath chaunced that all that they haue gotten in Rome to leaue vnto their best beeloued child an other heir with litle care of whom they thought not hath enioyed it Ther can bee nothing more iust then that al those which haue beegyled others with disceits in their life shoold bee found disceiued in their vayn immaginacions after their death Iniurious shoold the gods bee if in all the euil that the euill propound to doo they shoold geeue them tyme place conuenient to accomplish the same But the gods are so iust and wyse that they dissemble wyth the euill to th end they shoold beegin and folow the things according to their own willes and fantasies and afterwards at the best time they cut of their lyues to leaue them in greter torment The gods shoold bee very cruell and to them it shoold bee great greefe to suffer that that which the euill haue gathered to the preiudice of many good they shoold enioy in peace for many yeres Mee thinketh it is great folly to know that wee are borne weeping and to see that wee dysighing and yet for all this that wee dare liue laughing I woold ask the world and his worldlyngs sithens that wee enter into the world weeping and go out of the world sighing why wee shoold lyue laughing for the rule to measure all parts ought to bee equall O Cincinnatus who hath beegyled thee to the end that for one bottel of water of the Sea of this world for thy pleasure thou wilt blister thy hand with the rope of cares and broose thy body in thanker of troubles and aboue all to aduenture thyne own honor for a glasse of water of an other man By the faith of a good man I swere vnto thee that for all the great quantitie of water thou drawest for the great deal of money thou hast thou remainest asmuch dead for thrist drinking of that water as when thou were without water in the cup. Consider now thy yeres if my counsel thou wilt accept thou shalt demaund death of the gods to rest thee as a vertuous man and not riches to lyue as a foole With the teares of my eyes I haue beewayled many in Rome when I saw them depart out of this world and thee I haue beewayled and doo beewaile my frend Cincinnatus with drops of blood to see thee retorn into the world The credit thou hadst in the senate the blood of thy predecessors my frenship the aucthority of thy parson the honor of thy parentage the sclaunder of thy comonwealth ought to withdraw thee from so great couetousnes O poore Cincinnatus consider the white honored hears which doo fall ought to bee occupied in the noble armies sitheÌ„s thou art noble of blood valyant in parson auncient of yeres and not euil willed in the common wealth For thou oughtest to consider that more woorth is reason for the path way of men whych are good then the common opinion which is the large high way of the euyll For if it bee narrow to go on the one side ther is no dust wherwith the eyes bee blynded as in the other I will geeue thee a counsell and if thou feelest thy self euel neuer count thou mee for frend Lust no more after the greasy fatt of temporall goods sins thou hast short lyfe for wee see dayly many beefore they come to thy age dye but wee see few after thy age lyue After this counsell I will geeue thee an aduise that thou neuer trust present prosperitie for then alway thou art in danger of some euill fortune If thou art mounted into such pricking thorns as a foole mee thinketh thou oughts to descend as a sage And in this sort all wil say amongst the people that Cincinnatus is descended but not fallen My letter I will conclude and the conclusion therof see well thou note that is to weete that thou and thy trade shal bee cursed wher you other marchants wil liue poore to dy rich Once again I retorn to curse you for that the couetousnes of an euill man is alwais accomplished to the preiudice of many good My wife Faustinc doth salute thee and shee was not a little troubled when shee knew thou were a marchaunt and that thou keepest a shop in Capua I send thee a horse to ryde vpon one of the most richest arras of Tripoli to haÌ„g thy house withall a precious ring and a pommel of a swoord of Alexandrie and all these things I doo not send thee for that I know thou hast neede therof but rather not to forget the good custom I haue to geeue Pamphilâ— thy aunt and my neighbor is dead And I can tell thee that in Rome dyed not a woman of long time which of her left such renowm for so much as shee forgot all enmities shee succored the poore shee visited the banished shee entertained frends and also I heard say that shee alone did lyght all the temples Prestilla thy cosin hath the health of body though for the death of her mother her hart is heauy And without doubt shee had reason for the only sorows which the mothers suffer to bring vs foorth though with drops of blood wee shoold beewayl them yet wee cannot recompence them The gods bee in thy custody and preserue mee with my wife Faustine from all euill fortune Marke of mount Celio with his owne hand ¶ The aucthor perswadeth princes and great Lords to fly couetousnes and auarice and to beecome bowntifull and liberall which vertue is euer pertinent to the roiall parson Cap. xxviii PIsistratus the renowmed tyraunt among the Atheniens sins his frends coold not endure the cruelties that hee committed eche one retorned to his own house and vtterly forsook him The which when the tyraunt saw hee layd all his treasure and garments on a heap togethers and went to visite his frends to whom with bitter tears hee spake these woords All my apparell and money heere I bring you with determination that if you will vse my company wee will go all to my house and if you will not come into my company I am determined to dwell in yours For if you bee weary to folow mee I haue great desire to serue you sithens you know that they cannot bee called faithfull frends where the one cannot bear with the other Plutarchê° in his Apothegmes saith that this tyrant Pisistratus was very rych and extream couetous so that they write of him that the gold siluer which once came into his possession neuer man saw it afterward but if hee had necessity to buy any thing if they woold not present it vnto him willingly hee woold haue it by force When hee was dead the Atheniens determined to wey him and his treasure the case was meruelous that the gold and siluer hee had weyd more then his dead body .6 tymes At that tyme in Athens there was a philosopher called
thou canst geeue mee to redeeme thy parson for I let thee to weete that I am not contented any phlosopher shoold perysh in my countrey because you other philosophers say that yow wyll willyngly renounce the goods of the world syth yow can not haue it The phylosopher Silenus aunswered hym Mee thinketh kyng Mydas that thou canst better execut tyrāny then to talk of phylosophy for wee make no accompt that our bodies bee taken but that our willes bee at lyberty Thy demaund is very symple to demaund raunsome of mee for my parson whether thow takest mee for a phylosopher or no. If I bee not a phylosopher what mooueth thee to feare to keepe mee in thy realme for sooner shooldst thow make mee a tyrant then I thee a phylosopher If thou takest mee for a phylosopher why doost thow demaund money of mee sins thow knowst I am a phylosopher I am a craftesman I am a poet and also a musicion So that the time that thow in heapyng vp riches hast consumed the selfsame tyme haue I in learning sciences spent Of a phylosopher to demaund eyther gold or siluer for raunsome of hys parson is either a woord in mockery or els an inuention of tyranny For sithens I was borne in the world riches neuer came into my hands nor after them hath my hart lusted If thou kyng Mydas wooldst geeue mee audience and in the fayth of a prynce beeleeue mee I woold tell thee what is the greatest thyng and next vnto that the second that the gods may geeue in this life and it may bee that it shal bee so pleasaunt vnto thee to here and so profytable for thy lyfe that thou wilt pluck mee from my enemies and I may diswade thee from tirannies When king Mydas hard these woords hee gaue him lycence to say these two things swearing vnto him to heare him wyth as much pacyence as was possible The phylosopher Silenus hauyng lycence to speak freely taking an instrument in his hands beeganne to play and syng in thys wyse The senate of the gods when they forethought On earthly wights to still some ryall grace the chiefest gyft the heauenly powers had wrought had bene to sow his seede in barrayne place But when by steps of such diuine constraint they forced man perforce to fyxe his line The highest good to help his bootles plaint had been to slyp his race of slender twine For then the tender babes both want to know the deare delight that lyfe doth after hale And eke the dread that griefly death dooth shew Er Charons bote to Stigeanshore dooth sal◠THese two thinges the philosopher proued with so high and naturall reasons that it was a marueylous matter to see with what vehemency Sylenas the philosopher sang them and with what bitternes Mydas the tirant wept Without doubt the sentences were marueilous profound which the philosopher spake and great reason had that king to esteeme it so much For if wee doo prepare our selues to consider whereof wee are and what wee shall bee that is to weete that wee are of earth and that wee shall retourn to earth Wee woold not cease to weepe nor sygh One of the greatest vanities which I fynd among the children of vanity is that they imploy them selues to consyder the influences of the starres the nature of the planets the motion of the heauens and they wil not consider them selues of which consyderacion they shoold take some profyt For man geeuing his minde to think on straunge things commeth to forget his own propre O if wee woold consider the corruption whereof wee are made the fylth whereof wee are ingendred the infinit trauaile wherew t wee are borne the long tediousnes wherew t wee are norished the great necessities and suspicions wherein wee liue and aboue all the great peryll where in wee dye I sweare and affirme that in such consideracion wee fynd a thousand occasions to wysh death and not one to desire life The children of vanyty are occupyed many years in the schools to learn rethoryk they excercise them selues in philosophy they here Aristottel they learn Homere without booke they study Cicero they are occupied in Xenophon they herken Titus Liuius they forget not Aulus Gelius and they know Ouide yet for all this I say that wee can not say that the man knoweth lytell which doth know him self Eschines the philosopher sayd well that it is not the least but the chiefest part of phylosophy to know man and wherefore hee was made for if man woold deepely consyder what man is hee shoold fynd mo things in him which woold moue him to humble him self then to stirre him to bee proud If wee doo beeholdyt without passion and if wee doo examin it with reasō I know not what there is in man O miserable and fraile nature of man the which taken by it self is littel woorth and compared with an other thing is much lesse For man seeth in brute beasts many things which hee doth ēuy and the beasts doo see much more in mē whereō yf they had reason they woold haue cōpassion The excellency of the soule layd asyde and the hope which wee haue of eternall lyfe yf man doo compare the captyuyty of men to the lyberty of beasts wyth reason wee may see that the beasts doo liue a peacible life and that which men doo lead is but a long death If wee prepare our selues to consyder from the tyme that both man and beast come into this world vntill such time as they both dy and in how many things the beasts are better then men with reason wee may say that nature lyke a pitifull mother hath shewed her self to beasts that shee doth handle vs as an iniust stepmother Let vs beeginne therefore to declare more particularly the original of the one and the beginning of the other wee shall see how much better the brute beasts are endowed how the myserable men are disherited ¶ The auctour followeth his purpose excellently compareth the mysery of men with the lyberty of beasts Cap. xxxiij WE ought deepely to consyder that no wilde nor tame beast is so long beefore hee come to his shape as the myserable man is who wyth corruption of blood vile matter is nine moneths hyd in the womb of his mother Wee see the beast when shee is great if neede require doth labor all exercises of husbandry so that shee is as ready to labor when shee is great as if shee were empty The contrary happeneth to women which whē they are bigge with childe are weary with going troubled to bee layd they ryde in chariots through the market places they eat lytle they brooke not that they haue eaten they hate that which is profytable loue that which doth thē harm Fynally a woman with childe is contented with nothing and shee fretteth and vexeth with her self Sithens therefore it is true that wee are noysome and troublesome to our mothers when they beare vs in theire wombs why
that is hurtful for them For wee see this that the sheepe flyeth the wolf the catt flyeth the dog the ratt flyeth the catt and the chicken the kyte so that the beasts in opening the eyes doo immediatly know the frends whō they ought to folow and the enemies whom they ought to fly To the miserable man was vtterly denyed this so great priuilege For in the world there hath been many beastly men who hath not onely attained that which they ought to know whiles they lyued but also euen as like beasts they passed their daies in this life so they were infamed at the tyme of their death O miserable creatures that wee are which lyue in this wicked world for wee know not what is hurtfull for vs what wee ought to eat from what wee ought to abstain nor yet whom wee shoold hate wee doo not agree with those whom wee ought to loue wee know not in whom to put our trust from whom wee ought to fly nor what it is wee ought too choose nor yet what wee ought to forsake Finally I say that when wee think oft times to enter into a sure hauen within .3 steps afterward wee fall headlong into the deepe sea Wee ought also to consider that both to wild and tame beasts nature hath geeuen armes or weapons to defend them selues and to assault their enemies as it appeareth for that to birds shee hath geeuen wings to the harts swiftfeete to the Elephants tushes to the serpents scales to the Eagle tallons to the Faucon a beake to the lyons teeth to the bulles hornes and to the bears pawes Finally I say that shee hath geeuen to the Foxes subtilty to know how to hyde them selues in the earth and to the fishes lyttle finnes how to swim in the water Admit that the wretched men haue few enemies yet in this they are none otherwise priuileged then the beasts for wee see without teares it cannot bee told that the beasts which for the seruice of men were created with the self same beastes men are now adays troubled and offended And to the end it seeme not wee should talk of pleasure let euery man think with him self what it is that wee suffer with the beasts of this life For the Lyons do fear vs the wolfes deuoure our sheepe the dogges doo bite vs the cattes scratche vs the Bear doth tear vs the serpents poysō vs the Bulles hurt vs with their horns the birds do ouerfly vs the ratts doo trouble vs the spiders do annoy vs and the woorst of all is that a litel flye sucketh our blood in the day the poore flea doth let vs from slepe in the night O poore and miserable mā who for to sustein this wretched life is enforced to begge al things that hee needeth of the beastes For the beasts do geeue him wool the beast do draw him water the beasts do cary him him from place to place the beasts do plough the land and carieth the corn into their barnes Finally I saye that if the mā receiue any good he hath not wherwith to make recompēce if they doo him any euill he hath nought but the tong to reuenge Wee must note also that though a man lode a best with stripes beate her driue her by the foule wayes though he taketh her meat from her yea though her yonglings dye yet for none of all these things shee is sad or sorowfull and much lesse doth weepe though shee should weepe shee cannot For beasts little esteame their life much lesse feare death It is not so of the vnhappy and wretched mā which can not but bewayle the vnthankfullnes of their frends the death of their children the want which they haue of necessityes the case of aduersitie which doo succede theim the false witnes which is brought against theym and a thousād calamities whice doo torment their harts Fynally I say that the greatest cōfort that men haue in this life is to make a riuer of water with the teares of their eyes Let vs inquire of princes and great lords what they can doo whē they are borne whether they can speak as oratours if they can ronne as postes if they can gouerne them selues as kinges if they can fyght as men of warre if they can labor as laborers if they can woork as the masons if they knew to teach as maisters these litell children would aunswer that they are not onely ignoraunt of all that wee demaund of them but also that they can not vnderstād it Let vs retourne to ask them what is that they know since they know nothing of that wee haue demaunded them they wil aunswer that they can doo none other thing but weepe at their byrth and sorow at their death Though al those which sayle in this so perillous sea doo reioyce and take pleasure and seeme too sleap soundly yet at the last there cometh the winde of aduersity which maketh them al to know their foly For if I bee not deceyued and if I know any thing of this world those which I haue seene at the time of their birth take shipp weeping I doubt whether they will take land in the graue laughing O vnhappy life I shoold say rather death which the mortalls take for life wherein afterwards wee must cōsume a great time to learn all arts sciences and offices and yet notwithstanding that whereof wee are ignorante is more thē that which wee know Wee forget the greatest part saue only that of weeping which no man needeth to learn for wee are borne and liue weeping and vntill this present wee haue seene none dye inioy Wee must note also that the beasts doo lyue and dye with the inclinations where with they were borne that is to weete that the wolfe foloweth the sheepe and not the birds the hounds follow the hares and not the ratts the sparrow flyeth at the birds and not at the fish the spider eateth the flyes and not the herbs Finally I say that if wee let the beast search hys meat quietly wee shall not see hym geeuen to any other thing The contrary of al this happeneth to men the which though nature hath created feeble yet Gods intētiō was not they should bee malitious but I am sory since they cannot auoyde debilyty that they turne it into malice The presumption which they haue to bee good they turne to pryde and the desire they haue to bee innocent they tourne into enuy The fury which they should take against malice they turne into anger and the liberality they ought to haue with thee good they conuerte into auaryce The necessity they haue to eat they turne into gluttony and the care they ought to haue of their conscience they turne into neglygence Finally I say that the more strength beasts haue the more they serue and the lesse men are worth somuch the more thanks haue they of god The innocency of the brute beast consydered and the malice of the malitious man marked without comparison the
dye lyueth the euill man though hee liue dyeth I swear vnto thee by the mother Berecinthia and so the god Iupiter doo preserue mee that I speak not this which I will speak fainedly which is that considering the reast that the dead haue with the gods and seeing the sorows troubles wee haue here with the lyuing I say and affirm once agayn that they haue greater compassion of our lyfe then wee others haue sorow of their death Though the death of men were as the death of beasts that is to weet that there were no furies nor deuils which shoold torment the euil that the gods shoold not reward the good yet wee ought to bee comforted to see our frends dye if it were for no other but to see thē deliuered from the thraldō of this miserable world The pleasure that the Pilot hath to bee in sure hauen the glory that the captaine hath to see the day of victory the rest that the traueler hath to see his iorney ended the contentation that the woork man hath to see his woork come to perfeccion all the same haue the dead seeing them selues out of this miserable lyfe If men were born alway to lyue it were reason to lament them when wee see them dye but since it is troth that they are borne to dye I woold say since needes dye wee must that wee ought not to lament those whych dye quickly but those whych lyue long I am assured that Claudine thy husband remembring that whych in this lyfe hee hath passed and suffered and seeing the rest that hee hath in the other though the Gods woold make him emperor of Rome hee woold not bee one day out of his graue For returning to the world hee shoold dye agayn but beeing with the gods hee hopeth to lyue perpetually Lady Lauinia most earnestly I desire thee so vehemently not to perse the heauens with thy so heauy sighes ne yet to wete the earth with thy so bitter teares since thou knowst that Claudine thy husband is in place where there is no sorow but mirth where ther is no payn but rest where hee weepeth not but laugheth where hee sigheth not but singeth where hee hath no sorows but pleasures where hee feareth not cruell death but enioyeth perpetuall lyfe Since therfore this is true it is but reason the wydow appease her anguish considering that her husband endureth no payn Often tymes wyth my self I haue thought what the widows ought to immagin when they see them selues in such cares and distresse And after my count made I fynd that they ought not to thynk of the company past nor wofull solitarynes wherin they are presently and much lesse they ought to think on the pleasures of this world but rather to remember the rest in the world to come For the true widow ought to haue her conuersacion among the lyuing and her desire to bee wyth the dead If til this present thou hadst paine and trouble to look for thy husband to come home haue thou now ioy that hee looketh for thee in heauen wherin I swere vnto thee that there thou shalt bee better vsed of the gods then hee was here of mē For in this world wee know not what glory meaneth and there they know not what payns are Licinius and Posthumius thy vncles told mee that thou art so sorowful that thou wilt receiue no comfort but in this case I think not that thou bewailest so much for Claudinus that thou alone doost think thou hast lost him For since wee did reioyce togethers in his lyfe wee are bound to weep togethers at his death The heauy and sorowful harts in this world feele no greater greef then to see others reioice at theyr sorows And the cōtrary hereof is that the wofull and afflicted hart feeleth no greater ioy nor rest in extreme mishaps of fortune then to think that others haue sorow and greef of their payn When I am heauy and comfortles I greatly ioy to haue my frend by mee and my hart dooth tell mee that what I feele hee feeleth So that all which my frend with his eyes dooth beewail and all that which of my greefes hee feeleth the more therwith hee burdeneth him self and the more therof hee dischargeth mee The Emperor Octauian Augustus the histories say on the riuer of Danuby found a kynd of people which had thys straunge custom that with eyes was neuer seene nor in books at any time euer read which was that two frends assembled and went to the aultars of the temples and there one frend confederat with an other so that their harts were maried as man and wife are maried touching their bodies swering and promysing there to the gods neuer to weepe nor to take sorow for any mishap that shoold come to their persons So that my frend shoold come to lament and remedy my troubles as if they had been his own I shoold lament and remedy his as if they had been mine O glorious world O age most happy O people of eternal memory wherin men are so gentle frendz so faithfull that their own trauails they forgot and the sorows of strangers they beewayled O Rome without rome O tyme euil spent O lyfe to vs others euil emploied O wretch that always art careles now adays the stomack and intrailes are so seuered from the good and the harts so ioyned with the euill that men forgetting them selues to bee men beecome more cruell then wyld beasts I labor to geeue thee lyfe and thou seekest to procure my death Thou weepest to see mee laugh and I laugh to see thee weepe I procure that thou doo not mount and thou seekest that I might fall Fynally without the profit of any wee cast our selues away and wythout gayn wee doo reioyce to end our lyues By the faith of a good man I swear vnto thee Lady Lauinia that if thy remedy were in my hands as thy grief is in my hart I woold not bee sory for thy sorows neither thou so tormēted for the death of thy husband But alas though I miserable man haue the hart to feele thy anguysh yet I want power to remedy thy sorows ¶ The Emperor proceedeth in his letter and perswadeth wydowes to put their willes to the will of god and exhorteth them to lyue honestly Cap. xxxviii SInce thy remedy and my desire cannot bee accomplished beecause it is a thing vnpossible to receiue and speak with the dead and not hauing power mee think that thou and I shoold referre it to the gods who can geeue much better then wee can ask O lady Lauinia I desire thee earnestly and as a frend I counsel and admonish thee and with all my hart I require thee that thou esteem that for wel doon which the gods haue doon that thou conform thy self to the will of the gods and that thou will nought els but as the gods will For they only know they erre not wherfore they haue assaulted thy husband with so
within a yere shee is met in euery place of Rome what auaileth it that for few days shee hydeth her self from her parents and frends and afterwards shee is found the first at the theaters what profiteth it that widows at the first doo morne and go euil attired and afterwards they dispute and coÌ„plain of the beauty of the romayn wiues what forceth it that widows for a certein tyme doo keepe their gates shutt and afterwards their housen are more frequented then others What skilleth it that a man see the widows weep much for their husbands and afterwards they see them laugh more for their pastymes Fynally I say that it lytle auaileth the woman to seeme to suffer much openly for the death of her husband if secretly shee hath an other husband all ready found For the vertuous and honest wydow immediatly as shee seeth an other man alyue shee renueth her sorow for her husband that is dead I will shew thee Lady Lauinia a thing that beefell in Rome to the end thou think not I talk at pleasure In the old time in Rome ther was a noble and woorthy Romayn Lady wife of the noble Marcus Marcellus whose name was Fuluia And it happened so that this woman seeing her husband buryed in the field of Mars for the great greef shee had shee scratched her face shee ruffled her hear shee tore her gown and fell down to the earth in a found by the reason wherof two Senators kept her in their arms to th end shee shoold torment her self no more To whom Gneus Flauius the Censour said Let Fuluia go out of your hands shee will this day doo all the penaunce of wydows Speaking the trueth I know not whether this Romain spake with the Oracle or that hee were a deuine but I am assured that al hee spake came to passe For that this Fuluia was the wyfe of so excellent a Romayn as the good Marcus Marcellus was I woold that so vnlucky a chaunce had not happened vnto her which was that whyles the bones of her husband were a burning shee agreed to bee maried to an other and which was more to one of the Senators that lyfted her vp by the armes shee gaue her hand as a Romayn to a Romayn in token of a faithfull mariage The case was so abhominable that of all men it was dispraised that were present and gaue occasion that they neuer credit wydows afterwards I doo not speak it Lady Lauinia for that I think thou wilt doo so For by the faith of a good man I swere vnto thee that my hart neyther suspecteth it nor yet the auctority of so graue a Romayn dooth demaund it for to thee onely the fault shoold remain and to mee the wonder Hartely I commend vnto thee thy honesty whych to thy self thou oughtest and the care whych beehoueth so woorthy and noble a wydow For if thou art tormented wyth the absence of the dead thou oughtst to comfort thee with the reputacion of the lyuing At this present I will say no more to thee but that thy renowm among the present bee such and that they speak of thee so in absence that to the euill thou geeue the brydell to bee silent and to the good spurres to come and serue thee For the widow of euill renowm ought to bee buried quick Other things to write to thee I haue none Secrete matters are daungerous to trust considering that thy hart is not presently disposed to here news It is reason thou know that I with thy parents and frends haue spoken to the Senat which haue geeuen the office that thy husband had in Constantinople to thy sonne And truely thou oughtst no lesse to reioyce of that whych they haue sayd of thee then for that they haue geeuen him For they say though thy husband had neuer been citizen of Rome yet they ought to haue geeuen more then thys onely for thy honest beehauiour My wyfe Faustine saluteth thee and I will say I neuer saw her weepe for any thing in the world so much as shee hath wept for thy mishap For shee felt thy losse which was very great and my sorow whych was not lytle I send thee .iiii. thousand sexterces in money supposing that thou hast wherewith to occupy them as well for thy necessaries as to discharge thy debts For the complaints demaunds and processes which they minister to the Romayn matrons are greater then are the goods that their husbands doo leue them The gods which haue geeuen rest to thy husband O Claudine geeue also comfort to thee his wyfe Lauinia Marcus of mount Celio wyth his own hand ¶ That Princes and noble men ought to despyse the world for that there is nothing in the world but playn disceit Cap. xxxix PLato Aristotle Pithagoras Empedocles Democrites Selcucus Epicurus Diogenes Thales Methrodorus had among them so great contention to describe the world his beginning and property that in maintaining euery one hys oppinion they made greater warres with their pennes then their enemies haue doon wyth their launces Pithagoras sayd that that which wee call the world is one thyng and that which wee call the vniuersall is an other The philosopher Thales sayd that there was no more but one world and to the contrary Methrodorus the astronomer affirmed there were infinit worlds Diogenes sayd that the world was euerlasting Seleucus sayd that it was not true but that it had an end Aristotle seemed to say that the world was eternall But Plato sayd cleerely that the world hath had beginning and shall also haue endyng Epicurus sayd that it was round as a ball Empidocles sayd that is was not as a bowl but as an egge Chilo the philosopher in the high mount Olimpus disputed that the world was as meÌ„ are that is to weete that hee had an intellectible and sensible soule Socrates in his schoole sayth in his doctrin wrote that after .37 thousand yeres all things shoold returne as they had been beefore That is to weet that hee him self shoold bee born a new shoold bee norished shoold read in Athens And Dennis the tyraÌ„t shoold return to play the tyraÌ„t in Siracuse Iuliê° Cesar to rule Rome Hanniball to conquer Italy and Scipio to make warre against Carthage Alexander to fight against king Darius and so foorth in all others past In such and other vayn questions and speculations the auncient philosophers consumed many yeres They in writing many books haue troubled their spirits consumed long tyme trauayled many countreys and suffred innumerable daungers and in the end they haue set foorth few trueths and many lyes For the least part of that they knew not was much greater then all that which they euer knew When I took my penne in my hand to write the vanity of the world my entention was not to reprooue this materiall world the which of the fower elements is compounded That is to weete of the earth that is cold and dry of the water that is moyst
the troubles disceits of this world If I bee not deceiued if I vnderstand any thing of this world the remedy which the world geeueth for the troubles certainly are greater trauailes then the trauailes them selues so that they are salues that doo not heal our wounds but rather burn our flesh When the diseases are not very old rooted nor daungerous it profiteth more oftentimes to abide a gentle feauer then to take a sharp purgacion I mean that the world is such a deceyuer and so double that hee dooth contrary to that hee punisheth That is to weete that if hee doo perswade vs to reuenge an iniury it is to the end that in reuenging that one wee shoold receiue a thousand incōueniences And where as wee think it taketh from vs it encreaseth infynite So that this cursed guide making vs to beeleeue it leadeth vs vpon the dry land among our frends causeth vs to fall into the imbushment of our enemies Princes and great lords in the thoughts they haue and in the woords that they speak are greatly esteemed and afterwards in the woorks which they doo and in the affaires they trauaile are as litle regarded The contrary of all this dooth the wicked world who with al those hee companieth in his promisses hee is very gentle afterwards in his deedes hee is very proud For speakyng the trouth it costeth vs deare and wee others doo sell it good chepe I say much in saying that wee sell it good chepe but in manner I shoold say better that wee geeue it willingly For few are those in number which cary away wages of the world and infinite are those which doo serue it onely for a vayn hope O princes and great lords I counsaile and require you that you doo not trust the world neither in word deede nor promise though hee sweare and sweare agayn that hee will keepe all hee hath promised with you Suppose that the world dooth honor you much flatter you much visit you oft offer you great treasures and geeue you much yet it is not beecause hee wil geeue it yee by lytle lytle but that afterwards hee might take it all from yee again in one day For it is the old custome of the world that those whych aboue all men hee hath set beefore now at a turn they are furdest beehinde What may wee haue in the world and in his flatteries since wee doo know that one day wee shall see our selues depryued thereof and that which is more hee vseth such craft and subtilty with the one and the other that in old men whom reason woold shoold not bee vicious hee the more to torment their parsons hath kyndled a greater fyer in their harts so that this malicious world putteth into old ryches a new couetousnesse and in the aged engendreth cruell auaryce and that in that tyme when it is out of tyme. Wee ought greatly to consyder how by the world wee are deceyued but much more wee ought to heede that wee bee not by it distroyed For where as wee thynk to bee in open lyberty hee keepeth vs secret in pryson Wee thynk wee are whole and hee geeueth vs sicknesse Wee thynk wee haue all things yet wee haue nothing Wee thynk that for many yeares long shal bee our life when that at euery corner wee are assaulted of death Wee think that it counteth vs for mē that bee wise when hee keepeth vs bond like vnto fooles We think that it encreaseth our good when that in deede it burdeneth our cōsciens Fynally I say that by the way where wee thynk to contynue our renowme and life wee lose without recouery both lyfe and fame O filthy world that when thou doost receiue vs thou doost cast vs of when thou doost assēble vs thou doost seperat vs when thou seemest to reioice vs thou makest vs sad when thou pleasest vs how thou displeasest vs when thou exaltest vs how thou hūblest vs when thou doost chastice vs how thou reioicest Fynally I say that thou hast thy drynks so impoysoned that wee are without thee with thee and hauyng the theefe within the house wee goe out of the dores to seeke hym Though men bee diuers in gestures yet much more are they variable in their appetites And sith the world hath experiēce of so many years it hath appetites prepared for all kynd of people For the presumptuous hee procureth honors to the auaricious hee procureth riches and to those which are gluttons hee presenteth dyuers meats The fleshly hee blindeth with women and the negligent hee letteth rest and the end why hee dooth all these things is that after hee hath fed them as fysh hee casteth vpon them the nettes of all vices Note princes and great lords note noble men though a prince doo see him self lord of all the world hee ought to thynk that of no value is the seignory onles hee him self bee vertuous For litle it profiteth that hee bee lord of the vicious which is him self the seruant of all vices Many say that the world dooth beeguile them and other say that they haue no power against the world To whō wee may aunswere That if at the first temptacions wee woold haue resisted the world it is vnpossible that so oftentimes it durst assault vs. For of our small resistaunce commeth his so great audacity I can not tell if I shall dissemble I shal hold my peace or whither I shal say that I woold say since it greeueth my hart so much onely to think of it For I feele my eyes redyer to lament it then my fingers able to write it It is so that euery man suffereth himself to bee gouerned so of the world as if god were not in heauen hee had not promised to bee a good christian here in earth For all that hee will wee will that which hee followeth wee follow and that which hee chooseth wee choose And that which is greatest sorow of all if wee doo refrayn our selues from aduersity it is not for that of our own nature wee woold cease from it but beecause the world will not commaund vs to doo it Litle is that which I haue spoken in respect of that I will speak which is that the world hath made vs now so ready to his law that from one hower to another it chaungeth the whole state of this life So that to day hee maketh vs hate that which yesterday wee loued he maketh vs complayn of that which wee commended hee maketh vs to bee offended now with that which beefore wee did desire hee maketh vs to haue mortall enemies of those which before were our speciall frends Fynally I say that the world maketh vs to loue that in our lyfe which afterwards wee beewaile at the hower of death If the world did geeue vnto his minyons any perfect and accomplished thing it were somewhat that for a time a man should remayn in the seruice of his house But since that in the world all things are graunted not
during life but as lendyng whych ought to bee rendered the day following I know not what man is so very a foole that in the world dooth hope for any perpetuall thyng For all that hee geeueth hee geeueth with such condicion that they shall render it vnto him when hee shall demaund it and not at the dyscrecion of him that dooth possesse it Peraduenture the world can geeue vs perpetual life I say certainly no. For in the sweetest tyme of all our lyfe then sodainly wee are assaulted of cruell death Peraduenture the world can geeue vs temporall goods in abundaunce I say certaynly no. For no man at any tyme had so much riches but that whych hee wanted was more then that hee possessed Peraduenture the world can geeue vs perpetual ioy I say certaynly no. For exemptyng those days whych wee haue to lament and allso the hours whych wee haue to sygh there remayneth not for vs one moment to laugh Peraduenture hee can geeue vs perpetuall health I say certaynly no. For to men of long lyfe without comparison the diseases are more which they suffer then the years are whych they lyue Peraduenture the world can geeue vs perpetuall rest I say certaynly no. For if the days bee few wherein wee see the elements without clouds fewer are the howers whych wee feale our harts without cares Therefore synce that in this myserable world there is no health perpetuall nor lyfe perpetuall nor ryches perpetuall nor ioy perpetuall I woold know what it is that the worldlyngs woold of the world synce they know that it hath no good thing to geeue them but onely by lendyng or by vsury If it bee vsury there is no gayn of money but rather retourn with restitucion of vices O children of vanyty O maisters of lyghtnes synce it is so that yee now determyne to follow and serue the world looke not of the world to haue any thyng but thyngs of the world In it is nothyng but pryde enuy leachery hate yre blasphemy auaryce and folly And if yee ask yf hee haue in hys gouernaunce any vertuous thyng hee will aunswer you that hee dooth neuer sell such marchaundyse in hys shop Let no man thynk that the world can geeue vs that whych it hath not for it self And if wee will chaunge any thyng with it and it with vs hee is so subtil to sel so curious to buy that that which hee taketh shal bee of great measure and that which hee selleth vs shal want much weight ¶ Of a letter the Emperor Marcus Aurelius wrote to hys frend Torquatus to comfort hym in hys banishment which is notable for all men to learn the vanities of this world Cap. xli MArcus Emperour of Rome companion in the empyre with hys brother Annius Verus to thee Torquatus of the city of Gayetta wisheth health to thy parson strength against thy euil fortune I being in the Temple of the vestal virgins about three moneths hence I receyued a letter of thine the which was in such sort that neither mine eyes for that tyme could make an end to read it nor synce I haue had the hart to aunswer it For in the inconueniences of our frends if wee haue no faculty nor might for to remedy it at the least wee are bound to beewaile it Thy sorow maketh mee so heauy thy payn dooth trouble mee so much I am so carefull of thy anguish so tormented with thy grief that if the gods had geeuen power to wofull men to depart theire sorows as they haue geeuen to rych men to depart their goods by the faith I owe to god I sweare that as I am the greatest of thy frends I woold bee hee which shoold take the most part of thy griefes I know ryght well and as well as hee that hath prooued it that asmuch difference as there is beetween the bark the tree the mary and the bone the corn the straw the gold and the drosse the trueth and the dreames so much is there to here the trauailes of another and to tast his own Notwithstandyng comfort thy self my frend Torquatus for where the frends bee trew the goods and the euills are common beetwyxt them Oftentymes with my self I haue marueiled to what end or intencion the immortall Gods haue geeuen trauaile and torments to men synce it is in their power to make vs to lyue wythout them I see no other thyng why the myshaps ought pacyently to bee suffered but beecause in those wee know who are our faithfull frends In battaile the valyaunt man is knowen in tempesteous weather the Pilot is knowen by the touch stone gold is tryed and in aduersyty the frend is knowen For my frend dooth not ynough to make mee mery vnlesse allso hee dooth take part of my sorow I haue heard say here and now by thy letter I haue seene how they haue banished thee from Rome and confyscated thy goods and that for pure sorow thow art sick in thy bed whereof I maruell not that thou art sick but to bee as thou art aliue For saying to thee the trueth where the hart is sore wounded in short space it hath accustomed to yeeld vp vnto the body I see well that thow complaynest and thou hast reason to complayn to see thy self banyshed from Rome and thy goods confiscate to see thy self out of thy countrey without any parentage yet therefore thy sorow ought not to bee so extreame that thow shooldst put thy lyfe in hazard For hee alone ought to haue lycence and allso is bound to hate lyfe whych dooth not remember that hee hath serued the Gods nor hath doone any profyt to men If the affaires of the Empire dyd not occupy mee and the emperyall maiesty dyd not wythdraw mee I woold immedyatly haue to come to comfort thy person where thow shooldst haue seene by experience wyth what grief I feele thy trouble And therefore if thou takest mee for thy frend thow oughtst to beeleeue of mee that which in this case I woold of thee which is that as thow hast been the most entyer frend which I had in Rome so ys thys the thing that most I haue felt in this lyfe Tell mee my frend Torquatus what is it thow suffrest there that I doo not lament here It may bee that sometyme thow laughest but I allways weepe sometimes thow comfortest thy self but I am allways sad It may bee that thow lightnest thy payn but I am in sighyng It may bee that sometymes thow castest from thee sorow but for mee I cannot receiue consolation It may bee that thow hopest remedy of longlyfe but for mee I fynd no remedy more healthfull then present death Fynally I say that here I feele all that thow feelest there and furthermore I suffer all that which as a frend I ought to suffer here so that both our paynes are made one most cruell sorrow wherewyth my wofull lyfe is tormented I woold greatly desire to come and see thee and to help to
sorrow Thou demaundest to bee his hee hath geeuen thee his hand Thou demaūdest life hee hath geeuen thee death Therefore if it bee true that the world hath handled thee in this wise why doost thou weepe to return again to hys wicked house O fylthy world how farre art thou frō iust how farre ought they to bee from thee which desire to bee iust For naturally thou art a frend of nouelties enemy of vertues One of the lessons which the world readeth to his children is this that to bee true worldlings they shoold not bee very true The which experience plainly sheweth vs for the man which medleth much wyth the world leaueth always suspicion of hym that hee is not trew The world is an imbassadour of the euill a scourge of the good cheefest of vyces a tyraunt of the verteous a breaker of peace a frend of warre a sweete water of vices the gawle of the vertuous a defender of lyes an inuenter of nouelties a trauailer of the ignoraunt a hammer for the malicious a table of gluttons and a furnace of concupyscence fynally it is the peryll of Charibde where the harts doo perish and the daunger of Scilla where the thoughts doo wast Presuppose that these bee the condicions of the world The trouth is that if there bee any worldlyng who complaineth to bee euil content with the world shall hee therefore chaunge his stile Truely no and the reason is that if perchaunce one worldling shoold goe out of the house of the world there are ten thousand vanities at his gate I know not what wyse man will lyue in the world with such condicions since the vices wherewith wee doo reioyce our selues are very few in respect of the torments which wee suffer I say not that wee doo heare it by heare say and read them in bookes but wee see with our own eyes the one to consume and wast the goods others by mysfortune to fall and lose their credyt others to fall and lose their honor and others to lose their lyfe and all these myseries seene yet neuerthelesse euery man thynketh to bee free by priuiledge where there is none priuileged O my frend Torquatus of one thing I assure thee which is that the men whych are borne of women are so euill a generacion and so cruel is the world where in wee liue and fortune so empoysoned with whom wee frequent that wee cannot escape without beeing spurned with his feete bytten with his teeth torne wyth his nayles or impoysoned with hys venym Peraduenture thou mayst say vnto mee that thow hast seene some in Rome whych haue lyued long tyme fortune neuer beeyng against hym To this I aunswer thee that thow oughtst rather to haue pyty vppon hym then enuy for it is not for his profyt but for his great hynderaunce For the world is so malycious that when it seemeth to bee most our frend then it woorketh vs most dyspleasure The healthfull men dye rather of a short disease in few dayes then the dry and feeble men doo with a disease of many yeares By this comparison I mean that since man cannot escape nor liue without trauaile it is much better that by litle and lytle hee tasteth them then they enter all at one time into his house O how much ought the man to bee hated of the immortall gods who knoweth not what trauaile meaneth in this world For hee onely ought to feare fortune who knoweth not fortunes force Since the gods woold permyt and thy myshap hath beene such that thow hast found more daunger where thow thoughtst most surety as a man euill fortuned it is reason that wee apply vnto thee some new ware to the end thow lose not thy good renowme synce thow hast lost thy euill goods Tell mee I praye thee Torquatus why doost thow complayn as a man sick why cryest thow as a foole why syghest thow as a man in dyspayre and why doost thow weepe as a chyld Thow art come out of the way And thow complainest to haue lost thy way Thou sailest by the broiling seas thou wonderest that the waues doo assault thee Thou hast ascended the steepe and craggy mountayns and thow complaynest that thow art weary Thow walkest by the thornes and wylt not that thy gown bee torne Dydst thow thynk in the top of the hygh mountayn to lyue most sure By that I haue spoken I wyll ask what dyligent seruice thow hast doone to the world that thow wooldst the gods of heauen shoold recompence thee Wooldest thow of fortune a safe conduct shee beeing as shee is enemy of many nature beeyng not able to geeue it the which is mother of all O my frend Torquatus that whych the pytyfull nature cannot promyse thee dydst thow thynk that fortune which is the iust stepmother should geeue It is vnpossyble that the Sea should always promise vs suerty and the heauen clerenesse the sommer dews and the wynter frosts Mark well mark my frend Torquatus that all naturall thyngs are subiect to chaunge euery yeare but all the worldlyngs ought to endure to eclypse euery moment Synce the naturall goods cannot always bee in one mans custody beeing necessary it is iust that the goods of fortune perysh since they are superfluous Vniust shoold the Gods bee if that whych is to the domage of so many they had made perpetuall and that which is to the profyt of all they had made mortall I will no more reduce to thy memory the prosperyty which thow hast had in times past beefore that wee treat how fortune handleth thee at thys present The deceytfull fortune when at thy gate shee sold her marchaundyse knowyng that shee sold vnto thee and thow beeyng ignoraunt of that thow boughtst shee gaue thee frutefull ground and afterward made it vnto thee paynfull Shee hath geeuen thee sower for sweete and the sweete shee hath returned to the sower Shee hath geeuen thee the euill for the good and where that thow hast sold her good shee retourned vnto thee euyl Fynally shee hath beeguyled thee in the iust pryse thow not supposyng that thow hadst receiued any domage Wee can doo no lesse in this case but to haue compassyon vppon thee yet though they condempne malicyous fortune for sellyng they wyll note thee symple in buying For in the shop of fortune all marchaundyse are suspycious O vnhappy that wee are I say those whych meddle with the world for in his market they see nought but lyes and wee doo not trust but in the ouerthrows of our renowne whych are not payd but with the cost of our lyfe And the factours of that faire geeue vs nothyng by weight or measure for they are a sort of vacabounds and the woorst of all is knowyng that they ought to lose wyth fortune all seeke to buy at her shop Geeue thy self to the world loue the world much serue the world well follow the world well and feele the world well for in the end of the iourney the world
eyther to iesters minstrels parasites flaterers loiterers or fooles First mee seemeth that a man ought not to think that fooles are capable to geeue counsayle since they haue it not for them selues for it should bee great foly to vse men as sages which of their owne will haue made them selues fooles The second mee seemeth that it is a vaine thinge to think that the iesters should serue as seruants for these vnhappy people to fly trauayle onely haue taken vpon them this office so sclaunderous Thirdly it semeth to bee a shamefast thing and of great inconuenyence that any noble and sage man should determine to haue any flatterer or iester for his famylyar frend for such ought not nor cannot bee counted among the true frends since they loue vs not for the vertue wee possesse but for the goods which wee haue Fourthly mee thinketh it a vayne thing to think that vnder the colour of pouerty it should bee iust to geeue meat to iesters or loyterers for wee cannot say the such are poore for that they want ryches but that folly aboundeth in them Since therefore a man is defamed to haue such iesters flatterers and loyterers for frends and that for beeing seruants they are vnhable and with out witt to ask them counsayle mee thynketh it is a great folly to spend hys goods on such loyterers For as their intencions to the gods onely are manifest and to men secret so their is nothing wherin the good doo approue and manyfest their intencions to bee good or euyl more then in the woordes which they speake in the companies which they keepe ¶ Marcus Aurelius goeth forward with his letter and declareth how hee found the sepulchres of many learned Philosophers in Helespont whereunto hee sent all these loyterers Cap. xlvi I will thou know Lambert that thy Ile is consecrated with the bones of many excellent men the which were banyshed by sundry tirannous Princes of Rome The auncients greatly commend that I le beecause there are therein stones caled Amatistes tame deere faire womeÌ„ familiar wolfes swift dogges of foote and pleasaunt fountaines Yet notwithstanding I will not cease to commend these things which reioyce those that bee presente and also comfort those that bee to come For I esteeme more the bones which the earth doo couer then the riches which groweth theron If thou hast not lost the sence of smelling as that I le doth sauoure vnto mee of sages so doth Rome stynk of fooles For for the time it is lesse payne to endure the stink of the beast then to heare the woordes of a foole When the warres of Asia were ended I returned home by that yle wherin I visited al the lyuing people and al the graues of the dead philosophers And for a trueth I tel thee Lambert the that iourney was veri trublesome vnto mee for here in my person endured much payne on the land I suffered dyuers daungers and on the sea I saw my selfe in sondry perils In the city of Corinthe where thou art resident at this present in the middest of the market place thou shalt finde the graue of the philosopher Panimio to whom the streight frendship auayled litel which hee had with Ouide but the enmity greatly endomaged him which hee had with Augustus the emperor Two miles from Theadfonte at the foote of the mountains Arpines thou shalt finde the graue of the famous orator Armeno who was by the coÌ„sul Scilla vniustly banished And of troth as here was much blood lost beecause Scilla should not enter into Rome so there were not few tears shed in Italye for the banishment of this philosopher In the gate of Argonata hard by the water in the top of a high rock thou shalt finde the bones of Celliodorus the Philosopher who obserued all the auncient laws and was a great enemy of those which brought in new customes and statutes This good Philosopher was banyshed in the prosperitye fury of the Marians nor for the euils they found in him but for the vyces hee reproued in them In the fyldes Heliny there was a great tomb within the which were the bones of Selleno the philosopher who was aswel learned in the .vii. lyberall artes as if hee himselfe had first inuented them And hee was banished by the Emperor Nero for beecause hee perswaded this cruel Emperor to bee merciful pyteful In the same fyeldes Heliny out of the woods towards the west part thou shalt find the graue of the philosopher Vulturnê° a man in Astrology profoundly learned which litle auayled him in his banishmeÌ„t For hee was banished by Marcus Antonius not for that Marcus Antonius would haue banished hym for hee was not offended by him but beecause his loue Cleopatra hated him as her mortal enemy For women of an euyll lyfe reuenge commonly their angry harts with the death of their especiall frends Diuers other tombs in that I le I saw the names wherof though in writing I haue them yet at this present I cannot cal them to memory Wel by the faith of an honest maÌ„ I swere vnto thee that thou shalt fynde al true which I haue told thee Now I tell thee Lambert that I visiting those graues their disciples did not beare them greater obedience when they were alyue then I dyd reuerence now they are dead And it is true also that in all that time my eyes were as much wet with water as their bones were couered with earth These philosophers were not banyshed for myscheues by their persons committed nor for sclaunders they had doon in the common wealths but beecause the deeds of our fathers deserued that they shoold bee taken from their company and wee their chyldren were not woorthy to haue the bones of so famous and renowmed sages in our custody I cannot tell if the enuy I haue to that I le bee greater or the pyty I haue of this miserable Rome for the one is immortall by the graues of the dead and the other is defamed with the lyfe of the lyuing I desire thee hartely as a frend and doo commaund thee as a seruaunt that thou keepe the pryuyleges which I geeue to that I le without breakyng any one For it is very iust that such cyties peopled with such dead should bee priuileged of the lyuing By this Centurion thou shalt know al things which are chaunced amongst the prisoners For if I should wryte al the whole matter vnto thee as it was doon I eÌ„sure thee vnto mee it would bee much paine to write it to thee great trouble to rede it It suffyceth presently to say that the day of the great solempnitie of the mother Berecinthe a sclaunderer arose in Rome by the occasion of these iesters scoffers and loyterers and by the fayth of a good man I sweare vnto thee that the blood which was shed through the places surmounted the wine which was drunk at the feast And think not that which I say to bee lytel that the blood which
wee shall write but such as they shal finde vs so shall wee bee iudged And that which is most fearfull of all the execucion and sentence is geeuē in one day Let princes and great lords beeleeue mee in this Let them not leaue that vndoon till after their death which they may doo during their lyfe And let them not trust in that they commaund but in that whiles they liue they doo Let them not trust in the woorks of an other but in their own good deedes For in the end one sigh shal bee more woorth then all the frends of the world I counsel pray and exhort all wise and vertuous men and also my self with them that in such sort wee liue that at the hour of death wee may say wee liue For wee cannot say that wee lyue whē wee liue not well For all that tyme which without profit wee shall liue shall bee counted vnto vs for nothing ¶ Of the death of Marcus Aurelius the Emperor and how there are few frends which dare say the truth to sick men Cap. xlix THe good Emperor Marcus Aurelius now beeing aged not only for the great yeres hee had but also for the great trauels hee had in the warres endured It chaunced that in the .xviii. yere of his Empire and .lxxii. yeres from the day of his birth and of the foundation of Rome .v. hundreth xliii beeing in the warre of Pannony which at this tyme is called Hungary beeseeging a famous citie called Vendeliona sodaynly a disease of the palsey tooke him which was such that hee lost his life and Rome her Prince the best of lyfe that euer was born therein Among the heathen princes some had more force then hee other possessed more ryches then hee others were as aduenturous as hee and some haue knowē as much as hee but none hath been of so excellent and vertuous a lyfe nor so modest as hee For his life beeing examined to the vttermost there are many princely vertues to follow few vices to reproue The occasion of his death was that going one nyght about his camp sodeinly the disease of the palsey tooke him in his arme so that from thence forward hee coold not put on his gown nor draw his sword and much lesse cary a staffe The good emperor beeing so loden with yeres and no lesse with cares the sharp winter approching more and more great aboundance of water and snow fell about the tenis so that an other disease fell vppon him called Litargie the which thing much abated his courage and in his hoast caused great sorow For hee was so beeloued of all as if they had been his own children After that hee had proued all medicins and remedies that coold bee found and all other things which vnto so great and mighty princes were accustomed to bee doon hee perceiued in the end that all remedy was past And the reason hereof was beecause his sicknes was exceeding vehement he him self very aged the ayer vnholsom aboue al beecause sorows cares oppressed his hart Without doubt greater is the disease that proceedeth of sorow then that which proceedeth of the feuer quartain And thereof ensueth that more easely is hee cured which of corrupt humors is full then hee which with profound thoughts is oppressed The emperor then beeing sick in his chamber in such sort that hee coold not exercise the feats of arms as his men ranne out of their camp to scirmidge the Hungarions in lyke maner to defend the fight on both parts was so cruell through the great effution of blood that neither the hungarion had cause to reioyce nor yet the romayn to bee mery Vnderstanding the euil order of his specially that .v. of his captains were slain in the conflict that hee for his disease coold not bee there in person such sorows persed his hart that although hee desired foorthwith to haue dyed yet hee remained two days three nights without that hee woold see light or speak vnto any man of his So that the heat was much the rest was small the sighs were continuall and the thirst very great the meat lytle and the sleepe lesse and aboue all his face wrynkled and his lips very black Sometimes hee cast vp his eyes and another tyme hee wrong his hands always hee was sylent and continually hee sighed His tong was swollen that hee coold not spit and his eyes very hollow with weeping So that it was a great pity to see his death and no lesse compassion to see the confusion of his pallace and the hinderaunce of the warre Many valiant captains many noble Romayns many faithfull seruaunts and many old frends at all these heauines were present But none of them durst speak to the Emperor Marke partly for that they tooke him to bee so sage that they knew not what counsel to geeue him and partly for that they were so sorowfull that they coold not refrayn their heauy tears For the louing and true frends in their lyfe ought to bee beeloued and at their death to bee beewailed Great compassion ought men to haue of those which dye not for that wee see them dye but beecause there are none that telleth them what they ought to doo Princes and great lords are in greater perill when they dye then the Plebeyans For the counsaylour dare not tell vnto his Lord at the hour of death that which hee knoweth and much lesse hee will tell him how hee ought to dye and what things hee ought to discharge whiles hee is aliue Many goe to visit the sick that I woold to god they went some other where And the cause heereof is that they see the sick mans eyes hollow the flesh dryed the arms without flesh the colour enflamed the ague continuall the payn great the tong swollen nature consumed and beesydes al this the house destroyed and yet they say vnto the sick man bee of good cheere I warrant you you shall liue As yong men naturally desire to liue and as death to all old men is dredfull so though they see them selues in that dystresse yet they refuse no medicine as though there were great hope of lyfe And thereof ensueth oftentymes that the miserable creatures depart the world without confessing vnto god and making restitutions vnto men O if those which doo this knew what euil they doo For to take away my goods to trouble my person to blemish my good name to sclaunder my parentage and to reprooue my lyfe these woorks are of cruell enemyes but to bee occasion to lose my soul it is the woorke of the deuill of hell Certeinly hee is a deuyll whych deceiueth the sick with flatteries and that in steede to healp hym to dye well putteth him in vayn hope of long lyfe Heerein hee that sayth it winneth lyttle and hee that beeleeueth it aduentureth much To mortall men it is more meete to geeue counsels to reform their consciences with the truth then to hasard their houses
with lyes With our frends wee are shamelesse in their life and also bashfull at their death The which ought not to bee so For if our fathers were not dead and that wee did not dayly see these that are present dye mee thinketh it were a shame and also a fear to say to the sick that hee alone shoold dye But since thou knowst as well as hee and hee knoweth as well as thou that all doo trauell in this perillous iurney what shame hast thou to say vnto thy frend that hee is now at the last point If the dead shoold now reuyue how woold they complayn of their frends And thys for no other cause but for that they woold not geeue them good counsell at their death For if the sick man bee my frend and that I see peraduenture hee will dye why shall not I counsell him to prepare him self to dye Certeinly oftentimes wee see by experyence that those which are prepared and are ready for to dye doo escape and those which think to liue doo perish What shoold they doo which goe to vysit the sick perswade them that they make their testaments that they confesse their sinnes that they discharge their conscience that they receiue the Communion and that they doo reconcile them selues to their enemies Certeinly all these things charge not the launce of death nor cut not the threed of lyfe I neuer saw blyndnes so blynd nor ignoraunce so ignorant as to bee ashamed to counsell the sick that they are bound to doo when they are whole As wee haue sayd heere aboue Princes and great Lords are those aboue all other that liue and dye most abusedly And the cause is that as their seruaunts haue no harts to perswade them when they are mery so haue they no audacity to tell them trueth when they are in peril For such seruaunts care lytle so that their maisters beequeath them any thing in theyr willes whether they dye well or lyue euyll O what misery and pity is it to see a Prince a Lord a gentleman and a rych person dye if they haue no faythfull frend about them to help them to passe that payn And not wythout a cause I say that hee ought to bee a faythfull frend For many in our lyfe doo gape after our goods and few at our deaths are sory for our offences The wyse and sage men before nature compelleth them to dye of their own will ought to dye That is to weete that beefore they see them selues in the pangues of death they haue their consciences ready prepared For if wee count him a foole whych will passe the sea without a shippe truely wee will not count him wise which taketh his death without any preparacion beefore What loseth a wise man to haue his will well ordained in what aduenture of honor is any man beefore death to reconsile him self to his enemies and to those whom hee hath born hate and malyce What loseth hee of his credit who in his lyfe tyme restoreth that which at his death they will commaund him to render wherein may a man shew him self to bee more wise then when willingly hee hath discharged that which afterwards by proces they will take from him O how many princes great lords are there which only not for spending one day about their testament haue caused their children and heirs all the days of their life to bee in trauerse in the law So that they supposing to haue left their children welthy haue not left them but for atturneis and counselers of the law The true and vnfained Christian ought euery morning so to dyspose his goods and correct his lyfe as if hee shoold dye the same night And at night in like maner hee ought so to commit him self to god as if hee hoped for no lyfe vntill morning For to say the truth to sustein life there are infinit trauels but to meete death there is but one way If they will credit my woords I woold counsell no man in such estate to liue that for any thing in the world hee shoold vndoo him self The rich and the poore the great and the small the gentlemen and the Plebeians all say and swear that of death they are exceeding fearfull To whom I say and affirm that hee alone feareth death in whom wee see amendment of lyfe Princes and great lords ought also to bee perfect beefore they bee perfect to end beefore they end to dye beefore they dye and to bee mortified beefore they bee mortified If they doo this with them selues they shall as easely leaue their lyfe as if they chāged from one house to an other For the most part of men delight to talk with leisure to drink with leisure to eat with leisure to sleep with leisure but they dye in haste Not without cause I say they dye in haste since wee see thē receiue the sacrament of the supper of the lord in haste make their willes by force with speed to confesse and receiue So that they take it and demaund it so late and so without reason that often times they haue lost their senses and are ready to geeue vp the spirit when they bring it vnto them What auaileth the ship maister after the ship is sonk what doo weapons auayl after the battell is lost What auaileth pleasures after men are dead By that I haue spoken I will demaund what it auaileth the sick beeing heuy with sleep and beereft of their senses to call confessors to whom they confesse their sinnes Euill shal hee bee confessed whych hath no vnderstandyng to repent him self What auayleth it to call the confessor to vnderstand the secret of his conscience when the sick man hath lost his speach Let vs not deceiue our selues saying in our age wee will amend heereafter make restitution at our death For in myne oppinion it is not the poynt of wyse men nor of good christians to desire so much tyme to offend and they wil neuer espy any to amend Woold to god that the third part of tyme which men occupy in sinne were employed about the meditations of death and the cares which they haue to accomplish their fleshly lusts were spent in beewayling their filthy sinnes I am very sory at my hart that thei so wickedly passe their life in vyces and pleasures as if there were no God to whom they shoold render account for their offences All worldlings willingly doo sinne vppon hope only in age to amend and at death to repent but I woold demaund him that in this hope sinned what certeinty hee hath in age of amendment and what assuraunce hee hath to haue long warning beefore hee dye Since wee see by experience there are mo in nomber which dye yong then old it is no reason wee shoold commit so many sinnes in one day that wee shoold haue cause to lament afterwards all the rest of our lyfe And afterwards to beewail the sinnes of our long life wee desire no more but one
space of an hour Considering the omnipotency of the diuine mercy it suffiseth ye and I say that the space of an hour is to much to repent vs of our wicked lyfe but yet I woold counsell all since the sinner for to repent taketh but one hour that that bee not the last hour For the sighs and repentaunce which proceed from the bottom of the hart penetrate the high heauens but those which come of necessity dooth not perse the seeling of the house I allow and commend that those that visit the sick doo counsell them to examin their conscienses to receiue the communion to pray vnto god to forgeeue their enemiez and to recommend them selues to the deuout prayers of the people and to repent their sinnes fynally I say that it is very good to doo all this but yet I say it is better to haue doon it beefore For the diligent and carefull Pirate prepareth for the tempest when the sea is calm Hee that deepely woold consider how little the goods of this lyfe are to bee esteemed let him goe to see a rich man when hee dyeth and what hee dooth in his bed And hee shall fynd that the wife demaundeth of the poore husband her dower the doughter the third part the other the fift the child the preheminence of age the sonne in law his mariage the phisition his duity the slaue his liberty the seruants their wages the creditors their debts and the woorst of all is that none of those that ought to enherit his goods wil geeue him one glasse of water Those that shall here or read this ought to consider that that which they haue seene doon at the death of their neighbors the same shall come to them when they shal bee sick at the point of death For so soone as the rych shutteth his eyes foorthwith there is great strife beetweene the children for his goods And this strife is not to vnburthen his soule but whych of them shall inherit most of his possessions In this case I will not my penne trauel any further since both rich and poore dayly see the experience hereof And in things very manyfest it suffyseth only for wyse men to bee put in memory without wasting any more tyme to perswade them Now the Emperor Marcus Aurelius had a secretary very wise and vertuous through whose hands the affairs of the Empire passed And when this secretary saw his lord and maister so sick and almost at the hour of death and that none of his parents nor frends durst speak vnto him hee plainly determined to doo his duity wherein hee shewed very well the profound knowledge hee had in wisdom and the great good will hee bare to his lord This secretary was called Panutius the vertues and lyfe of whom Sextus Cheronensis in the lyfe of Marcus Aurelius declareth ¶ Of the comfortable woords which the Secretary Panutius spake to the Emperor Marcus Aurelius at the hour of his death Cap. l. O My lord and maister my tong cannot keepe silence myne eies cannot refrayn from bitter tears nor my hart leaue from fetching sighes ne yet reason can vse his duity For my blood boyleth my sinnews are dryed my pores bee open my hart dooth faint and my spirit is troubled And the occasion of all this is to see that the wholsom counsels which thou geeuest to others either thou canst not or wil not take for thy self I see thee dye my lord and I dye for that I cannot remedy thee For if the gods woold haue graunted mee my request for the lengthning of thy lyfe one day I woold geeue willingly my whole life Whether the sorow bee true or fained it nedeth not I declare vnto thee with woords since thou mayst manyfestly discern it by my countenaunce For my eies with tears are wet and my hart with sighs is very heauy I feele much the want of thy company I feele much the domage which of thy death to the whole common wealth shal ensue I feele much thy sorow which in thy pallace shal remaine I feele much for that Rome this day is vndoon but that which aboue al things dooth most torment my hart is to haue seen thee liue as wise and now to see thee dye as symple Tell mee I pray thee my lorde why doo men learn the Greek tong trauel to vnderstand the hebrew sweat in the latin chaunge so many maisters turn so many bookes and in study consume so much money and so many yeres if it were not to know how to passe lyfe with honor and take death with pacience The end why men ought to study is to learn to liue well For there is no truer science in man then to know how to order his life well What profiteth it mee to know much if thereby I take no profit what profiteth mee to know straunge languages if I refrain not my tong from other mens matters what profiteth it to study many books if I study not but to begyle my frends what profiteth it to know the influence of the starres and the course of the elements if I cannot keepe my self from vyces Fynally I say that it lytle auayleth to bee a maister of the sage if secretly hee bee reported to bee a folower of fooles The cheef of all philosophy consisteth to serue god and not to offend men I ask thee most noble prince what auaileth it the Pilot to know the art of sayling and after in a tempest by neglygence to perish What auayleth it the valyaunt captayn to talk much of warre and afterwards hee knoweth not how to geeue the battayl What auaileth it the guyde to tell the neerest way and afterwards in the midst to lose him self All this which I haue spoken is sayd for thee my Lord. For what auayleth it that thou beeing in health shooldst sigh for death since now when hee dooth approch thou weepest because thou wooldst not leaue life One of the things wherein the wise man sheweth his wisedom is to know how to loue and how to hate For it is great lightnes I shoold rather say folly to day to loue him whom yesterday wee hated and to morow to sclaunder him whom this day wee honored What Prince so hygh or what Plebeyan so base hath there been or in the world shall euer bee the whych hath so lyttle as thou regarded lyfe and so hyghly commended death What thyngs haue I wrytten beeing thy Secretary with my own hand to dyuers prouynces of the world where thou speakest so much good of death that sometymes thou madest mee to hate lyfe What was it to see that letter which thou wrotest to the noble Romayn Claudines wydow comforting her of the death of her husband which dyed in the warres Wherein shee aunswered That shee thought her trouble comfort to deserue that thou shooldst write her such a letter What a pitifull and sauory letter hast thou written to Antigonus on the death of thy child Verissimus thy sonne so much desired Whose death
thou tookest so that thou exceedest the limits of philosophy but in the end with thy princely vertues thou didst qualify thy wofull sorows What sentences so profound what woords so wel couched didst thou write in that booke entytuled The remedy of the sorowfull the which thou didst send from the warre of Asia to the Senators of Rome and that was to comfort them after a sore plague And how much profit hath thy doctrin doon since with what new kinde of consolation hast thou comforted Helius Fabatus the Sensour when his sonne was drowned in the ryuer where I doo remember that whē wee entred into his house wee found him weeping and when wee went from thence wee left him laughing I doo remember that when thou wentst to visit Gneus Rusticus in his last disease thou spakest vnto him so effectuously that with the vehemency of thy woords thou madest the tears to run down his cheeks And I demaunding him the occasions of his lamentacions hee said The emperor my lord hath told mee so much euils that I haue wonne and of so much good that I haue lost that if I weepe I weepe not for lyfe which is short but for death which is long The man whom aboue all thou hast loued was Torquatus whom thou didst obey as thy father and seruedst as thy maister This thy faithfull frend beeing ready to dy and desyring yet to liue thou sendst to offer sacrifices to the gods not for that they shoold graunt him lyfe but that they shoold hasten his death Herewith I beeing astonied thy noblenesse to satisfy my ignoraunce said vnto mee in secret these woords Maruel not Panutius to see mee offer sacrifyces to hasten my frends death and not to prolong his life For there is nothing that the faithfull frend ought so much to desyre to his true frend as to see him ridde from the trauels of this earth and to enioy the pleasures of heauen Why thinkest thou most noble prince that I reduce all these things to thy memory but for to demaund thee how it is possible that I which haue hard thee speak so well of death doo presently see thee so vnwilling to leaue life since the gods commaund it thy age willeth it thy disease dooth cause it thy feeble nature dooth permit it the sinfull Rome dooth deserue it and the fickle fortune agreeth that for our great misery thou shooldst dye Why therfore sighest thou so much for to dye The trauels whych of necessity must needes come wyth stout hart ought to bee receiued The cowardly hart falleth beefore hee is beaten down but the stout and valyaunt stomack in greatest perill recouereth most strength Thou art one man and not two thou oughtst one death to the gods and not two why wilt thou therefore beeyng but one pay for two and for one only lyfe take two deaths I mean that beefore thou endest lyfe thou dyest for pure sorow After that thou hast sayled and in the sayling thou hast passed such perill when the gods doo render thee in the safe hauen once agayn thou wilt run in to the raging sea wher thou scapest the victory of lyfe and thou dyest with the ambushements of death Lxii. yeres hast thou fought in the field and neuer turned thy back and fearest thou now beeing enclosed in the graue hast thou not passed the pykes and bryers wherein thou hast been enclosed and now thou tremblest beeing in the sure way Thou knowest what dommage it is long to liue and now thou doutest of the profit of death which ensueth It is now many yeres since death and thou haue been at defiaunce as mortall enemies and now to lay thy hands on thy weapons thou flyest and turnest thy back Lxii. yeres are past since thou were bent agaynst fortune and now thou closest thy eyes when thou oughtst ouer her to tryumph By that I haue told thee I mean that since wee doo not see thee take death willyngly at this present wee doo suspect that thy lyfe hath not in tymes past been very good For the man which hath no desire to appeere beefore the gods it is a token hee is loden with vyces What meanest thou most noble prince why weepest thou as an infant and complainest as a man in dispaire If thou weepest beecause thou diest I aunswer thee that thou laughedst as much when thou liuedst For of too much laughing in the life proceedeth much wayling at the death Who hath always for his heritage appropriated the places beeing in the common wealth The vnconstancy of the mynd who shal bee so hardy to make steddy I mean that all are dead all dye and al shal dye and among all wilt thou alone lyue Wilt thou obtayn of the gods that which maketh them gods That is to weete that they make thee immortall as them selues Wilt thou alone haue by priuiledge that which the gods haue by nature My youth demaundeth thy age what thing is best or to say better which is lesse euill to dye well or to lyue euill I doubt that any man may attayn to the means to lyue well according to the continuall variable troubles whych dayly wee haue accustomed to cary beetweene our hands always suffring hunger cold thirst care displeasures temptacions persecucions euil fortunes ouerthrows and diseases Thys cannot bee called lyfe but a long death and with reason wee will call this lyfe death since a thousand tymes wee hate lyfe If an auncient man did make a shew of his lyfe from tyme hee is come out of the intrailes of his mother vntill the tyme hee entreth into the bowels of the earth and that the body woold declare all the sorows that hee hath passed and the hart discouer all the ouerthrows of fortune which hee hath suffered I immagin the gods woold maruell and men woold wonder at the body whych hath endured so much and the hart whych hath so greatly dissembled I take the Greekes to bee more wise whych weepe when their children bee borne and laugh when the aged dye then the Romayns whych syng when the children are borne and weepe when the old men dye Wee haue much reason to laugh when the old men dye since they dye to laugh and with greater reason wee ought to weepe when the children are borne since they are borne to weepe ¶ Pannatius the secretary continueth his exhortatiō admonishing al men willingly to accept death and vtterly to forsake the world and all his vanities Cap. li. SIns lyfe is now condempned for euill there remaineth nought els but to approue death to bee good O if it pleased the immortall gods that as I oftentimes haue hard the disputacions of this matter so now that thow cooldst therewith profit But I am sory that to the sage and wise man counsaile sometimes or for the most part wanteth None ought to cleue so much to his own opinion but sometimes hee shoold folow the counsaile of the thyrd parson For the man which in all things will follow his own
aduise ought wel to bee assured that in al or the most part hee shall erre O my lord Mark sith thou art sage liuely of spirit of great experience and auncient didst not thou think that as thou hadst buried many so like wise some should burie thee What imaginacions were thine to think that seeing the end of their days others should not see the end of thy yeares Since thou diest rych honourably accompanied old and aboue all seeing thou diest in the seruice of the common wealth why fearest thou to enter into thy graue Thou hast always beene a frend as much to know things past as those which were hid and kept secret Sins thou hast proued what honors and dishonors doo deserue ryches and pouerty prosperity and aduersity ioy and sorow loue and feare vices pleasures mee seemeth that nothing remayneth to know but that it is necessarye to know what death is And also I sweare vnto thee most noble lord that thow shalt learn more in one hour what death is then in a hundreth years what life meaneth Since thou art good and presumest to bee good and hast lyued as good is it not better that thow dye goe with so many good then that thow scape and liue amongst so many euill That thou feelest death I maruell nothing at all for thou art a man but I doo maruail that thou dissemblest it not since thou art discrete Many things doo the sage men feele which inwardly doo oppresse their hart but outwardly they dissemble them for the more honor If all the poyson which in the sorowfull hart is wrapped were in small peeces in the feeble flesh scattered then the walles woold not suffice to rubbe neither the nayles to scratch vs. What other thing is death but a trap or doore where with to shut the shop wherein all the miseries of this wofull lyfe are vendible What wrong or preiudice doo the gods vnto vs whē they cal vs beefore them but from an old decaied house to chaunge vs to a new builded pallace And what other thing is the graue but a strong fort wherein wee shut our selues from the assaults of lyfe broyles of fortune Truely wee ought to bee more desirous of that wee fynd in death then of that wee leaue in lyfe If Helia Fabricia thy wife doo greeue thee for that thou leauest her yong doo not care For shee presently hath litle care of the perill wherein thy lyfe dependeth And in the end when shee shall know of thy death shee will bee nothing greued Trouble not thy self for that shee is left widow For yong women as shee is which are maried with old men as thou when their husbands dye they haue their eies on that they can robbe and their harts on them whom they desire to mary And speaking with due respect when with their eies they outwardly seeme most for to beewaile then with their harts inwardly doo they most reioyce Deceyue not thy self in thinking that the empresse thy wife is yong and that shee shal fynd none other Emperor with whom agayn shee may mary For such and the like will chaunge the cloth of gold for gownes of skynnes I mean that they woold rather the yong shepeheard in the field then the old emperour in his royall pallace If thou takest sorow for the children whom thou leauest I know not why thou shooldst do so For truely yf it greeue thee now for that thou dyest they are more displeased for that thow lyuest The sonne that desireth not the death of his father may bee counted the onely Phenix of this world for if the father bee poore he wisheth him dead for that hee is not maintained if hee bee rich hee desireth his death to enherit the sooner Sins therefore it is true as in deede it is it seemeth not wisedome that they sing thou weepe If it greue thee to leaue these goodly pallaces these sūptuous buildings deceiue not thy self therein For by the god Iupiter I sweare vnto thee that since that death dooth finish thee at the end of .lxii. yeares tyme shal consume these sūptuous buildings in lesse then xl If it greeue thee to forsake the cōpany of thy frends neighbors for them also take as litle thought sins for thee they wil not take any at all For amongst the other compassions that they ought to haue of the dead this is true that scarcely they are buryed but of their frends neighbors they are forgotten If thou takest great thought for that thou wilt not dye as the other emperors of Rome are dead mee seemeth that thou oughtst allso to cast this sorow from thee For thou knowst ryght wel that Rome hath accustomed to bee so vnthankful to those which serue her that the great Scipio also woold not bee buryed therein If it greeue thee to dye to leaue so great a seignory as to leaue the empire I can not think that such vanity bee in thy head For temperat reposed men when they escape from semblable offices do not think that they lose honor but that they bee free of a troblesome charge Therefore if none of al these things moue thee to desire lyfe what should let thee that through thy gates enter not death it greeueth men to dye for one of these two things eyther for the loue of those they leaue beehynd them or for the feare of that they hope Sins therefore there is nothing in this lyfe worthy of loue nor any things in death why wee shoold feare why doo mē feare to dye According to the heauy sighs thou fetchest the bitter tears thou she dest according also to the great payn thou shewest for my part I think that the thing in thy thought most forgotten was that the gods shoold cōmaund thee to pay this debt For admit that al think that their life shal end yet no man thinketh that death wil come so soone For that men think neuer to dye they neuer beeginne their faults to amend so that both life fault haue end in the graue togethers Knowst not thou most noble prince that after the long night cōmeth the moist morning Doost thou not know that after the moyst morning there commeth that cleere sunne Knowst not thou that after the cleare sunne cōmeth the cloudy element Doost thou not know that after the dark myst there commeth extream heat And that after the heat cometh the horrible thunders after the thunders the sodeyn lightnings that after the perilous lightnings commeth the terrible hayle Fynally I say that after the tempesteous troublesome time commonly commeth cleare faire weather The order that time hath to make him self cruel gentill the self same ought men to haue to liue dye For after the infancy cōmeth chyldhod after chyldhod commeth youth after youth cōmeth age after age cōmeth the fearfull death Finally after the fearful death cōmeth the sure life Oftentimes I haue read of thee not seldome hard that
the gods onely which had no beginning shall haue also no endyng Therefore mee thinketh most noble prince that sage men ought not to desire to lyue long For men which desire to liue much eyther it is for that they haue not felt the trauailes past beecause they haue been fooles or for that they desire more time to geeue them selues to vices Thou mightst not complayn of that sins they haue not cut thee in the flower of the herb nor taken thee greene from the tree nor cut in thee in the spring tide and much lesse eat the eager beefore thou were ripe By that I haue spoken I mean if death had called thee when thy lyfe was sweetest though thou hadst not had reason to haue complayned yet thou mightst haue desired to haue altered it For it is a great grief to say vnto a yong man that hee must dye and forsake the world What is this my lord now that the wall is decayed ready to fall the flower is withered the grape dooth rotte the teeth are loose the gown is worn the launce is blunt the knife is dull and doost thou desire to return into the world as if thou hadst neuer knowen the world These lxii yeares thou hast liued in the prison of thys body wilt thou now the yron fetters haue rot thy legges desire yet to length thy days in this so woful prison They that wil not be cōtented to lyue lx years fyue in this death or to dye in this lyfe will not desire to dye in lx thousand years The Emperour Augustus octauian sayd That after men had lyued .l. years eyther of their own will they ought to dye or els by force they shoold cause them selues to bee killed For at that time all those which haue had any humain felicity are at the best Those which liue aboue that age passe their days in greeuous torments As in the death of children in the losse of goods importunity of sōne in laws in mainteining processes in discharging debts in sighing for that is past in bewailing that that is present in dissēbling iniuries in hearing woful news in other infinit trauails So that it were much better to haue their eies shut in the graue then their harts bodies aliue to suffer so much in this miserable life Hee whom the gods take from this miserable life at the end of 50. years is quited from al these miseries of life For after that time hee is not weak but crooked he goeth not but rouleth hee stumbleth not but falleth O my lord Mark knowest thou not that by the same way whereby goeth death death cometh Knowst not thou in like maner that it is 52. years that life hath fled from death and that there is an other time asmuch that death goeth seeking thy life and death going from Illiria where hee left a great plague and thou departing from thy pallayce ye .ii. now haue met in Hungary knowst not thou that where thou leapedst out of thy mothers intrails to gouern the land immediatly death leaped out of his graue to seeke thy life Thou hast always presumed not onely to bee honored but also to bee honorable if it bee so synce thou honoredst the Imbassadours of Princes which did send them the more for their profyt then for thy seruice why doost thou not honor thy messenger whom the gods send more for thy profyt then for their seruices Doost thow not remember well when Vulcane my sonne in law poysoned mee more for the couetousnes of my goods then any desire hee had of my life thou lord diddest come to comfort mee in my chamber and toldst mee that the gods were cruell to slea the yong and were pytiful to take the old from this world And thou saydst further these woords Comfort thee Panutius For if thow were born to dye now thou diest to liue Sins therefore noble prince that I tell thee that which thow toldst mee and counsaile thee the same which thou coūsayledst mee I render to thee that which thow hast geeuen mee Fynally of these vines I haue gathered these clusters of grapes ¶ The aunswer of the emperour Marcus to Panutius his secretory wherein hee declareth that hee tooke no thought to forsake the world but all his sorow was to leaue beehynd hym an vnhappy chyld to enheryt the Empire Cap. lij PAnutius blessed bee the milk thou hast sucked in Dacia the bread which thou hast eaten in Rome the learning which thou hast learned in Greece the bringing vp which thou hast had in my pallace For thou hast serued as a good seruant in life and geeuest mee counsayl as a trusty frend at death I commaund Commodus my sonne to recompence thy seruice and I beseech the immortal gods that they acquite thy good counsayls And not wythout good cause I charge my sonne with the one and require the gods of the other For the payment of many seruices one man alone may doo but to pay one good counsayl it is requisyt to haue all the gods The greatest good that a frend can doo to his frend is in great wayghty affayres to geeue him good and holsome counsayl And not without cause I say holsome For commonly it chaunceth that those which think with their counsayl to remedy vs do put vs oftentimes in greatest perils All the trauayles of lyfe are hard but that of death ys the most hard and terrible Al are great but this is the greatest All are perillous but this is most perillous All in death haue end except the trauayl of death whereof wee know no end That which I say now no man perfectly can know but onely hee which seeth him self as I see my self now at the point of death Certainly Panutius thou hast spoken vnto mee as a wise man but for that thou knowst not my grief thow couldst not cure my disease for my sore is not there where thou hast layd the playster The fistula is not there where thou hast cut the flesh The opilation is not there where thou hast layd the oyntments There were not the right vayns where thou dydst let mee blood Thou hast not yet touched the wound which is the cause of all my grief I mean that thou oughtst to haue entred further with mee to haue knowen my grief better The sighes which the hart fetcheth I say those which come from the hart let not euery man thynk which heareth thē that he can immediatly vnderstand them For as men can not remedy the anguishes of the spirit so the gods likewise woold not that they shoold know the secrets of the hart Without fear or shame many dare say that they know the thought of others wherein they shew them selues to bee more fooles then wise For since there are many things in mee wherein I my self doubt how can a straunger haue any certayn knowledge therein Thow accusest mee Panutius that I feare death greatly the which I deny but to feare it as mā I doo confesse For
oke Ryches youth pride and lyberty are fower plagues which poison the prince replenysh the common wealth with filth kill the lyuing and defame the dead Let the old men beeleeue mee and the yong men mark well what I say that where the gods haue geeuen many gyfts it is necessary they haue many vertues to susteyn them The gentle the peaceable the couÌ„terfait the simple and the fearful doo not trouble the common wealth but those whoÌ„ nature hath geeuen most gyfts For as experience teacheth vs with the fayrest weomen the stews are furnyshed the most proper personages are vnshamefast the most stout and valiaunt are murderers the most subtill are theeues and men of clearest vnderstanding oft times beecome most fooles I say and say again I affirm and affirm agayn I sweare and sweare agayn that if two men which are adorned with naturall gyfts doo want requisyt vertues such haue a knife in their hands wherewith they doo strike and wound them selues a fyer on their shoulders wherewith they burn them selues a rope at their necks to hang them selues a dagger at their breast wherewyth they kyll them selues a thorn in their foote wherewith they prick them selues and stones whereat they stumble so that stumbling they fall and falling they fynd them selues with death whom they hate and without lyfe which so much they loued Note well Panutius note that the man which from his infancy hath always the feare of the gods beefore his eyes and the shame of men sayeth trouth to all and lyueth in preiudice to none and to such a tree though euil fortune doo cleaue the flower of his youth doo wither the leaues of their fauors drye they gather the fruits of hys trauailes they cut the bough of hys offices they bow the highest of his braunches downwards yet in the end though of the winds hee bee beaten hee shall neuer bee ouercome O happy are those fathers to whom the Gods haue geeuen quick children wyse faire able lyght and valiaunt but all these gifts are but means to make them vicious And in such case if the fathers woold bee gouerned by my counsayl I woold rather desire that members shoold want in them then that vyces shoold abound Of the most fairest chyldren which are born in the Empire my sonne Commodus the Prince is one But I woold to the immortal gods that in face hee resemble the blackest of Ethiope in maners the greatest philosopher of Greece For the glory of the father is not nor ought not to bee in that his childe is faire of complexion and handsome of person but that in his lyfe hee bee very vpryght Wee will not call hym a pytifull father but a great enemy who exalteth foorth his childe for that hee is faire and dooth not correct him though hee bee vicious I durst say that the father which hath a chyld endued with many goodly gyfts and that hee dooth employ them all to vices such a chyld ought not to bee born in the world and if perchaunce he were born hee ought immediatly to bee buried ¶ The Emperour Marcus Aurelius concludeth his matter and sheweth that sundry yong princes for beeing vicious haue vndoone them selues and impoueryshed their Realmes Cap. liij O What great pyty is it to see how the father buyeth his chyld of the gods with sighs how the mother deliuer them with payn how they both nourish them with trauailes how they watch to susteyn them how they labor to remedy them and afterwards they haue so rebelled and bee so vicious that the myserable fathers oftentimes doo dye not for age but for the greeues wherewith their children torment theÌ„ I doo remember that the prince CoÌ„modê° my sonne beeing yong I aged as I am with great payns wee kept him froÌ„ vices but I fear that after my deth hee wil hate vertues I remeÌ„ber many yong princes which of his age haue enherited theÌ„pire of Rome who haue beene of so wicked a life that they haue deserued to lose both honor and life I remember Dennis the famous tyraunt of Scicil of whom is sayed that as great reward hee gaue to those that inuented vices as our mother Rome dyd to those which conquered realmes Such woork could not bee but of a Tyrant to take them for most famyliar which are most vicious I remember fower yong princes which gouerned the empire but not with such valyauntnes as the great Alexander that is to weete Alexander Antiochus Siluius and Ptholomeus to whom for their vanyty and lightnes as they called Alexander the great Emperour in Greece so likewise doo they call these yong men tiraunts in Asia Very happy was Alexander in life they vnhappy after his death For all that which with glorious triumphs hee wanne with vile vices they lost So that Alexander deuided between them fower the world and afterwards it came into the hands of mo then fower hundreth I doo remember that kyng Antigonus litle exteemed that which cost his lord Alexander much Hee was so lyght in the beehauior of his person and so defamed in the affaires of the common wealth that for mockry and contempt in the steede of a crown of gold hee bare a garland in the steede of a scepter hee caryed neitels in hys hand of this sort and maner hee sat to iudge among his counsailours and vsed to talk with straungers This yong prince dooth offend mee much for the lightnes hee coÌ„mitted but much more I marueyl at the grauity of the sages of Greece which suffred him It is but meete hee bee partaker of the payn which condescended to the fault I doo remember Calligulus the fowerth Emperour of Rome who was so yong and foolysh that I doubt of these two thyngs which was greatest in his time That is to weete the dysobedyence which the people beare to their lord or the hate which the lord beare to hys people For that vnhappy creature was so dysordered in his maners that if all the Romayns had not watched to take life from him hee woold haue watched to take life from them This Caligula ware a brooche of gold in his cap where in were writen these woords Vtinam omnis populus vnam precise ceruicem haberet vt vno ictu omnes necarem Whych is to say woold to god all the people had but one neck to the end I might kyll them all at a stroke I remember the Emperour Tiberius thadoptiue sonne of the good Cesar Augustus whych was called Augustus beecause hee greatly augmented the empire But the good Emperour did not so much augment the state of hys common wealth duryng hys lyfe as Tiberius dyd dymynish it after hys death The hate and mallyce which the Romayn people bare to Tiberius in hys lyfe was manyfestly dyscouered after the tyme of hys death For the day that Tiberius dyed or better to say when they kylled him the Romayn people made great processyons and the Senators offred great presents to the Temples and the priests
cruel punyshment of those that liue that rather thē they would endure it they wysh to bee dead Thou oughtst to think my sonne that I haue beegot thee I haue nouryshed thee I haue taught thee I haue trymmed thee I haue chastised thee and I haue exalted thee And for this consyderation though by death I am absent it is not reasō that thou euer forget mee For the true not vnthākfull chyld ought the same day to bury his father in his tender hart when others haue layd hym in the hard graue One of the visible chastisements which the gods geeue to men in this world is that the children obey not their fathers in their life For the self same fathers did not remēber their owne fathers after their death Let not yong Princes think after they haue inherited after they see theyr father dead after they are past correction of their masters that al things ought to bee doone as they thē selues wil it for it will not bee so For if thei want the fauour of the Gods haue maledyction of their fathers they liue in trouble and dye in daunger I require nought els of thee my sonne but that such a father as I haue been to thee in my life such a sonne thou bee to mee after my death I commend vnto thee my sonne the veneracion of the gods and this cheefely aboue al thing For the prince with maketh accompt of the gods neede not to feare any storme of fortune Loue the gods thou shalt bee beeloued Serue them thou shalt bee serued Feare them thou shalt bee feared Honor them thou shalt bee honored Doo their commaūdements they will geeue thee thy harts desire For the gods are so good that they doo not onely receiue in accompt that which wee doo but also that which wee desire to doo I commend vnto thee my sonne the reuerence of the Temples that is to weete that they bee not in discorde that they bee cleane renewed that they offer therin the sacrifices accustomed For wee doo not this honor to the substaūce wherwith the temples are made but to the Gods to whome they are consecrated I commend vnto thee the veneration of priestes I pray thee though they bee couetous auaricious dissolute vnpacient negligēt vicious yet that thei bee not dishonored For to vs others it apperteineth not to iudge of the life they leade as mē but wee must consider that they are mediators beetwene the gods vs. Beehold my sonne that to serue the gods honor the temples reuerence the priestes it is not a thing voluntary but very necessary for Princes For so long endured the glory of the Greekes as they were worshippers of their Gods carefull of theyr Temples The vnhappi realme of Catthage was nothing more cowardly nor lesse rych then that of the Romaynes but in the ende of the Romaynes thei were ouercome beecause they were great louers of their treasours and litle worshippers of their Temples I commend vnto thee my sonne Helia thy stepe mother remember though shee bee not thy mother yet shee hath been my wyfe That which to thy mother Faustine thou oughtst for bringing thee into the world the selfe same thou oughtst to Helia for the good entertainmēt which shee hath shewed thee And in deede often tymes I beeing offended with the shee mainteined thee caused mee to forget so that shee by her good woords did winne againe that which thou by thy euill woorks didst loose Thou shalt haue my curse yf thou vsest her euyll thou shalt fall into theire of the gods if that agreest that other doo not vse her wel For all the domage which shee shal feele shal not bee but for the inconuenience of my death iniury of thy persō For her dowrye I leaue her the tributes of Hostia the orchyardes of Vulcanus which I haue made to bee planted for her recreation Bee thou not so hardy to take them from her for in taking them from her thou shalt shewe thy wickednes in leauing them her thy obedyence in geeuing her more thy bounty liberalyty Remember my sonne that shee is a Romaine woman yong a wydow of the house of Traiane my lord that shee is thy mother adoptatiue my naturall wyfe aboue al for that I leaue her recommended vnto thee I commend vnto thee my sonne in laws whome I will thou vse as parents and frends And beeware that thou bee not of those which are brethern in woords cousins in woorks Bee thou assured that I haue willed somuch good to my doughters that the best which were in al the countries I haue chosen for their persons And they haue beene so good that if in geeuing them my doughters they were my sonne in laws in loue I loued them as chyldren I commend vnto thee my Systers doughters whome I leaue thee al maryed not with straūge kings but with natural senatours So that al dwel in Rome where they mai doo thee seruices and thou maist geue them rewards gifts Thy sisters haue greatly inheryted the beauty of thy mother Faustine haue taken lytle nature of their father Marke But I sweare vnto thee that I haue geeuen them such husbands and to their husbands such and so profitable counsailes that they would rather loose their lyfe then agree to any thing touching their dishonor Vse thy sisters in such sort that they bee not out of fauor for that their aged father is dead and that they beecome not proud for to see their brother Emperor Women are of a very tender condicion for of small occasion they doo complayne of lesse they wax proud Thou shalt keepe them preserue them after my death as I did in my lyfe For otherwise their conuersacion to the people shal bee very noisome to thee very importunate I comend vnto thee Lipula thy yongest Sister which is inclosed with in the virgine vestalles who was doughter of thy mother Faustine whome so derely I haue loued in life whose death I haue beewailed vntil my death Euery yeare I gaue to thy sister sixe thousand Sexterces for her necessyties in deede I had maryed her also if shee had not fallen into the fire burnt her face For though shee were my last I loued her with all my hart All haue esteemed her fal into the fire for euyll luck but I doo coūt the euil luck for good fortune For her face was not so burned with coles as her renowme suffred peryl among euill tongs I sweare vnto thee my sonne that for the seruice of the gods for the renowme of men shee is more sure in the Temple with the vestal Virgins then the art in the Senate with thy Senatours I suppose now that at the end of the iourney shee shal find her selfe better to bee enclosed then thou at liberty I leaue vnto her in the prouynce of Lucania euery yeare six
wee are all of the earth wee liue in the earth and in th end wee haue to turne into the earth as to our naturall thing If the planets and the beasts coold help vs wyth the instrument and benefite of the tongue they woold take from vs the occasions of vayn glory For the starres woold say that they were created in the firmament the Sunne in the heauens the byrdes in the ayer the Salamaunder in the fyer and the fysh in the water but only the vnhappy man was made of earth and created in the earth So that in that respect wee cannot glory to haue other kinsfolk neerer to vs then are the woormes the flyes and horseflyes If a man did consider well what hee were hee woold assertain vs that the fyer burnes him water drownes him the earth wearies him the ayre troubles him the heate greeues him the cold hurts him and the day is troublesom to him the night sorowfull hunger and thirst makes him suffer meat and drink filles him his enemies daily follow him and his frends forget him So that the tyme a man hath to lyue in thys wretched world cannot bee counted a lyfe but rather a long death The first day wee see one borne the self same wee may make rekening that hee beginnes to dye and although that parson lyued amongst vs a hundreth yeres after in this world wee shoold not say therefore that hee lyued along tyme but only that hee taryed a great tyme to dye Therefore that parson that hath his lyfe tyed to so many trybutes I can not deuyse or think with my selfe why or wherefore hee shoold bee proud But now returning againe to our purpose let vs say and exhort the seruaunts and familiers of princes that they take heede they bee not proud and presumptuous For it seeldom happeneth that the fauored of kings and princes fall out of fauor and credit for that they haue or can doo much nor for that they craue and desyre much but for that they are to bold and presume to much For in the court of kings Princes there is nothing more hurtfull and lesse profitable then pryde and presumption For oft tymes the ouerweening of the courtier and the foolysh vayne pryde and reputacion hee hath of hym self brings him to bee in the princes disgrace and makes the people also to bee offended and angry wyth him For till this day wee neuer saw nor hard tell of any that euer got into the princes fauor and credit for that hee was proud and high mynded but only for that hee hath shewed himself an humble obedient curteous louyng and a faithful seruant I woold bee of this mynd that the courtier that seeth hee is receiued into fauor in the princes court shoold euer waxe better in seruing well then grow woorse in presuming to much And I dare boldly say and affirme that it is a mere point of folly by his pryde and rashenesse to lose all that good in one day that by great good fortune hee hath attained to in many yeres And though that the fauored courtier subiect possible to his fantasticall humor bee sometymes ouercome wyth cholor carnal desyre drawen with auaryce and addicted to the gorge enuenomed with enuy plunged insloth and ydlenes or some other vyce and imperfection it shal not skill much neither bee any great wonder since all mankynd is subiect to those passions and neither the prince nor the common weale will recken much of that For of all these faults and vyces there can come no greater hurt to him saue only that that the common people woold murmure against him But his pryde and pecokes glory once knowen and espied euery man casteth his eys vppon him to beehold his princely gate and curseth hym in woord and deede Therefore let a man bee in as great fauor as hee can deuyse to bee as woorthy noble ritch and of as great power and aucthority as hee desyreth to bee I neuer saw any yll in al my lyfe if with al these vertues hee were proud and high mynded but in th end hee was persecuted of many and hated and enuyed of all For those that are in greatest fauor about the prince haue secret enemies enough to hinder their credit although they doo not purchase them new to accuse them of their pryde and presumption And as wee are taught by experience the burning coal cannot long bee kept alyue without it bee couered with the whot ymbers Euen so I mean that the fauor of the prince cannot bee long maintained without good bringing vp and ciuile maners gentle conuersation and familiarity The great mē of auctority about the prince runne estsones into great and many daungers and this happeneth because they woold not bee reproued in any thing what so euer they doo much lesse here any woord that shoold displease them neyther can they abyde to bee told of their faults much lesse suffer to bee corrected for them Nether doo they suffer willyngly to bee counselled in any thing bee it neuer of so great weight and importance neyther woold they haue any compaygnion with them in fauor and credit with the Prince but they desire to bee both on the right hand of the prince and of the left styll they only woold bee the fauored of the prince and none other aspiring to gouerne them in all their dooings and to bee thought and reputed the sole and only rulers of the affairs of the prince and his common weal and to bee beleeued in all things of the prince and to bee obeyd also of the comon people Those therfore that are continually resient in the court of princes and that haue the cheefest roomes and offices of auctority in the court let them well consider and keepe in memory this one woord that I will tell them And that is this That the first day that they take vppon them to bee superintēdēts and gouernors of the common weal euen in the self same day they shal come to put in hasard their honor fauor and credit how great so euer it bee For with great difficulty are the lest things the prince himself cōmaundeth executed or doon in his realm or common weal and therefore may the fauored of the court see how much more hard it is for him to rule as sole absolute lord the affairs of the realme and to bee obeied in the common weal since the kyng him self cannot doo it by his regall auctority And therefore the lesse hee shall desire to meddle with thaffairs of the people the more shall hee lyue in quiet and contented For naturally the common people are so vnstable and vncertain in their dooings vnthankfull of benefits receiued and so ingratefull of a good turne doon them that the beloued of the court or any other person in fauor with the prince can euer doo any thing for the people bee it neuer so well but they will speak ill and mislyke of him and fynd fault with some of his dooings It is impossible
sodeinly to rise in fauor and to bee rich al in short time By thys I inferre that the wise man euer desireth first to bee in fauor before hee couet to bee rich but the foole Ideot desireth first to bee rich then in fauor last Not few but many wee haue seen in princes courts which though fortune in short time hath exalted to the first degree of riches made theÌ„ cheefe in fauor yet wtin short space after shee hath made theÌ„ also lose their riches fal from the top of their honor It is most certain that if one haue enemies in the court onely for that hee is infauor hee shal haue as many moe if beeing in fauor hee bee also rich For wee are al of so ill a condicion in things that touch our particular profyt that all that wee see geeuen to others wee think sodeinly taken away from our selues Wee haue heretofore sayd that it is not fit for the courtier and those that are in fauor to coÌ„maund for his profit al that hee list neither al those that hee may And wee now at this present also aduise them to take heede that they doo not accept take al that is offered preseÌ„ted although they may lawfully doo it For if hee bee not wise in coÌ„mauÌ„ding moderatin taking a day might come that he should see himself in such extremity that hee should bee inforced to cal his frends not to couÌ„sel him but rather to help succor him It is true that it is a natural thing for a courtier that hath 20. crownes in his purse to desire sodeinly to multiply it to a .100 from a .100 to .200 froÌ„ 200. to a .1000 froÌ„ a .1000 to 2000. and from .2000 to 10000. So that this poore wretched creature is so blinded in couetousnes that hee knowth not nor feeleth not that as this auar ce ê¯tinually increaseth augmenteth in him so his life dayly diminisheth and decreaseth beesides that that euery man mocks scornes him that thinketh the true coÌ„tentacion consisteth in commaunding of many in the faculty of possessing much riches For to say truly it is not so but rather disordinat riches troubleth greeueth the true contentacion of men and awaketh euer in them dayly a more appetite of couetousnes Wee haue seen many courtiers rich beloued but none in deede that euer was contented or wearied with commaunding but rather his life should faile him then couetousnes O how many haue I seene in the court whose legges nor feete haue ben able to cary them nor their body strong inough to stand alone nor their hands able to wryte nor their sight hath serued them to see to read nor their teeth to speak neither their iawes to eat nor their eares to heare nor their memory to trauaile in any suyt or matter yet haue not their tongue fayled them to require presents and gifts of the prince neither deepe and fyne wit to practise in court for his most auaile and vantage So incurable is the disease and plague of auarice that hee that is sick of that infirmity can not bee healed neither with pouerty nor yet bee remedied with riches Sence this contagious malady and apparant dauÌ„ger is now so commonly knowen and that it is crept into courtiers and such as are in high fauor and great autoritie by reason of this vile sinne of auarice I would counsell him rather to apply him self to bee well thought of and esteemed then to endeuor to haue inough Albeit Queene Semiramis was wife to king Belius and mother of king Ninus and although by nature shee was made a woman yet had shee a hart neuer other wise but valiaunt and noble For after shee was wyddow shee made her self lord by force of armes of the great India and conquered all Asia and in her life time caused a goodly tombe to bee made wheare shee would lyfe after her death and about the which shee caused to bee grauen in golden letters these woords VVho longs to swell with masse of shining gold and craues to catch such wealth as few possest This stately tomb let him in haste vnfold where endles hopes of hatefull coyne doo rest Many days and kings reignes past before any durst open this sepulker vntill the comming of the great Cyrus who commaunded it to bee opened And beeing reported to him by those that had the charge to seeke the treasure that they had sought to the bottomles pyt and wolrds end but treasure they coold fynd none nor any other thing saue a stone wherein were grauen these woordes Ah haples knight whose high distraughted mynd by follies play abused was so â—ych that secret tombs the care as could not bynd but thow wouldst reaue them vp for to be rich Plutarke and also Herodotus which haue both writen this history of Semiramis doo shew affirm that Queene Semiramis got great honor by this gest kyng Cyrus great shame dishonor If courtiers that are rych think beleeue that for that they haue money inough at their wil that therefore they should bee farre from al troubles miseries they are farre deceiued For if the poore soul toile hale his body to get him only that that hee needeth much more dooth the rich maÌ„ torment burn his hart til he bee resolued which way to spend that superfluous hee hath Ihesu what a thing is it to see a rich man how hee tormenteth him self night day imagyning deuising with him self whether hee shal with that money that is left buy leases mills or houses aÌ„nuities vines or cloth laÌ„ds tenemeÌ„ts or pastures or some thing in fee or whether he shal eÌ„rich his soÌ„ne with the thirdes or fifts after al these vain thoughts gods wil is to stryke him with deth sodeinly not onely before he haue determined how hee should lay out or spend this money but also before hee haue made his will I haue many times told it to my frends yea preached it to them in the pulpit and wrytten yt also in my bookes that it is farre greater trouble to spend the goods of this world wel and as they ought to bee spent then it is to get them For they are gotten wyth swet and spent with cares Hee that hath no more then hee needeth it is hee that knoweth wel how to part from them to spend theÌ„ but hee that hath abundaÌ„s more then needeful dooth neuer resolue what hee should doo Whereof followeth many times that those which in his life time were enemies to hym shall happeÌ„ to bee heires after his death of all the goods money hee hath It is a most suer certain custome among mortal men that commonly those that are rych men while they are aliue spend more money vaynly in things they would not that they haue no pleasure in where in they would least lay it out and after their death they leaue the most part of their inheritance
you haue hitherto geeuen mee you will moderate your correction and punishment which after this I looke for that you wil geeue mee that you punish mee with pyty and not with vtter destruction and ruyn And yet hee added this furder to his woords Not without cause I coniure thee O fortune doo beeseech you immortal gods that you will punish mee fauorably but not to vndoo mee because I am assured that ouermuch felicity and prosperyty of this life is no more but a prediction and presage of a great calamity ill ensuyng happe Truely al the examples aboue recited are woorthy to bee noted to bee kept always beefore the eyes of our mynd sith by them wee come to know that in the prosperity of this our thrawled life there is litle to hope for much to bee afrayd of It is true wee are very frayle by nature since we are borne fraile wee liue frayl and dayly wee fall into a thowsand fraylties but yet notwithstanding wee are not so frayl but wee may if wee will resist vice And all this commeth onely because one sort of people foloweth an other but one reason seeldome foloweth an other If wee fall if wee stomble if wee bee sick if wee break our face are wee suer that seruing as wee doo the world that the world will recure remedy vs No sure it is not so For the remedy the world is woont to geeue to our troubles is euer notwithstanding greater trouble then the first So that they are like to searing yrons that burn the flesh and heale not the wound For the world is full of guile disceyt subtill to deciue but very slow to geeue vs remedy And this wee see plainly For if it perswade vs to reuenge any iniury receyued it dooth it only in reuenging of that to make vs receiue a thousand other iniuries And if sometimes wee think wee receiue some comfort of the world of our payns and troubles of the body it afterwards ouer lodeth our mynds with a sea of thoughts cogitacions So that this accursed and flattering world maketh vs beleeue and perswadeth vs the right perfyt way in the end wee are cast vnwares into the nettes of all wickednes priuily layd to snare vs. How great so euer a man bee in fauor with the kyng how noble of blood how fyne of wyt how ware so euer hee bee let euery man bee assured that practiseth in the world hee shall in the end bee deceyued by him For hee costeth vs very deere wee sell our selues to him good cheap I told you but litle to tell you wee sold our selues good cheap for I should haue sayd better in saying wee haue geeuen our selues in pray wholly to him without receiuing any other recompence And in deede they are very few and rare that haue any reward of him infinit are they that serue him without any other recompence more then a foolish and vayn hope O trayterous world in how short a time doost thou receiue vs and afterwards with a glimse of an eye sodeinly doost put vs from thee thou gladdest and makest vs sorofull thou callest vs to honor and abasest vs thou punishest vs doost vs a thousand pleasures And fynally I say thou doost make vs so vile and poysonest vs with thy vile labors that wythout thee wee are yet euer with thee and that that greeues vs woorst of all ys that hauing the theefe in the house wee goe out of the house to geeue him place and make him owner When the world knoweth one once that is proud and presumptuous hee procureth him honor to another that is couetous riches to an other that is a glutton good meats to an other that is carnall the commodity of women to an other that is idle quiet and ease all thys dooth the traterous world to the end that after as fysh whom hee hath fed hee may lose the net of sinne vpon vs to catch vs in If wee would resist the first temptacions the world offereth vs it is impossyble hee durst so many times assault vs. For to say truely by our small resistaunce increaseth his ouer great audacity I woold these louers of this world woold but tel mee a litle what reward or what hope they can hope of him why they should suffer so many incombers broiles and troubles as they doo To think the world can geeue vs perpetual life it is a mockry and extreame madnes to hope of it For wee see when life is most deere to vs and that wee are lothest to leaue the world then ariueth death in an vnhappy hower to swallow vs vp and to depriue vs of all thys worldly felicity To hope that the world will geeue vs assured mirth this ys also a madnes For the days excepted wee must lament the due hours allotted out to cōplain alas wee shal see a small surplus of time left to laugh and bee meery I can say no more but exhort euery man to looke well about him what hee dooth and that hee bee aduised what hee thinketh For when wee thynk and beleeue wee haue made peace with fortune euen then is shee in battell against vs. And I doo assuredly beleeue that that I now prepare my self to speak euen presently shal bee read of many but obserued of few and that is that I haue seene those come out of their own propre houses moorning lamenting that had spent and consumed all their time in laughing and making good cheere seruing this miserable world Which is but only a geeuer of al euels a ruyn of the good a heap of sinne a tyrant of vertues a traytor of peace and warre a sweete water of errors a riuer of vices a persecutor of the vertuous a combe of lyes a deuiser of nouelties a graue of the ignorant a cloke of the wicked an ouen of lechery and fynally a Caribdis where all good and noble harts doo perish and a right Silla where all noble desires and thoughts are cast away togeethers For it is most certayn that this worldling that is not content with this world and that leaueth his fyrst state and that taketh vppon him a new maner of life and chaungeth from house to house and contrey to contrey hee shall neuer notwithstanding content him self nor quyet his mynd And the cause heereof is that if a worldling depart out of his house neuer to come agayn into it there are yet at hand immediatly other tenne licentious persons that doo but watch to enter into his house Speaking more particulerly I say that in the court of prynces they account them happy and fortunat that bee in fauor with the prince that haue great affairs in court that bee rich and of power that bee serued and honored of euery man and that take place and goe beefore euery man So that it may bee sayd that the common people doo not call those fortunat that deserue to bee fortunate but onely those that haue
another beside her self for shee ceaseth not to defaÌ„e him to follow the other to rayse a sclauÌ„der amoÌ„gst her neighbors to coÌ„plaine to his freÌ„ds to bewray the matter to the iustice to quarel with officers alwayes to haue spies for hym in euery place as if hee were one of her mortal enemyes O I woold to god the courtier would as much esteeme of his coÌ„scieÌ„s as his louer maketh accoÌ„pt of his parsoÌ„ happy were hee For I dare assure him if he know it not that shee spieth out al the places hee goth so couÌ„ts euery morsel of meat hee eateth becoÌ„meth ielious of al that hee dooth of all those whose coÌ„pany hee frequeÌ„teth yea shee deuiseth imagineth all that hee thinketh So that hee that seeketh a cruel reueÌ„ge of his enemy cannot doo better theÌ„ ê‘swade induce him to loue one of these wel coÌ„ditioned womeÌ„ Now let him think that hee hath great warres that by his euil hap hath made her his enemy which heretofore hee so eÌ„tierly loued For any maÌ„ that exteemeth his honor reputacioÌ„ dooth rather feare the euil tongue of such a womaÌ„ theÌ„ the sweord of his enemy For an honest maÌ„ to striue coÌ„teÌ„d with a womaÌ„ of such quality is eueÌ„ asmuch as yf hee woold take vpon him to wash an asses head Therefore hee may not set me to make accoÌ„pt of those iniuries doon him or euel words shee hath spoken of him but rather seeke to remedy it the best hee caÌ„ that shee speak no more of him For womeÌ„ naturaly desire to enioy that persoÌ„ they loue wtout let or interruption of any to pursue to the death those they hate I woold wysh therfore the fauored of priÌ„ces such as haue office dignity in the court that they beware they incurre not into such like errors For it is not sitting that meÌ„ of honor such as are great about the prince shoold seeme to haue more lyberty in vice theÌ„ any other neither for any respect ought the beloued of the prince to dare to keepe coÌ„pany much lesse to haue freÌ„dship with any such coÌ„moÌ„ defamed womeÌ„ syth the least euel that can coÌ„e to theÌ„ they caÌ„not bee auoided But at the least hee must charge his coÌ„scieÌ„s trouble his freÌ„ds wast his goods coÌ„sume his ê‘son lose his good fame ioyning with al these also his coÌ„cubine to bee his mortal enemy For there is no womaÌ„ liuiÌ„g that hath any measure in louiÌ„g neither end in hatiÌ„g Oh how wareli ought al meÌ„ to liue specialy wee that are in the court of princes for many womeÌ„ vnder the color of their autority office goe oft tymes to seek theÌ„ in their chaÌ„bers not only as huÌ„ble suters to sollycyte theire causes but also liberaly to offer theÌ„ their ê‘soÌ„s so by that colour to coÌ„clude their practises deuyses So that the decisioÌ„ coÌ„clusioÌ„ of processe which they fain to solycite shal not goe with him that demaunds there goods of theÌ„ but rather with him that desires but their parsoÌ„s to spoile theÌ„ of their honor Now the princes officers must seeke to bee pure clene froÌ„ al these practises of these comoÌ„ struÌ„pets much more froÌ„ those that are suters to theÌ„ haue maters beefore theÌ„ For they should highly offeÌ„d god coÌ„mit great treasoÌ„ to the King if they should send those weomeÌ„ froÌ„ theÌ„ that sued vnto theÌ„ rather dishonored defamed theÌ„ honestly dispatched of their busines And therfore hee bindeth him self to a maruelous inconuenieÌ„ce that falleth in loue with a woman suter For euen froÌ„ that instant hee hath receued of her the sweete delights of loue eueÌ„ at the present hee byâ—deth him self to dispatch her quickly to end al her sutes not wtout great greefe I speake these woords There are many women that come to the court of princes to make vnreasonable dishonest sutes which in the end notwtstaÌ„ding obtaine ther desire And not for any ryght or reasoÌ„ they haue to it saue only they haue obtained that thorough the fauor and credit they haue won of the fauored courtier or of one of his beloued So as wee see it happeÌ„ many tymes that the vniust fornication made her sute iust resonable I should lye and doo my selfe wrong mee thinks yf I should passe ouer with silence a thing that happened in the emperors court touching this matter in the which I went one day to one of the princes cheefe officers best beeloued of hym to sollycyte a matter of importauÌ„ce which an hostes of myne should haue before him And so this fauored courtier great officer after hee had hard of mee the whole discourse of the matter for full resolution of the same hee axed mee yf shee were yong fayre I auÌ„swered hym that shee was reasonable fayre of good fauor Well than sayth hee bed her com to mee I wil doo the best I can to despatch her matter with speade for I wyl assure you of this that there neuer caÌ„e fayre woman to my hands but shee had her busines quickly dispatcht at my haÌ„ds I haue knowne also many womeÌ„ in the court so vnhonest that not conteÌ„ted to folow their owne matters would also deale with others affayrs gaine in soliciting their causes so that they with their fyne words franke offer of there parsons obtayned that which many tymes to men of honor great autorytye was denyed Therfor these great officers fauored of priÌ„ces ought to haue great respect not only in the coÌ„uersatioÌ„ they haue with these womeÌ„ but also in the honest order they ought to obserue in hering theyr causes And that to bee done in such sort that what so euer they say vnto theÌ„ may bee kept secret prouided also the place where they speake with them bee open for other suters in like case ¶ That the nobles beloued of princes exceede not in superfluous fare that they bee not too suÌ„ptuous in their meates A notable chapter for those that vse too much delicacye and superfluity Chap. xviii ONe of the greatest cares and regard the nature layd vpon her self was that men could not lyue wtout sustinaÌ„ce so that so long as wee see a maÌ„ eat yea if yt were a thousaÌ„d yeares wee might bee bold to say that hee is certainly alyue And hee hath not alone layd this burdeÌ„ vpon meÌ„ but on brute bests also For wee see by experience that some feedeth on the grasse in the fyelds some liues in the ayre eating flyes others vpon the wormes in carin others with that they fynd vnder the water And finally ech beast lyueth of other and afterwards the wormes feede of vs al. And not oÌ„ly reasonable meÌ„ brute beasts lyue by eating but the trees are norrished therby wee see it thus that they in stede of meat receyue into theÌ„ for nutriture the heate of the sunne the teÌ„perature of the ayre the moysture
vertuous man sustaineth to bee a frend and coÌ„panyon of so shamelesse and horrible a lyer For to bee playn I was brought to this passe by means of this frend of myne that I coold not tell what I shoold doo but when I hard him begin to speak to fly from him and leaue him beecause I woold not bee reputed a lyke of reputacioÌ„ with him Howbeit in th end I was forced to vse this pollycy that what hee had openly auouched mee a witnes in secretly agayn I woold excuse my self and deny yt But now returning to our matter agayn I say That these courtiers and familiers of princes ought to exyle and banish from them this abhominable cryme of lyeng For if a mean gentleman or simple plebeyan happen some tymes to tell one thing for an other it is but taken of the hearers streight for a simple ly But beyng spoken by one of the fauored of the court or other gentleman of reputation it is thought a kynd of treason For lyke as betwixt god and the sinner our sauior Ihesus Christ is our only meane and mediatour being called vpon by the priest euen so betwixt the king and his subiects that are suters to his maiestie those that are in fauour with the prince are mediatours for them Now therfore if these priests be double in their words and dissemblers in that they speak how shall the sinnes of the one bee pardoned and the busines of the other dispatched O wofull and vnhappy sinner that putteth his sinnes into the hands of a naughty and wicked prist and lyke wise vnfortunat and miserable is the poore suter that committeth his affaiers to the trust and dispatch of a lying and dissembling officer There are many officers in Princes courts that telleth the poore suters still they will dispatch them but when it commeth to the push to folow the matter al his fair woords are then but wynd and in dede they make an art of it to speak all men fayer to promis much and to performe nothing weaning with their swete flattering woords to winne the harts and good willes of all little regarding the great expence and losse of tyme of the poor suter much lesse also respecting their own honor honesties and credyt Sure it were lesse dishonor for them to bee counted rough and churlish then to bee bruted for lyers and breakers of their promys The officer of the princes pallace that is a dissembler and lyer in his woords dooings hee may for a time maintain his suits and goe through with his matters but in the end his tretcheries perceiued him self his fautor and all his dealing lye in the dust and are vtterly ouerthrowen O how many haue I seene ryse in court of nothing to great matters and offyces and this not through their painfull seruice but altogeethers by means of their deceipt flattery they cunningly vsed not exalted also for their merits but only by a subtil meane policy they had to draw water to their myll not for any good coÌ„science they had but only for their gret diligeÌ„ce vsed in their practises And al this not wtout the preiudice of others but rather to the gret hurt vtter vndooing of their neighbor not for any bounty they had to geue liberally but a gredy couetous desire to get not for any needful busines but to haue those that are suê‘fluous not for to reliue the poore needy but only to satisfy their insatiable apetits infyne their accouÌ„t cast wee haue seen after their deth their goods coÌ„fiscated their seruaÌ„ts dysê‘sed gone away their childreÌ„ for euer vndoon So that in brief ther was no more memory of theÌ„ in this world god grant also that in the other lyfe their soules were not damned Courtiers may easely with their fauor and credit attaine to great possessions as the Iudges may also in robbing the counsellers in pleading and maintaining naughty causes the captains in powling the prince of the soldiers wages the marchants in their false weights measures their brokers in telling lyes out of all measure But in th end of their iorney pilgrimage they may bee assured that the soules of the fathers shal not only bee damned in hel but the goods also shal bee taken from their children And that that is truely and iustly gotten by the honest industry trauel of the man with a good zeal holy intent to a good iust end it is written that it shal bee of long continuaunce by the permission of god praier of the people it shall also prosper increase For the true gotten goods achiued by swet labor of man god dooth always prosper augment and therefore continuing our matter I say that the princes officers ought to determine with them selues to bee vpright in all their accions dooings aboue all true iust of their woords which dooing they shal bee sure to bee beloued of all not alone of them that passe vnder their lee but also of those whom they haue denyed fauor And also they neede not to bee afraid to speak boldly in all places where they come besides that they shal be reuerenced of all men Where to the contrary if hee bee a lyar a babler and dissembler there are few that wil fear them much lesse loue them least of all do them reuereÌ„ce or honor And although wee cannot deny but that these officers of the court other men of auctority bee wayted vpon visited accompanied reuerenced and honored of much sort of men yet it were a folly for vs to beleeue that their trayn attendants doo them all that honor reuerence for any desire they haue to doo them any seruice but only they vse all that curtesy capping to get them selues their sutes quickly dispatched And this to bee true wee see it dayly in experience For wheÌ„ these suters haue atchiued their suit desire they doo not only leaue to accompany him attend vppon him but more ouer they gett theÌ„ home wtout either thanking of them or once taking their leaue of him If all those that haue function or office of estate or dignity hauing charge of the dispatch of great weighty matters beeing also lyers dissemblers in their dooings knew that yll reports that goe of them how they condeÌ„pne their corrupt naughty coÌ„scieÌ„ces mee thinketh it impossible if they bee not altogether graceles but they must needs either change coÌ„dition estate or els quyte geeue vp their roomes offices For they are in euery mans mouth called bablers liers disseÌ„blers traitors periurers miserable auaricious vicious And yet a worser thing then all this that is whylest they lyue a thousand coÌ„playns of him and after they are dead buried they take vp their bones out of the graue to hang theÌ„ vp vpon a gybbet For thus saith the prouerb Such lyfe such end So that wee may say that to these
wherwith eche parte proued his purpose For the good emperour attributed the whole laude for a perpetual memory vnto the people because of the great obediēce diligent seruice and faithful loue which he had found in them And on the other part the fortunat people gaue the glory vnto the emperour for his clemency mercifulnes for his vprightuous gouerninge for his honestie of liuing for his stout courage in conquering It was a thing worthy of noting to se how the people gaue the honour to their emperour and howe the emperour attributed the prayse to his people These matters were deliuered in truste to the straunge Embassadours to th end that all people might learne to obey their princes and also princes learne to loue their people to th ende that by such examples as it was reason the good should be encouraged and the euil discomforted Thus the emperour prepared al thinges ready with his capitaines and captiues for his entring and the people of Rome made as great preparation for to receiue him It was a meruailous thing to see what people came forth of Rome to mete him what an infinite numbre were at Salon to behold him They that were at Salon had their eies there and their hartes at Rome and they that were at Rome had their hartes at Salon in suche sorte that their eies daseled with that they sawe and their hartes also reioyced for that they hoped to see For there is no greater tormente to the harte then when it is deferred from that which it greatly desireth ¶ How at the intercession of many whiche the Empresse had sent the Emperour graunted his doughter Lucilla licence to sporte her selfe at the feastes Cap. lxi YOu shal vnderstande that the Romaines vsed alwayes in the moneth of Ianuary to permit that their emperoures should triumphe And it chaunced that at that time when they prepared for the triumphe Faustine the empresse caused diuers noble barons to demaunde licence of the emperoure that her doughter might come from her mistres where she was taught to the feastes Her name was Lucilla who was elder then the prince Comodus her brother She had a goodly gesture she was well made in the body derely beloued of her mother whom she resembled not only in beauty but also in liuing Though the request semed to be reasonable and those that made it his counsellers great about him though him whom they asked was the father and she that demaunded it was the mother and she for whom this request was made was the doughter yet the emperour would not graunt it but halfe against his wil. Faustine when she had obteined licence was exceading glad and so sone as she might possible she brought her doughter home vnto the pallace And when the daye of the great feast solempne triumphe came the young damoisel perceiuing her selfe at large without any gouernour trusting in the innocencie of her selfe estemed not the malice of any other man but reioyced with those that reioyced talked with them that talked behelde them that behelde her and she thought because she mente euyll to no man that no man wylled euyll to her In those dayes it was as great an offence for a mayde of Rome to laughe in the company of men as it was for a woman of Grecia to be taken in adultery with a priest So greatly was the honestie at that tyme of the Romaine Matrones regarded and the lyghtnes of the maydens was so detested that they gaue more sharper punishement for one offence done openly then for twoo other whiche were committed in secreat Amonge all other thinges from these seuen the Romaine Matrones did marueilously refrayne that is to wete from talkyng muche at feastes from gready eating amonge straungers From drynkyng wyne whyles they were whole From talkyng in secreate with any man From lyfting vp their eyes in the temples From gasyng muche out at the wyndowes And from wandryng abroade without their husbandes For the woman that was apprehended in any of these thynges was alwayes after counted as one defamed There are many thynges suffred in persones of meane estate whiche can not be endured in those of hygher degree For Ladies of highe renowme can not kepe the reputation of their estates vnlesse they are marueilous circumspecte in all their doynges All thynges that degenerate from their kynde deserue blame but the dishonest woman meriteth infamy If ladies wylbe counted ladies in dede let them knowe howe muche they excell others in ryches so muche lesse lycence haue they then other to goe gaddinge in the streates For of a suretie the aboundaunce of their ryches and the lybertie of their personnes should not be a spurre to prouoke them to gadde abroade but rather a brydle to keape them within All this is spoken for this cause that Lucilla as a mayde tender and younge and Faustine her mother as one not very olde sometymes on foote and sometymes ryding sometymes openly and nowe and then secreatly Sometymes with company and at other tymes alone Sometymes by day and ofttymes by night vsed to foote the streates of Rome to view the fieldes of Vulcane To sport them by the ryuer of Tiber to gather the fruites in the Ortechardes of Saturne to suppe at the conduites of Nero and suche other vagaries they vsed The whiche thinges though their age did desyre and their idlenes allure them vnto yet the grauitie of suche ladies ought to haue withdrawen them from it I wyll speake one thing to th ende that other ladies and gentlewomen may take warning thereby whiche is that I can not tell whiche was greater either the small discretion whiche moued Faustine and Lucilla to wander in suche sorte aboute the streates or the audacitie that euyll men tooke thereby to talke of their personnes and doubte of their honesties The keaping of women in their houses is lyke vnto a brydle to holde styll euyll mens tongues The woman that is a strayer abroade putteth her good name in muche daunger Of trouth it were better for a woman neuer to be borne then to lyue with an euyll name Amonge all the families of the auncient Romaines that of the Cornelians was counted moste fortunate for among the men there was neuer anye founde a cowarde nor among the women any that was defamed The historiographers saye that there was one woman of that lynage onely for beyng light in her behauiour was by the handes of her owne parentes executed and put to death Surely it was well done of the Romaines to thintent that the lightnes of one woman alone should not defame the whole family Where as is noblenes and honestie there the matters that touche the honor ought not to tary whyles they be remedied by iustice but from that man or woman which among al hath lost his good name from the nombre of the liuing he also ought to be taken It is not sufficient for one to him selfe to be good but it is requisite that he geue no
forsake vs oftentimes some holsome fleshe corrupteth in an euill vessel and good wine sometime fauoreth of the foist I say though that the workes of our life be vertuous yet shal we fele the stench of the weake flesh I spake this Faustine sith that age cannot resist these hot appitites howe can the tender members of youth resist them vnlesse you that are the mother go the right way how should the doughter that foloweth you find it the Romaine matrons if they wil bringe vp their doughters wel oughte to kepe these rules when they se that they would wander abrode that they breake their legges and if they should be gasing then put out their eyes and if they wil lysten stoppe their eares if they wil geue or take cut of their hands if they dare speake sow vp their mouthes if they wyl pretende any lightnes burye them quycke death ought to be geuen to an euyl doughter in stede of her dowry for gyftes geue her wormes and for her house a graue Take hede Faustine if you wil haue much ioy of your doughter take from her the occasions wherby she shal be euyl To vnderset a house behoueth diuers proppes and if the principalles be taken away it wil fal downe I saye you women are so fraile that with kepers with great paine they can keape them selfe and for a smal occasion they wil lose altogether O how many euyl hath there bene not because they would be so but because they folowed such occasions the which they ought to haue eschewed It is at my pleasure to enter into this battaile but yet it is not in my power to attaine the vyctorie it is for me to enter into the sea yet it lyeth not in my handes to escape the peril it is in the hands of a woman to enter into the occasion and after that she is therin it is not in her power to escape from euill to delyuer her from tongues Peraduenture Faustine thou wilt say to me none can speake to your doughter Lucil vnlesse thou hearest it nor se her but thou seest him nor conuey her but thou knowest where nor make any appointment withoute thy consent and yet thou knowest that those whych wil her euyl seke wyth their tongues to dyshonour her and those that with their hartes loue her speake only in their harts We loue in yong bloud in the springing tyme and floryshing youth is a poyson that forthwith spreadeth into euery vaine it is a herbe that entreth into the entrayles a swowning that incontinently mortyfieth al the members and a pestilence that sleeth the harts and finallye it maketh an end of al vertues I know not what I saye but I fele that which I would say for I would neuer blase loue with my tongue except I were sore wounded therwith in my hart Ouide saith in his boke of the art of loue loue is I wot not what it commeth I know not from whence who sent it I wot not it engendreth I know not how it is satisfied I wot not wherwith it is felt I wot not how oft it sleeth I wot not wherfore and finally without breakyng the flesh outwardly loue taketh roote and molesteth the hart inwardly I know not what Ouide meaneth hereby but I trowe when he said these words he was as farre banyshed from him selfe as I am at this tyme from my selfe O Faustine they that loue together vtter the secretes of theyr harts by dyuers wayes and in sleaping they reason speake by sygnes they vnderstand ech other The many words outwardly declare smal loue inwardly and the feruent inward loue kepeth silence outward The entrayles within imbraced with loue cause the tongue outward to be mute he that passeth his lyfe in loue ought to kepe his mouth close And to thintent that ye shal not thinke that I speake fables I wil proue this by auncient histories we find aunciently that in the yere .cclxx. after the foundacion of Rome Etrasco a yong Romaine that was dombe and Verona a fayre Lady of the Latines which was dombe also these two saw ech other on the mount Celâ—o at the feastes and ther fel in loue togethers and their hartes were as sore fixed in loue as their tongues were tyde from speach It was a maruailous thing to se then fearful to note now that this yonge lady came from Salon to Rome he went from Rome to Salon sundry times by the space of 30. yeres without the knowledge of any parson and neuer spake together It chaunced at the last that the husband of the lady Verona died the wife of Etrasco also and then they discouered their loue and treated a mariage betwene them And these two dombe parsons had issue a sonne of whom descended the noble linage of our Scipions which were more famous in the feates of armes then their father mother were troubled for want of words Then Faustine marke thys thing it had litle auailed to haue cut out the tongues of the two dombe persons to haue remedyed their loue and not to haue cut out their harts And I shal tel you of Masinissa a worthy knight of Numidie and Sophonissa a famous lady of Carthage al only by one sighte as they sawe eche other on a ladder he declareth his desyre vnto her and shee knowyng hys lust breakynge the oores of feare and lyftyng vp the ankers of shame incontinente raysed the sayles of their hartes and wythe the shippes of their persones they ioyned ech to other here may we see how the first sight of their eyes the knowledge of their parsons the consent of their harts the copulacion of their bodyes the decay of their estates and the losse of their names in one day in one houre in one moment and in one step of a ladder were lost what wil you that I say more to this purpose do you not knowe what Heleyne the Greke and Paris the Troyan of two straunge nacions and of farre countreis with one only sight in a temple their willes wer so knit together that he toke her as his captiue and she abode his prisoner In Paris appeared but smal force and in Heleyne but litle resistence so that in maner those two yong persons the one procuring to vanquyshe and the other suffring to be vanquished Paris was cause of his fathers death and they both of their owne deaths losse to their realmes scaunder to al the world Al this loue grew of one onely sight When great kinge Alexander woulde haue geuen battaile to the Amosones the quene captaine of theym no lesse faire then strong and vertuous came to a riuer side the space of an houre eche of theym behelde an other with their eyes withoute vtteringe of anye worde And when they retourned to their tentes their fiersnes was turned into swete wanton amorous wordes When Pirius the faithfull defender of the Tharrentines and renowmed king of Epirotes was in Italy he came into Naples and had not
of a scorpion the forhead of lead in which was writen in two lines these letters M. N. S. N. I S. V S. which in my opinyō signifieth this This picture hath not so many metalles as his life hath chaunges This done ye went to the riuer tyed it with the head douneward a hole day if it had not bene for the good Lady Messelyne I thinke it had bene tyed ther tyl now And now ye amorous Ladyes haue writen me a letter by Fuluius Fabricius whych greued me nothing but as an amorous man from the hands of ladyes I accept it as a mockery And to the intent I shold haue no laysure to thinke theron ye send to demaund a questiō of me that is if I haue found in my bookes of what for what from whence when for whom how women wer first made Because my condiciō is to take mockes for mockes sith you do desire it I wil shew it you Your frēds mine haue writen to me but especially your imbassadour Fuluius hath instantly requyred me so to do I am agreued with nothyng and wyl hold my peace saue to your letter onely I wyl make aunswere And syth there hath bene none to aske the question I protest to none but to you amorous ladyes of Rome I sende my aunswere And if any honest lady wil take the demaunde of you it is a token that she doth enuy the office that ye be of For of trouth that Lady which sheweth her selfe annoyed with your paine openly from henceforth I condemne her that she hath some fault in secret They that be on the stage feare not the roring of the bul they that be in the dongeon feare not the shot of the cannon I wil say the woman of good lyfe feareth no mans slaunderous tongue The good matrons may kepe me for their perpetual seruaunt and the euyl for their chiefe enemy I aunswere It is expedyent you know of what the first women were made I say that according to the aduersities of nacions that are in the world I find dyuers opinyons in this case The Egiptians say that when the riuer Nilus brake and ouer ranne the earth there abode certaine peces of earth whych cleued together and the sonne comyng to them created many wild beastes amongest whom was found the first woman Note ladyes it was necessarie that the floud Nilus should breake out so that the first woman myght be made of earthe Al creatures are nourished and bred in the intrayles of their mothers except the woman whych was bred without a mother And it semeth most true that without mothers ye were borne for without rule ye lyue and with order ye dye Truly he taketh vpon him a great thing and hath many cares in his mynde muche to muse vpon neadeth much councel neadeth long experience ought to chose amongest many women that thinketh to rule one only wife by reason Be the beastes neuer so wild at length the Lyon is ruled by his keaper the bul is enclosed in his parke the horse ruled by the brydel the lytle hoke catcheth the fysh the Oxe contented to yealde to the yoke only a woman is a beast whych wyll neuer be tamed she neuer loseth her boldnes of commaundyng nor by anye bridel wil be commaunded The gods haue made men as men and beastes as beasts mans vnderstanding very high and his strength of great force yet ther is nothing be it of neuer so great power that can escape a woman eyther with sleight or myght But I say to you amorous ladyes ther is neither spurre can make you go raine that can hold you backe bridel that can refraine you neither fishe hoke ne net that can take you to conclude there is no law can subdue you nor shame restraine you nor feare abashe you nor chastisement amend you O to what great peril putteth he himsselfe vnto the thinketh to rule and correct you For if you take an opinyon the whole world cannot remoue you who warneth you of any thing ye neuer beleue him Yf they geue you good councel you take it not if one threaten you straite you complaine If one pray you then are ye proude if they reioyce not in you then are you spiteful If one forbeare you thē are ye bold if one chastice you straite you become serpents Finally a woman wil neuer forget an iniurie nor be thankeful for a benefite receiued Now a days the most symplyst of al women wil swere that they know lesse then they do but I sweare whych of them that knoweth least knoweth more euil then al men and of trouth that wisest man shal faile in their wisedom Wil ye know my ladyes howe lytle you vnderstand how much you be ingnoraunt that is in matters of importaunce ye determine rashly as if ye had studyed on it a thousand yeres if any resiste your councel ye hold him for a mortal ennemy hardy is that woman that dare giue councel to a man and he more bolde that taketh it of a woman but I retourne and saye that he is a foole whych taketh it and he more foole that asketh it but he most foole that fulfilleth it My opinyon is that he which wil not stomble amongest so hard stones not pricke himselfe amongest such thornes nor styng him with so many nettels let him harke what I wil say and do as he shal se speake wel and worke euil In promysing avow much but in perfourmyng accomplishe litle Finally allow your words and condemne your counsels Yf we could demaund of famous mē which are dead how they liked in their life the councel of womē I am sure they would not now rise againe to beleue them nor be reuiued to here them How was king Philippe with Olimpia Paris with Hellen Alexander with Rofana Aneas with Dido Hercules with Deanyrya Anibal with Tamira Antony with Cleopatra Iulius with Domitian Nero with Agrippina and if you wil not beleue what they suffered with them aske of me vnhappye man what I suffer amongest you O ye women when I remember that I was borne of you I loth my lyfe and thinking how I liue with you I wishe desire my death For ther is no such death to tormente as to haue to do with you contrary no such lyfe as to fly from you It is a common saieng among women that men be very vnthankeful because we were bred in your entrailes We order you as seruauntes Ye say for that ye brought vs forth with peril and norished vs with trauaile it is reason that we shold alwayes employ vs to serue you I haue thought diuers tymes with my selfe from whence the desire that man hath to women cometh Ther are no eyes but ought to wepe nor hart but should breake nor spirite but ought to wayle to se a wyse man lost by a foolish woman The foolyshe louer passeth the day to content hys eyes and the darke night in tormenting himselfe wyth sond thoughtes one
is great perill to wise women to be neighbored with foles it is great peril to the shamefast to be with the shameles it is great peril to the chast to be with the adulterers great peril it is for the honorable to be with the defamed for ther is no slaundered woman but thinketh euery one defamed or at the least desireth to haue them so procureth to haue them slaundered or saith they be infamed And in the end to hide their infamy they slaunder al the good It is long sithe I knew you amorous ladies you me If ye speake I speake if you know I know If ye hold your peace I am stil if ye speake openly I wil not talke in secret Thou knowest well Auilma that diddest compasse that iest of me that Eumedes sold caulfes dearer in the butcherie then thou diddest innocent virgins in thy house And thou Toringa knowest wel that before me thou couldest not count all thy louers on thy fingers but didest desire to haue a bushel of peason Thou wottest wel Liuia Fuluia wheÌ„ thou were thou wottest with whom at Bretus we made agrement with thy husband thou tokest him aside and said vnles I may lie out of my house one night in a weke thou â—hal not lye quietly in thy house thou knowest wel Rotoria that in thy youth thou were two yeres on the sea didest coÌ„pound with the pirate that no woman shold serue the hundered souldiers but thou alone in a galy Thou knowest right wel Enna curtia that when the censor came to take the he found .v. mens apparel the which thou warest in the night season but one womaÌ„s attire wherwith thou was clothed in the day time Thou knowest wel Pesilana Fabricia that Alluines Metelles thou being maried demaunded openly what thou haddest gotten in his house with thy frends in secret thou knowest wel Camilla not being content wythe thy owne countre folkes thou haddest such resorte and haunte of straungers to the that thou canst speake al languages I wil marke them that haue marked me hurt them that haue hurted me persecute them that haue persecuted me defame them that haue slaundered me al other my penne pardoneth for that they pardoned me in their play Because my letter begon with that ye did to my parson therfore I wil end it with that it knoweth of your good names And thus I conclude that a man maye scape from al daungers in shonning them but from women ther is no way but to fly from them Thus I end and besech the gods that I may se of you that which you would se of me and sith ye be louers I counsaile you as ye haue sent me the play in a mockerie euen so to receiue my aunswere Marke nowe the Rhodian to the amorous Ladyes of Rome ¶ Of a letter sent by Marcus Aurelius to his loue Boemia for that she desired to go with him to the warres Cap. xi MArcus the Romaine pretor being in the warres of Dacia sendeth health to his louing Boemia remainyng in the pleasours of Rome Escapinge from a cruel battaile thy few lynes I red and vnderstode thy large informacion I let the know thou hast astonyed me more then mine enemyes haue feared me and taking thy letter in my hands the herbe of malyce entered into my hart When I temper my body with the delights I thinke my hart fre fro the venyme of thy amours sith I of my wil and thou for want of power haue geuen vs to be fre of our pleasures I thinke as wel to make a deuorce of our sorowes But ye be such ye such I say as are the banishmentes of loue the treasour of grefes The loue of you al ought to be digested with pilles but the passion of one of you wil not be oppressed with all the rubarbe in Alexandria Ye shew your selues cruel to pardon an enemy and euer lyghtly you chaunge your frends I haue curiously made serche whylest delight gouerned my youth yet could I neuer se in a woman stedfastnes nor reasoÌ„ in their loue nor end in their hate The present wantones quarelleth with my youth passed because thou seest not in me the auncient good wil toward the nor the present seruyce And certainly hearing thy accusacion not my iustificacion thou myghtest pay me as iustly with death as I pay the with forgetfulnes The whych forgetfulnes ought to be as straunge in him that serueth as vngratitude in the lady that is serued Thinkest thou that I haue forgotten the lawe of Venus when I commaunded that the curious louers should exercise their strength in chiualry and occupy their harts in loue more it willeth a man to weare his geare cleanly their feete right their bodies constant their voice soft humble demure modeste of there they ought to haue eyes open alwayes loking vp to the wyndowes their harts ready to fly into the ayer For a trouth my frend Boemia he is a grose louer that hath his wil in captiuity and his iudgment fre The iudgement is of no value where the wil is in thraldome This I say that thou maiest know though my age hath left the exercise yet my vnderstandyng hath not forget the art Thou complainest because I geue my selfe to much quiet and that I haue forgotten the I wil not deny the truth the day of my forgetting maketh the pryuy of my thoughtes And reason the ouerseer declareth that it is not requysite for my grauytie to permyt I should loue nor in thy age to suffer to be beloued The world doth dissemble many things in youth whych in age meriteth greuous corrections The wanton toyes of youth procede of ignoraunce but the vylanies done in age grow of malyce When I walked in nyghtes I ietted the streates I sange ballades I gased to the wyndowes I plaied on the gittornes I scaled the walles I wakened the youth Thinkest thou I wiste what I did in my youth but sith I se my selfe bereued of all my wonted wanton toyes and polished with so many whyte heares clad with so many sorowes either I thinke nowe I was not then or els I dreame nowe not knowing the way I straye in nor seing that stony way ready to stumble in Vnwittingly I haue fallen into the staires not foreseing the wherilpole guidles I entred in the rashenes of my youth I lost me for the which I aske pardon And now that I am out of the briers thou wouldest haue me further in then euer I was Now that I can not take the purgations thou offerest to me the siroppes I haue waked all night and now thou geuest me a fresh alarum By our auncient frendship I pray thee by the gods I coniure thee that sithens my harte is rebell to thy wyl that thy doubtfull wil doe suffer and let alone my wyll out of doubte And because thou shouldest not thinke any vngratitude in my white heere 's as I may in thy young wanton persone I will that we
the thou wilt not se me if I write to the thou wilt make no aunswere And the worst of al is if others do shew the of my grefes thou takest it as a mockerie O that I had so much knowledge wher to complaine to the as thou hast power to cease my plaint then my wisedom should be no lesse praised among the wise then thy beauty amongest the foles I besech the hartely not to haue respect to the rudenes of my reasons but regard the faith of my teares which I offer to that as a witnes of my wil. I know not what profite may come by my harme nor what gaine of my losse thou maist hope to haue nor what surety of my peril thou maist attaine nor what pleasure of my paine thou maiste haue I had aunswere by my messenger that without reading my letters with thy owne hands thou didst rent them in pieces it ought to suffice to thinke how many parsons is tormented If it had pleased you lady Macrine to haue red those few lines you should haue perceiued how I am inwardly tormented Ye women be very extreme for the misaduenture of one man a woman wil complaine of al mē in general So ye al shew cruelty for one particuler cause openly ye pardon all mens liues and secretly ye procure death to al. I accompt it nothinge lady Macrine that thou haste done but I lament that which thou causest thy neighbour Valerius to say to me One thing I would thou sholdest remember and not forget that is Sith my libertie is so small and thy power so great that being wholy mine am torned to be thine the more iniurie thou dost to me the more thou hurtest thy selfe since by the I die as thou by me doest liue In this peruers opinion abide not so mayest thou hasarde the life of vs both Thou hurtest thy good name and destroyest my health in the ende thou must come to the same phisicke Pardone me lady Macrine if I saye ought that may offende thee I know ye women desire one thing greatly that is to haue soueraintie of vs and yet not seame so much as by thought to wyshe the same Thou haddest the same of a gentle nature though in dede thou were not so yet thou haddest the same thereof and an auncient good name ought not to be loste with a newe vnkindenes Thou knowest howe cōtrary ingratitude is to vertue in a vertuous house Thou canst not be called vertuous but if thou be curteous There is no greater ingratitude then not to loue againe Though I visite the and thou not me it is nothing though I remember thee and thou forgettest me it is nothing though I wepe and thou laugh it is nothing though I craue of thee and thou denie me it is nothing though thou owest me and paye me not it is nothing But if I loue thee and thou not me this is a great thing which the eies can neither dissimule nor the hart suffre All the vices in mortall men are to be pardoned because they offende naturally saue onely this discourtesy in women and vngentlenes in mē which are counted of malice Diuerse seruices by me done to thee and all the good willes I haue heretofore borne to thee thou onely lady Macrine with one thing rewarde me I praye thee be not slacke to helpe me for I was not so to offer me into peril If thou sayest that Patroclus thy husbande hath the propertie in thee at the least yet receiue me vpon proufe and I will pretende a possession of thee and in this wyse the vayne glorie in being thyne shall hyde the hurt being myne thou makest me maruayle not a litle that for so small a rewarde thou wilt suffer so great an importunitie For certainly we graunte many thynges to an importunate man whiche we deny to a temperate man If thou lady Macrine hopest to ouercome me beholde I yelde me as vanquished If thou wilt lose me I holde me loste if thou wylt kyll me I holde me dead For by the gestures whiche I make before thy gate and the secreate sighes whiche I fetche in my house thou mayest knowe howe greatly I mynde to reste but thy braue assaultes are rather buyldinges to nouryshe death then to cōforte the lyfe If thou wylt I escape this daunger deny me not remedy For it shal be a greater dishonour for to slea me then shame to saue me It is no iust thing for so small againe to lose so faithfull a frende I wote not howe to make thee my detter nor howe to make thee paye me and the worste of all is I knowe not what to saye nor howe to determine For I was not borne to myne owne wealth but to be faithful in thy seruices And sythe thou knowest whom thou haste trusted with thy message the same I doe trust with this open letter and my aunswere in secrete I doe sende to thee a iewell of pearle and a piece of golde I pray the gods make thee receiue them as willingly as I doe frely sende them Marke Oratour to the inexorable Macrine ¶ Of a letter whiche the Emperour Marcus Aurelius sent to the beautiful lady Liuia wherein he proueth that loue is naturall and that the moste parte of the philosophers and wyse men haue bene by loue ouercome Cap. xv MArke full of sorowe to thee careles Lyuia If thy litle care did lodge in me and my sorowes were harboured in thee thou shouldest then see howe litle the quarell is that I make to thee in respect to the torment I suffer If the flambes issued out as the fire doth burne me within the heauens should perishe with smoke and the earth should make imbers If thou doest well remember the firste time I saw thee in the temple of the virgin Vestals thou being there diddest alwayes praye to the gods for thy selfe and I vpon my knees prayed to thee for me Thou knowest and so doe I that thou diddest offer oyle and hony to the goddes but I did offer to thee teares and sighes It is iust thou geue more to hym that offered his harte then to him whiche draweth money out of his purse I haue determined to wryte to thee this letter whereby thou maieste perceiue howe thou arte serued with the arrowes of my eyes whiche were shott at the white of thy seruice O vnhappy that I am I feare least this present calme doth threaten me with a tempest to come I wyl saye that discourtesy in thee causeth doubtfull hope in me Beholde my misaduenture I had lost a letter and tourning to the temple to seeke it I founde the letter whiche was of some importaunce and had almoste loste my selfe whiche is the greatest thyng Considering my small rewarde I see my eyes the ladders of my hope set on so high a wal that no lesse certaine is my fal then my climming was doubtfull Thou bending downe thy harnes of thy high desertes and putting me to the point of continuall seruice