according to his will that he may enioy prosperitie in this world and eternall felicitie in the blessed life to come Let him be taught to loue vertue as the only good and to hate vice as the onely euil let him know that the one is folowed no lesse with shame and dishonor than the other with glory and honor especially in a prince in whom if vertue take place as it were in a high watch-tower it shineth so cleerely that the brightnes thereof remaineth long after his death As for all worldly pompe antiquitie of petigree images and riches they are but meere vanitie and folly not woorthie to be cared for or to be admired by a vertuous prince Let him be perswaded that dignitie greatnes and maiestie are not to be sought after by the helpe of fortune or by humane means but by wisdome integritie of life maners and by vertuous and noble deeds Plato saith not without cause that a Common-wealth will neuer be happie vntill princes play the Philosophers or Philosophers take the rudder of the Empire in hand Now his meaning is not to cal him a Philosopher that is learned in Logike in naturall Philosophie and in the Mathematicks but him who with an vntamed hart despiseth the vaine shadowes of things and followeth after true goods A philosopher and a Christian differ but in name and a prince wel instructed in piety is truly both the one and the other Therefore he ought to learne nothing sooner next to the law of God than the morall philosophie of the auncients which teacheth all vertue Is there any thing more foolish than to esteeme highly of a prince if he vaute well if he play well at tennise if he be stoute and strong briefly if he be cunning in some things which peraduenture a peasant would doe better than he and in the meane while he is puffed vp with pride he polleth his people and sporteth himselfe in all kind of dissolutenesse and pleasure What honor is it for a prince to go farre beyond the common sort in precious stones gold purple traine of seruants and in other ornaments of the body and in euery thing that is falsly called good and in the meane while to be farre inferior in the true goods of the soule to many of his people and those of lowest calling These opinions as holy and inuiolable lawes must bee ingrauen in the hart of a young prince and must bee as it were the first lines that are to be drawen in the voide table of his soule namely that he must striue that none excell him in the goods of the soule in wisdome magnanimitie temperance and iustice Frugalitie modestie and sobrietie in other men may be attributed either to pouertie or to niggardlines but in a prince they cannot but be a note of tēperance I meane when he vseth goods modestly who hath as much as he will Ancient men called that prudence miserable which was gottē by the experience of things bicause it is bought with publike losse calamity But such kind of experience ought to be farthest off from a Prince bicause the longer it is a learning the greater cause is it of many euils vnto al his people If Scipio Africanus had reason to say that this speech I had not thought it did not beseem a wise man how much more vnseemely is it for a Prince who cannot vtter the same without his great harme and greater to the Common-wealth For as in a voiage the fault of a common Mariner saide Agapetus doth but little hurte whereas the slip of a Pilot bringeth shipwracke so in monarchies the offence of a priuate man is more hurtfull to himselfe than to the Common-wealth but if the prince begin to faile he hurteth euery one This is the cause why the mind of a prince must especially be instructed with good resolutions sentences to the end he may be skilfull by reason and not by vse For then the counsel of aged men will supply that experience of things which is wanting in him He must be giuen to vnderstand that his life is in the face of all the world that he can do nothing that will be hid and therfore if he be good it must needs turne to the great benefit of many if wicked to their hurt likewise bicause the prince is always the very portrature after which subiects conforme themselues He must know that the greater honour is giuen vnto him the more he is to striue that he may be woorthie of it looking more to his owne doyngs and actions than to the prayses that men giue him which he must beleeue and receiue according as he behaueth himselfe For if hee rule well they are due vnto him if ill he is honoured and praised either through constraint or of flatterie or els it is to shew him vnder hand what he ought to bee Let him know that as God hath placed the Sunne and the Moone in the heauens for a resemblaunce of his diuinitie so a prince is the like representation and light in a kingdome as long as he hath the feare of GOD and the obseruation of iustice imprinted in him For these two things make their life diuine and celestiall that are placed in high degree of power and authoritie as contrarywise the contempt of pietie and iustice maketh it beast-like and sauage As God the giuer of all things standeth not in neede of any mans seruice to receiue a good turne of him so it is the dutie of a worthie prince who representeth the figure of the eternall king to profite euery one with-out respect of his owne commoditie and glory As God is not touched with any affections or passions but ruleth and gouerneth all thinges perfectly by his prouidence so after his example a prince laying aside the perturbations of his soule must follow reason onely in all his dooings As there is nothing more common than the sunne which imparteth of hir light to all the celestiall bodies so a Prince must be alwaies readye to profite the Common-wealth and haue within him the light of wisedome to the end that if others loose their brightnes yet he may neuer be ouertaken with darknes As the Sunne when it is highest in the Zodiacke mooueth slowest so the higher that a Prince is lift vp in greatnes and authoritie the more gentle and gratious he ought to be keeping himselfe from dooing any thing that beseemeth not a Prince Therefore let him thinke that nothing is more vile and abiect than for him that is called a king and Prince of free men to become a slaue to riot choler couetousnes ambition other vices of like qualitie which are most vile and cruell maisters He must be so affected towards his subiects as a good father of a familie is towards those of his houshold bicause a kingdome is nothing els but a great familie and a king the father of a great many For although he passe them in greatnes and
be heard He that honoureth his father shall haue a long life and he that is obedient to the Lord shall comfort his mother He that feareth the Lord honoreth his parents and doth seruice vnto his parents as vnto Lordes Honor thy father and mother in deeds and in word and in all patience that thou mayest haue the blessing of God and that his blessing may abide with thee in the ende For the blessing of the father establisheth the houses of the children the mothers curse rooteth out the foundations Helpe thy father in his age and grieue him not as long as he liueth And if his vnderstanding faile haue patience with him and despise him not when thou art in thy full strength For the good intreatie of thy father shall not be forgotten but it shall be a fortresse for thee against sinnes In the day of trouble thou shalt he remembred thy sinnes also shall melt away as the ice in faire weather He that for saketh his father shall come to shame and he that angreth his mother is cursed of God By these holy speeches we see how we ought to loue honor reuerence and feare our parents This is comprehended vnder the first commandement of the second table and this only of all the ten articles of the Decalogue beareth his reward with him albeit no recompence is due to him that is bound to do any thing namely by so strȧight a bond as this wherof all lawes both diuine and humane are full and the law of nature also doth plentifully instruct vs therein as it hath been diligently obserued of very Infidels Ethnikes and Pagans Amongst the Lacedemonians this custome tooke place that the younger sort rose vp from their seates before the aged Whereof when one asked the cause of Teleucrus It is quoth hee to the ende that in dooing this honour to whom it belongeth not they should learne to yeeld greater honour to their parents The arrogancie of a childe was the cause that one of the Ephories published the law of Testaments whereby it was permitted to euery one from that time forward to appoint whom he would his heire This lawe serued well to make children obedient and seruiceable to their parents and to cause them to be afraid of displeasing them Among the Romanes the child was not admitted to plead his fathers will after his death by way of action but onely by way of request vsing very humble honourable and reuerent speech of his dead father and leauing the whole matter to the discretion and religion of the Iudges Contend not with thy father said Pittacus the wise although thou hast iust cause of complaint And therefore Teleucrus aunswered aptly to one who complained vnto him that his father alwayes spake ill of him If quoth he there were no cause to speake ill of thee he would not do it So that it belongeth to the duetie of a childe to beleeue that his father hath alwayes right and that age and experience hath indued him with greater knowledge of that which is good than they haue that are of yoonger yeeres Philelphus said that although we could not possibly render the like good turnes to our parents nor satisfie those obligations by which we stand bound vnto them yet we must doe the best we can vnto them we must intreate them curteously and louingly and not go farre from them we must harken vnto their instructions and be obedient to their commaundementes wee must not gaine-say their deliberations and wils no more than the will of God whether it be that we are to depart from them or to tary still or to enter into some calling agreeable to the will of God we must not stand in contention with them wheÌ„ they are angry but suffer and beare patiently if they threaten or correct vs. And if they be offended with vs when we thinke there is no cause why yet we must not lay vs down to rest before we haue by all kind of honest submissions appeased them Humilitie is always commendable but especially towards our parents The more we abase our selues before them the more we encrease in glory and honor before God and men This is very badly put in vre at this day when the sonne doth not onely not honor his father but euen dishonoreth him and is ashamed of him He is so farre from louing him that he rather hateth him so farre from fearing him that contrarywise he mocketh and contemneth him and in stead of seruing and obeying him he riseth vp and conspireth against him If he be angry he laboureth to anger him more brieflie scarce any dutie of a child towards his father is seene now a daies And if some point therof be found in any towards his father yet is it cleane put out in regard of the mother as if he that commanded vs to honour our father did not presently say and thy mother vnto whoÌ„ in truth we owe no lesse honor respect and obedience than to our father as well in regard of the commaundement of God as of the vnspeakable paines and trauell which she suffered in bearing and bringing vs into the world in giuing vs sucke in nourishing vs. But alas what shall we say of those that spoile their parents of their goods houses and commodities and desire nothing more than their death that they may freely enioy euen that which oftentimes their parents haue purchased for them O execrable impietie It is vnwoorthy to be once thought vpon amongst vs the iudgement of God doth of it selfe sufficiently appeere vpon such cursed children Whose behauiour that it may be more odious vnto vs let vs learn of Pittacus that our children will be such towards vs as we haue been towards our parents But let vs be more afraid to prouoke our fathers in such sort through our default vnto wrath that in stead of blessing vs they fall to curse vs. For as Plato saith there is no prayer which God heareth more willingly than that of the father for the children And therfore special regard is to be had vnto the cursings and blessings which fathers lay vpon their childreÌ„ Which was the cause as the scripture teacheth vs that children in old time were so iealous one of another who should â—ary away the fathers blessing and that they stoode in greater feare of their curse than of death it selfe Torquatus the yonger being banished from his fathers house slue himselfe for grief thereof And to alleage another example out of the writings of auncient men of the loue which they bare to their fathers that of Antigonus the second sonne of Demetrius is most woorthy to be noted For when his father beyng prisoner sent him worde by one of his acquaintaunce to giue no credite nor to make account of any letters from him if it so fell out that Seleucus whose prisoner he was should compell him thereunto and therefore that he should not deliuer vp any of those
countries as the histories of most nations in the world declare vnto vs and namely of the Germaines who in the time of Tacitus had neither law nor religion nor knowledge nor forme of commonwealth whereas now they giue place to no nation for good institution in all things Let vs not then be discouraged or faint by knowing our naturall imperfections seeing that through labor and diligence we may recouer that which is wanting but happie is that man and singularly beloued of God to whom both good birth and like bringing vp are granted together It followeth now to discourse particulerly of the maner of good education and instruction of youth but this will come in more fitely when we shall intreat of Oeconomy And yet seeing we are in the discourse of mans nature I thinke it wil not be from the purpose nor without profite if to make vs more seuere censurers of our owne faults we note that although our behauior be cheefely known by the effects as a tree by the fruit yet many times a mans naturall inclinatiō is better perceiued in a light matter as in a word in a pastime or in some other free and priuate busines wherein vertue or vice ingrauen in the soule may be sooner espied than in greater actions and works done publikely bicause in these matters shame or constraint commonly cause men to vse dissimulation Howbeit this also is true that the more power and authoritie a man hath when he may alleadge his owne will for all reason the inward affection of his hart is then best discouered For such an vnbrideled licence mooueth all euen to the verie depth and bottome of his passions and causeth all those secret vices that are hidden in his soule to be fullie and euidently seene Whereupon it followeth that great and noble men ought aboue all others to learne vertue and to studie to liue well especially seeing they haue all those requisite helps and commodities through want of which most men are hindred from attaining thereunto Let vs therefore learne by our present discourse to knowe that the nature of all men by reason of the corruption of sin is so depraued corrupted and vnperfect that euen the best men amongst many imperfections carry about them some enuie ielousy emulation and contention against some or other and rather against their verie friends This did Demas a noble man and greatly conuersant in matters of estate declare vnto the councel in the citie of Chio after a ciuill dissention wherin he had followed that part which ouercame For he perswaded those of his side not to banish all their aduersaries out of the city but to leaue some of them after they had taken from them all meanes of doing more harme least quoth he vnto them we begin to quarrel with our friends hauing no more enemies to contende withall For this cause we must fortifie our selues with vnderstanding and knowledge through labor and studie of good letters that we may restraine and represse so many pernitious motions mingled togither in our soules Let vs know moreouer that seeing our nature is assaulted and prouoked by a vehement inclination to do any thing whatsoeuer it is a very hard matter to withdrawe and keepe it backe by any force no not by the strength or feare of any lawes if in due conuenient time we frame not within it a habite of vertue hauing first wished to be well borne But howsoeuer it be let vs endeuor to be well borne through custome and exercise in vertue which will be vnto vs as it were another nature vsing the meanes of good education and instruction in wisedome whereby our soules shal be made conquerors ouer all hurtfull passions and our minds moderate and staied that in all our doings sayings and thoughts we passe not the bounds of the dutie of a vertuous man The ende of the fourth daies worke THE FIFT DAIES WORKE Of Temperance Chap. 17. ASER. THe diuine excellencie of the order of the equall wonderful constācie of the parts of the world aswell in the goodly and temperate moderation of the seasons of the yeere as in the mutuall coniunctiō of the elements obeying altogither with a perfect harmonie the gratious and soueraigne gouernment of their creator was the cause that Pythagoras first called all the compasse of this vniuersal frame by this name of World which without such an excellent disposition would be but disorder a world of confusion For this word world signifieth asmuch as Ornament or a well disposed order of things Nowe as a constant and temperate order is the foundation thereof so the ground-worke and preseruation of mans happie life for whom all things were made is the vertue of temperance which conteineth the desires and inclinations of the soule within the compasse of mediocritie and moderateth all actions whatsoeuer For this cause hauing hitherto according to our iudgment sufficiently discoursed of the first riuer of the fountaine of honestie I thinke we ought to set downe here in the second place although it be contrarie to the opinion of manie philosophers this vertue of Temperance saying with Socrates that she is the ground-worke and foundation of all vertues AMANA As a man cannot be temperate if first he be not prudent bicause euerie vertuous action proceedeth of knowledge so no man can be strong and valiant if he be not first temperate bicause he that hath a noble and great courage without moderation will attempt a thousand euils and mischeefes and will soone grow to be rash and headie Likewise iustice cannot be had without temperance seeing it is the cheefe point of a iust man to haue his soule free from perturbations Which cannot be done except he be temperate whose proper subiect the soule is ARAM. Heroicall vertue saith Plato is made perfect by the mixture and ioyning together of Temperance and fortitude which being separated will at length become vices For a temperate man that is not couragious easily waxeth to be a coward and faintharted and a noble hart not temperate becommeth rash and presumptuous Let vs then heare ACHITOB discourse of this Temperance so excellent and necessarie a vertue ACHITOB. Agapetus a man of great skill writing to the emperor Iustinian amongst other things had this saying We say that thou art truly and rightly both emperor and king so long as thou canst command and master thy desires and pleasures and art beset and decked with the crowne of Temperance and clothed with the purple robe of Iustice For other principalities end by death whereas this kingdome abideth for euer yea others are manie times the cause of perdition to the soule but this procureth a certaine and an assured safetie When we haue considered well of the woorthie effects and fruits of this vertue of temperance no doubt but we will subscribe to this wise mans opinion and to as many as haue written of the praises and roialties of that vertue Temperance saith thagoras is that light which
without a soule The memorie of such men of whome we see but too many examples among vs ought to be buried in obliuion and during their life time they should remaine vnknowne aswel for their owne honor as for the good of the common societie of men to which they could not but be offensiue and hurtfull For the most part they are not onely afraid of men of the hazards of warres of troubles seditions of the dangers of long voyages of the losse of their goods of diseases of dolors yea of the least discommodities and aduersities that can befall men the euent of all which causeth them vsually to forget all reason and dutie but they are also frighted with dreames they tremble at sights and visions they credite false abusing spirits and with a forlorne feare they stand in awe of the celestiall signes Briefly vpon the least occasions that may be and such as are vnwoorthie the care of a prudent and valiant mind they fall oftentimes into such vexation of spirite that they loose it altogither and become mad and inraged insomuch that many haue hastened forward with their owne hands the end of their so miserable daies As we read of Mydas king of Phrygia who being troubled and vexed with certaine dreames grew to be desperate and died voluntarily by drinking the bloud of a Bull. Aristodemus also king of the Messenians being in warre against his subiects it happened that the dogs howled like woolnes which came to passe by reason of a certain herbe called Dogsteeth growing about his altar at home Wherupon vnderstanding by the Southsayers that it was an euill signe he was stroken with such a feare and conceit thereof that he slue himselfe Cassius the captaine had a better hart when he answered a Chaldean Astrologian who counselled him not to fight with the Parthians vntill the Moone had passed Scorpio I feare not quoth he Scorpions but Archers This hee spake bicause the Romane armie had beene put to the worst before in the plaine of Chaldea by the Parthian archers Neuertheles that which we spake of Midas and Aristodemus is seldome followed yea is rarely found amongst cowards and base minded fellowes who commonly flie from temporall death as much as may be as also from griefe which they feare in such sort that contemning all vertue and iustice they labour for nothing more than to preserue their liues togither with their carnall commodities for the obtaining of which they seeme to liue cleane without all care of their soule as if hir portiō were in this world should end togither with the bodie The effects of this feare of death are sufficiently felt of euerie one in particular the number of them being verie small who would not willingly make as we say a sluce to their consciences that they might be deliuered thereof Let vs then confesse our selues to be fearefull and faint-harted and not boast of Fortitude and generositie of hart which will not suffer vs to stand in feare no not of certaine death in an holie and honest cause so farre is it from fearing and forsaking dutie through doubt of an vncertaine death That which Speron rehearseth in his dialogues of a gentleman of Padua sufficiently sheweth what maruellous force is in the apprehension and conceit of death which extendeth it selfe not onelie vpon the spirites of men but also changeth the nature of their bodies who want constancie to beare and sustaine a small and light griefe for the inioieng of eternall goods This yoong gentleman being put in prison vpon some accusation it was tolde him that of a certaintie his head should be cut off the daie following Which newes altered him in such sort that in one onelie night hee was all white greie-headed whereof before there was no shew or appearance and so he liued long time after Besides experience daily ministreth vnto vs sufficient proofe of the mischiefes which proceed of want of courage and faint-hartednes especially in matters of estate gouernment and publike offices wherein a fearefull and soft man for euerie reproch dislike or euill opinion of the world yea of such as are most ignorant and much more for the least dangers of his person and for feare and threatnings of the greater sort yeeldeth easilie against all dutie and suffereth himselfe to be drawne to the error of the wicked and common sort As for the middle and lesser sort wherefore serue they being void of reason and assurance Homer saith that king Agamemnon dispensed with a rich Coward for going to warre personally for a Mare which he gaue him Wherein truly he had great reason bicause a fearefull man hurteth much and profiteth little not onely in warre but euen in euery good and vertuous action This caused that great captaine Paulus Aemilius to say that magnanimitie and courage were for the most part reuerenced in euery enimie of theirs but that cowardlines although it had good successe yet was it alwayes and of all men despised I might here mention sundry vices which ordinarily growe and are nourished of cowardlines and pusillanimitie as namely crueltie treason breach of promise impatiencie idlenesse slouth couetousnes enuie backbiting and all iniustice were it not that I hope the sequele of our discourses will offer vs matter and occasion to handle these vices particularly our houre not affording vs time and leasure to enter vpon so many things togither There remaineth yet a word to be spoken of that feare which I said did accompany the froward and wicked many times being called by the Poet a seruile feare which through the onely horror of punishment holdeth them backe from practising their wicked purposes Of them spake Pythagoras when he sayd that he which careth not for doing of euill in any other respect but onely bicause he would not be punished is very wicked Now although such feare is accursed and to be condemned in all yet is it necessarie for the preseruation of humane societie For otherwise all things would run to confusion through the shameles malice of the wicked of whom the earth is full And it is a great deale better that through such feare they should be restrained from their wicked desires and wils than that they should without all feare abandon themselues to put them in execution albeit they are no way excusable before God who requireth to be serued with hart and spirit Neuerthelesse such feare doth not alwayes stay them from putting their malice in effect but the more they are retained so much the more are they inflamed and kindled with a desire to satisfie their corrupt will which in the end is constrained to burst foorth and euidently to shew that mischiefe which they kept secret a long time But if the commō sort saith Seneca be staied by lawes from committing euil the Philosopher contrarywise hath reason for all lawes doing good not bicause the law commandeth it and abstaining frō euil not bicause it forbiddeth it but bicause
hart as that which vndoubtedly is comprehended vnder the first part of Fortitude which Cicero calleth Magnificence or a doing of great excellent things yet notwithstanding it seemeth that this word Magnanimitie carieth with it some greater and more particular Empasis that a man may say that the wonderful effects thereof appeare principally in three points whereof I purpose here to discourse The first concerning extreme and desperate matters as when a man is past all hope of sauing his life wherein perfect magnanimitie always knoweth how to find out a conuenient remedie and wise consolation not suffering himselfe to be vexed therewith The second respecteth dutie towards enimies against whom generositie will in no wise suffer a man to practise or to consent to any wickednesse vnder what pretence so euer it be nor for any aduantage which may be reaped thereby The third causeth a noble minded man to contemne and to account that thing vnworthy the care of his soule which others wonder at labor by all means to obtaine namelie strength health beauty which the Philosophers call the goods of the bodie and riches honor and glory which they say are the goods of fortune and likewise not to stand in feare of their contraries Amongst the woorthy and famous men of olde time whose names and glorious factes crowned with an immortall Lawrell are ingrauen in the temple of Memorie we find no praise woorthie of greater admiration or that ought to awaken and stirre vs vp better in Christian dutie than the effects of this vertue of Magnanimitie vpon these three occasions presently touched Whereof one effect is that we yeeld not against reason nor passe the limits of duty by fainting vnder that heauy burthen of extreme distresses which the horror of death bringeth with it but that euen in the midst of greatest agonie which seemeth intollerable in mans iudgement we shew such grauitie and woorthines that we depart not in any sort from the peace and quietnes of our soules but with constancie and cheerefulnes of spirit meditate vpon the ioy of that hauen of saluation which we behold with the eyes of our soule whereinto through a happy death at hand we shall shortly be receiued Another effect is that we accomplish so farre as our frailtie can approch to perfection the commandement of the diuine will by louing our neighbors as our selues and by abstaining euen in regard of our greatest enimies from doing procuring or consenting yea by hindring that no treacherie or treason should be wrought them nor any other thing vnbeseeming that naturall loue which ought to be in euery one towards his like and further by procuring them all the good and profit that may be The third effect of this great vertue no les wonderful thā the rest is in that a noble minded man solong as he liueth wholy withdraweth his affection from worldly and corruptible things through a stedfast constant reason and lifteth it vp to the meditation and holy desire of heauenly and eternal things The remedy which these great personages destitute of the right knowledge of the truth most commonly vsed when their affaires were past all hope of mans helpe was death which they chose rather to bring vpon themselues by their owne handes than to fall into the mercy of their enimies whereby they supposed that they committed a noble act woorthie the greatnes of their inuincible courage And if peraduenture they were surprised and forced in such sort by their enemies that they were compelled to become their prisoners they neuer desired them to saue their liues saying that it beseemed not a noble hart and that in so doing they should submit both hart and bodie to him who before had but the bodie in his power Cato the yoonger being brought to such extremity in the towne of Vtica that by the aduice of all those that were with him he was to send Embassadors to Caesar the Conqueror to practise an agreement after submission to his mercie yeelded therevnto in the behalfe of others but forbad that any mention should be made of himselfe It belongeth quoth he to those that are ouercome to make request and to such as haue done amisse to craue pardon As for me I will account my selfe inuincible so long as in right and iustice I shall be mightier than Caesar He it is that is now taken and ouercome bicause that which hitherto he denied to take in hand against the Common-wealth is at this present sufficiently testified against him and discouered Neither will I be beholding or bound to a Tyrant for an vniust matter For it is a point of iniustice in him to vsurpe the power of sauing their liues like a Lord ouer whome he hath no right to command After many other speeches of Philosophie vsed by him standing much vpon that Stoicall opinion that onely a wise and good man is free and that all wicked men are bond men and slaues he went alone into his chamber and slew himselfe with his sword Sylla the Dictator hauing condemned to death all the inhabitants of Perouza and pardoning none but his Host he also would needes die saying that he would not hold his life of the murtherer of his countrey Brutus after the battel lost against Augustus Caesar was counselled by certaine of his friends to flie I must flie in deed said he but with hands not with feete And taking them all by the hand he vttered these words with a very good and cheerfull countenance I feele my hart greatly contented bicause none of my friends haue for saken me in this busines neither complaine I of fortune at all but onely so farre foorth as toucheth my countrey For I esteeme my selfe happier than they that haue vanquished as long as I leaue behind me a glorie of vertue for hazarding all liberally to free from bondage my brethren and countreymen Which praise our conquering enemies neither by might nor money can obtaine and leaue to posteritie but men will alwaies say of them that being vniust and wicked they haue ouerthrowne good men to vsurpe a tyrannous rule and dominion that belongeth not vnto them After he had thus spokē he tooke his sword and falling vpon the point thereof gaue vp the ghost Cassius also his companion caused his owne head to be cut off by one of his slaues whom he had made free and kept with him long time before for such a necessitie The historie which we read of the Numantines commeth in fitly for this matter which we handle heere For after they had sustained the siege of the Romanes fourteene yeeres togither and were in the ende inclosed by Scipio with a very great ditch of two and fortie foote in depth and thirtie in breadth which compassed the citie round about the Consul summoned them to commit themselues to the clemencie of the Romanes and to trust to their promise seeing all meanes of sallying foorth to fight and of
recouering any victuals were taken from them To whome they made this onely answer that forasmuch as they had liued for the space of 338. yeeres in freedom they would not die slaues in any sort Whereupon such as were most valiant assembled togither and slew those that were most growne in yeeres with women and children Then they tooke all the riches of the citie and of the temples and brought it into the midst of a great hall and setting fire to all quarters of the citie each of them tooke the speediest poison they could find so that the temples houses riches and people of Numantia ended all in one day leauing to Scipio neither riches to spoile neither man or woman to triumph withal For during the whole time wherin their citie was besieged not one Numantine yeelded himselfe prisoner to any Romane but slew himselfe rather than he would yeeld Which Magnanimitie caused Scipio to bewaile the desolation of such a people in these words O happie Numantia which the Gods had decreed should once end but neuer be vanquished Now albeit these examples and infinite other like to these are set foorth vnto vs by Historiographers as testimonies of an excellent Magnanimitie whereby they would teach vs both to be neuer discouraged for the most tedious trauels and irkesome miseries of mans life and also to stand so little in awe of death that for feare thereof much lesse for any other torment or griefe we neuer commit any thing vnbeseeming a noble hart yet notwithstanding no man that feareth God and is willing to obey him ought to forget himselfe so much as to hasten forward the end of his daies for any occasion whatsoeuer This did Socrates knowe very well when he said that we must not suffer our soule to depart from the Sentinell wherein she is placed in this bodie without the leaue of hir Captaine and that so waightie a matter as death ought not as Plato saith to be in mans power But if it be offred vnto vs by the will of God then with a magnanimious hart void of al starting aside in any thing against dutie we must set free this passage being staied and assuredly grounded vpon that consolation which neuer forsaketh a good conscience not onely through the expectation of a naked and simple humane glorie which most of the Heathen propounded to themselues but of that life which abideth for euer following therein the constancie of Alcibiades a great Captaine of Grecia who hearing the sentence of his condemnation to death pronounced said It is I that leaue the Athenians condemned to die and not they me For I go to seeke the Gods where I shall be immortall but they shall remaine still amongst men who are all subiect to death Socrates also hauing a capitall accusation laid against him wrongfully directed his speech to the Iudges and said vnto them that his accusers by their false depositions might wel cause him to die but hurt him they could not adding further that he woulde neuer leaue his profession of Philosophie for feare of death I â—m per swaded quoth he in Plato that this my opinion is very good namely that euery one ought to abide constantly in that place and trade of life which either he hath chosen himselfe or is appointed him by his superior that he must account that for the best and hazard himselfe therein to all dangers without feare either of death or of any other thing whatsoeuer And therfore I should erre greatly if obeying the Generall of warre which ye appointed vnto me in Potidaea Amphipolis and Delos and abiding in that place wherein he set me without feare of death I should now for feare of death or of any other thing forsake that rancke wherein God hath placed me and would haue me remaine in as I alwaies beleeued thought namely that I should liue a student in Philosophie correcting mine owne and other mens vices Now if I should do otherwise I might iustly be accused for calling my selfe a wise man not being so indeed seeing to feare death is to thinke that to be which is not But neither I nor any other man ought to do all that we may either in iudgement or in warre to the end to auoid death For it is very certaine that he who would in time of battell cast downe his armour and flie away might by that meane auoid death and the like is to be vnderstood in al dangers perils if he were not afraid of infamie But consider O countreymen that it is no very hard matter to auoid death but farre more difficult to eschew wickednes and the shame therof which are a great deale swifier of foote than that is O speech woorthie of eternal praise and such a one as instructeth a Christian notably in a great and noble resolution namely to run the race of his short daies in that vocation wherunto God hath called him and that in the midst of tortures torments all agonies of death From which whilest we expect a happie passage we ought to be no more destitute of an apt remedie in all those things which according to the world are most irkesome and desperate but sustaine them with like constancie and woorthines not departing from the tranquillitie and rest of our soules which is a more noble act than to hasten forward the end of our daies that we may be deliuered of them But howsoeuer it be let vs alwaies preferre a vertuous and honest death before any kind of life be it neuer so pleasant And seeing that one and the same passage is prepared aswell for the coward as the couragious it being decreed that all men must once die the louers of vertue shall do well to reape to themselues some honor of common necessity and to depart out of this life with such a comfort Now to come to the second commendable effect of this vertue of Magnanimity wherof Heroical men were so prodigall heeretofore for the benefit and safetie of their enemies we can bring no better testimonie than the courteous fact of Fabritius the Romane Consul towards Pyrrhus who warred against him and whose Physition wrote vnto him that he offered himselfe to murder his maister by poison and so to end their strife without danger But Fabritius sent the letter vnto him and signified withall that he had made a bad choice of friends aswell as of enemies bicause he made warre with vpright good men and trusted such as were disloiall and wicked whereof he thought good to let him vnderstand not so much to gratifie him as least the accident of his death should procure blame to the Romanes as if they had sought or consented to end the warre by meanes of treason not being able to obtaine their purpose by their vertue Camillus a Romane Dictator is no lesse to be commended for that which he did during the siege of the citie of the Fallerians For he that was Schoolemaister to
families poore widowes only and orphanes quite vndone do remaine crying for vengeance and expecting it from aboue for the wrong that is offered to their innocencie How many such are set before our eies by histories which are the light of truth But alas the vnhappines of our age is growne to greater measure How many of the greater sort I meane of the Gouernors Magistrats of this desolate kingdome may iustly challenge that praise whereby Pericles Captaine and Gouernor of the Athenians thought himselfe more honored than by all his braue exploits done in his life time either in warre or in politike gouernment wherein he was the chiefest of his time and which his friends laid before his eies being readie to die thereby to assure him and to cause him to reioice in a true immortalitie of glorie O my friends said he vnto them Fortune hath had hir part in those exploits but I make greater account of this that I neuer caused any of my Countreymen to lament or to weare a mourning gowne which onely thing ought to be attributed to my vertue O excellent and honorable praise which euery good man ought to seeke after and to desire namely to be no cause of bringing sorrow and griefe to the common-wealth through any acte of Iniustice Moreouer this vertuous Athenian died willingly and without repining taking delight in an acceptable remembrance of those good turnes which he had done to his countreymen But contrarywise it will be a very hard matter for others who haue been the cause of many euils to their countrey and for all those that delight in committing iniustice not to die in great feare horror and trembling tormented with remorse of conscience for their life past The whole course whereof cannot be much more happy seeing euery wicked act ingendring it owne torment from the very instant wherein it is committed through the continuall remembrance thereof filleth the soule of the malefactor with shame and confusion with freights and perturbations with repinings and terrible disquietnes of spirit This is that which Plutarke saith That euery wicked man committing a trespasse is the prisoner of Iustice as soone as he hath done it This life is his prison out of which he hath no meane to depart or to flie but is to receiue the execution of that sentence which is giuen against him by the soueraigne Iudge And if in the meane time he feast it out send presents and gifts yea if he solace himselfe with sundry sports delights and pleasures it is all one as if condemned men that were prisoners should play at dice and cardes and vse other pastime with the halter ouer their heads wherwith they must be strangled But there are many men that cannot be better compared than to litle children who seeing men worth nothing to dance and play vpon a Theater apparelled with cloth of gold and siluer or with other rich garments and crowned with precious ornaments haue them in great estimation and admiration and thinking them happy vntill in the end they see them pearced through with great thrusts of a speare or hewen in pieces with swords or behold fire comming out of those goodly precious robes of gold which consumeth them The selfe same thing is done by them who when they see many wicked men either placed in great authoritie and dignitie or descending of good famous houses they honor admire and esteem them the happiest men most at ease in the world neuer considering that they are chasticed punished for their offēces before they see thē either put to death or else quite fallē from the height of their fortune Now seeing it is a thing flatly confessed of those that haue any knowledge of our Philosophie and prooued sufficiently by our former discourse that nothing can be called honorable or profitable which proceedeth of iniustice or of malice that excuse which men giuen ouer to vice do commonly alledge to cloke their impietie withall namely that Iniustice bringeth with it very ripe and readie fruit and that the punishment if there be any commeth very late and long time after the delight taken by the offence hath no more any shew of reason in it For as we haue alreadie learned the punishment of any sin is equall with it both for age and time Furthermore God permitteth oftentimes his diuine iudgement to be publikely knowen and shewed vpon the vniust yea he declareth himselfe so much the more openly by how much the lesse men exercise Iustice and vpright dealind And yet in respect of his maiestie we must not look vnto time which is alwaies one and the same to him and not future or past yea the whole continuance of mans life is as nothing vnto him and lesse than the present instant But if according to our carnall sences we desire examples of the greatnes and swiftnes of his wrath iustly kindled ouer our heads for our execrable impieties contrary to the nature of his gentlenesse and benignitie which mooued him to waite for vs a long time who can be ignorant of them in the vnspeakable affliction of this poore France wherein it were very hard in mans iudgement to discerne whether is most lamentable either iniustice or the miserie and calamitie which by the vengeance of God followeth it the horrible punishment whereof the fautors of iniquitie both haue daily do feele vpon their heads Those common-wealths saith Cicero which are readie to be ouerthrowen haue all things forlorne and desperate in them fall into this miserable issue that they whom the lawes condemne are restored and iudgements giuen are reuoked and broken And when such things come to passe let none be ignorant of this that destruction is at hand neither can any man iustly conceiue hope of safety What other thing can I say of France I would to God I were deceiued seeing that all Iustice is turned topsie turuie therein the wicked are placed in authoritie good men driuen away suites in law are commenced against euery one more vpon knauerie than equitie corruption than integritie fauor than vprightnes But to the end that the greater sort and euery particular man may open his eies and behold this shipwracke that threatneth vs let vs consider in our Ancestors through the reading of histories the like causes of the ruine alteration and subuersion of many very flourishing Estates proceeding from the raigne of Iniustice which being the daughter of tyrannie as Dionysius the elder said must needes be of the same nature namely that by vsurping an vniust and intollerable dominion it must of necessitie fall speedily into a miserable and wretched end We haue in all our former discourses alleadged sundrie examples of vices which as we said euen now take their beginning or at least wise are inseparably ioined with Iniustice and heerafter we will make mention of others when we handle certaine points which properly depend of this selfe same originall In
sonnes head to be cut off bicause he fought agaynst his enimie bodie to bodie contrary to the Edicts and out of his ranke albeit he came away victor The act of Ausidius the Romane was more cruel barbarous than iust when he slew his sonne for withdrawing himselfe to take part with Catiline vttring this speech vnto him I did not wretch as thou art beget thee for Catiline but for thy countrey Such murders and cruelties deface all the commendation of Iustice whose waies ought to be ordinary and vsuall ruling rigor with gentlenes as the rigor of discipline ought to moderate gentlenes that the one may be commended by the other Seneca rehearseth a crueller fact than any of the former committed by Piso the Proconsul who seeyng a souldior returne alone to the campe condemned him to withstanding he affirmed that his fellow came after him At the very instant of the execution his companion came whereupon the captaine that had charge to see the condemned partie executed returned to the Proconsul with both the souldiors But Piso being offended therwith put them all three to death the first bicause he was condemned the second bicause he was the cause of the condemnation and the captaine bicause he obeied not so that he put three to death for the innocencie of one man abusing his authoritie and power in most cruell maner what soeuer rigor was vsed in those times in the ordinaunce of warlike discipline Now to take from vs all taste of such barbarousnesse let vs cal to mind an act of Augustus Caesar worthie of eternall praise who would not condemne one that was accused of seeking his death bicause the arguments and proofes were insufficient but left him to the iudgement of God Let vs learne therfore for the conclusion of our discourse to hate all kind of Iniustice in such sort that euery one of vs seeke to profit his neighbour rating at an high price as Euripi saith the violating of right which is holy and sacred And thus through the good order of magistrates and reformation of euery one by himselfe the wicked shall haue no means to rob to spoile by force to take bribes and to deceiue others when breakers of iust lawes shall be punished Then will the effect of those two sentences take place which are taken out of the holy scriptures and written in a table in the great chamber of the palace belonging to the head citie of this kingdome and which ought to be well engrauen in the harts of all Iudges the first sentence is conteined in these words Execute iudgement and righteousnesse or otherwise I haue sworne by my selfe saith the Lord that this house shall be waste The other sentence is this O ye Iudges take heed what ye do for ye execute not the iudgements of man but of the Lord and with what iudgement ye iudge ye shal be iudged For truely the crowne of praise and immortall glory is kept and prepared for them that walke in truth and righteousnes but shame and dishonor with eternall fire for those that perseuer in vnrighteousnes Of Fidelitie Forswearing and of Treason Chap. 39. ARAM. SVch is the corruption of our age wherin impietie and malice are come in place of ancient innocencie that vertue seemeth very vnfit to be receiued and imploied in affaires seeing the gate is quite shut vp against hit So that a man might aptly say that whosoeuer should thinke to bring backe agayne amidst the peruerse liues and corrupt maners of this present time the vprightnesse and integritie of ancient behauior he did as much as if he offered fruites out of season which being faire in sight were notwithstanding vnfit to be vsed Neuerthelesse we must not doubt to bring hir in sight and to maintaine hir with all our power who knoweth how to cause hir enimie Vice both to reuerence and feare hir and in the end also to triumph ouer him mauger all the power and vnder-propping which he receiueth from the wicked In the middest therfore of so many trecheries and treasons wherof men glory now adaies let vs not be afraid to paint them out in their colors therby giuing honor to Fidelitie which is a part of Iustice or rather Iustice it selfe which I leaue to you my companions to make plaine vnto vs. ACHITOB. It is impietie to violate faith For God who is truth detesteth all lying and is a terrible reuenger of the contempt of his name To loue or to hate openly saith Cicero doth better beseeme a noble hart than for a man to hide and to dissemble his will and affection ASER. Guile and fraud saith Seneca are meete weapons for a cowardly and base-minded man Therefore we must take good heed as Pittacus said That fame speake not euill of vs to them vnto whom we haue given our faith But it belongeth to thee AMANA to handle this matter AMANA Amongst the famous and great personages of olde time no vertue was more commended or straightlier kept and obserued than Faith and Fidelitie which they affirmed to be the foundation of Iustice the indissoluble bond of friendship and the sure supporter of humane societie Of this Faith we mind now to speake not touching at all that religious and sacred faith concerning the holy mysteries of true pietie which is a singular gift of God his spirit and peculiar to those that appertain to his eternall election This therfore which respecteth the mutuall conuersation and promises of men hath been always kept vnuiolable of honorable men ought to be so amongst vs bicause he that giueth his faith layeth to pawne whatsoeuer is most precious diuine in his soule So that if he forget himselfe somuch as to breake and violate the same he committeth manifest impietie shewing that he careth not to offend God by abusing his name to colour his lying It were a great deale better neuer to take God to witnes than to forsweare him in mockerie seeing the Scripture so often forbiddeth vs to take his name in vaine to sweare falsly by it or in any sort to defile the same It is true that this question hath alwaies beene and is at this daye more than euer in controuersie namely whether a man is bound to performe that which he hath promised and sworne to by compulsion or no And this sentence is receiued approoued of many that nothing but our Will bindeth vs to performe those things which necessitie forceth vs to promise But to speake according to truth and without any particular passion we say that true and perfect magnanimitie suffereth vs not to promise any thing and to pawne our faith thereunto except we were willing to performe it bicause no vertuous and wise man ought to forget himselfe so farre as to do or to promise any thing contrary to his dutie for any necessity no not for death it selfe Neither is there any thing wherby a foole is sooner discerned from
reuenged or called in question after that peace and agreement togither is made otherwise there would neuer be any assurance of peace or end of periurie From the selfe same fountaine of the profanation of faith and custome in lying it being the propertie of vice to ingender another vice for a punishment of it selfe proceedeth that pernitious plague of kingdomes and Common-wealths I meane Treason hated of God and men wherewith periured persons being bewitched feare not to betray themselues so they may betray others also and their countrey Whereupon they become odious to euery one euen to those who vsed them to serue their owne turnes in disloyall and wicked actions and in the end they receiue the reward due to their execrable impieties For this is the common affection that men beare towards such people so to seeke them out which notwithstanding is not the propertie of a noble hart when they stande in feare of them as they that want gall or the poison of some venemous beasts afterward to giue them ouer and to reiect bicause of their wickednes If a man be called slothfull he may become diligent if talkatiue hold his peace if a glutton temperate himselfe if an adulterer abstaine if furious dissemble if ambitious stay himselfe if a sinner amend but he that is once called a traitor there is no water to washe him cleane nor meane to excuse himselfe Nowe let vs come to the examples of the Ancients and know what zeale they bare to fidelitie and hatred to periurie and treason as also what recompence commonly followed and accompanied such things and with what reward noble-minded men did requite those that were disloiall and traiterous Attilius Regulus a Romane of great credite being taken prisoner in the Carthaginian warre and sent to Rome vpon his faith to intreat about a peace and the exchange of captiues so soone as he arriued gaue cleane contrarie aduice in the Senate shewing that it was not for the profit of the Common-wealth to make such an agreement Afterward hauing resolued with himselfe to keepe faith with the enimie he returned to Carthage where he was put to death very cruelly For his eie-lids being cut off himselfe bound to an engine he died with the force of waking Demaratus king of Sparta being in Persia with the king against whome a great man of Persia had rebelled was the meanes of their reconciliation Afterward this barbarian king hauing his said Vassaile in his power would haue beene reuenged of him thinking to put him to death But the vertuous Lacedemonian turned him from it declaring vnto him that it would redound to his great shame not to know how to punish him for his rebellion when he was his enimie and now to put him to death being his seruant and friend A reason truly well woorthie to be marked but very slenderly put in vre at this day Augustus hauing made proclamation by sound of trumpet that he would giue 25000. Crownes to him that should take Crocotas ringleader of the theeues in Spaine he offered himselfe to the Emperor and required the summe promised by him which he caused to be paid him pardoned him withall to the end no man should thinke that he would take his life from him thereby to frustrate him of the promised recompence as also bicause he would haue publike faith and safetie kept to euery one that came according to order of Iustice although in truth he might haue proceeded and giuen out processe against him Cato the elder being in warre against the Spaniards was in great danger by reason of the multitude of enimies who sought to inclose him round about And not being then in possibilitie to be succored of any but of the Celtiberians who demanded of him 200. Talents which are 120000. Crownes in hand for their wages the Councell tolde him that it was not by anie meanes to be gotten presently but yet promised to furnish them with such a summe and that within any time which they would appoint otherwise that it was more expedient not to meddle with them But this wise and wel aduised captaine vsed this occasion to very good purpose by resoluing with himselfe and with his souldiers either to ouercome their enimies or else to die after they had agreed with the Celtiberians that the Romane glorie should not be stained by the falshood of their promises For quoth he to his souldiers if we get the battell we will pay them not of our owne but at the charges of our enimies but if we loose the victorie none will be left aliue either to pay or to demand any paiment There was no talke among the Councell of these noble Romanes how they might deceiue their enimies or those whose seruice they were vrged to vse but they determined rather to die than to be wanting in their promise Likewise we may note that as their enterprizes thus grounded had good successe so periurie and violating of right were through the vengeance of God pursued for the most part with vnhappie effects contrarie to the platformes and desires of periured and faithles men or at leastwife that themselues were speedily punished for their wickednes And therefore when Tissaphernes Lieutenāt to the king of Persia had broken a truce which he had made with the Grecians they gaue him thankes by his owne Herald bicause he had placed the Gods in whose name the truce was sworne on their side And in deede he smally prospered after that in his enterprizes Cleomenes king of Lacedemonia hauing taken a truce for seuen daies with the Argians assaulted them the third night after knowing that they were in a sound sleepe and discomfited them which he did vnder this craftie subtletie bicause forsooth in the foresaid truce mention was made of the day onely and not of the night Whereupon the Grecians noted this as a iust iudgement of his periurie and breach of faith in that he was miraculously frustrated of his principall intent which was by the meanes of that ouerthrow to haue suddenly taken the citie of Argos For the women being full of wrath and iust griefe for the losse of their husbands by the cowardly treacherie of this Lacedemonian tooke those weapons that were in the said towne and droue him from the wals not without great murder and losse of the greatest part of his armie Whereupon within a while after he became furious and taking a knife he ript his bodie in smiling manner and so died Caracalla the Emperor trauelling with his armie towardes the Parthians vnder pretence of marying the daughter of Artabanus their king who came for the same purpose to meete him he set vpon him contrary to his faith and put him to flight with an incredible murder of his men But within a little after being come downe from his horse to make water he was slaine of his owne men which was noted as a iust punishment sent from God for his vnfaithfulnes
consequently the bond and preseruatiue of humane societie But if we being well instructed by the spirite of wisedome feede the hungrie giue drinke to the thirsty lodge them that want harbour and clothe the naked sowing in this manner by the works of pietie that talent which is committed to our keeping we shall reape abundantly in heauen the permanent riches treasures of eternall life Of Couetousnes and of Prodigalitie Chap. 42. ACHITOB IF that diuiue rule of Cicero were aswell written in our hart as he desired to haue it setled in his sonne that onely that thing is to be iudged profitable which is not wicked and that nothing of that nature should seeme profitable we should not behold amongst vs so many cursed acts as are daily committed through the vnbrideled desire of the goods of this world For that which most of all troubleth men is when they thinke that the sin which they purpose to practise is but small in respect of the gaine thereby craftily separating profite from honestie and so suffering themselues to be ouercome of couetousnes which is the defect of liberalitie whereof we discoursed euen now whose excesse also is Prodigalitie of which two vices we are now to intreat ASER. Every one that coueteth treasures said Anacharsis one of the wise men of Graecia is hardly capable of good coūsell and instruction For the couetous man commonly murmureth at that which God permitteth and nature doth so that he will sooner take vpon him to correct God than to amend his life AMANA It is a hard matter said Socrates for a man to bridle his desire but he that addeth riches therunto is mad For couetousnes neither for shame of the world nor feare of death will not represse or moderate it self But it belongeth to thee ARAM to instruct vs in that which is here propounded ARAM. Since the greedie desire of heaping vp gold and siluer entred in amongst men with the possession of riches couetousnesse folowed and with the vse of them pleasures and delights whereupon they began to saile in a dangerous sea of all vices which hath so ouerflowen in this age of ours that there are very few towers how high so euer seated but it hath gone vp a great deale aboue them For this cause I see no reason why men should esteeme so much or iudge it such a happy thing to haue much goodly land many great houses and huge summes of readie money seeing all this doth not teach them not to be caried away with passions for riches and seeing the possession of them in that maner procureth not a contentation void of the desire of them but rather inflameth vs to desire them more through an insatiable couetousnes which is such a pouerty of the soul that no worldly goods can remedie the same For it is the nature of this vice to make a man poore all his life time that he may find him self rich only at his death Moreouer it is a desire that hath this thing proper and peculiar to it selfe to resist and to refuse to be satisfied whereas all other desires helpe forward the same and seeke to content those that serue thē Couetousnesse saith Aristotle is a vice of the soule whereby a man desireth to haue from all partes without reason and vniustly with-holdeth that which belongeth to another It is sparing and skantie in giuing but excessiue in receiuing The Poet Lucretius calleth it a blind desire of goods And it mightily hindereth the light of the soule causing the couetous man to be neuer contented but the more he hath the more to desire and wish for The medicine which he seeketh namely gold and siluer encreaseth his disease as water doth the dropsie and the obtaining thereof is alwaies vnto him the beginning of the desire of hauing He is a Tantalus in hell who between water and meat dieth of hunger Now it is very sure that to such as are wise and of sound iudgement nature hath limited certaine bounds of wealth which are traced out vpon a certaine Center and vpon the circumference of their necessitie But couetousnesse working cleane contrary effects in the spirit of fooles carieth away the naturall desire of necessarie things to a disordinate appetite of such things as are full of danger rare and hard to be gotten And which is worse compelling the auaritious to procure them with great payne and trauell it forbiddeth him to enioy them and stirring vp his desire depriueth him of the pleasure Stratonicus mocked in olde ryme the superfluitie of the Rhodians saying that they builded as if they were immortall and rushed into the kitchin as if they had but a little while to liue But couetous men scrape togither like great and mightie men and spend like mechanicall and handy-craftesmen They indure labour in procuryng but want the pleasure of enioying They are like Mules that carie great burthens of golde and siluer on their backes and yet eate but hay They enioy neyther rest nor libertie which are most precious and most desired of a wise man but liue alwayes in disquietnesse being seruauntes and slaues to their richesse Their greatest miserie is that to encrease and keepe their wealth they care neither for equitie or iustice they contemne all lawes both diuine and humane and all threatnings and punishmentes annexed vnto them they liue without friendship and charitie and lay holde of nothyng but gayne When they are placed in authoritie and power aboue others they condemne the innocent iustifie the guiltie and finde alwayes some cleanly cloke and colour of taking and of excusing as they thinke their corruption and briberie making no difference betweene duetie and profite Wherfore we may well say in a word That couetousnes is the roote of all euill For what mischiefs are not procured through this vice From whence proceed quarels strifes suites hatred and enuie theftes pollings sackings warres murders and poisonings but from hence God is forgotten our neighbour hated and many times the sonne forgiueth not his father neither the brother his brother nor the subiect his Lord for the desire of gaine In a worde there is no kind of crueltie that couetousnesse putteth not in practise It causeth hired and wilfull murders O execrable impietie to be well thought of amongst vs. It causeth men to breake their faith giuen to violate all friendship to betray their countrey It causeth subiectes to rebell against their princes gouernours and magistrates when not able to beare their insatiable desires nor their exactions and intollerable subsidies they breake foorth into publike and open sedition which troubleth common tranquillitie whereupon the bodie politike is changed or for the most part vtterly ouerthrowen Moreouer the excesse of the vertue of liberalitie which is prodigalitie may be ioyned to couetousnesse and than there is no kind of vice but raigneth with all licence in that soule that hath these two guestes lodged togither And bicause it is a thing that
seeing it lieth so heauy vpon them and the time seemeth vnto them ouer-long to stay for the naturall death of this poore old man whom they hate so extremely And yet Titus shall not obtaine a victory greatly honorable or woorthy the praise of the ancient Romanes who euen then when Pyrrhus their enimy warred against them and had wonne battels of them sent him word to beware of poison that was prepared for him Thus did this great vertuous captaine finish his daies being vtterly ouerthrowen and trode vnder foote by fortune which for a time had placed him in the highest degree of honor that could be Eumenes a Thracian one of Alexanders lieutenants and one that after Alexanders death had great wars and made his partie good against Antigonus king of Macedonia came to that greatnesse and authoritie from a poore Potters sonne afterwards being ouercome and taken prisoner he died of hunger But such preferments of fortune will not seeme very strange vnto vs if we consider how Pertinax came to the Empire ascending from a simple souldier to the degree of a captaine and afterward of Gouernour of Rome being borne of a poore countrywoman And hauing raigned only two moneths he was slaine by the souldiers of his gard Aurelianus from the same place obtained the selfe same dignitie Probus was the sonne of a gardiner and Maximianus of a black-smith Iustinus for his vertue surnamed the Great from a hogheard in Thracia attained to the empire Wil you haue a worthy exāple agreeable to that saying of Iuuenal which we alleaged euen now Gregory the 7. from a poore monke was lift vp to the dignitie of chief bishop of Rome Henry the 4. emperor was brought to that extreme miserie by wars that he asked the said Gregory forgiuenes cast him selfe down at his feete And yet before this miserable monarch could speake with him he stood 3. days fasting and barefoote at the popes palace gate as a poore suppliant waiting whē he might haue entrance accesse to his holynes Lewes the Meeke emperour king of France was constrained to giue ouer his estate to shut himself vp in a monasterie through the conspiracie of his own childrē Valerianus had a harder chaunge of his estate ending his days whilest he was prisoner in the hands of Sapor king of the Parthians who vsed the throte of this miserable emperor whensoeuer he mounted vpō his horse But was not that a wonderful effect of fortune which hapned not long since in Munster principal towne in the country of Westphalia wherin a sillie botcher of Holland being retired as a poore banished man from his country called Iohn of Leiden was proclaimed king was serued obeied of all the people a long time euen vntil the taking subuersion of the said town after he had born out the siege for the space of 3. yeeres Mahomet the first of that name of a very smal and abiect place being enriched by marying his mistres and seruing his own turne very fitly with a mutinie raised by the Sarrasins against Heracleus the emperor made himself their captain tooke Damascus spoiled Egypt finally subdued Arabia discomfited the Persians and became both a monarch a prophet Wil you see a most wōderful effect of fortune Look vpon the procedings of that great Tamburlane who being a pesants son keping cattel corrupted 500. sheepheards his companions These men selling their cattel betook them to armes robbed the merchants of that country watched the high ways Which when the king of Persia vnderstood of he sent a captaine with a 1000. horse to discomfit them But Tamburlane delt so with him that ioining both togither they wrought many incredible feates of armes And when ciuil warre grew betwixt the king and his brother Tamburlane entred into the brothers pay who obtained the victory by his means therupon made him his lieutenant general But he not long after spoiled the new king weakened subdued the whole kingdom of Persia And when he saw himselfe captain of an army of 400000. horsmen 600000. footmē he made warre with Baiazet emperor of the Turkes ouercame him in battel and tooke him prisoner He obtained also a great victorie against the Souldan of Egypt and the king of Arabia This good successe which is most to be maruelled at and very rare accompanied him always vntill his death in so much that he ended his days amongst his children as a peaceable gouernour of innumerable countries From him descended the great Sophy who raigneth at this day and is greatly feared and redoubted of the Turke But that miserable Baiazet who had conquered before so many peoples and subdued innumerable cities ended his dayes in an iron cage wherein being prisoner and ouercome with griefe to see his wife shamefully handled in waiting at Tamburlanes table with hir gowne cut downe to hir Nauell so that hir secrete partes were seene this vnfortunate Turke beate his head so often agaynst the Cage that he ended his lyfe But what neede we drawe out this discourse further to shewe the straunge dealinges and maruellous chaunges of fortune in the particular estates and conditions of men which are to be seene daily amongst vs seeing the soueraign Empires of Babylon of Persia of Graecia and of Rome which in mans iudgement seemed immutable and inexpugnable are fallen from all their glittering shew and greatnes into vtter ruine and subuersion so that of the last of them which surpassed the rest in power there remaineth onely a commandement limited and restrained within the confines of Almaigne which then was not the tenth part of the rich prouinces subiect to this Empire Is there any cause then why we should be astonished if litle kingdoms common-wealths and other ciuill gouernments end when they are come to the vtmost ful point of their greatnes And much lesse if it fal out so with mē who by nature are subiect to change and of themselues desire and seeke for nothing else but alteration Being assured therefore that there is such vncertaintie in all humane things let vs wisely prepare our selues and apply our will to all euents whose causes are altogither incomprehensible in respect of our vnderstandings and quite out of our power For he that is able to say I haue preuented thee O fortune I haue stopped all thy passages and closed vp all thy wayes of entrance that man putteth not all his assurance in barres or locked gates nor yet in high walles but staieth himselfe vpon Phylosophicall sentences and discourses of reason whereof all they are capable that imploy their wils trauell and studie thereupon Neither may we doubt of them or distrust our selues but rather admire and greatly esteeme of them beyng rauished with an affectionate spirite He that taketh least care for to morow saith Epicurus commeth thereunto with greatest ioy And as Plutarke saith riches glory
are to consider heereafter The originall and antiquitie of this societie called Mariage is especially woorthie of memorie bicause God himselfe was the author thereof For he had no sooner created the first man but he purposed to giue him a wife for a faithful companion a comfortresse of his life and a helpe like vnto himselfe Which he performed as soone as he thought vpon it forasmuch as with him to will is to be able and to do as likewise to be able and to do is to will Furthermore he instituted this diuine mysterie for the generall increase of mankind and lawfull propagation of nature euen in the time of innocencie before man had sinned sanctifieng it at the same time with his blessing Vnto which necessitie of mariage man had made himselfe a great deale more subiect through the curse of sinne which hath giuen place in his soule to the concupiscences of the flesh Whereby it appeereth that we haue need of this remedy in two respects namely in regard of the end and condition of our first nature as also by reason of sin which came in afterward except in those to whome God hath granted the speciall grace and gift of continencie which is as rare a thing as any other whatsoeuer Notwithstanding there hath alwais been a thousand contrary opinions as touching this matter namely whether mariage is to be desired sought after or rather to be hated and eschewed neither part wanting reasons oftentimes more glorious in shew than forceable to conclude for the defence of their saying Among the Philosophers Pythagoras the first of them was one of the greatest enimies of mariage as may be proued by that which is written of him For being requested to be at the mariage of a friend of his he excused himselfe saying that he was neuer desirous to go to such a feast or to be at such a funerall iudging that it was all one for a man to marrie a wife and to wed a coffin and to put himself into a tomb or to take a sheet for the beginning of his burial Many other Philosophers were of his opinion yea they said that nature appointing a contrary to euery liuing creature hath also giuen to man to whom all other things are subiect the woman for his contrary whose malice is a sworn enimie to the reason of man Secundus was of this sect who being demanded what a wife was the contrary quoth he of a husband Moreouer they said that a womans nature was such that although she had continued 30. yeeres with hir husband yet he should daily find in hir new fansies and sundry sorts of behauior so that nature seemed a stepmother to men rather than to beasts bicause these know and shun their contraries but man is naturally led to loue and to seek after his enimie His miserie therfore is very great in that so weake flesh is able to force a hart that is at libertie causing a man oftentimes to procure to himselfe that which doth him hurt and to make great account of that which he conteÌ„neth as experience sheweth the same in regard of womeÌ„ Thales one of the Sages of Graecia minding to shew that it was not good for a man to marry wheÌ„ one asked him why he maried not being in the flower of his age said that it was not yet time Afterward being growen to further age and demaunded the same question he answered that the time was past Marius the Roman asked Metellus being a maÌ„ also of great credit why he would not take his daughter to wife seeing she was beautifull in body staied in countenance eloquent in speech noble by race rich in dowrie happy in good name adorned with vertues To whom he replied That he knew all this to be true yet quoth he I had rather be mine own than hirs They that folow this opinion now touched abhorre mariage alleage coÌ„monly these or the like reasons that although the name of husband be sweet and honorable yet whosoeuer wil wel consider of it shal find it ful of great and intollerable burthens that the time is yet to come wherin many thorns are not found amidst the roses of mariage and wherein great store of haile falleth not togither with that sweet raine Who is able say they patiently to abide the charges of mariage the care of children the want which is sometimes in the house the imperfections of seruants but especially the insolencie and arrogancie of Wiues and the yoke of so vnperfect a sexe Who is able fully to satisfie either their fleshly lust or their insatiable pompe Doth not the olde prouerbe say that women and shippes are neuer so well rigged but that still there remaineth something to be amended Whereupon I would conclude willingly that if a maried man neuer loath his estate yet he tireth himselfe at the least Riches breede care pouertie griefe sayling terrifieth eating hindreth walking wearieth All these troubles are we see dispersed or diuided amongst many but maried men haue them altogither For if we marke a maried man we shall seldom see him but either pensiue or sadde or wearie or hindered and sometime amazed or afrayd of that which may befall him or may peraduenture be committed by his wife Concerning good aduise and choice for the obtaining of a good mariage If thou takest a poore wife she will be contemned and thy selfe lesse esteemed if thou takest hir rich she wil looke to commaund thee and of a free man to make thee a slaue So that wheÌ„ thou thinkest to take an equall companion to wife thou shalt wed an intollerable mistres I know not whether I should say a she deuil If thou mariest a faire woman thou puttest thy selfe in great danger lest thy round head become forked which would be a fearefull metamorphosis and alteration if it were visible and apparant Euery castle is hard to keep how wel soeuer it be watched when it is assaulted by many and his victory is in a desperate case who being alone is compelled to fight against many What shall I say more Wealth maketh a woman proud beautie suspected and hardnes of fauor lothsom Is there any thing as Plutarke saith more light than the toong of an vnbrideled woman more nipping than hir iniuries more rash than hir boldnes more execrable than hir naughtie disposition more dangerous than hir fury These euil speakers of women further inrich their sayings with a thousand histories examples as testimonies of the infinite miseries inconueniences which haue been procured by them First they alleage the deceiuing of the first man by his wife wherupon sin death and through them all miseries entred into the world Samson betraied by Daliâ—a Salomon became brutish through his concubines Achab rooted out through Iesabel Marcus Antonius slue himself for the loue of Cleopatra the destruction of Troy bicause of Helena the Pandora of Hesiodus the pitifull death
their strongest reasons that haue misliked a monarchy to the end that by contrary concluding arguments which maintaine defend it both they and we may be so much the more stirred vp to range our selues willingly vnder the happy lawful rule of our king considering the agreement participation which it hath with al the good policies that can be named as also the happines certain benefit that commeth to vs as well in respect of this our priuate life as of the cōmon prosperitie of the whole publike body vnto which we owe our selues First we wil note that a monarchie a kingdome or royall power signifie one and the same thing namely one kind of Common-wealth wherein the absolute soueraigntie consisteth in one onely Prince who may not be commanded by any but may command all If there be two Princes of equall power in one estate neither the one nor the other is soueraigne But a man may well say that both togither haue the soueraignty of the Estate which is comprehended vnder this word Oligarchye and is properly called a Duarchy which may continue so long as those two Princes agree otherwise it must needes be that the one will ouerthrow the other Therefore to auoid discord the Emperours diuided the Estate into two parts the one taking himselfe for Emperour of the East the other of the West and yet the edicts and ordinances were published by the common consent of both Princes to serue both their empires But as soone as they fell in debate both the Empires were in deede diuided both for power for lawes and for estate He therefore may be called a Monarch that of himselfe alone hath power to prescribe lawes to all in generall and to euery one in particular And vnder this power are comprehended all the other rights and marks of soueraigntie which the Lawyers call regall rights and handle them seuerally which neuertheles we may comprehend vnder eight soueraigne marks namely to make and to abrogate a lawe to proclaime warre or to make peace to take knowledge in the last appeale of the iudgments of all Magistrates to appoint or to disappoint the greatest officers to charge or to discharge the subiects of taxes and subsidies to grant tollerations and dispensations against the rigour of lawes to inhaunce or to pull downe the title value and constant rate of monie to cause subiects and liege people to sweare that they will be faithfull without exception to him vnto whome the oath is due Now to enter into that matter which we purposed especially to handle namely whether a Monarchie be more profitable than any other forme of estate many haue maintained that it is a dangerous thing to liue vnder the rule of one onely king or prince bicause it is a very hard matter to find one perfect in all points as euery King or Prince must of necessity be if he will deserue that name according to that which Cyrus Monarch of the Persians sayd That it belonged to none to command if he were not better than all those ouer whome he commanded Moreouer although it were possible to finde one of that perfection which is required yet were it a thing alwaies to be greatly feared that by reason of humane frailtie and of the great licence that kings haue to execute their wils he would change both condition and nature and of a King become a Tyrant of which there are infinite examples set downe in histories Yea it is certaine and granted by the greatest part of them that haue written of state matters that euery kind of Common-wealth that is established simply and alone by it selfe quickly degenerateth into the next vice if it be not moderated and held backe by the rest As a kingdome is soone changed into a tyrannie an Aristocraty into an Oligarchy and so of the other But this danger is greater in a Monarchy as they say that mislike it than vnder the rule of many bicause it is vnlikely that all of them should be wicked and if any one be so the good men may bridle him And so they conclude that it is not so dangerous a matter to liue vnder the gouernment of many as of one who may more easily corrupt his nature being a Monarch than many can doe that are elected in an Aristocraty as the Areopagiticall Lordes in Athens the Ephoryes in Lacedemonia and the Senate in Rome After the death of Cambyses Monarch of the Persians when the chiefe Lords of the kingdome had slaine that Magus who vnder the name of Smerdis had vsurped the rule of the Estate they deliberated of the affaires and helde a generall Councell wherein as Herodotus writeth many very woorthie and memorable speeches were vttered Otanes mooued this that the affaires might be gouerned in common by the Persians speaking vnto them in this manner I am not of opinion that one of vs from hence forward should be sole Monarch ouer all bicause it is neither pleasant nor good to haue it so For ye know to what insolencie Cambyses was growne ye haue also throughly seene the boldnes of the Magus and ye may thinke with your selues how perilous a thing it is to haue a Monarchy which may do what it list not being subiect to correction The best man in the world placed in this estate will soone be caried away with his woonted thoughts Insolencie possesseth him bicause of present prosperitie and hatred is soone bred in such a man Now hauing these two vices he aboundeth in all iniquitie and committeth great iniustice one while through insolency another while of hatred Although a Tyrant hauing abundance of all good things should be farre from enuy yet the contrary falleth out in him towards his subiects For he hateth good men that liue and prosper well he delighteth in the wicked and gladly heareth euill reports of other men And which becommeth him very il if you admire and praise him moderately he is angry that you do it not excessiuely yet if you doe so he will mislike it thinking that you flatter him Besides which is woorst of all he changeth the lawes and customs of the countrie forceth women killeth good men not taking knowledge of their cause Thus did this Persian Lord conclude that a Monarchy was to be left a Democraty to be chosen Megabyses one of his companions liked well the abolishing of a Monarchy but perswaded the Oligarchical gouernmēt saying that nothing was more ignorant or more insolent than an vnprofitable multitude Therefore it was in no wise tollerable that eschewing the insolencie of a Tyrant they should fall into the handes of an vnbrideled and disordered people Many others haue noted great dangers and discommodities in a Monarchy especially in the change of the Monarch whether it be from ill to good or from good to better For we commonly see at the changing of Princes new deuices newe lawes newe officers newe friends newe forme of
with him in the Capitoll neere the Temple Whereupon hatred and rancor increasing openly amongst them infinite murders followed and many of the chiefest euen the Consuls were slaine the contempt of lawes and iudgements ensued and in the end open war armies troupes one against another with incredible thefts and cruelties At last Cornelius Sylla one of the seditious persons seeking to redresse one euil with another after these dissentions had continued about 50. yeeres made himself prince ouer the rest in many things taking vpon him the office of a Dictator who was woont in former time to be created in the greatest dangers of the common-wealth only for six moneths But Sylla was chosen perpetuall Dictator bicause necessitie so required as he said himselfe After he had practised much violence he continued in quietnes like a conquerour and was thereupon surnamed the Happie After his death seditions began a fresh and reuenging of those cruelties which he had committed vntil Caius Caesar laid hold of the Seignorie and principaltie hauing discomfited ouercome Pompey to whome he was before allied For when they twaine sought by their plat-formes and deuises to commaund all they could not abide one another within a while after Pompey being vnwilling to haue an equall and Caesar a superiour Afterward Brutus and Cassius beyng mooued with desire either of rule or of publike libertie slew Caesar whereupou the seditions grew greater than they were before and the triumuirate warre was opened against them which preuailing for a time was it selfe dissolued and brought to nothing For Octanius only of the three remained a peaceable possessor of the Romane Empire beyng happy in all things and feared of all men leauing heyres of his race to rule the Monarchie after him Augustus beyng dead the estate began vnder Tyberius his successour a voluptuous prince to decline by little and little from the periode of hir greatnesse vntill in the ende there remayned no more than that which we see inclosed within the limites of Germanie Alexanders Empire beyng the greatest that euer was vanished away as a fire of Towe through the diuision and disorder that was amongst his successoures The Empire of Constantinople through the part-takings of Princes is brought vnder the tyrannous and miserable power of an Ethnike and barbarous Turke We read in Iosephus that the kingdome of Iudaea became subiect and tributarie to the Romanes through the ciuill warres between Hircanus and Aristobulus who were brothers For Pompey being of Hircanus side tooke the citie of Hierusalem and led away Aristobulus and his children prisoners with him after the countrey had suffred infinite calamities by their domestical diuisions Which when Onias a holy man did wel foresee he with-drew himselfe into a secret place and would not take part either with the one or the other side And being taken by Hircanus his men they required him that as once he obtained raine by his prayers in the tyme of a drought so he would now curse Aristobulus and all those of his faction but he contrarywise lifting vp his hands to heauen vttred these wordes O God king of the whole world seeing these men among whom I stand are thy people and they that are assailed thy Priests I beseech thee humbly that thou wouldest harken neither to these men against the other nor to the other against these for which holy prayer he was stoned to death such was the poisoned rage of this people one against an other Was there euer any folly or rather fury like to that of the Guelphes and Gybellines in Italy of whome the one side held with the Pope and the other with the Emperour The Italians vpon no other occasion but only in fauour of these two names entred into so extreme a quarell throughout the whole countrey that greater crueltie could not be wrought between the Infidels and Christians than was committed amongst them This contention continueth yet insomuch that murders are euery where committed in the townes euen between naturall brethrē yea between the father and his sonnes without all regard either of bloud or parentage Their goods are spoyled their houses razed some banished others slain whilest euery one feareth least any reuenge should be layed vp in store for him or for some other of his side they kill many times litle infants whom the most barbarous men in the world would spare These two factions fought continually togither through mortall hatred so that they could not dwell togither in one citie but the stronger always draue out and expelled the other They knew one another by feathers by the fashion of their hose by cutting of bread slicing of orenges and by other markes which is a very pernicious thing and hath procured great destruction of people and ouerthrow of townes The Italians say that this fire was first kindled at Pistoya between two brethrē the one called Guelph and the other Gibellin who quarelling togither diuided the towne between them whereupon the Gibellins were driuen out This separation like to a contagious disease vpon no other occasion was spread ouer all Italy insomuch that afterward all that were at contention any where were diuided into Guelphs Gibellines The Germains thinke that these names came from thir countrey and language and that the emperor Frederike the second in whose time this diuision began called his friends Gibellines bicause he leaned vpon them as a house doth vpon two strong walles that keep it from falling and those that were against him of the faction of Pope Gregorie the ninth he called Guelphs that is to say Wolues What did England suffer by the deuision of the houses of Yorke and Lancaster that gaue the white and red Roses in their armes Which contention although it began when Henrie the 4. who was duke of Lancaster and earle of Darbie vsurped the kingdom vpon his cosin Richard the second whom he caused to be slaiue in prison after he had compelled him to resigne his kingly power and crowne of England yet it was hottest in the raigne of king Henry the 6. who succeeding his father and grandfather was at Paris crowned king of England and France Afterward fauouring the house of Lancaster against the house of Yorke they that held with the red Rose tooke armes against him so that in the end he was depriued of his estate and shut vp as prisoner in the Tower of Londō where he was after that put to death These factions and ciuill warres as Phillip Cominaeus writeth indured about 28. yeeres wherein there died at sundry battels and skirmishes aboue 80. persons of the bloud royall with the flower of the nobilitie of England besides an infinite nūber of the valiauntest men and best warriours among the people Many lordes were put in prison or banished leading the rest of their liues miserably in strange countreys the ancient pollicie of the kingdom corrupted iustice cōtemned and the Iland impouerished vntill
And who is not content to depart out of an olde ruinous house What pleasure haue wee in this world which draweth neere to an end euery day which selleth vnto vs so deere those pleasures that wee receiue therein What other thing is this life but a perpetual battell and a sharpe skirmish wherein we are one while hurt with enuie another while with ambition and by and by with some other vice besides the suddaine onsets giuen vpon our bodies by a thousand sorts of diseases and fluds of aduersities vpō our spirits Who than will not say with S. Paul I desire to be dissolued and to be with Christ Why do we daily pray that the kingdom of God should come if it be not for the desire which we ought to haue to see the fulfilling therof in the other life We haue a thousand testimonies in the scripture that the death of the body is a certaine way by which we passe into that true and eternal life and into our owne countrey Flesh and bloud saith Saint Paul cannot inherite the kingdom of God neither doth corruption inherite incorruption For this corruptible must put on incorruptiō and this mortali must put on immortalitie then shall bee fulfilled that which is written Death is swallowed vp in victory They that beleeue in Iesus Christ haue already ouercome death sin and hell And therefore contemning death they may say O death where is thy sting O graue where is thy victory The sting of death is sinne and the strength of sinne is the law but thanks be vnto God which hath giuen vs victory through our Lord Iesus Christ. He which hath raised vp the Lord Iesus shall raise vs vp also Our conuersation is in heauen from whence also we looke for the sauiour euen the Lord Iesus Christ who shall change our vile body that it may be fashioned like vnto his glorious body according to the working whereby he is able euen to subdue all things-vnto himselfe Ye are dead saith he to the Colossians and your life is hid with Iesus Christ in God When Christ which is our life shall appeere then shall ye also appeere with him in glory My brethren saith he to the Thessalonians I would not haue you ignorant concerning them which are a sleepe that ye sorow not euen as other which haue no hope For if we beleeue that Iesus is dead and is risen euen so them which sleepe in Iesus will God bring with him Iesus Christ saith he to the Hebrewes was partaker of flesh and bloud that is to say was truly man that he might destroy through death him that had the power of death that is the deuill And that he might deliuer all them who for feare of death were all their life time subiect to bondage God hath saued vs and called vs with an holy calling as he saith to Timothie not according to our works but according to his owne purpose and grace which was giuen to vs through Christ Iesus before the world was but is now made manifest by the appeering of our Sauiour Iesus Christ who hath abolished death hath brought life immortalitie vnto light through the Gospel I am sure saith Iob that my redeemer liueth and he shall stand the last on the earth And though after my skin worms destroy this body yet shall I see God in my flesh Whom I my selfe shall see and mine eyes shall behold and none other for me Iesus Christ is our head and we are his members This head cannot be without his members neither can forsake them Where Christ is there shall we be also He that considereth diligently these places of Scripture and infinite others contained therein it cannot be but he should haue great ioy and comfort in his hart against all feare and horror of death And then comming to compare the miseries which neuer leaue this life with that vnspeakable happines and felicitie which eye hath not seene neyther eare hath heard neyther came into mans hart which God hath prepared in the second and eternall life for all faithfull beleeuers a christian will not onely passe ouer this mortall life with ease and without trouble but will euen contemne and make no account of it in respect of that which is immortall But to whome is death sweete if not to them that labour The poore hireling is well at ease when hee hath done his dayes woorke So death is alwayes sweete to the afflicted but to them that put their trust in wordly things the remembrance thereof is bitter Now then the children of God are not afrayd of death but as Cyprian writeth in an Epistle sent to the Martyrs of Christ hee that hath once ouercome death in his owne person doth daily ouercome him in his members so that we haue Iesus Christ not onely a beholder of our combates but also an assistant and fighter with vs. And by his grace abounding in the harts of the faithfull they are so much the more bent to meditate vpon the benefites of the future and eternall life as they see that they are inuironed with greater store of miseries in this fading and transitorie life Then comparing both togither they find nothing more easie than to finish sweetly their race and to value the one as litle as they account the other absolute in all felicitie Moreouer seeing heauen is our countrey what is the earth else but a passage in a strange land And bicause it is accursed vnto vs for sinne it is nothing else but the place of our banishment If our departure out of this world be an entrance to life what is this world but a sepulcher And to dwell heere what is it else but to be plunged in death If it be libertie to be deliuered out of this bodie what is this bodie but a prison And if it be our chiefe happines to enioie the presence of our God is it not a miserie not to enioie it Now vntill we go out of this world we shal be as it were separated from God Wherefore if this earthlie life be compared with the heauenlie no doubt but it may be contemned and accounted as it were doung True it is that we must not hate it but so far foorth as it keepeth vs in subiection to sinne And yet whilest we desire to see the ende of it we must not be carelesse to keepe our selues in it to the good pleasure of God that our longing may be far from all murmuring and impatiencie For our life is as a station wherein the Lord God hath placed vs that we should abide in it vntill he call vs backe againe Saint Paul indeed bewailed his estate bicause he was kept as it were bound in the prison of his body longer than he would groned with a burning desire vntill he was deliuered but withall to shew his obedience to the wil of God he protested that he was ready for both bicause he knew
man must vse his own subiectes in warre Three causes from whence proceeded the ruine of the Romane empire The diuision of the empire weakened the same Dangerous to an Estate to call in forraine succours As appeereth by the Sequani By the Frenchmen The end that forraine souldiours propound to themselues Reasons why forraine force is woorth nothing The cause of the last destruction of Italy The discommoditie of bringing in hired Captaines Dangerous for a Prince to call in a Potentate to succour him Examples of the change of Estats by meanes of forraine succour Charles the fift bound by oath not to bring any forraine souldiors into Germany Charles 7. made decrees for French souldiors What inconueniences France is fallen into by hiring Switzers Francis 1. established seuen legions of footmen How a Prince may vse the succours of his Allies How a Captain should exhort his souldiors How victory is to be vsed Examples of such as knew not how to vse victorie wisely and to take opportunitie offered The Tyrians besieged and subdued by Alexander It is not good to fight with desperate men Iohn king of France taken by the Englishment Gaston de Foix. Small armies that ouercame great Victorie commeth only from God Valiant men are full of compassion No true victorie without clemencie Ringleaders of euill are to be punished and the multitude to be pardoned Humane sciences are but darkenes in regard of the word of God Psal 84. 4. 5. 11. Iohn 17. 3. Of the loue of righteousnes Leuit. 19. 2. 1. Pet. 1. 15. 16. Holines is the end of our calling Christ is a paterne of righteousnes vnto vs. Malach. 1. 6. Eph. 5. 26. 30. Col. 3. 1. 2. 1. Cor. 6. 19. 1. Thes 5 9. We must alwaies striue to come to perfection What the dutie of euery faithful man is Rom. 12. 1. 2. What it is to consecrate our selues to God Gal. 2. 20. True loue of God breedeth in vs a dislike of ourselues Matth. 16. 24. Fruits of the deniall of our selues Selfe loue is the cause of the most of our imperfections The definition of charitie 1. Cor. 13. 4. The effect of true charitie towards our neighbour The naturall inclination of men Corruptible things are no sufficient recompence for vertuous men Rom. 8. 28. Matth. 16. 24. 25. Rom. 8. 17. How God teacheth vs to know the vanitie of this life We must not hate the blessings of this life Psal 44. 22. The comfort of the godly in the midst of troubles Math. 25. 34. Isai 25. 8. Apoc. 7. 17. The summe of our dutie towards God The true vse of temporal things Wherein a happy life consisteth Gen. 2. 17. Rom. 6. 23. Rom. 5. 21. Temporal death is the way that leadeth the godly from bondage to blessednesse Heb. 9. 27. Ecclus 7. 36. The comsort of euery true christian against death Rom. 8. 22. Against Atheists and Epicures that deny the immortalitie of the soule Plato prooueth that there is a iudgement to come and a second life How good men are discerned from the wicked The afflictions of the godly in this world prooue a second life Three kinds of death Apoc. 20. 6. Why the faithfull ought to desire death What the life of man is Phil. 1. 23. 1. Cor. 15. 50. 53. 54. 55. 56. 57. 2. Cor. 4. 14. Phil. 3. 20. 21. Col. 3. 3. 4. 1. Thes 4. 13. 14. Heb. 2 14. 15. 2. Tim. 1. 9. 10. Iob 19. 25. 26. 27. Iohn 12. 17. 1. Cor. 2. 9. Who they be that feare not death A comparison betweene this life and that which is eternall Phil. 1. 23. Titus 2. 13. Luke 21. 28. How death can not hurt Psal 116. 15. A TABLE OF THE PRINCIPALL MATTERS CONTAINED IN THIS ACADEMIE A ADmonition sundrie instructions how to admonish wisely Pag. 153 Aduersitie who are soonest thrown downe with aduersitie 301. the cōmon effects thereof 345. the Romanes were wisest and most constant in aduersitie 347. examples of constancie in aduersitie 348 Adulterie the miserable effects of adulterie 240. the punishment of adulterers among the Egyptians 241. Zaleucus law and the law of Iulia against it 240. testimonies of Gods wrath against it 241 Age hath no power ouer vertue 61. the diuision of the ages of man 563-564 Ambition two kindes of ambition 224. the cause of ambitious desires 225. the effects of ambition 224. 229. examples of mê void of ambition 186. ambition breedeth sedition 225. ambitious men full of selfe-prayse 226. examples of ambitious men 227. c. they cannot be good counsellours to Princes 231 Anger the crueltie of Theodosius committed in his anger 316. Valentinian brake a veine in his anger 317 Apparell against excesse in apparell 219. examples of sobrietie in apparel 219 Archbishop the free gird of a Pesant giuen to an Archbishop 158. the Archbishop of Magdeburg brake his neck in dancing 216 Armes Armie the exercise of armes must alwayes continue 762. the auncient order of the Romane armie 766 Arrogancie dwelleth in the ends with solitarines 157 Aristocratie the description of an Aristocratie 579. the estate of Lacedemonia was Aristocraticall 580 Artes and Artificers the necessitie of artes and artificers in a common-wealth 750. artificers of one science ought not to dwell all togither 751 Authors how much we owe to good authors 45 Authoritie what authoritie a prince hath ouer his subiects 670 B Backbiting the prudence of Dionysius in punishing two backbiters 388. when backbiting hurteth most 460 Bankets the custome of the Egyptians and Lacedemonians at bankets 203 Beard what vse is to bee made of a white beard 572 Belly the belly an vnthankefull and feeding beast 201. 202. it hath no eares 212 Birth the follie of birth-gazers 42 Biting what biting of beasts is most dangerous 460 Body the wonderfull coniunction of the body and soule of man 19. the conceptiō framing and excellencie of the body 21 Brother he that hateth his brother hateth his parents 542. the benefite that brethren receiue by hauing common friends 544. examples of brotherly loue 545 C Calling callings were distinct from the beginning 478. sixe sundry callings necessary in euery common-wealth 744. holinesse is the end of our calling 795 Captaine the losse of a captaine commonly causeth the ruine of an armie III. how captaines were punished if they offended 768. a captaine must not offend twise in warre 773. what captains are woorthiest of their charge 784. the captains of an armie must be very secret 781. two faults to be eschewed of euery captaine 778. how a captain should exhort his souldiors 790 Cheere good cheere keepeth base mindes in subiection 206 Children must loue feare reuerence their father 533. the dutie of children towardes their parents 541. examples of the loue of children towards their parents 541 Choler whereof choler is bred 314. how the Pythagorians resisted choler 315. magistrates ought to punish none in their choler 316 Citie what Citie seemed to Clcobulus best guided 264 Citizens who are truly citizens 606