also hope for thyne One of you must needes be deceyued How many olde men may there be found that looke for the death of young men And truely there is none so olde but he may lyue one yeere longer and none so young but he may dye to day Hope I hope for the inheritaunce of a chyldlesse olde man. Reason Thy sonne may better hope for it A more likely hope hath deceyued a younger Hope The inheritaunce of a childlesse olde man shal fal vnto me Reason How knowest thou whether thyne shall fall vnto hym Claudius succeeded Caius and Galba Nero and Nerua Domitian and Pertinax Commodus and the lyfe of a man is ful of suche successions Hope I tarie for the inheritaunce of a childlesse olde man. Reason Whom cannot he deceyue of them that are willing to be deceyned that hath deceiued him whom he woulde not willingly haue deceiued Whom may not he suruine that hath suruiued his owne sonne Hope A childlesse olde man hath alredy in writing appoynted me his heyre Reason Hath he engrauen it in tables of Diamond from whence thou canst not be blotted out Dooest thou not knowe vpon howe light occasions olde men do alter their wylles Many haue mislyked of that at the very ende of theyr lyues whiche before they lyked well of all theyr lyfe tyme. Hope A chyldlesse olde man wyll haue me be his heyre Reason But it may chaunce that hereafter he wyl not For there is nothyng that a riche chyldlesse olde man taketh in worse part then to see his goodes loued and him selfe not regarded for then al is marred Hope I am promised the inheritaunce of a chyldlesse olde man. Reason I could wyshe there were that vpryghtnesse and trust in men that they would neuer promise any thyng but that whiche is honest and would also perfourme that which they haue promised But now there is neither measure in promising nor regarde of breache of promise whiche men thynke they may most lawfully doo in inheritaunce and bestowyng possessions And for this cause the lawes call the willes of Testatours whyle they lyue walkyng Wylles I wyll not trouble thee with examples the thyng is well knowen Thou hast read I take it vnto whom in hath hapned that not only they were promised the inheritaunce of the lyuyng but also receyued kysses and ringes and the last embracinges of the partie whiche lay a dying whiche vnto them was an vndoubted token of succession when as in the meane whyle there were other heyres appoynted and no mention at all made of them in the Wyll thus bolde is vnfaythfulnesse euen in the middes of death Doest thou thynke then that thou art free from the deceites of them that are alyue when as thou readest in what sort great and noble personagies haue been deluoed by the craftes of them that haue lyen a dying And not to stay vpon many The most honourable Gentleman Lucius Lucullus suffered some tyme this kynde of mocke and reproche and also a greater state then he was Augustus the Emperour An horrible and most strange delyght in deceyuyng which wyll not forsake the miserable and wretched soules no not in the very poynt of death but this is your maner and thou reposest thy trust vpon a promised inheritaunce whereof thou mayest be disappoynted both by the longer lyfe and shorter fayth of the testatour although yf these doo thee no harme he may haue most iust cause to change his purpose to wit an heyre of his owne and young issue borne to an old man For Cato begate a chylde when he was aboue fourescore yeeres old and Masinissa when he was more neere to ninetie The lyke also happeneth now adayes vnto your olde men who I woulde they were as lyke vnto those anncient fathers in strength of mynde as they are to force of engendryng whiche beyng so truely the lawfull heyre hyndreth the intruder and cutteth of his foolyshe hope Hope I am named Heyre in an olde mans Testament Reason But perhappes he is yet lyuyng and lyke to lyue As for the Testamentes and Wylles they are made in the lyfe time and confirmed in the death thou thynkest vpon the Carcas and Buriall and Wolfe may be weeried with expectation and hunger Hope An Inheritaunce shall come directly vnto mee Reason As the Testatour so also is the inheritaunce subiect to casualties that a man can not alwayes haue that heyre whiche he woulde and an inheritaunce many tymes is nothyng but a vayne name yea sundrie tymes a small inheritaunce is very deerely bought when a man maketh hym selfe seruiceable and subiect to a tatter olde foole and vseth flattering wordes vnmeete for a man Surely there is no commoditie to be compared with the losse of honestie and that whiche is decent Hope The Inheritaunce shall fall vnto me without contradiction of Lawe or Fortune Reason Whereby knowest thou that seeyng that saying of the most auntient and wyse Father Marcus Cato is true I haue heard oftentymes sayth he that many thynges may happen betweene the mouth and the morsell But admitie nothyng happen betweene but that thyne expected inheritaunce fall vnto thee it wyll not tarrie with thee but departe from thee to others Worldly goodes are roullyng and money men say is of purpose made rounde that it may alwayes be runnyng Thou hast gotten an inheritaunce for thy successour thou beyng perhappes sadde for hym that wyll reioyce thou beyng carefull for hym that is negligent and looke howe thou hast hoped of another so wyll other hope of thee Of Alchimie The Cxi Dialogue HOPE I Hope for good successe in Alchimie Reason It is strange thou should est hope for that which neuer hapned effectually to thy selfe nor to any man els yf report go that it euer hapned to any man that report was made by suche as it was expedient to beleeue them Hope I hope for good successe in Alchimie Reason What successe meanest thou other then smoke ashes sweate sighes woordes deceit and shame These are the successes of Alchimie wherely we neuer sawe any poore man aduaunced to ritches but many ryche men fall into pouertie And yet ye haue no regarde hereof so sweete a thyng it is to hope and be deceyued wherevnto ye be pricked foorth by couetousnesse and dryuen headlong through madnesse that ye thinke that to be true whiche you hope for and false whiche you see Thou hast seene some that in other matters are wyse yet in this behalfe to be madde and some very ryche men vtterly consumed with this vanitie and whyle they couet to become rycher and gape after filthie lucre to consume theyr wel gotten goodes and hauyng spent all theyr reuenue in vnprofitable expences at length to haue wanted verie necessaries and other some forsakyng the Citie wherein they dwelt haue passed foorth the residue of theyr lyues in sorowe and heauinesse beyng able to thynke vpon nothyng els but Bellowes Tongues and Coales and beyng able to abyde to keepe companie with none but of theyr owne disposition
Alas I am now an agâ—d wyght Reason Lament not for it thou hast fulfilled an hard charge thou hast passed through a rough and ragged iourney and finished an vnpleasant Comedie And therefore now after the maner of such actions thou shouldest clap thy handes and crie plaudite Sorowe I am an olde man. Reason Hast thou forgotten how that of late dayes one that was very familiar with thee expressed the effect hereof ex tempore not as a new saying but as comparable vnto any in tymes past For when a certaine freende of his sayde vnto hym I am sory for thee for I perceiue thou waxest olde I woulde thou were in as good estate as when I knewe thee fyrst he answered suddenly Seeme I not vnto thee foolysh enough but that thou must wysh me more foole then I am Take no care for me I pray thee for that I am olde but rather be sorie for me that euer I was young O how much vnderstanding is there conteined in this short answere whiche none can conceiue but he that hath tasteth the commodities of this age and remembreth the miseries of the other Reioyce therefore in thine owne felicitie although it be also true that often tymes good hapneth vnto men against their wylles and euyll vnwished for Doubtlesse vnto a good man that loueth veriue hateth fond affections one whole day of this age which thou mislikest of is more acceptable then an whole yeere of retchlesse youth Sorow Alas I am aged Reason If thou continue in this mind it may be truly sayd of thee which is verified of the common people that thou art not so much wretched now thou art old as that thou liuedst miserable that so fondly thou complaynest thereof now at the very ende of thy life Leaue of your complaints now at length you whining generation and willingly yeelde to the necessitie of nature since there is nothing to be lamented that her immoueable lawe hath determined For what is more natural for a man that is borne then to lyue vntyl he be old and when he is olde to dye But you being forgetfull of your estate doo eschew them both and yet of necessitie you must taste of the one or of the both And yf ye woulde escape them both then must you haue abstained from the third and beleeue me not haue ben borne at all As soone as your bodyes are growen into yeeres let your mindes waxe olde also and let not the old Prouerbe be euermore verified in you to wit That one minde is able to consume many bodyes Suffer without grudging your body and your mind to continue together to the ende as they came in so let them depart out of the worlde together and when the one draweth forwarde let not the other drawe backwarde Your dallying is but in vayne you must needes depart and not tarrie heere and returne no more whiche may seeme vnto you but a small matter in consideration of the immortalitie of your soules and resurrection of your bodyes whiche you looke for aboue suche as eyther looke for but the one or for neyther In vayne I say ye stryue agaynst the streame and goe about to shake of the yoake of mans frayltie whiche ye vndertooke when ye were borne Sorowe I am olde and the strength of my body is decayed Reason If the force of thy minde be encreased it is well and thou hast made a good exchange For there is no man ignorant vnlesse he lacke a minde that greater better exploites may be atchieued by the strength of the minde then of the body But yf the strength of the minde as oftentymes it hapneth be deminished through slouthfulnesse then hast thou I confesse lyued vnprofitably whiche is thine owne fault and not thine ages Sorowe I am olde and I cannot follow my businesse Reason Yf there be any thing to be done by the minde by so muche the better an olde man may doo it by howe muche he hath the more experience and knowledge in thynges and is lesse subiect to passions and his minde more free from all mischiefes and imperfections as for other matters olde men can not deale in them neyther becommeth it them to busie them selues that way who haue alredie layd all bodyly labour asyde But yf they continue in it and wyl not be withdrawen then doo they renue the auncient rid culus example of a Romane olde man who beyng commaunded by the Prince to surceasse from labour for that his impotent olde age at the one syde and his great ryches on the other requyred the same he was as heauie and sorowfull as yf he had mourned for some freende that was dead and caused all his housholde semblably to mourne A strange old man that abhorred rest as a certaine resemblance of death when as in deede there is nothyng more conuenient for an olde man then rest and nothyng more vnseemely then a labouryng and carkyng olde man whose lyfe ought to be a patterne of all quietnesse and tranquilitie Thou mayest learne moreouer of the Philosophers what and howe pleasaunt a thyng it is for vertuous olde men to lyue as they tearme it in the course of theyr forepassed lyfe whiche notwithstandyng the greatest number neuer accomplisheâ—h but dyeth before Sorowe My yeeres are quickly gone and I am become old Reason Your beautie health swiftnesse strength yea all that euer ye haue passeth away but vertue remayneth neuer geuyng place to olde age nor death In this most assured good ye ought at the beginning to haue stayed your selues whiche at the ende to doo I confesse is more difficult but there is no age that refuseth the studie of vertue whiche the harder it is so muche the more it is glorious Many haue scarce learnâ—d of long tyme in their olde age to be wyse and knowe them selues and yet better late then neuer whiche although it be but smally profitable now at the last cast of the lyfe and at the very poynt of death yet doo I iudge it well bestowed vppon that one houre to be passed without horrour and fearefulnesse yf so be it were not exerc sed in all the whole lyfe tyme before For neyther was he borne in vayne that dyeth wel nor liued vnprofitably that ended his lyfe blessedly Sorowe I am olde and at deathes doore Reason Death is at hand alike vnto all men and manie tymes nearest there where he seemeth furthest of There is none so young but he may dye to day none so olde but he may lyue another yeere yf nothing els happen vnto him but old age Sorowe I am throughly olde Reason Thou art rather throughly rype If Apples coulde feele and speake woulde they complayne of theyr ripenesse or rather woulde they not reioyce that they are come to the perfection for whiche they were made As in al other thinges so likewise in age there is a certayne ripenesse whiche is tearmed olde age the same that thou mayest see truely to be so the age and death of
endeuour neuerthelesse with all diligence that thou encrease thy strength euery day somewhat and abate thy burden Of great dulnesse of witte The C. Dialogue SOROWE BVT I am heauie and dull witted Reason This griefe is something troublesome but it may be muche diminished yf thou applie thy selfe diligently therevnto Sorowe But I am of a slow and dul witte Reason What thynkest thou that thou art able to helpe this griefe with repynyng and mournyng this matter is to be remedied farre otherwyse Thou must abstayne from too muche sleepe from letcherie from meate from wine from vayne fables and tales from takyng occasion of excuses and yeeldyng too muche vnto sluggyshnesse which thorowe thy faulte is nowe growen into nature But thou oughtest rather to watche to muse to sigh to blowe to stryue to contend to ryse to styrre vp the strength of the mind to aduaunce thy courage to put away heauinesse to abandone stouth to abstayne from pleasures and earnestly to applye thy booke There is nothyng so heauie but that earnest applying wyll lyfte it vp nothyng so harde but it wyll make it softe nothyng so dull but it wyll make it sharpe nothyng so slowe but it wyll pricke it forwarde to be short there is nothyng so deepely hydden nor so secretely layde vp but it wyll fetche it foorth nor so deadlye a sleepe but that it wyll make it Sorowe I am slowe of witte Reason Suche as say that quicknesse of witte is a commendation I am sure wyll affirme that slowenesse of vnderstandyng is an infamie Yet had I rather haue a slowe witte and a modest then one that is hastie and furious for as in the one there is no hope of great glorie or of abundance of ryches so in the other there is daunger of greeuous errours and feare of shamefull reproche For it is a great deale more tollerable for a man to become inglorious then infamous Sorow I am slowe of witte Reason That whiche men wont to complaine of in rydyng of dull Horses prouide thou for thy selfe to witte spurres and reignes and herein thou shalt take no occasion of excuse but rather thou hast matter ministred vnto thee of labour There are some that thynke a thyng shoulde be left of yf it wyll not come to passe by and by but doo thou stay be earnest and doo thy endeuour Difficultie doth prouoke a couragious mind and labour nourisheth it therein doth it contende cheefely esteemeth of that thyng most wherein it findeth most resistance Thou readest how Socrates was made wyse by studie and Demosthenes eloquent by industrie the lyke hath chaunced vnto many there are not many that attaine to a notable name report of thinges done commonly is lesse then the desart Sorow I am dul of wit. Reason Therefore thou hast no hope left thee of profityng but hast founde the neede of diligence It is so muche the more glorious to be aduaunced by learnyng then by nature by howe muche it is better to doo good of sette purpose then by chaunce Sorowe I am altogether dull and weake witted Reason If thou canst not studie for learnyng yet applie vertue There is none but haue wytt enough to attayne vnto her wherein there is no sharpnesse of vnderstandyng required but onely a good wyll To the gaynyng whereof some haue supposed that learnyng profiteth nothyng yea some holde opinion that it hyndereth not a lytle And therfore certayne forsakyng theyr studies haue withdrawen them selues into Wyldernesses and their ignoraunce in learnyng hath stande them in the steede of excellent knowledge of whose sentence it is harde to geue iudgement But of this whereof we are assured accept this my last counsayle Let no man deceyue thee neyther the woonderyng of the common people nor the voyces of fooles mooue thee for it is a hygher matter and of more safetie to be ennobled by vertue then by learnyng And therefore experience teacheth that the one of these is alwayes to be wyshed and the other most tymes to be feared But when the lyght of learnyng is added vnto the vertue of the minde that truely is an absolute and perfect thyng yf there be any perfection at all to be accounted of in this worlde Of a slender and weake memorie The Cj. Dialogue SOROWE BVT I haue a slender and weake memorie Reason This is also an other infamie of olde age as false as the residue which thou mayest correct by the meanes of studie Sorow My memorie fayleth Reason Take heede lest it decay vtterly and helpe it whyle it is faylyng with continuall exercise Vse it as men doo Walles that are readie to fall downe make Buttresses in places where there is neede and defende the weake sides by adding plentie of strong shores Sorow My memorie is slippery Reason Binde it fast with diligence and cunning industrye helpeth al defaultes of wyt and memorie Diligence suffereth nothyng to peryshe nothyng to be diminished This is that whiche can preserue Philosophers and Poetes beyng very olde men in a freshe floryshyng wyt and stile this is it also which manteyneth in the auncient Orators a strong voyce and valiant sides and a firme memorte Whiche yf it were not so Solon had neuer waxen olde and yet learned somethyng daylye and beyng at the very poynt of death when as his freendes sate talkyng about hym seemed in a manner vnto them to be rysen from death to lyfe Neyther had Chrisippus finished in his extreame olde age that wyttie and profound volume whiche he began beyng but a very young man Neyther had Homer at those yeeres set foorth that same his diuine and heauenly woorke Neyther yet Simonides of the age of fourescore yeeres with suche youthiy feruencie of mynde but with aged rypenesse of discretion descended into that his Pyerial contention Nor Scocrates in the fourescore fourteenth yeere of his age accomplished that his feruent and wonderful woorke Nor Sophocles wel neare an hundred beyng the flower of all tragicall wryters had finished his tragidie called Oedipus Nor Cato that was aboue fourescore and tenne yeeres olde with no change of voyce or alteration of strength or default of memorie eyther would haue defended hym selfe in an haynous accusation or accused most famous Orators of his owne accorde in open iudgment Sorowe I haue an vntrustie memorie Reason Then trust it not call it often to an accompt whatsoeuer thou hast committed vnto it requyre it speedely and that which thou shouldest doo to morowe doo it to day it is not good to defer and thus yf thou canst wrest good out of euyl The fayth of a felowe brcedeth flouthfulnesse and falshood procureth diligence Sorow I haue almost no memorie at al. Reason Suche is the state of mans condition that he whiche remembreth fewest thinges hath the lesse cause of complayntes in whiche case there is no amendment nor place of profitable repentance what els remayneth then then the helpe of obliuion Of lacke of eloquence The .cii. Dialogue SOROW. I Lacke eloquence Reason Thou
yeeres and there you appoynt the ende vnto whiche who so doth attayne theyr lyfe is but payne and trauayle vnlesse he aduaunce your hope a litle further who sayth The dayes of a mans lyfe are many tymes an hundred yeeres vnto which age how few do attayne we see but admit that it happened vnto al which happeneth but to fewe notwithstandyng I pray you howe muche is it Ioy. Very much truely For the lyfe of young men is more assured and farther of from olde age and so from death Reason Thou art deceiued for although there be nothing safe to a man notwithstandyng that is the most daungerous part of his lyfe whiche to muche carelesnesse maketh vnaduised There is nothyng neerer to other then death is to lyfe when they seeme to be farthest a sunder then are they neerest togeather alwayes the one passeth away and the other draweth nygh whyther soeuer ye flee away death is at hande and hangeth ouer your heades Ioy and Hope Wel at the leastwyse youth is now present and olde age is absent Reason Nothyng is more flytting then youth nothyng more deceyuable then olde age Youth stayeth not but in delightyng she slyppeth away olde age immediatly folowyng after softly in darkenesse and silence striketh men at vnwares and when she is thought to be farre of then standeth she at the doore Ioy. My age is in rysing Reason Thou trustest to a most deceitfull thing This rysing is a goyng downe this short lyfe this vnstable tyme stealeth away yea without makyng any noyse with the feete euen whyle we sleepe and make merie And O that this swiftnesse of tyme and shortnesse of lyfe were as well knowen in the beginning as it is in the ende whiche to those that enter seemeth infinite and nothyng when they goe out and are scarce so many minutes as they appeared to be hundredes of yeeres So then at length deceypt is knowen when it can not be auoyded whereby it commeth that many tymes counsell is geuen in vayne vnto those yeeres they are both vnbeleeuyng and vnskylfull disdainefull of anothers counsell and wantyng of their owne And therefore there is nothyng that discouereth the errours of youth although they be innumerable and greeuous and yet notwithstandyng hyd and vnknowen to those that committed them better then olde age doth and layeth them foorth before their eyes who sometyme dissembled them and winked at them Neither doo ye sooner perceyue what ye ought to be then ye be made that whiche ye woulde be and then ye can possibly be none other then ye be But yf there were any that coulde vnderstande these thynges in tyme or by hym selfe or beleeue when he is taught surely hym woulde I accompt a woorthy and happie youth among many thousandes he shoulde not passe his lyfe through so many difficulties whose onely course lyeth safe and straight through vertue Ioy. Myne age is nothyng spent Reason Howe is that vnspent whiche since the tyme it first beganne is euery day wasted and whyle it is geuen is also taken away by very small portions For Heauen turneth about with perpetuall motion minutes consume houres and houres the day That day thrusteth foorth another and that the next day folowyng and there is neuer any ceassyng So doo monethes passe away so yeeres and so dooth an whole age make hast and runne and as Cicero sayeth fleeth away And as Virgil sayth It neuer waggeth the swifte winges So lykewyse they that fare by Sea they are caried away in the shyppe and feele not howe and many tymes are at their viage ende before they be ware Ioy and Hope An age that beginneth is far from the ende Reason Within the space of a short lyfe nothyng is farre of Ioy and Hope But there is no part farther from the ende then is the beginnyng Reason None in deede but this shoulde be truely sayde yf all men lyued lyke space of time Howbeit euen the very fyrst age falleth sundrie wayes into death whereby it chaunceth many tymes that he that seemed farthest of is nearest his ende Ioy and Hope Truely I am of a most floorishing age Reason Although fewe do marke it yet there is some change wrought since we beganne to speake and in the drawyng foorth of euery sillable there is some part of lyfe passed away and some peece of transitorie flowre of youth decayed And I pray you what hath this deyntie and gallaunt young man more then that rough and riueled olde man besides this short and transitorie flowre whiche fadeth euery day wherein what shoulde be so pleasaunt and delectable I doo not finde since he knoweth that almost sooner then a man can speake it he shall hym selfe be suche an one as this olde man nowe is or els is mad yf he knowe it not vnlesse of twayne whiche are led togeto be put to death he is to be accompted the happier whiche is commaunded last to lay downe his necke vppon the blocke to be cut of who truely seemeth vnto me in a maner in the more miserable state for the deferryng of the death Howbeit the condition of these men and of the other of whom I spake before is not all one insomuche as this man may haue some entreatie or meanes made for hym in the meane whyle to escape his fellowes execution and to lyue Onely death can preuent a young man that he shall not lyue vnto olde age To be short there consisteth no great felicitie in a small processe of tyme and vnto loftie mindes there is nothyng that is short accompted acceptable Awake ye that sleepe it is now tyme open your dimme and slumbring eyes Accustome your selues at length to thynke vpon eternal thinges to loue them and to desire them and therewithal also to contemne transitorie thinges Learne to depart from them willingly which can not continue with you long and to forsake them in hart before by them ye be forsaken Ioy and Hope My yeers are stable and greene Reason They lye whiche say that there is some age I knowe not which stable There is nothyng more swift then tyme and tyme is the charret of al ages to carrie them away in And doest thou then imagine that it is permanent O vanitie there is nothyng durable for euen at this present thou art violently drawen away c. Of the goodly beautie of the body The seconde Dialogue Ioy. THE beautie of my body is goodly Reason It is no more permanent then the tyme that commeth with it with whiche also it flitteth away Stay the tyme if thou canst and so perhaps thou mayest stay beautie Ioy. The beautie of my body is singuler Reason Thou restest vpon a brittle foundation The body it selfe passeth away like a shadow and doest thou thinke that a transitorie accident of the body wyll continue Accidentes may perishe the subiect remaynyng but when the body perisheth they must needes decay And among all the qualities whiche passe away with this mortall body there is none swyfter then beautie whiche
be fulfylled or wholy reiected and reputed among the most vylest thyngs Moreouer shame hath cured many which remedy happeneth to the most noble myndes whylest they seeke to auoyde infamie and irrision are loath to be poynted at as they goe in the streetes laying before theyr eyes the filthynesse of the thyng voyde of effect ful of shame ful of danger ful of iust causes of sorow and repentance last of al settyng false excuses and vayne perswasions aside to put on the true to wyt that neyther nature nor destiny nor starres beare any sway in this matter and finally nothyng but only a lightnesse and free iudgement of the mynde For it is in the choyce of hym that is sicke to be made whole so soone as he begynneth to haue a wyll to be whole and can finde in his harte to breake of the pleasant linkes of their sweete companie which is an hard matter to doo I confesse but possible to hym that is willing For as Cicero sayeth most grauely This is to be declared which is found to be in euery perturbation that it is nothing but in opinion in the iudgment and in the wyl For yf loue were naturall then all should loue should alwayes loue al loue one thyng and then shame should not deterre one and musing another and sasietie another For this last which is sacietie or fulnesse is by some numbred among the remedies and so is also a newe loue wherby the old is dryuen foorth as it were one nayle by another which although vnto Artaxerxes kyng of Persia whom the holy scripture calleth Assuerus it was put in mynd by friendes and found profitable by effect as Iosephus declareth the matter more at large I contend not of the euent but I speake of the choyce And therefore truely I haue ben of opinion that these two remedies haue sometyme been profitable but alwayes dangerous and yf with none of these nor with them al thou canst recouer then must thou in thy mynde run to the causes of the disease These as I suppose are the cheifest and greatest of al health beautie and good fauour ryches leasure youth And as contraryes doo best cure the diseases of the body so wyl they excellently remedy the minde also as sicknesse deformitie pouertie great businesse and olde age which is a worthy refourmer of the errours of youth These be my last remedies which are hard in deede but in respect of the greatnesse of the plague to be wyshed Of the byrth of chyldren The .lxx. Dialogue IOY I Haue chyldren borne vnto me Reason A double mischief and a domestical burden Ioy. There are chyldren borne vnto me Reason Thy wyfe is troublesome her Aunt more troublesome and her children most troublesome of al. Ioy. I haue chyldren borne Reason A most bytter sweetnesse gall annoynted with Hony. Ioy. I haue sweete issue borne vnto me Reason Thynke that there is sprong vnto thee at home a fountayne of grieuous cares thou shalt neuer lyue without feare and anguysh Ioy. I haue begotten children Reason Thou couldst before neither feare nor hope nor pray but now thou shalt learne to thy cost thou shalt learne also to take compassion vpon parentes bereaued of their chyldren and thou shalt learne to experiment long cares in thy short lyfe that now thou takest longer businesse in hande thou shalt learne to be greeued for the thynges that belong nothyng vnto thee and to dispose that which thou shalt neuer see To be short thou shalt learne to loue another more then thy selfe thou shalt learne to loue most ardently and to be loued most coldly whiche are hard matters Ioy. I haue chyldren Reason Now thou begynnest to vnderstande what duetie thou owest to thy parentes Ioy. I haue begotten chyldren Reason Thou hast planted a tree which must be husbanded with intollerable paynes whiche wyl keepe thee occupied as long as thou lyuest and whereof perhaps thou shalt reape either no fruite at al or late fruite and that peraduenture when thou art dead Ioy. I haue chyldren Reason If they be good a continual feare yf they be wycked a perpetual sorow in the meane whyle a doubtful comfort and an vndoubted care Ioy. I haue chyldren Reason Then hast thou whereof to be sory whyle thou art liuyng and to be knowne when thou art dead and wherefore thou mayest be willing to die often Ioy. I am the father of good chyldren Reason The better thy chyldren are the more daungerous is thine estate Thou knowest not what cause of sorowe thou hast purchased by begetting chyldren what entrance thou hast made into thy house for teares what power thou hast geuen vnto death and miserie ouer thy selfe O wretched mothers sayth Horace but O wretched fathers say I. Ioy. I am father of very good children Reason Thou shouldest wishe for death while thou art in this prosperitie lest that whilest thou lyuest thou surcease to be that whiche deliteth thee and at length with Nestor thou demaunde of thy felowes why thou hast lyued so long Ioy. I reioyce and am happie for that I haue wished issue Reason A troublesome felicitie a carefull ioy and many tymes sorowfull a miserable happinesse I coulde aleage many excellent men whose felicitie was by nothyng so much hyndred as for that they had chyldren Of a pleasant young childe The .lxxi. Dialogue IOY I Haue a pleasant young chylde Reason If so be that this myrth turn not to sorowe and the pleasanter thine infant is whyle he is present the more sorowful thou be when he is from thee Ioy. I haue a chyld of good towardnes Reason What if in nothing That age is of al other most frayle and is many tymes cut of in the middes of their flowre And as there is nothing more sweete so is there nothing almost more bitter Ioy. I haue a most flattering and pratling Infant Reason O take heede that these flatteries turne not into teares The sight and pratlyng of a young chylde is very pleasant I confesse and as it is written in Sta. Papinius â–ª their heauenly lookes and interrupted woordes after the maner of verses or mytre whiche whyle they are heard doo delight when they can be heard no more doo grieue and can not be remembred without sorowe Thus in all worldly thinges but in nothing more then in this bitternesse is euermore set against sweetenesse Ioy. I am delighted in my most pleasant Infant Reason I forbid thee not to be delighted that I may not withstand nature but I seeke for a meane in al thinges without which there is nothing wel doone I would haue thee to reioyce more sparingly that if thou haue occasion to be sorie thou mayst also more sparingly be sorie and I would wish thee to thinke that it may easily come to passe that thou mayest trust to a broken staffe or leane to a rotten wall which Adriane the Emperour is reported to haue sayde often when he had adopted Aelius who was a fayre chylde in deede and
but weake and thou mayest also sing to thy selfe this verse of Virgil The destinies shall onely shewe hym to the earth but not suffer hym to liue longer Ioy. I reioyce in my young Chyld Reason Reioyce so as yf thou shouldest be sory eyther for that as I haue said it may chaunce he may die or which is much more greeuous and hapneth very often of a most pleasant chylde become a most vnthankefull and disobedient young man. Ioy. I ioy much in my young chylde Reason There is no husband man so foolysh that wyl reioyce much in the flowre the fruite is to be looked for and then he ought to reioyce moderatly In the mean while tempestes hayle and blastinges are to be feared and the ioy must be moderated with dreade Of the excellent fauour of Chyldren The Lxxii Dialogue IOY MY Children fauour is excellent Reason If thou haue learned by mine instruction not to regarde thine owne fauour then thou knowest how much thou hast to esteeme of anothers Ioy. The fauour of my children is great Reason A thing verie dangerous for the male kinde but much more for the female For beautie and chastitie dwel seldome togeather they wyl not and againe if they would they can not seeing al humane thinges especially honestie can yf or kept in safetie now adayes chiefely if it be ioyned with an excellent beautie There be some whose beautie is enuied at but that enuie keepeth it selfe within it owne boundes some are sory some angry with their beautie as much as may be possible many haue waxed olde continuing vndefiled among the hatred of many some haue shewed perpetual and vnquenchable tyrannie How many saylers do passe euery day vpon the calme sea how many Merchantes do trauayle through the desartes with their wares safe neither Pyrate meeteth with the one nor the Theefe with the other But what beautiful woman canst thou name vnto me that hath not been assayed Although she be chast she shal be tempted and ouercome What womans minde is able to resist so many corrupters The scaling ladders of sugred woordes are set to the walles the engines of giftes are planted and the secret moynes of deceites are cast vp vnder the grounde If these meanes wyll not serue then force is violently offered If thou require proofe call to thy remembraunce the most famous rauishmentes Beautie hath tempted many and caused many to be tempted some it hath ouerthrowen and driuen them into wickednesse or to death Among the Hebrues Ioseph was an example of vehement temptation but the prouidence of God turned the danger into glory Among the Grecians Hippolytus and Bellerophon and among you Spurina to the ende she woulde not be tempted defaced her selfe with her owne hands Among the fyrst was no Thamar among the seconde was not the Greekish Penelope among the thyrde was not the Romane Lucretia safe Finally among all sortes the most part haue been commonly eyther tempted or ouerthrowen These be the fruites of this transitorie and brittle beautie whiche many tymes haue not onely ouerthrowen whole houses but great Cities and mightie Kyngdomes Thou knowest histories Truely yf Helen had not been so beautifull Troy had stoode safe yf Lucretia had not been so fayre the Romane kingdome had not ben so soone ouerthrowen yf Virginea had not ben so beautiful the auctoritie of the ten men had not so soone fayled neyther Appius Claudius beyng so great a law maker among the Romanes beyng vanquished with lust had lost his fame at the barre and his lyfe in prison Finally there haue been innumerable who if they had not been so fayre as they were there shoulde not haue been so many that beyng forced and deceyued haue fallen out of the castle of chastitie into so great reproches and ruine of their soules and therefore vtter what good effectes thou hast founde in beautie that they may be compared with their contraries Ioy. My Chylde is passing beautifull Reason This beautie hauing enflamed the lust of one called Messalina choose whiche thou haddest rather of these twayne eyther to deny and so to be slayne at the louers commaundement eyther to agree and to perysh by Claudius swoorde Thus at one side by chastitie death is purchased by adulterie there is nothing but only a litle deferring of death procured and this is the effect of this noble and excellent beautie In this therefore as in al other thinges the mediocritie is commendable and if any of the extremities were to be wished beautie is more delectable but deformitie is more safe Ioy. I haue a most beautifull Daughter Reason Be careful of treason and beware of force Doest thou thinke that there is but one Iason or one Theseus or one Paris Yes there be a thousand To haue a Daughter is a care and trouble if she haue beautie there is feare which thou canst not auoyde but by death or olde age for by marrying her into another house thou shalt but translate thy feare and not extinguishe it Ioy. I triumphe and reioyce in the singular heautie of my Children Reason For young folke to glorie and reioyce in theyr beautie it is a vayne thyng but common but for an olde man to reioyce in the beautie of his Chyldren whiche vnlesse he doated he woulde perceyue to be full of vanitie or subiecte to daungers it is more follie and next coosen to madnesse Ioy. My Chyld hath an heauenly beautie Reason Thou hast read I thinke the foure and twentie booke of Homers Iliades where Priamus speaking of his sonne Hector He seemed not sayeth he to haue ben the sonne of a mortal man but of a god This sayd Priamus but Achilles shewed that he was the sonne of a mortall man and not of a God and remember thou likewise that this heauenly beautie of thy chylde whereof thou speakest may be taken away and blemished and so long as it continueth whatsoeuer accompt be made of it it is but an vncertayne thyng Howbeit the immoderate loue of fathers whiche is enimie to vpryght iudgement bringeth foorth these errours and trifles Ioy. I haue a passyng fayre Daughter Reason If nothyng els chaunce thy house must be most sumptuous Of the valiencie and magnanimitie of a Sonne The Lxxiii Dialogue IOY I Haue a valient Sonne Reason The more valient he is the more it behoueth thee to be fearefull For Fortune layeth more dangers vpon none then those that contemne her that is to say Valient men And not without good cause for other men hyde them selues and seeke to auoyde her force but these lay themselues open to her furie Recall forepassed ages to memorie and thou shalt perceyue in a maner all the most valient men consumed by violent death Ioy. My Sonnes valiencie is exceedyng great Reason Fortitude is a most excellent vertue but accompanied with sundry chaunces and therefore see thou haue alwayes teares and a coffin in a redinesse Death is at hande to all men but nearest to the valient Ioy. My Sonne is a most
vse it to vse it I say not as Maharbal gaue counsayle to Hanibal but as Hanno that was a better man gaue counsayle to his Common wealth For truely Peace is the best vse and fruite of victorie neyther are iust warres taken in hande for any other ende then for peace Ioy. Victorie is on my syde Reason Beware she flee not away for she hath winges Of the death of an Enimie The Ciiii. Dialogue IOY I AM glad of myne Enimies death Reason To hope for any thing by the death of an enimie and to reioyce in any mans death perhaps is permitted to hym that is immortal yf any suche may be founde but to hope for the death of another man whiche may fyrst happen to thy selfe or to reioyce that that is befallen to thyne Enimie whiche needes must happen to thy selfe is a foolyshe hope and a vayne ioy Ioy. I reioyce in myne Enimies death Reason Some other ere it be long wyll reioyce in thine Ioy. I am glad that mine Enimie is dead Reason If ye were mindful of your owne estate one man would neuer reioyce in the death of another When I pray thee was it euer seene that when two went togeather to execution the one conceiued any pleasure in the others death knowing that himselfe must goe to the same pot but doth not rather lament beholding his owne death in his fellowe Ioy. I haue conceyued delyght in mine Enimies death Reason How often thinkest thou haue mens deathes that haue been desired greeued the desirers and they haue in vayne begun to wishe for their liues who before wyshed not in vayne for their deathes when as they begin once to vnderstand that they haue wished to their owne destructioÌ„ But your affections are hastie Whatsoeuer ye wishe to haue ye wish it vehemently as it is written Iulius Caesar sayde of Marcus Brutus Yea rather ye wyshe it too muche and your earnest desyre can suffer no tariaunce And therefore whatsoeuer ye woulde haue ye wyll haue it presently whereof proceede not onely vngodly wyshes but also poysonynges and murthers and whatsoeuer one man can imagine against another beyng the most hurtfull creature towarde his owne kinde â–ª Ye wysh for many thynges whiche yf ye tooke aduise of reason ye would stand in feare of when they are accomplished and the varieue of your wishes is an argument of your euyl choyce neyther doeth your rashnesse returne to that whiche is right vntyll your â—â—olythe affections are checked with haplesse successe Ioy. I am glad of mine enimies death Reason If thine enimie were but of smal fame and reputation to reioyce in his death is shameful and to be sorie superfluous but yf he were noble and famous it is meete and decent to be sorie though not for the man yet for vertues sake whiche euery day hath fewer places to harbour in Sodyd Metellus Macedonicus bewayle the death of the younger Scipio Africane and Caesar the death of Pompeâ— and Alexander the death of Darius Ioy. I recioyce in the death of my Foe Reason How canst thou reioyce in his death whom thou art commaunded to loue not as thine enimie but as thy neighboure being the worke of the same woorkeman Ioy. I am gladde of myne enimies death Reason Perhaps thou hearest not or regardest not the most holsome and knowen counsel of the Wyse man Reioyce not sayth he in the death of thine enimie knowyng that we shall all dye And wyl we notwithstandyng be glad Doubtlesse this counsayle or precept is holsome Of hope of Peace The Cv. Dialogue HOPE I Hope for Peace Reason It is better to keepe peace then to hope for it It is the part of a foole to neglect thynges certayne and to embrace doubtfull hope Hope I hope for peace Reason Thou shouldest haue kept her more narrowly neyther suffered her to depart whom thou now hopest for What yf thine impatience haue brought thee vnto this Hope that thou myghtest choose to be vexed with hoping for that whiche thou myghtest haue vsed by enioying Hope I hope for peace Reason Hope of peace hath destroyed many and calamitie vnlooked for followyng hoped peace hath ouercome and oppressed the vnskilfull sleepy whom it could not haue harmed if it had found expert Hope I hope for peace Reason Why doest thou hope so long for that whiche is in thy hand to attayne vnto It is seldome seene but they do finde peace that are in deede willing effectually to seeke it but those to whom the name of peace is sweete peace it selfe is sowre and therefore they that seeke for peace withstand peace Peace hath foure enimies dwelling among you to wit couetousnesse enuie anger pride these if you sende away into euerlasting exile your peace shal be euerlasting Hope I am in assured hope of peace Reason Betweene hope of peace peace it selfe many thinges do happen a light worde and a smal gesture hath many times disturbed compounded peace yea the very treaties and parlees of peace are often broken of by dent of swoord and hope of peace sharpneth the mindes and aggrauateth warres euen so may a man tearme the treatie of friendship which commeth to none effect the whetstone and sharpning of hatred Hope There is talke of peace there shal be peace Reason There is often talke of peace to no purpose many times dangerously haue the captaines of the Frenchmen and Carthagiens entreated of peace when as Camillus surprised the one and Scipio the other Hope After warre is ended peace shal be confirmed Reason How muche better were it that it were confirmed before the beginning of war how many mischiefes and losse of mens liues might be by seasonable peace preuented But you like wilful and truently children can neuer learne wisedome without whipping In peace ye seeke after warre and in warre ye seeke after peace and neuer begin to know or loue peace but when ye are afflicted with warre then as ye lament that ye haue lost peace so anon when it is restored vnto you with like lightnesse ye contemne it vntyll that hauing lost it once or twice ye are taught not to contemne your owne commodities and to couet your owne harmes finally not to be mad nor foolysh whereof ye may be ashamed before ye haue obtayned it Ye must haue one thing tolde you often and it suffiseth not to haue heard but ye must often see and trye I wyll speake more playnely ye must be beaten often before you can learne any thing Hope Peace wil follow warre Reason It had ben better it had gone before and stopped the course of warre there is no such madnesse as in hope of remedy willingly to receyue a wounde Formentations are helpes and not causes of woundes It is naturall for hym that is sicke to wyshe for health but for one that is whole to wysh for sicknes in hope of health is madnesse Hope We shal haue peace Reason Peace many times procureth hurtful alterations to Cities Countreis which although of
which he found of bricke which glory notwithstanding vnlesse it had been holpen with other thynges whereunto it would haue come we see and therfore yf thou be wyse dye in other traueyles and embrace permanent hope For these thinges whereof thou trustest are both of no price and also wyll shortly followe thee and returne to the earth from whence they came Hope I haue builded houses whereby I hope for prayse Reason Perhaps they wyl prayse thee that shal dwel in them A short and narowe prayse but they that doo come after shall eyther not vnderstande that it is due vnto thee or as men say commonly geue out that those woorkes were buylded by Paganes and thy name shal be vnknowne Of glory hoped for by keeping Companie The Cxix Dialogue Hope I Hope for glory by keepyng company Reason It skilleth muche with whom thou keepe company for there are many whiche I woulde it were not so whose company is discredible and infamous HOPE I knowe that there is no glory wonne but by good artes or conuersation with good men I rest my selfe vpon this last and hope to be good eyther by the example of good men or yf that fayle I hope that the familiaritie of good men wyll purchase me glory Reason Truely in a young man this is a very good signe who vnlesse he hadde a good mynde woulde neuer wyshe to be ioyned with good men For of all friendshyppes and familiarities a certayne lykenesse is the cause and couplyng togeather Proceede therefore and yf thou canst matche those whom thou dooest imitate it is wel doone If not yet yf thou doo thy best thy good wyll shal not want the rewarde of glory For the chiefe and greatest part of vertue is to haue a good mynde vnto vertue and vnlesse this goe before vertue wyll not folow Hope I boast in my familiaritie with good men Reason Veryly I prayle thee for it from whiche let neyther the hope of gayne nor of any other thing withdrawe thee and bende thou al thyne industrie vnto this that thou mayest be lyke them otherwyse that whiche is doone for glory only deserueth not true glory Hope I hope for glory by conuersation with good men Reason A great hope and not discommendable seeing it consisteth in obseruyng and imitating of knowledge and eloquence and other good artes of peace and warre For many haue become noble by conuersation with noble men But take heede of this that through errour thou choose not to thy selfe euyl leaders in steede of good or by meanes of the lamentable scarcitie of good men and penury of vertues in this age thou attayne not to that for whiche thou seekest Of manyfolde hope The Cxx. Dialogue HOPE I Hope for many thynges Reason In much hope there is muche vanitie and great meanes left vnto fortune to deceiue Hope I hope for many thynges Reason Many thynges disapoynt a manyfolde hope Who so hopeth for litle hath left but a narrowe way for casualties but not vtterly stopped it Hope I hope for good health Reason A forgetfulnesse of mortalitie Hope I hope for long lyfe Reason A long pryson wherein thou shalt see much and suffer muche agaynst thy lykyng Hope Fyrme members Reason Strong bandes but pleasant notwithstandyng from whiche thou art a frayde to be loosed Hope Surpassyng beautie of the body Reason Prouocation vnto pleasures Hope Happy ende of my yeeres Reason The matter of a shameful and sorowful thyng Hope The couenanted death of my louer Reason Some short and fylthy matter I knowe not what Hope Libertie to offende Reason A miserable ioy and long repentaunce Hope Oportunitie to reuenge Reason An entraunce vnto crueltie Hope A nymble and strong body Reason A stubburne and rebellious drudge Hope Great riches Reason An heauie burden of Burres and Bryers Hope Shyppes to returne from sundry Seas Reason Fortune diuersly dispersed betweene the monsters of the Sea and the Rockes beaten with the Surgies drawen with ropes and dryuen with the wind Hope Gayne by the hoped merchandize Reason A baite whiche will corment thee with continuall carefulnesse and by the hope of one small gayne dryue thee headlong vnaduysedly into many losses A newe Merchaunt is easye to beleeue but he that is expert forseeth many thynges Hope Honest bestowyng of my sonne or daughter in marryage Reason There is no hope almost that is so often and so grieuously deceyued Hope Great power Reason An hateful miserie a rytch pouertie a fearefull pride Hope A kyngdome and empire Reason A cragged headlong downefall and tempestuous stormes and vnder a glitteryng diademe a careful countenance and heauie hart an vnfortunate lyfe Hope Honours of the court of pleas Reason Dust and clamour Hope Wedlocke and children Reason Contention and cares Hope Warfare for my selfe and a sonne for my wyfe Reason Trauayle to thy selfe and payne to thy beloued Hope The death of mine olde wyfe and that I may haue a younger Reason To be loosed from a worne stryng and to be tyed to a strong newe Rope Hope Wyt a tongue and learning Reason An Handuyle an Hammer and a peece of iron whereby to breake thy selfe and others of theyr sleepe Hope Commendation at my buryall Reason A Nightyngale to syng vnto a deafe person Hope A golden Pyramis Reason A paynted house for a blynde man. Hope Glory after my death Reason A prosperous gale of wynde after Shypwracke Hope A name among posteritie Reason A testimonie from vnknowne persons Hope An heyre for my selfe Reason A friende to thy patrimonie and an argument to thy selfe that thou shalt not returne Of hoped quietnesse of mynde The Cxxi Dialogue HOPE I Hope for quietnesse of mynde Reason Why hadst thou rather hope for then haue peace Looke howe soone thou shalt begynne throughly to seeke it thou shalt fynde it Hope I hope for peace of mynde Reason To hope for peace is the parte of a warryour Who maketh warre agaynst thy mynde but thy selfe only that whiche thou hast taken away from thy selfe impudently thou requirest and hopest of another Hope I hope for peace of mynde Reason From whence I pray thee Or howe canst thou hope for that whiche thou mayest geue vnto thy selfe and so as none can take it from thee but thy selfe Lay downe the weapons of lust and wrath and thou hast absolutely purchased peace for thy mynde Hope I hope for peace and quietnesse of mynde Reason Why then is that which thou dooest agaynst peace And why dooest thou striue so muche agaynst peace Men haue scarce neede to endeuour so muche to be in safetie as they take paynes to seeke their owne destruction Continuall warre and traueyle of mynde is bought more deerely then are peace and quietnesse thus mens desires doo stryue agaynst theyr studies in suche sort as yf one man hadde not the mynde of one but of many and all those repugnant one to another Hope I hope for quietnesse Reason I marueyle from whence ye haue this desire of hopyng alwayes O ye mortall
not the like among all which in a manner either pray or hatred breedeth contention Yea moreouer though these cease yet disagreement ceaseth not For let vs see what hartburning there is in loue what disagreement in marriage howe manie complaintes what suspicion among louers what sighes what paines what contention betweene maisters and seruantes who are nothing the lesse enimies one to another for that they are housholde foes betwene whom there is neuer anie peace to be hoped for but that which is procured either by death or pouertie I will not speake of contention betweene brethren whose agreement to be verie rare the trueth it selfe witnesseth by the mouth of that Famous Poet Ouid neither of the disagreement betweene parentes and their children whereof the Poeme of the same Poet maketh mention But as touching the loue of parents whose good will is most tender towardes their children yet how great their indignation is it is euident whilest they loue them that are good and lament their case that are euill and thus in a manner they hate while they loue hartilie And as touching the most neere and deare bande of the name of brother and father wee see it sometime to bee without loue and not seldome ioyned with hatred I will come to the holie name of friendshippe which being called in Latine Amicitia is deriued from the word Amo whiche signifieth to Loue so that it can neither consist neither bee vnderstoode without loue Nowe among friendes although there be agreement in the wordes and endes yet in the way and in their actes what disagreement and contrarietie of opinions and counsels is there so that Ciceroes diffinition can scarce stand vpright For admit there be good will and loue betweene friendes notwithstanding the consent of all diuine and humane thinges wherewith he maketh his diffinition complete is wanting What then shall a man hope for in hatred For there is hatred in loue and warre in peace and agreement in discention which I will proue to be so by those things which are daily before our eies Beholde the wilde beastes who being inuincible by the sword are tamed by almightie loue Encline thy minde and marke with what noyse and murmure the shee Lions Tygres and shee Beares do come vnto that which of them selues they doe most willinglie and thou wilt thinke that they do it not with desire but by compulsion Some wilde beastes while they engender do make a great noise and schritching and some keepe a sturre with their swift and sharpe talantes Nowe if we will giue credit vnto that which certein great men do write of the nature of the viper howe much contrarietie is there how great discord when as the male viper vpon an vnbridled howbeit naturall sweetnesse pleasure putteth his head into the femal vipers mouth then she being prouoked with a furious heat of lust biteth it of But when this widowe viper being by this meanes brought great with young approcheth vnto the time of her deliuerie by the multitude of her heauie yong ones which nowe make haste to come foorth as it were to reuenge their fathers death is by them torne in pieces Thus the first coupling of these two wormes aswell by their generation as bringing foorth of young is vnfortunate vnto the whole kinde and is founde to bee pestiferous and deadlie whilest the engendring slayeth the male vipers and the bringing foorth the female Consider the orders of Bees in their hiues what thronging together what noise what warres not onely with their neighboures but among themselues what domestical conflictes and discensions is there among them Beholde the neastes and houses of Pigeons that most simple birde and as some write that hath no gall with what battelles and disquietnesse with what clamour and outcries I pray you do they passe foorth their life thou wouldest thinke thou were in some barbarous and vninstructed campe thou shalt perceiue them to be so vnquiet both day and night I omitte their inuasions one of another yea that verie paire that haue seuerally coupled themselues in the bande of mutuall societie and pleasure and for that cause are dedicated vnto Venus with what complaintes are they carried foorth vnto their desire how often doth the cocke goe about the hen and oftentimes the louer forcibly persecuteth his louer with his winges and bill I will referre thee vnto the most safest kinde whereof as the matter is not lesse so is it also lesse notorious and lesse painfull to bee founde What craft and subtiltie then what wakefull diligence doth the spider vse in taking of simple and poore flies in her copwebbe what nettes doeth she set vp for her deceit and rapine what the Moath ouer the cloth what the rot ouer the poast what the litle wormes which daye and night not without weerisomnesse and with a certeine blunt and hollowe noise do fret through the bowelles of beames especiallie of those in felling whereof the diligent obseruation of the Moone and seasons hath not bene obserued Which common discommoditie as it reigneth our the smokie cottagies of the simple husbandmen so doth it also ouer the golden pendents of princes pallaces temples churches and altars neither spareth it also the sacred richesse of Philosophers the boordes of bookes parchementes and papers Wherevnto also I will adde this much that vnlesse there were prouision made by pitch and tarre and a litle burning withall manie times it is the cause of the daunger of shipwracke or of shipwracke it selfe yea they haue entred into the sea eaten through the plankes of shippes and haue procured great troubles to the vnaduised Againe what doeth the grassehopper vnto herbes the caterpiller vnto corne or the wilde geese to the ripe fruites and graine or the poore sparrowe or the crane that translateth his dwelling and other importunate kindes of foules Whereof commeth that saying of the Poet Virgil in his Georgikes whereat I was wont to meruel but nowe I wonder nothing at all howe foules are fraide by noyse making For nowe vnto him that shall happen to dwell in anie place in the countrie in Italie this one thing is begonne to be one of the manifold sommer anoyances For so am I my self continually troubled from morning to night with the falling of foules the ratling of stones and crying out of the husbandmen Moreouer what doeth the mildeawe to the vintage the blast to the herbes the canker to the leaues and the moule to the rootes To be short the weeuill to the barnes floores and the Emot which maketh prouision against old age come as the Poet saith what toyle and vnrest is there in that poore litle creature that whilest she prouideth for her owne winter shee troubleth our sommer I should be verie slowe to beleeue other herein but I my selfe know by experience with how much not only weerisomnesse but losse also that dustie swarme and which by their hastie marching doe euermore declare their feare do not onlie spoyle and forrey the fieldes but
not what it is to leese a father vnlesse thou haddest had a sonne Of the losse of a mother The xlvii Dialogue SOROWE I Haue lost my mother Reason Thou hast yet another mother whom thou canst not leese if thou wouldest from the first thou camest and vnto this thou shalt returne The first gaue thee houséromth the space of a few monethes the other shal giue thee lodging the space of many yeeres The one of these gaue thee thy body the other shal take it away Sorowe My most milde mother is dead Reason But a most hard mother remayneth who wyl keepe thee and thy mother whom thou bewailest in one besome in whose wombe she shal rest with thee and as we beleeue bryng you both foorth agayne at the last day Sorowe My good mother hath forsaken me Reason She made hast fearyng to be forsaken and likely it is that her death was acceptable vnto her because she would not see thine prouiding for her securitie in that whiche alwayes she most feared Sorowe My good mother is dead Reason She is happily dead thou being a lyue whiche beyng otherwyse such are the affections of women she would haue died in sorowful lamentation Sorowe My mother is dead Reason Shee must haue died and thou also neyther canst thou complaine of death nor of the order therof Of the losse of a sonne The xlviii Dialogue SOROW. BUt I haue lost my sonne Reason Say rather and better I haue sent hym before me for thou shalt folowe hym quickely and perhappes to day and howe know we whether this same houre There is no trust in lyfe since there is so great certentie in death shalt folowe hym sayde I Nay rather thou doest folowe hym I woulde haue sayde for thou folowest hym continually it is not permitted vnto a man at any tyme to stay his course in this lyfe but euermore he steppeth foorth one step vnto death a strange matter to be spoken whether he be bound or at libertie sicke or whole walkyng or sitting awake or sleepyng he is caryed foorth toward his ende much after the manner of them that sayle in a shyp or sitte and ride in a wagon and are carried foorth a pace Sorowe I am greeued with the lacke of my sonne whom I haue lost Reason Qiuet thy minde for thou shalt finde hym whom thou desirest ere it be long not to be able to suffer the want of a short tyme is the part of a childe or a woman for vnto a man there is no short thing difficult Thou knowest I thinke by what woordes Socrates in Plato and Cato and Lelius in Cicero do comfort suche desires and wantes Although men surpasse in vertue and glory yet in this hope do some farre surpasse other Thou knowest moreouer of what minde Paulus Emilius Cato hym selfe Pericles and Zenophon that was scholer vnto Socrates and scholefelowe with Plato and his equal and other innumerable were for the death of their chyldren neyther art thou ignorant howe he that was both a prophet and a king wept for his chylde whyle it was sicke but not when it was dead thinkyng that to lament and weepe for thinges vnrecouerable is rather a poynt of vayne madnesse then of true affection Among the number of whiche manly examples the Spartane woman shuffeleth her selfe whose name is not set downe by wryters nor her saying semblably commended who hearyng that her sonne was slayne in battayle therfore sayd she did I beare hym that he shoulde not be afrayd to dye for his countrey The vertue of Linia and the elder Cornelia is nothyng inferiour vnto this but their names muche more famous of whom the first layde downe her mournyng so soone as her sonne of most honourable byrth and that was lyke to haue aspired vnto the hyghest degree of Empire was once layd into the ground but neuer left of the remembrance of hym The other hauing lost many chyldren yea al that she had whereof some she behelde slayne by the people and lying abrode vnburyed when as other women accordyng to the manner of that sexe rued her state and pitifully weepyng bewaled her woful case she answeared that she was not infortunate but happie for that she had borne such sonnes A woorthy woman that was not surprised with the present miserie but counted her selfe happie for that whiche was past who contrary to the common opinion and custome of them that are in miserie comforted herselfe with her forepassed felicitie and the remembrance of her prosperitie wherin shee had somtime liued and tooke it indifferently although she had then lost it for that cause only was woorthie to haue bad good children Now she being a woman remained wholy not once touched with the greeuous and sharp woundes of fortune and thou beeyng a man art ouerthrowne by one only doest thou lament so childishly Sorow I haue lost my sonne Reason If he were a duetiful sonne there is no cause to feare his estate for he is well But yf he were wicked thou art rydde of one that counted vpon thy death and encreased the infirmities of thine olde age Sorowe I haue lost my sonne Reason If he were vertuous reioyce that thou haddest hym but yf he were vnthryfty be glad that thou hast lost hym and in eyther case acknowledge the benefite of nature eyther for geuing thee suche a one or for takyng hym a way Sorowe Death hath taken away my sonne before his tyme. Reason That is not done before due tyme whiche may be done at al tymes Death hath directe entrances into al ages but into youth innumerable Sorowe I haue remayned without a sonne Reason And without trouble and feare Now hast thou none for whose cause thou shalt spend the nyghtes without sleepe and the dayes in care for whose sake thou shalt enter into long and inextricable hope that shall thinke vpon thy hory heares and wryncles examine thy lyuing fynde fault with thine expences and blame the staying of thy death thou art in securitie and quietnesse on euery side both which are a great commoditie although it be made more bitter by the name of death Sorowe I am cast downe by the geeuous death of my sonne Reason Hast thou not hearde what Anaragoras sayth Hast thou forgotten that thou begattest a mortal creature Or doest thou perhappes lament that he is gone before that should haue folowed And although the lyfe of man in many other thinges be disordinate and out of course yet death keepeth his ordinarie custome crooked olde men stagger and young men make hast and chyldren runne headlong infantes at their first entrance into lyfe are drawen to their ende one man more slowly another more speedily one more ripely another more vntimely but euery man must die this is the conclusion of al. And in whatsoeuer age of this lyfe a man die be it gently or sharpely he hasteth vnto death Sorowe I weepe for the death of my sonne Reason If thou wouldest haue wept at his death thou shouldest also
haue wept at his birth for then he began to die but nowe he hath done But do not thou lament for thine owne and his most excellent estate he left behind him a perilous way to passe but thou hauing him alwayes before thine eyes who now is in securitie hast no farther regarde of thy sweete burden as Virgil speaketh or of any other Sorowe Al my delite to lyue is extinguished Reason A good sonne I confesse is a great comforte vnto his father but notwithstanding careful greeuous And many times the sweetest things do offend vs and the dearest do hinder vs and the most precious do oppresse vs And perhappes this thy sonne was some let vnto thy minde that would haue aspired vnto greater matters And now although thou art become more heauie yet since thou art at more libertie be of good cheare to gather good out of euyl is the part of a wise man. Sorowe The death of my lonne hath made me heauie Reason But spende the residue of thy lyfe that remayneth in iolitie thou diddest lyue for hym now lyue for thy selfe Of the miserable fal of a young child The .xlix. Dialogue SOROWE I Lament the miserable fal of my young child Reason A man ought to lament for nothing that may happen vnto mankinde al thinges should be premeditated before if they haue not hapned alredie lament not thy childes fal but thine owne vnskylfulnesse the forgetfulnesse of thine owne condition Sorow I complaine of the miserable death of my young childe Reason There is no death miserable which the death of the soule doth not folow from which daunger thy young child is free Sorowe My childe is dead by breaking his necke Reason What skylleth it after what sort a man dye so that he die not dishonourably he can not die dishonourably that dieth without offences Sorowe My chylde is peryshed by breakyng his necke Reason But Archemorus by the biting of a serpent other some by suckyng milke of a nurse being with child other by sickenesse the which for the more part happen more commonly then than in old age Sorowe My young child is perished by breaking his necke Reason Sodeyne death is to be wished of the innocent and to be feared of the guiltie Sorowe My chylde is dead of a fal from an hygh Reason Unto them that dye languishingly death often times seemeth the sharper the panges the longer for al paine the shorter it is the more tollerable it is Sorow My chylde is dead by breakyng his necke Reason To stumble and fal is proper to that age Thy chylde hath done that which al doo although al peryshe not by casualtie but do thou suffer hym to peryshe for he must needes peryshe one day and he is the more happily dealt withal for that he hath peryshed before he was intangled in the euylles of this lyfe whiche howe manyfold they be those that haue prooued and diligently obserued can tell There is none that prooueth not in part and they that obserue them not leade foorth their liues as it were in a dreame whiche so soone as they awake they haue forgotten Thyne infant died an innocent who perhappes if he had lyued had dyed a very hurtful person Lament not that he is safe he hath escaped al the threates of fortune and hath preuented death whiche being deferred would haue preuented hym Sorowe A woolfe hath deuoured my chylde Reason This nowe is the woormes complaynt Sorowe A woolfe hath carried away the body of my poore chylde into his denne Reason But the angels haue caryed vp his blessed soule into heauen Of a sonne that is found to be another mans The .l. Dialogue SOROWE ANd moreouer that whiche is more greeuous then death he whom I thought had been my sonne is another mans Reason If you had a respect to the common father then would you by the counsel of the Comical Poet thinke that there is no humane thing but may happen vnto you Sorowe I haue fostred another mans chylde a great while for mine owne Reason Nature wylleth a man to foster his owne and charitie to foster another mans so that thou repent thee not after the deede but delite in it Sorowe He that was counted my chylde appeareth to be another mans Reason There is opened vnto thee a way vnto a great and singuler merite if as thou hast hytherto done so thou continue hereafter to keepe hym as thyne owne Truely that were a very gracious and acceptable deede before god For chyldren are woont for the more parte to contemne the mayntenance of theyr parentes as a thyng due vnto them by ryght and moreouer it were a poynt of wickednesse to loue thy chylde that is borne of thee and not to loue man that is created of god Thus euery way both before God and men thou shalt purchase vnto thy selfe singuler commendation and vertue through another mans wickednesse Sorow I haue nooryshed one for my chylde that was not so Reason Thou nooryshedst hym as thy chylde and so nooryshe hym styll yf not as thy chylde yet as thy brother For of al the people that are or euer shal be or haue been heretofore there is one father and one gouernour Doo not dissemble through insolencie or through enuie and hatred breake of the sacred bond of nature for you be brethren one to another Sorowe He whom I thought to haue been as I heare is not my sonne Reason Take heede of whom thou hearest it and whom thou trustest For many beyng pricked foorth by wicked prouocations doo of set purpose deuise false rumors and other some by a certayne slypprynesse and vnbridled affection of the tongue doo aswell babble foorth the thynges that they knowe as that they knowe not and with lyke impudencie vtter whatsoeuer commeth in theyr mynde Howbeit to determine precisely of a mans chylde whether it be his owne or not is an harde case Sorowe I heare say that he that was called my sonne is another mans Reason Why dooest thou herein beleeue other rather then thyne owne wyfe since none knoweth it more certaynely then she Truely she hath geuen thee a chylde whom other goe about to take from thee Thou hast heard I thinke howe that within the remembrance of our fathers there was a certaine noble man who had to wyfe a gentlewoman of equall beautie and parentage but of whose honestie the report seemed some what to doubt By her he hadde one moste beautifull sonne whom when his mother vppon a tyme helde in her lappe and perceyuyng that her husbande syghed and was carefull she demaunded of hym what was the cause of his heauinesse Then he syghyng agayne I had rather sayde he then the one halfe of my landes that I were as sure that this boy were myne as thou art that he is thyne Whereunto she aunsweared neyther in countenance nor mynde any whit moued Truely sayde shee the matter shall not cost so great a price but geue me an hundred acres of pasture whereon I
it can not be remedied must be suffered with a valiant minde Howbeit as he doth not refuse to suffer the woorkes of nature who by this tyme ought to haue learned to suffer so many insolencies so many cruelties so many cruell outragies so many rapines committed by men the same man also shall soone perceyue howe iniuriously dame nature is dayly torne in peeces for small tryfles seeyng that one man is constrayned to suffer so manye bytter and greeuous touches at anothers handes Sorowe I am plagued with extreame heate Reason Stay a whyle for the sharpnesse of Winter is commyng apace whiche wyl abandon this tediousnesse Sorowe I am sore vexed with câ—â—de Reason Behold Summer maketh haste that wyll take away the bytternesse thereof Sorowe I am greeued with colde Reason There is scarce any discommâ—ditie to be found for whiche nature hath not prouided a remedie And many tymes there be sundrie remedies founde for one greefe these thynges followyng keepe away colde the house clothes meate drynke labour and exercise There is seldome any ouercome with colde vnlesse before he be ouercome by slouthfulnesse I am ashamed to recken vp fyre among the remedies agaynst cold which is a great argument of humane idlenes It is nothing so easie a matter with a wet lynnen cloath to drawe away water that is mingled with wine in an whole Hoggeshead as it is to separate sluggardes from good husbandes at a good fyre in the Winter season thyther run all they that haue neyther blood nor courage of minde a man may then beholde yf he haue a delyght to see it our youth to the intent they would seeme fayre to deforme them selues agaynst the fyre by making their bodyes naked from the nauell downwarde for whom how much were it more honest and seemely to couer their priuie partes then by scorching their thyghes and buttockes agaynst the flame to annoy the senses of the standers by with their loath some stynke Sorowe At one tyme I quake and at another I sweate Reason I easily beleeue thee for I knowe thy manners and whyles thou art speakyng I wyll tell thee what commeth into my minde The historie is but new and short In Fraunce there was a father and his sonne apprehended for treason and iudged to be executed accordyng to the manner of the countrey by standyng in a Caudron wherein they shoulde be boyled to death Now it was winter and when they were both put naked and bounde into the colde water the young man began to quake and chatter his teeth for colde but when once the water began to waxe hotte by meanes of the fyre that was made vnder it then began he also by greeuous lamentation and weepyng to declare his impacience of the heate But on the othersyde the olde man persisting vnmoueable in both and lookyng vppon hym with a sterne countenaunce Thou sonne quoth he of a most vyle whoore canst thou abyde neyther colde nor heate A saying truely perhappes of an euyll yet of a constaunt and valiant minde and well deseruyng that the speaker thereof shoulde leape vnhurt out of the deadly Caudron But most conuenient for your youth to learne then whom there is nothyng more effeminate nor tender who in the Summer doo curse the sunne lyke the Atlantes and in the wynter season woorshyp the fire as do the Caldees Sorowe The snowe molesteth me Reason Those that be nice do also loath delicate thynges Howbeit some haue counted it a most beautiful matter to see snowe fall without wynde and truely if there be any thyng fairer then snowe yet verily there is nothyng whyter Sorowe We are troubled sometyme with to muche heate and sometyme with to muche colde at one tyme with ouermuch drought and at another with to much rayne Reason Some say that Alexander was most impatient of heate and no marueyle for he could not endure prosperitie nor aduersitie and contrariwyse they say that Hannibal could indifferently away both with heat and colde Why doest not thou also take vnto thy selfe some one part though it be of vnlyke prayse He coulde suffer both wel canst thou endure neyther This good doth pleasure bryng you at the begynnyng whiche doth soften you and make you effeminate and as I may truely say geld your myndes so that you dare not onely not abyde your enimies swoordes or death but also not so muche as the ayryal impressions I crye styll but alwayes I crye in vayne vnto you for that I crye vnto deafe folkes Leaue vnto nature her owne office she dooth nothyng without the counsell of the most hyghest You ignorant fooles there is not one drop of water that falleth vpon the earth more or lesse then is expedient and although that euery particuler mans lust be not satisfied yet is there generall prouision made for the safetie of all men Sorowe I am greeued on the one side with durt on the other with dust here with cloudes there with windes and thunder Reason The diuersitie of the earth foloweth the diuersitie of heauen moyst ayre breedeth durt and drye ayre dust so lykewyse by moouing of the ayre come wyndes of vapours cloudes of windes and cloudes tempestes and thunder are engendred Who so knoweth the causes of thynges and sheweth hym selfe obedient vnto nature shal not bewaile the consequence of effectes And although there be great question among some concernyng the wyndes neuerthelesse doth not the ayre that is mooued with no wynde seeme vnto thee in a manner halfe dead in so much that some not vnaptly haue tearmed the wynde a soule or a spirit As for dust thou seest how that among men of valure it is counted sweete which also vertue onely hath by dyuers operation caused that as much may be beleeued also of durt Thunder and lyghtnyng with suche other lyke forcible motions of heauen what be they other then the threates and warninges of the most mercyful God Who truely vnlesse he had loued man woulde not threaten hym but stryke hym seeing that he neuer lacketh many and iust causes to stryke hym in deede That these thynges apparteyne vnto the terrifâ—yng of men but specially of those that rebell agaynst God not onely the Poet who was skylfull of the secretes of nature doth signifie but also the Prophetisse whiche seemed to be priuie of Gods counsel sayeth The aduersaries of the Lorde shal feare hym and he shall thunder vpon them from heauen O ye the aduersaries of the Lorde stande in feare of the true thunderer labour to come into his fauour that beyng reconciled into freendshyp with God ye feare nothyng but to displease hym Doo ye this rather and leaue complaynyng Sorowe I am sorie for this darke and cloudie weather Reason No tempest continueth long and after fayre weather come cloudes and after cloudes fayre weather commeth agayne and one of them immediatly foloweth another and that which is so short should be suffered without complayntes Sorowe I am offended with the cloudes Reason This offence is a certayne kynde of
fal from God for that he forsaketh hym that made hym and forasmuche as pryde is the beginnyng of al sinne Thou knowest al other thynges which being diligently weighed thou shalt perceyue howe foule a monster a proude man is Of Agues The .cxii. Dialogue SOROWE I Burne with Agues Reason This heat wyl ende in processe of tyme or els with colde whiche euer of the twayne it be it is well Sorow I am greeued with agues Reason All this motion agaynst nature is of more vehemencie then continuance and of these twayne it alwayes doth the one eyther it clenseth the body or setteth the soule at libertie Sorowe I am holden with Agues Reason Stay a whyle thou shalt not long be holden for eyther thou shalt soone be discharged thereof or set at libertie and eyther of them is very good Sorowe I am sicke of an Ague Reason Thou shalt be at quiet anon nature striueth with death attend the ende of the battayle for the houre draweth nygh which shal eyther free thee from thy sickensse or discharge thee from al. Sorow I burne with the Ague Reason It is lesse harme for the bodye to burne then the foule whereof thou madest thy last seuen complayntes and howe yf the scortching of the one be medicinable for the other Finally how much more better is it by a short cast of the euyles of this present lyfe to be put in mynde of the euerlastyng punishment to the ende that men may study to auoyde infinite bitternesse who so greeuously susteyne the sharpenesse of a fewe houres and by these troubles learne to flye them from whiche neyther the Phisition nor herbes nor the critical day nor death can delyuer them Sorowe I trye with the Feuer Reason The woormes meate is rosted suffer thy selfe to be burned for other for whom other meates haue been so often tymes burned and take aduisement of the punishment Many euyles haue stoode in steede of remedies a smal greefe in the present tyme hath often geuen men occasion to prouide for greater to come and that whiche was paineful becommeth profitable Happie is that short burnyng whiche is the cause of eternal ioy Sorowe I am molested with the Ague Reason Nowe shalt thou be an vpryght iudge of prosperous health For you men beyng an vnthankeful generation cannot acknowledg the giftes of God vnlesse they be lost or surceasse Sorow I am sore vexed with a greiuous ague Reason Ye cannot long continue togither No man can burne long For either thou wilt shortly forsake thine ague or else thine ague wil leaue thee Of the payne of the guttes and Traunce The .cxiii Dialogue SOROWE I Suffer the payne of the guttes Reason Begyn to hope for there can happen now nothing more greeuous vnto thee For lyke as it is the begynning of sorowe to come to the vttermost degree of pleasure so lykewyse the extremitie of sorowe must needes be the begynning of pleasure This is the lawe of contraries that the one spryngeth from the ende of the other Sorowe I am tormented with the Iliake passion Reason It is I confesse an hard kynde of comfort that a man can suffer nothing more bitter Sorowe I am vexed with the Iliake passion Reason Who so is sorie and feareth is in wretched case but feare which is the one halfe of miserie is taken from thee on euery side for whereof I pray thee neede he to be afeard who hopeth for death whereof aboue al thynges men stande most in dreade Sorowe I am martyred with the payne in the guâ—tes Reason Whyle thou lyuest learne to dye and that which must be done but once assay thou to do often then at length thou shalt do that more safely once whiche thou hast assayed to do so often for that whiche thou doest then shal be no strange thyng to thee The payne in the guttes is muche lyke vnto death sauing that death is shorter and easier so that he that can beare that payne valiantly vnlesse some other feare come betweene and alter the case shal much more valiantly endure death Sorowe I am torne in peeces by the iliacke passion Reason The vehemencie of the payne promiseth an ende for there is no man long a dying Sorow Yea the very payne driueth me into a sounde Reason The long paynes of feauers thou passest ouer with one breathyng Sorowe I feele howe I am fallen into a traunce Reason A man shall scarce perceyue when it is comming for it commeth sodenly and when it is come it presently depriueth the vnderstandyng of all force Sorowe I begynne to faint Reason O happie art thou that shalt passe ouer so assured and hard a thyng without sense Sorowe I fall oft tymes into a traunce Reason Thou returnest often from death to lyfe Sorowe I fal very often into a deadly traunce Reason Thou canst not fal into that twyce For none dyeth more then once and whiche shoulde be the best kynde of death there was somtyme disputation among certayne learned and notable men at whiche was Iulius Caesar in presence for empire and learnyng a most excellent personage who also in his latter tyme as some wryte of hym vsed many tymes to faynt suddeynly which question he in this manner determined concludyng that a suddeine and vnlooked for death was of al the most commodious Whiche opinion although vnto godlynesse and true religion it seeme very harde notwithstandyng euery one that wyse is but specially godly and studious of true religion ought so to lyue that nothyng may befal vnto hym soddenly and vnlooked for and yf any suche thyng happen to the minde that the soddennesse thereof hurt it not but profite also the body Of sundry paynes and greefes of the whole body The .cxiiii. Dialogue SOROWE I Am greeued in al partes of my body Reason If thy minde whiche is the gheast of the body be not greeued nor troubled it is wel whatsoeuer hapneth vnto the poore cottage thereof shal redownde I hope vnto the safetie of it Sorowe I am vexed in al my body whiche is a greeuous payne Reason The Stoikes say that among al humane thynges only vertue is good And although others be of another opinion yet this is the more true and manly as seemeth vnto me and many moe whereof it foloweth that whatsoeuer is contrarie hereunto is a vice whereby it commeth to passe that although the payne of the body be most greeuous yet it is not euyll Sorow Alas poore wretch how I am tormented and thou disputest and al are but philosophical fables Reason Thou shewest thy selfe to be a wretche if it were but in this poynt only for that thou callest the rules of mans lyfe fables Sorow These thynges are plausible in the schooles and famous in bookes but they are not able to enter into the racke or to clymbe vp into the beddes of the sicke they be spoken and wrytten more easily then practised Reason Yes truely they be profitable agaynst payne and sicknesse and death but not vnto al
drynke and haue the the more aman hath and drynketh and the causes of al dangers it plucketh vp by the rootes Your ryches are ful of deceitfulnesse and feare they feare cuppes aswell as swoordes and dishes no lesse then dartes there is neyther your table nor your house nor your chamber nor your bed voyd of danger Al thynges about you are vncertayne and suspitious and threaten vnto men present death as Virgil speaketh in a tempest and may be verified of you in a calme and al this is long of your sweete ryches whiche ye loue so entirely As for pouertie sauing that it is slaundrously reported of by the common people and for the very name odious vnto them al thynges are safe in it and yf euer the vayne glorious desire to be magnified by the multitude shoulde fayle altogeather pleasant sweete quiet and be wyshed But learne at length you earthly creatures to eate and drynke in glassen and earthen vessels yf ye wyl eate and drynke in safetie for poyson is mingled in cuppes of gold and precious stone O couetousnesse how farre wylt thou proceede Yea poyson is in loue with gold and precious stones agaynst whiche most wretched plague neyther the electuarie of Mithridates kyng of Pontus nor of any other be he neuer so cunnyng is more effectual then is pouertie Sorowe I haue drunken poyson death swymmeth nowe in my entrailes Reason When thou hast once perswaded thy selfe that thou must dye whiche al men must needes determine that remember them selues to be mortal what skylleth it whether thou dye by thirsting or drynkyng or whether imbrued with thine owne blood or with wyne In this kynde of death thou shalt haue great personages that haue been drynkyng fellowes with thee of this confection to wyt Alexander Hannibal Philippomenes Mithridates Claudius hym selfe Theramenes and Socrates Of the feare of death The .cxvii. Dialogue FEARE I Feare to dye Reason Herein thou oughtest not to feare but to muse which musing of thyne yf it began nowe first in thee then hath it not growen vp with thee from thine infancie But if it come vpon thee but by fittes and is not continuall then hast thou lyued vnwysely For this most excellent and profitable aduice of the Poet Horace ought most firmely to be engraffed within the very marrowe of thy bones Betweene hope and care and betweene feare anger thynke euery day to be the last that thou shalt lyue that thou mayst be such an one as he speaketh of in an other place He shal leade his lyfe merily and vnder his owne gouernement who is able to say euery day I haue lyued Let to morowe be fayre or foule whyle I am busie I do not care And this forsooth is that whiche the Philosophers do so muche commend to lyue the forepassed lyfe whereof I haue spoken in an other place Feare I feare to dye Reason Thou shouldest haue feared also to be borne to lyue The entrance into lyfe is the begynning of death and lyfe it selfe is the passedge to death or rather more truely a very death in deede By lyuing eyther thou wentest towardes death or rather accordyng to the iudgement of the wyse thou beganst euery houre to dye Why shouldest thou then be afeard of death yf death haue eyther dayly accompanied thy lyfe or of necessitie do folowe it The first of these the learned only do vnderstand the other the common people do perceyue for what soeuer was borne dyeth and what soeuer dyeth was borne Feare I am afearde to dye Reason Fearest thou to dye that art a reasonable mortal creature as the Philosophers do diffine thee But yf thou were veryly the first I suppose thou wouldest not feare the second for that these two natures beyng ioyned in one do fully accomplysh the substance of man to wyt reason and death The one concerneth the soule the other the body but want of reason hath brought in the feare of death Feare I feare death Reason Nothyng ought to be feared which the necessitie of nature importeth Who so hateth or feareth the thinges that are naturall must needes hate or feare nature it selfe Vnlesse perhaps it be lawful to commend and embrace the one part thereof and to condemne and despise the other then whiche there is nothyng more insolent not only in men towardes GOD but also in one man towardes another And therefore eyther thou wholy receyuest or reiectest thy freende least yf thou reape that only whiche is sweete thou seeme to be a partial iudge and louer of friendshyp Feare I abhorre death Reason If there be any euyl in death the same is encreased by the feare of death But yf there be no euyl in death the feare thereof is a great euyl and it is a great follie for a man to procure or encrease his owne harme Feare I detest the very name of death Reason The infirmitie of mankynde hath made the name of death infamous But yf men had any courage of minde they would no more feare death then they woulde al other thynges that come by course of nature And why shouldest thou more feare to die then to be borne to growe vp to hunger to thirst to wake to sleepe Wherof this last is so lyke death that some haue termed it the cousin and some the image of death And that thou mayest not cal this manner of speeche eyther a poetical colour and a Philosophical quirke Iesus Chryst the truth it selfe called the death of his freend a sleepe and art thou afeard to do that once wherin thou takest pleasure euerie day This inconstancie do the learned woonder at and also reprooue Feare These thinges are common and vsuall among the Philosophers and bring delite while they are heard but when they leaue soundyng feare returneth Reason Nay rather it remayneth for if it were once gonne it would not returne agayne and moreouer there is a certayne feare of death naturally ingraffed within the hartes of the common multitude But it is a shame for a learned man to haue the feelyng but of the vulgare sort whom it becommeth as I sayd erewhyle not to folowe the steppes of the greater part but of a fewe And concernyng that whiche thou speakest of Philosophers I muche merueyle that since you learne the preceptes of saylyng of saylers and of husbandrie of husbandmen and also of warfare of warriours ye refuse to take aduice how to direct your lyfe of the Philosophers And seeing you aske counsel of Phisitious for the cure of your bodyes why do you not resort also to Philosophers for the saluing of your mindes who if they be true Philosophers in deede they are both Phisitions of your mindes and the instructours of this lyfe But yf they be counterfeites and puffed vp onely with the bare name of Philosophie they are not only not to be sought vnto for counsel but to be auayded then whom there is nothing more importunate nothing more absurde of whom this age is muche more ful then I coulde
thynges But as for them that goe downe into hel casting of al charitie it is to be entended that they hate both God and men and also al the workes of God and man. Of one that at his death is carefull of his fame and good report The Cxxx. Dialogue SOROWE WHAT wyll men speake of me when I am dead Reason An vnseasonable care thou shouldest haue prouided for this in thy youth for looke what a mans life is suche is his fame Sorowe What wyll they say of me Reason What shall I answeare thee other then that which the most learned and eloquent Marcus Cicero sayeth What other men shall speake of thee let them see to that them selues but they wyl speake notwithstanding howbeit all their talke is comprehended within the narrowe boundes of these regions which thou seest neyther was it euer continual of any but is extinguished by the death of men and forgetfulnesse of posteritie Sorow What wil they speake of me that shal be borne herafter Reason I would tel thee otherwyse then Cicero doeth yf I thought that any thing could be better vttered then is by him And what skilleth it sayth he if thou be spoken of by them that shal be borne hereafter seeing there nowe remayneth no fame of them that were borne before thee One thing he addeth moreouer which perhaps at that time was doubtful peraduenture false but now very sure most true without doubt Who sayth he were as many in number as you are now and truely better men to For who is he that doubteth but that there wyl neuer come so good men as there haue ben Thus al thinges waxe woorse woorse and tend euery day toward their final ruine A merueilous care then it is which thou hast to stande in feare of the speeches of those whom thou knowest not are thy youngers as not liuing in the same age with thee seeing thou now contemnest the iudgement and woordes of excellent men of thine owne time and acquaintance Sorow What fame shal there be of me when I am dead Reason Far better then while thou liuest when enuie once holdeth her peace For enuie and malice seldome last longer then a mans life and as vertue is the roote of glorie so is enuie the cutter downe of it and as the enuious hand being present hindreth the growth of it so when it is taken away it restoreth the encrease of true commendation And therfore vnto many as the entrance into their graues hath been a bar vnto enuie so hath it ben the beginning of great glorie Sorow Howe long wyl my fame continue Reason A long time perhaps as you call long But that all thinges may not only be long but also euerlasting vertue alone is able to bring that to passe and specially Iustice of which it is written The iust man shal be had in euerlasting memorie Which meaning also your countrey Poet expressed as wel as he could where he sayth But by mens deedes their fame to stretch that priuiledge vertue geues Sorow What fame shal I haue after my deceasse Reason What skilleth it what it be which shortly shal be forgotten or contemned What shall the breath of men apperteyne vnto thee when thou thy selfe shalt be without breath For one that breatheth to be nourished and delyghted with the winde and ayre it is no meruaill but for a dead man to be so it is a woonder Sorowe What shal be sayde of me when I am dead Reason No goodnesse be sure vnlesse thou haue deserued it but muche euyl peraduenture not merited and perhappes lytle or nothyng at all For in many thynges fame is a lyer but in the most a true reporter otherwyse it could not long continue For trueth is the foundation of continuance and as for a lye it is weake and transitorie Sorowe What fame shall I haue after my death Reason Suche as thy lyfe was before and at thy death Concernyng this matter therefore let the tyme to come but specially the tyme present looke to that And thus perswade thy selfe assuredly that what report and fame a man is woorthy to haue after his death it is no way better discerned then at his death when as in deede which is a strainge thyng to be spoken many that haue lyued all theyr tyme obscurely and without glorie death onely hath made famous Of one that dyeth without Children The Cxxxj. Dialogue SOROWE I Die without children Reason For that cause thou oughtest to die the more willingly and with the more expedition to goe foorth on thy iourney for that thou hast nothyng behinde thee to stay thee or cal thee backe The greatest greefe which they that lie a dying haue surceaseth in thee whiche riseth vpon the sorowe and compassion of leauing their children specially when they be young neede the asistance and counsel of their parentes being at those yeeres destitute of aduice subiect vnto iniuries many other casualties Sorow My children whom I wished hoped should haue liued after me are gone before me Reason Then hast thou some to whom thou art desirous to goe from whom thou art not willing to depart which is no smal comfort vnto thee Sorowe Bitter death constraineth me to dye without chyldren Reason If thou thinke this to be so miserable a matter what cause hast thou either to die now or heretofore to haue liued without children seeing there is such choise of young Gentlemen towardly youthes among whom thou maiest choose and adopt thee sonnes who perhaps wyl be more louing and obedient vnto thee then thine owne natural children descended of thy flesh blood for they come vnto thee by chaunce but these are elected out of many by exquisite iudgment The other were thy children before thou knewest them but these thou knewest chosest and louedst before thou madest them thy children And therefore the one sort of them wil wholy impute it to nature that they are thy children but the other to thy special good liking Whereby it hath hapned many times that the succession by adoption hath ben very fortunate vnto the heyres in which kind not only meane inheritances but also whole Empires haue ben committed in trust Thou knowest howe Iulius Caesar wanting issue adopted Augustus to be his sonne Augustus againe adopted Tyberius almost against his wyl And likewise afterward how Nerua adopted Vlpâ—us Traianus and he Elius Hadrianus be againe Antonius pius he likewise toke vnto him Marcus Aurelius to be his sonne which Marcus I would to God he had more happily adopted any other then vnluckely begotten his sonne Commodus commodious to none but discommodiouss to the whole world the only disgracing of so good a father one among a few of them that were no small shame reproch to the Romane Empire also a most apparent argument how much adoption is more fortunate then procreatioÌ„ For whereas the first princes had in order one after another raigned long time in happie
young men is called bitter and is bitter in deede contrary vnto this bitternesse is ripenesse which being commended in Apples and al mauer fruites is most commendable in man Not that I am ignorant that many fruites do wither before they waxe ripe but that is not the fault of the age but the peruâ—rsenesse of nature not of all but of many I meane in men who beyng borne to that whiche is good doo stoutely endeuour to the contrarie And therefore yf there be any droppe of noble iuyce in thee thou oughtest now to be ripe and withour all feare to attende vntyll the hand of the mower cutte thee downe to the ground That is not death whiche thou fearest but the ende of troubles and begynnyng of lyfe not death I say but an hard ende of lyfe whereunto fewe arriue in a calme tyde but all for the most part naked weepyng and wrecked on the sea In the middes of thyne olde age takyng in hand an easie vtage towardes thine ende thou shalt be brought by a prosperous gale through the troublesome surges of worldly affayres into the calme porte of securitie Now is it tyme for thee to run a ground and moare vp thy weerie barke vppon the shore and whyther so euer thou turnest thee to thynke vpon thine ende This shalt thou fynde more profitable for thee then as fooles vse to doo to blame good age and nature which is a most gracious mother Of the Gout The Lxxxiiij Dialogue SOROWE I Am vexed with the loathsome Gout Reason Knowest thou not the nature of old age It commeth not alone but most tymes bryngeth an armie of diseases and sicknesses with it Sorowe I am greeued with the paynefull gout Reason Thou art troubled in the extreamest and most vile partes of thy body what if it were neere thy hart or head Sorowe The gout so greeueth me that I cannot goe Reason The wandering minde of man needeth to be restrayned with a bridle One man is kept vnder by pouertie another by imprisonment another by sicknesse Fortune playing with thee hampereth thee by the feete This is not the gout but rather fetters and therefore learne to stand styll Sorowe The gout maketh me vnfyt for affayres Reason Vnfyt I thinke in deede to run to leape to daunce to play at tennice doest thou thinke that thou wast borne vnto these pastimes But yf thou be so ignorant know this that thou wast horne vnto greater matters whiche thou mayest very wel accomplysh if thy head do not ake nor thy hart be sicke Thou mayest applie the studie of the liberall sciences ensue godlinesse and vertue keepe floelitie and iustice contemne this frayle body and the transitorie worlde hate vices loue vertues honour freendshyp helpe thy Countrey by counsell and aduice These are the dueties of a good man and herein what can fetters hynder thee Sorowe I am weakned with the gout Reason Perhaps thy disease wyl not suffer thee to fight agaynst thyne enimies but it wyl against vices which is as paineful and common as warre And what knowe we whether this bodily payne agaynst whiche thou fightest be layde vppon thee for the exercise of thy minde Sorowe I can not stand vpon my feete Reason See then what hope thou hast to conceiue of the residue of the buyldyng when thou perceiuest the very foundation to be so weake watche and take heede that the fall oppresse thee not at vnwares make redy thy packes and prepare thy selfe to flight Sorow I am marueilously troubled with the gout Reason This disease as it is commonly reported vseth to accompany rych men Loe thou hast an other remedy be of good comfort for either the sweetenes of thy riches shal asswage the sharpnes of thy griefe or the bitternes of thy pouertie driue it away and so thou shalt eyther find comfort or an ende If these faile thee that wyl come at length which shall not deceiue thee which is also the ende of al troubles aduersiue Sorow I am oppressed with the paine of my feete Reason If thou wylt haue remedy thou must eyther be poore in deede or at least wise liue poorely Pouerty which is the true purifiyng of mens bodies as some say hath deliuered many from this infirmitie and some haue been cured by frugality or sparing whiche by an other tearme I may cal voluÌ„tary or fained or imagined pouerty Thou hast seene some cured by perpetual abstinence from wine Thus it hapneth that payne with payne and one nayle is driuen out with an other as sayth the olde Prouerbe There is no payneful malady cured without payne And moreouer yf thou wylt be at one with this sicknesse many other thou must proclaime open warre not only against wine but also venerie But what doo I I promised remedies for the mind not for the body yet notwithstanding I suppose I haue taught thee the only cure of this disease If thou like it vse it yf not the vse of fomentations otherwyse framed wyll not deceyue thee For pacience is the most effectuall and present and many tymes the only remedie in aduersitie Sorow The paine of the gout hath made me crooked Reason Then art thou vnable to goe and lesse meete to take payne but not vnfitte to doo other thinges not onely apparteyning to thy priuate householde but also concernyng the Common wealth yea if neede so require of a Kingdome or Empire Wherfore this onely saying of Septimus Seuerus Emperour of Rome is very famous and notable who beyng an olde man and muche subiect to the gout when he had bewrayed the conspiracie of the nobilitie that woulde haue made his sonne Emperour whyle he was yet lyuing the aucthours of this sedition and also his some beyng apprehended and standing all dismayde trembling shaking before his seate looking for nothing but present death Seuerus lyfting vp his hand to his head At length quoth he Ye shal vnderstand that it is my head and not my feete that do gouerne Sorowe I am marueylously poore wretch tormented with the gout Reason Do not be wayle only the greefe and sharpnes of thynges but if there haue any pleasure or sweetenesse hapned vnto thee by them thinke vpon it whereby thou mayest comfort thy selfe in this aduersitie Among all the euyll conditions of the common multitude this is not the least that as they are whining and impatient in aduersitie so are they forgetful and vnthankfull in prosperitie then which there is nothing more iniurious For why for example sake who is able with indifferent eares eyther to heare the Emperour Seuerus of whom we spake erwhyle complayne of his gout or Domitian of his baldnesse whiche he tooke very greeuously or Augustus when he was olde of the weakenesse of his left eye or Iulius Caesar of his feare in the night season and troublesome dreames or to be short other very happie honourable men in such sort complayning of one default of nature or other yf a man may so tearme it or iniurie of