strife comming to the Noble-mans eare whome they accompanie it might easily happen that that companie that came to wayte vpon him and to doe him honour and seruice should then seeme to dishonour and offend him Little knoweth he what honor meaneth when in these trifles hee seeketh it For the wise and courteous Courtyer hath not only to seeke honour with them with whom he rideth cheeke by cheeke but also with those that are beloued of the Prince Now when the Noble-man is accompanyed and that hee is come hard by the Court your Courtyers bee readie to alight off your horse quickely before him and when hee shall likewise take his horse againe be as ready to take your horse backe before him For doing thus you shall bee neare about him when hee lighteth off his horse and afterwards helpe him when hee mounteth on his horse againe If perhaps at the comming in of a Chamber the Lordes seruants want consideration or that they remember not to holde open the cloth ouer the dore the good and diligent Courtier should sodenly put himselfe before him to lift and hold it vp For many times it is as great an honour for a Courtier to be accounted one of good maner and bringing vp in the Court as out of the Court it is to be reputed a great and famous Captaine in wars And since the Courtier is determined to accompany some noble man to the Court hee is also bound by the Lawes of the Court to wayte vpon him home againe which if hee doe the Noble man shall bee more beholding to him for the attendance hee hath giuen vpon him then for his cōpany to ride with him If any come to speake with the courtier that were equall with him in degree or meaner of calling or condition then himselfe it is one of the first and chiefest points of ciuility good manner not to suffer him to open his lips to speake to him before hee haue his cappe on his head for one to talke commonly with the other with his cappe in his hand is of great authority and reuerence as from the duty of the subiect to the Prince or that of the seruant to the Master The good Courtier must euer speake againe to him that speaketh to him do him reuerence that doeth him reuerence put off his cappe to him that putteth off his and this hee must doe without any respect that hee is his friend or foe for in the effects of good maners no man ought so much to bee an Enemie that the enmitie should breake the boundes of curtesie and humanity It is rather fit for common persons then for Courtlike gentlemen in so meane things to shewe their enmitie For to say truely the good Courtyer should not shewe the enmitie of the heart by putting on or pulling off his Cap but by taking sworde in hand to reuenge his quarrell And if the Courtyer were in the Church Court or in the Chappell of the Prince and set and an other gentleman happely commeth in the same place where he is he must doe him the curtesie to giue him the place and seat and to pray him to sit downe yea and if there were no other place fit for the gentleman to sit in and that of curtesie also hee would not offer him that iniurie to accept it yet at the least let the Courtyer doe what hee may to make him take a peece of his stoole that parting with him his seate the other may also come to part with him his heart If those that were set hard by the Courtyer begun to talke in secrete together he should rise from thence or goe a little aside from them For in the Court they wil say he is ill taught and brought vp and wanteth ciuilitie and good manners that will seeme to harken to any bodyes tales or secrets The Courtyers must haue frienship also with the Porters to open him the Court-gates that are kept fast chained in that they be contented to suffer their Moyle or Foot-cloth-nagge to enter into the vtter-court And the like must be practised with the gentlemen-Vshers of the Chamber and Captaine of the Garde to whom hee must doe a thousand pleasures that they may respect his person and let him come in when he wil. and the next way to winne his friendship and to continue them friendes and to be welcome of them is to feast them otherwhiles sometimes with a banket but especially not to faile them with a new-yeares gift on New-yeares day what Trifle or present soeuer it bee That Courtyer that is not acquaynted with the Vshers and doth them no pleasures may bee well assured that those aboue in the Hall will make him tarry in the vtter-Court and those that stand at the gate of the Cheyne they will make him light in the myre With the Vshers of the priuie-Chamber hee must needes deale honourably withall as to come and see them sometimes and to do them much honour in giuing them some faire iewell or presenting them with a Gowne or Coate-cloth of silke or veluet And thus he shall be assured they will not only let him into the priuie-chamber but they will also procure him to speake with the Prince at his best leysure To make the yeomen of the Guarde also that make gentlemen giue place and stand a loose off-from the Prince it cannot bee but very profitable for the Courtyer to haue them his friends For many times they may helpe vs to a fit place to talke with the King it is such a trouble and charge to speake with the Prince that if wee haue not greaat Friendship with these we haue spoken of and that we doe them some pleasures before we come to the Court they will shut the dores against vs and wee shall come home ashamed of our selues For a Courtyer to bee acquaynted with the Ladies and gentlemen of the Court it is rather of pleasure then of necessitie albeit it be true that the young-Courtyer that serueth not some Ladie or Dame in the Court shall be rather blamed of his shamefastnesse and Cowardly heart then approued for his modestie and grauitie In deede for a young-young-Gentleman that is rich noble and free-harted it is an honest and comely entertainment to become some Ladyes seruaunt of the Court But for him that is poore liuing in disgrace and out of fauour let him vtterly flye the loue of Courtly Dames and sticke to the poor-poor-friends ship of deuout Nunnes For the property of Courtly Mistresses is to empty their seruants-purses and the manner of religious-Nunnes to beg alwayes of him that visites her The Courtyer that offereth himselfe to serue any Ladie or gentlewoman in court doth bind himselfe to a streight religion For sometimes hee must kneele by her of one knee sometimes he must stand vppon his Feete before her and alwayes he must haue his cap in his hand and he may not speake to her vnlesse shee commaund him first and if shee aske any thing
yea and surmount and surpasse many but yet I doe aduise thē not to employ their force but to follow one For often times it chanceth that many which suppose themselues in their life to excell all when they are dead are scarcelie found equall vnto any Though man hath done much and blazed what he can yet in the end he is but one one mind one power one birth one life and one death Then sithence hee is but one let no man presume to know more then one Of all these good Princes which I haue named in the rowle of iustice the last was Marcus Aurelius to the intent that he should weaue his webbe For suppose we reade of many Princes that haue compiled notable things the which are to bee reade and knowne but all that Marcus Aurelius sayde or did is worthy for to be knowne and necessary to bee followed I doe not meane this Prince in his Heathen law but in his vertuous deedes Let vs not stay at his beleefe but let vs embrace the good that hee did For compare many Christians with some of the Heathen and looke how farre we leaue them behind in faith so farre they excell vs in good and vertuous works All the olde Princes in times past had some Philosophers to their familiars as Alexander Aristotle King Darius Herodorus Augustus Pisto Pompeius Plauto Titus Plinie Adrian Secundus Traion Plutarchus Anthonius Apolonius Theodotius Claudinus Seuerus Fabatus Finally I say that Phylosophers then had such aucthoritie in Princes pallaces that children acknowledged them for Fathers and Fathers reuerenced them as masters These Wise and Sage men were aliue in the company of Princes but the good and vertuous Marcus Aurelius whose doctrine is before your Maiesty is not aliue but dead Yet therefore that is no cause why his Doctrine should not bee admitted For it may bee peraduenture that this shall profite vs more which hee wrote with his handes then that which others spake with their tōgus Plutarch sayeth in the time of Alexander the great Aristotle was aliue and Homer was dead But let vs see how hee loued the one and reuerenced the other for of truth he slept alwayes with Homers booke in his hands and waking he read the same with his eyes and alwayes kept the doctrine thereof in his memory and layde when he rested the booke vnder his head The which priuiledge Aristotle had not who at all times could not be heard and much lesse at all seasons be beleeued so that Alexander had Homer for his friend and Aristotle for a master Other of these Philosophers were but simple men but our Marcus Aurelius was both a wise Philosopher and a very valiant Prince and therfore reason would hee should be credited before others For as a prince hee will declare the troubles and as a Philosopher hee will redresse them Take you therefore Puisaunt Prince this wise Philosopher and Noble Emperour for a Teacher in your youth for a Father in your gouernment for a Captaine generall in your Warres for a guide in your iourneyes for a friend in your affayres for an example in your vertues for a Master in your sciences for a pure white in your desires and for equall match in your deedes I will declare vnto you the Life of an other beeing a Heathen and not the life of an other beeing a Christian For looke how much glory this Heathen Prince had in this world beeing good and vertuous so much paines your Maiesty shall haue in the other if you shall bee wicked and vicious Beholde behold most Noble and illustrious Prince the Life of this Emperour and you shal plainly see and perceyue how cleare hee was in his iudgement how vpright hee was in his iustice how circumspect in the course of his life how louing to his friends how patient in his troubles and aduersities how hee dissembled with his enemies how seuere against Tirants how quiet among the quiet how great a friēd vnto the Sage and louer of the simple how aduenturous in his warres and amiable in peace and chiefly and aboue all things how high in wordes and prosound in sentences Many and sundry times I haue beene in doubt with my selfe whether the heauenly and eternall Maiesty which giueth vnto you Princes the Temporall Maiesty for to rule aboue all other in power and authoritie did exempt you that are earthly Princes more from humane fraylety then hee did vs that be but Subiects and at the last I know hee did not For I see euen as you are children of the World so you doe liue according to the World I see euen as you trauell in the Worlde so you can know nothing but things of the world I see because you liue in the Flesh that you are subiect to the miseries of the flesh I see though for a time you doe prolong your life yet at the last you are brought vnto your graue I see your trauel is great and that within your Gates there dwelleth no rest I see you are colde in the winter and hote in the Summer I see that hunger feeleth you and thirst troubleth you I see your friendes forsake you and your enemies assault you I say that you are sadde and do lacke ioy I see that you are sicke and bee not well serued I see you haue much and yet that which you lacke is more What will you see more seeing that Princes dye O noble Princes and great Lords since you must dye and become wormes meate why doe you not in your life time search for good counsell If the Princes and noble men commit an errour no man dare chastice them wherefore they stand in greater need of aduise and counsell For the traueller who is out of his way the more he goeth forward the more hee erreth If the people doe amisse they ought to be punished but if the Prince erre he should be admonished And as the Prince will the people should at his hands haue punishment so it is reason that he at their hands should receyue counsell For as the wealth of the one dependeth on the wealth of the other so truly if the Prince bee vitious the people cannot be vertuous If your Maiesty will punish your people with words commaund them to print this present worke in their hearts And if your people would serue your Highnesse with their aduise let them likewise beseech you to reade ouer this booke For therin the Subiects shall finde how they may amend and you Lords shall see all that you ought to doe whether this present Worke be profitable or no I will not that my pen shall declare but they which do reade it shall iudge For wee Authours take pains to make and translate and others for vs to giue iudgement and sentence From my tender yeares vntill this present time I haue liued in the World occupying my selfe in reading and studying humane and diuine Bookes and although I confesse my debility to bee such that I haue not read so
How Cresus King of Lidia was a great friend and louer of Wise men Of a letter which the same Cresus wrote to the Philosopher Anacharsis and an other letter of the Philosophers answer to him chap. 45 162 Of the wisdome and sentences of Phalaris the tyrant And how hee put an artezan to death for deuising new torments chap. 46 166 The letter of Phalaris the tirant which was sent to Popharco the Philosopher 169 Of seuerall great and powerfull Kinges who were all of them true friends and louers of the Sages chap. 47. 170 The letter of King Philip to Aristotle the Philosopher 172 The second Booke Of what excellency marriage is and whereas common people marry of free-will Princes and noble men ought to marry vpon necessity and vrgencie chap. 1 177 How the Author prosecuting his purpose of marriage declareth that by means thereof many mortall enemies haue been made good and perfect friends c. 2. f. 180 Of diuers and sundry lawes which the Ancients had in contracting matrimony not onely in the choyce of women but also in the manner of celebrating marriage chap. 3 183 How princesses and great Ladies ought to loue their husbands and that loue ought not to be procured by coniurations and enchantments but by wisedom honesty and vertue desired ch 4. 187 Of the reuenge which a woman of Greece tooke on him that had killed her husband as hoping to enioy her in marriage chap. 5. 189 That Princesses and great Ladies ought to be obedient to their husbands and how great shame it is to the husband that his wife should command him ch 6. 194 That women especially princesses great Ladies should be very circumspect in going abroad out of their houses and that they should not deserue to be ill spoken of by such as resort to their houses chap. 4 198 Of the commodities and discommodities which follow princes and great Ladies that go abroad to visite or abide in their houses chap. 8 200 That women great with child especially princesses and great Ladies ought to be circumspect for the danger of creatures wherin is shown many misfortunes happening to women with child in olde time chap. 9 202 Of other inconueniences and vnluckie mischances which haue happened to women with child chap. 10 207 That women great with child especially princesses and great Ladies ought to be gently vsed of their husbands c. 11. 209 What the philosopher Pisto was and of the rules hee gaue concerning women with child chap. 12 212 Of three counsels which Lucius Seneca gaue vnto a Secretary his friend who serued the Emperour Nero And how the Emp. M. Aurelius spent the houres of the day chap. 13 214 The importunity of the Empresse Faustine to the Emperour concerning the keye of his closet chap. 14 219 The answere of the Emperour to Faustine concerning her demaund for the key of his study chap. 15 223 Of great dangers ensuing to men by excessiue haunting the company of women And of certaine rules for married men which if they obserue may cause them to liue in peace with their wiues chap. 16 228 A more particular answer of the Emperour to Faustine concerning the key of his study chap. 17 235 That Princesses and noble women ought not to be ashamed to giue their children sucke with their owne breasts chap. 18 239 A further continued perswasion of the Author that women should giue their owne children sucke chap. 19 242 That Princesses and great Ladies ought to be very circumspect in choice of theyr Nurses and of seuen especiall properties which a good Nurse should haue cha 20 249 Of three other especiall conditions which a good Nurse ought to haue that giueth sucke chap. 21 254 Of the disputations before Alexander the Great concerning the time of the sucking of babes chap. 22 259 Of sundry kinds of Sorceries charmes and witchcrafts which they in old time vsed in giuing their children suck which in Christians ought to be auoided ch 23. fol. 260 Of a letter which Marcus Aurelius sent to his friend Dedalus inueighing against such women as vse to cure children by sorceries charms enchantments ch 24 264 How excellent a thing it is for gentlemē to haue an eloquent tong ch 25 270 Of a letter which the Athenians sent to the Lacedemonians chap. 26 273 That Nurses which giue sucke to the childrē of Princes ought to bee discreete and sage women chap. 27 275 That women may be no lesse wise then men though they be not it is not thorow the defect of nature but rather for want of good bringing vp chap. 28. 279 Of a letter which Pythagoras sent to his sister Theoclea he being in Rhodes and she in Samcthrace both studying Philosophy chap. 29 281 A further perswasion of the Authour to Princesses and other great Ladies to endeauour themselues to be wise like as the women in elder times were c. 30. 282 Of the worthines of the Lady Cornelia and of a notable Epistle which she wrote to her two sons seruing in the warres Tiberius and Caius disswading them from the pleasurs of Rome exhorting them to endure the trauels of war chap. 31. 288 The Letter of Cornelia to her two sons Tiberius and Caius 289 Of the education and doctrine of children while they are young with a declaratiō of many notable histories c. 32. 294 Princes ought to take heede that their children bee not brought vp in pleasures and vaine delights because oftentimes they are so wicked that the fathers would not onely haue them with sharpe discipline corrected but also with bitter teares buried chap. 33 302 How Princes and great Lords ought to be careful in seeking wise men to bring vp their children Of ten conditions which good Schoolmasters ought to haue chap. 34. 309 Of the two children of Marcus Aurelius the best wherof dyed And of the masters he prouided for the other chap. 35. 317 Of the words which Marcus Aurelius spake to 5. of the 14. masters which hee had chosen for the education of his son And how he dismissed them from his pallace because they behaued thēselus lightly at the feast of their god Genius c. 36. 322 That Princes and noble men ought to ouersee the tutors of their children least they should conceale the secrete faultes of their scholler chap. 37. 326 Of the determination of the Emperour when he committed his childe to the tutors chap. 38 331 Tutors of Princes and noble mens children ought to bee very circumspect that their schollers do not accustom themselus in vices while they be yong but especially to be kept frō 4. vices chap. 39 343 Of two other vices perillous in youth which their masters ought to keepe them from chap. 40 348 The third Booke How Princes and great Lords ought to trauell in administring iustice to all men equally chap. 1 353 The way that Princes ought to vse for choyse of Iudges and Officers in theyr Countreyes chap. 2 fol 357 A villaine argueth in an Oration
one is deliuered from the torments of his Auarice and besides that hee recouereth friends for his person For riches tormenteth the Auaricious because hee spendeth them not The twelfth they asked him What the Prince should doe to gouerne others hee answered hee ought first to gouerne himselfe and then afterwards to gouerne others For it is vnpossible the Rod should bee right where the shadow is crooked By the occasion of this last answer I did bring in here all these questions to the ende Princes and Rulers might see how that euery one of them is as the rod of Iustice and that the Common-wealth is none other but a shadow of them which in all and for all ought to be right For immediatly it is perceiued in the shadow of the Comon-wealth if the Iustice or life of him which gouerneth bee out of his order Therfore concluding that all I haue spoken before if a Prince would aske mee why he is a Prince I would tell him in one word onely that hee which is the High Prince hath made you a Prince in this world to the ende you shuld be a destroyer of heretikes a father of orphanes a friend of Sages a hater of malicious a scourge of Tyrants a rewarder of good a defender and protector of Churches a plague of the wicked a onely louer and friend of the Commonwealth and aboue all you ought to bee an vpright minister of Iustice beginning first with your owne person and Pallace For in all things amendment is suffered except in Iustice which ought to bee equall betweene the Prince and Common-wealth CHAP. XXXVI What Plutarch the Philosopher was Of the wise words hee spake to Traian the Emperour And how the good Prince is the head of the Publike-weale IN the time of Traiana the Emperour there flourished in his Court a Philosopher named Plutarch a man very pure and of good life wise in science and well esteemed in Rome For Traian the Emperor desired greatly to haue Wise men in his companie and to make notable and sumptuous Buyldings in euery place where he came It was hee which wrote the liues of many noble Greekes and Romanes and aboue all hee made a Booke entituled The doctrine of Princes which hee offered to the Emperour Traian in the which hee sheweth his vertues the zeale which he had to the Common-wealth the highnes of his eloquēce the profoundnes of his knowledge For he was elegant in writing and pleasant in speaking and among all other things which hee wrote in his booke were these words following most worthie to be noted and written in Golden letters And they are such I let thee to know Lord Traian that thou and the Empire are but one mysticall bodie in manner and forme of a liuely bodie For they should and ought to be so correspondent and agreeable that the Emperor should reioyce to haue such subiects and the Empire ought to be gladde to haue such a Lord. And to the ende wee may describe the mysticall bodie which is the Empyre in the forme and shape of a natural man you shall vnderstand that the head which is aboue all is the Prince which commaundeth all the eyes whereby we see are the good men in the Commonwealth whom we followe the eares that heare what wee say are the Subiects which doe what wee commaund them the tongue wherewith we speake are the Sages of whom we heare the lawes and doctrines the hayres which growe on our heads are those which are vexed and gricued and that demaund iustice of the King The handes and armes are the Knights which resist the enemyes the feet which sustaineth the mēbers are the tyllers of the ground which giueth meate to all Estates the hard Bones that sustaineth the feeble and soft Flesh are the Sage men which endure the burden and trauell of the Common-wealth the Hearts which we see not outwardly are the Priuie Councellours Finally the necke that knitteth the bodie with the Head is the loue of the King combined with the whole Realme which make a Common-wealth All the words abouenamed spake Plutarch the great vnto Traian the Emperour And truly the inuention and grace of him proceeded of an high and deepe vnderstanding For the head hath three properties which are very necessary for the gouernor of the Common-wealth The first is that euen as the head is of all other members of the body the highest so the authority of the Prince exceedeth the estates of all others For the Prince onely hath authoritie to commaund and all others are bound to obey Admit there be many that are stout rich and noble men in the Common-wealth yet all ought to knowe and acknowledge seruice to the Lorde of the same For the noble and worthie Princes doe daily ease many of diuers seruices but they will neuer exempt any man from their loyaltie and allegeance Those which are valiant and mighty in a Realme should content themselues with that wherewith the battlements doe vpon a Castle that is to know that they are hier then the rampers wherein men walke on the Wals and lower then the pinnacles which are on the toppe for the wise man of high estate ought not to regard the Prince which is the high pinnacle but ought to looke on the alleis which are the poore comfortlesse I would speake a word and it greeueth me that is whereas great Lords desire in the commonwealth to commaund is like vnto him that holdeth his armes and hands ouer his heade For all that I haue heard and for all that I haue reade and also for all that hath chanced in my time I counsell admonish and warne all those which shall come after this time that if they will enioy their goods if they will liue in safeguard and if they will bee deliuered from tyranny and liue quiet in the Common-wealth that they doe not agree to haue in one Realme aboue one King and one Lord For it is a generall rule where there are many Rulers in a Common-wealth in the end both it and all must perish Wee see by experience that Nature formed vs with many sinewes many bones with much flesh with many fingers and with many teeth and to all this one only body had but one head wherefore though with many estates the Common-wealth is ordayned yet with one Prince alone it ought to bee ruled If it consisted in mens hands to make a Prince they would then also haue the authority to put him down but being true as it is most true indeede that the Prince is constituted by God none but God alone ought to depriue depose him of his estate but thinges that are measured by the diuine iudgment man hath no power with razour to cut them I know not what ambition the mean can haue neither what enuie the lowest can haue nor what pride the highest can haue to command and not to obey since wee are sure that in this mysticall body of the
to bee drunkards or gluttons for whereas the familiars ought principally to serue their Princes with good counsel in mine opinion a man being full surcharged with excesse is more like to bleach and breake wind after his surfet then able to giue any profitable counsell in the Common wealth In the Pallace of Princes ought not to be resiant nor familiar blasphemers for the man which is a servant and openly dare blaspheme his Creator will not spare in secret to speake euill of the Lord. In the palace of Princes ought not to be of counsell nor familiar the negligent and delicate persons for there is nothing next vnto the diuine prouidence that helpeth Princes more to be puissant and mighty then when their seruants are faithfull and diligent In the pallace of Princes defamed men ought not to haue familiarity for the Prince cannot excuse himselfe to bee thought culpable when they doe rebuke him if in his house he maintaine seruants which openly are defamed In the pallace of princes they ought not to suffer Ideots and fooles for the realmes are not lost for that the Princes are young vncircumspect and vitious but for that their Counsellours are simple and malitious Woe woe be to the land where the Lord is vitious the subiect seditious the seruant couetous and the Counsellour simple and malitious for then the common wealth perisheth when ignorance and malice raigneth in the prince and gouernour of the same Those words passed betweene the noble Knight Estilconus and the wise Philosopher Epimundus vpon the bringing vp of those two princes Archadius and Honorius And because that princes and prelates might see which now haue the charge to gouerne people how much the Auncients did desire to haue sage men about them notwithstanding that I haue spoken I will shew you heere some notable and ancient examples CHAP. XLV How Cresus King of Lydea was a great friend and louer of Sages Of a letter the same Cresus wrote to the Philosopher Anacharsis And of an other letter of the Philosophers answere to the King IN the yeare of the Creation of the World 4355. and in the third age Sardanapulus being king of the Assyrians Ozias King of the Hebrewes and Elchias being high Bishop of the holy temple at that time when Rea the mother of Romulus liued in the second yeare of the first Olimpiade the great and renowmed Realme of Lydes had beginning as Plinie in the fift booke of the Naturall History sayth Lidia is in Asia minor and first was called Meonia afterwards was called Lidia and now is called Morea This Realme of Lydes had many worthy Cities that is to say Ephese Colose Aclasomena and Phorea The first King of Lydes was Ardisius a man of great courage and a Grecian borne and raigned 36. yeares The second was Aliaces who raigned 14 yeares The third was Meleus and he raigned 12. yeares The fourth was Candale and raigned 4. yeares The fift was Ginginus and raigned 5. yeares The sixt was Cerdus and raigned 6. yeares The 7. was Sadiates and raigned 15. yeares The eight was Allates and he raigned 49. yeares and the ninth was Cresus and raigned 15. yeares and of this King Cresus Zenophon declareth that hee was more valiant in feates of warre then comely of personage for though he was lame of one foote blemished of one eye lacking one eare and of body not much bigger then a dwarfe yet for all this hee was a iust man very constant stoute mercifull couragious and aboue all hee was a great enemie to the ignorant and a speciall friend to the Sage Of this king Cresus Seneca speaketh in his booke of Clemency and sayeth that the Sages were so entirely beloued of him that the Greekes which had the fountaine of eloquence did not call him a louer but entituled him the loue of Sages for neuer no man did so much to attaine to the loue of his Lady as hee did to draw to him and to his Country sage men This king Cresus therefore beeing Lord of many barbarous nations the which loued better to drinke the bloud of the innocent then to learne the science of the wise like an excellent prince determined for the comfort of his person and remedy of his Common wealth to search out the greatest Sages that were in Greece At that time flourished the famous and renowmed Philosopher Anacharsis who thogh he was born and brought vp amongst the Seythians yet hee was alwayes resident notwithstanding in Athens For the Vniuersity of Athens did not despise those that were Barbarians but those that were vitious The King Cresus sent an Ambassadour in great authority with riches to the Philosopher Anacharsis to perswade and desire him and with those gifts and presents to present him to the end it might please him to come and see his person and to set an order in his Common wealth Cresus not contented to send him gifts which the Ambassadour carried but for to let him vnderstand why he did so wrote him a letter with his owne hand as hereafter followeth The letter of King Cresus to Anacharfis the Phylosopher CResus King of Lydes wisheth Anacharsis great Phylosopher which remainest in Athens health to thy person and increase of vertue Thou shalt know how well I loue thee in that I neuer saw thee nor knew thee to write vnto thee a letter For the things which with the eyes haue neuer bin seen seldomtimes with the heart are truely beloued Thou doest esteeme little as truth is these my small gifts and presents which I send thee yet I pray thee greatly esteeme the will and heart wherewith I do visite thee For noble hearts receiue more thankefully that which a man desireth to giue them then that which they do giue them in deede I desire to correct this my Realme and to see amendement in the common-wealth I desire good order for my person and to take order touching the gouernement of my palace I desire to communicate with Sages somethings of my life and none of these things can bee done without thy presence for there was neuer any good thing made but by the meane of wisedome I am lame I am crooked I am bald I am a counterfeit I am blacke and also I am broken finally amongst all other men I am a monster But all these imperfections are nothing to those that remaine that is to say I am so vnfortunate that I haue not a Phylosopher with me For in the world there is no greater shame then not to haue a wise man about him to be conuersant with all I count my self to be dead though to the simple fooles I seeme to bee a liue And the cause of death is because I haue not with me some wise person For truely he is onely aliue amongst the liuing who is accompanyed with the Sages I desire thee greatly to come and by the immortall gods I coniure thee that thou make no excuse and if thou wilt not
esteeme this Cinas that they sayde he was the Master and measure of mans eloquence for he was very pleasant in words and profound sentences This Cinas serued for three offices in the Palace of king Pirrus 1 First he made pastime at his Table in that hee did declare for he had a good grace in things of laughter 2 Secondarily he wrote the valiant deedes of his history for in his stile hee had great cloquence and to write the truth he was a witnesse of sight 3 Totrdly he went for Ambassadouring at affayres of great importance for he was naturally subtill and witty and in dispatching businesse hee was very fortunate He vsed so many meanes in his businesse and had so great perswasion in his words that hee neuer tooke vpon him to speake of things of warre but eyther he set a long truce or else hee made a perpetuall peace The King Pirrus saide to this Cinas O Cinas for 3. things I thanke to the immortall Gods 1 The first for that they created mee a King and not a seruant for the greatest good that mortall men haue is to haue liberty to commaund many and not bee bound to obey any 2 The second I thanke the immortal gods for that they naturally made mee stout of heart for the man which with euery trifle is abashed it were better for him to leaue his life 3 The third I giue the immortall gods thanks for that in the gouernement of my commonwealth and for the great affaires and busines of my realme as well in wars as in other things they gaue me such a man as thou art in my company For by thy gentle speech I haue conquered and abtained many Cities which by my cruell sword I could neuer winne nor attaine These were the words which Pyrrus sayd vnto his friend Cinas the Poet. Let euery Prince know now how great louers of wise men those were in times past and as vpon a sodaine I haue recited these few examples so with small study I haue heaped infinite Histories The end of the first Booke THE SECOND BOOKE OF THE DYALL OF PRINCES WHEREIN THE AVTHOR TREATETH HOW NOBLE Princes and great Lordes should behaue themselues towardes their Wiues And how they ought to nourish and bring vp their Chyldren CHAP. I ¶ Of what excellencie Marriage is and whereas common people marrie of free will Princes and Noble-men ought to marry of necessitie AMong al the friendships companies of this life there is none so naturall as that betweene the husband the wife liuing in one house For all other companyes are caused by free will onely but this proceedeth both by wil and necessitie There is at this day no Lyon so fierce no Serpent so venemous no Viper so infectiue no Aspicke so mortall neyther any beast so terrible but at the least both male and female do once in the yeare meete and conioyne and although that in brute beasts there lacketh reason yet notwithstanding they haue a natural instinction to assemble themselues for the conseruation of their kinde In this case men deserue no lesse reproch then Beasts merite praise For after that the Females by generation are bigge they neuer agree that the Males should accompanie with them According to the diuersity of Nations so among thēselues they differ the one from the other in Lawes Languages Ceremonies customs but in the ende all agree in one thing for that they enforce themselues to celebrate marriage As the Scripture teacheth vs Since the world was created there hath nothing bene more ancient then the Sacrament of Marriage For that day that Man was formed the selfe same day he celebrated mariage with a Woman in the terrestriall Paradise The ancient Hystoriographers aswell Greekes as Latines wrote many great things in the praise of Mariage but they could not say nor write so much as continuall experience doth shew vs. Therfore leauing the superfluous and taking the most necessary wee say that fiue commodities follow the Sage man who hath taken the yoke of Matrimonie The first is the memorie which remaineth to the children as successors and heyres of their Fathers For as the Phylosopher Pythagoras sayeth When a father passeth out of this present life and leaueth behinde him a Childe being his Heyre they cannot say vnto him that hee dyeth but that he waxeth young in his Childe since the child doth inherite the Flesh the Goods and the memorie of the Father Among the ancients it was a common prouerbe that the taste of all tastes is Bread the sauour of all sauours is Salt and the greatest loue of all Loues is from the Fathers to their children And though perchaunce we see the Father shew some rigor to their children we ought not therefore to say that they hate them and despise them for the tender loue of the Father to the Sonne is such that hee cannot endure him to doe any thing amisse or worthy of rebuke Not only men of reason and brute beasts but also the Hedge and Garden-trees to their possibilitie procure to continue their kinde and it is plainly seene in that before the fruits and hearbs were formed to be eaten the seeds and kirnels were made to be kept Men naturally desire honor in their life and memorie after theyr death Therefore I say that they come to honour by High and Noble and Heroycall facts but the Memorie is left by the good and Legittimate children For the children which are borne in adultrie are begotten in sinne and with great care are nourished The second benefit of Marriage is that they auoyd adulterie and it is no small matter to auoyde this vice For the Adulterers are not onely taken in the Christian religion for offenders but euen amongst the Gentiles also they are counted infamous The sage Solon in the lawes that he gaue vnto the Athenians commaunded vpon streight precepts that they should Marrie to auoyde adulterie vpon paine that the childe borne in adultrie should be made the common slaue of the Cittie The Romanes as men foreseeing all things ordained in the tables of theyr Lawes that the children which were born in adultery should not be heyres of the Goods of theyr Fathers When the Oratour Eschynes was banished out of Athens as he came by the Rhodes he tooke no such pains in any one thing as he did in perswading the Rhodians to marry and not to liue in adulterie For among those barbarous Matrimonie was not common but onely among them which were Officers of the Commonwealth Cicero in a familiar Epistle saith that the great Romaine Marcus Porcio being gouernor in the Common-wealth neuer agreed that an Vnckle of his should bee maister of the Romain chiualry vnlesse he were marryed which office was promised him by the Senate His name was Rufus a stout and valiant man of warre this notwithstanding Marcus Porcio saide that that praise which Rufus deserued for being valiant and hardie he lost againe for liuing
deaths should not be buryed CHAP. II. ¶ The Authour following his purpose declareth that by meanes of Marryage many mortall enemies haue beene made good and perfite Friends BY sundrie examples that we haue declared and by all that which remaineth to declare a man may knowe well enough of what excellencie Matrimonie is not onely for the charge of Conscience but also for the things touching honour for to say the truth the men that in the Common-wealth are married giue small occasion to bee slaundered and haue more cause to be honourd VVe cannot deny but that Matrimony is trouble some and chargeable to them that be marryed for two causes The one is in bringing vp their children and the other in suffering the importunities of their Mothers Yet in fine we cannot deny but that the good and vertuous wife is shee that setteth a stay in the house and keepeth her husband in estimation in the Common-wealth for in the publike affayres they giue more faith and credite vnto those that are charged with children then vnto others that are loaden with yeeres The fifth commoditie that ensueth Matrimony is the peace and reconciliations that are made betweene the enemies by meanes of Marriage Men in this age are so couetous so importune and malicious that there are very few but haue enemies wherby groweth contention and debate for by our weaknesse we fall daily into a thousand occasions of enmities and scarcely wee can finde one to bring vs againe into friendship Considering what men desire what things they procure and whereunto they aspire I maruell not that they haue so few friends but I much muse that they haue no more enemies For in things of weight they marke not who haue beene their friends they consider not they are their neighbours neyther they regard that they are Christians but their conscience laid a part and honestie set a side euery man seeketh for himselfe and his own affayres though it bee to the preiudice of all his neighbours What friendshippe can there bee amongst proud men since the one will goe before and the other disdayneth to come behinde What friendshippe can there bee amongst enuious men since the one purchaseth the other possesseth VVhat loue can there be between two couetous men since the one dare not spend the other is neuer satisfied to hourd heap vp For all that we can read see goe and trauell for all that we may do we shall neuer see nor heare tell of men that haue lacked enemies for either they be vicious or vertuous If they be euil and vicious they are alwaies hated of the good and if they be good vertuous they are continually persecuted of the euill Many of the ancient Philosophers spent a great part of their time and lost much of their goods to search for remedies and meanes to reconcile them that were at debate contention and to make them by gentlenes good friends louers Some said that it was good profitable to forget the enmities for a time for many things are pardoned in time which by reasō could neuer take end Others said that for to appease the enemies it was good to offer mony because mony doth not only breake the feminate tender hearts but also the hard and craggy rocks others said that the best remedy was to set good men to bee mediators between them in especially if they were sage wise men for the honest faces and stout hearts are ashamed whē they are proserred mony the good do humble thēselues by intreaty These means wel considered and the remedies wel sought out to make friends there are none so ready and so true as Marriage for the marriage done Sacramentally is of such and so great excellency that betweene some it causeth perfect friendshippe and betweene others it appeaseth great iniuries During the time that Iulius Caesar kept him elfe as father-in-law to the great Pompeius and that Pompeius held himselfe his sonne in law there was neuer euill will nor quarells betweene them but after that Pompeius was diuorced from the house of Caesar hatred enuy and enmities engendred betweene them in such sort that they contended in such and so cruell warres that Pompeius against his will lost his head and also Iulius Caesar shortned his life When those that dwelled in Rome rauished and robbed the daughters of the Sabines i◠after they had not changed their counsell and of theeues to become husbands without doubt the Romans bad beene all destroyed for the Sabines had made an oath to aduenture both their goods and their liues for to reuenge the iniuries done vnto them their daughters and wiues but by the meanes of Marriage they were conferred in great amitie and loue For the Romanes receiued in marriage the daughters of the Sabines whome before they had rauished Greater enmitie there cannot be then that of God towards men through the sin of Adam notwithstanding there neuer was nor neuer shall be greater friendship then that which was made by the godly marriage and for greater authoritie to confirme marriage the Sonne of God would that his Mother should be marryed and afterward hee himselfe was present at a Mariage where hee turned the Water into Wine though now adayes the euill maried men doe turne the wine into water He doth not speake here of Religious persons nor men of the Church neither of those which are closed in deuout places for those fleeing the occasions of the world and choosing the wayes lesse dangerous haue offered their soules to GOD and with their bodies haue done him acceptable Sacrifices for there is difference betweene the Religion of Christ and the sinfull Sinagogue of the Iewes for they offered Kidds and Muttons but heere are not offered but teares and sighs Leauing therefore all those secrets apart which men ought to leaue to God I say and affirme that it is a holy and commendable counsell to vse his profite with the Sacrament of Marriage the which though it bee taken of all voluntarily yet Princes and great Lords ought to take it necessarily For that Prince that hath no wife nor children shall haue in his Realme much grudging and displeasure Plutarch in the Booke hee made of Marriage sayth that amongst the Lidians there was a law well obserued and kept that of necessitie their Kings and Gouernours should be marryed and they had such respect to this thing and were so circumspect in this matter that if a Prince dyed and left his Heyre an infant they would not suffer him to gouerne the Realme vntill he were married And they greatly lamented the day of the departing of their Queene out of this life for with her death the gouernment ceased the Royall authoritie remayned voyde and the Common-wealth without gouernment so long time as the King deferred to take another wife and so they were sometimes without King or gouernment For Princes are or ought to be the mirrour and example of all to
thee so much to keepe thy children from witches For otherwise the cursed Women will doe them more harme then the good milke shal profite them I haue beene moued and prouoked to write thus much vnto thee for the great loue which I do beare thee and also calling to minde that which thou when we were in the sacred Senate oft times toldest me which was that thou diddest desire a sonne And since now thou hast thy petition I would not thou shouldst prouoke the Gods wrath by sorceries For in the faith of a good man I doe sweare vnto thee that when the Fathers are in fauour with the Gods there needeth no sorceries vnto the Children I had manie other things to write vnto thee Some of the which I will cōmunicate with thy seruant Fronton rather then to send them by letters And maruel not at this for letters are so perillous that if a man be wise hee wil write no more in a close letter thē he would declare openly in Rome Pardon me my friend Dedalus though indeede I write not vnto thee as thy appetite would nor yet as my will desireth For thou hast need to know many things and I haue not leaue by letter to put thee in trust therewith I cannot tell what I should write vnto thee of me but that alwayes the Goute doth take me and the worst of all is that the more I growe in yeares the more my health diminisheth For it is an old course of mans frailtie that where wee thinke to goe most surest there haue we most lets The Popinjay which thou didst send me as soone as I receyued it my wife did seaze it and truely it is a maruellous pleasure to heare what thinges it doth speak but in the end the women are of such power that when they wil they impose silence to the liuing and cause that in the graues the dead men speake According to that I doe loue thee and according to that I owe thee and as I haue vsed that which I doe sende thee is very little I say it because that presently I do send thee but two horses of Barbarie twelue swords of Alexandrie and to Fronton thy seruant for a new yeares gift for his good newes I haue giuen him an Office which is worth to him 20. thousand Sexterces of Rent in Cecyl Faustine did bid mee I should send thy wife Perusa a cofer full of odoriferous odours of Palestine and another cofer full of her owne Apparrel the which as I thinke thou wilt not a little esteeme For naturally Women are of theyr owne Goods niggardes but in wasting spending of others very prodigall The Almighty gods bee with thee and preserue thee from euill fortune The which I humbly beseech to graunt that vnto thee and mee and vnto my wife Faustine and to thy wife Pertusa that we all meete merily together in Rome for the heart neuer receyueth such ioy as when hee seeth himselfe with his desired friend Marcus of Mount Celio writeth to thee with his own hand CHAP. XXV How excellent a thing it is for a Gentleman to haue an eloquent tongue ONe of the chiefest things that the Creatour gaue to man was to know and be able to speake for otherwise the soule reserued the brute beasts are of more value then dumbe men Aristotle in his Aesconomices without comparison prayseth more the Pythagoricall sort then the Stoicall saying that the one is more conforme to reason then the other is Pythagoras commaunded that al men which were dumbe and without speech should immediately and without contradiction be banished and expulsed from the people The cause why this Phylosopher had commanded such things was for so much as he saide that the tongue is moued by the motions of the soule and that he which had no tong had no soule And hee which hath no soule is but a brute beast and he that is a beast deserueth to serue in the fieldes among brute beasts It is a good thing not to bee dumbe as bruite beasts are and it is a greater thing to speake as the reasonable men doe but it is much more worthy to speake wel as the eloquent Philosophers doe For otherwise if hee which speaketh doth not weigh the sentences more then the wordes oft times the Popingayes shall content thē more which are in the cage then the men which doe reade in Schooles Iosephus in the booke De Bello Iudaico sayeth That King Herod not onely with his person and goods but also with all his friends and parents followed and gaue ayde to Marcus Anthonius and to his louer Cleopatra howbeit in the end Octauian had the victory For the man which for the loue of a woman doth enterprise conquests it is impossible that eyther he lose not his life or else that hee liue not in infamy Herod seeing that Marcus Antonius was dead determined to go towards the Emperour Octauian at whose feet he layd his crowne and made a notable Oration wherein hee spake so pleasant words and so high sentences that the Emperour Octauian did not onely pardon him for that hee was so cruell an enemie but also hee confirmed him again vnto his realm and tooke him for his deare and speciall friend For among the good men and noble hearts many euill workes are amended by a few good works If Blundus in the booke intituled Roma triumphante do not deceiue me Pirrus that great King of the Epirotes was stoute and hardy valiant in armes liberall in benefices patient in aduersities and aboue al renowned to be very sweet in words and sage in his answeres They sayde that this Pirrus was so eloquent that the man with whome once hee had spoken remained so much his that from that time forward in his absence hee tooke his part and declared his life and state in presence The aboue named Blundus sayed and Titus Liuius declareth the same That as the Romaines were of all things prouided seeing that King Pyrrus was so eloquent they prouided in the Senate that no Romane Ambassadour should speake vnto him but by a third person for otherwise he would haue perswaded them through his sweet words that they should haue returned againe to Rome as his procurers and soliciters Albeit Marcus Tullius Cicero was Senatour in the Senate Consull in the Empire rich amongst the rich and hardy amongst men of warre yet truely none of these qualities caused him eternall memorie but onely his excellent eloquence This Tullius was so esteemed in Rome for the eloquence of his tongue onely that oft times they heard him talke in the Senate three houres together without any man speaking one word And let not this bee little esteemed nor lightly passed ouer for worldly malice is of such condition that some man may easily speake foure houres then another man shal haue patience to heare him one minute Antonius Sobellicus declareth that in the time of Amilcares the Affrican a Philosopher named Afronio flourished in
wold not trust the fine gold and thou doest trust the harde lead Drawe you two lots Socrates of Athens and thou of Samia see which of you two haue erred or done well hee to carry gold from the land to the sea to bring golde to the land I am assured that the auncient Romanes would say that it is he but the couetous of this present Worlde would say that it is thou That which in this case I thinke is that thou in praysing it dost disprayse thy selfe and Socrates in dispraysing it of all is praysed and esteemed CHAP. XXXI The Emperour followeth his matter concludeth his Letter greatly reprouing his friend Mercurius for that hee tooke thought for the losse of his goods Hee sheweth him the nature of fortune and describeth the conditions of the couetous man THis messenger told mee that thou art very sad that thou cryest out in the night and importunest the Godds wakest thy neighbours and aboue all that thou complaynest of Fortune which hath vsed thee so euill I am sorry for thy griefe for griefe is a friend of solitude enemy of company a louer of darkenesse strange in conuersation and heyre of desperation I am sorry thou cryest in the night for it is a sign of folly a token of small patience the point of no wise man and a great proofe of ignorance for at the houre when all the worlde is couered with darkenesse thou alone dost discouer thy hart with exclamations I am sorry that thou art vexed with the Gods saying that they are cruell Forsomuch as if they haue taken any thing from thee for thy pride they should restore it againe for thy humility for as much as we offend the Gods through the offence so much do wee appease them with patience O my friend Mercurius knowest thou not that the patience which the Gods haue in dissembling our faults is greater then that which men haue in suffering their chastisements for wee others vniustly do offend them and they iustly punish vs. I am sorry that with thy exclamations and complaints thou slaunderest thy neighbours for as thou knowest one neighbour alwayes enuieth another in especially the poore the rich And according to my counsell thou shouldest dissemble thy paine and take all things in good part for if perhaps thy riches haue caused thy sorrow thy patience will moue them to compassion I am sorry thou complainest of thy fortune For Fortune sith she is known of all doth not suffer her self to be defamed of one and it is better to thinke with Fortune how thou mayest remedy it then to thinke with what griefe for to complaine For there are diuers men which to publish their paine are very carefull but to seeke remedy are as negligent O poore innocent Mercurius after so long forgetfulnesse art thou more aduised to complain of fortune againe and darest thou defie fortune with whom all wee haue peace Wee vnbend our bowes and thou wilt charge thy launces thou knowest not what warr meaneth and yet thou wilt winne the victory all are deceyued and wilt thou alone goe safe what wilt thou more I say vnto thee since I see thee commit thy selfe vnto Fortune Doest thou know that it is shee that beateth downe the high walles and defendeth the Towne-ditches Knowest thou not that it is shee that peopleth the vnhabitable deserts and dispeopleth the peopled Cities Knowest thou not that it is shee that of enemies maketh friends and of friendes enemies Knowest thou not that it is she that conquereth the Conquerours Knowest thou not that it is shee that of traytors maketh faithfull and of faithfull suspitious Finally I will thou know that Fortune is shee which turneth realmes breaketh armies abasheth Kings rayseth Tyrants giueth life to the dead and burieth the liuing doest thou not remember that the second King of the Lacedemonians had ouer his gates such words The Pallace here behold where men doe striue By fruitlesse toyle to conquere what they can And fortune eke that Princes fancies rine By his vnbrideled will that alwayes wanne Certainely these words were hie and proceeded of a high vnderstanding And if in this case I may bee beleeued they ought to be well noted of wise men and not written before the gates but imprinted within the hearts Better knew he Fortune then thou since hee tooke himselfe for one disinherited and not as heire and when hee lost any thing as thou hee knew that hee receyued it by loane and not that it was his owne Men in this life are not so much deceyued for any thing as for to thinke that the temporall goods should remaine with them during life Now that God doth suffer it now that our wofull fortune doth deserue it I see no greater mishapps fall vnto any then vnto them which haue the greatest estates and riches so that truly wee may boldly say that hee alone which is shut in the graue is in safeguard from the vnconstancie of fortune Thy messenger hath tolde mee further that this sommer thou preparedst thy selfe to Rome and now that it is Winter thou wilt sayle to Alexandria O thou vnhappy Mercurie tell me I pray thee how long it is sithence thou lost thy sences for asmuch as when this life doth end thy auarice beginneth a new thou foundest two Cities very meete for thy traffique that is to say Rome which is the scourge of all vertues and Alexandria which is the chiefest for all vices And if thou louest greatly those two Cities heare I pray thee what marchandize are solde therein In Rome thou shalt loade thy body with vices and in Alexandria thou shalt swell thy heart with cares By the faith of a good man I doe sweare vnto thee that if perchaunce thou buyest any thing of that which is heere or sellest ought of that thou bringest from thence thou shalt haue greater hūger of that thou shalt leaue then contentation of that thou shalt bring Thou doest not remember that wee are in Winter and that thou must passe the sea in the which if the Pirates doe not deceiue mee the surest tranquility is a signe of the greatest torment Thou mightest tell mee that thy shippes should returne without fraught and therefore they shall sayle more surely To this I aunswere thee that thou shalt send them more loden with couetousnes then they shall returne loden with silkes O what a good change should it bee if the auarice of Italy could bee chaunged for the silke of Alexandria I sweare vnto thee that in such case thy silke wold fraught a ship our auarice wold lode a whole nauy That couetousnes is great which the shame of the World dooth not oppresse neyther the feare of death doth cause to cease And this I say for thee that sithens in this daungerous time thou durst sayle eyther wisdome wanteth or else auarice and couetousnesse surmounteth To satisfie mee and to excuse thee with those which speake to me of thee I cannot tell what to say vnto
which we are ignorant we haue no paine to attaine vnto them and lesse griefe also to lose them My intention to tell thee this was because that I knew that which I would not haue knowne and haue heard that which I would not haue heard that is to say that the dayes and troubles of Claudinus thy husband are ended and now thy sorrowes Lauinia his wife doe beginne It is now a good while that I haue known of the death of the good Claudinus my friend and thy husband though I did dissemble it And by the God Mars I sweare vnto thee that it was not for that I would not bewaile him but because I would not discomfort thee For it were extreame cruelty that shee which was so comfortlesse and sorrowfull for the absence of so long time should bee killed with my hand through the knowledge of the death of her so desired husband It were too vnkind and vnseemely a thing that shee of whom I haue receyued so many good works should receiue of me so euill newes The auncients of Carthage held for an inuiolable Law that if the Father did tell the death of his sonne or the sonne the death of the Father or the woman the death of her husband or the husband the death of his wife or any other semblable wofull and lamentable death that he should bee cast into the prison among them which were condemned to die It seemed to those of Carthage that he which sayde vnto another that his brother kinsman or friend was dead immediately they should kill him or hee ought to dye or at the least hee should neuer bee seene in his presence If in this case the Law of the Carthaginians was inst then I ought to be excused though I haue not told this heauie newes For as oft as we see him who hath brought vs any euill tidinges our sorrowes by his sight is renewed againe Since Claudinus thy Husband dyed I haue not had one houre of rest for to passe the time away for feare least such woefull and sorrowfull newes should come to thy knowledge But now that I know that thou knowest it I feele double paine For now I feele his death my care and thy want of consolation and the dammage by his death shall followe the Romaine Empire Thou hast lost a noble Romaine valiaunt in bloud moderate in prosperities pacient in aduersities couragious in daungers diligent in affaires wise in counsels faithful to his friends subtill and wary of his Enemyes a louer of the common-wealth and very honest in his person and aboue all and wherof I haue most enuie is that hee neuer offended man in his life nor hurt any with his tongue We finde seldome times so many vertues assembled in one man For saying the truth if a man doe narrowly examine the vices of manie which presume to be very vertuous I sweare that he should finde more to reproue then to praise Since thou hast lost so good a Husband and I so faithfull a Friend wee are bound thou to bewaile so great a losse and I to sigh for so good a companion And this I do not desire for Claudine who now resteth among the Gods but for vs others which remaine in daunger of so many euills For the dead doe rest as in the sure Hauen and we others doe faile as yet in raging Sea O thou heauy heart how doe I see thee betweene the Bell and the clappers that is to say that thou wantest the companie of the good and art enuironned with the flocke of euill For the which occasion I doubt often times whether I may first bewaile the euill which liue or the good which are dead because in the ende the euill men do offend vs more which we finde then doth the good men which we loose It is a great pittie to see the good and vertuous men dye but I take it to be more sorrow to see the euill and vitious men liue As the diuine Plato sayeth the gods to kill the good which serue them and to giue long life to the euill which offend them is a mysterie so profound that daily wee doe lament it and yet wee can neuer attayne to the secretes thereof Tell me I pray thee Lauinia knowest thou not now that the Gods are so mercifull with whom we go when we dye and that men are so wicked with whom we be whiles we liue that as the euill were borne to dye so the good dye to liue For the good man though hee dye liueth and the euill man though he liue dyeth I sweare vnto thee by the Mother Berecynthia and so the God Iupiter do preserue mee that I speake not this which I will speake fainedly which is that considering the rest that the dead haue with the Gods and seeing the sorrowes and troubles wee haue here with the liuing I say and affirme once againe that they haue greater compassion of our life then wee others haue of their death Though the death of men were as the death of beasts that is to say that ther were no Furyes nor diuels which should torment the euill and that the Gods should not rewarde the good yet wee ought to be comforted to see our friends die if it were for no other but to see them deliuered from the thraldome of this world The pleasure that the Pilot hath to bee in sure Hauen the glorie that the captaine hath to see the day of victorie the rest that the Traueller hath to see his journey ended the contentation that the workeman hath to see his work come to perfection all the same haue the dead seeing themselues out of this miserable life If men were borne alway to liue it were reason to lament them when we see them dye but since it is true that they are borne to dye I would say since needes dye wee must that wee ought not to lament those which dye quickly but those which liue long I am assured that Clandine thy Husband remembring that which in this life hee hath passed and suffered and seeing the rest that hee hath in the other though the Gods would make him Emperour of Rome he would not be one day out of his graue For returning to the worlde hee should dye againe but being with the Gods hee hopeth to liue perpetually Ladie Lauinia most earnestly I desire thee so vchemently not to pierce the heauens with thy so heauie sighes nor yet to wette the earth with thy so bitter teares since thou knowest that Claudine thy husband is in place where there is no sorrowe but mirth where there is no paine but rest where hee weepeth not but laugheth where hee sigheth not but singeth where he hath no sorrowes but pleasures where hee feareth not cruell death but enioyeth perpetuall life Since therefore this is true it is but reason the widdow appease her anguish considering that her husband endureth no paine Oftentimes with my selfe I haue thought what the Wddowes ought to imagine
Courtier in the ende hath not the meane nor commodiitie to spende as the Countrey-man hath that liueth at home at else in the countrey spendeth such commodities as hee brings into his house but the courtier consumeth in court not his owne alone but also that of others And therefore in Courte or elsewhere let euery wise man bee diligent to bring his affayres to ende but yet let him so moderate and vse his Expences as hee shall not neede nor be driuen to morgage and gage that hee hath For hee that feasteth and rowteth with others purse of that that is lent him cannot choose but in the ende he must breake and deceyue his creditours Therfore all worthiemen that loue their honour and feare reproache ought rather to suffer hunger colde thyrst care paine and sorrow then to be had in the checke-roule of ryotous and prodigall spenders trustlesse of theyr promises and suspected of their wordes There is yet another great trouble in the court of Princes and that is the exceeding dearth of victualls the vnreasonable want of houses and the great price of horses for many times they spend more for strawe and litter for their horse then they doe in other places for hay oats and bread And further if the Courtyer bee a poore gentleman and that he would feast and banquet his friends or companions he shall spend at one dinner or supper so much that he shal be constrained to faste a whole weeke after Therefore if the Courtyer will be well vsed in following of the Courte hee must not onely knowe and speake to also loue and inuite at times the Butchers Vittlers Fruitrers Keepers and Fosters Fishmongers and Poultrers and other purueyers of the same Of whom hee shall alwayes haue asmuch neede of his prouision as he shal haue neede of the iudges to shewe him Iustice when hee shall neede it For meate bread wine wood haye oats and strawe are commonly very deare it Court for fewe of all these things are to bee bought in Court but of others infinit things to be solde to profite and gayne the poore Courtyers that else had no shift to liue And yet is there a little more trouble in Court and that is that continually letters are sent to the Courtier from his Friendes to obtaine of the Prince or his Counsell his dispatch in his priuate affaires or for his seruants or tenants or other his friends And many times these sutes are so ill welcome to the courtyer that hee had rather haue pleasured his friend with a piece of mony then they should haue layde vpon him so weightie a matter And besides this there is yet another trouble that the bringer of this letter must needes lye at the Courtyers house attending his dispatch So that the Courtyer delaying his friends busines augmenteth his griefe and keeping the messenger there increaseth his charge And if perchance his busines be not dispatched and the suite obtained those that wrote to him will not thinke hee left it off for that hee would not do it or take paines therin but for that he wanted fauour and credite or at least were very negligent in following their cause And that that vexeth them throghly yet is that their parents and friends thinke which are in the countrey farre from Court that this Courtyer hath all the Courtyers at his commaundement that he may say and doe what he will there And therefore his Friendes when they haue occasion to employ him in Court and that they write vnto him touching their affayres and that hee hath now taken vpon him the charge and burden of the same seeing himselfe after vnable to discharge that hee hath enterprised and cannot as hee would satisfie his friends expectation then hee falleth to dispaire and wysheth hee had beene dead when hee first tooke vpon him this matter and that hee made them beleeue he could goe through with that they had committed to him beeing vnpossible for him hauing small credite and estimation ' amongst the Nobilitie and Councellours Therefore I would neuer councell him that hath Brethren Friendes or other neere Kinsfolkes in Court to goe seeke them out there albeit they had matters of great weight and importance on hope to be dispatched the sooner by their credit fauour and suite And for this cause for that in Court there is euer more priuate malice and enuie then in other places wherefore they cannot bee reuenged the one of the other but must tarry a time and when they see opportunitie they set in foote to ouerthrowe and secretly to put backe theyr aduersaries suite Now loe these things and other infinite plagues doe light vpon these vnfortunate courtiers incredible happely to anie but the olde and experienced Courtyer If the old and wise Courtier would count all the fauours and mischances the dearth and abundance the frendships and enmities the contentation and displeasures and the honor infamy hee hath endured in the Court I belieeue assuredly we should not be a little sorrie for that bodie that had suffered so much but much more for that heart that had abidden all those stormes and broyles When the Courtyer seeth that hee is not heard of the Prince nor spoken to of the beloued and fauoured of the Court and that the Treasurer doeth not dispatch him and the Cofferer keepe backe his wages it is a miserie to see him and on the other side a pleasure and pastime to heare what he sayes cursing the wretched life of this world And euen then in his heate and rage he teareth and blasphemeth GOD and sweares accursedly that thenceforth hee will forsake the vaine abuses of Courte and leaue also the Trompries of the deceitfull world avowing to enclose himself within precinct of Religious walles and to take vpon him also religious habite Alas if I fetched as many sighes for my sinnes as Courtyers doe for their mishaps and disgraces what a number would they come to For a Courtyer incontinent that hee feeleh himselfe sicke that hee is alone and reiected of his Friendes in Court hee becommeth so heauie and pensiue that with his deepe sighes he pierceth the heauens on hye and with his flowing teares he moystneth the Earth below So that a man might more easily number the troubles of the stout and hardy Hercules then those which the Courtyer daily suffreth And besides those manie wee haue recyted yet further these also we can recite that their seruaunts robbe them their Purse-bearers consume their money ieasters counterfait knaues lye euer vpon their reward women picke their purses and strumpets bawds spoile them of all But what shal I say more to you If the poore Courtyer be full of feathers euery man plumes him but if he want Winges there is no man hastie to plume him And to conclude in Princes Courts you shall finde no such trade of life whereby you may satisfie euery man For if the Courtier speake little they will say he is but a foole
take paine and play I rest mee and am quiet where others speake I am silent where they laugh I am courteous and iest not For wise men are neuer knowne but among fooles and light persons When the Courtier shall vnderstand or heare tell of pleasant thinges to be laughed at Let him in any case if he can flye from those great laughters and fooleries that hee bee not perhaps moued too much with such toâ—es to laugh too lowde to clappe his hands or to doe other gestures of the bodie or admirations too vehement accompanied either with a rude and barbarous manner of behauiour then with a ciuill and modest noblenesse For ouer great and excessiue laughter was neuer engendred of wisdome neyther shal he euer be counted wise of other that vseth it There are also an other sort of Courtiers that speake so coldly laugh so drily and with so ill a grace that it were more pleasure to see them weep then to laugh Also to nouell or to tell tales to delight others and to make them laugh you must be as briefe as you can that you weary not and comber not the Auditory pleasant and not biting nor odious Else it chanceth oftentimes that wanting any of these conditions from iesting they come many times to good earnest Elius Spartianus in the life of the Emperour Seuerus sayth that the sayd Em-Emperour had in his Court a pleasant foole and hee seeing the foole one day in his dumpes and cogitations asked him what he ayled to be so sadde The foole made answere I am deuising with my selfe what I should doe to make thee merry And I sw are to thee my Lord Seuerus that for as much as I weigh thy life so deare possibly I study more the nights for the tales I shall tell thee in the morrow after then doe the Senators touching that they must decree on the next day And I tell thee further my Lord Seuerus that to bee pleasant and delighting to the Prince hee must neyther be a very foole nor altogether wise But though hee bee a foole yet hee must smatter somewhat of a wiseman and if hee bee wise hee must take a little of the foole for his pleasure And by these examples wee may gather that the Courtier must needs haue a certaine modesty and comely grace as well in speaking as hee must haue a soft sweet voyce in singing There are also some in Court that do not spare to go to Noble mens bords to repast which being in deede the vnseemely grace it selfe yet in theyr wordes and talke at the boorde they would seeme to haue a maruellous good grace wherein they are oft deceyued For if at times the Lordes and gentlemen laugh at them it is not for any pleasure they take in their talke but for the ill grace and vncomely gestures they vse in their talke In the banquets and feasts Courtiers make sometimes in the Summer there are very oft such men in theyr company that if the wine they dranke tooke their condition it should bee drunke eyther colder or hoter then it is CHAP. VI. How the Courtier should behaue himselfe to know and to visite the Noble men and Gentlemen that be great with the Prince and continuing still in Court THe Courtier that commeth newly to the Court to serue there must immediately learne to know those that are in authority and fauour in the Court and that are the Princes Officers For if hee doe otherwise neyther should he be acquainted with any Noble man or Gentleman or any other of the Princes seruants neither would they also giue him place or let him in when he would For wee bee not conuersant with him wee know not and not being conuersant with him we trust him not and distrusting him wee commit no secrets to him So that hee that will come in fauour in the Court must make himselfe knowne and be friend to all in generall And hee must take heede that hee beginne not so suddenly to bee a busie suiter in his owne priuate affayres or for his friend for so hee shall be soone reputed for a busie soliciter rather then a wise Courtier Therefore hee that will purchase fauour and credite in the Court must not bee carefull to preferre mens causes and to entermeddle in many matters For the nature of Princes is rather to commit their affayres into the hands and trust of graue and reposed men then to busie and importunate soliciters The Courtier also may not bee negligent to visite the Prelates Gentlemen and the fauoured of the Court nor to make any difference betweene the one and the other and not onely to visite their parents and friends but his enemies also For the good Courtier ought to endeauour himselfe the best he can to accept al those for his frends at least that he cannot haue for parents and kinsfolkes For amongest good and vertuous Courtiers there should neuer bee such bloudy hate that they should therefore leaue one to company with another and to bee courteous one to another Those that be of base mind doe shew their cankred hearts by forbearing to speake but those that bee of Noble bloud and valiant courage beginne first to fight ere they leaue to speake together For there is also an other sort of Courtiers which beeing sometimes at the Table of Noble men or else where when they heare of some quarrell or priuate displeasure they shew themselues in offer like Lyons but if afterwards their helpe be craued in any thing and that they must needs stand by their friend and draw on his his side then they shew themselues as still as Lambes and gentle inough to bee entreated Amongst other the new come-Courtier hath to be acquainted withall he must learne to know those the Prince fauoureth and loueth best on whome hee must wayte and attende vpon and doe all the seruice he can without grudge and disdaine For there is no King but farre off on him hath an other King that still contrarieth his minde and preuenteth him of his intent and pleasure And euer neere vnto him some whom hee loueth and fauoureth that may dispose of the Prince as hee listeth Plutarch writing to Traian sayde these words I haue O Traian great pitty on thee for the first day thou tookest vpon thee the Imperiall Crowne of the Romane Empire of a free man thou thraldest thy selfe to bondage For onely you other Princes haue authority to giue liberty to al others but neuer to graunt it to your selues saying moreouer that vnder the colour of royall liberty you shall remaine more subiect then your owne subiects that euer obey you For if you command many in their houses also one alone after commaundeth you in your owne Courte Now although many commanded the Prince or that he would follow the counsell but of a few or that hee loued one aboue an other or that hee consented one alone should gouerne him the good Courtier neede not once to open
is forced by importunacie to accept the bidding without offering himselfe before hee deserueth as great thankes of the bidder for his comming as the other did in bidding him For if it should not be so it should seeme rather a dinner for staungers that trauell by the way then for Noblemen and Gentlemen that come from the Court. For that day the Courtyer graunteth to dyne with any man the same day hee bindeth himselfe to be beholding to him that bids him for although he come to him of good will yet to acquite his courtesie done him hee is bound of necessitie Also it is a small reputation and worthy great reproche that a Courtyer make his boast he hath eaten at all the Tables and Officers bordes in the Court and no man can say hee hath once beene at dinner or supper with him at his owne house And truly I remember I knew once a Courtyer that might dispende aboue two hundred Ducates by the yeare who told mee and assured me he neuer bought sticke of wood to warme him within his chamber nor Pot to seeth his meate in neither spit to roast with all nor that euer hee had any Cater for his prouision saue only that he had made a register of many Noblemens bords amongst whom he equally deuided his dinners and suppers By meanes whereof hee saued all his charges saue onely his mens Boordewages But what vilenesse or discurtesie could equall the miserie and shame of this carelesse Courtyer Sure not that of the meanest and poorest Slaue of the world that liueth only by his hire No it deserueth not to be compared vnto it For to what ende desire wee the goods of this world but that by them we may be honored relieue our Parents and Kinsmen and thereby also win vs new Friends what state or condition soeuer hee be of that hath ynough and aboundance wee are not bound to esteem the more of him for that nor to do him the more honour but onely for that he spendeth it well and worshipfully and for his honour if hee be honourable And this we speake of Gentlemen as of Cittizens And he that in Court makes profession to Dine at othermens Tables I dare vndertake if they dine betimes on the Holliday hee will rather lose Seruice in the morning then Dinner at noone And if any Friend come to lye with these sort of Courtyers and that hee be but newly come the Court straight-wayes he will haue him with him to dinner and bring him to salute the Gentleman where he dines that day saying That hee was bolde to bring his Kinsman and Friend with him to salute him And all this is not so much to bring him acquainted with him as it is to spare his meate at home for them both And yet they haue an other knacke of Court finer then this They flatter the Pages and Seruants because they shold euer giue them of the best wine at the Table and with certaine familiar nods and sweete wordes they entertaine the Lords Shewers and Caruers and make much of them that they should set before them full dishes and of the best and daintiest meate There are also some of these Courtiers that to be well wayted vpon at the fable and to make them his friends doe sometimes present the Steward with a veluet capp the shewers with a payre of washed or perfumed gloues the Pages with a sword-girdle and the Butlers or Cupbordkeepers with some other prety reward or deuise And it chanceth often times in noble mens houses that there are so many guests to dine and suppe with him dayly that many times the boord will not holde them all by a great number which when they once perceyue to see how quickly and with what speed the Courtiers take their places to set them downe and to be sure of a roome It is a world to see it But oh I would to God they were so happy and diligent to goe to the Church and heare a Sermon as they are busie to get them stooles to sit at the Table And if perhaps a Courtier come late and that the Table bee all ready full and the lurch out yet hee will not bee ashamed to eate his meate neuerthelesse For albeit hee cannot bee placed at his ease yet he is so bold and shamelesse that rather then faile hee will sit of halfe a buttocke or behind one at the Table I remember I saw once at a Noblemans Table three Courtiers sitt vpon one stoole like the foure sonnes of Amon and when I rebuked them for it and tolde them it was a shame for them They aunswered me merily againe that they did it not for that there wanted stooles but to proue if neede were if one stoole would holde them three Such may well bee called greedie gluttons and shamelesse proulers without respect or honesty that when they are dead would bee buried in the highest place of the Church when they are aliue little force at whose table they sit or how they sitt little regarding their honor or estate Truely for him that is poore and needy to seeke his meate and drinke where he may come by it best it is but meete but for the gorgeous Courtier bedeckt with gold buttoned and be iewelled ietting in his veluets and silkes to begge and seeke his dinner dayly at euery mans boord being nobly and honourably entertayned of the prince and able to beare his coūtenance what reproch defame and dishonour is it to him Hee that vseth dayly to runne to other mens Tables is oft times forced to sit lowest at the boord vpon a broken stoole and to be serued with a rusty knife to eate in foule dishes to drinke for a change hote water and wine more then halfe full of Water and to eate hore bread and that that of all others yet is worst of all euery one of the seruants lookes ouer theyr shoulder on him and are angry with him in their minds Truely hee that with those conditions goeth abroad to seeke his dinner were better in my opinion to fast with bread water at home then to fil his belly abroad But such mēs reward that haunts mens houses in this manner is this in the end that the Noblemen to whose houses they come to are offended with them the Stewards of the house murmur at them the pages and seruants mockes them and laughes them to scorne The Tasters and Cup-bearers chafe with them in their mindes The Cupborde keepers wonder at them the Clerkes of the Kitchin thinkes them importunate and shamelesse creatures Wherfore it followeth whosoeuer will obserue it that so soone as the seruantes once see him come into the dining Chamber some of them hides the stoole where hee would sit downe others set before him the worst meat of the boord and the filthiest dishes they haue and therfore he that may haue at home at his house his poore little pittance well drest a faire white Table cloath a
to him by reason of his dayly accesse to them and he shall purchase himselfe a good opinion of them besides the good example hee shal leaue to others to tread his steps and sollow his course For what is more true then when a young Gentleman commeth newly to the court you shall see immediately a company of other young fooles a company of amarous squires light and idle persons a company of troublesome Iesters and couetous praters besides other young frye in the Court that when they know a new come Courtier namely beeing of great liuing They will seeke to attend vpon him and traine him to the lure of their affects and manner bidding him to like of their qualities and conditions Wherefore cunningly to shake of the route of these needy greedy retainers he must altogether feede them with faire words shew them good countenance and yet notwithstanding seeke by all policy he can to flye their fellowship and company Noble mens sonnes Knights sons and Gentlemens sonnes may not thinke their friends sendeth them to the Court to learne new vices and wicked practises but to winne them new friends and obtaine the acquaintance of noble men whose credit estimation with the Prince may honour and countenance them and by their vertues and meanes may after a time bee brought into the Princes fauour and dayly to rise in credit and reputation amongst others Therefore such fathers as will send their children to the Court vnlesse they doe first admonish them well how they ought to behaue themselus or that they recommend them to the charge and ouersight of some deare and especiall friend of theirs that will reproue them of their faults when they doe amisse I say they were better to lay yrons on their feet and send them to Bedlam or such other like house where mad men bee kept For if they bee bound there in yrons it is but to bring them to their wittes againe and to make them wise but to send them to the Court loose and at liberty without guide it is the next way to make them fooles and worse then madde men assuring you no greater daunger nor iniury can bee done to a young man then to be sent to the court not committed to the charge of some one that shold take care of him and looke straightly to him For otherwise it were impossible hee should bee there many dayes but hee must needes runne into excesse and foule disorder by the meanes whereof he should vtterly cast himselfe away and heape vpon theyr parents heads continuall curses and griefes during their liues And therefore their Fathers supposing after they haue once placed their sonnes in the Court that they should no more carke nor care of them nor reckon to instruct them to bee wise and vertuous finde when they come home to them againe that they are laden withvices ill complexioned worse apparrelled their clothes all tattered and torne hauing vainely and fondly spent and played away their money and worst of all forsaken their Masters leauing them displeased with their seruice And of these I would admonish the young Courtier because he must of necessity accompany with other yong men that in no case he acquaint himselfe with vitious and ill disposed persons but with the honest wise and courteous amongst whom hee shall put vpon him a certaine graue and stayed modesty fitting himselfe onely to their companies being also apt and disposed to all honest and vertuous exercises decent for a right Gentleman and vertuous Courtier shuning with his best policy the light foolish and vaine toyes of others And yet notwithstanding this my intent and meaning is not for to seeme to perswade or teach him to become an hypocrite but onely to bee courteous honest and well beloued of other young Gentlemen winning this reputation with all to be esteemed the most vertuous and honestest among them gallant and liuely in his disports and pastimes of few words small conuersation amongst bosters and back-byters or other wicked and naughtie persons not to bee sad among those that are merrie nor dumme among those that talke wisely and of graue matters nor to belieue hee should be accounted a trim Courtyer to take his book in his hands to pray when others will take the ball to play or goe about some other honest recreations or pastimes for exercise of the bodie For in so doing they would rather take him for a Foole and an Hypocrite then for a vertuous and honest young man Being good reason the childe should vse the pleasures and pastimes of a childe young men disportes and actes of youth and olde men also graue and wise recreations fit for them For in the end doe the best we can wee cannot flye the motions of the Flesh wherein wee are borne into this world These young Gentle-men Courtyers must take heede that they become not troublesome importunate nor quarrellers that they be no filchers lyars vacabonds and slaunderers nor any way giuen to vice As for other things I would not seemeto take from them their pastime and pleasures but that they may vse them at their own discretion And in all other things lawfull and irreprouable obseruing times and houres conuenient and therewitall to accompanie themselues with their fellowes and companions Also the young Courtyer that commeth newly to the Court must of necessitie be very well apparelled according to his degree and calling and his seruants that follow him well appointed For in Courte men regarde not onely the House and familie hee commeth of but marke also his Apparell and seruants that follow him And I mislike one thing very much that about the Court they doe rather honour and reuerence a man braue and sumptuous in apparell being vitious then they doe a man that is graue wise and vertuous-And yet neuerthelesse the Courtyer may assure himselfe of this that few will esteeme of him eyther for that hee is vertouus or nobly borne if hee be not also sumptuously apparelled and well accompanied for them onely will euery man account and esteeme of him Wherefore I durst take vpon mee to sweare if it were possible to take oath of our bodyes that they would sweare they needed them not much lesse desire so large compassed gowns that euery puffe of winde might swell thē as the sayles of a Ship neyther so long that trayling on the ground they gather dust and cast it into our eyes Howbeit I thinke now-adayes these fine men weare them large and wide and women long with traynes vpon the ground because in the Court and else-where no man makes reckning of him that spendeth but orderly and onely vpon necessaries to goe cleanly withall but him they set by that is prodigall excessiue and superfluous And who that in his doings and apparell is moderate and proceedeth wisely they holde him in Court for a miserable and couetous mans and contrarily hee that is prodigall and lauish in expence him they count a noble and
to punish an iniurious word then to seeme to laugh at it For it is a thing more naturall and proper to women then men to desire to take reuenge of wordes with the like words againe sith the noble heart that esteemeth his honour must not haue his handes in his tongue but his tongue in his hands O how many haue we seene both out of Court and in Court the which for no other respect but to reuenge one onely silly word that touched them not much would put themselus their goods and fame in perill and yet in the end had not that reuenge which they desired but rather redoubled it against themselues in loosing their fond and vaine attempt Therefore to conclude those that will bee great in fauour and estimation in the Princes Court and those also that are now in fauour and credite with the Prince and that desire to continue and perseuer in his fauour still must not make account of any wordes spoken to him or offences done him for all that are in fauour haue neede to suffer and no occasion to report Till this present day I neuer saw any that receiued any hurt or detriment by being patient but being impatient I haue seen numbers cast thēselus away you must also know that in all places where troupes and companies of people be there is alwayes euer discords and diuersities in opinions and iudgements of men So that it happeneth many times in a common-weale yea and it meeteth sometimes in one house that all shal be of one bloud and kinred yet in priuate willes and affections mortall enemyes And therefore sure it is a thing worthy to be noted and no lesse to be wondred at to see the fathers with the sonnes the Vnckles with the nephews the graund-fathers with the children the sonnes in Law with their fathers in Lawe and Brothers with their brothers and sisters the one to be as farre different from the other as white and blacke and as much friends as the dogge and the cat And all this is caused only for that they are rather wedded to a selfe-will and opinion they haues then they are adicted to loue and affect that that nature bindeth them to We see also many young Courtiers that though they be vertuous and Noble hauing inherited and succeeded in Nobilitie of bloud their Ancestors by meanes whereof they are honoured and reuerenced and possessing also the greatnesse and abundance of their goods and riches which makes them wealthy and maintaines them honourably enioying the Noble parentage for which they are regarded hauing many friends and seruants that doe them great seruice and pleasure And all in respect of their Noble Ancestors and yet notwithstanding al these great things wee haue spoken they follow their owne inuentions and imaginations which their Ancestors knowing would haue fled and hate and mislike that they doubtlesse being aliue would haue followed And therefore it is rather a token of lightnesse then of good will for one to leaue to helpe and relieue his owne friends and kinsfolks to succour and doe good to strangers or others whom hee neuer knew nor can tell what they are For I assure you that one of the greatest losses and mishaps that can come to a Noble house is to haue new friendshippe and parciality with strangers and men vnknowne That Gentleman that giueth himselfe to follow such a one as pleaseth his fantasie best and that leaueth to leaue to those whom his Ancestors heretofore both loued and liked shall see those old friends not onely leaue and forsake him but cleane giue him ouer to his will and shortly after shall finde his substance and faculty consume and waste away besides the honour of his house to bee brought to vtter decay and obliuion And this we haue spoken onely to aduise the Princes Officers and such as haue credite and authoritie that they doe not with fauour support and ayde any partiall sect namely that that concerneth the state and body of Common-wealth for the esteemed of the Prince more easily and with lesse occasion doe vndoo themselues and lose the credite they haue wonne by reason of their partialiteis and factions they maintaine then they doe for their daily benefites and suits they importune the Prince in Wherefore the seruants and Officers of the Kings house although they bee in good fauour with the Prince and that it please him to like well of them yet they may not so hardly support any to doe hurt to others and so absolutely as if they were the Lords and Princes themselues For albeit it pleaseth the King to call them to honour and to enrich them with goods and possessions yet the King cannot nor will not like that they shall bee suborners of factions and quarels amongst their subiects in the Common-wealth And yet neuerthelesse it happeneth many times that those that see themselues onely in fauour aboue others will presume to doe violence and wrong to others trusting to their great fauour they are in that that shall suffice to cloke and hide any fault they shall commit which they neuer ought to think nor yet for any respect in the world to doe For such vnhaply might be the crime they doe commit that although it be in the Princes power to doe great things for them yet he could not at that time with his honor excuse their offence nor seeme to protect them in their lewdnesse without great murmour and discontentation of his subiects I know very well that in Court the mindes affections and opinions of Courtiers are so diuers and variable and notwithstanding the beloued of the Prince endeauour himselfe all hee can possible to please and content euery man in Court yet of all impossibilities it is a thing most impossible euer to attaine to it to winne all mens good willes Neuerthelesse hee must so trimly and wisely behaue himselfe in all his doings that those at least whom he cannot with all his pollicy and deuice make his friends haue not yet any iust occasion giuen them to bee his enemies I see there is no meane no reason no deuice nor pollicy of man fauour nor negligence that can defend the honoured and esteemed of Court from detraction and enuy Therefore I will boldly giue him this aduice with him that in matters of Iustice and other publike affayres he beare himselfe so vpright that notwithstadding they repine at his authoritie and credite yet that they haue no cause offered to complayne of him The Courtyer is forced to complaine when his owne familiar companyons and fellow-seruants of the Prince in his matters of contenion or quarrell step between them not to part them but rather to the contrary to contend with them and ioyne in demaund of that they striue for which the luckles Courtyer is very apt to know although hee dares not discouer it For many times he supposeth it lesse euill to suffer the persecution of the enemie then to fall into the disgrace of the beloued and
that it shall not bee blazed abroad in the Court. For this sinne is of such a qualitie that though it may bee hidden within Curtaines yet it cannot bee kept silent with tongues How wise and slie soeuer a woman bee yet at all times when shee giueth eare vnto mens requests euen at that prosent shee resolueth to impart the whole with some friend of hers For these women doe glory more to bee the friend of a Courtier then to bee a true wife vnto their husbands I haue my selfe seene in Princes Courtes many 〈◊〉 very humble courteous pittifull patient charitable wise deuout and otherwise maruellous honest and yet amongst all these I neuer found any one secret And therefore that a man will haue published to the World let him 〈◊〉 tell it a woman in â—â—e at secret 〈…〉 should come to 〈◊〉 that wee 〈…〉 women carry 〈…〉 heads a forrest of hayres a coyre a hood gimmâ—â— hanging at their eares partlets vpon their shoulders smockes on their bodies petti 〈…〉 kertles hose clokes 〈…〉 hatts chaynes braslets rings pâ—umes offethers in their hands and many other trinkets not named al which they carry lightly vpon them and thinke it no burthen and yet they cannot abide in no case to keepe or carry one secret in their brest Alas what pitty is it to see those affected Courtiers what meanes they vse to win a Ladies fauour what pleasaunt purposes and discourse they put forth vnto them what bitter signes they let fall what seruice they offer them what Iewels they giue them what castles in the ayre they promise them what sorrowes they fayne and what lyes they make them belieue and these silly women by nature proud and foolish are with a few gifts ouercome with a fewe flattering wordes beguiled Now let this Courtier and his Lady continue this mutuall friendship betweene them one two three foure or fiue yeares though perhappes not fully these yeares compleate neyther many monethes also and you shall see in the end vndoubtedly a maruellous breach and hate betwixt them For this amorous Courtier that so dearely seemed to loue his Lady will now make court a fresh to others to dislike that heretofore he loued and flie from her whom erst hee followed abhorring that once hee delighted in misliking the taste of those meats that once were sweet and pleasant to him and cannot abide her face now whose Image before hee had engrauen in his minde So if he before had spent 3. yeares seruice in making her his Mistresse he spendeth now 6. other yeares in the forgotting of her And therefore these Noble Courtiers and Beloued of Princes must beware they make not these young and dishonest loues common in euery place For the sweete and fragrant Rose which they seeke to gather continueth scantly one houre but the prickes and plagues of the pearsing thorne resteth hidden in their flesh their whole life time after A man erreth in nothing more in this World then in taking to his charge a dishonest woman For if hee will bring her with him to the Court shee shall shame him put him to an vnreasonable charge besides the burthen of his conscience And if afterwards hee would put her away from him she wil not depart for any thing and if he would compel her to it ere shee departe it will be all the Court ouer so what things haue past betwixt them two alone in secret shall afterwardes be knowne of euery man abroade And therefore we haue not causelesse tolde you that it must needs be a maruellous expence to the Courtyer to bring his louer with him in the Court. For he must alwayes be at the charges to keepe a page maide or gentlewoman to wayte vpon her He must content the Hostesse of his house to lodge her secretly please the Marshall to seeme not to knowe of it the Harbinger that hee prepare him a good lodging the page that hee be diligent and at her hand and her selfe also must haue to liue withall So that the expence and charge hee shall be at with her must needs farre exceede all the benefites and commodity he hath by the Court. And besides that hee may assure himselfe that this their leawde and fonde loue cannot long endure neyther can care also of her selfe be kept secret For eyther his Hostesse that lodged her or the Bawde that procureth theyr meetings or the page that bringeth commendations and messages betwixt theÌ„ or the neighbors that see him frequent the house or the seruant that shall suspect him or the mother that solde her vnto him in the ende will bewray their secret practise and friendship Whereof springeth afterwards disdaine and from disdain to defame each other So that of extreame Louers they were first they afterwards become mortall Enemyes And therefore the Wiuell is not so hurtfull to the Corne nor the locust to the Oates nor the wormes to the vines nor maggots to the fruit nor the moths to the garments as the woman is to a man that once was his friende and now become his enemie For like as in time of her loue she robbed and spoyled him of all his goods so likewise in the time of her hatred she deuoureth all his good fame and reputation But what shall wee say of the man that contenteth not himselfe with one friend alone but like an vnsatiable leacher taketh vpon him to keep another Truly I cannot tell what to say of this man but that it had beene better for him he had neuer been borne then to haue kept company with such vile and common women For he shall neuer appease the first neyther with anger nor flattery nor humble her with presents nor can expell her hatred with promises neyther please her with cherishing of her and much lesse shall ouercome her with threats The Ocean sea is not so daungerous nor the sword of the tyrant so cruell neyther lightning so suddaine nor Earthquakes so horrible and fearefull nor Serpents so venemous as a Harlot when she doth but suspect her friend loueth another beside her selfe for shee ceaseth not to defame him and to follow the other to raise a slander amongst her neighbours to complaine to his friends to bewray the matter to the Iustice to quarrell with Officers alwayes to haue spyes for him in euery place as if hee were one of her mortall enemies Oh would to GOD the Courtyer would esteeme as much of his conscience as his Louer maketh account of his person happie were hee For I dare assure him if he know it not that shee spyeth out all the places hee goeth to and counteth euery morsell of meate he eateth and becommeth iealous of all that hee doeth and of all those whose companie hee frequenteth yea she deuiseth and imagineth all that hee thinketh So that he that seeketh a cruell reuenge of his enemy cannot doe better then perswade and induce him to loue one of these well-conditioned gentle-women Now let him thinke that he hath great warres and by
one meale a day but I saw him suppe many times in the night O diuine Plato if thou wert aliue as thou art dead and present with vs in this our pestilent age as thou werte then in that golden how many shouldest thou see that doe not onely dine and sup well but before dinner breake their fast with delicate meates and wines banket after dinner and supper also before they goe to bed So wee may say though Plato saw then but one Tyrant suppe hee might see now euery body both dine and suppe and scant one that contenteth him with one meale a day in which the brute beasts are more moderate then reasonable men Sith we see that they eate but so much as satisfieth them and are not contented to eate inough yea till they be full but more then nature will beare And brute beasts haue not also such diuersity of meates as men haue neyther seruants to wait on them beds to lye in wine to drinke houses to put their heads in money to spende nor Physitions to purge them as men haue And yet for all these commodities wee see men the most part of their time sicke And by these things recited we may perceyue that there is nothing preserueth so much the health of man as labour and nothing consumeth sooner then rest And therefore Plato in his time once spake a notable sentence and worthy to be had in minde and that is this That in that City where there are many Physitions it must needs follow of necessitie that the Inhabitāts there of are vicious and riotous persons And truly we haue good cause to carry this saying away sith wee see that Physitions commonly enter not into poore mens houses that trauell and exercise their body dayly but contrarily into the rich and wealthy mens houses which liue continually idely and at ease I remember I knew once a Gentleman a kinsman of mine and my very friend which hauing taken physicke I came to see how he did supposing hee had beene sicke and demaunding of him the cause of his purgation he tolde mee hee tooke it not for any sicknesse hee had but onely to make him haue a better appetite against hee went to the feast which should be two or three daies after And within sixe dayes after I returned again to see him and I found him in his bedde very sicke not for that he had fasted too much but that hee had inglutted him selfe with the variety of meates hee did eate at the feast So it happened that when hee purged himselfe once onely to haue better stomacke to eate hee needed afterwards a dozen Purgations for to discharge his loaden stomacke of that great surfet hee had taken at the feast with extreame eating And for the foure howres hee was at the Table where this Feast was hee was lodged afterwardes in his Chamber for two monethes to pay vsury for that hee had taken and yet it was the greate grace and mercy of GOD hee escaped with Life For if that it bee ill to sinne It is farre worse to seeke procure occasions to sinne And therefore by consequent the sin of Gluttonie is not onely dangerous for the conscience hurtfull to the health of the body and a displeasing of God but it is also a worm that eateth and in fine consumeth wholy the goods and faculties of him that vseth it Besides that these gurmands receiue not so much pleasure in the eating of these dainty morsels as they do afterwards griefe and displeasure to heate the great accounts of their stewards of their excessiue expences It is a sweet delight to bee fed daylie with daintie dishes but a sowre sauce to those delicate mouthes to put his hand so oft to the purse Which I speake not without cause sith that as wee feele great pleasure and felicitie in those meats that enter into our stomackes so doe we afterwards thinke that they plucke out of our heart the money that payeth for these knackes I remember I saw written in an Inne in Catalogia these words You that hoast here must say when you sit downe to your meate Salue regina Yea and when you are eating vitae dulcedo yea and when you reckon with the hoste Ad te suspiramus yea and when you come to pay him Gementes flentes Now if I would goe about to describe by parcels the order and maner of our feasts and banquets newly inuented by our owne Nation there would rather appeare matter to you to lament and bewayle then to write And it had beene better by way of speech to haue inuented diuers fashiōs of tables formes and stooles to sit on then such diuersity of meates to set vpon the Tables as wee doe vse now a dayes And therefore by good reason did Licurgus king of Lacedemonia ordaine and command that no stranger comming out of a strange Countrey into his should be so hardy to bring in any new customes vpon paine that if it were knowne he should be straite banished out of the Countrey and if he did vse and practise it he should be put to death I will tell you no lye I saw once serued in at a feast 42. sorts and kindes of meates in seuerall dishes In an other feast of diuers sortes of the fish called Tuny And in an other feast being flesh day I saw diuers fishes broyled with larde And at an other feast where I saw no other meat but Troutes and Lamperies of diuers kinds of dressing And at an other feast where I saw onely vi persons agree together to drinke each of them three pottles of wine a peece with this condition further that they should bee 6. houres at the table and he that dranke not out his part should pay for the whole feast I saw also an other feast where they prepared three seuerall Tables for the bidden guests the one boorde serued after the Spanish manner the other after the Italian and the thirde serued after the fashion of Flanders And to euery table there was serued 22. sorts of meates I saw also at an other feast such kinds of meates eaten as are wont to bee seene but not eaten as a horse rosted a cat in gely little lysers with hote broth frogges fryed and diuers other sorts of meats which I saw them eat but I neuer knew what they were till they were eaten And for Gods sake what is he that shall reade our writings and see that is commonly eaten in feastes now a dayes that it will not in a manner breake his heart and water his plantes The onely Spices that haue beene brought out of Calicut and the manner of furnishing of our boordes brought out of Fraunce hath destroied our Nation vtterly For in the old time they had no other kinds of Spices in Spaine but Saffron Comin Garlicke and Onions and when one friend inuited an other they had but a peece of beefe and a peece of veale and no more and it was a rare and dainty
dryeth a gate that is neuer shut and a way that neuer wearieth man The like was asked of Eschines the phylosopher touching veritie by the Rhodians And he saide that it was a vertue without which all force was weakned Iustice corrupted humilitie fained and dissembled patience insupportable chastitie vaine libertie loste and pitie superflous The like was demanded of Pharmacus the phylosopher by the Romans And his aunswer was that veritie was a true Center wherein all things reposed a carde to saile by to direct the pilote and mariners a wisdome to heale and recure euery man and a present remedie for all euills a height in the top whereof euery man resteth and a bright light to enlighten the whole world And surely this maketh mee thinke that these Phylosopehrs were great Friendes and Louers of veritie since that they did so much enrich and sublime the same with so many rare and excellent titles But now omitting these Phylosophers who haue truly spoken that they knew let vs come speake of him that aboue all the World hath exalted veritie which was the diuine WORD and that was IESVS CHRIST the onely begotten Sonne of GOD and true glasse of Eternitie who being asked the selfe-same thing of Pylate said not to him I am wisedome neyther iustice nor chastitie nor patience humanitie not charitie But onely saide vnto him I am veritie To let vs vnderstand that euery creature might bee partaker of that veritie But our Lord Iesus Christ was not partaker of that veritie but the sole and onely possessor of the same hee beeing the very Trueth it selfe Oh of how manie is this vertue desired and of how few yea most fewe obserued For in effect it is nothing else but a marke whereat all good men shoote with their Eyes and all yll and wicked persones loose their sight The Emperour Augustus in the Triumph hee made of Marke Anthony his loue Cleopatra amongst others brought to Rome an Egyptian Priest of 60. yeares of age and the Senate being informed of a surety that dayes of his life he neuer tolde lye they agreede not onely to restore him to liberty but to make him high Priest of their Temple and to erect a Statue of him among the noble and princely persons of Rome Spartianus writeth that in the time of Clandian Emperour of Rome there deceased a Citizen of Rome called Pamphilus whose doings after his death examined it was manifestly proued that hee neuer spake one true Word all his life time but alwayes lied in that he sayde Which related vnto the Emperour hee commanded his body should not be buried his goods should be confiscate and his house raized to the foundation and his wife and children for euer banished Rome and all her Territories to the end there should remayne no memory to the Common-wealth of so pesteferous and venemous a beast At that time when these 2 thinges thus happened the Romanes and Egyptians were mortall enemies and therefore by these examples wee may see of what force and power this vertue of verity is sith the Romans made a statue to their enemy only for that he was a true and iust man and depriued of Sepulture their natiue childe and a Romane borne for that he was a lyer A true man may goe in any place where hee listeth freely without interruption accompanied with all men not fearing to be accused of any and may with safety reproue the vitious and ill persons And finally to conclude he may without the feare of any speake in the face of the world shew his face among the best If a man will chuse a friend he need not bee inquisitiue if he bee wise iust chaste carefull couragious or noble but onely if hee be true of his worde And if that be so it followeth that all vertues and honesty must abounde in him Helius Spartianus reciteth of the life of Traian the Emperour that beeing one night at Supper and accompanied with noble men at his boorde they argued of the fidelity of friendes and infidelity of enemies whom Traian aunswered That hee neuer had friend in his life but he was good true honest and faithfull whereupon his Lordes besought him that it woulde please him to tell them the occasion of his good hap in this And he aunswered thus The cause why I haue euer beene so fortunate herein was this I neuer would chuse to my friend a lyer and couetous man For in him that raigneth auarice and lying there can neuer dwell perfect friendship Those that are honest and like so to be reputed must endeauor them selues to speake well alwayes and euer to say that that is true and if they will not doe this for conscience sake yet let them doe it for to auoide the shame that followeth them For there can bee no greater mockerie or despight done to a man then openly to make him know hee hath lyed Wee see the childe when hee perceyueth hee hath tolde a lye he blusheth straight and is ashamed much more ought men growne in yeares whose face is couered with hayres not onely blush but shame to tell a lye Many times I thinke what a great griefe the Marchant suffereth euerie houre not to bee counted a Lyer whē he vttereth his ware and sure he dooth it but because hee would not lose his credite And lo here why they sweare commonly by the faith of a Marchant to bee more assured when to the contrary we see many other that in apparance seeme to bee honest and graue men that vse not the manner but rather they will sticke no mere to tell you a lye then to lose a wheat grain But here I speake nor neyther doe meane to touch those that are indeed vertuous and good men but I speake of those that thinke themselues honest and yet be not God knoweth And therefore wee may be assertained that a marchant esteemeth more his goods and marchandize then a lyer doth his honour otherwise honesty There is nothing that preiudiceth truth so much as a tatling tongue that neuer lyeth being in a manner impossible that amongst many wordes some lye he not interlaced All things consist not in other more or lesse saue onely in the vse that men haue of it for if a man doe vse to eate little hee alwayes goeth from the Table if wee vse to sleepe little wee also leaue our bedde And if we accustome our selus also to lye we shall haue it such a continuall vse as though wee would wee shall neuer leaue it after For there are diuers sorts of men that as they accustome themselues to eate and drinke oft times in a day so doe they vse to lye euery houre But I aske what is the greatest and most perfect thing in this life that a man whilest he liueth may enioy I dare boldly say that it is neyther nobility great parentage nor fauour neyther the great estate health nor riches but rather that it is the sole honour which tatlers and lyers
knowest well Camilla not being content with thy owne Countrey folke thou haddest such resorte and haunt of strangers to thee that thou canst speake all languages I will marke them that haue marked mee hurt them that haue hurted mee persecute them that haue persecuted mee defame them that haue slaundered mee all other my penne pardoneth for that they pardoned me in their play Because my letter begunne with that ye did to my person therefore I will end it with that it knoweth of your good names And thus I conclude that a man may escape from all dangers in shunning them but from women there is no way but to flye from them Thus I end and beseech the gods that I may see of you that which you would see of mee and sith yee bee louers I counsell you as you haue sent mee the play in a mockery euen so receyue my aunswere Marke now the Rhodian to the amorous Ladies of Rome CHAP. VIII Of a Letter sent by Marcus Aurelius to his loue Boemia for that shee desired to goe with him to the warres MArcus the Romane Pretor beeing in the warres of Dacia sendeth health to his louing Boemia remayning in the pleasures of Rome Escaping from a cruell battell thy fewe lines I read and vnderstood thy large information I let thee know thou hast astonied me more then mine enemies haue feared me and taking thy letter in my hands the herbe of malice entred into my heart When I temper my body with the delights I thinke my heart free from the venome of thy amours sith I of my will and thou for want of power hath giuen vs to bee free of our pleasures I thinke as well to make a diuorce of our sorrowes But yee bee such yea such I say as are the banishments of loue and the treasure of griefes The loue of you all ought to bee digested with pilles but the passion of one of you will not bee oppressed with all the rubarbe in Alexandria Yee shew your selues cruell to pardon an enemie and euer lightly you change your friendes I haue curiously made search whilest delight gouerned my youth yet could I neuer see in a woman stedfastnesse nor reason in their loue nor end in their hate The present wantonnesse quarrelleth with my youth passed because thou seest not in me the auncient good will towardes thee nor the present seruice And certainely hearing thy accusation and not my iustification thou mightest pay me as iustly with death as I pay thee with forgetfulnesse The which forgetfulnesse ought to bee as straunge in him that serueth as ingratitude in the Lady that is serued thinkest thou that I haue forgotten the law of Venus when I commaunded that the curious Louers should exercise their strength in chiualry and occupy their hearts in loue and more it willeth a man to weare his clothes cleanly their feet right their bodies constant their voyce soft and humble demure and modest of cheare they ought to haue eyes open alwayes looking vp to the Windowes and their hearts ready to flye into the aire For a truth my friend Boemia hee is a grosse louer that hath his will in captiuity and his iudgment free The iudgment is of no value where the will is in thraldome This I say that thou mayest know though my age hath left the exercise yet my vnderstanding hath not forgot the art Thou complaynest because I giue my selfe vnto much quiet and that I haue forgotten thee I will not deny the truth the day of my forgetting maketh thee priuie of my thoughts And reason the Ouerseer declareth that it is not requisite for my grauitie to permit I should loue nor in thy age to suffer to be beloued The world doth dissemble many things in youth which in age meriteth grieuous corrections The wanton toyes of youth proceed of ignorance but the villanies done in age grow of malice When I walked in the nights I ietted the streetes I sang ballades I gazed to the Windowes I played on the Gitiornes I scaled the walles I wakened the youth Thinkest thou that I win what I did in my youth but sithence I see my selfe bereaued of all my wonted wanton toyes and polished with so many white hayres cladde with so many sorrowes eyther I thinke now I was not then or else I dreame now not knowing the way I stray in nor seeing that stony way ready to stumble in Vnwittingly I haue fallen into the stayres not foreseeing the Whirlepoole guidelesse I entred in the rashnesse of my youth I lost mee for the which I aske pardon And nowe that I am out of the bryers thou woldest haue me further in then euer I was Now that I cannot take the purgations thou offerest to mee the sirropes I haue awaked all night and now thou giuest me a fresh alarum By our auncient friendshippe I pray thee and by the Gods I coniure thee that sithence my heart is rebell to thy will that thy doubtfull will doe suffer and let alone my will out of doubt And because thou shouldest not thinke any ingratitude in my white hayres as I may in thy young wanton person I will that wee account that wee haue gotten and that wee hope to get Tell mee what commeth of these vaine pleasures the time euill spent the fame in way of perdition the goods consumed the credite lost the gods offended the vertuous slaundered from whence wee gette the names of bruit beasts and surnames of shame Such bee yee and others Thou writest in thy Letter how thou wouldest willingly leaue Rome come to see mee in the Warres of Dacia Considering thy folly I laugh but knowing thy boldnesse I beleeue thee And when I thinke on this I turne to my bosome and peruse thy seale doubting whether the Letter were thine or not The veines of my heart doe chaunge my colour doth turne imagining that eyther shame hath vtterly forsaken thee or els grauitie hath wholly abandoned mee for such lightnes should not be beleeued but of the like persons Thou knowest well he that doth euil deserueth punishment sooner then hee that doth infamy I would aske thee whether thou wilt goe thou sufferedst to be cut as a sower grape and now thou wouldest bee sold for good wine thou camest in with Cheries and yet wouldest remaine as quinces Wee haue eaten thee in blossomes and thou wilt bee like the fruite the nuttes bee pleasant but the shelles bee hard By dung thou wert made ripe in thy youth and thou thinkest to bee in still Thou art nought else but rotten And if thou bee rotten thou art to bee abhorred Thou art not content with forty yeares which thou hast whereof 25. thou diddest passe in taste like to sweet wine that is solde or like the Melons that bee ripe and mellow Art not thou that Boemia which lacketh two teeth before are not thine eyes sunken into thy head thy hayres whiter the flesh wrinckled and thy hand perished with the gowt and one rib marred with
child-bearing Whether doest thou desire to goe put thy selfe then in a barrell and cast it into the Riuer so shalt thou become pure and white Wee haue eaten the fresh fish and now thou wouldest bring hither the stinking salt fish O Boemia Boemia in this case I see no trust in youth nor hope in age For vnder this thy hored age there is hid the pangues of frayle youth Thou complainest that thou hast nothing it is an old quarrel of the auncient amorous Ladyes in Rome that taking all thinges they say they haue left them nothing The cause thereofis where you do lacke credite there you would haue it accomplished with money Beleeue me louing friend the foolish estate of vnlawfull gaming both giueth an vnsure estate and also an euill fame to the person I know not how thou art so wastfull for if I pulled off my rings with the one hand thou pickedst my purse with the other greater wars haddest thou then with my Coffers then I haue now with my enemies I neuer had iewell but thou demaundedst it of mee and thou neuer askedst mee thing that I denyed thee I finde and bewaile now in my age the high parts of my youth Of trauell pouerty thou complainest I am hee that hath great neede of the medicine for this opilation and playsters for the sonne and colde water for such a burning feuer Doest thou not well remember how I did banish my necessity into the land of forgetfulnesse and placed thy good wil for the request of my seruice in the winter I went naked and in the sommer loaded with clothes In the mire I went on foot and rode in the fayre way When I was sad I laught when I was glad I wept Being afraid I drew out my strength and out of strength cowardnes The night with sighes and dayes in wayling I consumed When thou haddest neede of any thing I robbed my father for it Tell mee Boemia with whom diddest thou sulfill thine open follyes but with the misorders that I did in secret Thinke you what I thinke of the amorous Ladies in Rome that yee be mothes in olde garments a pastime for light persons a treasure of fooles and the sepulchres of vices This that seemeth to mee is that in thy youth euery man gaue to thee for that thou shouldest giue to euery one now thou giuest thy selfe to euery man because euery one should giue them to thee Thou tellest mee that thou hast two sonnes and lackest helpe for them Giue thanks to the gods for the mercy they shewed thee To xv Children of Fabritius my neighbour they gaue but one Father and to thine onely two sonnes they haue giuen fifteene Fathers Wherefore diuide them to their Fathers and euery one shall bee well prouided for Lucia thy daughter indeed and mine by suspect remember that I haue done more in marrying of her then thou diddest in bringing her forth For in the getting of her thou calledst many but to marry her I did it alone Verie little I write thee in respect of that I would write Butrio Cornely hath spoken much to mee on thy behalfe and hee shall say as much to thee on my part It is long agoe sithence I knew thy impatience I know well thou wilt sende mee another more malitious I pray thee since I write to thee in secrete discouer mee not openly and when thou readest this remember what occasion thou hast giuen me to write thus Although wee bee fallen out yet I will send thee money I send thee a gowne and the Gods bee with thee Boemia and send mee from this war with peace Marke Pretour in Daeia to Boemia his Louer and ancient friend in Rome CHAP. IX The aunswere of Boemia to the Emperour Marcus Aurelius wherein is expressed the great malice and litle patience of an euill woman BOemia thy auncient Louer to thee Mark of Mount Celio her naturall enemie desireth vengeance of thy person and euill fortune during thy life I haue receyued thy letter and thereby perceyue thy spitefull intents and thy cruell malices Such naughty persons as thou art haue this priuiledge that sith one doth suffer your villanies in secret you will hurt them openly but thou shalt not doe so with mee Marke Althogh I am not treasuresse of thy good yet at the least I am of thy naughtinesse All that I cannot reuenge with my person I will not spare to doe it with my tongue And though we women for weakenesse sake are easily ouercome in person yet know thou that our hearts are inuincible Thou sayest escaping from a battell thou receyuedst my Letter wherof thou wast sore agast It is a common thing to them that be slothful to speak of loue for fooles to treate of bookes and for Cowards to blaze of Armes I say it because the aunswere of a Letter was not needfull to rehearse to a woman whether it was before the battell or after I thinke well thou hast escaped it for thou wert not the first that fought nor the last that fled I neuer saw thee goe to the iwarre in thy youth that euer I was fearefull of thy life for knowing thy cowardlinesse I neuer tooke care for thy absence I alwayes iudged thy person safe Then tell mee Marke what doest thou now in thy age I thinke thou carriest thy lance not to serue thy turne in thy warre but to leane on when the gout taketh thee The head-peece I iudge thou hast not to defend thee from the strokes of swords but to drinke withall in tauernes I neuer saw thee strike any man with thy sword but I haue seene thee kill a thousand women with thy tong O malitious Marke if thou wert as valiant as thou art spitefull thou shouldest be no lesse feared among the barbarous nations then thou art abhorred with good reason amongst the Romanes Tell me what thou list but thou canst not deny but both thou hast beene and art a slacke louer a cowardly knight an vnknown friend auaricious infamed an enemy to all men and friend to none Moreouer wee knew thee a light young man condemne thee now for an olde doting foole Thou sayest that taking my letter into thy hands forthwith thy heart receyued the hearbe of malice I beleeue thee well vnsworne for any thing touching malice dooth straight finde harbour in thy brest the beasts corrupted do take poysō which the sound and of good complexion refufeth Of one thing I am sure thou shalt not dye of poyson For seldom times one poyson hurteth another but it driueth out the other O malicious Marke if all they in Rome knew thee as well as the vnhappy Boemia doth they should see how much the wordes that thou speakest differ from the intention of thy hart And as by the bookes thou makest thou meritest the name of a Philosopher euen so for the ilnesse thou inuentest thou doest deserue the name of a Tirant Thou sayest thou neuer sawest constancy in a Womans loue nor end in
his arme so that from thence forwards hee could not put on his gowne nor draw his sword and much lesse carrie a staffe The good Empreour being so loaden with yeres and no lesse with cares the sharpe Winter approching more and more great aboundance of water and snow fell about the Tents so that another disease fell vpon him called Litargie the which thing much abated his courage and in his Hoast caused great sorrow For he was so beloued of all as if they had been his owne Children After that he had proued all medicines and remedyes that could bee found and all other things which vnto so great and mightie Princes were accustomed to be done he perceyued in the end that all remedie was past And the reason heereof was because his sicknes was exceeding vehement and hee himselfe very aged the Ayre vnwhol-some and aboue all because sorrowes and cares oppressed his hart Without doubt greater is the disease that proceedeth of sorrowe then that which proceedeth of the Feuer quartaine And thereof fensueth that more easily is hee cured which of corrupt humours is full then hee which with profound thoughts is oppressed The Emperour then beeing sicke in his chamber and in such sort that hee could not exercise the feates of armes as his men ranne out of their Campe to skyrmish and the Hungarians in like manner to defend the fight on both sides was so cruell through the great effusion of bloud that neither the Hungarians had cause to reioyce nor yet the Romaines to be merrie Vnderstanding the euill order of his and especially that v. of his Captaines were slaine in the conflict and that he for his disease could not bee there in person such sorrows pierced his hart that although he desired forthwith to haue dyed yet hee remained 2. dayes and 3. nights without that hee would see light or speak vnto any man of his So that the heat was much the rest was small the sighes were continuall and the thyrst very great the meate little and the sleepe lesse and aboue all his face wrinckled and his lips very blacke Sometimes he cast vp his eyes and at other times he wrong his hands alwayes hee was silent and continually hee sighed His tongue was swollen that hee could not spit and his eyes very hollow with weeping So that it was a great pittie to see his death and no lesse compassion to see the confusion of his pallace and the hinderance of the warre Many valiant captains many noble Romaines many faithfull seruants and many old friends at all these heauines were present But none of them durst speake to the Emperour Marke partly for that they tooke him to be so sage that they knewe not what counsell to giue him and partely for that they were so sorrowful that they could not refraine their heauie teares For the louing and true Friendes in their life ought to bee beloued and at theyr death to be bewailed Great compassion ought men to haue of those which dye not for that we see them dye but because there are none that telleth them what they ought to doe Noble Princes and great Lords are in greater perill when they dye then the Plebeyans For the counseller dare not tell vnto his Lorde at the houre of death that which hee knoweth and much lesse will tell him how he ought to die and what things hee ought to discharge whiles hee is aliue Manie goe to visite the sicke that I would to GOD they went some other where And the cause heereof is that they see the sicke mans eyes hollowe the flesh dryed the armes without flesh the colour enflamed the ague continuall the paine great the tongue swollen nature consumed and besides all this the house destroyed and yet they say vnto the sicke man Be of good cheere I warrant you you shall liue As young men naturallie desire to liue and as death to all olde men is dreadfull so though they see themselues in that distresse yet they refuse no Medecines as though there were great hope of life And therof ensueth oftentimes that the miserable creatures depart the worlde without confessing vnto GOD and making restitutions vnto men Oh if those which doe this knewe what euill they doe For to take away my goods to trouble my person to blernish my good name to slaunder my parentage and to reproue my life these works are of cruell enemies but to bee occasion to lose my soule it is the works of the diuell of hell Certainly hee is a Diuell which deceyueth the sicke with flatteryes and that in steed to helpe him to dye well putteth him in vain-hope of long life Herein hee that sayeth it winneth little and he that beleeueth it aduentureth much To mortall men it is more meete to giue counselles to reform their consciences with the truth then to hazard their houses with lyes With our friends wee are ashamelesse in their life and also bashfull at their death The which ought ought not to be so For if our Fathers were not dead and that wee did not daylie see these that are present die mee thinketh it were a shame and also a feare to say to the sicke that hee alone should die But since thou knowest as well as he and he knoweth as well as thou that all doe trauell in this perillous iourney what shame hast thou to say vnto thy friend that hee is now at the last point If the dead should now reuiue how would they complain of their friends And this for no other cause but for that they would not giue them good counsell at their death For if the sicke man bee my Friend and that I see peraduenture he will dye Why shall not I counsell him to prepare himselfe to dye Certainly oftentimes we see by experience that those which are prepared and are ready for to dye doe escape and those which thinke to liue doe perish What should they doe which goe to visite the sicke perswade them that they make their Testaments that they confesse their sinnes that they discharge their conscience that they receyue the Communion and that they do reconcile themselues to their enemies Certainely all these things charge not the launce of death nor cut not the threed of life I neuer saw blindenesse so blinde nor ignorance so ignorant as to be ashamed to counsell the sicke that they are bound to do when they are whole As we haue sayd here aboue Princes and great Lords are those aboue all others that liue and dye most abusedly And the onely cause in this that as their Seruants haue no hearts to perswade them when they are merrie so haue they no audacity to tell them truth when they are in perill For such seruants care little so that their masters bequeath them any thing in their willes whether they die well or liue euill O what miserie and pitie is it to see a Prince a Lord a gentleman and a rich person die if they haue no
faithfull friend about them to helpe them to passe that paine And not without a cause I say that he ought to be a faithfull friend For many in our life do gape after our goods few at our deaths are sory for our offences The wise and sage men before nature compelleth them to die of their owne will ought to die That is to say that before they see themselues in the pangs of death they haue their consciences ready prepared For if we count him a foole which wil passe the sea without a ship truely we will not count him wise which taketh his death without any preparation before What losest a wisest man to haue his will well ordained in what aduenuenture of honour is any man before death to reconcile himselfe to his enemies and to those whom he hath borne hate and malice What loseth he of his credite who in his life time restoreth that which at his death they will command him to render wherein may a man shew himselfe to bee more wise then when willingly hee hath discharged that which afterwards by processe they will take from him O how many Princes and great Lords are there which onely not for spending one day about their testament haue caused their children and heires all the dayes of their life to bee in trauerse in the Law So that they supposing to haue left their children wealthy haue not left them but for Atturneyes and Counsellers of the law The true and vnfained Christian ought euery morning so to dispose his goods and correct life as if he shold dye the same night And at night in like manner he ought to commit himselfe to GOD as if he hoped for no life vntill morning For to say the truth to sustaine life there are infinite trauels but to meete with death there is but one way If they will credite my wordes I would coūsell no man in such estate to liue that for any thing in the worlde he should vndoe himselfe The Riche and the poore the great and the smal the Gentlemen and the Plebeyans all say and sweare that of death they are exceeding fearefull To whome I say and affirm that he alone feareth death in whome we see amendment of life Princes and great Lords ought also to be perfect to ende before they ende to dye before they die and to be mortified before they bee mortified If they doe this with themselues they shall as easily leaue their life as if they channged from one house to another For the most parte of men delight to talke with leysure to drinke with leysure to eate with leysure and to sleepe with leysure but they die in haste Not without cause I say they die in haste since wee see them receiue the sacrament of the Supper of the Lord in haste male their willes by force and with speede to confesse and receyue So that they take it and demaund it so late and so without reason that often times they haue loste their Sences and are readie to giue vp the spirite when they bring it vnto them What auaileth the Ship-master after the ship is sunke what doe weapons after the battell is lost What auaileth pleasures after men are dead By this which I haue spoken I will demaund what it auayleth the sicke being heauie with sleepe and berefte of their sences to call for Confessors vnto whome they confesse their sinnes Euill shall hee bee confessed which hath no vnderstanding to repent himselfe What auaileth it to call the confessor to vnderstand the secrets of his Conscience when the sicke man hath lost his speech Let vs not deceyue our selues saying in our age we will amend hereafter and make restitution at our death For in mine opinion it is not the poynt of wise men nor of good Christiās to desire so much time to offend and they will not espie any to amend Would to GOD that the third parte of the precious time which men occupie in sinne were employed about the meditations of Death and the cares which they haue to accomplish their Fleshly lusts were spent in bewayling their filthie sinnes I am very sorrie with my heart that they so wickedly spend and passe their-life in vices and pleasures as if there were no GOD vnto whom they shold render account for their offences All worldlings willingly doe sinne vpon a vaine hope onely in Age to amend and at death to repent But I would demaund him that in this hope sinned what certainty he hath in age of amendment and what assurance he hath to haue long warning before hee die Since we see by experience there are moe in number which dye young then olde it is no reason wee should commit so many sinnes in one day as that wee should haue cause to lament afterwards all the rest of our life And afterwards to bewayle the sins of our long life we desire no more but one space of an houre Considering the the Omnipotencie of the Diuine mercie it sufficeth yea and I say that the space of an houreis to much to repent vs of our wicked life but I would counsel all since the sinner for to repent taketh but one houre that that be not the last houre For the sighes and repentance which proceed from the bottome of the heart penetrate the high Heauens but those which come of necessity doeth not pierce the bare seeling of the House I allow and commende that those which visit◠the sick do counsell them to examin their consciences to receiue the Communion to pray vnto GOD to forgiue their enemyes and to recommend themselues to the deuoute prayers of the people and to repent them of their sinnes Finally I say that it is very good to doe all this But yet I say it is better to haue done it before For the diligent and careful Pyrate prepareth for the Tempest when the Sea is calme Hee that deepely would consider how little the goods of this life are to be esteemed Let him go to see a rich man when hee dyeth and what he doeth in his bed And he shall finde that the wife demandeth of the poore husband her dowrie the Daughter the third parte the other the fifth the childe the preheminence of age the Sonne in law his Marriage the physition his duetie the Slaue his libertie the Seruaunts their wages the creditours their debtes and the worst of all is that none of those that ought to inherite his goods will giue him one glasse of water Those that shall heare or read this ought to consider that that which they haue seene done at the death of their neighbours the same shall come vnto them when they shall be sicke at the poynt of death For so soone as the Rich shutteth his eyes forthwith there is great strife betweene the children for his goods And this strife is not to vnburthen his soule but which of them shall inherite most of his possessions In this case I will not my pen trauell any