of the minde proceeding thence thorough his grace which communicateth so great a good as it is written in the booke of Wisedome I doe reioyce in all thinges because wisedome goeth before And it receaueth no griefe but such as our selues are content to yeelde vnto as Possidonius sayde to Pompey And there is an other sauour giuen and an other kinde of face set vpon that which they call euill And vertue valor force patience magnanimitie can no waies play their part without griefe paine And as Diamans other precious stones haue either a more high or dimme colour according to the foile in which they are set so fareth it with the euil happes griefe which taketh place as a man is eyther strong or weake And as all thinges in this worlde in the ende referreth it selfe wholly to the glorie of God so doth all thinges turne to good to such as are good Plato and Terence compareth our life to a game at draughtes where the player must euer marke well what shal befall vnto him and dispose euery thing eyther to profit him or little to hurt him And they which care least for to morrowe following the commandement of our sauiour ariue there most ioyfully hauing not the will vnproportionate to the might nor their minde afflicted Homer maketh two vessels to be in heauen full of destinies the one of good the other of bad he accounteth him happie which equally partaketh as well of the one as the other as much hony as gaul And Seneca writeth that the destinies leade gently such as consent drawe by force such as refuse Notwithstanding the wise do temper and turne the euill into good drawing out of their good aduentures what naught soeuer is there mingled by this meanes passe away the more easily the course of this life To which the old prouerbe agreeth that euery man is the workman of his owne fortune and fashioneth her according to his maners And if we doe contemne honours riches pleasures banishmentes griefes and sickenesse we shall be cleane exempt from all couetous desires passions and tormentes of the minde As Xenophon in his Pedia reciteth of one Pheraulas to whō Cirus gaue a Lordship of a very great reuenewe but hauing well considered the ease contentment which he toke during his pouertie and the care which he must then needes take for his reuenewe and domesticall affayres hee put all againe into the handes of a friende of his As Anacreon hauing had fiue talents worth three thousande crownes giuen him by Policrates after he saw that he had passed two nights togither studying what he shold do with it he sent them backe againe saying that they were not worth the care he had taken for thē And when newes was brought vnto Zeno and certaine other that their shipps goods and marchandise were loste they reioysed because it was a cause to make them apply themselues to Philosophie which yeelded them farre greater contentment Philoxenes hauing purchased a farme wherby he might liue the better at ease quitted it againe and returned to Athens saying These goods shall not loose me but I them As Seneca wrote to a friend of his if thou hadst not lost thy goods it might be they might haue lost thee And the bricklenesse of the aduised serueth them as it were to be shodde with showes of yce against sinne Anacharsis left the kingdome of Scithia to his younger brother to growe to be a Philosopher in the sayde Citie of Athenes Aristides chose likewise to remaine in his pouertie though it laye in his power to haue made himselfe a Lorde of greate riches Scipio hauing by force taken Cartharge touched no whit of the sacking or spoyle thereof Epaminundas and Camillus amonge all the victories they obtayned neuer carried anie thing else away then honour An infinite number of other as well Captaines as Philosophers haue contemned goods albeit this moderation which was so greatly praysed in them was neuer ioyned together with a hope of eternall life as the Christians is who knowe that the creator of heauen and earth is their father and Lord almightie that he loueth them and knoweth ful well the way they ought to holde the medicines which they ought to vse and whatsoeuer is most expedient to bring them to the promissed blisse after this their pilgrimage and exile Therfore they suffer thēselues to be cōducted by him without murmuring approuing for good whatsoeuer proceedeth from his fatherly hande and by this meane remaine in the peace of the spirit and calmenesse what winde soeuer blowe without being tossed in the troubles stormes of this life They know likewise that if God doe stricke them downe with the left hande he rayseth them vp with the right againe according to the promisse he made by his Prophet Ose And as all meates are agreeing with a good stomach and to a bad the most delicate seeme corrupt as it is written in the Prouerbes that to a hungrye soule all bitter things seeme sweete so all things turne to good to the faithfull as S. Paul hath written And in Ecclesiasticus all thinges are turned into good to such as feare God but to the sinners they are turned into euill who turne light into darkenesse and good into euill And money is to good men a cause of good to the wicked of euill and crueltie And as the showe is fashioned according to the foote so his disposition which is wise moderate leadeth a life like vnto it to wit peaseable and without passion coueting nothing vnpossible and contenting it selfe with the present That is it which Cicero writeth that vertue in trouble doth euer remaine quiet and being cast into banishment neuer departeth from her place For the goods of fortune reioyce those most which least doubt their contraries and the feare of loosing them maketh the pleasure of the enioying of them more feeble and lesse assured Plato gaue counsell not to cōplaine in aduersitie for that we know not whether it happen vnto vs for our hurt or no. And in his Phedon hee writeth that looke what beautie riches honour and kinred we here desire it is so farre off from being good that indeede they doe rather corrupt and impayre vs. But a Christian man ought to esteeme all good and for his health whiche perswasion serueth vnto him as the meale did which Elisha cast into the pot which tooke cleane away all the bitternesse of the pottage and as the tree with which Moses made the waters sweete From thence ensueth that Christian Parradoxe so often times verified that there neuer happeneth euill to the good nor good to the wicked whose nature is changed by blessing As it is sayde of a diseased bodie that the more it is nourished the more it is offended And as strange dreames shewe that there be grosse and clammie humors and perturbation of
the lawe consisteth in the loue towardes God and our neighbour And wee reade in manie places of Cicero and others that the better a man is the lesse he tendeth al his actions to his owne profit and the more he doth studie to serue God and his commonwealth Plato himselfe wrote to Architas that man was borne for his parents friends and countrey in sort that the least part of him remaineth to himselfe and for this cause man is named a ciuill and communicatiue creature And as S. Paule wrote Iesus Christ was borne for vs to the ende that they which liue should not liue anie more vnto themselues but to him which dyed for them And exhorteth vs no more to purchase after our owne profitte but that which may concerne our neighbour and that we be made rich in good workes which he calleth a treasure and foundation to come In which doing we shall followe the pathes of truth and shalbe counted most happie especially if wee retire our affections from vncleannesse from whence Nilus an auncient byshop sayde a smooke proceeded which blacked the soule with sowte There be then two sorts of Christians the one in name and profession only the other in effect The first care not but for their bodie honours riches and pleasure without ought regarding the feare of God The other with all their affection dedicate themselues to God at whose hand they take all in good parte and despise the worlde louing God and his woorde and commaundementes and of these Isayah writeth that they which shall see them shall knowe they are the blessed seede of the Lord and in another place he calleth a naughtie conscience a narrowe bed in which a man cannot well stretch out his bodie nor lie at ease for he which hath a wounded conscience can neuer finde out anye condition place or state that is not too little for him and which may anye wayes content him This is the cause why Dauid requireth at Gods hande to set at large his imprisoned heart that is to say that he will do him the grace to cause him to haue a sound and neate conscience I will not here forget that as God is honoured by the good life of the faithfull according as the holy scripture witnesseth so is he blasphemed and dishonoured thorough wickednesse And there is no doubt but the behauiour of Christians haue caused the Turkes and Infidels euen to detest the true religion Lopes a Spaniard and Beuzo a Millannese and other that haue written of the historie of America and the West Indies haue beene constrayned to confesse that the crueltie couetousnesse blasphemies and wickednesse of the Spaniardes hath altogether alienated the poore Indians from the religion which the said Spaniards gaue out they held for true who did not long enioye those goods which by detestable meanes they had there gathered And all men write that they were lesse worthe then the Idolatrous Indians The cruell handling of those Indians and that which the Turke did to them of Asia Africa and part of Europe who liued as we doe the Turke notwithstanding being the farther are set before our eyes as an example to the end that we should change our selues and seeing the behauiour of Christians and their obstinacie to vice wee shoulde looke but euen for such cursednesse and miseries as we reade they haue beene enwrapped and fallen into And wee may well say that we touch euen neare the end of the worlde alreadie quaking and doting thorough old age and full of the wrincles of lying which notwithstanding can not obscure the sonne of trueth nor take away the light of them which feare God which see and loue the way which we ought to follow to attaine to life eternal And that we neede not further wander wee must exercise our selues in reading of good bookes in prayer fasting and workes of godlinesse And as Xenophon writing of the dewtie and office of an esquire warneth him aboue all thinges to beseeche at Gods hande to make his thought speech and deedes such as shall be agreeable vnto him and contentment to all his friendes and honourable and profitable to his commonwealth without molesting of anie man by farre greater reason the Christians ought to praye vnto God without intermission that he will teach them his will and dresse their pathes to loue and feare his name When a man speaketh of good woorkes it is thereby meant such as are furthest from all superstition and hypocrisie and proceede from a fayth woorking thorough charitie and a pure heart witnessing the great bountie and excellencie thereof and profiting our neighbours referring all to the glorie goodnesse and grace of God which bringeth foorth in vs good fruites and giueth vnto vs both to will and to performe as saint Paul sayth and crowneth in vs his owne workes CHAP. 8. How much true men haue beene esteemed and that all magistrates ought to be so and of the riches of princes IN Exodus Iethro counselled Moses to appoint rulers ouer the people men of courage fearing God men dealing truely hating couetousnesse and in Egypt the chiefe magistrate euer carried a picture of truth hanging at his necke The which Amian writeth also of the Druydes shewing that a Iudge ought to carie it in his heart his Iudgements and all other his actions And the tablet hanging with two chaines vpon the heart of the high priest whereof mention is made in Exod. 28. and Numbers 3. was called VRIM which signifieth light For the kings in all their actions of importance demaunded counsell of God by his high priest or prophets Pythagoras and Demosthenes esteemed to be trewe and to doe good to another the two most excellent thinges that were giuen from heauen to mankinde And the same Pythagoras being demaunded wherein men were likest vnto God aunswered in trueth And it was a sufficient reason for any thing he said to say He saide it And the great Thebane captaine Epaminondas was most especially praysed because he loued the truth and neuer made lie And Pyndarus praysed him as he did before one Pyttacus a Tarentine for that knowing much he spake little And albeit Pyrrhus was an enimie to the Romaines yet neuerthelesse did he giue this prayse vnto Fabritius that a man might assoone turne him from the truth and honestie as the sunne out of his course And the chiefest prayse which hystoriographers giue to Byshops in time past is that they neuer lyed and in the Psalmes and Apocalyps the saintes were euer honored with this title that a lye was neuer founde in their mouth And Zacharie praysing Ierusalem calleth it the citie of trueth And in the holy scripture this woorde of thinke say or promise is interpreted in God to doe because all which he thinketh sayth or promiseth is surely executed and put in effect Pomponius a friende of Ciceroes was extolled for
is written in the Prouerbes that it is a greater honour for a man to ouercome him selfe and commaunde his passions then to rase cities and castles It is that which God requireth by his Prophetes to cut off the forskinne of the heart The which Saint Paul to the Romaines recōmended to the end we should cut off the bad thoughts and desires of reuenge And the Platonists sayde that the shortest way to returne vnto God was to mortifie our affections and that vertue was a victorie of reason ouer passions I thinke they longe a goe that wrote so much of monsters perils tyrants and theues vanquished by Hercules Theseus Vlysses and Iason ment thereby to teach vs that men vertuously disposed and well taught haue subdued their pleasures desire of reuenge inconstancie lightnes intēperancie other passions and vices Which also the Poetes figureth by Eolus which moderateth keepeth in his winds The most valiant Lacedemonians highly extolled him that endureth an iniury And a Philosopher gaue counsell if he which harmed vs were weaker then our selues to pardon him if more mightie to pardon our selues And by the lawe of God and man all wayes of reuenge are forbidden and reconciliation atonement commanded by God the King and the lawes and the peacemakers are called the heires and children of God who will neuer pardon vs if we pardon not those offences which other haue committed towards vs. S. Augustine calleth the obedience which we render to God the mother and garden of all vertues And when our sauiour in S. Mathew calleth the meeke blessed some haue reduced to them that are not mooued with iniuries And S. Paul commaundeth vs to liue peaceably one with an other The which we haue handled else where and deserueth to be againe repeated for that point in which the nobilitie iudgeth all honour to consist but amisse and being carryed without the barres of reason they hazard themselues to the peril both of their corporall and spirituall life willing to be the accuser and slayer of themselues the witnesse iudge and hangman of such as they pretende to haue offended them And it is not possible to reuenge themselues but thorough a thousande perturbations which causeth them cleane to depart from tranquillitie which an auncient writer termed to eate out ones heart to offend ones selfe more then his enimie And often times thorough a little miscontentment which we coyne to our selues we enter into choler and melancholy forgetting the pleasures we receiue else where and as if we were bewicthed suffer our selues to be so transported S. Iohn in his first epistle calleth him a lyar that sayth he loueth God and hateth his brother and we ought not to haue respect to a corrupt custome or opinion but to that which God and the King commaundeth For as Demosthenes was wisely wont to say VVe liue and rule by lawes not by examples We reade in good aucthors that in olde time that wordes were neuer reuenged but by wordes and neuer came to handstrokes I counsell the nobilitie likewise not to differ anie resolution in a good matter For slacknesse doth often time make that harde which is most easie to be brought to passe in his time As the losse of the Romane legions was attributed to the negligence of Varus And it is a very easie matter to note an infinite number of losses happened through such slackings The answere which Alexander the great made to him which asked him how he had gayned subdued al Asia in so short a time is to be recommended to all Captaines following Homers precept neuer to differre or omit what was to be done Which was in like sort reported by Iulius Caesar and the olde prouerbe is very notable He that will not when he may deserueth when he would to haue a nay and to abide the smart of it The sayde Caesar sheweth likewise howe much quicknesse and diligence is profitable to the ende wee should not giue time to our enemies astonied to assemble themselues but to vse the victorie not tarying about the pillage I will not here forget to exhort them to shunne all inconstancie in religion fayth and doctrine not to varie nor suffer themselues to be carryed about with euerie winde of doctrine as Saint Paule teacheth vs and Saint Iames Chap. 1. and 3. Constancie is preserued by patience as Tertullian declared in the booke hee made and Impatience is the cause of all mischeiues It is also necessarie to prouide for that which they so much reprooch French men with that is that they commence and pursue manie thinges happely enough but for lacke of constancie staydenesse and discretion they neuer come to the ende of their enterprises and neuer consider that they which doe not so lightly runne about their businesse proceeding with a ripenesse of iudgement and a more stayde brayne carryeth away the honour and profitte of their enterprises wisely vndertaken and couragiously executed CHAP. 13. That the truth findeth good that which many feare and flie and giueth contentment IT were no small happinesse if in life we put in practise that which we haue marked in sundrie Philosophers who albeit they were destitute of the light of the Gospell and the certaintie of the promisses of God yet haue they discouered the maske of this worlde contemning the honours riches and pleasures thereof delighting in their pouertie patience sobrietie and temperaunce carrying meekely all losses mocking at the foolish opinions which driue men into passions condemning false apparaunces and vanities themselues remayning in great tranquillitie and calme in all perturbations and hauing nought but their wallet and certaine vile garmentes did nothing but laugh all their life as if they had beene at a feast and eaten as they saye of a bride cake And wee which haue so greate pleadges of eternall life and an assuraunce of the diuine promises bountie and more then a fatherly affection of our God towardes vs haue much more occasion not to esteeme these corruptible thinges and to liue ioyfully in respect of that which hath beene giuen vnto vs without beeing desirous or coueting anye other thinge then that which proceedeth from the will of the almightie Seneca in the seconde of his Epistles writeth that suche as liue according to nature are neuer poore and according to the opinion of men they are neuer riche because nature contenteth her selfe with little and opinion doth infinitely couet And in his 4. booke he counselleth a friende of his to despise all that which other so hotly pursue For that which men esteeme as great aduancement in honor goods or pleasures when they once approch to the truth to vertue and heauenly goodnesse it looseth cleane his apparance and lustre euen as the starres when they are neere the sunne beames For the dispositions of such as are moderated and instructed in the truth rendreth a life peaseable and like vnto her selfe the occasion of the quietnesse
were penned vp who if they once goe abroad dyd much harme and oftentimes men were constrayned to kill them In the time of Augustus one Fuluius for hauing disclosed a secret to his wife caused themselues both to be put to death And Quintus Cursius sheweth what great punishmentes the Persians ordained for the like Amasis king of Egipt sent vnto Pittacus one of the seuen wise men of Greece that was come to see him a mutton willing him to send backe that peece which he accounted as best and that which he iudged to be the worst in steede of the two peeces so differing hee sent vnto him the tongue as the instrument both of the greatest good greatest harme that might be and that therein as it is sayd among great wits consisted moste excellent vertues and notorious vices as it is written in the Prouerbs that death and lyfe are in the power of the tongue and that he which keepeth his mouth and his tongue keepeth his soule from tribulations Let vs then I pray you consider that we haue two eyes and two eares but one onely tongue and that to inclosed within the teeth and lipps betweene the braine and the hart seruing as their truche man hauing aboue it the instrument of all the sences the eyes the eares and the nose obedient vnto reason to the end she put foorth nothing before shee haue taken counsell of the sayde sences her neighbours and of the inward faculties of the soule which are the vnderstanding and reason placed within the brayne whereby we maye easely iudge how faultye they are who are so lauishe of their tongue before they haue fully pondred and considered what they ought to speake Homer blamed Thersites for too much speaking and praysed Menelaus because he spoke little The which Plutarque did of Phocion by whom it was wrytten that he spoke better then Demosthenes because when he spoke in few wordes he comprehended much matter The sayd Demosthenes likewyse termed him the knife of his wordes And was wont to say that such as knew much spoke little Pericles before he mounted into his cheyre was wont to pray vnto God that no word might escape his mouth that serued not to the matter he had in hand And Zeno reproched a great prater in that his eares was founded vpon his tongue And to an other he sayd he was borne of a druncken father for drunckennes is myxed with this vice that it causeth one to speake more then appertayneth The Pye in this respect was consecrated to Bacchus Certayne of auncient tyme sayde that wine descending into the body caused the wordes to ascende Ecclesiasticus called the comprehending of much in little speach good musique We must then set before our tongue the bulwarke of reason which hindreth flowynge and the slypperinesse of inconstancie And as ryders when they breake their coultes firste teach them to haue a good mouth and obey the brydle so ought we to teach our children to heare much and speake little Cato sayde of the Greekes that their speach came but from the teeth outwarde but the Romanes spoke from the hart as Homer wryteth of Vlisses and in his youth he sayde hee refrayned from speach vntill he knew how to speake well and that it was the propertie of Lelius to speake too muche And if there proceeded but this benefite vnto a man which had once gayned this reputation to bee accounted discreete in his speach and true that he is beloued of God and men hee is honoured and beleeued in what so euer he sayth he goeth with his heade lyfted vppe and contrarywyse he which is once caught with a lye or is a pratler is hated blamed and destitute of friendes looseth his credite and meanes to teach it were sufficient to make vs to embrace the truth and shunne lying And whereas Caesar in his commentaries founde fault with the french men because they receaued for certayne such brutes as ranne vp and downe and vncertayne aduertisementes whereof shortlye after they repented as before I touched it were very requisite that that order which he then wryteth to haue beene obserued were at this present practised that hee which had learned ought that concerned the state shoulde presentlye make relation to the magistrate and not speake thereof to anye other personne for that sayth hee we haue often seene by experience that men beeing light and ignoraunt easelye made them selues afrayde with false and counterfaite newes which ledde them to a resolution to vndertake matters of importaunce and daungerous as wee haue sundrye examples of our tyme and all histories are full of the misfortunes which haue happened to such as haue spoken enterprised and beleeued too lightly Moreouer in some cases to bee silent is as daungerous as if anye knowe anye conspiracie agaynste their countrey or kinge or anye that mighte greatlye preiudice their neyghboure they ought to discouer it To them lykewyse whose dutie is to teach Vertue and reprehende vice and to preache silence is forbidden both by GOD and the lawes And as Saint Ambrose learnedlye wryteth if we muste render account to GOD for euerye idle worde so muste we lykewyse for our idle scilence if at anye tyme wee haue omitted accordinge to oure duetye to instruct or correct oure neighbour there by beeynge able to tourne him from his euill waye or errour Wee must lykewyse consider the time and place to speake or hold our peace as it is written that Socrates being requested at a feast that he would speake of his arte had reason to aunswere it is not now time for what I can doe and that which the time now requireth can I not doe CHAP. 16. That as well of friendes as enemies one should learne the truth DIuers haue written that the better to discern trueth from falshoode it were requisite to haue either very entire friendes or enemies for these meaning to anger one do vpraide and blame whatsoeuer seemeth vitious vnto them and as out of a watche discouer suche imperfections as oftentimes men doe not thinke on and so are a meanes that they are corrected As Xenophon writeth that a wise man is able to reape his profite by his enemies And Philp king of Macedon said that he was bound to the Athenians which reuiled him because they were an occasion to make him the more vertuous and aduised and enforced hym all hys life long both in his actions and wordes to make them lyers And in truth they are a cause that maketh men contain theyr fashions and maners as in a straight dyet And this habit that one vndertake nothing vpon the suddaine cleane taketh away all occasion from our enemies of mocking vs or reioysing For this cause Scipio answering them that immagined the estate of the Romanes to be in verie great suretie the Carthagenians being ouerthrowne and the Acheens subdued said Nay now are we in greatest
the Psalmist sayth that the Lorde powreth contempt vppon Princes and causeth them to erre in desearte places out of the waye The which Iob setteth foorth more at large And the alterations which we see happen in our age in so many countryes might serue for a notable table to beholde the iudgementes of God cleane abolyshinge whole empires for cause of our sinnes And God declared that he cast the people out of the lande of Palestina for the sorceries which they vsed And threatned that he would not onely roote out sorcerers but those likewise that suffereth them to liue And in Ieremie he sayth that he will scatter them in all kingdomes of the earth because of Manasses for that which he did in Ierusalem Which ought to mooue all Princes to detest them and cause them to bee punished according to the lawe of God Sundry histories doe witnesse that vpon the image of Sennacharib in Aegypt was written Learne by me to feare God CHAP. XXI That Princes ought to haue about them good counsellours which may not spare to tell them the truth and that their life ought to serue as a rule and instruction to their subiectes not to graunt to any vniust thing of excessiue gifts an aduertisement to such as are in fauour of warnings and that in all actions of importance one ought to take councell without trusting to his owne sufficiencie MAlice and vice taking their full swyng through the carier of the power libertie which wicked Princes yeelde vnto them do push forward euery violent passion making euery litle choler occasioned vpon some false reporte to turne anon eyther to murther or banishment euery regard and loue to a rape or adultery and couetousnes to confyscation The sight of what is precious causeth a mischeuous desire of making warre is the occasion that a million of swordes are naked which peace would keepe within the scabbard The importunitie of a flatterer driueth away a good counseller a light beleefe or suspition causeth the innocent often times to loose his life as the Prophet Mycheas describeth Through inequalitie iniustice or ambition an entrie is made to seditions troubles And a wicked counsell causeth the ruyne of a whole estate the order of iustice affaires is cleane turned vpside down and as Isocrates writeth the amities of Tyrants through a false report are often turned into most deadly enmities They proceed rather with a headines then counsell without resisting their appetites they are insolent and impatient imagining that with a looke they are able to remedie al hinderances and to surmount the nature of thinges not taking counsell of wisedome and reason but of their owne wil their woordes euer differing from their workes and preferring profit before sayth Caligula the Emperour wished that all the people of Rome had but one head that he might cut it off at a blowe And one day hauing two Senators at dinner with him that asked him what made him to laugh it is aunswered hee because in the twinckling of an eye I am able to hange you both The which other Emperours both haue sayde and put as much in execution And as Saluste writeth Tyrantes rather suspect the good then the wicked and stande in feare of such as are vertuous and are many As Horace after other historiographers reciteth of one Dionisius a Tyrant that he caused a friend of his to sit in a place abounding with all kinde of delicacies and delightes but ouer his heade he had a naked sworde hanging by a threede thereby to shewe him the estate in which all tyrantes stoode The Emperour Alexander Seuerus did as it were the like to a delicate Senator named Ouinius And in truth if iustice reason lawes and the feare of God did not conteyne and keepe within boundes suche power and might and that they were not accustomed to demand account of thēselues condemnations would goe before profes and all iustice pollicie and order should lie vnder feete Varus the Emperour was wont to say after Marius in Saluste diuers other of old time that it was a most hard matter for one in great power and aucthoritie to temper himselfe or not to be corrupted and to put a bridle to his desires Herodotus sheweth how easely royal gouernement is degenerated into tyrannye whereof Samuel aduertised the people of GGD so playnely by the example of Deioces who beeing greatly renowned and loued of euerye one for his vertue and iustice was choosen as Bayleife amonge the Medes and in the ende crowned their Kinge and to the ende he should haue greater aucthoritie and be the better able to maintayne iustice and to oppose himselfe to any harme they gaue him a guarde and a verye stronge place of defence But hee seeing himselfe so assuredly establyshed changed his manners cleane accordinge to the fashion of tyrauntes and thought of nothing else but howe hee mought be reuenged and contemned and oppressed euerie one for his owne greatnesse and pleasure And not without cause Theodosius the Emperour exhorteth his children Arcadius and Honorius to put a bridle to such licentiousnesse as neuer regarded what was iuste and to moderate their first motions and choler without trusting too much to fortune which is like vnto a glasse the more it is shining the more is it brickle Wherefore Plato Xenephon Aristotle and Plutarke counselled all good Princes to prouide about them men learned well aduised modest and of good vnderstanding to conferre with and to vnderstande of them what their dewtie is Isocrates wrote vnto Nicocles that he should procure friends not such as should be euer readie to shewe him pastime but such as should assist him in well gouerning of his kingdome and that euer would tell him the truth And he addeth that it is a greater felicitie to obeye a good King then to raygne Theopompus made aunswere vnto him that demaunded how a King with safety might gouerne his kingdom in giuing libertie vnto his friends frankly to speake the truth and in taking heede that he oppresse not his subiects Plutark sheweth that Philosophers ought especially to conuerse with Princes alleaging the aunswere of Solon to him which said that one ought not to approch neere Princes except he purpose to do al things to plese thē but cōtrariwise saith he you ought not to be about thē except you euer tel thē the truth As he did in visiting K. Craesus And Plato in Sicilie to Dionisius Dion Philostratus reciteth in the life of Apollonius that when Titus returning frō Iudea was inuested in the Empire he required the sayd Apollonius to giue him certain politicke instructions the better to be able to gouern his Empire to whō he answered that he would giue him a certaine disciple of his that should teach him the manner a good Prince ought to vse And being demanded what qualities he had He is sayth he a man franke
sought by great presents to recouer Anacharsis and that little which hee learned of Solon saued his life And Dionisius the tyrant of Syracusa had Aristippus and Plato Ptolomeus Stilpo and Aristophanes Antigonus Bias Attalus Lycon Marcus Aurelius Apollonius Mithridates so farre adored the saide Plato that hee caused his image to be erected to do him the greater honour And Antiochus marueilously mourned for the death of Zeno because hee saide hee spake his minde vnto him more frankely then did either Byas or Demetrius Epaminundas was instructed by Lysias Agesilaus by Xenophon Theodosius the Emperour was greatly assisted by the councel of Saint Ambrose and learned of him to bee readie to heare what any one had to declare vnto him and to repeate ouer all the letters of the Alphabet before he shoulde commaunde any thing when hee found himselfe mooued with choler which before that time Augustus was warned of who one day being in his throne readie to condemne certaine persones the sayd Mecenas not beeing able to come neare him for the presse cast vnto him a little scroll wherein was contayned these wordes Arise Hangman which caused him to aryse and goe awaye without further execution of his passion The saide Theodosius likewise and Valentinian wrote in a certaine lawe that it was a speache woorthie of a prince and a royall maiestie to saye he was a subiect and submit himselfe to the lawes because the aucthoritie of a Prince dependeth on the preseruatiō of iustice The which Valerius recyteth of Zaleueus the gouernour of Locres who caused one of his owne eyes and another of his sonnes who was founde in adulterie to bee put out for that the people so much besought him that hee woulde not put out both his sonnes eyes according to the lawe The like Diodorus witnesseth to haue beene done by Charondas and Titus Liuius by Manlius who caused his owne sonne to bee beheaded the better to maintaine the discipline of warre Wee reade likewise that Antigonus made aunswere to one of his councellours who sayde it was lawfull for Kinges to doe what best listed themselues Nay that which you saye I thinke bee verie true among Kinges of barbarous nations nourished in ignoraunce and voyde of learning and which knowe not the difference betweene honour and dishonour betweene equitie and inequitie but to vs who haue an vnderstandinge both political and morall thorough the instinct of learning capable of wisedome and iustice hauing euer beene thereto brought vp and instructed there is nothinge honest and lawfull that is not so in his owne nature The which in like sort Traian learned of Plinie and to guide himselfe in such manner as though hee shoulde bee euer readie to render an account of all his actions The which Plato setteth downe in the fourth of his lawes Tacitus discoursing of the originall of the ciuil lawe sayeth that Seruius the thirde King of Romanes established manie lawes to which the Kinges were subiect and Diodorus recyteth of the kinges of Aegypt that without any dispensation they executed and followed the ordinances of the lawes For as Cicero saide in his oration for Cluens the heart vnderstanding and counsel in a publike weale are within the good lawes and ordinances and a political estate is not able to vse his owne partes without lawes no more then the bodie of man can exercise his due operations without reason and vnderstanding nor the hogshed keepe his liquor if you take away the hoopes The sayde Emperour Traian highly esteemed those frinds councellors whō he found true faithful and loyal And when he was desired to tel how he made so good choyce Marrie quoth he because it was euer my good fortune to choose those that were neither couetous nor lyers because that they in whome couetousnes and lying haue once taken deepe roote can neuer perfectly loue Princes ought in like sort to consider the malignitie lack of wisedome in such as they put in trust vnder them who either through negligence not attending their busines or for lacke of capacitie do not discerne of themselues the good counsell from the wicked And it were necessarie that they shoulde not bee permitted to receiue any pension or benefite from any other Prince or Lord. One of the Hebrewes which translated the Byble answered Ptolome that he might assuredly trust him who was not withdrawen from his amitie neither by feare gifts or any other gaine Celius writeth that the Emperour Charles the fifte when hee was at Naples sent for one Nyphus a verie great Philosopher and demaunded of him the way to gouerne well an Empire To which he aunswered if you will keepe neere your person such councellors and men of vertue as you O Emperour make shewe to thinke I am For this cause Isocrates and Tacitus haue written that there is no instrument so good for an Empire nor so profitable as the vertuous and well aduised friends of a Prince Xenophon in his Pedion bringeth in Cyrus saying to Cambises that friendes are the verie scepter and bulwarke of kingdomes It were to be desired that euerie one were as wel aduised as was that vertuous King Charles the eight who oftentimes of would tel his fauorites that he had chosen them for the opinion he had that they were of the most vertuous and of whome hee mought assuredly trust fearing but one fault in them that they would suffer themselues to be spotted with couetousnes hauing easie meanes to be drawen and tempted thereto in respect of the great credit they had about him But if he mought once perceiue that for their profite they would cause ought to be commaunded that were vniust and vnhonest they should lose his fauour for euer That they mought haue iust occasion to content themselues with the goods of this worlde since God had made him rich ynough for them all He prayed them to make profession of honor the onely meanes that brought them and coulde preserue them in his good fauour whereof he did admonish them to the ende to take heede that neither he nor they might fall into any mischief which he willingly would eschewe And as Marcellinus wrote speaking of the vnsatiable couetousnes of the officers of the Emperours Constance and Iulian that they were the nurcerie of al the vices that infected the common wealth in their time And from this desire of riches proceedeth the riotousnes superfluitie of expenses in all estates the which Cicero in like sort lamēted in his time certainly we may wel bewaile the same at this present And to meete herewith it were very good to put that in practise which hath bin vsed after the decease of some of our Kings to resume frō such as haue receiued too excessiuely The which likewise Basile Emperor of Constantinople ordained by edict that they which had receiued money without reason huge gifts of the Emperor Michael his predecessor should
goods melt away as snowe This is it which Salomon meaneth in the ende of his first chapter of Prouerbs that the prosperitie of fooles destroyeth them I will not here forget what S. Chrisostome writeth of vppon the fift of the first to the Corinthians that a little gayne fraudulently gotten is often times the occasion of the losse of great wealth though well come by And in vaine do men locke their chestes with cheynes springes padlockes when they haue enclosed therein deceat a most violent theife which desperseth what euer it findeth within the coffer We read in histories and in Daniel the miserable ende of manye and among other of Nabuchodonosor and of Alexander the great who left nothing to their heyres but their wickednes We read likewise in the Prouerbes that the riches of the wicked auaile not in the day of wrath and that the breade of deceat is sweet to a man but afterwarde his mouth shal be filled with grauell And that the roberie of the wicked shal destroy them For iustice beeinge remoued euery state falleth to ruine and an inheritaunce hastely purchased shall not be blessed And God sayth by Ieremie that as the Partrich gathereth the young which she hath not brought foorth so he that getteth riches and not by right shal leaue them in the middest of his dayes and at his ende shalbe a foole And he pronounceth a cursse on his head that buildeth his house by vnrighteousnesse And in Tobie and some of the Psalmes a little is more worth with right then much heaped vp in iniquitye And it hath not without cause beene saide in auncient time that whatsoeuer vice buildeth it destroyeth Which beeing well considered it ought to stirre vp all maner of persons who wil not degenerate from the auncient nobilitie which hath taken foot and sure foundation vpon vertue to be true and kepe their promises what soeuer should chaunce to happen and not to seeke ought but by honest meanes For if you will exempt iustice and truth out of a gouernment it is then no more then a very robbing as Sainct Augustin affirmeth And for as much as the inconstancy of Princes and almost of al other kind of men is sufficiently apparant and sundry inconueniences haue ensewed where too much trust hath bin yeelded the wiser sort and best aduised haue stoode vppon their garde haue not been too light of beliefe and haue so prouided that men shall not easelie breake their faith with them or surprise them I thinke likewise that they haue heald a verye absurde opinion that commende crueltie in gouernours For he which delighteth in taxing can neuer be beloued or esteemed of I coulde answere them as king Alphonsus did that such men deserued to be gouerned by Lions Beares Dragons and such like beastes For as Salomon writeth the Kinges throne shal be established with mercie the which togeather with subiectes loue and iustice is the very chaine that holdeth togeather and maintaineth an estate and not force feare or great gardes as Dion declareth in Plutarque God beeing willing to make him knowne to Moyses calleth him selfe the Lord the Lord strong mercifull and gratious slow to anger and aboundaunt in goodnes and truth And the Grecians called the king of their Gods Melchins that is to say sweete as hony And the Athenians called him Memactis that is to say succourable And the holy scripture and sundrye Philosophers calleth him a Father a shepheard a refuge and protectour of his people For to murther and torment is the office of a Diuell of furie of a hangman not of a king or honest man And subiects ought otherwise to be accounted of then as slaues as Bartole in his treatise de regimine ciuitatis declareth it vpon the seuenth of Deutronomy where kinges are exhorted not to lift their harts vp aboue their brethren amonge which God had made choyce of them For the puissance of a father as Martian the Lawyer wrote l. s de paracid consisteth in pietie and mercy no whit at all in rigor It is written in the second of the kings how the cruell Senacherib after the angell had put to death 155000. of his men was himselfe slaine by his owne children And in the same booke he writeth of sundry kings and queenes abandoned of God pilled and murthered for their cruelty Like ende had Ptolome surnamed the lightning Ptolome Lamious that is to say the babler Cambises killed him selfe with his owne swoorde Xerxes was slaine by his vncle Seleucus Nicanor killed by Ptolome Kerapnos Antiochus Ierax surnamed the sacre because he liued vppon pillage was in like sort slaine as also was Seleucus surnamed the lightning because of his violence Antiochus the great pilling of the temple was slaine of his people as were Epiphanes and Eupator the histories are full of an infinite number of others which had like ende for their crueltye and couetousnes A man may see in an apology of Saint Ciprian against Demetrian the names of those which persecuted the church and how they haue beene punished holding it for a maxime that there was neuer no crueltye vsed against the Christian church that was not in shorte tyme after reuenged Aristotle exhorted Alexander to doe good to euery one and not to be cruell rather to be praised for his clemency then conquestes It is written of Theodosius that when he deliuered his swoord to his Constable he willed him to vse it only against malefactours and if he commaunded any thing cruell or vniust then hee should draw it againste him selfe As also the kinges of Aegipt would sweare their Iudges that they shoulde not obeye them in ought they demaunded of cruell vniust or against the lawes The like did Antiochus also write to the Cities vnder his obedience that they should obey and keepe such his commaundementes as oppressed none Antonius Pius held opinion of Scipio Africane that he rather chose to preserue one of his subiects then slay one thousand of his enemies Which I greatly wish all kinges would obserue Marecellinus termeth the vice of crueltye the boche of the soule proceedinge from the feeblenes and basenes of the hart And the sayd Antoninus sayd that nothing rendreth an Emperor more famous among al natiōs then clemency vpon this and graciousnes is the assurance of the publike weale founded as Valerius Publicola repeateth in Titus Liuius and Plutarque And Antigonus was wont to say that Clemency worketh more then violence One of the interpreters of the Bible councelled Ptolome to vse patience and longe sufferinge imitatinge the sweetnesse of God to the ende hee mought reigne well And Marrinus the Emperour wrote to the Senate what good is there in Nobilitye if a Princes hart be not replenished with bountye and sweetnesse toward his subiectes Plutarque mentioneth of the great captaine Pericles that when his friendes came to visite him in his sickenesse and had put him in minde
learning he hath And Alexander saide that those discourses which hee had learned in Philosophie made him much more valiant aduised and assured as wel in warres as all other enterprises And not without cause Menander called ignorance a voluntarie misfortune and Seneca esteemed the vnwise man to be vnthankful of small assurance and angrie with his owne selfe One tolde Alphonsus that a King of Spaine saide that a Prince ought not to bee endued with learning then hee cryed out that it was the voyce of a beafe and not of a man And termed ignorant Kinges crowned Asses saying that by bookes men learned armes and shoulde thereby knowe more then their experience woulde teache them in a thousande yeares And the Emperour Sigismonde perswaded a Countie Palatine that was alreadie well stricken in yeares to learne Latin Petrarque rehearseth of one Robert King of Sicile that he was wont to saye hee had rather bee depriued of his Realme then of his learning And wee read in sundrie hystories that it hath beene inflicted to manie as a punishment that they shoulde not bee admitted to learning And it was not without cause saide of them in olde time that nothing was more pernitious then an ignorant man in aucthoritie as I coulde shewe by many examples and the deliberations of the ignorant can not bee but verie ambiguous slowe and without effecte Sundrie haue blamed Leonce the Emperour for that hee coulde neither write nor reade and Pope Paul the seconde for that hee hated such as were learned Pope Celestine the fifte deposed himselfe by reason of his ignorance And the Emperour Iulian to the ende hee mought molest the Christians forbad them the reading of all good bookes But the good Emperours and Kinges haue founded Colleges and Traian founde fiue thousande children at schoole thereby to driue awaye and banish the vice of ignorance And for the moste parte al Princes haue ayded themselues by learning or at the least made shewe of esteeming it Aristotle sayde that it were better to begge and be needie then vnlearned because the one hath neede of humanitie the other of money which may more easily bee recouered Hee sayde likewise as Plato and Demanes that there was as much difference betweene a learned man and an ignorant as betweene a liue and a dead a whole and a sicke a blinde and one of cleere sight or as betweene the Gods and men This made Menander to write that learning encreased and doubled the sight Yet men ought not to esteeme one that hath red much except he waxe the better thereby no more then as a bath which serueth to nothing except it bee cleansed And if wee bee accustomed in a Barbers chaire to beholde our selues in a glasse much more ought wee by a lesson sermon or lecture to examine our selues and see how our spirite is purged of sinne and howe much we thereby grow better And we must togither with a good nature ioyn the contemplation of learning the better to informe vs of our dutie afterwards to put in vse practise that good which we haue learned for as Plato wrote The end of Philosophie and of our studies is that by the searche which we haue made of naturall things wee may bee lead to the knowledge of God and vse that light which is bestowed vpon vs to conduct our life to pietie all good workes and vertue Euen Demosthenes wrote to a friend of his that he was glad hee followed Philosophie which detested all vnhonest gaine and deceite and whose finall scope was vertue and iustice The which with much more certaintie wee may auerre of the holy scripture wherein we ought to exercise our selues for feare of falling into that threatening which God pronounced by his Prophet because thou hast reiected knowledge therefore I wil cast thee off S. Augustin handling that place of S. Paul to the Romanes where he speaketh of the ignorance of the Iewes writeth that in them which would not vnderstand or knowe ignorance was a sinne but in them which were not able nor had the meanes how to knowe or vnderstand it was the paine of sinne So the not knowing of God or of our selues before wee were instructed by the worde of God was the payne of sinne vnto condemnation but after we haue hearde the word ignorance is of it selfe a most grieuous sinne For as S. Bernard writeth they which are ignorant and either for negligence or slothfulnes doe not learne or for shame enquire not out the trueth are voide of all excuse And if the Aegyptians counted it a moste intollerable calamitie to endure but for three dayes the darknesse which God sent vnto them by Moses how much more ought wee to be afraide when we remaine all our life long in the night of ignorance I could to this ende alledge sundrie examples of inconueniences that haue ensued through ignorance of the natural causes of the Eclipse of the Moone and Sunne of the impressions which are fashioned in the aire and of a superstitious feare of the Celestial signes and how by the ignorance of the Mathematikes of Cosmographie Chorographie and Geographie they haue not beene able to knowe their way nor to iudge of the heighth of a wall to be scalled nor of the passages riuers marishes and proper places to pitch a campe or retire themselues into and howe much sundrie historiographers haue failed herein but that I may not bee too tedious I wil referre the reader to the Greeke Latine and Frenche histories For this cause wee ought to enforce our selues to learne and to profit in the knowledge of the trueth that that in Ieremiah may not be reproched vnto vs You haue eyes see not and haue eares and heare not CHAP. XXXIII That one ought not rashly to borrowe money nor aunswere for another man for feare of lying IT is greatly to be presumed that the principal cause which moued them of olde time to councel a man not to be suretie for an other nor to borrowe money without verie vrgent necessitie or good pawne for the repaiment was for feare one should be founde a lyar which is a vice accompanied with impudencie and vniustice The Persians in like sort as Herodotus witnesseth blamed greatly two sinnes the one of owing the other of lying The which also moued Alexander the great after the victorie which he obtained against Darius to pay and aquite his souldiers debtes and Sophie the wife of Iustin to answere sundrie debts of the subiects of the Empire out of her owne coffers and Solon at Athens to establish an abolishing of al debtes which he termed by a word which signified a diminutiō of charge and sundrie other to doe the like in Lacedemon and Nehemiah to restore againe the burthens exactions And in Deuteronomie euerie seuenth yeare called the yeare of freedome debts could no more be demaunded to the ende this vice of
lying might bee met with which accompanieth the disabilitie of restoring The which likewise was the cause of the aunswere which Phocion made vnto them which demaunded of him to contribute where euerie man had verie franckly giuen Nay I should be much ashamed to giue vnto you and not to restore vnto him pointing vnto a creditor of his owne And Seneca writeth that often times he which lendeth money vnto his friend loseth both money and friend Aulus Gellius l. 7. c. 18. l. 16. c. 7. telleth of one which tearmed an othe a playster of them which borrowed And to the ende the Boetiens and sundry other mought be kept from borowing they tyed a coller of yron about such as payde not at their day and they stoode long time open to the reproche of such as passed by The father of Euripides was in like sort handled And Sueton writeth that Claudus was so serued before he was chosen Emperour And Hesiodus parents to auoid that shame were constrained to quitte their countrey That is worthie of marking which Pausanias writeth that the Athenians before they gaue charge to any Captaine either by sea or by lande acquited their debts otherwise no account was made of him And according to the disposition of the law one that is endebted ought not to take vppon him the office of an Embassador I haue seene this same lawe of the collar obserued in certain Cantons of Zuizerland to make men thereby the better to keepe their promise In Saxe they made them prisoners which did not acquite themselues The lawe of the twelue tables was farre more seuere for if one did not pay what he borowed they would giue vnto him a short peremptorie day in which time if he did not acquite himselfe they solde him or he was giuen to his creditour to serue him as his slaue if hee had many creditors they mought dismember him take euery one a peece Such a lawe notwithstanding was not long since in vse as Titus Liuius and Aulus Gellius haue written and was repealed at the request of the tribunes of the people afterwarde by Dioclesian Among the Indians likewise if the debtor did not discharge himselfe in his prefixed time they mought take from him either a hand or an eye and if he dyed indebted they would not suffer him to be buried vntil his children or friendes had answered it Wee read in the seconde booke of the Kinges the miracle which Eliseus did to pay the debte of a widowe from whom her creditor woulde haue taken away her two children to haue serued him for want of payment And it is written in the Prouerbs that the borower is seruant to the man that lendeth and so is it in the lawe 3. C. de Nouatio Titus Liuius and Plutarque in the liues of Coriolanus and Sertorius describeth the sedition which fell out at Rome which was abandoned of manie because the creditoures lead as slaues their debtors and detained them in most cruell bondage Aluare which wrote the historie of the Abissius setteth downe that debtors were deliuered as bondmen to their creditours and some others haue written that in the realme of Calicut vpon complaint made to the Bramains against the debtor they gaue the creditour an instrument wherewith hee mought make a circle in the earth and therein enclose his debtor commaunding him in the Kings name not to depart from thence vntil he were satisfied and so was he constrained either to pay or dye there for hunger At Athens there was a Iudge which had no other charge then to see debtes payde the Tribunes likewise at Rome had the like charge against the greater sort And by the ciuil lawe if a man called one his debtor which in deede was not he mought lawfully haue an action of the case against him so odious was that name As touching the inconueniences of suretiship Salomon setteth them down in the Prouerbes He shalbe sure vexed that is suretie for a stranger and he that hateth suertiship is sure Be not among them that are suretie for debtes if thou hast nothing to paye why causest thou that hee shoulde take thy bed from vnder thee And in Ecclesiasticus Suretiship hath destroied manie a riche man and remoued them as the waues of the sea For the condition of the suertie is sometime worse then his that borroweth because not making account to pay it he is prosecuted and put in execution and often times constrained to helpe himselfe by verie sinister means to his great disaduantage The which agreeth with the olde Prouerbe Be suertie and thy paine is at hande And according to the opinion of Bias he which loseth the credit of his worde loseth more then he which loseth his debte I doe not for all that meane by this that charitie shoulde therefore waxe colde nor that there shoulde be any let why both in worde and deede wee should assist and helpe the necessitie of our neighbour according vnto such meanes as God hath bestowed vpon vs. CHAP. XXXIIII Of lying ingratitude THE vnthankfull man hath euer beene accounted a more daungerous lyer then the debtor for as much as he is onely bounde by a naturall obligation to acknowledge the benefite which hee hath receiued and notwithstanding impudently dissembleth the same thinking it a sufficient excuse for that he can not be by lawe constrained therunto as the debtor shunneth him whom he ought to seeke breaking that conuersation humanitie which preserueth the societie of men He despiseth God his kinne and friends And through this impudencie he is euen driuen to al vilanie and mischiefe and maketh him selfe a slaue and ought to be grieuously chastised as Xenophon writeth And Plutarque interpreteth Pithagoras symbole of not receiuing of swalowes that a man ought to shunne vngratefull persons The which hath been an occasion that many haue refused great presents fearing that they shoulde not haue meanes to requite the same and thereby to auoid the suspition of ingratitude which hath alwayes beene condemned for a most manifest iniurie and vniustice and vnder the worde vngratefull haue all vices with a curse beene comprehended The Romanes likewise in the middle of their citie caused a temple to be builded and dedicated it to the Graces thereby to admonish euery man to loue peace detest ingratitude and to render to euery one according to Hesiodus rule a man famous among the Philosophers with encrease and greater measure whateuer we haue receiued imitating therein as Cicero sayeth the fertile landes well laboured and sowne which bringeth forth more then foure folde increase For this cause Xenophon among the praises which he gaue vnto Agesilaus reputeth it a parte of iniustice not onely not to acknowledge a good turne but also if more be not rendred then hath ben receiued And if we bee naturally inclined to do good to them of whome we conceiue good hope howe much
and deceaueth him selfe but this couetousnesse shall neuer assault or surprise any which shall not be euen giuen ouer to receiue giftes and rewardes hauing his hart well setled and yeelding to no motion that shall not be honourable and good And truly where bribes take place there is law and iustice banished and it can not be that he should not inclyne to him which giueth because as we haue before mencioned bribes make men blinde And in Ecclesiasticus they are termed a brydle for his mouth which receaueth them and he that loueth gold shall not be iustified but he that hateth giftes shal liue For after that entraunce be once thereto admitted all honesty and integrity slideth awaye and as it is sayde in a common prouerbe gold maketh all thinges preignable And bribes resemble hookes hid vnder a bayte which beastes can better auoyde then men I thinke that giftes betweene man and wife besides causes contayned in the ciuill law were forbidden to the ende weomen shoulde take lesse of straungers and their loue be mutuall without hier or mercenary rewarde It is also to be presumed that that which moued the Emperour Adrian and Alexander Seuerus to proportion the expenses of Iudges and there to giue them wages was to the end they should take nothing of parties as also of some it was expresly forbidden And that which through out all France they take vnder colour to buy spice was at the first a pound of comfites of lesse valew then 12. pence and that was euer whē their suit was ended And in Titus Liuius we see how the ancient Romanes abhorred presents Cicero wrot of the Fabritii Curiens Scipioes Pisces Catoes that they were not only honored for their prowes but in that for al their pouerty they could neuer be gotten to receiue present And Titus Liuius highly cōmended Valerius who hauing bene 4. times Consul yet so poore he died that they were faine to bury him at the charge of the cōmon stock He telleth the like of one Agrippa who apeased the seditions which were betwene the people nobility Those two great captaines Epaminōdas Pericles of which the one gouerned the Thebanes the other the Athenians many yeares obtained great victories neuer augmēted their patremony the valew of one bare denier nor euer would accept present as a thing vnworthy of a mā of courage a valiant head Scipio refused to ioine with a certain Senator after he knew that he toke And bribes were so highly detested of all people that it was not so much as lawfull for embassadors sent to princes to receiue any thing wheron grew the complaint which Dionisius K. of Sicile made because them bassadors of Corinth refused to take what he offered them as if that law there were such as a tirant had a better The like was written of other embassadors sent vnto Ptolome Phocion refused the presents of Alexander the great of Antipater other adding that if they estemed him an honest man they should leaue him so It is written of him that would not assist his son in law which was accused for taking saying that he had made him his allie only for lawful reasonable causes Xenocrates wold not take anything either for him self or his friends of the 3000. crownes which Alexander sent vnto him Alcibiades and other could neuer fasten vpon Socrates to make him receiue ought for he said that his good spirit abhorred al presents and sent worde vnto Archidamus which offered it vnto him that a peck of wheat was sold at Athens for a duble watercost nothing that he cōtēted him self with what he had Menander also foūd but two things necessary for the vse of our life bread and water for the pleasure of life according to the opiniō of Cicero is rather in desire thē satiety Agesilaus refused the K. of Persias present Demetrius Iulius Caesars the said Epaminondas sent backe to the K. of Persias his 3000. Daricques or crowns extremely chafing with Diomedes which presented thē asking him if he had vndertaken so long a nauigatiō to think to corrupt Epaminondas cōmāding him to make report vnto his K. that as lōg as he wished procured the good of Thebans he should haue him his friend it shold cost him nothing but if he shold seek their endemnity he wold be vnto him a mortal enemy And Iason prince of Thesalia cōming on a time to the city of Thebes with which he was allied sent vnto the same Epaminondas 2000. crownes for a gift knowing him to be very poore but by no means wold he receiue thē the first time that he saw him after he tolde him thou beginnest to outrage me In the mean time he borowed of a Burges of the town a litle some with which he entred into armes within Peloponese now called la Mores put away his esquier hauing vnderstood that he had receiued a present Eliseus refused the presents which Nahaman the cōstable of the K. of Siria whō he had healed of the leprosie wold haue bestowed on him Giezi became a leaper for receiuing them Abraham refused the presents of the K. of Sodom albe it he had wel deserued thē The aduise of Philopemen general of the Achaians writtē of by Plutarque ought not to be omitted who after he had refused 612000 crownes of the Lacedemonians told thē that it was not for thē to go about to corrupt gaine with their mony honest mē their friends in that they might at al assaies assure thē selues to be serued by thē but that it was for thē to be lewd fellows mutinās to the end that hauing their mouthsstopped by bribes they shold lesse annoy thē It is written of Cimon that he demanded whether they wold haue him a friend or hireling since he was a friend that they wold cary away their gold siluer They write of many saints which neuer wold receiue any presents The Romans refused 400000. crowes sent frō the K. of Aegipt They did the likeby the crown of gold offred by the K. of Sicile Titus Liuius in the 2. boke of the 3. decade 6. of the 4. sheweth how the Romans refused the presents which the ambassadors of Naples and they of Peston had offred vnto thē and so did they K. Philips and Ptolomes Yea they wold not receiue the very payment which was due vnto them before their time for feare least that had bound them as a preuenting and present made at that time Menander the tirant of Samos by reason of the coming down of the Persians retired him self into the city of Sparta with much gold and siluer which he shewed to Cleomenes praying him to take what liked him therof He refused to take any thing but fearing least he wold haue giuen to other of the city he went to the Ephores said that it was better for the weal