Selected quad for the lemma: judgement_n

Word A	Word B	Word C	Word D	Occurrence	Frequency Band	MI	MI Band	Prominent
judgement_n	error_n	matter_n	writ_n	1,769	5	9.6085	5	false

Text snippets containing the quad

ID	Title	Author	Corrected Date of Publication (TCP Date of Publication)	STC	Words	Pages
A05094	The French academie wherin is discoursed the institution of maners, and whatsoeuer els concerneth the good and happie life of all estates and callings, by preceptes of doctrine, and examples of the liues of ancient sages and famous men: by Peter de la Primaudaye Esquire, Lord of the said place, and of Barree, one of the ordinarie gentlemen of the Kings Chamber: dedicated to the most Christian King Henrie the third, and newly translated into English by T.B.; Academie françoise. Part 1. English	La Primaudaye, Pierre de, b. ca. 1545.; Bowes, Thomas, fl. 1586.	1586 (1586)	STC 15233; ESTC S108252	683,695	844

suites with all that rablement of practitioners who deuoure the substance of poore men as Drones eate vp the hony of Bees lastly after the Chancery did let loose the bridle to all sortes of expeditions and went about to teach the Iudges I say after these things began to be practised we fell into this miserie of long suits gainefull to wicked and faithles men who seeke nothing but delaies very preiudiciall to good men who many-times had rather loose their right than vndoe themselues by following it so long time by way of iustice For they commonly see the rightest cause frustrated by delaies which are granted at their pleasure that are fauoured and by infinite other vniust meanes Sometimes many iudgements are giuen vpon one matter and yet nothing concluded or if there be any definitiue sentence it is by and by suspended from execution vpon the least obiection that is made or else it is called into doubt by some ciuill request or by a writ of error Thrice happie were we if we might continue in that ancient simplicitie and naturall goodnes rather than after this manner to infold our selues in so many proceedings and captious subtleties which haue corrupted and extinguished the light of iustice imprinted in the hartes and mindes of all men well borne We see that suites are heaped vp one vpon another and made immortall that nothing is so certaine which is not made vncertaine that no controuersie is so cleare which is not obscured no contract so sure which is not vndone no sentence or iudgement so aduisedly giuen which is not made void all mens actions open to the slanders craft malice redemptions and pollings of Lawyers the maiestie and integritie of ancient iustice lost and last of all that in the dealings of men nowe a daies no shewe of vpright iustice but onely a shadowe thereof remaineth This euill being so great and growne to such extremitie it is impossible but that according to the course of worldlie things the ruine thereof should be at hand or at least it is to receiue some notable change within short space For as Plato saith in a corrupt Common-wealth defiled with many vices if a man should thinke to bring it backe againe to hir first brightnes and dignitie by correcting small faults and by curing the contagion thereof by little and litle it were all one as if he should cut off one of Hydras heades in whose place seuen moe did spring vp but that alteration and disorder whereby all euill vice was brought into the Common-wealth must be plucked vp by the rootes Therefore let vs not thinke it strange if they that haue the raines of the gouernment of this Estate in their hands find so many difficulties and so small meanes in the reformation therof For as Demades said they gouerne nothing but the shipwracke of the Common-wealth Neuertheles honest men indued with some gifts with good iudgement ought not to be discouraged in so great a storme but the more that the tempestuous rage thereof seemeth to torment the Vessell of our Common-wealth and that with such violence that the Patron himselfe and the Pilotes are in a manner tired and faint with continuall trauell so much the more diligently ought the passengers to lend their hands some to the sailes some to the tackling and some to the anchor yea now is the time following the counsell of Cicero in the like case that all that are endued with singular giftes of nature fit for the managing of affaires ought boldly to take vpon them publike Offices and Estates without feare to the ende that all entrance may be shut vp against the wicked who are the nourishers of this present corruption Nowe if those three things which Aristotle requireth in all good Iudges and Magistrates did abound in them that should heerafter be called to administer iustice and iudgement namely a loue to the present Estate a sufficiencie to exercise those duties that are required in their office with vertue and iustice we might yet see some Idea and forme of that golden age wherein our Predecessors liued we might see pietie and iustice flourish to the great benefite and felicitie of this French Monarchie Concerning that which may be further required in the duties qualities and conditions of good Iudges we may be instructed by our other treatise wherein we entreated of Counsellors of Estate and also by calling to mind the former discourses of vertue and iustice I onely will adde heere that it were very commendable and full of profite yea necessarie for the Estate that all the companies of Iudges should be compounded of such notable old men as with their knowledge haue experience of many things And in deede this title of Senator which was giuen them in ancient time signifieth an olde man neither did the Grecians or Romanes call any to that degree but olde men But how can we desire a more heauenlie ordinance than that which God himselfe appointed when he established a Senate Gather togither said he three score and tenne of the ancientest of the people wise men and such as feare God Surely in this election of Iudges it behooueth Kinges to vse great prudence and as Isocrates saide to take triall of them to knowe whether they are of good iudgement whether they haue a sharpe sight in affaires and whether they are not troubled with the change of their life but behaue themselues wisely in euery estate both in prosperitie and in aduersitie especially to take good order that they be not such as are subiect to lucre from whence all iniustice proceedeth Therfore Cicero would haue the contempt of temporal goods from whence all quietnes of our mindes commeth to be no lesse in Magistrates than in true Philosophers Yea he saith that they ought to be more carefull and laborious to attaine vnto it than the others bicause worldlie affaires toucheth them neerer so that they haue greater cause to stand in feare of the alteration of fortune of aduersitie and of pouertie Vnto which agreeth fitly that saying of Plinie the yoonger That no point of Philosophy is more excellent than to deale in publike affaires and to do iustice whereby they practice that which philosophers teach But out of question the forme and manner which of late time hath beene vsed in calling Iudges Officers to their charges is so farre from that which we desire heere that in this respect a man may call it the mother of all corruption and iniustice For when a Iudge is made his knowledge is not examined his integrity vprightnes of life is not weighed his long experience is not considered his age vertue is not regarded but only his crownes are viewed to see whether they are weight Now since that such men grew rich although they are found insufficient yet they obtaine so many letters of commandement so many Mandatums one in anothers necke that in the end they are receiued whatsoeuer

speech whereat one of the inhabitants suddenly stood vp and pronounced the word aright as he should haue vttered it For this correction quoth Demetrius I giue thee besides fiue thousand measures of wheat The example of good Traian writing to his maister Plutarke ought especially to be imitated of great men I aduertise thee quoth he that hence forward I will not vse thy seruice to any other thing than to counsell me what I ought to do and to tel me of those faults wherinto I may fall For if Rome take me for a defender of hir Common-welth I make account of thee as of the beholder of my life And therefore if at any time I seeme vnto thee not well pleased when thou reprehendest me I pray thee maister not to take it in ill part For at such a time my griefe shall not be for the admonition thou vsest towards me but for the shame I shall haue bicause I offended Philoxenus the poet may also serue for a witnes of free correction void of all flatterie in regard of great men For when Dionysius prince of Syracusa sent vnto him a tragedie of his owne making that he should read and correct it he sent it backe againe vnto him all rased and blotted from the beginning to the end bicause he found it in no respect worthie to be published Neither doth antiquitie onely affoord vs such examples of bold reprehension by word of mouth vsed by wise men in old time but there hath been also in our ages woorthie examples of base and contemptible men yet full of good learning For profe heer of may serue that quip which not long since a peasant gaue vnto an Archbishop of Cullen who was well accompanied with armed men according to the custome of Almaigne This countrie-fellow beginning to laugh and being demanded by the prelate the cause therof I laugh quoth he vnto him at S. Peter prince of prelates bicause he liued and died in pouertie to leaue his successors rich The Archbishop being touched therewith and desirous to cleere himselfe replied that He went with such a companie as he was a Duke Wherat the peasant laughing more than before said I would gladly know Sir of you where you thinke the Archbishop should be if that Duke of whom you speake were in hell Neither may we omit the answer which a poore Franciscan Frier made to Pope Sixtus the fourth who from the same order being come to that great dignitie shewed him his great wealth and riches saying Frier I cannot say as S. Peter did I haue neither gold nor siluer No truly answered the Franciscan no more can you say as he said to the impotent and sicke of the palsie Arise and walke Now concluding our present discourse we learne that free reprehension and gentle admonition grounded vpon reason and truth and applied fitly are of such vertue and efficacie with men but especially with a friend that nothing is more necessarie or healthfull in true and perfect friendship and therefore ought to be ioined inseparably therewith according to that saying of the wise man that Open rubuke is better than secret loue and that The wounds made by a louer are faithfull but the kisses of him that hateth dangerous In the meane time we must as S. Paule saith restore those that fall with the spirit of meeknes considering our selues and neuer betraie the truth for feare of the mightier sort Of Curiositie and Noueltie Chap. 15. ARAM. MAn hauing by nature imprinted in his soule an affected and earnest inclination to his soueraigne good is drawen as it were by force to search it out in euerie thing which he esteemeth faire and good in this world And from hence proceed all those his affections which carrie him hither and thither causing him to reioice in and to desire greatly all varietie and noueltie But the ignorance of things and imperfection of reason which abounde in him bicause of his corruption make him for the most part to labour and take delight in euill rather than in goodnes if he be not by other means called to the knowledge of the truth which ought to be the principal and most woorthy obiect of our minds esteeming all other knowledge vaine and vnprofitable being compared to this which is so great and diuine And in this respect curiositie tending to vnderstanding albeit in many things it be verie hurtfull especially being left vnto it selfe is also verie profitable and necessary when it is directed and guided by the grace of God to the best end Wherefore I thinke my companions that it will not be vnprofitable if in this matter we discourse of these two things Curiositie and Noueltie which seeme to proceed from one and the same fountain and about which the vertue of prudence sheweth great and woorthy effects ACHITOB. Curiositie indeed desireth in part to know and learne much which cannot be condemned Neuertheles we must wisely beware that we imploy it not vpon euil and vile things but rather testifie alwaies that we are of a graue and contented nature which is enemie to all noueltie and to superfluous things that are without profite ASER. Noueltie causeth vs through error of iudgement to esteeme those things wherewith we are not acquainted greater and more to our liking and so to buy them dearer than better things that are common and familiar It is the verie guide of the curious causing them to contemne their owne climate and to hazard what good thing soeuer they haue to possesse that which belongeth to others But let vs heare AMANA who will handle this matter more at large AMANA Amongst those learned precepts belonging to good life which were written in the temple of Apollo in Graecia this was in the second place Nothing too much Solon said Nothing more than enough Pittacus Do all things by a mediocritie These sayings are verie short and of one matter but yet comprehend all prudence necessarie for the gouerning of mans life aswell for the preseruation of the tranquillitie of the soule and of the spiritual gifts therof as of all humane goods called by the philosophers the Goods of the bodie and of fortune The ancients being desirous to make vs vnderstand this the better propounded vnto vs euerie vertue betweene two vices teaching vs thereby that we cannot decline neuer so little either to the right hand or to the left but we step aside from the right way of vertue which is our onely true good and that al difference betweene good and bad consisteth in a certaine moderation and mediocrity which Cicero calleth the best of all things If men had from the beginning contained themselues within the limits of these diuine precepts it is certaine they would not so lightly haue abandoned the simplicitie and first modestie of their nature to feed their minds with a vaine curiositie and searching out of things supernaturall and incomprehensible to the sence and vnderstanding of man Which things the

which were his lands in the territorie of Athens Whereunto when Alcibiades answered that they were not described nor set downe there How is it then quoth this wise man that thou braggest of that thing which is no part of the world One meane which Lycurgus vsed and which helped him much in the reforming of the Lacedemonian estate was the disanulling of all gold and siluer coine the appointing of iron money onely to be currant a pound waight whereof was woorth but sixe pence For by this meanes he banished from among them the desire of riches which are no lesse cause of the ouerthrow of Common-wealths than of priuate men This mooued Plato to say that he would not haue the princes and gouernors of his Common-wealth nor his menne of warre and souldiours to deale at all with gold and siluer but that they should haue allowed them out of the common treasurie whatsoeuer was necessary for them For as long gownes hinder the body so do much riches the soule Therfore if we desire to liue happily in tranquillitie and rest of soule and with ioy of spirit let vs learne after the example of so many great men to withdraw our affections wholy from the desire of worldly riches not taking delight pleasure as Diogenes said in that which shall perish and is not able to make a man better but oftentimes woorse Let vs further know that according to the Scripture no man can serue God and riches togither but that all they which desire them greedily fall into temptations and snares and into many foolish and noisome lustes which drowne men in perdition whereof we haue eye-witnesses daily before vs. This appeereth in that example which the self same word noteth vnto vs of the rich man that abounded in all things so that he willed his soule to take hir ease and to make good cheere bicause she had so much goods layd vp for many yeeres and yet the same night he was to pay tribute vnto nature to his ouerthrow and confusion Being therefore instructed by the spirite of wisedome let vs treasure vp in Iesus Christ the permanent Riches of wisedome pietie and iustice which of themselues are sufficient through his grace to make vs liue with him for euer Of Pouertie Chap. 34. ACHITOB NOw that we haue seen the nature of riches with the most commō effects which flow from them and seeing the chief principall cause that leadeth men so earnestly to desire them is the feare of falling into pouertie which through error of iudgement they account a very great euill I am of opinion that we are to enter into a particular consideration thereof to the end that such a false perswasion may neuer deceiue vs nor cause vs to go astray out of the right pathe of Vertue ASER. Pouertie said Diogenes is a helpe to Philosophy and is learned of it selfe For that which Philosophie seeketh to make vs know by words pouertie perswadeth vs in the things themselues AMANA Rich men stand in need of many precepts as that they liue thriftily and soberly that they exercise their bodies that they delight not too much in the decking of them and infinite others which pouertie of hir selfe teacheth vs. But let vs heare ARAM discourse more at large of that which is here propounded vnto vs. ARAM. If we consider how our common mother the earth being prodigall in giuing vnto vs all things necessarie for the life of man hath notwithstanding cast all of vs naked out of hir bowels and must receiue vs so agayne into hir wombe I see no great reason we haue to cal some rich and others poore seeing the beginning being and end of the temporall life of all men are vnlike in nothing but that some during this litle moment of life haue that in abundance and superfluitie which others haue onely according to their necessitie But this is much more absurd and without all shew of reason that they whom we call poore according to the opinion of men should be accounted yea commonly take themselues to be lesse happy than rich men and as I may so say bastard children not legitimate bicause they are not equally and alike partakers of their mothers goods which are the wealth of the world for the hauing whereof we heare so many complaints and murmurings For first we see none no not the neediest and poorest that is except it be by some great strange mishap to be so vnprouided for that with any labour and pains taking which is the reward of sinne he is able to get so much as is necessary for the maintenance of his life namely food and raiment neither yet any that for want of these things howsoeuer oftentimes he suffer and abide much is constrained to giue vp the Ghost But further as touching the true eternall and incomparable goods of our common father their part and portion is nothing lesse thā that of the richest Yea many times they are rewarded and enriched aboue others in that beyng withdrawen from the care gouernment of many earthly things they feele themselues so much the more rauished with speciall and heauenly grace if they hinder it not in the meditation and contemplation of celestiall things from whence they may easily draw a great and an assured contentation in this life through a certaine hope that they shall enioy them perfectly bicause they are prepared for them in that blessed immortalitie of the second life For nothing is more certaine than this that as the Sunne is a great deale better seene in cleare and cleane water than in that which is troubled or in a miry and dirtie puddle so the brightnes that commeth from God shineth more in minds not subiected to worldlie goods than in them that are defiled and troubled with those earthlie affections which riches bring with them This is that which Iesus Christ himselfe hath taught speaking to him that demanded what he should do to haue eternall life If thouwilt be perfect saith he sell that which thou hast and giue it to the poore and thou shalt haue treasure in heauen adding besides that a rich man shall hardly enter into the kingdome of heauen If a father diuiding his substance among his children should leaue to one as to his eldest or best beloued the enioying of his principall mannor by inheritance and to the rest their mothers goods which are of much lesse value and that only for terme of life what folly were it to iudge that these last were more preferred and had better portions than the other And I pray you what comparison is there betweene the greatest worldlie and transitorie riches that can be and the permanent treasures of heauen seeing those cannot be compared but to a thing of nought than which they are weaker beeing moreouer accompanied with innumerable hurtfull euils as we haue alreadie shewed What happines and felicitie can wealth adde to rich men aboue the poorer