wealthe where the gouernours and iudges thereof doe not cast theire eyes but vnto them whâ—e they ought to chastise where they doe not thynke in theire harte but howe they maye enryche theire coffers where they doe not occupye theire handes but to take brybes and doe not passe the tyme but in bankettes And I sayde not wythout a cause bankettes For there are manye iudges whyche imploye they re studye more to geate frindes to mayntayne theire state proudlye then for to read bookes to iudge mennes causes vprightly The iudge which neuer readeth the iudge whiche neuer studieth the iudge whiche neuer openeth boke the iudge which is neuer in his house the iudge which day night robbeth howe is it possible that he execute one true iustice There can bee no greater feare in a man nor sclaunder more greate in the common welth then when the iudge who ought to iudge and chastise the offences of others is alwaies ouerwhelmed with vices him selfe The iudge which presumeth to be good and wil be good and desireth to be good a manne shoulde finde him no where vnlesse he be studying in his house or sitting in the place of iustice Let not princes trust vppon this when they prouyde iudges and gouernours for to iudge saieng that if they fynde any euill they wil soone cut him of for suche are so euil that if they want to meanes to get to those offices they shal want no cautils nor corrupt frindes to suborne them therein When princes great lordes shall finde anye iudge euill I counsaile them to auoide him immediatlye or that they shewe them selues not contented with his dooinges for suche one shal forthwith enforce him selfe to doe iustice with intencion that those of the common wealth myght desire him to be theire iudge Although my penne doth reproue these Iudges whiche are negligent and carelesse the whiche neither by knowledge can iudge nor with stoutnes punishe The iudges whiche iudge and gouerne ought not to be with all so familiar that all dare take vppon them to aske him for in this case if some commend his gentle coÌ„uersacion others will blame his parciall iustice I counsaile admonishe and require Princes that they content them selues not only to be true pitifull honeste and vertuous nor yet to be iuste but that it is as well necessarie they be obseruers of iustice For let them knowe that there is great difference betwene him that is iust and an other that doth minister iustice for to the prince that is good commeth honour to his parsonne but from him that ministreth iustice commeth profite to his common wealth Peraduenture it is no wonder to see the Prince that will tell no lye and to see his ministers not to speak one truthe peraduenture I do not thinke my self sclaundered to se the prince temperate in eatinge and to see all his seruauntes distempered bothe wythe eating and drinkinge peraduenture and it is no cause to muse vppon to see the princes chaste and honeste and to see theire seruauntes in fleshe filthye and dissolute peraduenture it is no cause to meruaile to see the prince iuste and to loue iustice and that verye fewe of hys ministers doe minister it The ende why all these thinges are spoken is to aduertise Princes that they bee not so carefull to bee chaste sober true and iust but that they know whether theire gouernoures and iudges are corrupted couetous gredy vnshame faste lyers or brybers For if it toucheth vs much that oure Princes be good so much more it toucheth vs that the ministers be not euil One of the things wherein princes ought to prouyde with their iudges and gouernours is that by no meanes they suffer theire lawes and auncient customes to bee broken in theire common wealthe and that in theire steedes straunge customes bee not introduced For the comminaltye is so variable in that they saye and so light in that they aske that they woulde daylye see a newe kinge and hourely chaunge a newe lawe Plinie in an epistle that he writeth to Escario saieth Optime apud Persas capitalem per legem fuit prohibitum nouos aut peregrinos mores inducere As if he spake more plainelye Amongest the Perses it was a lawe inuiolable that no man shoulde bringe into the common wealth anye straunge custome for suche an offence they shoulde paye none other raunsome but the losse of theire heades As menne dayly doe diminishe in vertue vnlesse by force they bee witholden and augment in vanitie so they woulde inuent newe deuyses and straunge customes wherewith men shoulde be decayed and the common wealthe destroyed For straunge meates doe alter mennes stomackes When those of Creta were vngentlye vsed of the Rhodiens they did not praye to theire godes to sende them pestylence warre famin or sedition amonge theire enemies but that they woulde suffer some euil maners to bee brought in amongest theire people Let not those thinke that shall reade this that it was a small curse those of Creta desired and that it was a small reuenge whiche God gaue them of theire enemyes if he gaue them that whiche they dyd requyre For from warres famin and pestylence some maye escape but with the newe and straunge deuyses we see all perishe Of manye thinges the Historians doe reproue the Emperour Sergius Galba and for one alone they doe praise him whiche is that he neuer consented that in Rome anye newe lawe shoulde bee made nor anye olde custome broken And hee commaunded that those shoulde bee greuouslye punished whiche brought in anye newe lawe and hee rewarded those whiche put hym in mynde of anye olde custome the whiche he commaunded to bee obserued It is a mockerye yea better to saye a sclaunder to see that some younge iudges will doe that of the common wealthe whiche a Taylour dothe of a gowne that is to saye to tourne hym within and without before and behynde whiche they ought not to doe nor the people to consent thereunto For the Prince dothe not sende them to make lawes nor to bringe in newe orders but to the ende that they doe onelye preserue the common wealthe in theire good customes Princes ought also to take greate care that vnto lyttle and greate riche and poore they minister equall iustice sithe there is no dyuyne nor humayne lawe that geueth them power and aucthoritie to corrupt it for if a Prince cannot wythout reason dispose his owne goods much lesse he can make lawes and sell iustice We doe not denye a Prince but that he is lorde of beastes of fysh of byrdes of mynes of mountaines of seruaunts and of fyeldes finallye that hee is lorde of the sea and lande but therefore we will not graunt hym that he is lorde of iustice For there is none other true Lorde of iustice but God whiche is the selfe same iustice When a Prince dyeth and maketh his will hee saieth I leaue all my realmes seignories to the prince my sonne and legittimate heire and doe leaue vnto
Chap. xviii The auctour stil perswadeth women to gyue their owne children sucke Chap. xix That princesses and great ladyes ought to be verye circumspecte in chosinge their nurces of seuen properties whyche a good nource should haue Chap. xx The auctor addeth .3 other condicions to a good nource that giueth sucke Chap. xxi Of the disputacion before Alexander the great concernyng the sucking of babes Chap. xxii Of wytchcraftes and sorceries which the nources vsed in old time in geuinge their chyldren sucke Chap xxiii Marcus Aurelius wryteth to his frende Dedalus inueighenge againste witches which cure children by sorceries and charmes Chap. xxiiii How excellent a thing it is for a gentleman to haue an eloquent tongue cap. xxv Of a letter which the Athenians sent to the Lacedemonians Chap. xxvi That nources which giue sucke to the children of prynces ought to be discret and sage women Chap. xxvii That women may be no lesse wyse then men though they be not it is not through default of nature but for want of good bringyng vp Chap. xxviii Of a letter which Pithagoras sent to his sister Theoclea she readinge at that time philosophy in Samothracia Chap. xxix The auctor followeth his purpose perswading princesses and great ladies to endeuour them selues to be wise as the women wer in old time Chap xxx Of the worthynes of the lady Cornelia and of a notable epistle she wrote to her .ii. sonnes Tyberius and Caius which serued in the warres Chap. xxxi Of the educacion and doctrine of children whyles they are yong Chap. xxxii Princes oughte to take héede that their children be not broughte vp in vaine pleasures and delights chap. xxxiii That princes and great lords ought to be careful in sekynge men to brynge vp their children Of x. condicions that good schoole maisters ought to haue Chap. xxxiiii Of the ii sonnes of Marcus Aurelius of the whych the eldest and best beloued dyed And of the maisters he reproued for the other named Comodus Chap. xxxv Howe Marcus Aurelius rebuked fiue of the xiiii maisters he had chosen for the educacion of his sonne Comodus And how he bannished the rest from his pallace for their light behauior at the feast of the god Genius Chap. xxxvi That princes other noble men ought to ouersée the tutours of their children lest they conceale the secrete faultes of their scholers Chap. xxxvii Of the Emperours determinacioÌ„ when he commytted his sonne to the tutoures which he had prouyded for his educacion Chap. xxxviii That tutours of princes and noble mens sonnes ought to be very circumspect that their scholars do not accustome them selues in vyces whyles they are yonge and speciallye to kepe them from foure vyces Chap xxxix Of .ii. other vyces perilous in youthe whych the maysters ought to kepe theym from Chap. xl The ende of the Table of the seconde Booke The table of the third Booke HOw Princes and great Lordes ought to trauaile to administer to all equall Iustice Chap. i. The waye that Princes ought to vse in choosing their Iudges Officers in their contreyes Chap. ii Of an oration which a vilian of Danuby made before the senatours of Rome concernyng the tyrannie and oppressions whyche their offycers vse in his contrey Chap. iii. The villayne argueth againste the Romaynes whyche without cause or reason concquered their contreye and proued manifestely that they throughe offendyng of their gods were vancquished of the Romaines Chap. iiii The villayne concludeth his oration against the Iudges which minister not Iustice and declareth howe preiudicial such wycked men are to the common weale Chap. v. That Princes and noble men should be very circumspect in choosyng Iudges and Offycers for therin consisteth the profyt of the publyke weale Chap. vi Of a letter whych Marcus Aurelius wrot to Antigonus his frende wherein he speaketh agaynste the crueltye of Iudges and Officiers Chap. vii The Emperour Marcus continueth his letter agaynst cruel Iudges and reciteth ii examples the one of a pitiefull kyng of Cipres and the other of a cruell Iudge of Rome and in this Chapter is mencioned the erbe Ilabia growing in Cipres on the mounte Arcladye whych beyng cut droppeth bloud c. Chap. viii Of the wordes whych Nero spake concernynge iustyce and of the instruction whych the Emperoure Augustus gaue to a iudge which he sent into Dacia Cap. ix The Emperour foloweth his purpose agaynst cruel iudges declareth a notable imbassage whych came from Iudea to the Senate of Rome to complayne of the iudges that gouerned that Realme Chap. x. The Emperour concludeth his letter agaynst the cruel iudges declareth what the grand father of king Boco spake in the Senate Chap. xi An exhortacion of the auctor to princes noble men to embrace peace and to eschew the occasions of warre Chapter xii The commodities which come of peace Chap. xiii A letter of Marcus Aurelius to him freÌ„d Cornelius wherin he describeth the discommodities of warre and the vanitie of the triumphe Chap. xiiii The Emperour Marcus Aurelius declareth the order that the Romaynes vsed in setting forth men of warre and of the ouâ—tragious vilanies whyche captaynes and souldiours vse in the warres Chap. 15. Marcus Aurelius lamenteth with teares the follye of the Romaynes for that they made warre wyth Asia And declarethe what great domage commeth vnto the people wher the prince doth begin warres in a straung countrey Chap. xvi That prynces and great lords the more they grow in yeres should be the more discrete and vertuous to refraine from vices Chap. xvij That princes when they are aged shold be temperate in eating sober in drynking modest in apparel aboue al true in their communication Chap. xviii .. Of a letter of the Emperour Marcus Aurelius to Claudius and Claudinus wherein he reproueth those that haue many yeres and litle discrecion Chap. xix The emperour foloweth his letter and perswadeth those that are olde to giue no more credit to the world nor to any of hys flatteries Chap. xx The emperour procedith in his letter proueth by good reasons that sith the aged persons wil be serued and honoured of the yong they ought to be more vertuous and honest then the yong Chap. xxi The emperour concludeth his letter sheweth what perilles those old men lyue in which dissolutly like yong children passe their dayes and geueth vnto them holsom counsel for the remedy therof Chap. xxii Princes ought to take hede that they be not noted of Auarice for that the couetous man is both of god man hated Cap xxiii The auctor foloweth his matter wyth great reasons discoÌ„mendeth the vices of couetous men Chap. xxiiii Of a letter whyche the emperour M. Aurelius wrot to his freÌ„d Cincinatus wherin he toucheth those gentlemen which wil take vpon them the trade of marchaundise againste their vocations deuided into 4. chapters Chap xxv The Emperour procedeth his letter declareth what vertues men ought to vse and the vices which
shoulde they see therein thinkest thou Trulye as thou knowest they should see the common wealthe destroyed iustice not ministed and moreouer Rome not obeyed and not without iuste cause For of righte oughte that common wealthe to be distroyed which ons of al other hath bene the flower and most beautified with vertues and after becommeth moste abhominable and defiled with vices The case was suche that two yeares after the warres of Sylla and Marius the Censor went yearely to Nola whiche is a place in the prouince of Campania to visite the same countrey as the custome was And in those dayes the tyme and season being verye hote and the prouince quiet not dysturbed with warres and perceiuyng that none of the people cam to him The censour sayde to the hoste which lodged hym Frend I am a iudge sent from the Senatours of Rome to visite this land Therefore goe thy wayes quicklye and call the good men hither whiche be amonge the people For I haue to saye vnto theym from the sacred senate This hoste who peraduenture was wyser then the Romayne iudge althoughe not so ryche goeth to the graues of the dead whiche in that place were buryed and spake vnto them with a loude voyce sayinge O ye good men come awaye with me quickelie for the Romayne Censour calleth you The iudge perceiuyng they came not sent hym agayne to cal them and the host as he dyd at the first tyme so dyd he nowe at the seconde For when he was at the graues with a loud voyce he said O ye good men come hither for the censour of Rome woulde talke with you And lykewyse they were called the third tyme with the selfsame wordes And the Censour seyng no body come was maruelous angrie and said to the hoste Sithe these good men dysdayne to come at my commandement and shewe their allegiaunce to the sacred senate of Rome to thintente I maye punyshe this their dysobedience I wil goe vnto them my selfe Come and go with me The poore hoste without any wordes takyng the censour by the hand led him to the graues where he had ben before and agayne with a loude voice cried vnto the dead men and sayed O ye good men here is the Roman censor come to speake with you The censor beyng angry sayde to hym what meanest thou by this host I sent the to cal them that are aliue not those that are dead the host made answer o thou Roman Iudge if thou wert wyse thou woldest not marueil at that that I haue done For I let the vnderstand in this our citie of Nola al the good men all I say are now deade and lye here buried in these graues Therfore thou hast no cause to marueile nor yet to be dyspleased with my answere but I rather ought to be offended with thy demaunde willyng me to enquire for good menne and thou thy selfe doste offende with the euill dailie Wherfore I let the know if thou be ignoraunt therof if thou wilt speake with any good man thou shalte not finde him in all the hole worlde vnles the dead be reuiued or excepte the gods wil make a newe creation The Consul Sylla was fyue monethes our captain in this oure citye of Nola in Campania sowinge the fruite whiche ye other Romaines gathered that is to say he lefte children without fathers fathers without children daughters without mothers and husbandes without wyues wiues without husbandes vncles without nephewes subiectes withoute Lordes Lordes withoute tenauntes gods without Temples Temples without priestes mountaines without heardes and fieldes without frutes And the worste of all is that this cursed Sylla dispeopled this oure citye of good and vertuous men and replenyshed it with wycked and vitious personnes Ruine and decay neuer destroyed the walles so muche neyther the mothes euer marred so many garmētes ne the wormes rotted so much fruites nor yet the hayle beate downe so muche corne as the disorder and vices of Sylla the Romaine Consul dyd harme whiche he broughte vnto this land of campania And although the euils that he did here to the men were many folde greate yet muche greater herein was that which he did to their customes and maners For in the ende the good men whiche he beheaded are now at rest with the dead but the vices whiche he left vs. In this land ther are none but proude arrogant men that desire to commaunde In this land there are none other but enuious men that know nought els but malice In this land there are idle men which doe nothing but lose their tyme. In thys land there are none but gluttons whych doe nothyng but eateth In this land ther are non but theues which entende nought els but robberies In thys lande there are none but rebelles that doe nothyng but stirre sedicion And if thou and al the Romaynes esteme these men for good tary a while I wyl goe to cal them al to the. For if we should kil and put in the shambles al the yll men and wey theym as we doe the flesh of shepe or other lyke beastes all the neighbours and inhabitantes of Italye shoulde haue meate sufficiente to eate Beholde Censor in this lande of Campania they case none good but those which are quyet sober wise and discret men Thei cal none good but the pacient honest and verteous men Finallie I say that we cal none good but those which wyll doe no harme and will occupy them selues in good workes without teares I speke not that whych I wil say that is if we seke for any of them we shal finde none but in these graues For the iuste iudgment of god it was they should repose them selues in the intrailles of the earthe whom the publike weale deserued not to haue alyue Thou comest to visite thys land where thou shalt imediatly be serued with the wycked and to hyde theyr faultes theyr dissolute lyfe and theyr vices thou shalt not be a little solicited Beliue me if thou wilt not vndoe thy self be deceiued Trust thou rather these rottē bones then their deceiptful harts For in the end the examples of the dead that were good doe profyte men more to lyue well than the counsaile of the liuing that be wicked doe interre and burye al those that be nowe lyuyng ¶ Marcus Aurelius concludeth the letter and declareth at large the sciences he learned and al the maisters which he had And in the ende he reciteth fiue notable thynges in the obseruaunce of whych the Romaynes were verye curious Cap. iii. I Haue recyted these thynges vnto the my frende Pulio to the ende thou shouldest know what an infinite number there is of the wycked sort in that world and how smal and scant a number there is in Italye of the good and this procedeth of none other thynge but because the Fatheres doe not bryng vp their chyldren as our auncestours dyd It is vnpossyble a young chylde shoulde be vicious yf wyth due correction he had bene instructed in vertues
declared that Asa being king of Iudea and prophecieng in Hierusalem at that time Omri was king of Israel and after him succeded Ahab his sonne beyng of the age of .xxii. yeares This Ahab was not only young of yeares but yonger of vnderstanding and was nombred among the wicked kings not onely euil but to euil for the scriptures vse to cal them by names infamed whose liues deserued no memorie The vices of this kyng Ahab were sondry and diuerse whereof I wyll declare some as hereafter foloweth First of all he followed altogether the life and steppes of the kyng Iheroboam who was the first that entised the children of Israel to committe Idolatrie whiche thing turned to his great reproche and infamie For the Prince erreth not in immitinge the pathes of the good but offendeth in folowyng the wayes of the euyll Secondarily this kyng Ahab maried the daughter of the kynge of the Idumeans whose name was Iesabel whiche was of the stocke of the Gentyls and he of the Hebrues And for a trouth the mariage was vnaduisedly considered For sage Princes shoulde take wifes conformable to their lawes and condicions vnlesse they wyll repent them selues afterwardes Thirdly he buylt againe the citie of Hierico whiche by the commaundement of God was destroyed and commaunded that vppon greauous paynes it should not be reedified againe because the offences that were therein committed were so great that the inhabitantes did not onely deserue to loase their lyues but also that in Hierico there should not one stone remayne vpon an other Fourthly kyng Ahab buylte a sumptuous temple to the Idol Baall in the citie of Samaria and consecrate a wood vnto him whiche he had very pleasaunt and set in the temple his image of fyne gold so that in the reigne of this cursed kynge Baal the wicked Idoll was so highly estemed that not onely secretly but also openly they blasphemed the true and lyuing God The case was suche That one daye Ahab going against the kyng of Siria to take him and his citie called Ramoth Galaath being in battayle was shot into the breaste with an arrowe wherewith he not onely loste his lyfe but also the dogges did lappe vp his bloud that fell to the earth O Princes and great Lordes if you wyll geue credite vnto me you shal haue nothing more in recommendation then to be good Christians Syth ye see that as this Prince in his life did serue straunge Idols so it was reason that after his death his bloud should be buried in the intrelles of rauenous dogges ¶ Why kyng Manasses was punished THE king Manasses was the sonne of Ezechias and father of Amon which were all kynges And truly they differed so muche in maners that a man could scarcely iudge whether the vertues and prowesses of the father were more to be desired or the vice and wickednes of the children to be abhorred This Manasses was a wicked Prince for as muche as he builte new temples to Baal and in the cities made heremitages for the Idols and in the mountaines repayred all the aulters that heretofore were consecrated to the deuyll He consecrated many forestes and woodes to the Idols he honoured the starres as the gods and did sacrifice to the planets elementes For the man that is abandoned by the hand of God there is no wickednes that his obstinate harte doth not enterprise So that he had in his Palace al maner of false prophetes as southsaiers prophesiers witches sorcerers enchaunters coniurers the which daily he caused to giue sacrifice to the idols gaue such credit to sorcerers enchaunters that his seruauntes were all for the most part sorcerers and in them was his chiefe delight and pleasure And lykewise he was skilful in all kinde of mischiefe and ignoraunte in all vertues He was so cruel spilt somuch innocent bloud that if it had bene water put together and the bodyes of them that he slewe layde on heapes it would both haue couered their carcases and also haue drowned the liuing Yet he not contented with that I haue spoken of set in the Temple of oure Lorde an old idoll that stode in the woode for the punishmente of whiche facte God suffred his seruauntes to kill his eldest sonne Afterwarde God would not suffer these such sondrye myscheues of mans malice but of hys deuine iustice caused these wordes to be proclamed in Hierusalem Sithe the king Manasses hath bene so bold to contemne me himselfe alone to commit thoffences of al I wil chastice him alone withe the same correction that he hath shewed vnto others By these wordes let Princes note here howe the deuine vengeaunce extendeth no further then our offences deserue soo that if our fault be lytle the punishment which he giueth vs is very temperate but if the prince be stubburne and obstinate in his wyckednes let hym be sure that the punishment shal be extreme ¶ Why Iulyus Pompeius Xerxes Catilina Germanicus and Brennus were punyshed WHen pompeius the great passed into the Orrient with all the hoste of the Romaine people and after he had subdued al Sirie Mesopotamia Damasco Arabia he passed into the realme of Palestin which otherwise was called Iudea wher he committed diuerse and sondrye euilles so that many of the Romaines and Hebrues dyed ther. Finally by force of armes he toke the puisant citye of Hierusalem whych as Plynie sayth was the best of al Asia And Strabo saith of the situacion of the world that Rome was the chiefe of al Italy of Affrike the principal was Carthage of Spaine Numantia of Germanie Argentine of Caldea Babilone of Egipt Thebes of Grece Athens of Phenice Tira of Cappadocea Cesarea of Thrace Constantinople and of palestine Hierusalem Pompeius therfore not contented to kil al the auncientes in that warre to impryson the youth to behead the elders to force the mothers to defile the virgines to teare in peces the children to beate downe buildinges and to robbe the tresours but encreasing euyl vpon euyll and putting all the people to destruction he made of the Temple a stable for hys horses which before god was abhominable that wher alwayes heretofore he had bene a conqueroure had triumphed ouer 22. kynges euer after he was vnluckye and ouercome in battayle The famous rebell Catilina as Saluste affirmeth had neuer bene ouercome if it had not bene for the robbing destroying of the Temples which were consecrated to the gods The noble Marcus Marcellus to whom no Romaine is to be compared in vertues the same day that he caused the Temple of the goddesse Februa to be burnt was himselfe slaine in battayle The noble Romaine captaine Drusius Germanicus that was so wel wylled and beloued because he gaue a calfe meat to eate which was the god of the Caldeans being prohybited forbidden within a moneth after dyed whose death was greatlye lamented in Rome Suetonius saythe that after Iulius Cesar had robbed the Temple of the Gawles the gods alwaies made
that amongest the myshappes of fortune we dare saye that ther is no felycitie in the world And he only is happie from whom wisedom hath plucked enuious aduersitie and that afterwards is brought by wisedome to the highest felycitye And thoughe I would I cannot endure any lenger but that the immortall gods haue the in their custoditye and that they preserue vs from euyl fortune Sith thou art retired now vnto Bethinie I know well thou wouldest I should write the some newes from Rome and at this presente there are none but that the Carpentines and Lusitaines are in great strife and dissension in Spayne I receiued letters how that the barbarous were quyet though the host that was in Illiria were in good case yet notwistanding the army is somwhat fearefull and timerous For in all the coaste and borders ther hath bene a great plague Pardon me my frend Pulio for that I am so sickely that yet I am not come to my selfe For the feuer quartaine is so cruel a disease that he which hath it contenteth himselfe with nothinge neither taketh pleasure in any thing I send the .ii. of the best horses that can be found in al Spayne also I send the ii cuppes of gold of the richest that can be founde in Alexandria And by the lawe of a good man I swere vnto the that I desire to sende the ii or .iii. howers of those which trouble me in my feauer quartaine My wife Faustine saluteth the and of her part and mine also to Cassia thy olde mother and noble widowe we haue vs commended Marcus the Romaine Emperour with his owne hande writeth this and againe commendeth him vnto his dere frend Pulio ¶ That princes and great Lordes ought not to esteme them selues for being fayre and wel proportioned Cap. xli .. IN the time that Iosue triumphed amongest the Hebrues and that Dardanus passed from great Grece to Samotratia and when the sonnes of Agenor were seking their sister Europe and in the time that Siculus reigned in Scicil in great Asia in the Realme of Egipt was buylded a great cytie called Thebes the which king Busiris built of whom Diodorus Sicculus at large mencioneth Plynie in the .36 chapter of his naturall historie and Homere in the second of his Iliade and Statius in al the booke of his Thebiade do declare great meruelles of this citye of Thebes which thing ought greatly to be estemed for a man oughte not to thinke that fayned whiche so excellente auctours haue writen For a truth they say that Thebes was in circuite .40 myles and that the walles were .30 stades hye and in breadthe .6 They say also that the citie had a hundreth gates very sumptuous and strong and in euery gate .ii. hundreth horsemen watched Through the middest of Thebes passed a great riuer the which by mylles and fishe dyd greatly profite the citie When Thebes was in his prosperity they say that there were two hundreth thousand fiers and besydes all this al the kynges of Egipt were buried in that place As Strabo sayth De situ orbis when Thebes was destroyed with enemies they found therin lxxvii tombes of kings whych had bene buried there And here is to be noted that al those tombes were of vertuous kings For among the Egiptians it was a law inuiolable that the king which had bene wicked in his lyfe should not be buried after his death Before the noble and worthy Numantia was founded in Europe the riche Carthage in Affricke and the hardye Rome in Italy the goodly Capua in Campaigne and the great Argentine in Germanie and the holy Helia in Palestine Thebes onlye was the most renowmed of all the world For the Thebanes amongest al nacions were renowmed aswel for their riches as for their buyldings and also because in theyr lawes customes they had many notable seuere things al the men were seuere in their workes although they would not be knowen by their extreame doinges Homere sayth that the Thebanes had v. customes wherein they were more extreme then any other nacion 1. The first was that the children drawing to v. yeres of age were marked in the forehead with a hoote yron because in what places so euer they came they should be knowen for Thebanes by that marke 2. The second was that they should accustome their children to trauaile alwayes on foote And the occasion why they dyd this was because the Egiptians kept their beastes for their gods and therfore when so euer they trauayled they neuer rydde on horsebacke because they should not seme to sitte vpon their god 3. The third was that none of the citizens of Thebes shold mary with any of straunge nacions but rather they caused them to marrye parentes with parentes because that frendes maryeng with frendes they thoughte the frendshippe and loue should be more sure 4. The fourthe custome was that no Thebane should in any wise make a house for himselfe to dwel in but first he should make his graue wherin he should be buryed Me thinketh that in this point the Thebanes were not to extreme nor excessiue but that they did lyke sage and wise men yea and by the law of veryte I sweare that they were sager then we are For if at the least we dyd imploye our thought but two howers in the weke to make our graue it is vnpossible but that we should correcte euerye daye our life 5. The fift custome was that all the boies which were excedinge faire in their face shoulde be by theym strangled in the cradell and all the girles whiche were extreame foule were by them killed sacrifised to the godds Sayeng that the gods forgotte themselues when they made the men faire and the women foule For the man which is very faire is but an vnparfite woman and the woman which is extreme foule is but a sauage and wilde beast The greatest God of the Thebaines was Isis who was a red bull nourisshed in the riuer of Nile and they had a custome that all those which had red heere immediately should be sacrifyâ—ed The contrarye they did to the beastes for sithe their God was a bul of tawnye couloure none durst be so bold to kyl any beasts of the same coloure In such fourme and maner that it was lawfull to kyll both men and women and not the brute beastes I do not say this was wel done of the Thebaines to sley their children nor yet I do say that it was wel done to sacrifice men women which had red or taunye heere nor I thinke it a thinge reasonable that they should do reuerence to the beastes of that coloure but I wonder why they should so much dispise foule women and faire men sith all the world is peopled bothe with faire and foule Then sith those barbarous lyuyng as they did vnder a false law did put him to death whom the Gods had adorned with any beautie we then which are Christians by reason ought much lesse to esteme
realme but that first he had bene brought vp in the studies of Grece I will not denie that all the renowmed tyrauntes haue not bene nourished in Scicile but also thou shalt not deny me that they were not borne in Grece Therfore see and beholde to whom the fault is from the mother whiche bare them or froÌ„ the nurse which gaue theÌ„ suck I do not say that it shal be but I say that it may wel be that if I were there in Grece I should be a better philosopher than thou if thou were here in Agrigentine thou wouldest be a worser tyraunt thaÌ„ I. I would thou shouldest thinke that thou mightest be better in Grece where thou art and that I might be worse in Agrigentine where I am For thou dost not so muche good as thou mightest doe and I do not so much euil as I may do The conning man Perillus came into these partes and hath made a Bul wherin he hath put a kind of torment the most feare fullest in the world and truly I caused that that which his malyce had inuented should be of none other than of himselfe experimented For there is no iuster law that when any workeman haue inuented engins to make other men dye then to put them to the torments by them inuented to know the experience in them selues I beseche the hartely to come and se me and be thou assured thou shalt make me good For it is a good signe for the sicke when he acknowledgeth his sicknes to the Physitian I saye no more to the but that once againe I returne to solicite the that thou faylest not to come to se me For in the end if I do not profite of the I am sure thou shalt profite by me and if thou winnest I cannot lose ¶ How Philippe kyng of Macedonia Alexander the great the king Ptolomeus the king Antigonus the king Archelaus and Pâ—rrus kynge of the Epirotes were all great louers and frendes of the sages Cap. xlvii IF Quintus Curtius deceiue me not the great Alexander sonne to kyng Philyppe of Macedome dyd not deserue to be called great for that he was accompanied with thousands of men of warre but he wanne the renowne of great for that he had more philosophers on his counsaile then all other princes had This great prince neuer toke vpon him warres but that firste the order of executyng the same shoulde before his presence be examyned of the sages and wise philosophers And truly he had reason For in affaires wher good counsaile haue proceded they may alwayes loke for a good end These Historiographers whych wrote of great Alexander as wel the Grecians as the Latines knowe not whether the fiersnes wherwith he stroke his enemyes was greater or the humanitie wherewith he embraced his counsayle Though the sage philosophers whych accompanied the great Alexander were many in nombre yet notwithstandyng amongest all those Aristotle Anaxarcus and Onosichrates were his most familiars And herein Alexander shewed hymselfe very wise For wise princes ought to take the counsaile of many but they ought to determine and conclude vpon the opinion of few The greate Alexander did not contente himselfe to haue sages with hym neyther to sende onlye to desire those whiche were not his but oftentymes himselfe in personne woulde goo see theym vysite theym and counsayle with theym Saying that the Princes whiche are the seruauntes of sages come to be made maisters and Lordes ouer all In the time of Alexander Magnus Diogenes the philosopher lyued who neither for entreatye nor yet for any promises made would come to see Alexander the great Wherfore the great Alexander went to se him and when he had desired him to go with him and acompany him Diogenes aunswered O Alexander since thou wilte winne honoure in keapinge of menne in thy companye it is not reason that I shoulde loose it to forsake my study For in folowing the I shall not folow my selfe and being thyne I shal cease to be myne Thou arte come to haue the name of the greate ALEXANDER for conqueringe the worlde and I haue attayned to come to renowme of a good Phylosopher in flyeng the world And if thou dost ymagine that thou hast gotten and wonne I thinke that I haue not erred nor lost And since thou wilt be no lesse in aucthoritye then a king do not thinke that I wil lose the estimacion of a philosopher For in the world there is no greater losse vnto a man then when he looseth his proper lybertie When hee had spoken these wordes Alexander said vnto them that were about him with a loude voyce By the immortall gods I sweare and as god Mars rule my handes in battaile if I were not Alexander the greate I would be Diogenes the Philosopher And he sayd further in myne opinion there is no other felycitie vpon the earth then to be Alexander king who commaundeth al or to be Diogenes to commaund Alexander who commaundeth all As king Alexander was more familyar with some philosophers then with others so he estemed some bookes more then others And they say he read oftentimes in the Iliades of Homere which is a booke where the storye of the destruction of Troy is and that when he slept he layde vnder his head vpon a bolster his sword and also his booke When the great king Alexander was borne his father King of Macedonie did two notable things The one was that he sent many and very riche giftes into the I le of Delphos wher the Oracle of Apollo was to the end to present theym with him and to praye him that it would please him to preserue his sonne The other thing that he did was that immediatly he wrote a letter to the greate Philosopher Aristotel wher in he sayd these words ¶ The letter of king Philippe to Aristotle the philosopher PHilippe king of Macedonie wisheth healthe and peace to the Philosopher Aristotel which readeth in the vniuersitie of Grece I let the vnderstand that Olimpias my wife is brought to bedde of a goodly man child wherof both she and I and all Macedonie do reioyce For kinges realmes ought to haue great ioy when there is borne any sonne successour of the naturall prince of the prouince I render thankes vnto the immortall gods haue sent many great giftes to the Temples and it was not so much for that I haue a sonne as for that they haue giuen him vnto me in the time of so great and excellent philosopher I hope that thou wilt bringe him vp and teache him in such sort that by heritage he shal be Lord of my patrimonye of Macedonie and by desert he shal be lorde of all Asia so that they should call him my sonne and the his father Vale foelix iterumque vale Ptolomeus father in lawe who was the viii kinge of the Egiptians did greatly loue the sages as wel of Caldea as of Grece and this thinge was estemed for a great vertue in king Ptolome
and the house wherein she dwelleth euell combred For suche one doeth importune the lorde trobleth the ladye putteth in hazard the childe and aboue all is not contented with her selfe Finallye fathers for geuynge to much libertie to their nources oftetimes are the cause of many practises which they do wherwith in the end they are greued with the death of their children which foloweth Amongest all these which I haue red I saye that of the auncient Romaine princes of so good a father as Drusius Ge manicus was neuer came so wycked a sonne as Caligula was beyng the fourth Emperour of Rome for the historiographers were not satisfyed to enryche and prayse the excellencies of hys father neither ceased they to blame and reprehende the infamyes of his sonne And they say that hys naughtines proceadeth not of the mother which bare hym but of the nource which gaue hym sucke For oftimes it chaunceth that the tree is grene and good when it is planted and afterwardes it becommeth drye and wythered only for beyng caryed into another place Dion the greke in the second boke of Cesars sayeth that a cursed woman of Campania called Pressilla nouryshed and gaue sucke vnto thys wycked childe She had agaynst al nature of women her breastes as heary as the berdes of men and besides that in runnyng a horse handelyng her staffe shoting in the Crosbowe fewe yong men in rome were to be compared vnto her It chaunced on a time that as she was geuyng sucke to Caligula for that she was angry she tore in peces a yong child with the bludde there of annoynted her breastes and so she made Caligula the yong childe to sucke together both blud and milke The sayed Dion in hys booke of the lyfe of this Emperour Caligula sayeth that the women of Campania whereof the sayed Prescilla was had this custome that when they would geue their teat to the childe firste they dyd anoynte the nipple with the bludde of a hedge hogge to the end their children myght be more fyerce and cruell And so was this Caligula for he was not contented to kyll a man onely but also he sucked the bludde that remayned on his swerde and lyked it of with his tong The excellent Poet Homer meanyng to speake playnely of the crueltyes of Pirrus sayed in his Odisse of him suche wordes Pirrus was borne in Grece nourished in Archadye and brought vp with tigers milke whiche is a cruel beast As if more plainelye he had sayed Pirrus for beyng borne in Grece was Sage for that he was brought vp in Archadie he was strong and couragyous and for to haue sucked Tigars milke he was veray proude and câ—uell Hereof maye be gathered that the great Gretian Pirrus for wantinge of good milke was ouercome with euell condicions The selfe same historian Dion sayeth in the lyfe of Tiberius that he was a great dronckarde And the cause herof was that the nource dyd not onelye drynke wyne but also she weined the child with soppes dypped in wyne And wythout doubte the cursed woman had done lesse euill if in the steade of milke she had geueÌ„ the child poison wythout teachinge it to drinke wine wherfore afterwardes he lost his renowme For truly the Romayne Empire had lost lytell if Tiberius had died beyng a child and it had wonne muche if he had neauer knowen what drinkyng of wyne had mente I haue declared all that whyche before is mencioned to thentente that Princesses and great Ladyes myghte be aduertised that sinse in not nouryshyng their children they shewe them selues crewel yet at the least in prouidyng for them good nourses they should shew them selues pitifull For the children oftetymes folow more the condicion of the milke which they sucke then the condicion of their mothers whyche broughte them forth or of thâ—ir fathers whych begot them Therfore they oughte to vse much circumspectioÌ„ herin for in them consisteth the fame of the wyues the honoure of the husbande and the wealth of the children Of the disputations before Alexander the great concernyng the time of the suckyng of babes Chap. xxii QVintus Curtius sayeth that after the great Alexander whych was the last kyng of the Macedonians and first Emperour of the grekes hadde ouercome kynge Darius and that he sawe hym selfe onely lorde of all Asia he went to rest in babylon for among menne of warre there was a custome that after they had ben long in the warres euery on should retire to his owne house King Philip whych was father of kyng Alexander always councelled his sonne that he should lead with him to the warres valiaunt captaines to conquere the world and that out of his realmes and dominioÌ„s he should take chose the wysest men and best experimented to gouerne the empire He had reason in such wyse to councell hys sonne for by the councell of Sages that is kept and mainteined whych by the strengthe of valiaunt men is gotten and wonne Alexander the great therefore beyng in Babilon after he had conquered all the countrye since all the citye was vitious and hys armye so long without warres some of his owne men began to robbe one another others to playe their owne some to force women and others to make banquettes and feastes and when some were droncke others raysed quarels striffes and dyscentions so that a man could not tell whether was greater the ruste in their armours or the corruptions in their customes For the property of mans malice is that when the gate is open to idlenes infynite vyces enter into the house Alexander the great seing the dyssolution which was in his armye and the losse which myght ensewe hereof vnto his great empire commaunded streightly that they should make a shew and iuste thoroughe Babilon to the end that the men of warre should excersise their forces thereby And as Aristotle sayethe in the booke of the questions of Babylon the turney was so muche vsed amongest them that sometimes they caryed awaye more dead and wounded men then of a bloudy battaile of the enemy Speaking accordyng to the law of the gentiles whiche loked not glorie for their vertues nor feared hell to dye at the torney the commendemant of Alexander was veray iuste for that doyng as he dyd to the armye he defaced the vyce whych dyd wast it and for him selfe he got perpetuall memorye and also it was cause of muche suretye in the common weale This good Prince not contented to excersise his armye so but ordeined that daily in his presence the philosophers should dispute and the question wherin they shold dyspute Alexander him selfe would propounde â–ª wherof folowed that the great Alexander was made certayne of that wherin he doubted and so by his wisedom all men exercysed their craftes and wittes For in this tyme of idlenes the bokes wer no lesse marred with dust because they were not opened then the weapons were with rust which were not occupied There is a booke of Aristotle intituled the
circumspect that they kepe them in awe feare subiection that they ought not to be contented though the fathers say they are pleased For the disordinate loue that the fathers haue to them is the cause that they caÌ„not se whether they be mockers or euil brought vp And if it chaunced as ofttimes it doth that the father shold come to the maister to cause him to withdraw correction in this case if the master be a wise maÌ„ he ought no lesse to reproue admonish the father then to correct the sonne And if this did not auaile I councel him to forsake and leaue his charge For the man of an honest nature after he hath taken anye charge in hand wil eyther bring it to passe or els he wil dye in the same I wyl not denaye but that it is reason noble mennes sonnes be more gently brought vp handled and honoured then the sonnes of the Plebeiens for more delicately is the palme tree which bringeth forth dates cherished then the oke which bringeth forth Akornes wherwith the hogges are nourished Let princes and great lordes beware that the pleasures which they gaue their childre in theyr youthe be not so excessyue nor of soo longe continuaunce that when they would withdraw them the world hath not alredy festered them For the children brought vp with to much delicatenesse are disobedient to their fathers and mothers or els they are sicke in their bodyes or worse then that they are vicious in their behauiours so that their fathers shold be better to burye theym quycke then to bring them vp vycious ¶ That princes and greâ—te Lordes oughte to be carefull in seking wyse men to bryng vp their children Of .x. conditions that good Schole maisters ought to haue Cap. xxxiiii WHen he that is without end gaue beginning to the world in this sort he beganne The Sonday he created heauen and earth The Mondaye he created the element the Tuesday he created the Planettes the Wednesday he created the Sonne and the Mone the Thursday he created the birdes in the ayre and the fishes in the sea the fryday he created Adam and Eue hys wife and truly in that he created and how he created hee shewed himselfe as God For as sone as the house was made he fornished peopled it with that that was necessarie as he could wel do Omitting therfore the creator and talking of creatures we se by experience that a householder in planting a vineyarde immediatly maketh a hedge to the ende that the beasts do not hurt it and eate it vp And when it is wel growen he hyreth some poore laborer to watche that trauailers do not gather nor eate the grapes therof The rich man that traffiqueth by sea after he hath made a great shippe and bestowed vi or vii thousand ducates if he be wise he wil first prouide a man that may gouerne her before he wil seke marchaundise for to fraite her for in perilous tempestes the greatnes of the shippe lytel auayleth if the pilot therof be not expert The householder that hath many cowes and shepe and likewise hath faire feeldes and pleasaunt pastures for his cattel doth not only seke herdmen to kepe the cattell but also dogges to feare the wolfes and cabannes to lodge the herdmen For the cabanne of the shepherdes and the baying of the dogge is but as a sauegard of the shepe from the raueninge of the wolfe The mightie and valiaunte princes whiche in the frontiers of their enemyes kepe strong fortresses seke alwayes stout and hardy captaynes to defend their walles for otherwise it were better the fort shold be battered to the grounde then it should come into the power of the enemyes By the comparisons aboue named ther is no discreat man but doth vnderstand to what end my penne doth write them that is to know to kepe and proue how that men which loue their children wel adding this vnto it haue great neade of good maisters and gouernours to teache and bring them vp For whiles the palme tre is but litle a frost doth easely destroy it I meane whiles the child is yonge if he haue no tutour he is easely deceiued with the world If the lord be wise and of vnderstanding there is no fortresse so esteamed neyther ship so fayre nor herd so profitable nor vyne so fruitful but that he better estemeth to haue a good sonne then al these thinges together or any other thing in the world For the father ought to loue his childreÌ„ as his owne proper and al residue as giftes of fortune If it be so as it is in deade since that for to keape and watche the herd they seake a good shepherde if for the vine they seake a good labourer if for to gouerne the shippe they seke a good maister and for to defend a fort they seke a good captayne why then wil not the wise fathers seke for good maisters to teach bring vp their chyldren O princes and great lords I haue now told you and agayne do say that if you trauaile one yeare to leaue your chyldren goodes you ought to sweate 50 yeres to leaue them wel brought vp For it auayleth lytle to carye much corne to the myl if the myl be out of frame I meane that in vayne riches and treasurs are gathered when the child that shal inherite them hath not witte to vse them It is no smal matter to know how to choose good gouernours For the prince is sage that fyndeth such a one and much more happie is he that of him shal be taught For in my opinyoÌ„ it is no smal charg for one man to bring vp a Prince that shal gouerne manye As Seneca sayth the wise man ought to conferre al thinges with his frend but first he ought to know who he is that is his frend I meane that the wise father oughte for his children to seke one good maister and to him he should recommende them al but first he ought to know what he is For that man is very simple which wil bye a horse before he se proue him whether he be hole or lame He ought to haue many and good condicions and qualyties that shoulde bring vp the children of princes and great lordes for by one way they nourishe the tender trees in the orchard after another sort they plant the wild trees in the mountaynes Therfore the case shal be this that we wil declare here what condicions and behauiours the maisters and gouernours of noble mens sonnes ought to haue which may bring them to honour and their disdoundeth to the honour and praise of his mayster The first condicion is that he which ought to be tutor to noble mens sonnes shold be no lesse then 40. yeres of age no more then 60 bicause the maister that is yong is ashamed to comaund if he be aged he is not able to correct The .2 it is necessary that tutors be very honest that not only in
purenes of conscience but also in the outward apparance and cleanes of lyfe For it is vnpossible that the child be honest if the mayster be dissolute The 3. it is necessary that tutors and gouernours of princes and great lordes be true men not only in their words but also in their couenauntes For to say the truth that mouth which is alwaies ful of lyes ought not by reason to be a teacher of the truth The 4. condicion it is necessary that the gouernours of princes great lordes of their owne nature be liberall for oft tymes the greate couetousnes of maisters maketh the harts of princes to be gredy and couetous The 5. it is necessary that the maisters and gouernours of princes great lords be moderate in wordes very resolute in sentences so that they ought to teach the children to speake litle to harken much For it is the chefest vertue in a prince to heare with pacience and to speake wyth wisedome The 6. condicion is it is necessary that the maysters and gouernours of princes and great lords be wise men and temperate so that the grauitye of the mayster maye restrayne the lyghtnes of the Schollers for there is no greater plagues in Realmes then for princes to be yong and their maisters to be lyght The 7. it is necessarye that the maisters and tutors of princes and greate lords be wel learned in diuinity and humanitie in such sort that that which they teach the princes by word they may shew it by writing to the end that other princes may execute and put the same in vre for mens harts are soner moued by the examples of those which are past then by the words of them that are present The 8. condicion it is necessarie that the maisters and tutors of princes be not giuen to the vice of the flesh for as they are yong and naturallye giuen to the flesh so they haue no strength to abide chast neyther wisedome to be ware of the snares Therefore it is necessarye that theyr maisters be pure and honeste for the Dyscyples shall neuer bee chaste if the mayster bee vicyous The 9. it is necessary that the masters and tutors of Princes and greate lords haue good condicions bycause the children of noble men being daintely brought vp alwayes learne euill condicions the which their maisters ought to reforme more by good conuersacion then by sharpe correction For oftentimes it chaunceth that whereas the maister is cruel the scholer is not merciful The .10 it is necessary that the maisters and tutors of prynces and great lordes haue not only sene and red many things but also that they haue proued chaungeable fortune For since noble mens sonnes by the gift of god haue great estates they ought therefore to prouide to speake to many to aunswere to many and to entreat with many and it is very profitable for them to be conuersaunt with expert men for in the end the approued mā in councel hath preheminence I was willyng to bringe in these rules in my writing to the end that fathers may kepe them in their memory when they do seke maysters to teach their children for in my opinyon the father is more in fault to seke an euil maister then the maister is to make an euyl scholer For if I choose euyl taylers to cut my gowne it is my faulte that the cloth is lost and my gowne marred Albeit the Romaines were in al their doings circumspect yet for this one thinge I must enuy the good doctrine which they gaue to noble mens children For wythout doubt it is vnpossible that in any city there by a good common wealth vnlesse they are very circumspect to bring vp yong children Sabellicus in his rapsodies sayth that in the 415 yeres of the foundacion of Rome Qintus Seruilius and Lucius Geminus then consulles being in the warre against the Volces the stout aduenturous captaine Camillus there rose a great strife and contencion in Rome amongest the people and the knights and that contencion was vpon the prouision of offyces For in great common wealthes it hath bene an aunciente quarell that in knights and gentlemen there surmounteth pride in commaundyng and amonge the people ther wanteth pacience in obeyinge The knightes and gentlemen would they should chose a Tribune Millitare in the senate to speake in the name of al the knyghtes that were absent and present for they sayd that sence they were alwayes at the warre the whole common wealth remained in the power of the people The commons on the other part importuned and desired that a new officer should be created the whych should haue the charge to examine and take accompt how the youth of Rome were brought vp bycause the comon people did accuse the knights gentlemen that the longer they remained in the warres the more sensuallye their chyldren lyued in Rome It was decreed then that a Tribune Millitare should be erected the which in aucthority and dignytie should be equal with the senatours that he should represente the state of warlike knights but that office continued no longer then foure yeres in Rome that is to wete til the time that Camillus retourned from the warres For thinges that are grounded of no reason of them selues they come to nought Al the knights gentlemen sought to the vttermost of their power to maintaine their preheminēce on the other side al the cominalty of Rome was against it In the end the good captaine Camillus called al the knights gentlemen to gethers and sayd vnto them these words I am greatly ashamed to se that the stoutnes should be so lytle of the Romaine knights that they should cōdiscend to the wil of the Plebians for in dede the myghty do not get so much honour to ouercome the lytle as the litle do to striue with the great I say that the strife debate amongest you in Rome doth displease me muche therfore you knights if you wil not lose your honours you must eyther kil them or ouercome them You cannot ouercome them bycause they are many kyll them you ought not for in the end they are youres therfore ther is no better remedy then to dissemble with theym For things which suffer no force nor obserue not iustyce ought alwayes vntil conuenient time to be dissembled The immortal gods did not create Romaine knights to gouerne people but to conquere Realmes And I say further that they dyd not create vs to teach lawes to oures but to giue lawes to straungers And if we be the children of our fathers immitators of the auncient Romanes we wil not content our selues to commaund in Rome but to commaund those which do commaund in Rome For the hart of a true Romaine doth lytle esteame to se himselfe lord of this world if he know that ther is another to conquere You others did creat this Tribune Millitare we being in the warre whereof now theris no necessitye since we are in peace
of Athens no vycious man could enter nor idle word be spoken neither they dyd consent that any ignoraunt philosopher should come in to read there As by chaunce many phylosophers were come from the mout Olimpus amongest the residue ther was one came to se the phylosophers of Athens who was natife of Thebes a man as afterwards he declared him selfe in mortal natural Phylosophy very wel learned and since he desired to remayne in Athens he was examined and of many and dyuers thyngs demaunded And amongest the others these folowing were some of them Firste they asked him what causeth women to be so frowarde since it is true that nature made them shamefast and created them simple the Philosopher aunswered A Woman is not frowarde but bycause she hath to much her wil and wanteth shame Secondarily they asked him why yong men are vndone he aunswered bycause time aboundeth them for to do euil and maysters wanteth to enforce them to do good Thirdly they asked him why are wise men deceyued aswel as the simple he aunswered The wise man is neuer deceyued but by him that vseth faire words and hath euil condicions Forthly they asked him of whom mē ought most to beware he aunswered That ther is to a man no greater enemye then he which seeth that thing in the which he desireth to haue in him selfe Fifthly they asked him why many princes beginne wel and end euil he aunswered princes begin wel bycause their nature is good they end euil bycause no man doth gaine say them Sixtly they asked him why do princes comit such follyes he aunswered Bicause flatterers aboundeth that deceiue them true men wanteth which should serue them Seuenthly they asked him why the auncients were so sage men at thys present so simple he aunswered Bycause the auncients did not procure but to know they present do not trauaile but for to haue Eightly they asked him why so many vyces were nourished in the pallace of princes he aunswered Bycause pleasures abound and councel wanteth The ninth they asked him why the most part of mē liued without rest few without paine he aunswered No man is more without suffereth more paine thē he which dieth for the goods of another litle estemeth his owne The tenth they asked him wherby they myght know the common wealth to be vndone he aunswered There is no comon wealth vndone but where the yong are light and the old vicious The xi they asked him wherwith the comon wealth is mainteyned he aunswered The common wealth cannot decay wher iustice remayneth for the poore punishment for the tiraunts weight and measure plentiful chefely if ther be good doctrine for the yong lytle couetousnes in the old Affro the historiographers declareth this in the x boke De rebus attheniensium Truly in my opinion the words of this philosopher were few but the sentences were many And for none other cause I dyd bring in this history but to profite me of the last word wherin for aunswere he saith that al the profite of the commō wealth consisteth in that ther be princes that restrayne the auarice of the aged that there be maisters to teach the youthful We se by experience that if the brute beasts were not tied the corne seedes compassed with hedges or ditches a man should neuer gather the fruite when they are ripe I meane that strife debate wil rise continually amonge the people if the yonge men haue not good fathers to correct them wise maisters to teach them We cānot deny but though the knife be made of fyne steele yet sometimes it hath nede to be whet so in lyke maner the yong man during the time of his youth though he do not deserue it yet from time to time he ought to be corrected O princes great lords I know not of whom you take councell when your sonne is borne to prouyde him of a maister gouernour whom you chose not as the most vertuous but as the most richest not as the most sagest but as the most vile euil taught Finally you do not trust him wyth your children that best deserueth it but that most procureth it Againe I say O princes great lords why do you not wtdraw your childrē from their hands which haue their eyes more to their owne profite thē their harts vnto your seruice For such to enrich themselues do bring vp princes vyciously Let not princes thinke that it is a trifle to know how to find chose a good master the lord which herein doth not employ his dyligence is worthy of great rebuke And because they shal not pretend ignoraunce let them beware of that man whose life is suspicious and extreame couetous In my opinion in the palace of princes the office of tutorship ought not to begeuen as other comon offices that is to wete by requestes or money by priuyties or importunities eyther els for recompence of seruices for it foloweth not though a man hath ben imbassadour in straunge realmes or captaine of great armies in warre or that he hath possessed in the roial palace offices of honour or of estemaciō that therfore he should be able to teach or bring vp their children For to be a good captayne sufficeth only to be hardy and fortunate but for to be a tutour and gouernour of princes he ought to be both sage and vertuous ¶ Of the ii children of Marcus Aurelius the Emperour of the which the best beloued dyed And of the maisters he prouided for the other named Comodus ▪ Chap. xxxv MArcus Aurelius the xvii Emperour of Rome in that time that he was maried with Faustine only doughter of the Emperour Antonius Pius had only ii sonnes wherof the eldest was Comodus and the second Verissimus Of these ii chyldren the heyre was Comodus who was so wycked in the 13 yeres he gouerned the empire that he semed rather the disciple of Nero the cruel then to descend by the mothers syde from Anthonius the mercifull or sonne of Marcus Aurelius This wicked chyld Comodus was so light in speach so dishonest in parson so cruel with his people that oft tymes he being aliue they layed wagers that ther was not one vertue in him to be found nor any one vyce in him that wanted On the contrary part the second sonne named Verissimus was comely of gesture proper of personne in witte verye temperate the most of al was that by his good conuersacion of al he was beloued For the faire and vertuous princes by theyr beauty draweth vnto them mens eyes by their good conuersacion they winne their harts The child Verissimus was the hope of the comon people the glory of his aged father so that the Emperour determined that this chyld Verissimus shold be heyre of the Empire and that the prince Comodus should be disherited Wherat no man ought to maruaile for it is but iust since the child
and more profyte of the scoller he maye be soner vertuous then vitious For there is more courage required in one to be euil then strenght in another for to be good Also the maisters commenly haue another euill property worse then this whyche is they beare with their scollers in some secreat vices when they are yong from the whiche they cannot be withdrawen afterwarde when they are olde For it chaunceth oftetimes that the good inclination is ouercome by the euill custome and certainly the maisters whych in such a case should be apprehended ought to be punished as traitors pariured For to the mayster it is greater treason to leaue his disciple amongest vices then to delyuer a forte into the handes of the enemyes And let no man maruaill if I call such a mayster a treator for the one yeldeth the forte whych is but of stones builded but the other aduentureth hys sonne who is of his proper body begotten The cause of al this euill is that as the children of Princes ought to enherite realmes and the children of greate lordes hope to inherite the great estates so the maisters are more couetous then vertuous For they suffer their puples to runne at their own willes whē they be yong to thend to winne their hartes when they shal be olde so that the extreame couetousnes of the maisters now a dayes is suche that it causeth goodmens sonnes commonly to be euil and vitious O tutors of princes and maisters of great lordes I do admonyshe you and besides that I counsell you that your couetousnes deceiue you not thynkynge that you shal be better estemed for being clokers of vices then louers of vertues For there is none old nor yong so wicked but knoweth that good is better then euill And further I say to you in this case that oftetimes God permitteth when those that wer children become old their eyes to be opened wherby they know the harme that you haue done them in suffering them to be vitious in thier youth at what tyme your dutye had bene to haue corrected their vices You thought by your goods to be honored for your flattery but you find the contrary that you are despised worthely For it is the iust iudgement of god that he that committeth euill shall not escape without punyshment and he that consealeth the euill committed shal not liue vndefamed Diadumeus the Historiographer in the lyfe of Seuerus the .xxi. Emperour de clareth that Apuleius Rufynus who hadde ben consull twise and at that tyme was also tribune of the people a man who was very aged and likewise of greate aucthoritie thoroughe oute Rome came one daye to the Emperour Seuerus and sayed vnto him in this sorte Moste inuicte Prince alwayes Augustus know that I had .ii. children the whiche I committed to a mayster to bring vp and by chaunce the eldest increasinge in yeares and diminishing in vertues fell in loue with a Romaine ladye the which loue came to late to my knowledge for to such vnfortunat men as I am the disease is alwayes past remedy before the daunger thereof commeth to our knowledge The greatest grefe that herein I fele is that his mayster knew and consealed the euill and was not onely not a meanes to remedye it but also was the chefe worker of the adultery betwene them to be committed And my sonne made hym an oblygation wherin he bounde hym selfe if he woulde bryng hym that romaine lady he would geue hym after my death the house and herytages whych I haue in the gate Salaria and yet herwith not contented but he and my sonne together robbed me of much money For loue is costlye to hym that maynteineth it and alwayes the loues of the children are chargefull to the fathers Iudge you now therefore noble Prince thys so heinous and slaunderous cause for it is to muche presumption of the subiecte to reuenge any iniury knowyng that the lorde hym selfe will reuenge all wronges When the Emperour Seuerus hadde vnderstode this so heynous a case as one that was both in name and dede seuere commaunded good inquisition of the matter to be hadde and that before his presence the shoulde cause to appeare the father the sonne and the mayster to the ende eche one should alledge for his owne right for in Rome none could be condemned for anye offence vnlesse the plainetife had first declared the faulte before hys presence and that the accused shold haue no tyme to make hys excuse The trueth then knowen and the offenders confessyng the offences the Emperour Seuerus gaue iudgement thus I commaunde that this mayster be caste alyue amonge the beastes of the parke Palatine For it is but mete that beastes deuoure hym whyche teacheth others to lyue lyke beastes Also I doe commaunde that the sonne be vtterly dysinheryted of all the goodes of hys father and banyshed into the Iles Balleares and Maiorques For the chylde whiche from hys youth is vitious oughte iustlye to be banyshed the countrey and dysherited of hys fathers goods This therfore of the maister and of the sonne was done by the complaint of Apuleius Rufinus O howe vnconstant fortune is and howe oft not thynkyng of it the threde of lyfe doth breake I saye it bicause if this maister had not bene couetous the father hadde not bene depriued of his sonne the childe hadde not bene banished the mother had not bene defamed the common weale had not bene slaundered the master of wylde beastes hadde not bene deuoured neyther the Emperour hadde bene so cruell agaynst them nor yet their names in Hystories to their infamies hadde alwayes continued I doe not speake thys without a cause to declare by writyng that whyche the euyll do in the world For wyse menne ought more to feare the infamye of the litle penne then the slaunder of the bablyng tongue For in the ende the wicked tongue can not defame but the lyuynge but the litle penne doth defame them that are that were and the shal be To conclude thys my mynde is that the mayster shoulde endeuour hym selfe that hys scooller shoulde be vertuous and that he doe not dispayre though immediately for hys paines he be not rewarded For thoughe he be not of the creature let hym be assured that he shal be of the creatour For God is so mercyefull that he ofte tymes takynge pitie of the swette of those that be good chastneth the vnthankfull and taketh vpon him to require their seruices Of the determination of the Emperour when he committed his childe to the tutours whyche he had prouided for his education Chapter xxxviii CInna the Hystorien in the first booke of the times of Comodus declareth that Marcus Aurelius the Emperour chose .xiiii. masters learned and wise men to teache hys sonne Comodus of the whyche he refused fyue not for that they were not wyse but for that they were not honeste And so he kepte these nyne onely whyche were both learned in the sciences and also experte in bringyng vp the chyldren of
dent of his blade at his harte In this case I sweare vnto the by the immortall gods that I do that whyche I would not do and I take that from him whyche I woulde not take For Anthonius my lorde and father in lawe gaue me the empire for no other cause but bycause he neuer found in me any lye and for this occasion I doe depriue my sonne from it for that I neuer found in him any trueth For it is not mete that the Empire being geuen vnto me for that I was true should be left inheritage to him that is a lier For in the ende it is better that the sonne do lose the heritage then the father shoulde lose his renowme By these two examples those whiche are the tutors and maisters of princes and great lordes may see how to be diligent to kepe them from lyes whilest they are yong and it ought to be in such sorte that neither in pastime neither in earnest aunswering they should be suffered once to tell a lye For those that for their pleasure were accustomed to lye in their youth will not fayle for their profite to lye in their age Secondarely the tutors and maysters ought to keepe their disciples that they be no gamesters and that they doe not accustome them selues in theyr youth to be vnthriftes for it is a great token of the decay of the Empire when the Prince in his youth is affectionated to play Experience sheweth vs that playe is a vice as Seneca sayeth whiche hath the propertie of a raging dogge with whome if a man be once bitten vnlesse he hath present remedie forthe with he runneth madde and the disease also continueth with him vncurable vntill the houre of his death Players not without a cause are compared to madde dogges for al those that vse it hurt theyr conscience lose their honour and consume theyr substance It chaunseth oft that in that wherin maysters should be most circonspecte they for the most parte are most negligent that is to wete that vnder the coullet of som honest recreation they agree to their scollers to vse some pastyme which if therin be conteyned no commendable exercise the children ought not to vse it nor yet the tutors to suffer it For vice is of such a propertie that if a chylde in hys youth dare playe apointe it is to be feared when he commeth to yeares he will playe hys cote Wayinge the matter more depely and aggrauating this vice I saye further and affirme that when the children of Princes and great Lordes playe a man ought not to make account of that which they may winne or loose for that of all miseryes were most misery if therefore my penne shoulde forbidde them play For play ought not to be forbidden to yong children for the money that they lose but for the vyces whiche they winne thereby and for the corrupte maners which therin they learne Octauian who was the second Emperour of Rome and one of the fortunatest Emperours that euer was among all his vertues was noted of one thing onely which is that from his youth he was to much geuen to play at tennis Of the which vice he was not onely admonished secreatly but also was forbidden it openly For as Cicero sayth in hys booke of lawes when the Emperour was noted of any open vice they might boldely reproue him in the open Senate When Octauian was for this vice reproued by the Senate they sayde he spake these wordes You haue reason O fathers conscript in takyng from me my pastime for it is necessary that the vertues of princes should be so many that all men might prayse them and their vices so fewe that no man might reproue them These wordes were notable and worthy of suche an excellent prince For in the ende consideringe their delicate and wanton brynging vp together with the libertie that they haue we ought to thanke and commende them for the good woorkes whiche they doe and moste of all to reioyce for the vices whiche they wante To our matter therfore amongest the other wicked vices that children get in their youth when they are players this is one that they learne to be theues and lyers For the money that they playe-to demaunde it their fathers they are afrayde and ashamed and of their owne proper goodes as yet they haue none in their handes Wherefore a man may easely conclude that if children playe of necessitie they must steale The sixe and thirty Emperour of Rome was Claudius Luganus a man verye temperate in eating moderate in apparell vprighte in iustice and very fortunate in chiualrie for he did not onelye repulse the Gothes from Illiria but also vanquished in a battayle the Germaines wherein were slayne aboue a hundred thousande This battayle was nere vnto the lake Veracus in a place called Luganus and for a memory of that great battayle and victory they called him Claudius Luganus For it was a custome among the Romaines that according to the good or euyll workes that princes did so they were iudged and knowen by suche surnames whether it were good or euyll This Emperour had but one onely sonne the whiche was a prince comely of personage and liuely of vnderstanding but aboue all thynges geuen to playe so that these good giftes whiche nature gaue him to woorke in vertue he misused alwayes in playe And amongest younge men he desyreth rather to haunte vyce then among the philosophers to learne vertue And hereat a man ought not to marueyle for all men of great courage vnlesse they be compelled to doe vertuous actes doe exercise of themselues many detestable vices It chaunced when this young prince had no more to playe nor gage he robbed out of his fathers chamber a ryche iewell of golde whereof also his maister was preuy And when the knowledge thereof came to the princes eares he immediatly disherited his sonne of the Empire and caused the head of the maister to be cut of his body all those likewyse that plaide with him to be banished the countrey This acte made euery man afrayde for correction executed after a good sorte hath this propertie that it encourageth the good to be good and feareth the wycked from their wickednes Merula in the tenth booke of Caesars where as at large he mentioneth this matter saieth that the Romaines estemed more the banishemente of those players from Rome then to haue drouen out the Gothes from Illiria and to saye the trouthe they had reason For a prince deserueth a greater crowne of glorie to banishe the vitious from his pallace then he doeth for chasing the enemies out of his dominion ¶ Of two other vices perillous in youthe whiche the maisters ought to kepe them from and that is to be shameles in countenaunce and addicted to the luste of the fleshe Cap. xl THirdly tutors ought to trauayle that the children whiche they haue in charge be not light and worldly nor that they doe consent that they be to bolde or shameles
my seconde sonne such an estate and duchye and to my doughter suche landes and to all I recommend iustice to the ende they doe obserue it and cause it to bee obserued euerye one in his owne countrey It is muche to note that the father dothe not saie that he leaueth vnto his sonne iustice but that he doth recommend it vnto hym so that the good princes ought to thinke that they haue not inherited iustyce of theire predecessoures in fourme of a patrimonie but that God gaue it vntoo them of truste Prynces of all thinges maye bee called lordes saue onelye of iustice wherof they are but onely ministers We dare boldly saye that the prince or gret lord which iudgeth causes not according to the diuine wil but accordīg to theire owne affection we will not call him a iuste iudge but a rouing theefe For the prince is muche worse whiche robbeth god of iustice then the theefe whiche stealeth the goods from menne Suetonius Tranquillus reciteth much wickednes of Domician and the greatest of all was the poore the Orphans and those whiche coulde doe little he alwaies punished the other that were riche and of aucthoritie he pardoned He compounded with some for money and with other he dissembled for fauour Lampridius saide of Alexander Seuerus the .25 Emperour of Rome that he neuer kepte in his courte anye euyll man or suffered any of his parentes to be vicious And when he was demanded on a time why he banished one of his cosyns since he was yong a child he aunswered them whiche entreated him for him and alleged That though he was yonge his cosin yet Charior est mihi respub as if more plainly he had said I haue none other nerer of kinne to me in my palace then the common wealth O high and muche more higher woordes worthy for a truthe to bee written in princes hartes whereby they ought to be aduertised that he said not I take for my kynne one parte of the common wealthe For the prince whiche feareth god and desired to be founde iust as he will indifferentlye bee obeyed of all so ought he equally to administer iustice to all If they wyll not credite me nor my penne let them credit Plato in the bookes of his common wealth who geueth libertie and lycence to all the Plebeyans to the end that euery one doe loue his wife his children and his parentes And this sorte of loue he will not that princes haue to whome he perswadeth that first aboue all thinges they loue theire common wealthe for if the Prince doe loue anye other thinge aboue his common wealth it is vnpossible but that one daye for the loue of that he wil writhe iustice When Plato gaue not lycēce to Princes not to enlarge their loue on diuers thinges peraduenture he woulde counsaile them that they shoulde doe some wronges It chaunseth ofte tymes that princes doe omitte iustice not for that they will not administer it but because they will not be enfourmed of thinges whyche they ought to remedye and looke vnto And thys is vnexcusable where he hurteth hys honour and burdeneth hys conscience For at the daye of iudgement thoughe he bee not accused for malyce yet he shal bee condemned for neglygence The prince which is carefull to see and enquire the dominages of his realmes we maye saye that if he doth not prouyde for them it is because he can doe no more but hee whiche is neglygent to see them and knowe them we cannot saye but if hee leaue to prouyde it is for that hee will not The prince or greate lorde whych dare take vppon him suche thynges what name or renowme maye we geue him I woulde not we shoulde call suche a one father of the common wealth but destroyer of hys countrey For there can be no tirannye greater nor more vnequall then for the Phisicion to aske his duetye for hys cure before he hath begone to minister the medicine That Princes and greate lordes desyre to knowe theire reuenewes I alowe them but in that they care not to knowe the dommages of theire common wealthes I doe discommende them For the people paye tribute to theire Princes to the ende they shoulde delyuer them from theire enemies and defende them from tyrauntes For the iudges whyche wil bee euill thoughe I saye muche it will profite lytle but to those whyche desyre to be good that whiche is spoken as I thinke suffyseth Notwithstandinge that whiche is spoken I say that iudges and gouernours ought to consider well with them selues and see if they wil be counted for iust ministers or cruell tirauntes For the office of a tyraunt is to robbe the common wealth and the office of the good Prince is to refourme the people Princes and greate lordes haue more busynes then they thinke they haue to see all those whiche will see them and to heare all those whiche will cōplain vnto them And the cause hereof is admitte that whiche the subiect demaundeth he presentlye cannot geue nor that whereof he complaineth he cannot remedye yet notwithstandynge they remaine after a sorte contented sayeng that they haue nowe shewed all theire complaintes and iniuries to their princes For the wounded hartes often tymes vtter their inward paines whiche they feele without any hope to receiue comfort of that which they desyre Plutarche in his Apothegmes sayeth that a poore and aged woman desired kyng Philipe of Macedonie whiche was the father of kinge Alexander the greate that he woulde heare her with iustice and sithe she was verye importunate vppon him kyng Philip saied on a daye vnto her I praye the woman be cōtented I swere by the gods I haue no leasure to heare thy complainte The olde woman aunswered the kinge Beholde king Phillyppe if thou hast not time to heare me with iustice resigne thy kingdome another shall gouerne thy common wealthe ¶ Of an oracion whiche a villayne dwellinge neere to the ryuer of Danuby made before the Senatours of Rome concerning the tyranies and oppressions which their officers vsed in his countrey And the oracion is deuyded into three Chapters Cap. iii. IN the .x. yeare of the reigne of the good emperour Marcus Aurelius there happened in Rome a generall pestilence the whiche being so outragious the good emperour went into Campaigne whiche at that tyme was verye healthfull and without diseases thoughe it was very drye and wanted much of that which was necessarie yet notwithstanding the good Emperour was there with all the principall Senatours of Rome For in tyme of pestilence men doe not seeke where they should reioice their parsonnes but where they maye saue theire lyues Marcus Aurelius being there in Campania was sore vexed with a feuer And as his condicion was alwaies to be amongest Sages so at that tyme hys sickenes required to be visited of phisicions The resorte that he had in hys pallace was verye greate as well of Philosophers for to teache as of phisitions for to dispute For this
as if it were his owne To thys I aunswere that I am not myghtye ynough to remedy it except by my remedye there shoulde spring a greater inconuenience And since thou hast not bene a Prince thou couldest not fall into that I haue nor yet vnderstand that whych I saie For princes by theire wisedome knowe manye thinges the whych to remedy they haue no power So it hath beene so it is so it shal be so I founde it so I keepe it so wil I leaue it them so I haue read it in bookes so haue I seene it with my eyes so I heard it of my predecessours and finallye I saye so our fathers haue inuented it and so wyll wee theire children sustaine it and for this euyll wee will leaue it to our heires I wyll tell thee one thinge and imagine that I erre not therein whych is consideringe the great dommage and lytle profyte which the men of warre doe bringe to our common wealth I thynk to doe it and to sustaine it either it is the folly of menne or a scourge geuen of the gods For there can be nothinge more iust then for the goddes to permit that we feele that in our owne houses whiche we cause others in straunge houses to lament All those thinges I haue written vnto thee not for that it skilleth greatly that thou knowe them but that my harte is at ease to vtter them For as Alcibiades saide the chestes and the hartes ought alwaies to bee open to theire frendes Panutius my secretary goeth in my behalfe to visite that land and I gaue him this letter to geue the with two horses wherewith I think thou wilt be contented for they are gennettes The weapons and ryches whyche I tooke of the Parthes I haue nowe deuyded notwtstanding I doe sende thee .2 Chariottes of them My wyfe Faustine greeteth thee and I sende a riche glasse for thy doughter and a Iewell with stones for thy sister No more but I beseche the Gods to geeue thee a good lyfe and mee a good death ¶ The admonition of the Aucthour to Princes and greate Lordes to thintent that the more they growe in yeares the more they are bounde to refraine from vyces Cap. xvii AVlus Gelius in hys booke De noctibus Atticis sayeth that there was an auncient custome amongest the romaynes to honour and haue in great reuerence aged men And this was so inuiolate a law amongest them that there was none so noble of bloode and lynage neyther so puissaunt in ryches neither so fortunate in battayles that should goe before the aged men which were loden with whit heares so that they honoured them as the gods and reuerenced them as theire fathers Amongest other the aged menne had these preheminences that is to wete that in feastes they sate highest in the triumphes they went before in the temples they did sitte downe they spake to the Senate before all others they had their garments surred they might eat alone in secrat and by theire onlye woorde they were credited as witnesses Fynally I saye that in all thinges they serued them and in nothinge they annoyed them After the people of Rome began warre wyth Asia they forsooke all theire good Romayne customes immediatlye And the occasyon hereof was that since they had no menne to sustaine the common wealth by reason of the great multytude of people which dyed in the warre they ordeyned that al the yong menne should mary the yong maides the wydowes the free and the bonde and that the honour whyche hadde bene done vntyll that tyme vnto the olde menne from henceforthe shoulde be done vnto the maried menne though they were yong So that the moste honoured in Rome was hee not of moste yeares but he that had most children This lawe was made a little before the firste battaile of Catthage And the custome that the maried menne were more honoured then the old menne endured vntill the tyme of the Emperour Augustus whiche was such a frende of antiquyties that hee renewed all the walles of Rome with newe stones and renewed all the auncient customes of the common wealth Licurgus in the lawes whiche hee gaue to the Lacedemonians ordayned that the young menne passinge by the olde shoulde doe them greate reuerence whē the olde dyd speake then the younger shoulde bee sylent And he ordained also that if any olde man by casualtye dyd lose hys goods and came into extreame pouertie that he shoulde bee sustained of the comon wealth and that in suche sustentacion they shoulde haue respecte not onely to succour him for to sustaine hym but further to geue him to lyue competently Plutarche in hys Apothegmes declareth that Cato the Censoure visitinge the corners of Rome founde an olde manne sittinge at his doore weepinge and sheddinge manye teares from hys eyes And Cato the Censoure demaundynge hym why hee was so euyll handeled and wherefore he wepte so bitterlye the good olde manne aunswered hym O Cato the Gods beinge the onelye comfortours comforte thee in all thy tribulations since thou arte readye to comforte mee at this wofull hower As well as thou knowest that the consolations of the harte are more necessarye then the phisike of the bodye the whiche beeynge applyed sometymes doeth heale and an other tyme they doe harme Beholde my scabbed handes my swollen legges my mouth without teethe my peeled face my white beard and my balde heade for thou beinge as thou arte descreete shouldest be excused to aske mee why I weepe For menne of my age thoughe they weepe not for the lyttle they feele yet they ought to weepe for the ouermuche they lyue The manne which is loden with yeares tormented with diseases pursued with enemyes forgotten of his frendes visited with mishappes and with euill wyll and pouertie I knowe not why hee demaundeth long life For there can be no sharper reuengemēt of vyces whych we commit then to geue vs long lyfe Though now I am aged I was yong and if any yong manne should doe me anye iniurye truelye I would not desire the gods to take his lyfe but that they woulde rather prolonge his lyfe For it is a great pitie to heare the man whyche hath lyued longe account the troubles whiche he hath endured Knowe thou Cato if thou doest not knowe it that I haue lyued .77 yeares And in thys tyme I haue buried my father my graundefather twoe Auntes and .5 vncles After that I had buried .9 systers and .11 Brethren I haue buried afterwardes twoe lawfull wyfes and fyue bonde women whyche I haue hadde as my lemmans I haue buryed also .14 chyldren and .7 maryed doughters and therewith not contented I haue buryed .37 Nephues and .15 Nieces and that whyche greaueth me moste of all is that I haue buryed two frendes of myne one which remained in Capua the other which was residente here at Rome The death of whom hath greued me more then all those of my aliaunce and parentage For in the worlde there is no
to deny that I feare not death shoold bee to deny that I am not of flesh Wee see by experience that the elephants doo feare the Lyon the Beare the Elephant the woolf the Beare the lamb the woolf the ratte the catte the catte the dogge and the dogge the man fynally the one and the other doo feare for no other thyng but for feare that one kylleth not the other Then since brute beasts refuse death the which though they dye feare not to fyght with the furies nor hope not to rest with the gods so much the more ought wee to feare death which dye in doubt whither the furies wyll teare vs in pieces with their torments or the gods will receyue vs into their houses with ioy Thinkest thou Panutius that I doo not see well that my vine is gathered and that it is not hyd vnto mee that my pallace falleth in decay I know well that I haue not but the kirnel of the raison and the skinne and that I haue not but one sygh of all my lyfe vntill this time There was great difference beetweene mee and thee and now there is great difference beetwixt mee and my self For about the ensigne thow doost place the army In the ryuers thow castest thy nettes within the parks thou huntest the bulles In the shadow thow takest cold By this I mean that thow talkest so much of death beecause that thou art sure of thy life O myserable man that I am for in short space of all that in this lyfe I haue possessed with mee I shall cary nothing but onely my wynding sheete Alas now shall I enter into the field not where of the fierce beasts I shal bee assaulted but of the hungry woorms deuoured Alas I see my self in that dystresse from whence my frayl flesh cannot escape And yf any hope remayn it is in thee o death When I am sick I woold not that hee that is whole shoold comfort mee When I am sorowfull I woold not that hee which is mery shoold cōfort mee When I am banished I woold not that he which is in prosperity shoold comfort mee When I am at the hour of death I woold not that hee shoold comfort mee which is not in some suspicion of lyfe But I woold that the poore shoold comfort mee in my pouerty the sorowfull in my sorows the banyshed in my banishment and hee which is in as great daunger of his life as I am now at the poynt of death For there is no counsayle so healthfull nor true as that of the man which is in sorow when hee counsayleth an other whych is likewise tormented him self If thow consyderest well this sentence thow shalt fynd that I haue spoken a thyng very profound wherein notwithstanding my tongue is appeased For in my oppinion euill shall hee bee comforted which is weeping with him that continually laugheth I say this to the end thow know that I know it and that thou perceiue that I perceyue it And beecause thou shalt not lyue deceyued as to my frend I wil disclose the secret and thow shalt see that small is the sorow which I haue in respect of the great which I haue cause to haue For if reason had not stryued wyth sensuality the sighs had ended my lyfe and in a pond of teares they had made my graue The things which in mee thow hast seene which are to abhorre meat to banysh sleepe to loue care to bee annoyed with company to take rest in sighs to take pleasure in tears may easely declare vnto thee what torment is in the sea of my hart when such tremblings doo appeare in the earth of my body Let vs now come to the purpose and wee shall see why my body is without consolation and my hart so ouercome with sorows for my feelyng greatly exceedeth my complaynyng beecause the body is so delycat that in scratchyng it it complayneth and the hart is so stout and valiaunt that though it bee hurt yet it dyssembleth O Panutius I let thee weete that the occasion why I take death so greeuously is beecause I leaue my sonne Commodus in this life who lyueth in this age most perillous for hym and no lesse daungerous for the Empire By the flowers are the fruits knowen by the grapes the vines are knowen and by the face men are knowen by the colt the horse is iudged and by the infant youth is knowen This I say by the Prince my sonne for that hee hath been euill in my life I doo ymagyn that hee will bee woorse after my death Since thou as well as I knowst the euill condicions of my sonne why doost thou maruell at the thoughts and sorows of the father My sonne Commodus in years is yong and in vnderstanding yonger Hee hath an euill inclynation and yet hee wil not enforce him self against the same hee gouerneth him self by hys own sence and in matters of wisedome hee knoweth lytel of that hee shoold bee ignoraunt hee knoweth too much and that which is woorst of all hee ys of no man esteemed Hee knoweth nothing of things past nor occupyeth hym about any thing present Fynally for that which with myne eyes I haue seene I say and that which with in my hart I haue suspected I iudge that shortly the person of my sonne shall bee in hazard and the memory of hys father perysh O how vnkyndly haue the Gods vsed them selues toward vs to commaund vs to leaue our honor in the hands of our children for it shoold suffice that wee shoold leaue them our goods and that to our frends we shoold commyt our honor But yet I am sory for that they consume the goods in vices and lose the honor for to bee vitious The gods beeyng pityful as they are since they geeue vs the authoryty to deuyde our goods why doo they not geeue vs leaue to make our wills of the honor My sonnes name beeing Commodus in the Romayn tongue is as much to say as profyt but as hee is wee will bee content to bee without the lytle profyt which hee may doo to some so that wee may bee excused of the great domage which hee is lykely to doo to all For I suppose hee wyll bee the scourge of men and the wrath of Gods Hee entreth now into the pathway of youth alone without a guide And for that hee hath to passe by the hygh and daungerous places I feare lest hee bee lost in the wood of vices For the children of Princes and great Lords for so much as they are brought vp in lyberty wantonnes doo easely fall into vices and voluptuousnes and are most stubborn to bee wythdrawen from their folly O Panutius geue attentiue eare to that I say vnto thee Seest thow not that Commodus my sonne is at lyberty is rych is yong and is alone By the fayth of a good man I sweare vnto thee that the least of these wynds woold ouerthrow not onely a yong tender ash but also a mighty strong
for that they were vertuous By the immortall Gods I sweare vnto thee that when they came from the warre of Parthia triumphed in Rome confirmed the Empire to my sonne if then these nat nat had not withstoode mee I had left Commodus my sonne poore wyth hys vices and woold haue made heire of all my realmes some vertuous man I let thee to weete Panutius that fyue thyngs oppresse my hart sore to the which I woold rather see remedy my self then to commaund other to remedy it The first for that in my lyfe time I can not determyn the proces that the vertuous wydow Drusia hath with the senat Beecause since shee is poore and deformed there is no man that will geeue her iustice The second beecause I dye not in Rome And this for none other cause then that with the sound of the trumpet shoold bee proclaymed that all those which haue any quarell or debt against mee and my famyly should come thither to bee payd or satisfyed of their debts and demaunds The thyrd that as I made fower tyraunts to bee put to execucion which commytted tyranny in Asia and Italy so it greeued mee that I haue not also punished certayn Pyrats which roued on the seas The fowerth for that I haue not caused the Temple to bee fynished which I dyd beegynne for all the gods For I might haue sayd vnto them after my death that since for all them I haue made one house it were not much that any of them shoold receiue one into his which passe thys lyfe in the fauor of gods and wythout the hatred of men For dying after this sort men shal susteyn our honours and the gods shall prouide for our soules The fyfth for that I leaue in life for my onely heire Commodus the prynce yet not so much for the destruction which shall come to my house as for the great domage which shall succeede in the common wealth For the true princes ought to take the domages of their persons lyght and the domages of the common wealth for the most greeuous O Panutius let therefore thys bee the last woord which I will say vnto thee that is to weete that the greatest good that the Gods may geeue to the man that is not couetous but vertuous is to geeue hym good renowne in lyfe and afterwards a good heire at our death Fynally I say that if I haue anything to doo with the gods I require and beeseech them that if they should bee offended Rome slaundered my renowme defamed and my house demynished for that my sonne bee of an euill lyfe that they wyll take from hym lyfe beefore they geeue mee death ¶ Of the woords which the Emperour Marcus Aurelius spake vnto his sonne Commodus at the hower of death necessary for all yong gentlemen to vnderstand Cap. liiij SInce the dysease of Marcus Aurelius was so extream that in euery hower of his lyfe hee was assaulted with death after hee had talked a long tyme with Panutius his secretary hee commaunded his sonne Commodus to be wakened who as a yong man slept soundly in his bed And beeing come beefore his presence al those which were there were moued immediatly with cōpassion to see the eies of the father all swollen with weeping and the eies of the chylde closed with ouermuch sleepe They could not waken the chylde hee was so careles and they could not cause the goodfather sleape hee tooke so great thought All those which were there seeing how the father desired the good lyfe of the sonne and how lytel the sonne wayed the death of his father had compassion of the old man and bare hate to the wicked chylde Then the good Emperour casting his eies on high and directing his woords to his sōne sayd When thou were a chylde I told thy maisters how they ought to bring thee vp after that thou dydst waxe greater I told thy gouernors how they shoold counsaile thee And now will I tel thee how thou with them which are few and they with thee beeing one ought to gouern and maintayn the common wealth If thou esteeme much that which I wil say vnto thee my sonne know thow that I will esteeme it much more that thow wilt beeleue mee For more easely doo wee old men suffer your iniuryes then yee other yong doo receyue our counsailes Wysedome wanteth to you for to beeleeue vs yet yee want not boldnesse to dishonor vs. And that which is woorst the aged in Rome were wont to haue a chayr of wysedome and sagenes but now a days the yong men count it a shame and folly The world at this day ys so chaunged from that it was wont to bee in tymes past that all haue the audacity to geeue counsaile and few haue the wisedome to receyue it so that they are a thowsaund which sell counsailes there is not one that buyeth wisedom I beleeue wel my sōne that according to my fatal destinies thy euill manners litle shal that auaile which I shal tel thee For since thou wooldst not credyt these woords which I spake vnto thee in my life I am sure that thou wilt litle regard them after my death But I doo this more to satisfy my desyre and to accomplish that which I owe vnto the common wealth than for that I hope for any amendment of thy lyfe For there is no grief that so much hurteth a person as when hee him self is cause of his own payn If any man dooth me an iniury if I lay my hands vppon him or speak iniurious woords vnto him my hart is foorthwith satisfyed but if I doo iniury to my self I am hee which wrongeth am wrōged for that I haue none on whom I may reuenge my wrōg and I vexe chafe with my self If thou my sonne bee euill after that thou hast enheryted the empire my mother Rome wil complain of the gods which haue geeuen thee so many euil inclinacions Shee wil cōplayn of Faustine thy mother which hath brought thee vp so wantonly shee will complayn of thee which hast no will to resist vice but shee shall haue no cause to complayn of the old man thy father who hath not geeuen thee good counsailes For if thou hadst beeleeued that which I told thee men woold reioyce to haue thee for their lord and the gods to vse thee as their minister I cannot tel my sonne if I bee deceiued but I see thee so depriued of vnderstanding so vncertayn in thy woords so dissolute in thy maners so vniust in iustice in that thou desirest so hardy in thy duty so negligent that if thou chaunge alter not thy maners men wil hate thee and the gods will forsake thee O if thou knewst my sonne what thyng it is to haue men for enemies and to bee forsaken of the gods by the faith of a good man I sweare vnto thee that thou wooldst not onely hate the seignory of Rome but with thy hands also thou wooldst
destroy thy selfe For men which haue not the gods mercifull and the men frendly doo eat the bread of grief and drink the tears of sorow I am sure thy sorow is not so great to see that the nyght dooth end my life as is the pleasure which thou hast to see that in short space thou shalt bee emperor of Rome And I doo not maruell hereat For where sensuality reigneth reason is banished constrayned to fly Many loue diuers things beecause of trouth they know them not the which if they did know without doubt they woold hate them Though men loue in mockry the gods men hate vs in earnest In al things wee are so doubtfull and in all our woorks so dysordered that at some tyme our vnderstanding is dull and loseth the edge an other tyme it is more sharp then it is necessary Thereby I mean that the good wee wil not here and much lesse wee will learn it but of the euil wee know more then beehoueth vs or necessity requireth I will counsaile thee my sonne by woords that which in lxii yeares I haue learned by scyence and experience And since thou art as yet so yong it is reason that thou beleeue him which is aged For since wee prynces are the mirrour of all euery man dooth beehold vs wee other doo not beehold ourselues This day or to morow thou shalt enherit the Romain empire think that inheriting the same thou shalt bee lord of the world Yet if thow knewst how many cares and perilles cōmaunding bringeth with it I sweare vnto thee that thou wooldst rather chose to obey all then to commaund one Thou thinkest my sonne that I leaue thee a great lord for to leaue thee the empire which is not so For all they haue neede but of thee and thou alone hast neede of all Thou thinkest that I leaue thee much treasure leauing thee the great reuenews of the empire the which also is as litle For though a prince haue treasures in aboundance yet if hee want frends hee hath great want of tresures Thou thinkest also my sonne that I leaue thee that thou bee obeyed of all and that none dare gayn say thee Truly it ought not to bee so For it is more meete for the prince which desireth to preserue his lyfe and augment his honor to bee conformable to the will of all then to desire that all shoold bee agreable to him For thou my sonne that knowest not what truth is lies wil not greeue thee For asmuch as thou knowest not what rest is the broyls and mocions of the people shall not vex thee For that thou knowest not what frends meane thou shalt esteeme it litle to haue enemies For if thou were pacient reposed true a louing man thou wouldst not only refuse the empire of Rome but also the wooldst curse the father which woold leaue thee such inheritance I will thou know if thou knowest it not that in leauing thee the empire I leaue thee not riches but pouerty not rest but trauayle not peace but warr not frends but enemies not pleasures but displeasures finally in place I leaue thee where alwayes thou shalt haue somwhat to beewayle And though thou wouldst thou shalt not laugh I aduertise admonish and also exhort thee my sonne to think that all that which I leaue thee is vanity lightnes and folly and a disgised mockry And if thou beeleuest it is in mockry from hensforth I know thou art deceyued I haue liued longer then thou I haue read more than thou and with great payne haue gone further than thou And sins that with all these aduertisements in the end I find my selfe mocked hopest thou to liue surely and escape without fraud or guyle When thou shalt think to haue the empire in rest then shall there arise a prouince in Affrica or in Asia the losse of the which should come to a great inconuenience and for to recouer it great charges would ensue When thou thinkest to recouer frends then shall straunge enemyes inuade thee So that in flattering and reioysing our frends wee can not keepe theym and in flying and reiecting theym wee can not defend our selues When thou shalt think to bee in gretest ioy then shall some care oppresse thy hart For princes which haue and possesse much the news which geeue them pleasure are very seldome but the thinges which annoy them come hourely When thou shalt think to haue liberty to doo what thou wilt then shalt thou bee most restrayned For the good and well ordered princes ought not to go whither their wanton desires moueth theym but where it is most lawful and decent for the honour of their estates When thou shalt think that none dare reproue thee for that thou art emperour then oughtst the most to beeware For if they dare not threaten euell princes with woords they haue the hardines to sell them by treason If they dare not punish them they dare murmour at them and these which can not bee their frendes doo procure to bee their enemies fynally if they lay not hands on their persons thei let their tong runne at large to prate of their renoune When thou shalt thynk to haue satisfyed thy seruants then wyll they demaund recompence for their seruices For it is an old custome among courtyers to spend freely and couet greedily Therefore if thou doost credit these things I know not who is so foolish that for his enherytaunce desyreth such sorow For admit that any man come to the empire without comparison the rest is more woorth which the empire taketh from him then the pleasures which it geeueth him If the empire of Rome were as well corrected and ordred as in old time it was accustomed to bee though it were great payne to gouerne it yet it were more honor to keepe it but it is so rooted in vices and so many tirāts are entred therin that I woold tak thē more wise to iudge it a mockry then those which embrase it as an honor If thou knewst what Rome is woorth what Rome hath what Rome may and what Rome is I sweare vnto thee that thou wouldst not labor much to be lord therof For though Rome with walles bee strongly compassed yet of vertuous Citezins it is greatly vnprouided If the inhabitants bee great the vices are without nomber Finally I say that the stones which are in the buyldings in one day may bee counted but the euils which are therin in a .1000 yeres can not bee declared By the faith of a good man I sweare vnto thee my sonne that when I beegan to reygne in 3. yeres I repaired the decayed walles that were of Rome fallen and one onely streete to liue wel in xx yers I could not refourme The deuine Plato said very well That much more ought the great cityes to glorify to haue vertuous citezins then to haue proud sumptuous buildings Beeware beeware my sonne that the inconstancy of youth and the liberty which thou
cruel punyshment of those that liue that rather thē they would endure it they wysh to bee dead Thou oughtst to think my sonne that I haue beegot thee I haue nouryshed thee I haue taught thee I haue trymmed thee I haue chastised thee and I haue exalted thee And for this consyderation though by death I am absent it is not reasō that thou euer forget mee For the true not vnthākfull chyld ought the same day to bury his father in his tender hart when others haue layd hym in the hard graue One of the visible chastisements which the gods geeue to men in this world is that the children obey not their fathers in their life For the self same fathers did not remēber their owne fathers after their death Let not yong Princes think after they haue inherited after they see theyr father dead after they are past correction of their masters that al things ought to bee doone as they thē selues wil it for it will not bee so For if thei want the fauour of the Gods haue maledyction of their fathers they liue in trouble and dye in daunger I require nought els of thee my sonne but that such a father as I haue been to thee in my life such a sonne thou bee to mee after my death I commend vnto thee my sonne the veneracion of the gods and this cheefely aboue al thing For the prince with maketh accompt of the gods neede not to feare any storme of fortune Loue the gods thou shalt bee beeloued Serue them thou shalt bee serued Feare them thou shalt bee feared Honor them thou shalt bee honored Doo their commaūdements they will geeue thee thy harts desire For the gods are so good that they doo not onely receiue in accompt that which wee doo but also that which wee desire to doo I commend vnto thee my sonne the reuerence of the Temples that is to weete that they bee not in discorde that they bee cleane renewed that they offer therin the sacrifices accustomed For wee doo not this honor to the substaūce wherwith the temples are made but to the Gods to whome they are consecrated I commend vnto thee the veneration of priestes I pray thee though they bee couetous auaricious dissolute vnpacient negligēt vicious yet that thei bee not dishonored For to vs others it apperteineth not to iudge of the life they leade as mē but wee must consider that they are mediators beetwene the gods vs. Beehold my sonne that to serue the gods honor the temples reuerence the priestes it is not a thing voluntary but very necessary for Princes For so long endured the glory of the Greekes as they were worshippers of their Gods carefull of theyr Temples The vnhappi realme of Catthage was nothing more cowardly nor lesse rych then that of the Romaynes but in the ende of the Romaynes thei were ouercome beecause they were great louers of their treasours and litle worshippers of their Temples I commend vnto thee my sonne Helia thy stepe mother remember though shee bee not thy mother yet shee hath been my wyfe That which to thy mother Faustine thou oughtst for bringing thee into the world the selfe same thou oughtst to Helia for the good entertainmēt which shee hath shewed thee And in deede often tymes I beeing offended with the shee mainteined thee caused mee to forget so that shee by her good woords did winne againe that which thou by thy euill woorks didst loose Thou shalt haue my curse yf thou vsest her euyll thou shalt fall into theire of the gods if that agreest that other doo not vse her wel For all the domage which shee shal feele shal not bee but for the inconuenience of my death iniury of thy persō For her dowrye I leaue her the tributes of Hostia the orchyardes of Vulcanus which I haue made to bee planted for her recreation Bee thou not so hardy to take them from her for in taking them from her thou shalt shewe thy wickednes in leauing them her thy obedyence in geeuing her more thy bounty liberalyty Remember my sonne that shee is a Romaine woman yong a wydow of the house of Traiane my lord that shee is thy mother adoptatiue my naturall wyfe aboue al for that I leaue her recommended vnto thee I commend vnto thee my sonne in laws whome I will thou vse as parents and frends And beeware that thou bee not of those which are brethern in woords cousins in woorks Bee thou assured that I haue willed somuch good to my doughters that the best which were in al the countries I haue chosen for their persons And they haue beene so good that if in geeuing them my doughters they were my sonne in laws in loue I loued them as chyldren I commend vnto thee my Systers doughters whome I leaue thee al maryed not with straūge kings but with natural senatours So that al dwel in Rome where they mai doo thee seruices and thou maist geue them rewards gifts Thy sisters haue greatly inheryted the beauty of thy mother Faustine haue taken lytle nature of their father Marke But I sweare vnto thee that I haue geeuen them such husbands and to their husbands such and so profitable counsailes that they would rather loose their lyfe then agree to any thing touching their dishonor Vse thy sisters in such sort that they bee not out of fauor for that their aged father is dead and that they beecome not proud for to see their brother Emperor Women are of a very tender condicion for of small occasion they doo complayne of lesse they wax proud Thou shalt keepe them preserue them after my death as I did in my lyfe For otherwise their conuersacion to the people shal bee very noisome to thee very importunate I comend vnto thee Lipula thy yongest Sister which is inclosed with in the virgine vestalles who was doughter of thy mother Faustine whome so derely I haue loued in life whose death I haue beewailed vntil my death Euery yeare I gaue to thy sister sixe thousand Sexterces for her necessyties in deede I had maryed her also if shee had not fallen into the fire burnt her face For though shee were my last I loued her with all my hart All haue esteemed her fal into the fire for euyll luck but I doo coūt the euil luck for good fortune For her face was not so burned with coles as her renowme suffred peryl among euill tongs I sweare vnto thee my sonne that for the seruice of the gods for the renowme of men shee is more sure in the Temple with the vestal Virgins then the art in the Senate with thy Senatours I suppose now that at the end of the iourney shee shal find her selfe better to bee enclosed then thou at liberty I leaue vnto her in the prouynce of Lucania euery yeare six
I doe appeale thee if thou hast dreamed that thou hast wrytten I saye beleue not in dreames and if thou wylt not it shoulde auayle to glorifie me as a frende yet thou mightest wryte it aduertising and repreuing me as the father to the sonne younge vertuous persones are bounde to honour auncient wyse men and no lesse olde wyse men ought to endoctrine the younge people and very young as I am A iust thing it is that the new forces of youth supplie and serue them that are worne by age For their longe experience instructeth our tender age and naturall ignoraunce Youthe is euill applied when it aboundeth in force of the body wanteth the vertues of the mind and age is honoured wherein the force dieth outwarde whereby vertues quickeneth the more inwarde We may see the tree when the fruite is gathered the leaues fall and when flowers drie then more grene and perfecte are the rootes I meane that when the first season of youth is passed whiche is the Sommer time then commeth age called Wynter and purifieth the fruite of the fleshe and the leaues of fauour fal the flowers of delite wither and the vynes of hope drye outwarde then it is ryght that much better are the rootes of good workes within They that be olde and auncient ought to prayse their good workes rather then their white heares For honoure ought to be geuen for the good life and not for the whyte head Glorious is that common wealth and fortunate is that prince that is lord of young men to trauaile and auncient persones to councell As to regarde the sustaininge of the naturalitie of the lyfe in likewyse ought to be considered the policy of gouernaunce the whiche is that al the fruites come nor drye not al at once but when one beginneth another faileth And in this maner ye that be auncient teaching vs and we be obedient as olde fathers and young pullettes being in the neste of the Senate Of some their fethers fallinge and other younge fethered and where as the olde fathers can not flie their trauayles are mainteined by their tender children Frende Catullus I purposed not to wryte one lyne this yeare because my penne was troubled with thy slouthe but the weakenes of my spirite and the great peril of myne offices alwayes called on me to demaunde thy councell This priuiledge the olde wyse men holde in their houses where they dwell They are alwayes lordes ouer them that be simple and are sclaues to them that be wyse I thinke thou hast forgotten me thinking that sithe the death of my dere sonne Verissimus the time hath bene so long that I should forget it Thou hast occasion to thinke so for many thinges are cured in time which reason can not helpe But in this case I can not tell which is the greatest thy trūpery or my dolour I sweare to thee by the gods immortall that the hungry wormes are not so puissaunt in the entrales of the vnhappy chylde as the bitter sorowes are in the heauy hart of the wofull father And it is no comparison for the sonne is dead but one tyme and the heauy father dieth euery momente What wylt thou more that I should saye But that one ought to haue enuy of his death and compassion of my lyfe because in dyeng he lyueth and in the lyuing I dye In the mischaunces of lyfe and in the great vnconstancie of fortune whereas her gyles profiteth but litle and her strengthe lesse I thinke the best remedy is to fele it as a man and dissimule it as discrete and wyse If all things as they be felt at heart should be shewed outward with the tongue I thynke that the wyndes shoulde breake the hearte with syghinges and water all the earth with weping O if the corporal eyes sawe the sorowe of the heart I sweare to thee they should see more of a drop of bloud sweatinge within then all the wepyng that appeareth without There is no comparyson of the great dolours of the body to the least greife of the mynde For all trauayle of the body men may finde some remedy but if the heauy heart speake it is not heard if it wepe it is not sene if it complaine it is not beleued What shal the poore harte doe Abhorre the lyfe wherwith it dieth and desire death wherwith it liueth The highe vertues among noble vertuous people consiste not all onely to suffer the passions of the body but also to dissimule them of the soule They be suche that alter the humours and shewe it not outward they brynge a feuer without altering of the poulce they alter the stomacke they make vs to knele to the earth to suffer the water vp to the mouthe and to take death without leauing of the lyfe and finally they length our life to the intente that we should haue no more trauayle and denieth vs our graue to the intent that we should not reste But considering as I am troubled with sorowes so am I voyde of consolations for when I haue either desire of the one or werynes of the other I vse alwayes this remedy to dissimule with the tongue to wepe with the eyes and to fele it with my heart I passe my lyfe as he that hoped to lese all that he hath neuer to recouer that that is loste I saye this though ye see me not nowe make funeral wepinges and waylinges as I did at the death of my sonne yet thinke not but it doeth bren my heart so that with the great heate inward is consumed the humiditie of the eyes for it brenneth al my spirites within Thou mayest knowe what an honorable father suffereth to lese a good childe in all thinges the gods be liberal except in geuing vs vertuous children Where there is aboūdaunce of great estates there is greatest scarsitie of good inheritours It is a dolefull thing to heare and greater pitie to see howe these fathers clime to haue rychesse and to see their children descende to haue viciousnes To see the fathers honoure their children and the children to infame their fathers yea and the fathers to geue reste to the chyldren and the chyldren to geue trouble to their fathers yea and sometyme the fathers die for sorowe that their children die so sone and we see their childrē wepe because their fathers die so late What should I saye more but that the honoure and ryches that the fathers haue procured with great thought the chyldren consume with litle care I am certayne of one thing that the fathers may gather ryches with strengthe and crafte to susteyne their children but the Gods wyll not haue durable that that is begonne with euyll intention as that is whiche is wonne to the preiudice of other and possessed with an euyll heyre And though the heauy destinies of the father permit that the ryches be lefte to their children to serue them in all their vyces for their pastime at last yet according to their merites the